Strategies for the socio-economic development of Russian regions must necessarily include sections devoted to spatial aspects, which in some cases, however, fail to reach their goals due to crude ...methodological recommendations aimed at effective problem-solving within the regional strategy. The paper discusses the theoretical and methodological fundamentals of sections on spatial development included in the socio-economic development strategies of the RF subjects (using the case of the Ural Federal District (UrFO)). The study rests on the theories of strategic management, as well as regional and municipal management. The research data are obtained from regulatory documents and strategies for the socio-economic development of the UrFO subjects. Qualitative analysis methods were used. We reveal the structural specificity, goals, indicators and measures covered in the sections on spatial development. Despite the existence of the methodological recommendations, each RF subject tends to establish the structure of the ‘spatial’ section based on regional priorities and characteristics. The article reports on the most successful practices of spatial planning in terms of agglomerations and clusters, placement of industrial and social facilities, infrastructure, including the functional zoning of territory, identification of the promising areas of the region’s existing and emerging economic centers’ specialization, etc. Based on the research findings, we recommend to more actively use zoning by the level of socio-economic development, pinpoint promising growth points relating them to the current strategic projects, and develop target indicators more accurately considering the dynamics of population settlement, location of production and infrastructure development.
This critical review paper scrutinizes development corridors as ‘dreamscapes of modernity’ and showcases of ‘future-making’. I argue that corridors have become dominant blue-prints for spatial ...development because of a specific way in which they express, perform and implement ‘desirable futures’. I refer to three strands of conceptual debates. The first discusses how futures are ‘made’ and can be empirically approached through practices of future-making. The second looks at imaginations of African futures in relation to images of the continent itself. The third takes the empirical example of development corridors in Africa to scrutinize their meaning as ‘dreamscapes of modernity’. At the end, I will revisit recent calls for closer integration between economic geography and development studies, to which I suggest to add a concern for post- and decolonial positions and ‘theory from the south’.
Gender differences in spatial aptitude are well established by adulthood, particularly when measured by tasks that require the mental rotation of objects (Linn & Petersen, 1985; Voyer, Voyer, & ...Bryden, 1995). Although the male advantage in mental rotation performance represents one of the most robust gender differences in adult cognition, the developmental trajectory of this male advantage remains a topic of considerable debate. To address this debate, we meta-analyzed 303 effect sizes pertaining to gender differences in mental rotation performance among 30,613 children and adolescents. We found significant developmental change in the magnitude of the gender difference: A small male advantage in mental rotation performance first emerged during childhood and then subsequently increased with age, reaching a moderate effect size during adolescence. Procedural factors, including task and stimulus characteristics, also accounted for variability in reported gender differences, even when controlling for the effect of age. These results demonstrate that both age and procedural characteristics moderate the magnitude of the gender difference in mental rotation throughout development.
Public Significance Statement
This meta-analysis documents the development of gender differences in spatial reasoning, finding that boys first outperform girls on mental rotation tasks during primary school and that this male advantage subsequently increases with age into adolescence. Because children's spatial skills predict their later science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) achievement, addressing the gender difference in mental rotation early in childhood may help to minimize later gender disparities in STEM success.
Rapid urbanisation has not only affected the division of urban administrative regions and economic development but also caused changes in land use patterns and urban-rural conflicts. Apart from being ...the main determinants of regional integration, urban agglomerations also represent a new form of spatial organisation to realise coordinated regional development. This study investigates China’s national urban agglomeration development planning, which is guided by government decision-making and various plans aimed at sustainable land use. We use the TF-IDF algorithm, NVivo and statistical methods to analyse the keywords of urban agglomeration policies and the correlation between keywords. We also compare the positioning goals, focus areas and development paths of urban agglomeration policies. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) Urban agglomeration development planning mainly focuses on industrial construction, with additional emphasis on ‘ecology’, ‘service’, ‘cooperation’, ‘innovation’ and ‘region’ (2) On the basis of development and cooperation, urban agglomeration development planning puts forward research objectives and positioning suitable for development; (3) Urban agglomeration development should further develop modern agriculture, emergency systems, ecological construction and internal cooperation. This study’s findings describe new ideas found by comparing urban agglomeration policies, which is helpful to understand the basis of formulating urban agglomeration development planning policies in China, and look forward to the long-term planning for the development of regional integration characteristics in China.
•Local urban interaction focuses on the use of land space and sustainable development in the region.•The analytical framework and method of comparative urban agglomeration development planning are put forward.•The spatial layout and long-term planning of China’s regional integration development is analysed comparatively.•Modern agriculture, emergency systems, ecological construction and internal cooperation need urgent attention.
The article presents the results of a study of the planning proposals put forward in the urban planning documents of the second half of the 20th - early 21st century for Novosibirsk. Given the ...changed context of planning system functioning, it is important to develop and apply new spatial models based on a strategic vision for the development of large cities. It is shown that the urban planning approach is the basis for the regulation and development of spatial planning despite the fact that the lack of comprehensive implementation today is contributing to its discrediting. Based on a comparison of strategic plans for large cities in Russia and abroad and Novosibirsk’s urban planning system development, principles of Novosibirsk functional and spatial organization in the 21st century are proposed.
While discussions are ongoing about the exact meaning of car dependence, its assessment has been primarily qualitative. The few quantitative approaches adopted so far have tended to analyze either ...high car use and ownership or a lack of public transport accessibility as indicators of car dependence. This study aims to quantitatively evaluate car dependence in Munich after merging these three aspects—car use, ownership, and lack of public transportation—and identify its associated potential spatial predictors. The exploratory approach is applied to traffic zones in the transit service area around Munich, Germany, which includes calculating an indicator for car dependence and its linkage with socio-spatial factors using multiple linear regression. For this purpose, traffic data from 2017 and census data from 2011 are used, which are the most recent available. It was found that car dependence is higher in suburban areas with low local numbers of employees, low land costs, and high average income tax payments. Identifying areas with higher car dependence and associated factors can help decision makers focus on or prioritize these areas in providing better access to alternative transportation and basic opportunities. Future research could focus on application in additional regions, using recent and aligned data, and further combinations with qualitative research.