Dimensions Of Infrastructure Research Articles

Life in transit: the work of hyper-mobile gamete couriers in vital mobility infrastructures

Reproductive couriers are critical actors within ‘vital mobility infrastructures’ essential to the movement of ‘precious’ gametes that makes assisted reproduction across different places and times possible. Reasons for transporting gametes are varied and range from movements between clinics when patients change clinics through to complex choreographies internationally to bring sperm, oocytes or embryos together for third party assisted reproduction such as in surrogacy. We draw upon interviews with 15 hyper-mobile couriers and courier company managers as well as gamete donor coordinators. Our aim in this paper is to examine the largely invisible ‘mobile work’ undertaken by couriers in shipping gametes and embryos across the world. We examine the dimensions of these vital mobility infrastructures—technologies; companies; regulations; and social dispositions of courier work as part of the complex supply chains of assisted reproductive cycles. External factors and circumstances such as the war in Ukraine or the COVID pandemic may cause disruptions in supply chains which prevent the movement and transfer of the biomaterials. We extend the concept of vital mobilities by drawing attention to the critical infrastructures they depend upon.

An advanced spatial decision model for strategic placement of off-site hydrogen refueling stations in urban areas

The strategic placement of hydrogen refueling stations (HRSs) is crucial for the successful adoption of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (HFCVs) and the promotion of sustainable urban transportation. However, existing spatial decision models using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) often stop at generating suitability maps and rely on simplistic or arbitrary site placement methods, such as fixed service radii, without optimizing spatial distribution that overlook inherent uncertainties, limiting the effectiveness of the decision-making process. This study develops an advanced spatial decision model to handle uncertainty and optimize HRS placement in Prague, Czechia. The model integrates multiple methodologies: (i) Utilizing 21 criteria across accessibility, environmental, infrastructural, and socioeconomic dimensions, with criteria weights prioritized using the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) to manage uncertainty in expert judgments. GIS suitability analysis identified optimal areas, with 18.13% of Prague classified as highly suitable for HRS deployment. (ii) Implementing Fuzzy C-Means (FCM) clustering to optimize site distribution and address uncertainty in HRS placement, proposing 10 optimal locations validated by a Silhouette score of 0.68. (iii) Evaluating model performance through sensitivity analysis, revealing responsiveness to criteria variations. To evaluate and rank the proposed HRS locations, we integrated a Genetic Algorithm (GA) with the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), optimizing the selection process by exploring a wider solution space. Additionally, accessibility analysis assessed emergency response coverage, ensuring efficient response times. This multi-methodological framework ensures a robust, data-driven approach to site selection, optimizing accessibility, minimizing environmental impact, and promoting sustainable urban transportation. It advances strategic infrastructure planning, sets a precedent for integrating advanced analytic techniques to handle uncertainty and automate site selection in spatial decision-making, and is adaptable to diverse urban contexts.

Multidimensional spatial inequality in China and its relationship with economic growth

Spatial inequality erodes social cohesion and political stability, impacting global sustainable development and human well-being. This study examines spatial inequality in China across economic, social, environmental, infrastructural, and innovation dimensions, exploring how these inequalities evolve with economic development. Drawing on the Sustainable Development Goals and Chinese planning goals, we selected 13 indicators pertinent to human well-being. We employed the population-weighted coefficient of variation, Gini coefficient, and Moran’s I to assess spatial inequalities and analyzed their relationship with economic growth. The findings reveal that China currently exhibits the highest spatial inequality in innovation and the lowest in the social dimension. Since 1990, most indicators have trended towards decreasing spatial inequality, except for unemployment rates and carbon emissions, which have increased. The economic and innovation gap between the eastern coastal regions and the central and western regions has widened, whereas disparities in housing, healthcare, roads, and digitalization have narrowed. China’s experience demonstrates that Williamson’s inverted U-shaped hypothesis extends beyond the economic domain to encompass education, healthcare, infrastructure, and digitalization, providing policy insights for addressing regional inequalities in China in the post-pandemic era.

