•We analyze the theoretical framework for land consolidation boosting poverty alleviation.•The mechanisms and paths behind land consolidation China’s poverty reduction are explored.•Land ...consolidation can help to promote rural development, increase farmers’ income and reduce poverty.•Land consolidation has social, economic and ecological benefits.•The third-party assessment of the whole process of land consolidation is urgently needed.
Regional impoverishment is an external manifestation of unbalanced human-land relationship in specific areas. The important role of the full utilization of land resources in alleviating the man-land contradiction has been gradually recognized. As one of the most prominent poverty-stricken countries in the world, China has been innovating the way of land use to alleviate poverty. Under the background of land system innovation, land consolidation is an instrument to alleviate poverty. This study first analyzed the mechanism and path behind land consolidation boosting poverty alleviation, then systematically reviewed the evolution of China’s land policies related to poverty alleviation since 1978, and finally explained the successful practice of land consolidation boosting poverty alleviation through a typical case study. Results show that land consolidation has multi-functional characteristics. Land consolidation has played an active role in increasing cultivated land area, promoting agricultural production scale, improving rural production conditions and living environment, alleviating ecological risk and supporting for rural development. It also helps to create employment opportunities, promote the capitalization of land resources, widen the way for farmers to increase their income, solve the predicament of lack of land, technology and funds faced by the development of poor areas and revitalize rural economy, thus contributing to rural development and poverty alleviation. Nevertheless, third-party assessment of the whole process of socio-economic and ecological impacts of land consolidation is still needed. Decision-making of land consolidation needs to take full account of different stakeholders’ interests and bottom-up participation is also necessary. These findings will provide beneficial reference for making-decision for sustainable land use and effective poverty alleviation in other developing countries.
Research of PM2.5 chronic health effects requires knowledge of large-scale and long-term exposure that is not supported by newly established monitoring networks due to their sparse spatial coverage ...and lack of historical measurements. Estimating PM2.5 using satellite-derived aerosol optical depth (AOD) can be used to fill the data gap left by the ground monitors and extend the PM2.5 data coverage to suburban and rural areas over long time periods. Two approaches have been applied in large-scale and long-term satellite remote sensing of PM2.5, i.e., the scaling and statistical approaches. Compared to the scaling method, the statistical approach has greater prediction accuracy and has been widely used. There is a gap in the current literature and review papers on how the statistical methods work and specific considerations to best utilize them, especially for large-scale and long-term estimates. In this critical review, we summarize the evolution of large-scale and long-term PM2.5 statistical models reported in the literature. We describe the framework and guidance of large-scale and long-term satellite-based PM2.5 modeling in data preparation, model development, validation, and predictions. Sample computer codes are provided to expedite new model-building efforts. We also include useful considerations and recommendations in covariates selection, addressing the spatiotemporal heterogeneities of PM2.5-AOD relationships, and the usage of cross validation, to aid the determination of the final model.
•Large-scale and long-term satellite-based PM2.5 statistical models were reviewed.•The evolution, framework, and detailed process of the models were summarized.•Selection of the best model depends on the context and purpose of the application.•We should not solely rely on cross validation indicators to determine a final model.•Analyzing model sensitivity, addressing concept drift, and utilizing new satellite data are future directions.
Subjective well-being and place loyalty in Rural areas Ramin Alborzi; Raana Shaykh-Baygloo; Saeed Reza Akbarian Ronizi
Rifāh-i ijtimāʻī : faṣlnāmah-i ʻilmī, pizhūhishī,
05/2023, Letnik:
23, Številka:
88
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Introduction: Subjective well-being is the subjective component of quality of life. People with higher subjective well-being are expected to feel a good sense toward their surrounding environment, ...especially their residence place. Investigation of the relationship between subjective well-being and place loyalty is especially important for rural areas of Iran, which have lost a large number of their population. Method: The present study is an applied research with the descriptive-analytical approach. The research data were collected mainly by filling in the questionnaire. The statistical population of this study is the rural areas with a population of at least 100 people located in Dasht-e-Arzhan rural district, and the analysis unit is all people aged 18 and over. Data were analyzed using one-sample T-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficient and ETA coefficient applying the SPSS software. Findings: The levels of place loyalty and subjective well-being are higher than the average. There is no significant difference between the studied villages in terms of level of subjective well-being, and the level of place loyalty as well. At the 95% confidence level, there is a positive and significant relationship between subjective well-being and place loyalty. There is a significant relationship between subjective well-being and variables of marital status, immigration history of relatives, age and residence length in the village. The relationship between place loyalty and variables of marital status, relatives' immigration history, age and residence length in the village is also significant. Discussion: Subjective well-being along with objective well-being and some other factors can explain the loyalty of individuals and households to their settlements. These findings can be used by rural policymakers and planners to take appropriate actions aimed at sustainable development of rural communities.
