Geographical Dimensions Research Articles

Banlieue Nord: A Brief Contribution to How We Inhabit the North and How the North Inhabits Us

Beyond its many simplified representations such as cold, hostile, uninhabited, or unknown, the north reveals itself as a complex and multiple space of interwoven geographical, cultural, social, and conceptual dimensions. Influenced by world views, the power of maps and myths as well as the very relation to the landscape itself as one of extraction or attraction, humans subjectively apprehend these multiple norths. By dwelling in the northern lands through experience or imagination, ‘southerners’ and ‘northerners’ alike do not simply inhabit the north; they are in turn inhabited by it. Situated at the ‘gates of the north’ in subarctic Canada, the mono-industrial company town Fermont fits its town centre entirely under a single roof. Planned and commissioned in the 1970s by a mining company, the town’s Utopian purpose was to ‘make a society’ in an inhospitable climate, while serving the exploitation of the mine. Fermont’s case serves here as a laboratory to understand the complexities of the north in more general terms. At the crossroads of image-based practices and the humanities, this contribution engages with the question of how humans inhabit the north and how they are inhabited by it.

Migration process: Impact on sustainable development of the national economy

Purpose of the research. The paper aims to analyse the relationship between migration and the sustainable development of the countries, identifying the tendencies evolutions of the migration theory in the context of three dimensions: content, geographical and historical. Methodology. The description of tendencies of the evolution of the theory of management of migration processes was done with bibliometric analysis tools. For this purpose, the author generated the meta-data of scientific publications on the researched issues from Scopus. The results of the bibliometric analysis were visualised using VOSviewer. To determine the relationship between migration and sustainable development of the country, a nonparametric measure of Spearman's correlation was calculated using the EViews. Results. According to bibliometric analysis, the main directions of scientific research on migration issues are determined. The development of the theory of management of migration processes by geographical and temporal dimensions is described. The following scientific clusters could be highlighted: the most significant cluster (red) – focuses on the general aspects of the migration; green cluster – focuses on the demography and cultural as core factors that influenced migration; blue cluster – focuses on the impact of migration policy and governance efficiency on the migration; yellow cluster – linking among gender factor, economic and social development, and migration. It was determined that the latest publications focus on the study of relationships among migration processes and the effectiveness of sustainable development goals. Practical meaning. The author empirically proved the existence of a correlation between migration and sustainable development of the country. Prospects for further research. The results justified the necessity to test the hypothesis of long-term causal links between migration and indicators of sustainable development of the country.

A New Geo-Propagation Model of Event Evolution Chain Based on Public Opinion and Epidemic Coupling.

The online public opinion is the sum of public views, attitudes and emotions spread on major public health emergencies through the Internet, which maps out the scope of influence and the disaster situation of public health events in real space. Based on the multi-source data of COVID-19 in the context of a global pandemic, this paper analyzes the propagation rules of disasters in the coupling of the spatial dimension of geographic reality and the dimension of network public opinion, and constructs a new gravity model-complex network-based geographic propagation model of the evolution chain of typical public health events. The strength of the model is that it quantifies the extent of the impact of the epidemic area on the surrounding area and the spread of the epidemic, constructing an interaction between the geographical reality dimension and online public opinion dimension. The results show that: The heterogeneity in the direction of social media discussions before and after the “closure” of Wuhan is evident, with the center of gravity clearly shifting across the Yangtze River and the cyclical changing in public sentiment; the network model based on the evolutionary chain has a significant community structure in geographic space, divided into seven regions with a modularity of 0.793; there are multiple key infection trigger nodes in the network, with a spatially polycentric infection distribution.

