Development Of Human Settlements Research Articles

Social mechanisms for the development of irregular human settlements in Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico

The work presents partial results of a research carried out by the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico, oriented to the analysis of urban growth that develops on the periphery of cities through informal and illegal land occupation processes. The analysis aims to address the social practices and mechanisms that the population exercises to satisfy their land and housing needs, taking the city of Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico as a case study. The results show that the State and real estate developers express their interest in developing the city in a formal way, in which they satisfy the needs of the population with high economic resources and leave aside the poorest population, who practice social actions for the development of irregular human settlements.

Spatio-Temporal Pattern and Vulnerability Assessment of the Human Settlements along the Beibu Gulf Coast of Guangxi, China

Human settlement development is intricately linked to production and life, and development quality is a partial indicator of the local community’s social, economic, cultural, and environmental progress. Furthermore, the human settlements’ vulnerability affects their sustainable development potential. Due to the “One Belt, One Road” initiative and land and sea corridor development in southwestern China, the Beibu Gulf coast in Guangxi is the sole waterway bridgehead used by China for opening trade with ASEAN. By examining the region’s human settlements and its potential for sustainable development, we established a benchmark for the region’s seaward economy and human settlements to achieve synergistic progress, as well as to enhance regional integration. Based on the systematic evaluation of the quality of human settlements along the Beibu Gulf coast in Guangxi, the vulnerability assessment model of human settlement was adopted to analyse the vulnerability and spatial–temporal patterns of nearby human settlements in 2010–2019, while the multiple linear regression model was used to explore their influencing factors. Our findings indicate that the quality of human settlements in the study area has experienced three distinct stages. In the early stage (2010–2012), we noted an overall year-on-year increase in settlement quality. However, in the middle stage (2013–2016), Fangchenggang and Beihai experienced a decline followed by an increase, while Qinzhou demonstrated a steady growth in settlement quality. Qinzhou continued to experience growth, albeit at a slower rate, while Fangchenggang’s rate of increase surpassed that of Beihai. The human settlements’ high-quality centre shifted between Qinzhou and Fangchenggang in the late stage (2017–2019). Additionally, in recent years, the settlements’ high-quality centre has shifted towards the western part of the region. The habitat’s sensitivity has grown slowly, as has the responsiveness index, but the vulnerability index continues to decline, and it is characterised by a spatial differentiation ranging from low to high values in a centre–east–west direction. The region’s human settlement quality is primarily influenced by economic development. The region’s habitat vulnerability is primarily caused by responsibility, and the primary factors affecting responsibility are regional imbalances in social service development, the population’s welfare, and employment and infrastructure.

Urban ecological human settlements design based on green and low-carbon concept

In recent years, the continuous growth of global carbon emissions has brought about climate change and global ecological environment problems, as well as severe challenges to the development of human settlements. Based on the concept of low carbon, this paper analyzes and summarizes the current situation of green space in typical residential areas, and quantifies its annual carbon sequestration. Then this paper discusses the design optimization strategy to improve its carbon sink efficiency based on the current situation. Finally, the effectiveness and enforce ability of the optimization strategy are verified by estimating the annual carbon sequestration increase value of the green space after the optimization strategy is applied to an example. The method has a certain reference value for the design and research of urban ecological human settlements with the concept of green and low carbon.

Accurate and Rapid Extraction of Aquatic Vegetation in the China Side of the Amur River Basin Based on Landsat Imagery