The drivers and barriers influencing the commercialization of innovations at research and innovation institutions in Uganda: a systemic, infrastructural, and financial approach

Research and innovation (R&I) institutions must commercialize their innovations to remain competitive in a knowledge-based economy. While R&I institutions in Uganda have the potential to drive socioeconomic development, a clear understanding of the commercialization pathway is lacking. This study aims to bridge this gap by analyzing the systemic, infrastructural, and financial factors that drive and hinder the commercialization of innovations at R&I institutions in Uganda. This study offers the first comprehensive examination of the systemic, infrastructural, and financial dimensions influencing innovation commercialization within Uganda's R&I ecosystem, presenting new empirical evidence on the prioritized barriers and drivers as perceived by key stakeholders. Employing a mixed-method approach, this study uniquely combines quantitative surveys with qualitative case studies and key informant interviews, enabling a nuanced understanding of the multifaceted drivers of and barriers to innovation commercialization in Uganda. The study employed the Delphi technique to identify consensus among key informants. The findings highlight the urgent barriers to address, including fragmented R&I ecosystems, inadequate support infrastructure, such as technology transfer offices, and significant gaps in innovation financing. These issues underscore the urgent need for targeted policy interventions. Based on our findings, we recommend the establishment of a national innovation fund, enhancement of public private partnerships for R&D infrastructure development, and formulation of a cohesive national policy framework to streamline commercialization processes at R&I institutions. This study provides policymakers with a data-driven foundation to craft targeted interventions aimed at removing the identified barriers, thereby catalyzing the commercialization of innovations in Uganda's R&I institutions.

The Research on the Influencing Factors of Agricultural Product Sales: A Case Study of Xinzheng City

The sale of agricultural products is closely related to people's livelihoods and is also critical to agricultural development and rural construction. To identify the factors influencing the sales of agricultural products, a study was conducted on agricultural practitioners, consumers, and supermarket operators within Xinzheng City. Through literature research, a model of influencing factors for agricultural product sales was developed. Based on this model, regression analysis was employed to process and analyze the data obtained from the questionnaires. The study found that all 14 hypotheses under the three dimensions of product, infrastructure, and policy were valid. Subsequently, recommendations and strategies to promote agricultural product sales were proposed.

Infrastructures of Social Reproduction: Migrant Survival and Economic Development at the Thailand-Myanmar Border

International migration literature has shown that infrastructures consisting of people and institutions sustain migration and help migrants cope in new environments. However, analytic focus on these infrastructures is often limited to the migration process and its impact on migrants. This article extends the growing literature on migration infrastructure by analyzing its socially reproductive capacities in the context of economic development in Thailand. Drawing on ethnographic and interview data from the Tak border zone, I show how the social and humanitarian dimensions of migration infrastructure that grew from war displacement, labor migration, and migrant survival efforts became essential to economic development aims of the Thai state. Through this case, I illustrate a process of infrastructural co-optation by which the state harnesses grassroots and humanitarian actors’ capacities for childcare, education, and healthcare to advance such aims. Authorities spatially contain migrant workers with limited rights and social protections while loosely engaging with parts of the border's infrastructure, which keeps noncitizen workers alive and available for low-wage jobs. The findings show that aspects of migration infrastructure are co-optable, with impact beyond the migration process and for non-migrants.

Effects of climate change on migration in Latin America and Caribbean: a scoping review