Diverting Domestic Turmoil

When faced with intense domestic turmoil, governments may strategically engage in foreign interactions to divert the public’s attention away from pressing domestic issues. I test this hypothesis for a globally representative sample of 190 countries, at the monthly level, over the years 1997-2014. Using textual data on media–reported events retrieved from the GDELT database, I find robust evidence that governments resort to diversionary tactics in times of domestic turmoil and that such diversion takes the form of verbally aggressive foreign interactions, typically targeted at ‘weak’ countries and countries closely linked along religious, linguistic and geographic dimensions. Strategically important trade partners are unlikely to be victimized. These findings suggest that diversionary foreign policy is, in fact, systematically practised by governments as a strategic tool, and that such diversion is exercised in a manner that may not lead to large scale costs or risks of retaliation.

Trends in obesity by socioeconomic status among non-pregnant women aged 15-49 y: a cross-sectional, multi-dimensional equity analysis of demographic and health surveys in 11 sub-Saharan Africa countries, 1994-2015.

BackgroundGlobal obesity estimates show a steadily increasing pattern across socioeconomic and geographical divides, especially among women. Our analysis tracked and described obesity trends across multiple equity dimensions among women of reproductive age (15–49 y) in 11 sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries during 1994–2015.MethodsThis study consisted of a cross-sectional series analysis using nationally representative demographic and health surveys (DHS) data. The countries included were Cameroon, Comoros, Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Nigeria, Senegal, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The data reported are from a reanalysis conducted using the WHO Health Equity Assessment Toolkit that assesses inter- and intra-country health inequalities across socioeconomic and geographical dimensions. We generated equiplots to display intra- and inter-country equity gaps.ResultsThere was an increasing trend in obesity among women of reproductive age across all 11 SSA countries. Obesity increased unequally across wealth categories, place of residence and educational measures of inequality. The wealthiest, most educated and urban dwellers in most countries had a higher prevalence of obesity. However, in Comoros, obesity did not increase consistently with increasing wealth or education compared with other countries. The most educated and wealthiest women in Comoros had lower obesity rates compared with their less wealthy and less well-educated counterparts.ConclusionA window of opportunity is presented to governments to act structurally and at policy level to reduce obesity generally and prevent a greater burden on disadvantaged subpopulation groups in sub-Saharan Africa.

Freight transport in the context of industrial ecology and sustainability: evaluation of uni- and multi-modality scenarios via life cycle assessment

This study aims at comparing, from an environmental point of view, four different scenarios of freight transport at the Italian level, on an equal base of route between supplier and customer. The first scenario included freight movements by truck and mainly ship, the second included track and mainly train, the third was the three-modal based scenario, whilst the fourth scenario was the only uni-modal, based only upon truck movement. The study was conducted to find the environmentally sustainable solution, or at least a sustainable trade-off, as well as the most environmentally burdening issues, associated with the geographic dimension of transport in Italy, towards sustainability. Using uni‐ and multi-modal freight movements by truck, rail and ship, a life cycle assessment (LCA) was developed to estimate the related environmental burdens both at the midpoint and at the endpoint levels from the consumption of primary energy and natural resources along with the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and of other pollutants. Primary data were compiled as part of the inventory analysis and consisted in the transport flows associated with the system investigated: those were calculated from the distance travelled and the goods load transported. Primary data were then combined with secondary data that were modelled with the transport life cycle modules contained in Ecoinvent: from those modules, the fuel consumption amounts associated transport flows were extrapolated, and used for the assessment. Results showed that the environmental impact of the multi-modal scenarios is lower compared with the uni-modal scenario. The best performing option was found to be the third scenario providing use of all the three freight means, namely ship, train and truck. However, this scenario is not being practiced for several reasons, mainly due to control and monitoring difficulties of each step and higher operational costs. The first and second scenarios showed a quite comparable environmental behaviour and so are to be considered as viable options. Apart from highlighting the most environmentally viable transport options, the study contributed to finding the indicators of environmental impact and damage that best describe the system investigated and are recommended by this author team to be accounted for in future assessments in the transport sector. Finally, although site-specific, the results of this study may be useful to logistics companies, policy and decision makers of other regions and countries towards identifying and promoting environmentally optimal freight transport solutions, contributing to sustainability of the transport sector.