Since the early 1950s, the development of human settlements and over-exploitation of agriculture in the China side of the Amur River Basin (CARB) have had a major impact on the water environment of the surrounding lakes, resulting in a decrease of aquatic vegetation. According to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, a comprehensive understanding of the extent and variability of aquatic vegetation is crucial for preserving the structure and functionality of stable aquatic ecosystems. Currently, there is a deficiency in the CARB long-sequence dataset of aquatic vegetation distribution in China. This shortage hampers effective support for actual management. Therefore, the development of a fast, robust, and automatic method for accurate extraction of aquatic vegetation becomes crucial for large-scale applications. Our objective is to gather information on the spatial and temporal distribution as well as changes in aquatic vegetation within the CARB. Utilizing a hybrid approach that combines the maximum spectral index composite and Otsu algorithm, along with the integration of convolutional neural networks (CNN) and random forest, we applied this methodology to obtain an annual dataset of aquatic vegetation spanning from 1985 to 2020 using Landsat series imagery. The accuracy of this method was validated through both field investigations and Google Images. Upon assessing the confusion matrix spanning from 1985 to 2020, the producer accuracy for aquatic vegetation classification consistently exceeded 87%. Further quantitative analysis unveiled a discernible decreasing trend in both the water and vegetation areas of lakes larger than 20 km2 within the CARB over the past 36 years. Specifically, the total water area decreased from 3575 km2 to 3412 km2, while the vegetation area decreased from 745 km2 to 687 km2. These changes may be attributed to a combination of climate change and human activities. These quantitative data hold significant practical implications for establishing a scientific restoration path for lake aquatic vegetation. They are particularly valuable for constructing the historical background and reference indices of aquatic vegetation.

Past anthropogenic land use change caused a regime shift of the fluvial response to Holocene climate change in the Chinese Loess Plateau

Abstract. The Wei River catchment in the southern part of the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP) is one of the centers of the agricultural revolution in China. The area has experienced intense land use changes since ∼6000 BCE, which makes it an ideal place to study the response of fluvial systems to past anthropogenic land cover change (ALCC). We apply a numerical landscape evolution model that combines the Landlab landscape evolution model with an evapotranspiration model to investigate the direct and indirect effects of ALCC on hydrological and morphological processes in the Wei River catchment since the mid-Holocene. The results show that ALCC has not only led to changes in discharge and sediment load in the catchment but also affected their sensitivity to climate change. When the proportion of agricultural land area exceeded 50 % (around 1000 BCE), the sensitivity of discharge and sediment yield to climate change increased abruptly indicating a regime change in the fluvial catchment. This was associated with a large sediment pulse in the lower reaches. The model simulation results also show a link between human settlement, ALCC and floodplain development: changes in agricultural land use led to downstream sediment accumulation and floodplain development, which in turn resulted in further spatial expansion of agriculture and human settlement.

Modelling Stakeholders’ Capacity for Urban Housing Development: A Developing Country’s Perspective

Abstract The main aim of the study was to model stakeholders’ capacity for urban housing development from a developing country’s perspective, using Zambia as a case study. The study used a quantitative methodology and recruited 214 respondents from various organizations concerned with the planning and development of human settlements in Lusaka, Zambia. The structured questionnaire used for data collection contained nine indicator variables informed by literature. The collected data was analysed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and goodness-of-fit was utilized to assess the acceptability of the model using a two-index technique. The findings revealed that stakeholders’ capacity is explained by four variables, namely: ensuring adequate staffing levels in institutional stakeholders; community empowerment in planning practices; development of essential construction skills; as well as provision of technical support to communities on housing. The paper recommends, among other things, the need to fully engage and build the capacities of communities so that they can effectively participate in housing development. The findings have practical implications for improving housing in the global south. It advances the promotion of capacity building as a prerequisite for driving housing development in line with the new urban agenda.

Revolutionizing building damage detection: A novel weakly supervised approach using high-resolution remote sensing images

