Border City Research Articles

Cannabis Licensing and Municipal Revenues

Municipal license policy has shaped the early roll-out and business outcomes of Proposition 64. Several stakeholders identify license availability as a key constraint to future cannabis market growth in California. Recent studies explore local cannabis licensing policy; however, key questions remain around municipal revenues, business location, and the role of supporting cannabis business ownership. Our paper explores the impacts of cannabis licensing on business locations and municipal taxable revenues. We use publicly-available Department of Cannabis Control licensing data to examine business locations using GIS analysis, conduct a regression analysis of city-level licenses and Department of Tax and Fee Administration revenues across California, and forecast potential municipal taxable revenues in South Bay Los Angeles. We find that licensed cannabis businesses appear to develop in Los Angeles County and are located close to borders of cities not issuing licenses, in areas of favorable zoning, in densely populated locations, and areas with higher poverty and minority populations. Our regression analysis suggests that city population drives municipal taxable revenue, indicating that business follows demand.

Analysis of Psychotropic Substance Seizures Occurring in 2017–2022 in Tamaulipas, a Mexican Border State with USA

The trafficking of illegal substances is a global issue. Tamaulipas, a northeastern state in Mexico, is strategically located for drug trafficking to the United States by organized crime. In this study, drug seizure events conducted by the Mexican government in the main cities of Tamaulipas between 2017 and 2022 are analyzed. It was noticed that there was a decrease in events from 2017 to 2020, followed by a slight increase in 2021. Marijuana was the most seized drug, with cocaine and amphetamines following behind. The frequency of drug seizure events was higher in the border cities of Nuevo Laredo, Reynosa, and Matamoros due to their international commercial bridges with the USA. Nuevo Laredo and Reynosa showed a high amount of marijuana seized. In Matamoros, a coastal city, the quantity of cocaine seized was the highest. Results suggest that substances seized were intended to be illegally transported to the USA through Mexican border cities.

The Impact of Foreign Direct Investment on Green Technology Innovation: Evidence from the Threshold Effect of Absorptive Capacity

ABSTRACT Promoting green technology innovation has become a pivotal driver for nations worldwide to achieve sustainable development as a result of the increasingly pressing challenge posed by climate change. As one of the main forms of modern capital internationalization, foreign direct investment (FDI) has become a focal point for countries aiming to leverage its potential for green technology innovation. This article employs a panel threshold model to examine the impact of FDI on green technology innovation in China from the perspective of absorptive capacity, primarily characterized by economic advancement, infrastructure construction, and environmental regulation. The results demonstrate that, first, the impact of FDI on green technology innovation exhibits a distinct threshold effect; when absorptive capacity falls below the threshold value, FDI can impede green technology innovation, but when absorptive capacity exceeds the threshold value, FDI can facilitate green technology innovation. Second, the impact of FDI on green technology innovation is more pronounced in the eastern region and the southeastern region of Hu line. Third, the impact of FDI on green technology innovation reveals a boundary effect within provincial border cities. However, the radiation effect of FDI on green technology innovation demonstrates limitations. The advancement of green technology innovation can effectively address environmental challenges. This article enhances our understanding of the impact of absorptive capacity on FDI and the role that plays on green technology innovation. The contribution of this work will broaden understanding of the relationship between FDI and green technology innovation.

Legal Review of Procedures for Granting Rock Mining Business Permits

This research is motivated by the granting of mining permits originally granted by the Central Government, with the issuance of Presidential Decree Number 55 of 2022 concerning the Delegation of Granting of Business Licensing in the Mineral and Coal Mining Sector, some mining permits are granted by the Central Government to the Provincial Government, but only limited to the granting of Mining Business Permits (IUP) for non-metallic mineral groups, certain types of non-metallic minerals, and rocks. The legal research method used in this research is normative juridical research which is research that is carried out or aimed only at written regulations with a descriptive analytical research nature which is a method that functions to describe or provide an overview of the object being studied. The data source used is secondary data with quantitative data analysis. The results of this study are: The Procedure for Rock Mining Business Permits is carried out by means of an application to the regent or mayor if the mining area is in a district or city, to the governor if the mining area is across district or city borders, to the minister if the mining area is in a cross-provincial border area. The procedures carried out in the procedures for rock mining permits are the determination of the mining area carried out by authorized officials, determination of mining business areas, mining business permits, regulation of mining permits if there is a violation of mining permits. Supervision of Rock Mining Activities After Obtaining a Business Permit in the Mining Sector, it is carried out by the ESDM Service where the mining permit is located. Settlement of Rock Mining Permit Disputes can be carried out through a non-adjudication process.

