Towards a new methodological framework for the delimitation of rural and urban areas: a case study of Serbia

Abstract: Identification of urban and rural areas has been a widely present topic in the past decades, both in scientific research and in the policy and practice of spatial/regional development and territorial governance. The internationally accepted OECD definition does not produce appropriate results that are able to include the multidimensionality of these territories. In this context, the aim of this paper is the analysis and selection of relevant criteria and indicators of urbanity/rurality that may be significant for the establishment of a methodological framework for identifying urban and rural areas in Serbia. Multivariate analysis (PCA, FA and CA) was used to group local self-government units (LSGU) in Serbia that share similar characteristics. The research resulted in five types of areas which indicate that rural and urban areas in Serbia are very diverse in terms of physiogeographical, socio-economic and functional characteristics. The results of this paper offer a more detailed analysis based on scientifically and empirically selected indicators and can be applied in the practice of spatial and urban planning, and in the adaptation of strategic development documents at the regional or national level.     

Evaluating consumer preferences for health care services in rural Australia

Service provision to remote rural areas is extremely costly, and only likely to be effective if the services provided are appropriate and accessible to the population. To date, little is known about the attitudes of rural residents (both townsfolk and the farming population) to various services. This study examines people's attitudes towards services generally, and health services in particular, and relates their attitudes to sociodemographic variables and geographical location. The results show the overwhelming importance attributed to health services, particularly medical services, and that attitudes differ significantly according to place of residence and by age group. These findings have major implications for those responsible for formulating policies relating to service provision for rural areas.     

Measuring the need for primary health care: an index of relative disadvantage

The prime objective of primary health care provision is the maintenance or improvement of the population's health. The equitable distribution of resources is paramount to this and measures of disadvantage are implemented to assess differential levels of need as a basis for calculating deprivation payments according to general practitioner workload. Despite research that highlights the benefits of measures of social disadvantage, indices have not been used to fundamentally shape resource allocation for health authorities. This paper uses the results from a patient survey into utilization behaviour to define and model the determinants of the need for health care based on components of relative need and accessibility. Proxy indicators are derived from routine sources of data to create an Index of Relative Disadvantage (IRD). A sensitivity analysis confirms the robustness of the index and shows that—although the index employs a wider range of variables than most previous deprivation indices—there is no gross data redundancy. Simplified versions of the index are also explored and evaluated. The IRD developed here is closely correlated with other indices of disadvantage, but its greater breadth and more logical construction mean that it may be more likely to be a more widely applicable instrument for health care planning of resource allocation.     

Appreciating migration flows for health/social services planning: A case study of older adults leaving from New York to Florida

This paper utilizes the 2009/2010/2011 American Community Survey to examine spatial patterns of later-life relocation from the state of New York into Florida. Given that the first-wave of the Baby Boom generation reached the retirement age of 65 years in January 2011 and many more will continue to do so, examining the mobility/subsequent residential choices of this group is a worthwhile undertaking. This research paper is also a noteworthy contribution because it offers an interdisciplinary study of spatial statistics and population geography. Exploratory spatial analysis and multinomial regressions suggest older adults from New York leave select origins, such as Capital District, Mid-Hudson, and Lower Hudson. In addition, these older adults select preferred destinations in Florida, such as Fort Myers, Fort Pierce–Stuart, and West Palm Beach. This finding can inform planners, policy analysts, and social workers about how to best address issues related to health and community services since not all older adult migrants seeking coastal and recreational areas in Florida maintain greater wealth and better health.     

Exploiting available data sources: location/allocation modeling for health service planning in rural Ghana

The preconditions for applying GIS-based location-allocation analysis for health service planning in rural Ghana are examined in terms of data availability and quality. A population map is established from the latest available census using geo-coding methods and digital topographic sheets. A vector-based transport model of the region is established by merging data from several sources including GPS. It is suggested that a hybrid transport model is required. This model combines the possibilities for all-direction transportation inherent in the raster-based approach with the possibilities for road/path transportation inherent in the vector-based approach. All-direction movements are expected to take place close to the villages in order to reach a suitable linear transport corridor represented by a vector. Several scenarios for improving the accessibility aspects of the health service provision are examined in light of Ghana's current health service policy. Location-allocation modelling tools are used to select optimal locations and provide statistics on average distance to health centres and percentage of population covered.     