ABSTRACT Rapidly estimating post-disaster building damage via high-resolution remote sensing (HRRS) imagery is essential for initial disaster relief. However, the complex appearance of building damage poses challenges for existing methods. Specifically, relying solely on post-disaster images lacks building boundary guidance, while change detection methods using dual-temporal imageries are prone to introducing false changes. To address these issues, this paper presents a novel weakly supervised approach that leverages pre- and post-disaster HRRS images for building damage detection. The contributions of this paper are twofold. Firstly, a unique framework is proposed to utilize dual-temporal images. Precisely, the proposed method initially extracts fine-grained sub-building-level individuals from pre-disaster images by combining a fully convolutional neural network (FCN)-based method with superpixel segmentation. Then, these details serve as cues to effectively guide the detection of damaged building areas on post-disaster images, thereby enhancing accuracy. Secondly, we propose a weakly supervised method that solely relies on labeling building damage based on image patches but can ultimately yield pixel-level building damage results. Experiments conducted using HRRS images captured during the 2010 Haiti earthquake demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms existing methodologies. This effort of this paper will contribute to the sustainable development of cities and human settlements.

Project Crescent – A Proposal to Build a Sustainable Moon Base

The proposed initiative, named "Project Crescent," delineates a comprehensive strategy for the creation of a sustainable Moon base, followed by the development of a permanent human settlement on the lunar surface. Organized into four distinct phases, the project initiates with scientific exploration, leveraging existing lunar mission data to inform future missions effectively. The second phase concentrates on the construction of temporary outposts, utilizing inflatable habitats and lunar resources to establish the foundational infrastructure for sustainable bases. Advancing into the third phase, the focus shifts to the establishment of permanent habitats with the overarching goal of achieving self-sufficiency through a combination of Earth trade, resource utilization, and engagement in economic ventures such as asteroid mining and energy production. The ultimate phase envisions the Moon base experiencing exponential growth, evolving into an independent and economically productive hub dedicated to scientific advancement and space exploration. Despite the inherent challenges associated with such a monumental undertaking, the authors posit that a Moon base represents a pivotal stride toward interplanetary civilization and is imperative for securing humanity's survival beyond the confines of Earth.

The science of rural human settlements: a comprehensive overview

In the process of rapid urbanization in the world, many villages are facing a series of problems such as depopulation, population ageing, insufficient infrastructure, and public service facilities. In order for better rural development and full implementation of the 2030 sustainable development goals, we should hammer at improving the rural human settlements. Based on the science of human settlements proposed by Constantinos Doxiadis, bibliometric analysis was made on studies related to rural human settlements in the last 25 years. Through analysis, we believe that the number of related studies will gradually increase. Currently, the improvement of the rural ecological environment and the creation of a healthy rural human settlement environment are two hot topics. It is very likely that these topics will also be highly focused in the following decades. With the gradual development of rural areas and the improvement of the material lives of people, more and more scholars will pay attention to higher-level demands such as rural cultural environment and self-realization of villagers. By reviewing literature related to rural human settlements, we can comprehensively consider different aspects in rural human settlements. This is quite beneficial for the comprehensive development of rural human settlements. Scholars in different countries have similar focuses related to rural human settlements. However, because of different country conditions, the focuses of researchers have some obvious differences. Relevant literature contributes to the development of the science of human settlements.

Local Identity Based on Villagers’ Vision of Life and Village Dynamics—Evidence from 40 Villages in Yunnan Province, China

Improving local identity is the key to rural sustainable development. Facing the issue of rural hollowing and aging, rural human settlement requires targeted enhancement in conjunction with the living willingness and local identity of villagers. Firstly, this study summarizes the dynamic evolution characteristics of rural human settlement development and population contraction in Yunnan Province from 2001 to 2021, based on the “Production-Living-Ecological” theory. Secondly, the paper selects detailed survey data from 40 administrative villages in Yunnan Province in 2015, analyzes the characteristics of villagers’ living visions in typical villages through questionnaire data, and constructs a comprehensive local identity index model based on multilevel living-visions to quantify the degree of villagers’ identification with rural human settlement construction. Thirdly, the paper analyzes the correlation between the local identity index and the comprehensive human settlement evaluation and analyzes the factors of rural human settlement development that affect the local identity in depth. The results reveal that: (1) rural construction in Yunnan Province cannot adapt to the changing needs of villagers, and the development of rural human settlement is accompanied by a trend of relative shrinkage of the rural population. (2) The local identity index of villagers is weakly correlated with the development of rural human settlements. (3) The rural human settlement factors that influence rural local identity include a dual cohesion–centrifugal trend. The findings suggest that rural development depends on the primary and secondary relationship between cohesion and centrifugal trends, providing a reference for the coupling of rural construction and local identity and promoting the return of rural population to achieve sustainable development.