Implementing an Electronic Management System for Managing Graduate Students’ Information in Iraqi Universities

E-management means an electronic system implemented to transform the administrative work from manual management to upgraded electronic-management used computer application within an institute. The electronic administration and management are concentrated on the branches of the E-Systems that reduce administrative working costs and upgrade performance achievement and overcome the problem of geographical and temporal dimensions. In another meaning, it tries to develop the administrative structure of society and the development of a working mechanism. Moreover, it overcomes the daily business problems with informatics infrastructure safe and robust and compatible with each other, through resource management and operations using communication networks. This paper focuses on providing an approach to e-governance that is currently the environment of the University of Diyala using. The proposed model is for controlling off the flow of data and protecting it. The verification list questionnaire and the data collection were then implemented from several levels of students and staff at the Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Science from the University of Diyala. The obtained results from the questionnaire showed that (54.8%) of the tested sample accepted the new e management model, the other (45.2%) does not accept this model for various reasons such as lack of computer use and lack of familiarity with electronic applications, or limited community culture.

Measuring urbanicity as a risk factor for childhood wheeze in a transitional area of coastal ecuador: a cross-sectional analysis

BackgroundThe urbanisation process has been associated with increases in asthma prevalence, an observation supported largely by studies comparing urban with rural populations. The nature of this association remains poorly understood,...

Linking Neighbors’ Fertility: Third Births in Norwegian Neighborhoods

Geographical variations in fertility and the diffusion of fertility across space and social networks are central topics in demographic research. Less is known, however, about the role of neighborhoods and neighbors with regard to geographical variations in fertility. This paper investigates spatial variations in family size by analyzing third births in a neighborhood context. Using unique geo-data on neighbors and neighborhoods, this paper introduces a new geographical dimension of fertility variation and contributes to our understanding of geographical variations in fertility.
 Flexible, ego-centered neighborhoods are constructed using longitudinal geo-data taken from administrative registers (2000-2014). Data on inhabitants’ residential address, their housing, family situation and fixed effects for statistical tracts are used to account for sorting into housing and urban versus rural districts.
 The analysis shows that the likelihood of two-child couples having another child increases with the share of families in the neighborhood that have three or more children. This relationship remains unchanged, even after controlling for the sociodemographic characteristics of couples, the educational level attained by neighboring women as well as time-constant characteristics of neighborhoods. Results are consistent across various neighborhood definitions ranging from the 12 to the 500 nearest neighbors. However, the association between neighbors’ fertility becomes stronger as the number of neighbors increases, suggesting that selective residential sorting is an important driver. Consequently, this study indicates that transitions to third birth may be linked to social interaction effects among neighbors, in addition to well-known processes of selective residential sorting.

Bayesian spatial modelling of early childhood development in Australian regions

BackgroundChildren’s early development plays a vital role for maintaining healthy lives and influences future outcomes. It is also heavily affected by community factors which vary geographically. Direct methods do not provide a comprehensive picture of this variation, especially for areas with sparse populations and low data coverage. In the context of Australia, the Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) provides a measure of early child development upon school entry. There are two primary aims of this study: (i) provide improved prevalence estimates of children who are considered as developmentally vulnerable in regions across Australia; (ii) ascertain how social-economic disadvantage partly explains the spatial variation.MethodsWe used Bayesian spatial hierarchical models with the Socio-economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) as a covariate to provide improved estimates of all 335 SA3 regions in Australia. The study included 308,953 children involved in the 2018 AEDC where 21.7% of them were considered to be developmentally vulnerable in at least one domain. There are five domains of developmental vulnerability—physical health and wellbeing; social competence; emotional maturity; language and cognitive skills; and communication and general knowledge.ResultsThere are significant improvements in estimation of the prevalence of developmental vulnerability through incorporating the socio-economic disadvantage in an area. These improvements persist in all five domains—the largest improvements occurred in the Language and Cognitive Skills domain. In addition, our results reveal that there is an important geographical dimension to developmental vulnerability in Australia.ConclusionSparsely populated areas in sample surveys lead to unreliable direct estimates of the relatively small prevalence of child vulnerability. Bayesian spatial modelling can account for the spatial patterns in childhood vulnerability while including the impact of socio-economic disadvantage on geographic variation. Further investigation, using a broader range of covariates, could shed more light on explaining this spatial variation.