Measuring spatial accessibility to primary care in rural areas: Improving the effectiveness of the two-step floating catchment area method

Quantifying spatial accessibility in relation to the provision of rural health services has proven difficult. This article critically appraises the two-step floating catchment area (2SFCA) method, a recent solution for measuring primary care service accessibility across rural areas of Victoria, Australia. The 2SFCA method is demonstrated to have two fundamental shortcomings – specifically the use of only one catchment size for all populations, and secondly the assumption that proximity is undifferentiated within a catchment (especially problematic when the catchment is large). Despite its advantages over simple population-to-provider ratios, the 2SFCA method needs to be used with caution.     

A modelling framework for the study of Spatial Data Infrastructures applied to coastal management and planning

The continuous development of Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI) provides a favourable context for environmental management and planning. However, it appears that the actual contribution of SDIs should also depend on the correlation between users’ expectations and the services delivered to them. Several studies have addressed some organizational, methodological and technological aspects of the development of SDIs. However, only a few studies have, to the best of our knowledge, studied SDI use at large. This article introduces a methodological approach oriented towards the study of the relationship between SDIs and the users interacting with them as part of their professional practices. Our study is applied to coastal zone management and planning in France. This approach combines structural and data flow modelling. The former is based on Social Network Analysis (SNA) and the latter on Data Flow Diagrams (DFD). This modelling approach has been applied to an online questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. The results identify the SDIs, geographical data flows and institutional levels implied in French coastal zone management and planning.     

Planning hierarchical hospital service areas for maternal care using a network optimization approach: A case study in Hubei,China

Improving maternal health is one of the Sustainable Development Goals. Hospital service areas (HSAs), which contain most hospitalization behaviors at the local scale, are crucial for health care planning. However, little attention has been given to HSAs for maternal care and the hierarchy structure. Considering Hubei, central China, as a case study, this study aims to fill these gaps by developing a method for delineating hierarchical HSAs for maternal care using a network optimization approach. The approach is driven by actual patient flow data and has an explicit objective to maximize the modularity. It also establishes the hierarchical structure of maternal care HSAs, which is fundamental for the planning of hierarchical maternal care and referral systems. In our case study, 45 secondary HSAs and 22 tertiary HSAs are delineated to achieve maximal modularity. The HSAs perform well in terms of indices such as the Localization Index and Market Share Index. Furthermore, there is a complementary relationship between secondary and tertiary hospitals, which suggests the need for referral system planning. This study can provide evidence for the validity of the HSA and the planning of maternal care HSAs in China. It also provides transferable methods for planning hierarchical HSAs in other developing countries.     

基于GIS的土壤全氮空间分布估算——以江西省兴国县为例

运用GIS的空间分析技术和DEM,在区域范围内,可以表征基于母岩和地形因子的土壤-景观模型。本次研究根据兴国县151个样点数据,分析TN和地形因子的相关关系,建立回归模型,进行估算。结果表明:表层土壤中TN含量平均值为1.06g/kg,千枚岩发育的土壤中TN的平均含量最高,为1.35g/kg ;砂页岩发育的土壤中TN的平均含量最低,为0.88g/kg 。空间分布上:TN含量在0.5g/kg~1.0g/kg的面积最大,为1580km²,TN含量在2.0g/kg以上的面积最小,为127km²。地形变量中坡向对TN含量影响最大,TN含量和母岩、海拔、坡向存在着正相关关系,坡度和TN含量的相关关系不明显。利用回归分析模型和DEM(30m×30m),估算TN的空间分布,R²为0.637。     

农业多功能性与都市区土地利用管理——框架和案例分析

采用理论和案例分析相结合的方法探讨了农业多功能性对都市区土地利用管理的意义和实现途径。论文从农业多功能性的多尺度嵌套层级结构出发,构建了基于农业多功能性评价的都市区土地利用管理框架,然后基于高清卫星遥感影像解译、文献资料整理等分析了北京市海淀区1968—2014年间土地利用、农业多功能性和土地利用管理措施的变化及相互作用。研究指出：都市区土地利用管理者应该在区域尺度和农户/农园尺度农业多功能性评价的基础上,围绕农户/农园与区域、国家等各级社会经济系统的相互作用,从改进土地用途管制分区和发展多功能农业两个方面进行区域的农业用地管理。最后,展望了未来的研究方向,希望优化都市区土地利用管理,推动都市型现代农业建设,并促进区域可持续发展。     