This study presents one of many rural area revitalization programs conducted in contemporary China. Using the case of an art-led revitalization program conducted by Ningbo Municipality in cooperation ...with Renmin University (Beijing) in three villages (Gejia, Chengyang, and Dingwang), we analyze the relational role of art and art practices as part of rural communities' development. We focus on material changes in the villages and symbolic, less measurable ones. We describe how the program helped to revitalize relationships with place (person - place), how the changes in material surroundings influenced relationships among people (person - person), and how they reshaped the bonds connecting people and their natural surroundings (person - nature). We address four main questions: (1) how the program was possible and financed; (2) what is the art concept used to promote positive changes; (3) how art and place-making processes are intertwined; and (4) what is the future of this program in Gejia, Chengyang and Dingwang villages. We also show how the above-mentioned processes may help combat poverty and depopulation in rural areas.
BackgroundChina consumes about 40% of the world's cigarettes, predominantly by men, following a large increase in recent decades. We assess sex-specific prevalence and changing patterns of smoking in ...Chinese adults in the current decade.MethodsA nationally representative survey of smoking was conducted in 2010 among 100 000 Chinese adults aged ≥18 years, using a multistage stratified cluster sampling method. Information on smoking frequency, type, amount, age started and quitting was collected. Sex-specific standardised prevalence and means were analysed and compared with estimates in the 1996 national survey.ResultsIn Chinese men aged ≥18, 62.4% were ever-smokers in 2010, including 54.0% current smokers and 8.4% ex-smokers. The smoking prevalence was higher in rural than in urban men (63.9% vs 58.4%). In younger men, the age to start smoking was earlier and exclusive cigarette use was much higher. Among current smokers, only 17.3% intended to quit. Compared with a similar survey in 1996 among adults aged 30–69, more smokers had quit in 2010 than in 1996 (11.0% vs 4.2%), but the number of cigarettes smoked per current smoker was higher (17.9 vs 15.2). In Chinese women, only 3.4% ever smoked and there has been a large intergenerational decrease in smoking uptake rates. In 2010, there were 318 million current smokers in China, consuming an estimated 1740 billion cigarettes.ConclusionsThe prevalence of smoking remained extremely high in men, but low and falling in Chinese women. Tobacco smoking remains an important public health issue in China, and stronger and more efficient tobacco control is urgently needed.
The aim of the research was to identify functional changes of villages in peripheral area of Kłodzko County in the Sudetes Mountains in southwestern Poland. The study area has for many decades been ...classified as a marginal and problem region, mainly due to a substantial trend of long-term depopulation. However, in recent years the signs of economic revival have been observed. The study innovatively uses the functional typology of the smallest administrative units (villages) to recognize the character and spatial differentiation of functional transformations of these localities in the last 15 years following Polish accession to the European Union. The analyses were based on the data from the National Official Business Register. The results show an increase in the number of villages with dominant service functions, especially in tourism, and decrease in numbers of villages with the dominant agricultural sector. These changes can be interpreted as an illustration of evolutionary multifunctional rural development in marginal areas, which also affects villages previously classified as declining. The findings allow for proposing a new category of a “reviving village”. Significant spatial differentiation of functional changes in the problem region suggests that local conditions exert a considerable influence on the course and scale of transformation in rural areas. Effectively, “problem area” is a heterogeneous category. Therefore there is a vital need for in-depth analyses, including new typologies, of the smallest administrative units (villages), to capture current processes in rural areas and to adapt strategies, support, and development policies to local assets and site-specific needs.
•Signs of economic revival in peripheral rural areas including depopulating villages.•A new category of a “reviving village” to describe processes in some marginal areas.•A functional typology of villages to capture current transformations in rural areas.•Increase in the number of villages with service functions, decrease in agriculture.•Tourism potential is vital for the economic revival in the marginal region.