Housing Inadequacy in Nigeria and Ramifications

This article critically analyses housing inadequacy in Nigeria and its effects. The study is exploratory in nature and used qualitative methodology. Key findings suggest that protests, informal settlements, health challenges, shack fires, flooding, violence and criminality, corruption and xenophobic attacks are the ramifications of housing inadequacy in Nigeria. This study used relevant review of literature, document and policy review, and a qualitative inquiry of secondary sources with regards to housing inadequacy in West Africa/ Nigeria and its ramifications to answer the research questions. Through the Federal Housing Authority, the government needs to engage the private sector, state-owned enterprises, States and Local Governments to unlock strategic parcels of land suitable for human settlements development, which provision, especially for low-income groups should be at subsidized rates. The country needs an efficient, formidable and incorruptible Ministry of Housing Development that is able to perform the huge task of spatial integration.

Suitability evaluation of the rural settlements in a farming-pastoral ecotone area based on machine learning maximum entropy

The suitability evaluation of rural settlements is the core foundation of planning and layout optimization. Settlements in a farming-pastoral ecotone are migrative, dynamic, and diverse, and thus their suitability changes constantly. However, our limited understanding of factors that drive this dynamic process and affect the suitability of humane settlements in the farming-pastoral ecotone hindered the high-quality development of human settlements in such areas. Here we selected the ethnic minority border area of Dalham Maomingan United Banner (DMUB) in the farming-pastoral ecotone of Northern China to evaluate the suitability of its rural settlements. A data-driven machine learning maximum entropy (Maxent) method was applied to the rural settlement datasets of DMUB in years 1996, 2010, and 2020, as well as to 13 influencing factors derived from optical images and topographical ancillary data, demonstrating that the Maxent model can quantitatively measure the contribution and importance of each factor and its variation over time. Furthermore, the results showed that factors such as distance to cultivated land, population density, and distance to road had a great influence on the early-stage distribution of settlements. However, the importance of cultivated land gradually decreased with the significantly increased effect of grassland in the later period. The influence of road factors fluctuated first increasing and then decreasing. The Maxent model was also used to automatically determine suitable range for each factor according to the response curve: elevation falling between 1450 and 1650 m approximately, slope being <7°, the aspect range about 75°-225°, the optimal distance to town and hospital being within 3000 m, and vegetation cover about 0.60–0.75. Such multi-period suitability evaluation indicated that the suitable area gradually decreased, and the settlement fragmentation was serious. The settlement suitability has been dynamically transformed, but mostly toward the unsuitable development. This study provides a decision-making basis for the site selection and planning layout of rural settlements and for the livability assessment of villages in the farming-pastoral ecotone.

Does ERP make a difference in public sector organisations’ data management? Lessons from the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development in Tanzania

ABSTRACT This study aimed to find out how public sector organizations in Tanzania, through the Ministry of Lands, Housing, and Human Settlements Development, can manage data using the characteristics of enterprise resource planning systems, such as perceived ease of use, relative advantage, compatibility, observability, and trialability. The study discovered that only two of the five ERP characteristics are applicable through using structural equation modeling. These are relative advantages and observability. To better achieve its goals, the ministry should make sure that methodological approaches are thoroughly examined before implementation.