Maintaining a sustainable economic base in rural towns: a case study of Leeton

Leeton, a town of 6000 in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, has in recent times suffered major economic upheaval. In 1993 the Letona Co‐operative stone fruit cannery, Leeton's masthead industry since 1921, was placed in receivership and closed after extensive search for a new investor in stone fruit processing failed. The removal of a substantial income stream from the local community has placed great stress on Leeton's economic and social fabric. However, the town in recent years has developed an economy that is no longer completely reliant on a narrow range of agricultural processing and service activities. Utilising factors of location, irrigation‐supported production flexibility and security, cheap land and utilities, and a stable and productive workforce, the combined efforts of the Leeton Shire Council, local community groups, the Riverina Development Board, and State Government departments have attracted a range of new industries to the town and shire over the past decade. It is these industries that will allow Leeton to survive the loss of Letona, sustain its economy and look to the future with confidence.     

沿海发达地区农村老龄人口的居家养老特征 ——以浙江慈溪为例

农村老龄人口是21世纪我国面临和亟待解决的一个重要问题。以浙江慈溪农村老龄人口的居家养老状况的问卷调查为基础,运用人口地理学方法研究了沿海发达地区农村老龄人口的居家养老特征。结果表明:① 农村老龄人口居住条件最突出的问题是基本生活设施的配套普及与特困户、一般拥挤户的居住面积狭小。② 农村老龄人口日常生活节奏具有一定的规律性,但休闲娱乐活动的需求层次亟需提高。③ 农村老龄人口与子女同住比例较低,"空巢"老人的生活值得关注。④ 农村老龄人口经济状况表现为低收入、低消费。⑤农村老龄人口的日常自理功能要比社会服务设施利用功能好,患病就医率低的深层次原因是经济承受能力。⑥ 农村老龄人口对居家养老服务需求较大,部分精神慰藉难以得到满足。     

Integrating GIS and data warehousing in a Web environment: A case study of the US 1880 Census

While the business intelligence sector, involving data warehouses and online analytical processing (OLAP) technologies, is experiencing strong growth in the IT marketplace, relatively little attention has been devoted to the problem of utilizing such tools in conjunction with GIS. This study contributes to the development of this research area by examining the issues involved in the design and implementation of an integrated data warehouse and GIS system that delivers analytical OLAP and mapping results in real‐time across the Web. The case study chosen utilizes individual records from the US 1880 population census, which have recently been made available by the North Atlantic Population Project. Although historical datasets of this kind present a number of challenges for data warehousing, the results indicate that the integrated approach adopted offers a much more flexible and powerful analytical methodology for this kind of large social science dataset than has hitherto been available.     

区域生态敏感性评估的理论框架与模型设计——以陕西省为例

生态敏感性评估可以为管控生态风险与保障区域生态安全提供决策依据。在生态敏感性定义的基础之上运用经济学理论构建生态敏感性评估的理论模型,以土地利用转移几率比替代矩阵作为敏感性评价因子,并且利用生态系统服务价值的实际值与预测值之比的绝对值作为区域生态敏感性指数。结果表明：① 设计的生态敏感性评估方法可以弥补现有生态敏感性评估方法的不足,不仅可以观测到区域敏感性因子还能有效地进行敏感性分区,并且在不同尺度下得到了可靠的结果。② 在各县（区）最主要敏感性因子的列示中,陕西省1990—2000年以生态破坏因子为主导;而2000年以后,退耕还林工程导致耕地→林地、耕地→草地成为陕北地区最重要的敏感因子,陕南秦巴山区与关中地区由于众多水利工程建设导致生态系统服务价值对草地→水域因子的响应程度比较高。③ 陕西省总体敏感性由南向北呈现“低敏感-高敏感”间隔有序的基本格局,并且呈现空间上集聚、时间上稳定的状态;高敏感区主要分布沿秦岭、“子午岭-黄陵山”分布,低敏感区主要分布在关中平原以及榆林中部地区。     

Developing a comprehensive evaluation method for Interconnected River System Network assessment: A case study in Tangxun Lake group

Journal of Geographical Sciences - The Interconnected River System Network (IRSN) plays a crucial role in water resource allocation, water ecological restoration and water quality improvement. It...     

