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The precise quantification of surface urban heat island intensity (SUHII) is fundamental for understanding the process, causes, and solutions to thermal environmental change. However, the existing methods for SUHII estimation are not uniform in nonurban reference selection, with inconsistent consideration of relevant influencing factors. The associated uncertainty can be further exacerbated under seasonal fluctuations of atmospheric and surface environments. This study concentrated on macrocity and intraurban local scales to examine the variations in SUHII assessment and its seasonal changes using different reference delineation methods. City-scale analysis included eight references based on the fixed areas or dynamic buffers, while local-scale analysis took six natural cover types as references under the local climate zone (LCZ) framework, respectively. Results revealed significant differences in SUHII using diverse references, and the inconsistency varied across seasons. On the city scale, the most pronounced intermethod difference occurred in winter, while stronger consistency of spatial patterns was observed in summer. Relatively, higher seasonal SUHIIs and stronger spatial variabilities were generated by methods using fixed areas. On the local scale, a strong consistency of spatial patterns was also observed in summer, while the most pronounced difference occurred in spring. Maximum local SUHIIs in all seasons were obtained using LCZ G as a reference. The study further summarized a list of criteria of reference selection for both scales. Overall, this study provides empirical evidence supporting the appropriate reference delineation for reliable SUHII estimate, especially for seasonal analysis. It can facilitate an improved understanding of urban thermal variations and benefit effective urban heat mitigation.

Numerous studies have pointed out that as the political and economic environment changes, the structures of corruption in China are constantly evolving. Specifically, the transaction-type corruption has surged and the auto-corruption (non-transactional administrative corruption) has receded. As such, what kind of structural characteristics does China's corruption types present today? What factors can help us explain the variances of these structural characteristics? Drawn on the quantitative analysis of a novel dataset, this study found that: in terms of personal traits, the gender of the defendant and urban–rural residence have a significant impact on the type of corruption; in the macro-institutional environment, the development of private economy and the size of the government have opposite effects on the composition of the corruption type. Privatization increases the probability of transaction-type corruption. The size of the government increases the probability of auto-corruption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following political turbulence and instability in the Middle East, Jordan has become a home for a large number of Palestinians, Iraqis, and Syrians, and now includes a significant number of Egyptians in its workforce. This growing diversity in the population has impacted the country not only socially and economically but quite noticeably in terms of identity politics and ethnic humour (how do indigenous people perceive the other(s) and how do others perceive the indigenous people?). This is explained through the rising tensions between Jordanians and Jordanians of Palestinian origin in relation to the formation of ethnic humour that is based on the idea of urban and rural division in Jordanian society. The discussion in this article argues that the people of Transjordanian towns, such as As-Salt, At-Tafilah, and As-Sarih, have 'unexpectedly' become the target of many ethnic jokes by the urbanites in Amman and elsewhere, who now make up the majority of Jordanians of Palestinian origin. The people of these Transjordanian small towns and villages have been the target of Jordanian ethnic humour because of their backwardness, lack of discretion, and stupidity, compared to the cleverness, modernity, and high culture of the Jordanian urbanites and their cultural superiority. However, since the 2011 Arab Spring, the people of these Transjordanian towns have developed a countersuperiority tendency to laugh at the powerful in urban centres and make fun of the government and its institutionalised discourse about reform and progress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following political turbulence and instability in the Middle East, Jordan has become a home for a large number of Palestinians, Iraqis, and Syrians, and now includes a significant number of Egyptians in its workforce. This growing diversity in the population has impacted the country not only socially and economically but quite noticeably in terms of identity politics and ethnic humour (how do indigenous people perceive the other(s) and how do others perceive the indigenous people?). This is explained through the rising tensions between Jordanians and Jordanians of Palestinian origin in relation to the formation of ethnic humour that is based on the idea of urban and rural division in Jordanian society. The discussion in this article argues that the people of Transjordanian towns, such as As-Salt, At-Tafilah, and As-Sarih, have ‘unexpectedly’ become the target of many ethnic jokes by the urbanites in Amman and elsewhere, who now make up the majority of Jordanians of Palestinian origin. The people of these Transjordanian small towns and villages have been the target of Jordanian ethnic humour because of their backwardness, lack of discretion, and stupidity, compared to the cleverness, modernity, and high culture of the Jordanian urbanites and their cultural superiority. However, since the 2011 Arab Spring, the people of these Transjordanian towns have developed a counter-superiority tendency to laugh at the powerful in urban centres and make fun of the government and its institutionalised discourse about reform and progress.

