Local Amenities Research Articles

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Assessing the Tourist Appeal of a North African Destination: An Analysis of Destination Image and its Effect on Recommendations and Revisit Intentions

We, the Editors, and Publisher of International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Administration, are retracting the following article: Laradi, Rehman, Elfekair, and Shah (2024) Assessing the Tourist Appeal of a North African Destination: An Analysis of Destination Image and its Effect on Recommendations and Revisit Intentions, International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Administration, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15256480.2024.2341385 Following publication, significant concerns have been raised about the authorship of the article and the ethical approval for the work reported. When approached for an explanation, the corresponding author fully cooperated with the investigation but was unable to provide an explanation that addressed the concerns raised. As the Editors no longer have confidence in the findings of this study, and the Publisher has been unable to verify the validity of the published work that is core to the integrity of the scholarly record, we are therefore retracting the article. As verifying the validity of published work is core to the integrity of the scholarly record, we are therefore retracting the article. We have been informed in our decision-making by our policy on publishing ethics and integrity and the COPE guidelines on retractions. The retracted article will remain online to maintain the scholarly record, but it will be digitally watermarked on each page as ‘Retracted’.

Urban evolution: streamlining development for convenience and affordability

Throughout North America, though especially in The U.S. and Canada, modern sprawl has grown in cities with inefficient land usage and convenience leading to several harmful factors regarding the human body and efficiency. Many millions of Americans are increasingly living in suburbia, so an emergence of inefficiency and non-homeliness has developed. This article details what actions may be taken to convert the modern sprawling American city into what is known as a 15-minute city (FMC) affordably and efficiently. It regards factors such as the expansion of transportation, removal of extraneous roads, newer urban and suburban developments featuring mixed-use zoning, and access to local amenities and businesses for a transformation. Note each city is unique depending on geography and climate and will require a unique method of transforming it into a compact and efficient environment in multiple aspects.

Tourists’ Perceptions of Ecotourism: A Case Study of Waterberg Plateau Park, Namibia

Objective – This study investigates tourists' perceptions of ecotourism at Waterberg Plateau Park in Namibia, a destination noted for its biodiversity and conservation commitment (Kasiringua, E., Proches, C., & Kopij, 2020). Despite its increasing popularity, there is a lack of research on visitor perceptions and tourism statistics (Baporikar, 2022). According to (Harianto, Y., Walid Masruri, M., Winarno, H., Tsani, I., & Santoso, 2020) Understanding these perceptions is crucial for effective park management and conservation efforts. Methodology – A quantitative approach was utilised, combining surveys, observations, and content analysis to gather data on respondents’ perceptions of ecotourism settings. The quantitative data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Findings – The findings aimed to enhance the ecotourism experience at Waterberg Plateau Park and contribute to the development of sustainable tourism. Novelty – This paper explores tourists' perceptions within the specific context of Waterberg Plateau Park, a unique ecotourism destination in Namibia. While ecotourism studies have been conducted globally, this research fills a gap by addressing how tourists perceive and interact with a less-explored African ecotourism site. It offers fresh insights into the factors influencing visitor satisfaction, highlighting key aspects such as cultural expectations, environmental awareness, and the influence of local amenities. This study contributes to a localized perspective on ecotourism that can be applied to similar destinations in sub-Saharan Africa. Type of Paper: Empirical JEL Classification: Z32, Q01, Q26, Q53, Q57. Keywords: Conservation, Ecotourism, Tourist Motivation, Tourist Perception, Sustainability, Community Involvement, Visitor Experiences Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Makhubela, P; Tjitunga, U; Shiyandja, H; Kuwa, E.T. (2025). Tourists’ Perceptions of Ecotourism: A Case Study of Waterberg Plateau Park, Namibia, J. Bus. Econ. Review, 9(4), 01–11. https://doi.org/10.35609/jber.2025.9.4(1)

Local opposition to landfill siting in a coastal community in Aotearoa–New Zealand: measuring stakeholder efforts, costs and power imbalance

ABSTRACT The power imbalance between local governments, who act in the interest of a wider territory, and local communities, who want to protect local amenities, can lead to environmental conflicts. In 2020, a small coastal community in Aotearoa–New Zealand gained national media attention when opposing a municipal landfill siting in its local environment. The landfill application triggered a stakeholder engagement process, leading to extensive documentation before it eventually proceeded. A growing number of local resistance case studies use descriptive methods to highlight the socio-economic issues of siting landfills in rural areas. However, measures of stakeholder efforts, costs and power are missing. By applying stakeholder analysis, we map out stakeholder evolvement over time, provide estimates of volunteer hours and financial costs, and devise an index to visualise the power imbalance. We identify government agencies, the semi-private sector, NGOs, the regional Indigenous tribe and the Local community as stakeholder groups. The Local community invested 2,871 volunteer hours and raised NZD48,000 to cover expert and legal representation, while government agencies spent NZD5 m. We calculate the numerical index of stakeholder power by the number of “paid” pages by law firms and consultancies as a percentage of total stakeholder documentation submitted during statutory processes. Based on the index value, we sketch stakeholders in an interest-power matrix, showing that governmental agencies rank highest at 89-90% of “paid” pages, while the local community emerges as the lowest-power stakeholder with 38%, and other stakeholders falling in-between. Our study provides a first step to measure the costs of environmental conflict and power imbalances.