Policy and practice: Stakeholders’ satisfaction with conventional and participatory land use planning in Ghana

Land use planning remains an integral tool for guiding the growth and development of human settlements due to competing interests and claims of individuals over land. Two major land use planning approaches are adopted - conventional and participatory - with inconclusive findings on the best approach to employ towards promoting orderly development and growth. This study thus contributes to this debate by exploring how conventional and participatory land use planning approaches affect the preparation and outcome of land use plans in Ghana, using Abuakwa Newtown in the Atwima Nwabiagya Municipality and Krapa No.1 of in the Ejisu Municipality as case study areas. Through a comparative case research design, quantitative and qualitative approaches were employed to gather and analyse data from 397 property owners and other relevant stakeholders. The aim was to explore the similarities and differences between the two approaches and stakeholders’ perception and satisfaction with both processes. The findings largely revealed differences in the land use plan preparation process – plan initiation, preparation and approval - in the two communities. It was revealed that only plan implementation activities had similar outcomes in both communities. The ordered logistic regression model deemed significant at p ≤ 0.05, revealed a negative relationship of satisfaction between tenure security, plan initiation and preparation in Abuakwa Newtown, but a positive relationship in Krapa No.1. The research recommends that planning authorities adopt participatory land use planning and improve upon communication in the processes for active participation and involvement.

Sustainable Development of Rural Human Settlements in the Information Age: Can Internet Use Drive Farmers to Participate in Garbage Classification?

Garbage classification is significant to alleviate the pressure of household waste management in rural areas and promote green development. Based on the micro survey data of 2228 households in rural areas of Jiangsu Province, this paper discusses the impact of internet use on the garbage classification’s willingness and behavior based on the planned behavior theory. The results show that: (1) There is a deviation between willingness and behavior. Ninety percent of the surveyed farmers were willing to do garbage classification, but the garbage classification rate was only 53%. (2) Internet use has a positive effect on the willingness and behavior of farmers to classify garbage, and it can promote the willingness to change behavior and reduce the deviation between willingness and behavior. Specifically, internet use increased by 1 unit, the probability of farmers having neither willingness nor behavior, having both willingness and behavior, and only having willingness but not having the behavior decreased by 5.4%, increased by 13%, and decreased by 7.5%, respectively. (3) Further analysis according to different internet access methods shows that mobile internet access and mixed internet access can have a positive impact on farmers’ willingness and behavior in relation to garbage classification, while computer internet access has no significant impact on farmers’ willingness and behavior in relation to garbage classification. (4) Internet use can enhance farmers’ willingness and behavior in relation to garbage classification by improving their knowledge, behavioral, and environmental cognition. Specifically, the mediating effects of knowledge, behavioral, and environmental cognition on willingness were 71.48%, 21.72%, and 40.49%, respectively, and the mediating effects on behavior were 89.47%, 8.89%, and 18.81%, respectively. Based on this, this paper puts forward the policy recommendations of strengthening the hardware and software construction of the internet, adopting diversified propaganda methods of garbage classification, and improving the social supervision and restraint mechanism.

Strategic perspectives of integrating land use and transport development in Sri Lanka: a review

This article reviews the developments in the transport sector policy in Sri Lanka from the time of getting independence from Britain, highlighting the merits, gaps, prospects and opportunities noticeable in the present-day context. While the transport policy formulation happened in a compartmentalized manner focusing on sub-sectors of road, rail, water, and air, it did not seem to have an overall strategic perspective, especially to integrate the planning of human settlements and the sustainable use of limited land area and other resources of the island. Despite the availability of all-encompassing statutes and well-established institutions, large-scale projects in the road sector, the overall development has been ad-hoc and mostly demand-driven rather than as an integrated demand-managed approach. Such disintegration and dissociation with parallel spatial plans such as the Mahaweli Development Project, Greater Colombo Economic Development Commission projects, etc., has hindered both the development of the transport sector and the overall physical development of human settlements from contributing to rapid growth and sustainable socio-economic development of Sri Lanka. The article suggests a few opportunities and prospects currently available to formulate a cohesive and integrated transportation policy that would enable a strategic contribution to overall national development. The paper discusses the Colombo-Trincomalee Development Corridor, the spatial structure proposed in the National Physical Plan 2050, and the Asian Highway Network proposed by the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