Climate change-induced natural disasters such as hurricanes, landslides, forest fires, and changes in precipitation directly affect rural sectors that depend on field production and other dimensions of everyday life. This generates the mobilization of people from their homes to safer places within the same country or across borders. There is a lack of information on the impacts of climate change on environmental migrants in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). This scoping review aims to describe the scientific evidence of the health effects of climate change on migrant in LAC. The review was conducted using databases from PubMed, Web of Science (WoS), and Google Scholar in English, Spanish and Portuguese. After screening the title, abstract, and full text of identified hits (n = 726), 31 records were finally included. Evidence indicates that climate change relates to health and healthcare, psychosocial and infrastructure dimensions among migrants in LAC. Health effects refer to limited access to healthcare, underdiagnosis, increased susceptibility to diseases and mental health conditions like stress and anxiety. Psychosocial dimensions refer to a heightened risk of sexual and gender-based violence, social marginalization, family separation, and loss of identity and culture. Infrastructure refers to environmental degradation and agricultural and urban infrastructure destruction. Multiple adaptations to these conditions are described among migrant populations in the region. Recommendations for improvements are presented. This scoping review suggests climate change’s significant health, psychosocial, and infrastructural associations with migrants in Latin America.

Digital Transformation Maturity Analysis of Indonesian Navy Staff and Command College Using DTMM

The maturity of digital transformation refers to an organization’s development level in adopting and integrating digital technology into its business processes. The level of maturity of digital transformation in the Indonesian Navy Staff and Command College as a military education institution is very essential. The problem is the information on digital transformation maturity has not been obtained. The qualitative method through in-depth interviews was conducted on the leadership elements, namely the director and departmental heads to answer the question of digital transformation maturity. Interviews were developed in the policy and strategy, technology and infrastructure dimensions, the use of IT in the business process of educational institutions, IT-based learning, lecturers and education, data, digital leadership, efficiency and IT-based performance, and IT culture. Determination of maturity level was carried out using DTMM at initial, developing, defined, managed, and optimized. The results of the study show that overall, the level of maturity of digital transformation at the Naval Staff and Command School has reached a defined (systematic) level. The strategy for increasing the maturity of digital transformation at the Naval Staff and Command School needs to be continuously developed and implemented in each dimension.

Comprehensive Resilience Assessment Framework for Water Distribution Networks

A novel comprehensive resilience assessment framework for drinking water systems is proposed integrating different resilience perspectives (i.e., robustness, autonomy, flexibility, reliability, preparedness and recovery), oriented by objectives, criteria and metrics, applicable at the tactical level. The resilience assessment framework is applied to a Portuguese real water distribution network, enabling the evaluation of the system’s resilience. The infrastructure dimension is the main contributor to the low resilience results, particularly in terms of infrastructural robustness, as the infrastructure has exceeded the average service life and has low rehabilitation rates. In terms of autonomy, the system highly depends on external water and energy sources. Regarding the service dimension, most of the drinking water available is used for non-potable uses (e.g., irrigation), without alternative sources. The detailed diagnosis identified network area R6 as the priority area. Assets rehabilitation, increasing storage capacity, finding alternative water and energy sources, and minimizing non-potable uses are relevant improvement measures that promote the reinforcement of the system’s resilience. The resilience assessment framework is a very useful tool for the daily and tactical management of drinking water systems.

COVID futures: Social imaginaries of post-pandemic lives in Australia

Many expert commentaries predicting what life will be like in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic have been published. The views of the public on post-COVID futures have received less attention. To explore these issues, this article draws on qualitative interviews conducted with Australian adults, conducted in three stages in each of the first pandemic years of 2020, 2021 and 2022. The final questions asked were: ‘What do you think your way of life will be like once the COVID crisis has passed? Will it go back to the way it was before – or be different in important ways?’. This article analyses participants’ responses to these future-facing questions across the three annual interview sets. Continuities and differences in the imaginaries of pandemic futures expressed in each of these years are identified. Findings demonstrate the value of documenting public understandings, practices and feelings concerning imaginaries of the future of crises such as the pandemic across an extended timescale. The study identified the complexity of how quotidian life, emotions and biographical experiences are entangled with broader socioeconomic, policy, infrastructural, cultural and political dimensions in people’s predictions of what a post-COVID world might be like at different stages of the pandemic.