The effect of low-skilled immigration on local productivity and amenities: Learning from the South Korean experience

The effect of low-skilled immigration on local productivity and amenities: Learning from the South Korean experience

EVALUATING THE IMPACT OF LOCAL AMENITIES AND SPATIAL SPILLOVERS ON QUALITY OF LIFE

This article uses the Hedonic models proposed by Rosen 1979, Roback 1982, and Blomquist et al. 1988 to establish the framework for calculating and evaluating inter-townships quality of life in Taiwan. From view of local amenities, the results show that the quality of life index are less than zero, which represents that compensation wage is higher than capitalized housing value from the local amenities. The estimated quality of life by inference with the substitution of input data into model is used as the dependent variable of spatial regression model to investigate the spatial effects. The results show that the local amenities play various roles in the housing market and the labor market. Quality of life is quite geographically characterized with spillover effects, which consists with the Rosens report 1979. In Taiwan, quality of life index does not meet economic development. Economic growth does not spill over completely to improve quality of life. Local amenities factors are more of a threat to quality of life than value addition on quality of life. Many natural disasters, unfavorable climate, unpleasant weather has been higher than positive expectations. The distribution of quality of life in space tends to be concentrated. The socioeconomic factors and quality of life in adjacent areas will spill over and affect the quality of life. This spillover spatial effect reminds urban planners and decision makers that improving the quality of life is urgent and efficient. As long as these independent variables in the model are adjusted, the quality of life in the overall space can be effectively improved. This study addresses the underexplored gap between local amenities and spatial spillover effects in shaping quality of life, particularly within the context of Taiwans inter-township dynamics. By integrating Hedonic pricing models with spatial econometric analysis, it offers a novel and scalable framework for policymakers to spatially allocate resources more effectively.

Objectively measured environmental features and their association with cognition and dementia: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objectively measured environmental features and their association with cognition and dementia: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Evaluating third places, walkability, and positive mood in Los Angeles, USA: using social media data

ABSTRACT Past studies have stressed the importance of designing urban neighborhoods to be walkable and accessible to local amenities; however, the psychological benefits of urban design have been vastly understudied. The current study integrates theoretical insights from urban planning and environmental psychology literature in analyzing spatial relationships between third places, walkability, and positive mood across Los Angeles city blocks. To measure positive mood, this study utilized geotagged social media (Twitter) data to conduct sentiment analysis on tweets, using mood as a proxy for psychological well-being. Regression analyses revealed the independent and joint positive influences of third places and walkability on the expected number of positive tweets. The results indicated that more positive tweets were expected on blocks that (a) were more walkable and (b) had more third places. Notably, the number of third places on focal and surrounding blocks mattered more for psychological well-being on less walkable blocks. This research shows how big data can be leveraged by urban planners to make sense of human – environment relationships and the neighborhood context of well-being.

Radial analysis and scaling of housing prices in French urban areas

Urban scaling laws summarize how attributes evolve with city size. However, one limitation concerns the aggregate view of this approach, which leads to neglecting the internal structure of cities. This is an important issue regarding housing prices, given their significant variations across space. Based on a dataset compiling millions of real estate transactions over the period 2017–2021, we investigate the regularities of the radial (center-periphery) profiles of housing prices across cities, with respect to their size. Results are threefold. First, they corroborate prior findings in the urban scaling literature stating that largest cities agglomerate higher housing prices. Second, we find that housing price radial profiles scale in three dimensions with the power 1/5 of city population. After rescaling, great regularities between radial profiles can be observed, although some locational amenities have a significant impact on prices. Third, it appears that our approach with rescaled profiles fails to explain housing price variations in the city center across cities. In fact, prices near the city center rise much faster with city size than in the periphery. This has strong implications for low-income households seeking homeownership because prohibitive prices in the center may contribute to pushing them out into peripheral locations, especially in large cities.