Mapping out Early America: Encounters between imperial and indigenous geographies

AbstractWithin the last three decades, the geographic dimensions of Early American History have expanded. Transregional, Atlantic, Diasporic, Continental, Hemispheric, and Transoceanic perspectives have helped bring about the conceptualization of a “Vast Early America” connected with but not limited to Britain's North American colonies. This article surveys some of the historiographical trends that have propelled that shift. Recognizing that those changes overlapped with the so‐called spatial turn in the discipline of History more broadly, it approaches the topic through a spatial lens. It first considers how histories of cartography in Early America have led to a scholarly rethinking of the field's geographic dimensions. It then examines the ways historians have teased out some of the lived and imagined geographies that Native and European agents negotiated in North America. Because Native geographies were at the center of America's early history as well as the colonial encounters that reshaped it, much of the article's focus is on Native American spatial practices.

Power relations in European RDI-collaboration networks. Disparities in policy-driven opportunities for knowledge generation in ICT

ABSTRACT Due to their potential for economic growth and development, the enabling technologies of the digital transformation, ICT and complementary fields such as advanced robotics, artificial intelligence and smart systems integration, are high on the innovation policy agenda of the EU. A strong innovative performance of the EU in this technology field depends inter alia on the extent to which the bundling of resources for innovative activities is achieved and disparities in innovative activities between its member states are overcome. Focusing on Horizon 2020, we trace disparities of knowledge generation in ICT across the geographical dimension and the network dimension. We apply descriptive and analytical statistics as well as network analysis to the CORDIS database and connect our findings to the distribution of power between EU member states and other countries associated with Horizon 2020. We then investigate whether there is power-law behaviour in our empirical data. We find a rather unequal distribution of power between countries that manifests in country size, per capita income and member status in the EU. Future innovation policy needs to prioritise a more cohesive and egalitarian European knowledge base in this strategic technology field and cope with the current imbalances in the distribution of power.

Risco associado ao transporte metroferroviário urbano: estudo na região metropolitana de Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brasil

O transporte de passageiros sobre trilhos faz parte do cotidiano brasileiro desde o século XIX, no entanto a dimensão geográfica no que concerne à análise dos riscos associados a este modal ainda é pouco explorada. O Estado do Rio Grande do Norte, localizado no Nordeste do Brasil, possui um trecho ativo de via férrea correspondente a 56,2 quilômetros de extensão, grande parte em interação com áreas urbanas e de fluxo intenso de pessoas, fato que suscita várias problemáticas socioespaciais, entre elas a do risco de acidentes envolvendo as locomotivas durante sua circulação. Diante desta realidade, o presente estudo teve como objetivo investigar os padrões espaciais associados aos acidentes metroferroviários na região metropolitana de Natal, sob um olhar geográfico e estatístico, com o intuito de discutir a noção de risco associado a este modal, além de quantificar e espacializar os acidentes. Através da espacialização do fenômeno e posterior análise, chegou-se à conclusão que as áreas com maior fluxo de pessoas e veículos em circulação sobre a via férrea (como as passagens de nível), somado a outras circunstâncias espaciais, são fatores determinantes para a efetivação dos acidentes no território dominado pelo modal ferroviário.