أثر تكنولوجيا المعلومات والاتصالات في تعزيز مشاركة المرأة اليمنية في التنمية في ضوء مؤشرات أهداف التنمية المستدامة 2030

The study aimed to determine the impact of information and communications technology on the participation of Yemeni women in development in light of the indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals 2030. To achieve the objectives of the study, the study depends on the descriptive analytical approach, where a non-random, intentional sample is used that depends on the criterion of women’s participation in development and represents the institutions and governmental bodies in the governorates of Sana’a & Aden. A questionnaire was designed as a tool for collecting data and was distributed to the study sample, which numbered (230) individuals distributed among those entities participating in the study (215) valid questionnaires were retrieved that are capable of statistical analysis, Where the SPSS statistical program was used data analysis and hypothesis testing. The study reached to existence of a statistically significant effect of ICT in the participation of Yemeni women in development in the light of the indicators of SDGs of skills and costs dimensions and no impact of the infrastructure dimension. The results also showed significant impact on the impact of access to ICT on women's use of ICT regarding achieving SDGs. The study presented recommendations as enhancing the participation of Yemeni women in development by exploiting the opportunities provided by ICT in achieving SDGs by spreading awareness among Yemeni women of the importance of acquiring and developing their technological skills through various media to highlight the importance of technology in the economic, educational, cultural, health, community participation, decision support and other development fields.

Urban resilience: Multidimensional perspectives, challenges and prospects for future research

This manuscript investigates the multifaceted concept of urban resilience amidst escalating urbanization and environmental challenges. The study identifies and examines key problems across environmental, infrastructural, economic, human, social, and institutional dimensions of urban resilience through a systematic review of literature and consultations with experts in the field. Emphasizing the significance of interdisciplinary collaboration and community involvement, the research underscores the necessity for innovative approaches to bolster urban resilience. By shedding light on the intricate dynamics of urban challenges, the study advocates for sustainable urban development strategies that prioritize resilience-building. Insights from the study pave the way for future research endeavors aimed at addressing urban complexities and fostering resilient urban environments that can withstand and adapt to external and internal disturbances effectively.

How Is SDG 11 Linked with Other SDGs? Evidence from the United Nations Good Practices

The United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goal 11 “Sustainable Cities and Communities” (SDG 11) is linked with the 16 other SDGs to varying extents. Studying these relationships can provide insight into the strengths and weaknesses of the current SDG framework and set the stage for improvements to the next version. We analyze data from the UN database of 221 “good practices” for SDG 11 submitted between 2018 and 2021 to determine the most and least frequent linkages between SDG 11 and other SDGs as well as differences in such linkages between developed and developing countries. We find SDG 11 most closely associated with SDG 17 “Partnership for the Goals” and SDG 13 “Climate Action”. This shows actors’ perceptions of the centrality of international partnerships and climate action in addressing urban sustainability challenges. Connections with SDG 7 “Affordable and Clean Energy”, SDG 2 “Zero Hunger”, and SDG 16 “Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions” were surprisingly weak, given the role of clean energy in addressing the climate crisis, the prevalence of poverty and hunger within cities, and the importance of institutions. Developing countries more frequently linked SDG 11 with SDG 5 “Gender Equality” and SDG 6 “Clear Water and Sanitation”, showing a focus on basic infrastructure and gender equity dimensions of sustainability. Developed countries associated SDG 11 more strongly with natural resources, environmental sustainability, and economic production. These findings suggest that more specific targets, indicators, and international support related to energy, poverty, hunger, and institutions may be needed within post-2030 iterations of SDG 11.

Infrastruktura migracyjna w Polsce i jej wielowymiarowość na przykładzie filipińskiego vloga YouTube

