Prosperous City Research Articles

Solutions to Enhance the Efficiency of Local Development Investment Funds in Vietnam

The paper titled “Solutions to Enhance the Efficiency of Local Development Investment Funds in Vietnam” examines the role and operations of Local Development Investment Funds (LDIFs) in the context of infrastructure development within the budgets of Vietnamese provinces and cities. These funds play a crucial role in mobilizing resources, engaging private economic entities, and supporting economic and social infrastructure projects. The paper evaluates the current status of LDIFs, highlighting their achievements, limitations, and challenges. The study proposes a comprehensive set of solutions to enhance the effectiveness of LDIF operations and improve their impact on local economic and social development. The introduction provides an overview of the fiscal challenges faced by the government and localities due to overspending within permissible limits. The second section details the current situation of LDIF operations, presenting statistics on their capital, lending activities, investments, and engagement with other financial funds. It underscores the achievements in capital accumulation, lending, investment, and entrusted activities, while also pointing out limitations such as restrictions on capital mobilization, small fund sizes, non-performing loans, and challenges in investment activities.To address these challenges, the paper presents a set of solutions in the third section. The proposed solutions aim to enhance the effectiveness of LDIF activities and ensure they contribute optimally to the ongoing efforts of building prosperous provinces and cities in Vietnam. The paper references various sources, including reports from the Association of Local Development Investment Funds, government decrees, academic journals, and research articles, to support its analysis and recommendations for improving LDIF operations.

Economic performance amongst English seaside towns

ABSTRACT Within urban and tourism studies, although much research has focused on uneven city prosperity and competitiveness, little is known about factors influencing seaside town economic performance. We adopt a place-based approach to understand its determinants amongst 58 of England’s largest seaside towns drawing on a bespoke database. Through Partial Least Square analysis, Spearman’s Rank Correlation and general linear regression modelling for panel data with random effects, we identify the ‘leaders’ and ‘laggers’ along with a set of associated socio-economic characteristics. These insights enhance understanding of how and why economic performance differs amongst these towns. We highlight implications for addressing such socio-economic disparities across seaside towns, which has wider destination relevance, and use these findings to inform policy which seeks to raise the productivity potential of ‘lagging’ towns.

Female Self-objectification and Identity in Fiction “Before She Sleeps” by Bina Shah

This novel is about women's objectification and identity through the concept of polyandry. This research highlights these types of problems related to women that are increasing in society day by day. This article aims to illustrate Polyandry and pain in women. They do not have the choice to live their life freely. They are like scapegoats in a patriarchal society. Polyandry is an ancient Greek word that means many men. It is first practiced in India. This article is wrapped with the viewpoints of some writers such as Tiwari, Goldstein, and Peter. This article presents a clear picture of Green City. Though it looks like a prosperous city yet it is proved a hell for women. In this regard, women chose an underground place to live named Panah. They deal with forty clients in order to win bread and butter. Men use different types of techniques to tempt women, such as whisky and champagne, to fulfill their purposes. Women in Panah provide them intimacy in the shame of lullaby, not sex. So, the study explains traumatic realities and also the relationship between agonies and physical distortion concerning the women characters, along with the concept of polyandry, which affects the life of women.

Exploring the Contemporary Challenges of Urbanization and the Role of Sustainable Urban Development: A Study of Lagos City, Nigeria