Sağlık hizmetlerinin bizzat hizmeti kullananlarca değerlendirilmesi, sağlık sektöründe kalitenin geliştirilmesine katkıda bulunmaktadır. Çalışma, Eskişehir kırsal ve yarı-kırsalında yaşayan kişilerin ...aile hekimliği hizmetlerinden yararlanma durumlarını belirlemek amacıyla planlandı. Kesitsel tipteki araştırma, Eskişehir Alpu ve Beylikova ilçelerinde yapıldı. Toplam 2482 haneye ulaşıldı ve araştırmaya katılmayı kabul eden toplam 2351 hane (%94.7) ile araştırma yürütüldü. Araştırma verileri, 14 soruluk bir anket formunun yüz yüze görüşme tekniği kullanılarak uygulanması ile toplandı. Veriler tanımlayıcı istatistikler ve ki-kare testi kullanılarak analiz edildi. Araştırmaya katılanların %89.6’sı yarı-kırsal bölgede ASM’den sağlık hizmeti almakta olup, %82.4’ünün hastalandıklarında mesai saatleri içerisinde ilk başvurdukları kurum, bölgelerindeki birinci basamak sağlık kurumu idi. Araştırmaya katılanların %72.3’ü reçetelerin kullanımı hakkında, %71.4’ü hastalıkları hakkında ve %52.9’u hastalık dışı sağlık konularındaki bilgilendirmeyi yeterli bulduklarını belirtti. Katılımcıların %70.8’i aile hekiminin muayeneye ayırdığı süreyi yeterli bulmaktaydı. Katılımcıların %29.9’u verilen aşı hizmetinin, %25.8’i gebe takibi hizmetinin, %40.2’si tansiyon ölçümü hizmetinin ve %41.1’i enjeksiyon hizmetinin mevcut sistemde önceki sisteme göre daha iyi olduğunu belirtti. İlk başvurulan kurum olarak yarı kırsal alandaki kişiler daha çok birinci basamak sağlık hizmetini kullanırken, özellikle koruyucu sağlık hizmetleri konusunda kırsaldakiler yeni sistemden daha çok memnundular. Ülkemizde aile hekimliğinin sunum şekline yönelik olarak yapılan bir araştırma olmaması bu konuda daha geniş çaplı araştırmaların yapılması gerekliliğini ortaya koymaktadır
In many developing countries those living in poverty are unable to participate in markets due to the weakness or complete absence of supportive institutions. This study examines in microcosm such ...institutional voids and illustrates the activities of an entrepreneurial actor in rural Bangladesh aimed at addressing them. The findings enable us to better understand why institutional voids originate and to unpack institutional processes in a setting characterized by extreme resource constraints and an institutional fabric that is rich but often at odds with market development. We depict the crafting of new institutional arrangements as an ongoing process of bricolage and unveil its political nature as well as its potentially negative consequences.
Objective
This study examined the effects of overweight/obesity on mortality and morbidity outcomes and the disparities, time trends, and projected future obesity health burden in China.
Methods
...Cohort studies that were conducted in China and published in English or Chinese between January 1, 1995, and July 31, 2021, were systematically searched. This study focused on overweight/obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, metabolic syndrome, cancers, and chronic kidney disease.
Results
A total of 31 cohorts and 50 cohort studies reporting on mortality (n = 20) and morbidities (n = 30) associated with obesity met study inclusion criteria. Overall, BMI was nonlinearly (U‐shaped) associated with all‐cause mortality and linearly associated with risks of T2DM, cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, cancer, metabolic syndrome, and chronic kidney disease. In 2018, among adults, the prevalence of overweight/obesity, hypertension, and T2DM was 51.2%, 27.5%, and 12.4%, respectively. Their future projected prevalence would be 70.5%, 35.4%, and 18.5% in 2030, respectively. The projected number of adults having these conditions would be 810.65 million, 416.47 million, and 217.64 million, respectively. The urban‐rural disparity in overweight/obesity prevalence was projected to shrink and then reverse over time.
Conclusions
The current health burden of obesity in China is high and it will sharply increase in coming years and affect population groups differently. China needs to implement vigorous interventions for obesity prevention and treatment.
This paper discusses the challenges faced by rural learners in South Africa in the context of the world pandemic commonly known as COVID-19. Rural learners face unprecedented challenges in adjusting ...to a new mode of life and learning, the latter being characterised by the predominant use of online, learning management systems and low-tech applications. The paper is informed by critical emancipatory research, I used participatory action research. A total of 10 learners and five teachers participated via Whatsapp. The paper answers two questions: what are the learning challenges faced by rural learners in South Africa, and how can online learning be enhanced in the context of COVID-19? The findings suggest that, while the South African government is promoting online learning as the only alternative in the context of COVID-19, this mode excludes many rural learners from teaching and learning, due to a lack of resources to connect to the internet, the learning management system, and low-tech software. The paper argues that rural learners are critical stakeholders in education and in the fight against COVID-19, and they cannot be left behind in efforts to fight the pandemic.
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