Incremental housing and compliance with development control in urban Ghana

ABSTRACT The challenges in meeting housing demand in African cities have manifested in increased attention to encouraging and adopting incremental housing approach to address the persistent housing deficits with recourse to development control measures. Relatedly, there have been calls to recognize and understand how attitudes of incremental builders or homeowners conform to development control measures from an African perspective. Using Kumasi as a case study, this paper inquires: in what ways can the attitudes of homeowners be used to address housing challenges via incrementalism and how can perceptions inform development control toward sustainability of cities? The findings show that despite the existence of various development control measures to promote orderly human settlement development, incremental housing development does not conform to such regulations due to low knowledge of builders on existing measures, avoidance of incurring additional costs, unnecessary formality and bureaucratic nature of permit acquisition process, and failure of city authorities to strictly enforce regulations. The study concludes that perception and awareness on development control regulations influence attitudes toward compliance. Hence, the need to sensitize and integrate attitudes and knowledge of homeowners into urban planning efforts to safeguard the urban landscape.

Quantitative Evaluation of Ecosystem Services of Urban Street Trees: A Case Study of Shengjing Historical and Cultural Block in Shenyang, China

Urban street trees are of great significance to the sustainable development of human settlements, and are key factors to enhance the service value of the urban environmental ecosystem. In this regard, it is necessary to improve and balance the benefit distribution of urban street trees for promoting the environmental quality of cities. In order to make clear the urban street tree benefits in a city, this paper presents the study on the ecosystem services from street trees in Shengjing Historical and Cultural Block (SHCB), Shenyang, China. By conducting a field survey on 1968 street trees and using the i-Tree model and the ENVI-met model to quantify the original data, this paper evaluated the ecosystem services distribution of eight streets and nine zones in the SHCB. The results showed that the co-creation annual ecological benefit and annual thermal comfort benefit of the street trees of SHCB were 163,965.62 and 233,533.48 dollars, respectively, totaling 397,499.10 dollars. It is obvious that the thermal comfort benefit is higher than the ecological benefit. Meanwhile, urban streets with high ecological benefit may not necessarily produce high thermal comfort benefit. Therefore, on the basis of ecological benefit analysis, the ecosystem services can be reflected more accurately by superimposing the thermal comfort benefit. The quantitative assessment system obtained in this study can provide a reference for future block planning and urban street tree allocation of SHCB and other regions in similar areas.

GENETIC FEATURES OF TARPAN-LIKE HORSES OF THE POLISH PRIMITIVE (THE KONIK) BREED AND ESTABLISHMENT OF PHYLOGENETIC OF ANCIENT EGUIDS USING THE ISSR-PCR MARK