Crossed by the border: children’s lived experiences with flooding in an urbanized transborder watershed

ABSTRACT This article analyzes the differential effect of the US-Mexico border on the lived experience of children exposed to flooding risk in an urbanized transborder watershed. The central argument is that this geopolitical border is an institution generative of social and spatial processes that create and thrive on differences and expose children on both sides of the border to high but unequal hazard levels. We pose that children’s bifurcated experiences with rain evince the border’s structuring power as a supra institution producing a socio-spatial regime that enables environmental inequities producing disparate representations of place. Understanding children’s lived experiences is critical to reducing their vulnerability in a highly integrated cross-border urbanization. Framed as a case study based on qualitative data obtained through narratives and visual elicitation techniques, the analysis reveals children’s experiences with flooding and associated hazards that have not been exposed in prior border research and have important implications for integrated disaster management, environmental justice, and resilience in border regions and cities.

Health Risk Assessment of Ambient Volatile Organic Compounds in a Border City in Canada

This study characterizes cancer and non-cancer risks due to inhalation exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in a border city of Windsor in southern Ontario, Canada, using hourly ambient concentrations collected from 17 November 2021 to 17 March 2023. The total incremental lifetime cancer risk (CR) due to benzene and ethylbenzene is 4.33 × 10−6, which is in the acceptable risk range of 1 × 10−6 to 1 × 10−4 used by the USEPA. The CR was higher in winter (5.20 × 10−6), followed by fall (4.32 × 10−6), spring (3.86 × 10−6), and summer (2.96 × 10−6), all in the acceptable range. The total chronic non-cancer risk (Hazard Quotient, HQ) of inhalation exposure to 16 VOCs was 0.0488, with a higher value in fall (0.0571), followed by winter (0.0464), and lower in spring (0.0454) and summer (0.0451), all in the safe level of below HQ = 1 used by the USEPA. The hazard index (HI) by organs was higher for the nervous system (0.0213), followed by the hematologic system and immune system (0.0165 each), but much lower for the other five target organs, i.e., the liver/kidney (1.52 × 10−4), developmental system (3.38 × 10−4), endocrine system and urinary system (2.82 × 10−4 each), and respiratory system (9.70 × 10−5). Similar hour-of-day trends were observed in the total CR, total HQ, and HI by organs with higher values in the early morning hours of 5:00–8:00 and lower values during 12:00 to 15:00. Benzene was the major contributor to both total CR (89%) and total HQ (34%) due to its high toxicity and high concentrations. Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX) contributed 100% of the total CR and 51% of the total HQ. Further, BTEX is the sole contributor to the HI for the hematologic system and immune system and the major contributor to the HI for the nervous system (39%) and developmental system (55%). Higher cancer and non-cancer risks were associated with the airmass from the east, southeast, and southwest of Windsor.

The Detection of Xylazine in Tijuana, Mexico: Triangulating Drug Checking and Clinical Urine Testing Data.