체류형 관광자의 어메니티 인식과 만족 및 행동의도에 관한 연구 - 제주 체류 한달살기 경험자를 대상으로

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of amenity perceptions of long-stay tourists on tourism satisfaction and behavioral intention. As long-stay tourists stay in a certain area for a certain period of time and engage in tourism behaviors, they are likely to strengthen their relationship with the area and develop into a settled population. Therefore, we set up amenities that represent local characteristics as spatial resources, and examined how long-stay tourists perceive the amenities in Jeju, and how their tourism satisfaction and behavioral intentions change according to their perceptions of the amenities. To achieve the objectives, a survey was conducted among long-stay tourists in Jeju during the month of April 2024, and 230 idle copies were obtained. The results of the empirical analysis showed that first, amenity factors have a significant effect on tourism satisfaction. Among the amenity factors of environment, convenience, and culture established in this study, environment has the most significant effect on satisfaction. Second, tourism satisfaction has a significant effect on behavioral intention. These results have academic implications for the development of a grounded theory of long-stay tourists. In addition, given that local amenities have a significant positive effect on tourism satisfaction and behavior, identifying the amenity preferences of long-stay tourists can be used as basic policy data for attracting a permanent population to a region.

Agent‐based intra‐regional relocation model considering spatial local amenity for urban planning‐based flood risk management: Assessing the impact of urban development on flood exposure

AbstractIntegrated flood risk management based on urban policies remains challenging compared with infrastructure due to the unclear risk‐reduction effects over time. To consider heterogeneity in social responses to urban planning measures, a previous study developed an agent‐based household relocation model under flood risk (AHR‐FLOOD) by combining flood‐inundation and agent‐based relocation models. However, accurate modelling of relocation incentives remains challenging. This study aimed to improve AHR‐FLOOD by introducing spatial amenities based on transportation convenience and reflecting their impact on the decision‐making processes of agents to analyze the development of different flood risk areas. AHR‐FLOOD considering access to public transportation reproduced the spatial characteristics of the actual population and housing prices. The development of low‐risk areas reduced flood exposure and resulting flood damage. However, this effect was less clear for low‐income individuals, but the development of low‐amenity areas had the potential to induce low‐income population to move to safe areas. Chain migration was observed as a long‐term effect of the spatial amenity policy. This study presents insights into the effect of transportation policies on flood safety for long‐term spatial distance management in an agent‐based approach with the rigorous modelling and validation of local amenity impact on household relocation choices.

Vernacular Houses in Nineteenth-Century California

Colonists and settlers of nineteenth-century California built simple houses with available materials and skills. This bounded case study of selected Northern California houses for artisans, agriculture workers, shopkeepers, public servants, gold diggers, and industrial workers is informed by Dell Upton’s vernacular housing studies. It explains how specific regional contexts influenced local dwelling design, construction, and amenities, while acknowledging that housing was a part of larger economic, transportation, and information networks. Early Spanish/Mexican pueblo (town) and rancho (cattle ranch) adobes were typically one-room buildings with thatched roofs, dirt floors, and few windows. Construction of adobes was time-consuming and produced high-maintenance structures better suited to Southern California than to the high-rainfall, forested landscapes to which the Gold Rush drew American and international settlers. These newcomers sought shelter in tents or in crudely constructed log- and wood-frame dwellings. As the cultural context evolved from Spanish/Mexican to American/Northern European dominance, trade and immigration increased, with adobe and wood-frame builders taking advantage of the transition from an economy controlled by Spain and Mexico to one shaped by international market forces. Increased economic prosperity, the emergence of a California merchant class, industrialization of lumber production, the arrival of immigrants with building skills, and the growing availability of new and readily available building materials improved California’s housing stock. Interspersed among crude frontier shelters came adobes with stone foundations, wood floors, and interior fireplaces, and redwood cottages framed of dimensional, sawmill-cut lumber. By the end of the nineteenth century, wood structures outnumbered those of adobe. While wood prevailed as a structural material, builders often reproduced the form, massing, and style of earlier adobes, as expressed in the California ranch houses that were twentieth-century America’s most popular housing style.

This must be the place: local amenities and superstars’ wages

We investigate the role of local amenities in shaping compensating wage differentials in labor market populated by high-skilled workers. Using 10 years of longitudinal data on workers productivity along with information on firms and location amenities, we evaluate whether workers are willing to pay to join a better firm and if firms with undesirable attributes must provide higher wages to attract workers. By accounting for unobserved workers heterogeneity, we show that superstars receive positive wage differentials for lower location amenities as well as riskier employments.