As urbanization accelerates, sustainable approaches are necessary to counter the adverse environmental impacts. The study investigates the multifaceted challenges of Lagos City due to urbanization and evaluates the effectiveness of sustainable urban development in tackling these problems. It employed a mixed-methods approach to provide informed decisions for liveable urban environments. Census data, satellite imagery, interviews, surveys, and focus group discussions provided a comprehensive understanding of Lagos’s urbanization and its effects. Findings reveal pressing problems such as housing shortages, infrastructure strain, traffic congestion, waste management difficulties, and socio-economic disparities in Lagos City. Local authorities and NGOs have implemented sustainable urban development initiatives, including transport upgrades, green space promotion, waste management, and housing solutions. Such case studies have revealed various interventions, such as informal settlement transformation, renewable energy integration, and urban regeneration. However, persistent issues still exist due to the city’s urbanization. Therefore, Integrated urban planning, inclusivity in policy-making, and technological advances are essential for tackling these challenges. The findings contribute to the academic discourse by providing insights into Lagos City’s urbanization and practical implications for sustainable urban development. It also highlights the need for comprehensive strategies to build a prosperous, equitable, and eco-friendly city.

Analysis of Characterization and Humanistic Care in Underclass Literature in Urban Literature

Jia Pingwa is a writer who cares deeply about the underclass, and his novel Gao Xing is another of his creative heights, following Ruined City and The Qin Cavern. Jia Pingwa tells the story of peasant workers’ journey to the city in this novel. This paper discusses Jia Pingwa's literary portrayal of the character of the underclass scavenger, his ingenious use of narrative perspective in creating the underclass story, and the social criticism and humanistic concern shown in his work through analysis of the text of Gao Xing and a review of relevant literature. Jia Pingwa uses an optimistic and humorous human attitude and comedic language and plot to present the tragedy of underclass life, reflecting the plight of the underclass people and their spiritual pursuit under urbanisation. The novel deeply reflects his close concern for the social problems that still exist in the prosperous city and his deep concern for the underclass people.

Typology of terrain vague and emergence mechanisms in post-communist, post-industrial small and medium-sized towns in Slovakia: Case study of Humenné, Strážske and Vranov and Topľou

Abstract There have been many problems associated with underutilized areas in towns, although they also offer significant potential for urban renewal, especially in post-communist, post-socialist countries, where a series of key historical events has caused socio-economic and political changes leading to urban decay. The underlying feature of unused areas is their apparent abandonment, absence of use, lack of identity but high potential. However, not all unused areas should be labelled as brownfields; therefore, we studied the terms commonly used to describe underutilized areas. We chose the term terrain vague to map and describe all apparently empty but still intriguing spaces in our model towns of Humenné, Strážske and Vranov and Topľou, in eastern Slovakia. Our paper aims to create a typology of terrain vague to better understand its manifestation in our conditions. It also aims to determine the causes that led to its emergence or as we call it the emergence mechanisms, in the context of post-industrial small and middle-sized towns in Slovakia. We combined field survey and desktop analysis methods to map terrain vague based on set criteria. We evaluated mapped terrain vague and, using the data, created a typology of terrain vague consisting of nine types and identified three key emergence mechanisms and their subcategories. We based them on commonly used terms that fit within the specific context of our model towns. By using the new typology and emergence mechanism, we can identify patterns running along towns with similar backgrounds that result in similar problems and develop solutions accordingly. Results of our research could be generalized and serve as a basis for future research aimed at finding strategies for revitalizing terrain vague in shrinking post-industrial towns facing different problems than prosperous cities.

Ценностные ориентации молодежи и региональная безопасность

The article analyzes results of an online survey (N = 2021) of young people (aged from 14 to 35 years) living in the Saratov region. The author summarizes answers related to the respondents’ value orientation. It is concluded that the value identification and orientation of young people are influenced by the safe conditions of functioning of regional society, as well as global political events. In the view of young people, the values of patriotism and collectivism fade into the background, material well-being comes first, this contributes to the outflow of young people from the province to more prosperous cities and regions, which creates a lack of population reproduction potential in the region. In turn, this creates demographic problems and the replacement of the indigenous population by migrants who are not culturally adapted to local conditions. The polar worldview of young people is also revealed in relation to the special military operation, where positive and negative opinions are almost equal. In the structure of regional security, regional threats are clarified, to which the author refers destructive political activity of young people, uncertainty about the future, outflow of young people from the region, uncontrolled migration to the region of citizens of other states, corruption of local officials, and low socio-qualitative potential of the region.