Predicting socioeconomic conditions from satellite sensor data in rural developing countries: A case study using female literacy in Assam,India

Social data from census and household surveys provide key information for monitoring the status of populations, but the data utility can be limited by temporal gaps between surveys. Recent studies have pointed to the potential for remotely sensed satellite sensor data to be used as proxies for social data. Such an approach could provide valuable information for the monitoring of populations between enumeration periods. Field observations in Assam, north-east India suggested that socioeconomic conditions could be related to patterns in the type and abundance of local land cover dynamics prompting the development of a more formal approach. This research tested if environmental data derived from remotely sensed satellite sensor data could be used to predict a socioeconomic outcome using a generalised autoregressive error (GAR_err) model. The proportion of female literacy from the 2001 Indian National Census was used as an indicator of socioeconomic conditions. A significant positive correlation was found with woodland and a significant negative correlation with winter cropland (i.e., additional cropping beyond the normal cropping season). The dependence of female literacy on distance to nearest road was very small. The GAR_err model reduced residual spatial autocorrelation and revealed that the logistic regression model over-estimated the significance of the explanatory covariates. The results are promising, while also revealing the complexities of population–environment interactions in rural, developing world contexts. Further research should explore the prediction of socioeconomic conditions using fine spatial resolution satellite sensor data and methods that can account for such complexities.     

农旅融合视角下新型乡村社会关系架构及提升路径——以浙江金华陈界村为例

农旅融合发展作为当前推进乡村建设的重要引擎,为实现乡村振兴,促进新型乡村社会关系下的旅游产业差异化、合作化、创新化发展,基于传统的乡村熟人社会关系特征,梳理乡村社会关系转型要素构架,构建农旅融合视角下亲缘、地缘、业缘、志缘、外缘关系综合作用的新型乡村社会关系“五缘增上”机理模型。通过实地调研、深度访谈,结合GIS空间分析陈界村农旅融合发展中的社会关系特征,总结得出：乡村社会的五缘关系相互支撑、相互渗透、相互反馈,亲缘关系趋向功利化,但仍占主导地位,非亲缘关系正呈现不断增强的趋势。最终,从乡村五缘互补发展路径、乡村人才凝聚振兴路径、利益联合共同信任路径三方面提出发展意见,助推乡村振兴,为乡村旅游产业发展提供借鉴和参考。     

Analyzing space-time evolution of rural transition in a rapidly urbanizing region: A case study of Suzhou,China

Journal of Geographical Sciences - Influenced by globalization, rural transition in developed Western countries has experienced processes of productivism, post-productivism, and multifunctional...     

Determination of Lg-wave attenuation using single-station seismograms: a case study for Zimbabwe

In this paper we show how the quality factor Q may be calculated using a single seismograph station and a number of events recorded on analogue seismograms. We followed Nuttli's (1973) method and extended it to one seismograph station. Using the single station Bulawayo (BUL), we determined a mean Q value of 650 for Zimbabwe. Furthermore, we considered different propagation paths over Zimbabwe as the seismic waves travelled to BUL and found a low Q value of 350 for the Deka fault zone. the Q value of 650 obtained in this study agrees well within error with that of 603 reported by Chow et al. (1980) using the multistation, multi-event method, and lies within the range of Q values (454–759) reported by Xie & Mitchell (1990) using a 'back-project'method to image large-scale lateral variations of Lg coda Q . the results obtained are important as the Q value constitutes part of the input data in seismic hazard calculations. the method may be used to determine Q in regions where there may be only one station with reliable analogue seismogram data.     

Towards a more sustainable process industry: A single case study of restructuring within the Eyde process industry cluster

ABSTRACT

Due to increased attention on environmental issues, industrial sustainable restructuring is high on the research agenda. The article adds to the literature through an analysis of a restructuring process within a Norwegian process industry cluster. By introducing an analytical framework combining the concepts of entrepreneurial discovery process and path dependency theory, the article offers a deeper understanding of the role of various types of actors in processes of restructuring. The authors categorise the actors as either firm-level entrepreneurs or system-level entrepreneurs on the basis of their motivation. While the former are motivated mainly by firm success, the latter find their motivation mainly in developing systemic factors. The analytical framework suggests a stepwise analysis of the restructuring, and in each step, the significance and interplay between the two types of entrepreneurs are discussed. Finally, the authors discuss the potential for new path development following from this process. The case study illustrates the important role of system-level entrepreneurs as facilitators and of firm-level entrepreneurs as utilisers of opportunities. The empirical case demonstrates that the two types of entrepreneurs are highly interactive throughout the restructuring process. The article contributes to existing literature by advancing the actor perspective in new path development.