International labor migration is increasingly facilitated by unofficial intermediaries who play a significant role within the diverse migration infrastructure. Growing uncertainty about the future caused by conflicts, economic crises, or pandemics has led migrants to increasingly seek employment through the Internet, where micro-influencers become active assistants, providing advice to those seeking work abroad. In recent years, Overseas Filipino Workers have become such active online intermediaries. Migrant vlogs have become an integral part of the multidimensional migration infrastructure, facilitating transnational labor intermediation and exposing issues related to navigating infrastructural dimensions for basic infrastructure users – migrants. The article aims to illustrate the multidimensionality of migration infrastructure through the example of the YouTube vlog. Despite attempts to liberalize migration management methods, such as through the possibility of seeking employment online, they have not led to the development of migrants’ migratory capacities. Nowadays, migrants – the basic infrastructure users – have to navigate through additional elements of infrastructure (vlogs) as well as face growing bureaucratization of the process itself, which should be considered an example of infrastructural involution (Xiang and Lindquist 2014). The paper presents the results of a qualitative content analysis of the comments posted under the video of a Filipina vlogger living in Poland, who provides advice on her YouTube channel to people interested in employment. The results illustrate the multidimensionality of migration infrastructure on the example of a vlog and prove the infrastructural involution resulting from the growing complexity of commentators’ needs.

How Can Risk-Averse and Risk-Taking Approaches be Considered in a Group Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Problem?

We propose an alternative decision-making methodology based on adopting a mixed risk-averse and risk-taking behavior, improving the objectivity of decision-making. We demonstrate the methodology by prioritizing Iranian tourism centers’ activity under pandemic conditions, providing insights to policymakers on those to keep active or reduce the activity of – hence, those worth developing ahead of future disease outbreaks. This research follows a three-step methodology. First, criteria for evaluation are identified and categorized into tourist attractions, infrastructure, and healthcare dimensions. Second, criterion weights are calculated based on expert opinions, collected using a best-worst method-based questionnaire. Third, tourism centers are evaluated by employing risk-averse and risk-taking best-worst methods. We identify popular attractions, general services, and drugstore accessibility as the primary indicators of tourist attractions, infrastructure, and healthcare, respectively. By clustering tourism centers using K-means algorithm, we find that, in order, the cities of Semnan, Kerman and Zahedan are the tourism centers most suited to staying active during disease outbreaks. For multi-criteria decision-making problems that rely on experts’ evaluations, the proposed methodology can improve the reliability of decision-making. The methodology and framework presented can be used to support various types of decision-making, including evaluation, ranking, selection or sorting.

Analyzing Communication and Satisfaction in Mental Health Online Consults for Students

Online mental health consultation applications have become increasingly prevalent in Indonesia. Teenagers, including college students use these applications to communicate their problems and seek solutions. This study aims to describe final year students' experiences in using these applications. This study evaluates the effectiveness of an online mental health consultation service through the perceptions of 118 users, utilizing a Likert scale across three key dimensions: usefulness, usability, also integration and infrastructure. The findings indicate a generally positive reception of the service. In the usefulness dimension, the service scored well in terms of meeting advertised expectations, maintaining consistent quality, fostering optimism, providing clarity on mental health issues, and making users feel at ease. The usability dimension highlighted the enjoyable nature of the application and its benefits, though it revealed a need for improvement in accessibility for users with disabilities. The integration and infrastructure dimension reflected positively on the service's intuitive design and user-friendliness, with high scores in data confidentiality, responsiveness of counsellors, clarity of communication, and effectiveness in addressing user issues. Users also expressed a willingness to reuse the service for future mental health needs, indicating its perceived value and reliability.

Turtle Biology Conservation at Taman Kili Kili Beach, Wonocoyo Village

Conservation is one of the activities that is expected to prevent the extinction of turtles and turtle habitats, preventing the use of turtles for commercial purposes such as selling their eggs, meat, and shells. This research was carried out in the Taman Kili Kili Beach area from January to March 2022. This research aimed to determine the management carried out at Taman Kili Kili Beach and the sustainability of turtle conservation at Taman Kili Kili Beach. The data analysis in this research is an initial analysis consisting of qualitative and quantitative analysis, while further analysis is a Rapfish analysis. The results of the research show that the management of turtles in the Kili-Kili Park Turtle Conservation area carries out several activities: Searching for turtle eggs, breeding process, hatchling rearing process, and releasing hatchlings into the sea. Sustainability based on the results of Rapfish for Conservation at Taman Kili Kili Beach is categorized as sustainable, but more attention needs to be paid to the institutional and infrastructure dimensions.