In the development of human society, the horse, compared to other domestic animals, played a central role. It became an integral part of the economic and intellectual development of ancient human settlements, a symbol of the transformation of subsequent great epochs. The last wild horse that survived in Ukraine until the end of the XIX century, according to many paleontologists, was the tarpan. However, this statement is still questioned. In the books and documents of old chroniclers and researchers we find descriptions of wild horses called tarpans, which could be found in the wooded areas of Poland, Lithuania and Prussia in the XVIII century. Emphasizing the forest existence of these horses, they received the Latin name Equii silvestris (forest horses). According to historical records, tarpans survived the longest in the wild in the vicinity of Bialowieza Forest, more or less until 1780, when they were finally caught and transferred to the Zoo of the Counts of Zamoyski (an influential Polish count) in the town of Zwierzyniec near the town of Bilhora in Lublin Voivodeship in eastern Poland. Around 1806, the zoo ceased to exist, and the horses were distributed to local peasants. Thus, we can assume that this is the last case of domestication of wild horses in Poland. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has launched a program to return the tarpan-like Polish horse to nature. Therefore, tarpan-like horses were brought to the Belarusian part of Belovezhskaya Pushcha and to the south-west of Latvia (1999) [11]. In 2009, with the consent of the Ministry of Environment of Ukraine and the Ministry of Nature Protection of Poland, horses of the descendants of the wild tarpan horse were brought to the territory of Yavoriv National Nature Park from Roztochansky National Park to preserve and reproduce the gene pool of these horses. However, the origin of the domestic horse and the history of most modern breeds remains unclear to this day. This is due to the fact that the bones of wild and domesticated horses are almost identical. The lack of diagnostic, anatomical and biometric criteria does not allow to determine the archaeozoological remains of the horse. To solve these problems molecular genetic analysis of horse DNA is used. With the use of molecular markers in research, there are new opportunities to study genetic diversity, as well as the definition of phylogenetic relationships at both intra- and interspecific levels. One of the types of genetic polymorphism research is ISSR-PCR - amplification of intermicrosatellite DNA fragments, the purpose of which is to conduct genetic monitoring in rocks in order to preserve the allelofund of a few rocks. (3) The aim of the work was to identify intraspecific genetic variability of tarpan-like horses of the Polish konik breed and to establish phylogenetic links between ancient equids (Pleistocene horse, real tarpan) using ISSR - fingerprinting. The material for the assessment of intraspecific and interspecific genetic variability and the establishment of phylogenetic relationships between modern horses and fossil remains of ancient horses were horses of the Polish konik breed (10 heads) of the Yavoriv National Nature Park of the Lviv Region. and fossil bones of horses of the Pleistocene period (about 10 thousand years BC), metacarpal bone (os. tarsicentral). The bone was found in Novgorod-Siversky, Chernihiv region during quarry construction work. The excavations were carried out by PI Borisovsky in 1935. A tooth found in the village of Tarpan was used to study a wild tarpan horse (4.5 thousand years BC). Skibnytsia, Trostyanets district, Vinnytsia region. Excavations were conducted in 1959 by VM Danylenko. The paleontological material that was studied was provided by the Kyiv National Museum of Natural History of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Department of Paleontology. It was found that the species-specific spectra of PCR products obtained by ISSR-PCR for species E.caballus are fragments of 380-400 np and 500-520 np. The breed-specific fragments of the DNA molecule inherent in horses of the Polish konik breed include spectra of amplification products with a size of 680-710 np. It was found that the genetic distances between the amplicons of ISSR-PCR markers of Polish horses and fossil remains of a Pleistocene horse were 0.0881 and between the remains of a real tarpan - 0.0845. The low value of the share of polymorphic loci (P) and the index of polymorphic information content (PIC) was revealed, which indicates a high degree of genetic consolidation of horses of the Polish konik breed and possible reproductive isolation of the population. It was established that the spectra of amplification products of horses of the Polish horse and fossil remains of Pleistocene horse and real tarpan by 97% on the universal scale of dimension of ISSR fragments in np belonged to "light" (A-35 - A-25) and "medium" -25 - A-13), which is a specific characteristic of E. caballus species.

The role of irrigation projects in the development of rural settlements conceptual framework and experiences

Irrigation projects have a key role in influencing economic factors and reshaping the demographic distribution pattern of rural settlements and elements of development. As the main objective of the research is to show what irrigation projects achieve in rural development through the redistribution of rural human settlements in a schematic manner consistent with the new irrigation reality and helps In exploiting the agricultural potential to reach the rebuilding of the rural economy, and to help solve the problem of poor distribution of development benefits and the lack of public services for rural human settlements, due to the spread and scattering of villages, assuming that the prevailing pattern of widespread distribution changes and the use of a new pattern based on the grouping of villages, and raising the rate of Population size in a way that helps to achieve the rural development process. Considering that the dominant feature that distinguishes the pattern of rural settlements in Iraq is the small size of the settlements, their spread and their lack of basic services, which is the characteristic that stands in the way of development and development.Among the most important conclusions achieved for the role of irrigation projects in addition to agricultural development, is their contribution to the urban development of rural human settlements and providing them with public and agricultural services by linking to a network of roads, in addition to establishing new settlements that support the rural economy.