Xylazine is a veterinary anesthetic increasingly present alongside illicit fentanyl in the US and Canada, presenting novel health risks. Although xylazine remains less common in the Western US, Mexican border cities serve as key trafficking hubs and may have higher prevalence of novel substances, but surveillance has been limited. We examined deidentified records from the Prevencasa harm reduction clinic in Tijuana, describing urine and paraphernalia testing from patients reporting using illicit opioids within 24 hr. Xylazine (two types), fentanyl, opiate, methamphetamine, amphetamine, benzodiazepine, and nitazene test strips were used to test urine and paraphernalia samples. Paraphernalia samples were also analyzed with mass spectrometry. The study consisted of 23 participants that provided both urine and paraphernalia samples. Of the participants studied, 100 %, 91.3 %, and 69.6 % reported using China White/fentanyl, methamphetamine, and tar heroin, respectively. The mean age was 41.7 years, 95.7 % were male, 65.2 % were unhoused, and 30.4 % had skin wounds at the time of sample collection.Xylazine positivity in urine, for the two types used, was 82.6 % and 65.2 %. For paraphernalia testing, the xylazine positivity was 65.2 % and 47.8 %. Confirmatory testing of paraphernalia samples by mass spectrometry indicated a 52.2 % xylazine positivity. This testing also revealed positivity rates for fentanyl (73.9 %), fluorofentanyl (30.4 %), tramadol (30.4 %), and lidocaine (30.4 %).The mass spectrometry results suggest lidocaine triggered n = 3 and n = 0 false positives among the xylazine test strip types. A total of n = 0 and n = 1 false negatives were also observed. Xylazine is present on the U.S.-Mexico border, requiring public health intervention. High lidocaine positivity complicates the clinical detection of xylazine via testing strips. Xylazine was found to be more prevalent in urine than in paraphernalia samples. Confirmatory urine studies are needed to better understand possible complications of using test strips for toxicological testing.

Mitigating development barriers and addressing disparities in border cities of Iran: a comprehensive analysis of border provinces and influential factors

Mitigating development barriers and addressing disparities in border cities of Iran: a comprehensive analysis of border provinces and influential factors

The Aborted Project for the European Games in the 1960s and 1970s

Creating the European Games was a project that raised numerous cultural, sporting, Olympic and, above all, European questions. In 1965, during the Franco-German sports colloquium in Baden-Baden, Maurice Herzog introduced the idea of organizing the first European Games. The idea was met with great enthusiasm and quickly embraced by local stakeholders in the border cities of Mulhouse (France), Basel (Switzerland), and Freiburg (West Germany). A tripartite study group was set up to prepare a European Olympic bid for the Games in either 1970 or 1974. This Rhineland candidacy was built on local residents’ embedded sense of belonging to the region, with cross-border cooperation being a centuries-old tradition for them. According to the study group, these initial European-level games would bring together the ideals of Olympism’s father, Pierre de Coubertin, and those of the father of Europe, Jean Monnet. They also served to strengthen the postwar pro-European dynamic. Despite this, the project failed to garner unanimous support following opposition from the powerful International Association of Athletics Federations that was only willing to consider a form of preliminary games designed for the young.

Investigating of Spatial Urban Growth Pattern and Associated Landscape Dynamics in Congolese Mining Cities Bordering Zambia from 1990 to 2023

This study investigates the spatial urban growth patterns of cities along the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Zambia border, a region of significant economic importance characterized by cross-border trade. This activity has led to rapid but unplanned urban growth. The objective is to quantify the spatial expansion of Congolese cities (Kipushi, Kasumbalesa, Mokambo, and Sakania) bordering Zambia and to evaluate associated landscape changes. The methodology of this study includes the supervised classification of Landsat images with a spatial resolution of 30 m for the years 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2023. This classification was validated using field data. Subsequently, landscape metrics such as class area, patch number, Shannon diversity index, disturbance index, urban expansion intensity index, largest patch index, and mean Euclidean distance were calculated for each city and each date. The results reveal substantial landscape transformations in the border cities between 1990 and 2023. These changes are primarily driven by rapid urban expansion, particularly pronounced in Kasumbalesa. Between 1990 and 2023, forest cover declined from 70% to less than 15% in Kipushi, from 80% to 10% in Kasumbalesa, from 90% to 30% in Mokambo, and from 80% to 15% in Sakania. This forest cover loss is accompanied by an increase in landscape element diversity, as indicated by the Shannon diversity index, except in Kipushi, suggesting a transition towards more heterogeneous landscapes. In these border cities, landscape dynamics are also characterized by the expansion of agriculture and savannas, highlighted by an increase in the disturbance index. Analysis of spatial pattern changes shows that built-up areas, agriculture, and savannas exhibit trends of patch creation or aggregation, whereas forests are undergoing processes of dissection and patch attrition. Congolese cities bordering Zambia are undergoing substantial spatial changes propelled by intricate interactions between economic, demographic, and infrastructural factors. Our results underscore the need for sustainable development strategies to address urban sprawl through smart growth policies and mixed-use developments, mitigate deforestation via stricter land use regulations and reforestation projects, and enhance cross-border cooperation through joint environmental management and collaborative research initiatives.