A Fuzzy DEMATEL‐FCM approach for analyzing the enablers of the circular economy and Industry 4.0 in the supply chain

AbstractThe synergy between the concepts of circular economy and Industry 4.0 enables a greater movement toward a sustainable society and addresses environmental and economic issues in organizational operations. This study seeks to implement circular economy and Industry 4.0 for waste reduction and resource optimization in Yazd glass factories. It is significant because Iranian factories are not efficient from this point of view and produce a considerable amount of waste. For this purpose, the mixed methodology has been employed. In the qualitative part, 15 enablers are identified by using the meta‐synthesis method, which are categorized into four economic, human resources, organizational‐managerial, and infrastructure dimensions. In the quantitative stage, the cause‐and‐effect relationship between enablers is identified by using the Fuzzy DEMATEL method, and forward and backward scenarios are formulated using fuzzy cognitive map technique. While the research practical contributions include identification of key enablers in implementing circular supply chain management 4.0, formulation of forward and backward scenarios to guide strategic decision‐making in sustainable practices, and offering actionable insights for waste reduction and resource optimization in the glass industry leading to improved operational efficiency, it has theoretical contributions such as highlighting the significance of specific enablers in the successful implementation of circular supply chain management 4.0, demonstrating the interplay between different enablers and their impact on key aspects, and advancing knowledge on sustainable practices within the context of the glass industry, contributing to environmental sustainability and operational excellence in Iranian factories.

Nexus between infrastructural development and economic growth: Evidence from Bangladesh through auto-regressive distributive lag and nonlinear auto regressive distributive lag analysis

This study aims to scrutinize the influence of infrastructure on the economic growth of Bangladesh, employing an extensive time series analysis spanning from 1973 to 2020. Utilizing Principle Component Analysis, two distinct indices were constructed to gauge the dimensions of economic and social infrastructure. Subsequently, Auto-Regressive Distributive Lag (ARDL) and Nonlinear Auto Regressive Distributive Lag (NARDL) bound tests were employed to assess the existence of long-run relationships among the variables under examination. The findings indicate a significant and positive contribution of economic infrastructure to both long and short-term production expansion. Upon further disaggregation into negative and positive shocks, consistent results emerge. An increase (decrease) in the economic infrastructure (EI) index by one unit corresponds to an upsurge (subside) of 0.16% (0.17%) in economic growth. In contrast, social infrastructure (SI) exhibits no significant long-run association with GDP growth. The discerned pattern suggests that EI play a pivotal role in driving aggregate output, while SI display a lag. Despite this, it is imperative to underscore the importance of SI for human development. Consequently, adopting a comprehensive and strategic approach, encompassing vision, ensuring quality inclusivity, and anti-corruption measures, is imperative for Bangladesh to fully realize the transformative potential of its infrastructure investments and foster sustained economic growth.

Analyzing Communication and Satisfaction in Mental Health Online Consults for Students

Online mental health consultation applications have become increasingly prevalent in Indonesia. Teenagers, including college students use these applications to communicate their problems and seek solutions. This study aims to describe final year students' experiences in using these applications. This study evaluates the effectiveness of an online mental health consultation service through the perceptions of 118 users, utilizing a Likert scale across three key dimensions: usefulness, usability, also integration and infrastructure. The findings indicate a generally positive reception of the service. In the usefulness dimension, the service scored well in terms of meeting advertised expectations, maintaining consistent quality, fostering optimism, providing clarity on mental health issues, and making users feel at ease. The usability dimension highlighted the enjoyable nature of the application and its benefits, though it revealed a need for improvement in accessibility for users with disabilities. The integration and infrastructure dimension reflected positively on the service's intuitive design and user-friendliness, with high scores in data confidentiality, responsiveness of counsellors, clarity of communication, and effectiveness in addressing user issues. Users also expressed a willingness to reuse the service for future mental health needs, indicating its perceived value and reliability.