Geographical dimensions of airbnb in mountain areas: The case of Andorra

Abstract With Airbnb becoming an important issue in both tourism and public policy, scholarly research on Airbnb has increased over the past several years. The role of Airbnb varies according to the features and expectations of the host territory. It can either be considered as a complement to an underdeveloped supply of tourist accommodation or as a potential competitor to traditional accommodation that has to be regulated. Although most of the research has been carried out in big cities, Airbnb activity is also present in smaller towns, resorts, rural and mountain areas. This article aims to analyse the Airbnb spatial distribution in a mountain destination (Andorra). Specifically, it is aimed at exploring whether there is a spatial correlation regarding the location of traditional accommodation. Clustering techniques are used to determine natural groups of urban settlements on the basis of the number of Airbnb listings and different types of traditional accommodation. The results pinpoint where Airbnb is concentrating its accommodation offer, as well as where both Airbnb listings and traditional accommodation are clustered. Our research sheds light on the distribution patterns of Airbnb in mountain areas and deepens knowledge on the influences of public policy strategies aimed at regulating the Airbnb phenomena.

Martyrdom, collective memory, and the contested penal authority of racial state institutions

Recent work in postcolonial and border criminologies has called for more extensive consideration of the complex temporal and geographic dimensions of penal authority. This article explicates new dimensions of the modern state’s penal authority by analyzing the execution and remembrance of Mewa Singh, a Sikh anticolonial activist convicted of killing Canadian immigration agent William C Hopkinson in Vancouver in 1914. Because Hopkinson was embedded in racial immigration enforcement against Indian populations as well as intelligence gathering about anticolonial activities, his death galvanized fields of penal authority that spanned the imperatives of the Canadian nation-state and the British Empire. Using archival and observational data, this article tracks how the significance of Mewa’s execution has been articulated through these penal fields as well as through recent practices of memorialization undertaken by local Sikh and Indian communities. Insofar as these mnemonic practices frame Mewa’s death as a sacrifice necessitated by state racism, my analysis illuminates the complex temporal parameters of penal fields of authority as well as the manner in which they are conditioned by racial borders and boundaries.

Social Work Scholarship on Forced Migration: A Scoping Review

Abstract This scoping review identifies and analyses historical to present–day contributions of social work scholarship on forced migration, with the aim of reviewing trends and identifying priority areas for the discipline moving forward. This review examined 331 articles related to forced migration published in 40 social work journals over four decades (1978 to 2019). Findings illustrate notable trends in temporal, methodological, topical and geographical dimensions and how those vary by first authors' locations, research sites and study populations. Temporally, the number of articles has been increasing, quadrupling between 2001–2010 and 2011–2019, with 20 social work journals doubling their number of articles. Methodologically, the large majority of articles were qualitative and/or conceptual. Topically, the most common were practice, intervention, health and mental health, while the least common topics included human rights, social justice, poverty, religion, violence, history and theory. Geographically, social work scholarship was mainly focused on refugees in the Global North and third-country resettlement contexts, and authored by scholars in the Global North. Findings thus reveal critical gaps in topics and geographical biases, raising questions related to issues of ethics, power and the production of knowledge about forced migration in the social work academy.

Spatial disparity and inequality of education domain in Algeria: a spatial econometric approach

PurposeDespite significant progress in schooling, social and spatial inequalities in access to education remain important in Algeria. In the present article, taking into account the geographic dimension makes it possible to identify the links existing between spatial location and disparities in the field of education in Algeria. Also, three types of education indicators (quantity, quality and inequality) are used in the study. The study’s sample includes 48 Algerian provinces, studied between 2008 and 2018.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, the authors used data from the 2008 and 2018 General Census of Population and Housing (GCPH) for 48 provinces. Indeed, the two censuses of 2008 and 2018 (sources of data for this study) were based on questionnaires intended for different categories of the population (households, non-household populations, transit population, etc.). Therefore, the no response rate is assumed to be close to 0. Using spatial econometric techniques.FindingsResults indicate that the indicator used is strong spatial disparity in education in Algeria. The development of a spatial synthetic index (SI) makes it possible to measure more precisely the extent and nature of spatial disparities in the field of education in Algeria. The results also confirm the hypothesis of β-convergence of the performance of the Algerian education system. Consequently, the need for policies to reduce the unfair inequalities between different areas is apparent.Originality/valueWorks that analyze education indicators in a classical perspective (educational performances between different sexes and between rural and urban areas) are abundant (Amaghouss and Ibourk, 2013a). However, very few studies proceed to the analysis of educational variables in a spatial perspective (Catin and Hazem, 2012). To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no work has tried to analyze spatial disparities in the field of education in Algeria.