Countermeasures to promote sustainable construction and coordinated development of healthy cities: a case study of Dandong City

In order to promote sustainable construction and coordinated development of healthy cities in small and medium-sized cities, as well as to improve people's happiness, this paper takes the border city of Dandong as an example. It constructs 5 primary indexes and 28 secondary indexes, including healthy environment, healthy culture, health service, healthy society, and healthy tourism real estate. Among them, the index for healthy tourism real estate includes five secondary indicators: tourism income, number of tourists, real estate transaction volume, average selling price of commercial housing, and renovation of old residential areas. This paper analyzes the overall goal of healthy city construction in Dandong using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). The relative priorities of the five first-level indicators considered are: healthy environment; healthy society; health service; healthy tourism real estate; and healthy culture. This indicates that a focus on creating a healthy environment is more important in evaluating a city's health. According to data analysis, Dandong has met national standards for creating a healthy environment and promoting a vibrant cultural scene. In addition to this achievement, the number of practicing (assistant) doctors per 1000 people in health services reached national standards in 2018, and people's living standards have gradually improved. Combining the advantages of local tourist destinations with the promotion of healthy development in the tourist industry, and balanced growth in real estate development as contributed to the creation of a positive social environment conducive to good health.

To Identify the Factors Affecting on Setup of New Township in MIDC Area

Increasing expenditures and financing charges on housing credits guarantee a property in a linked township springing up in the city's borders, making city home ownership increasingly inconvenient and expensive. These townships are billed as India's new land improvement strategy to satisfy urbanites' wealth and goals. Despite their initial launch, these independent townships with private, retail, and business operations will quickly spread across the country. Demographically, urbanization is the growing urban population of a nation. Due to rising urbanization, 52 percent of Maharashtra's population lived in urban areas in 2021, compared to 39 percent nationally. Given the expanding population in urban Maharashtra and Mumbai, the government has prioritized connecting new townships to better communication. Development is typically thought to improve people's lives. Net rural-to-urban migration drives most urbanization. Due to increased migration from rural to Pune city, population growth, traffic, drinking water, and other issues affect Pune residents' lifestyles. This study concentrates on Town-1 MIDC Park Project near Dehu and Jadhav Wadi. This area is neglected, but Maharashtra has allocated about 100 crores to develop it.

The role of YouTube videos on creating child violence behavior from the perspective of mothers

The entry of modern technology into our society, particularly the emergence of the Internet with various sites that are easy to search, is one of youtube most important and popular sites, creating a new generation of children addicted to their use despite the large number of YouTube has become a real danger in the light of excessive use by children, however, it is ifficult to control the prevention of children from being exposed to the Internet in general and to YouTube videos in particular, many children in the developing stage of the disease. Psychological and neurological as a result of the content presented to them via video. The aim of this research is the role of YouTube videos on children's belligerent behavior at the age of 2-6 for this 200 forms on mothers in the city border Rania was divided into 100 male and 100 female children, for example. It was later revealed that children are most likely to be YouTube users at a high rate and that mothers don't monitor their children at the time you've seen YouTube and the degree of aggressive behavior that has changed according to gender, which is more likely to be male than female.

AIRS and MODIS Satellite-Based Assessment of Air Pollution in Southwestern China: Impact of Stratospheric Intrusions and Cross-Border Transport of Biomass Burning