The Logic of NIMBYism: Class, Race, and Stigma in the Making of California’s Legal Cannabis Market

This article explores how not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) sentiments affect the implementation of new cannabis laws in California cities. Despite increasing legality and growing social tolerance, the actual status of cannabis remains controversial. Large segments of the population and local authorities remain uncomfortable with the use of cannabis and resist allowing cannabis facilities in their communities. I employ statistical analysis to understand why some jurisdictions move toward more permissive cannabis policies and others do not. The results show that, on average, socially and economically prosperous cities express higher support for cannabis legalization, but cannabis businesses are more likely to receive permits in cities that are socially and economically distressed. The disparity between demand (white middle-class communities) and supply (poor Hispanic communities) demonstrates that stereotypes generated by the war on drugs have not disappeared after the passage of new cannabis laws and continue to perpetuate the marginalization of disadvantaged individuals and places.

A full permutation polygon synthetic indicator (FPPSI) approach for measuring and evaluating city prosperity: case study in Da Nang City, Vietnam

Economic growth has dominated development strategies and goals for many years, but prosperity encompasses more than that. In 2013, UN-Habitat proposed the City Prosperity Initiative (CPI) as a tool to quantify cities' prosperity and sustainable development. The CPI is accompanied by six essential components with 62 indicators associated with the urban settlement, incorporating productivity, infrastructure development, quality of life, social inclusion, environmental sustainability, and urban governance and legislation. The research aims to use the indicators of CPI and adopted the Full Permutation Polygon Synthetic Indicator method to measure and evaluate the level of prosperity of Da Nang City of Vietnam with data from 2004 to 2019. According to the findings of our study, the value of a synthetic indicator for the prosperity of Da Nang City increased, from 0.34 in 2004 to 0.36 in 2009, 0.43 in 2014, and 0.45 in 2019, which indicates a moderate level of wealth. On the one hand, Da Nang City has high levels of quality of life, equity and social inclusion, and urban governance and legislation. However, the city still has modest determinants of prosperity in terms of the environment, productivity and infrastructure. The Full Permutation Polygon Synthetic Indicator technique provides a comprehensive solution that illustrates the system integration idea. As a result, the proposed methodology offers a potential foundation for decision-making to promote sustainable urban development strategies and assess the effectiveness of these actions

The Talk of the Town: Information and Community in Sixteenth-Century Switzerland by Carla Roth