It remains unknown whether exposure to ambient air pollution can be a mediator linking socioeconomic indicator to health outcome. The present study aims to examine the mediation effect of PM2.5 air pollution on the association between urban–rural division and the incidence (mortality) rate of male lung cancer. We performed a nationwide analysis in 353 counties (districts) of China between 2006 and 2015. A structural equation model was developed to determine the mediation effect of exposure to PM2.5. We also tested whether the findings of the mediation effect of exposure to PM2.5 are sensitive to the controls of smoking factors and additional air pollutant, and PM2.5 exposures with different lag structures. According to the results, we found that exposure to PM2.5 significantly mediated the association between urban–rural division and the incidence rate of male lung cancer. Specifically, there were significant associations between urban–rural division, exposure to PM2.5, and the incidence rate of male lung cancer, with PM2.5 exposure accounting for 29.80% of total urban–rural difference in incidence rates of male lung cancer. A similar pattern of results was observed for the mortality rate of male lung cancer. That is, there was a significant mediation effect by PM2.5 on the association of the mortality rate with urban–rural division. The findings of exposure to PM2.5 as a mediator were robust in the three sensitivity analyses. In conclusion, urban–rural difference in exposures to PM2.5 may be a potential factor that contributes to urban–rural disparity in male lung cancer diseases in China. The findings inform that air pollution management and control may be effective measures to alleviate the great difference in male lung cancer diseases between urban and rural areas in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the factors that have led to the collapse of Baath-ruled Syria. It argues that the abandonment of the rentier – distributive economic system that had traditionally propped up the social base of the Baath party (labourers, farmers, and rural populations) and the adoption of liberal economic policies was key to the crisis. The end of the Cold War, the passing of resistance discourse, with the start of the Middle East peace process, and the information revolution have contributed to weakening the cultural and ideological hegemony of the Syrian Baath-ruled state. This led to increasing reliance on the security apparatus to control an increasingly young and educated society. The loosening economic grip of the state resulting from the abandonment of the public sector, and the rise of crony capitalism accompanied by the declining role of political socialisation (in schools and universities), and the loss of control over the flow of information, left the regime with no other option but resorting to violence to deal with the crisis. The peaceful opposition movement hitherto was transformed into an armed revolution, and then into a regional and international proxy war, with the rising role foreign interference in the crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between labor migration and the medical benefits of migrant children (MC) has long been a focus of empirical research. Based on the dynamic monitoring data of the migrant population in Hubei Province by the National Health and Family Planning Commission of China in 2014 and the characteristic data of prefecture‐level cities, this paper studies the impact of labor migration on the medical benefits of MC. The major findings of this paper are that in China, due to the huge spatial differences in medical services, the migration of labor to urban areas with better public services helps to improve the medical benefits of women during pregnancy and lying‐in period, and at the same time significantly enhances the medical benefits of the MC. In contrast, due to the relative lag of the reform in social security system such as household registration and medical care, in the long run, labor migration is not conducive to the improvement of the medical benefits of MC. Based on the above findings, this paper suggests that in the short‐term, more public resources should be allocated to the urban medical supply, especially at the primary level, and in the long‐term, the adjustment of public policies should be aimed at eliminating urban‐rural differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Events such as Brexit and the Gilet Jaunes protests have highlighted the spatial nature of populism. In particular, there has been increasing political divergence between urban and rural areas, with rural areas apparently having lost faith in national governments. We investigate this divergence using data on over 125,000 EU citizens from the European Social Survey from 2008 to 2018. We show that people in rural areas have lower political trust than urban or peri-urban residents, with this difference clear for six different forms of political institutions, including politicians, political parties, and national parliaments. There has been divergence of political trust between urban and rural Europe since 2008, although this is primarily driven by Southern Europe. While these results can partly be explained by demographic differences between cities and the countryside, divergent economic experiences, differences in values, and perceptions that public services are less effective outside of urban areas, there is a residual 'rural effect' beyond this. We argue that the polarisation of urban-rural political trust has important implications for the functioning of European democracies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]