The exacerbation of air pollution during spring in Yunnan province, China, has attracted widespread attention. However, many studies have focused solely on the impacts of anthropogenic emissions while ignoring the role of natural processes. This study used satellite data spanning 21 years from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) to reveal two natural processes closely related to springtime ozone (O3) and PM2.5 pollution: stratospheric intrusions (SIs) and cross-border transport of biomass burning (BB). We aimed to assess the mechanisms through which SIs and cross-border BB transport influence O3 and PM2.5 pollution in Southwestern China during the spring. The unique geographical conditions and prevalent southwest winds are considered the key driving factors for SIs and cross-border BB transport. Frequent tropopause folding provides favorable dynamic conditions for SIs in the upper troposphere. In the lower troposphere, the distribution patterns of O3 and stratospheric O3 tracer (O3S) are similar to the terrain, indicating that O3 is more likely to reach the surface with increasing altitude. Using stratospheric tracer tagging methods, we quantified the contributions of SIs to surface O3, ranging from 6 to 31 ppbv and accounting for 10–38% of surface O3 levels. Additionally, as Yunnan is located downwind of Myanmar and has complex terrain, it provides favorable conditions for PM2.5 and O3 generation from cross-border BB transport. The decreasing terrain distribution from north to south in Yunnan facilitates PM2.5 transport to lower-elevation border cities, whereas higher-elevation cities hinder PM2.5 transport, leading to spatial heterogeneity in PM2.5. This study provides scientific support for elucidating the two key processes governing springtime PM2.5 and O3 pollution in Yunnan, SIs and cross-border BB transport, and can assist policymakers in formulating optimal emission reduction strategies.

Watersheds and Infrastructure Providing Food, Energy, and Water to US Cities

AbstractCivil infrastructure underpins urban receipts of food, energy, and water (FEW) produced in distant watersheds. In this study, we map flows of FEW goods from watersheds of the contiguous United States to major population centers and highlight the critical infrastructure that supports FEW flows. To do this, we draw upon detailed records of agriculture, electricity, and public water supply production and couple them with commodity flow and infrastructure information. We also compare the flows of virtual water embedded in food and energy commodity flows with physical water flows in inter‐basin water transfer projects around the country. We found that the virtual blue water transfers through crops and electricity to major US cities was 53 billion and 8 billion m3 in 2017, respectively, while physical interbasin water transfers for crops, electricity, and public supply water averaged 20.8 billion m3. Highways are the primary infrastructure used to import virtual water associated with food and fuel into cities, although waterways and railways are most utilized for long‐distance transport. All of the 204 watersheds in the contiguous US support the food, energy, and/or water supplies of major US cities, with dependencies stretching far beyond each city's borders. Still, most cities source the majority of their FEW and embedded water resources from nearby watersheds. Infrastructure such as water supply dams and inland ports serve as important buffers for both local and supply‐chain sourced water stress. These findings can inform efforts to reduce water resources and infrastructure risks in domestic supply chains.

The Institutional Hearing Program and the Incarceration-to-Deportation Pipeline

Through our study of the Institutional Hearing Program (IHP), we examine how immigration courts within prisons enforce immigration law over individuals serving criminal sentences. Drawing from interviews with legal services providers, community advocates, and impacted immigrants in New York City, we examine due process, inequality, and legal strategies in the context of the IHP. Findings demonstrate the disproportionate punishment of Black and Brown incarcerated immigrants, as well as restricted access to information, distant placement of IHP prisons, and scarce funding for representing incarcerated individuals in immigration proceedings, all of which create challenges for legal advocates' chances of success. We argue that sanctuary provisions in NYC exclude certain migrants by marking them with the stigma of criminal records in over-surveilled neighborhoods and physically exporting them outside city borders to state prisons, where specific policies toward their expedited deportation (such as the IHP) take place. The IHP is a key site on a pipeline from incarceration to deportation that must be drastically limited, or ultimately eradicated, to ensure justice for criminalized immigrants.