Internet social-media algorithms deluge today’s users with unreliable and sometimes contradictory information. This small but dense book offers some unusual perspectives about similarly unreliable and contradictory oral information five centuries ago in the small, prosperous, and autonomous Swiss city of St. Gallen, home of one of Latin Christendom’s most famous abbeys. Roth’s source, the “Commentaries” of linen maker Johannes Rüdinger (1501–1556), contains about 2,000 miscellaneous entries, more than 70 percent of them from 349 local informants during the decade after the city adopted the Reformation in 1529 (37). The existence of this private miscellany—alongside several local chroniclers and diarists, some Catholic and others now unknown—remained hidden for two centuries (26–34).Rüdinger’s collection is extremely unusual in two important ways. First, he anticipated Foucault’s “disappearance of the author” by four centuries, saying almost nothing about his household, his business, and his rare and short travels, and treating his growing political career with great modesty.1 As Roth summarizes, he wrote “about almost anything except himself” (18–19). Second, he translated all his material into an abridged Latin that he maintained after leaving the University of Basel in the mid-1520s to enter his family’s (and his city’s) principal business. This second peculiarity had equally peculiar social consequences: As Roth’s admirable set of Venn diagrams demonstrates, Rütinger’s principal informants came from two mutually exclusive groups—his fellow businessmen, neighbors, and relatives and the city’s literary and intellectual elite (46).A quarter-century ago, a multinational European program about “Cultural Exchange in Europe 1400–1700” tried to investigate both the oral and written transmission of information during this era, but it lacked adequate raw materials. On this score, Roth exploits the third way that her source was exceptional: Rütinger, an active businessman with a humanist education, lived in a city that lacked both printing presses and a reliable postal service. Hence, he took less than 5 percent of his information from written or printed sources (59).Roth’s most exciting achievements interweave Rüdinger’s oral information with such written local sources as the legal records about a 1532 execution (97–100). Although his account “does not explicitly contradict any of the facts given in the trial,” it “nevertheless profoundly changes this initial interpretation of the case.” The salacious gossip that Rütiner recorded makes his account of Johannes Vogler, a mainstay of the Reformation in the Rhine Valley and an “eager lover of evangelical truth,” seemingly “drip with irony” (91). Another impressive achievement is the assessment that he offered about his various informants regarding the mysterious “Devil of Schiltach,” the woman reputed to have set fire to that town in 1533 and later tried as a witch (121–127).Rütinger listened to women as well as to men. His most important female source by far was not his wife or kin but an old midwife who regaled him with stories about the private life of various prominent local citizens after helping with the birth of two of his children (80–86). He also collected obscene jokes, some from the old midwife, men being the usual targets; his nastiest one is profoundly anti-Catholic (58, 67–69, 71).In Roth’s words, “Rüdinger’s views on religion were … fairly conventional for Protestant St. Gall” (22). His “Commentaries” reflect the city’s declining optimism during a decade that began as a “wondrous time” but soured two years later when its Abbot returned after the defeat of the city’s Zurich allies at the battle of Kappel. By the time Rüdinger abruptly stopped recording, St. Gall’s future seemed ominous. In his seven accounts of this battle during the next seven years, the number of Zurich’s pastors killed alongside Ulrich Zwingli on the battlefield increased every time that he mentioned it (156). Chapeau!

Wealth or Just Job Seekers: Medieval Skeletal Series from Kutná Hora-Sedlec (Czech Republic) with a Notable Surplus of Men

Kutná Hora entered the 14th century as a rich, prosperous, and densely-populated city producing tons of silver. Such an amount of precious metal could not be mined and processed without an influx of people from other cities and rural areas and without the contribution of skilled specialists from abroad. Despite the apparent wealth of the city, its inhabitants (either settled or newly arrived) experienced and died during mortality crises. Evidence of such events was discovered in the Kutná Hora suburbs, where the medieval burial ground, including a significant component of mass burials, has been unearthed. In the data derived from pooled catastrophic and non-catastrophic burials (n=1785 individuals), a notable surplus of males has been identified with a striking imbalanced adult sex ratio of 149. After considering factors potentially influencing this value, we suggest that the figure likely mirrors the original population composition as a consequence of the inflow of men migrating to the town for labour/economic opportunities.

Abandoned Treasures of Vasantgarh: Art, Metal Industry and Trade

This research paper intends to bring forth the forgotten treasures of Vasantgarh, enveloping the tangible and intangible heritage of the region, especially focusing on the Art and Metal industry and their relationship with trade and trading networks that developed in the era of the ancient city of Chandrawati and their connection with other trading centres of Rajasthan State & the border area of Gujarat State, the route being a part of the Silk-road trade route of world history. The gathered data discloses the rich activity of art trade networks of Sirohi, the Western Indian Bronze School of Art and the area of Vasantgarh. The research paper includes a field survey and the collection of quantitative and qualitative data, which floodlit the immemorial history of the Rajputana State (Rajasthan) especially referring to the early traders of Sirohi who controlled the export and import of goods in the Medieval era. Vasantgarh, an ancient smelting site of Sirohi was an important centre for the mining and smelting of copper. The evidence of a strong smelting industry is backed by the discovery of abounding dumps of smelting slags. The alloy sculpting arts of Vasantgarh employs one of the oldest methods for metal binding still in use: the Lost Wax method. The other important metal-joining techniques require a deep archaeometallurgical study-for example, riveting, brazing, brazing flux, welding and soldering. The Vasantgarh School of Art is connected with the industrial production of finely crafted alloy metal sculptures that gleam like gold. The 240 sculptures, related to Jainism, were recovered from an unauthorised treasure hunt. The prosperous city owes its design to the region's rich trade, which is why it is carefully guarded with a number of towers and walls. The city had been fortified in order to protect against robbers and other kingdoms who might pose a threat.