A methodology for apportioning federal SUS resources: the health needs index.

ABSTRACTOBJECTIVE To present a methodology for apportioning Union resources to the federative units (FU – 26 states and one federal district) within the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS) based on health needs measured by demographic, socioeconomic, epidemiological and geographical dimensions.METHODS The apportionment methodology proposal prioritizes the health needs axis, based on Law 141/2012. We adopted a proxy of needs that measures relative inequalities between, socioeconomic, geographic demographic and epidemiological conditions of the populations of the Brazilian Federative Units (FU) for 2015. We first used an adjustment so that the populations of the 27 FU are corrected by their relative needs regarding age and gender. To calculate the health needs axis, the multivariate techniques factorial analysis and principal components were used, and, based on such correction, we applied the health needs index. Subsequently, this index was applied to simulate the resources that should be transferred by the Ministry of Health to states in 2015.RESULTS As we made the methodological choice of transferring a single per capita amount to all states, so the proposal required population correction. Thus, in the analysis of health needs, the FUs that had their population corrected by a factor higher than the national average because of their greater relative need, were the states of: Maranhão, Piauí, Alagoas, Paraíba, Ceará, Pará, Bahia, Acre, Pernambuco, Rio Grande do Norte, Sergipe, Amazonas, Tocantins and Roraima. For the simulation aggregating all the financing blocks, without reducing the resources already distributed to the remaining states in 2015, indicated the additional need of R$ 4.6 billion.CONCLUSIONS The proposal addresses the absence of studies presenting quantitative simulations of federal resources distribution within the scope of SUS to the FUs, based on the apportionment criteria defined by Law 141/2012, in order to contribute to the reduction health inequalities and mitigate the effects of the economic crisis.

Dispersal and dispossession as bordering: exploring migration governance through mobility in post-2013 Morocco

ABSTRACT Dispersal has acquired an increasingly central role within state-led border control strategies in Europe and North Africa. Scholars have, however, tended to apprehend dispersal in its geographical dimension, failing to interrogate bordering beyond spatial distancing from the territorial edges of the state. Furthermore, dispersal strategies in non-European countries are underexplored. We start filling these gaps by examining how dispersal operates in Morocco – a country where, since the announcement of a new migration policy in 2013, the routine internal dispersal of groups of dark-skinned people racially profiled as ‘illegal sub-Saharan’ by Moroccan police forces has become commonplace. Drawing on extensive qualitative fieldwork conducted between 2016 and 2019, as well press articles and NGO reports, we advance a dynamic understanding of bordering by analysing how the repeated spatial relocation of migrant people works through and in tandem with mechanisms of dispossession. We draw together literature on dispersal as migration governance and on dispossession as containment, proposing that dispersal activates practices of dispossession that expand the reach of bordering beyond spatial distance, turning it into an embodied technology: migrant people profiled as ‘sub-Saharan’ experience bordering as a form of inflicted hypermobility and a condition of protracted, unbearable living to which they are confined.

The Poetics of Dispossession in Mahmoud Darwish's “Exile”

This paper examines Mahmoud Darwish's exploration of the political, geographical, existential, and metaphysical dimensions of displacement, banishment, and statelessness in his 2005 lyrical epic “Exile.” The paper offers an analysis of Darwish's treatment of dialectic, heteroglossia, the juxtaposition of the national and the existential, and conflicting temporalities, as well as political uncertainty and metaphysical fear. With particular reference to the paradoxical portrayal of space in “Exile”—the juxtaposition of the near and far, real and illusory, localized and dispersed—I also examine the ways in which Palestinian identity, as narrated in this poem, is destabilized and dispersed by what Michel Foucault calls “heterotopic space.”