A country‐wide examination of effects of urbanization on common birds

AbstractUrbanization forms one of the most drastic alterations of the environment and poses a major threat to wildlife. The human–induced modifications of the landscape may affect individual's fitness resulting in population declines. Research on how urbanization affects fitness traits has shown mixed results. However, studies typically contrasted data from a single species from few urban and non‐urban sites collected over short timeframes. Examining multiple species across a broad urbanization gradient enables a more robust comparison and understanding of how different species are impacted by urbanization‐knowledge crucial for generating population predictions, which are essential for conservation management. Here, we use data from a nation‐wide citizen science project to examine variation in survival and relative body mass and size (wing length) of common passerine birds, collected along an urbanization gradient in the Netherlands over an 8‐year period. Urbanization was measured as the distance from the city's border and the proportion of impervious surface area. Although the overall association between urbanization and survival was slightly negative, there was support for lower survival closer to the city in three species (chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita, European robin Erithacus rubecula, European greenfinch Chloris chloris) and higher survival closer to the city in two (great tit Parus major and house sparrow Passer domesticus) of the 11 species examined. The contrasting survival successes among species suggest that ongoing urbanization may lead to shifts in community structure and loss of biodiversity. Impacts of urbanization on relative mass and size also exhibited varying effects, albeit less pronounced, and these effects were not correlated with the effects on survival. This implies that body mass and size cannot be used as indicators for urban‐associated patterns of survival. Our results further imply that effective conservation management targeting bird communities should involve a range of diverse actions, as focusing on single measures is unlikely to simultaneously impact multiple species due to the variation in responses to urbanization.

Toward a phenomenology of politics: Vulnerability, autonomy, and the making of “hard” corporeal selves in Chile's migrant campamentos

AbstractHow do people experience vulnerability, and what can this experience tell us about how states help those living in precarious conditions? According to the Chilean state, people who live in vulnerable encampments do so strictly out of necessity, not choice, and vulnerability is best addressed by demolishing encampments, resettling their communities, and giving the poor opportunities to recover their economic and moral autonomy. Based on 15 months of ethnographic research in predominantly migrant informal settlements in Chile's northern border city of Antofagasta, this article shows how the state's project to demolish vulnerable encampments is in tension with migrant women community leaders’ own personal and collective projects of autonomy. Examining one migrant woman community leader's use of the moral concept of “hardness” to express her ethics of autonomy, I attend to ordinary instances where women helping the state resettle their communities instead subtly undermined the state's resettlement plan. This case advances feminist theories of politics and vulnerability that examine how the domain of the political is reconfigured through women's “domestic” work in the everyday. Psychological anthropology, with its recent turn to critical phenomenology, has much to add to this phenomenology of the critical, of politics.

Assessing mental health and technology use in the time of COVID-19 among farmworkers in the U.S. – Mexico border

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present findings on a community-based participatory research project where the authors examined access and ability to use technology, attitudes and perceptions of technology, and COVID-19 and mental health beliefs in the time of COVID-19, among predominantly Hispanic/Latinx farmworker males residing in the US–Mexico border city of El Paso, Texas. Design/methodology/approach This paper used a qualitative narrative analysis which consisted of in-person interviews in Spanish with male farmworkers (n = 10) between the ages of 49–60 years. This paper applied a research approach designed to engage researchers and community stakeholders as equal partners with the goal of improving practice. Findings Of the participants, eight reported having a phone and only three reported knowing how to use the internet. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the participants reported living a relatively stress-free life. When the pandemic impacted their community, they reported experiencing heightened anxiety and stress. To relieve stress, all participants used healthy coping strategies (e.g. walking and gardening). Originality/value The findings suggest that farmworker males are receptive to obtaining mental health services. In addition, they would benefit from resources highlighting healthy stress coping mechanisms. Due to their limited knowledge of current internet technology, efforts on how to promote and deliver mental health services and resources to farmworkers should be strategic and appropriate.

Integration of Unemployed Venezuelan Immigrant Women in Colombia

The integration of immigrants in a host society must consider aspects related to the labour field, as well as other factors including their differences. The existence of 97 unemployed Venezuelan migrant women living in Cúcuta, Los Patios and La Parada, border cities of Norte de Santander, Colombia with the state of Táchira, places them at a disadvantage in terms of integration; hence, this study set out to propose strategies to guide governance officials and actors in managing their integration. By means of a multidimensional analysis, three profiles of these unemployed migrant women were obtained for their diversity, generating strategies for each profile in structural, social and cultural contexts; through this, it became evident that the characteristics of those who settle as immigrants can be considered in order to establish integration strategies in line with these characteristics. Thus, the methodology of the study could be useful in other areas of migration for the design of integration strategies that consider the heterogeneity of immigrants to facilitate their contribution to the society and economy of the country that has hosted them.