Reassessing the Case for Development Charges in Canadian Municipalities

“Growth should pay for growth.” This slogan — the common justification for development charges — is rarely challenged in municipal circles. Development charges evolved from post-1945 subdivision agreements and were initially accepted by most developers as a mechanism for enhancing the likelihood that current residents in a municipality would agree to new development. They now add as much as $135,000 to the cost of a new house in some parts of the Greater Toronto Area. If we wish to lower the cost of housing in our prosperous cities, we must consider reverting to the past practice of having municipalities pay for new infrastructure associated with development. Such a policy — still largely in place in metropolitan Montreal — would lead to increased levels of municipal borrowing and modest increases in property taxes. This report explores the origins of development charges in the United States and Canada, and examines how they have been assessed in the academic literature.

Sustainability assessment of a slum upgrading intervention in Ghait El Enab, Alexandria, Egypt.

A sustainable city is largely related to how well the infrastructure is developed which is important to encourage economic progress and decrease poverty. In 2012, UN-Habitat has established the City Prosperity Index (CPI) as a multi scale sustainability measurement tool extending from national urban policies to sub-cities. This article demonstrates the use of the City Prosperity Index (CPI) to measure what has changed in the infrastructure dimension of the Bashayer El Khair 1 (BK1) project in the Gheit El Enab area in Alexandria before and after upgrading.

Dismantling Stereotypes: Taking an Inside‐Out Perspective to Building Better Representation in Advertising for Unilever

Equality, inclusion, and representation are increasingly acknowledged as core tenets of prosperous countries, cities, and organizations. We know that equality is essential, and we also know equality must be enacted on all fronts. Brands and other social organizations are increasingly recognizing their role as social stakeholders, committed to building a society in which both people and their businesses can thrive in the long‐term. Quantum Consumer Solutions and Unilever have partnered on this program of four projects to understand and reduce stereotypes and improve representation. We used a mixed‐methods approach, including semiotics, qualitative research, expert interviews, springboards, and internal organizational change to improve inclusivity in communications, pack, and products. Readers can expect to learn why we recommend an ‘inside‐out’ approach that combines organizational change with external initiatives, why we need to approach change from a place of complexity and why we need to bring multiple perspectives to cultural change.

A Framework for Interfacing and Partnering with Environmental Justice Communities as a Prelude to Human Health and Hazard Identification in the Vulnerable Census Tracts of Columbus, Ohio.

Columbus, Ohio is one of the more prosperous, well-educated, and progressive cities in the United States. However, it ranks as the second worst life expectancy at birth, has a census tract wealth gap (27-year disparity), and one of the higher infant mortality rates in the country. These data suggest that there are likely several high-risk, vulnerable neighborhoods in Columbus with residents experiencing disparate and adverse outcomes. Illustrative of this fact are studies that have examined the social processes and mechanisms through which neighborhood contexts are at the forefront, including exposures to chemical stressors such as particulate matter (PM2.5) as well as non-chemical stressors including violence, social determinants of health, zoning, and land use policies. It is documented that disparate and adverse outcomes are magnified in the vulnerable neighborhoods on the Near East Side as compared to Columbus city proper, Franklin County and/or the state of Ohio. As such, we developed a nuanced community engagement framework to identify potential environmental hazards associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes in those census tracts. The refined framework uses a blended version of traditional community-based participatory research (CBPR) models and is referred to as E6, Enhancing Environmental Endeavors via e-Equity, Education, and Empowerment.

Population dynamics, urbanisation and climate change in Africa’s intermediate cities: what can family planning contribute?

Africa’s large cities are rapidly urbanising and are becoming expensive, regressive and unhealthy; hence, secondary or intermediate cities have become the continent’s backbone for absorbing most of the urban population growth. Africa’s intermediate cities will be home to more than half its urban population by 2030. However, these cities have considerable investment gaps in critical infrastructure: consequently, they are less resilient and face disproportionate disasters and risks of climate stressors and other environmental challenges. The vulnerabilities of Africa’s intermediate cities are exacerbated by rapid urbanisation and inappropriate planning. As Africa’s intermediate cities continue to experience population growth and rapid urbanisation occasioned by a youthful population, high fertility and excess of births over deaths, family planning is one of the most critical investments that city leaders and officials can make to ensure a slow urban population growth and thus buy sufficient time for governments to put critical hard infrastructure and appropriate planning in place to support healthy living. Increased investment in family planning will contribute to prosperous and resilient intermediate cities in Africa.

Bernard Bailyn's Barbarous Modernity

Bernard Bailyn's Barbarous Modernity

Evaluating early modern lockdowns: Household quarantine in Bristol, 1565–1604

AbstractWe know the policy of quarantining plague victims and their families together within their households entailed considerable costs and controversy in early modern Europe. Less clear is the extent to which the authorities implemented the policy in the face of this. This paper presents a novel approach to the measurement of enforcement which relies on linking deceased individuals listed in parish registers into household groups and then measuring changes in within‐household mortality between parishes and epidemics. This provides a more complete assessment of the scale of implementation than would be possible using documentary sources alone. Measuring within‐household mortality allows us to understand patterns of quarantine enforcement in settlements across early modern Europe. Here the focus is restricted to three epidemics that occurred in Bristol – one of England's most populous and prosperous cities. The analysis reveals household quarantine was enforced in 1603–4 with unprecedented vigour. The effects of quarantine are particularly pronounced in the affluent parishes where elite residence was highest. Greater evidence for enforcement is explained by greater elite oversight and control, as well as their desire to protect their own households. The scale of the impact is shocking. Household quarantine could double within household mortality.

Ancient genomes reveal complex genetic history of an international metropolis at Kublai Khan's Upper Capital (Xanadu)

AbstractObjectivesAs the political, economic, military, and cultural center of the early Yuan Dynasty, Xanadu attracted people from all over the world. It was thriving and prosperous, composed of residents with different customs and religious beliefs from different social strata. Genetic analysis of Xanadu's residents provides a valuable approach for inferring processes of population movement and exchange during the Yuan period.Materials and MethodsNine skeletons from Zhenzishan cemetery, the largest cemetery near Xanadu, were selected for the whole‐genome shotgun sequencing and capture sequencing of the nonrecombining region of the Y chromosome, three of whom were identified as likely being of European descent based on cranio‐facial morphology.ResultsThere were nine mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplotypes (F1a1, D5b1, B4a3, B5a2a1, H6a1a, T2d1, D4o2a, N9a1, and Z4a) and eight Y‐chromosome DNA haplogroups (G/M201, I/M170, J/M304, L/M20, O/M175, Q/M242, R/M207, and T/M184) identified in the nine ancient individuals. Autosomal analysis further subdivided them into four groups (ZZS_EA, ZZS_CA, ZZS_SA, and ZZS_Cau).DiscussionAs the capital of the Yuan Dynasty, Xanadu was a prosperous city with international influence. The nine skeletons from the Zhenzishan cemetery reflect the high genetic diversity of Xanadu's residents, with clear differences in paternal and maternal origins. The maternal lineages of these residents were mainly East Asian with some western Eurasian features, while the paternal lineages were mainly western Eurasian with fewer East Asian features. These results contribute to a better understanding of the Mongolian Empire's impact on the migration and mixture of people across the Eurasian continent.