Room Quest

Abstract—Relocating to a new city can be a daunting task, especially when it comes to finding suitable accommodation. RoomQuest is a web-based platform designed to assist employees and students in this transition by providing a user-friendly interface for finding housing that meets their needs. The platform allows homeowners to register their properties and specify facilities, rules, and regulations, making it easier for users to find accommodation that aligns with their preferences. One of the key features of RoomQuest is its ability to streamline the process of searching for housing, thereby reducing the stress and uncertainty associated with relocating to unfamiliar environments. By providing a centralized platform for property listings, RoomQuest aims to simplify the housing search process and improve the overall experience for users. RoomQuest also offers a range of tools and resources to help users make informed decisions about their accommodation. This includes detailed property listings, photos, and virtual tours, as well as information about local amenities and neighborhood characteristics. Additionally, the platform allows users to communicate directly with homeowners, facilitating the booking process and ensuring a smooth transition to their new location.

Compact city and urban planning: Correlation between density and local amenities

Many scholars and planners emphasise the role of compact cities in sustainable urban development. Compact urban form is seen as a way to encourage people, for example, to drive less and walk more, which reduces transport-related GHG emissions. This argument, however, is strongly dependent on local amenity development that can support such local living. In plan-making, a common practice is to try to ensure the realisation of services with a high Gross Floor Area (GFA) residential infill development to raise the local population density. In this paper we are seeking quantitative insight on the resolution under which urban density, as measured by GFA volume, correlates with the growth of urban amenities and liveability. Specifically, we are seeking the direction in which correlation changes when moving from a larger geographical scale (low resolution) towards a smaller scale (high resolution) of walkable reach. Our study shows a clear correlation between urban amenities and planned GFA at low-resolution scales, but that correlation decreases at higher-resolution scales (walkable neighbourhood level), indicating that urban amenities tend to cluster in different locations than density is planned. Based on these findings, we argue that, if the aim of urban planning is to foster the growth of local amenities, it should shift its focus towards larger patterns of urban development rather than emphasising GFA in detailed plan-making.

Urban Public Works in Spatial Equilibrium: Experimental Evidence from Ethiopia

This paper evaluates a large urban public works program randomly rolled out across neighborhoods of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We find the program increased public employment and reduced private labor supply among beneficiaries and improved local amenities in treated locations. We then combine a spatial equilibrium model and unique commuting data to estimate the spillover effects of the program on private sector wages across neighborhoods: under full program rollout, wages increased by 18.6 percent. Using our model, we show that welfare gains to the poor are six times larger when we include the indirect effects on private wages and local amenities. (JEL H76, I38, J22, J31, O15, O18, R23)

Nonpecuniary Benefits: Evidence from the Location of Private Company Sales

Abstract This paper investigates whether acquisition prices reflect a specific set of nonpecuniary benefits preferred by entrepreneurs: the quality of life (QOL) associated with the business location. Using data on private firm acquisitions, we find that target firms in high-QOL cities sell for a 14% to 20% premium. Traditional financial factors do not explain this premium, which dissipates when the buyer is unlikely to have preferences for high-QOL locations. Using wage-to-housing cost differentials to decompose local amenities and data on migration patterns, we find that QOL amenities have a greater impact on entrepreneurs’ location decisions relative to wage workers. (JEL G02, G32, G34, J32, L26, R39) Received: 27 February 2022; Editorial decision: 29 January 2024 Editor: Camelia Kuhnen Authors have furnished an Internet Appendix, which is available on the Oxford University Press Web site next to the link to the final published paper online.

Associations of perceived built environment characteristics using NEWS questionnaires with all-cause mortality and major cardiovascular diseases: The prospective urban rural epidemiology (PURE)-China study

Associations of perceived built environment characteristics using NEWS questionnaires with all-cause mortality and major cardiovascular diseases: The prospective urban rural epidemiology (PURE)-China study

Valuation of Urban Green Open Spaces Using the Life Satisfaction Approach

This study conducts the valuation of the urban Green Open Spaces (GOS) in Jakarta (Indonesia) using the life satisfaction approach (LSA). We integrated the important elements of the LSA, such as housing structure and environmental facilities, into a comprehensive valuation model (using hedonic variables). By explicitly acknowledging the limited application of these methodologies in developing nations, this study endeavors to provide a context-specific understanding of the economic value of GOS in Jakarta. The LSA model, a novel non-market valuation tool, employs community life satisfaction as its primary metric. In this study, we analyzed the satisfaction levels of residents of Jakarta based on a 10-point scale; the responses of a total of 1,592 participants were collected through online questionnaires in 2021 (during the pandemic). We considered various independent variables, including socioeconomic factors, housing attributes, environmental facilities, location amenities, and the presence of GOS. The analysis involved LSA and ordinary least squares (OLS) models in the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The results indicate that several variables, such as longer residence duration, good employment status, high income “over 20 million Indonesian Rupiah (IDR); approximately USD 1281.56”, and access to more shopping centers, positively influenced the life satisfaction of the residents, which is in line with the studies conducted in western countries. Surprisingly, the economic evaluation of urban GOS portrayed a limited impact on the residents’ life satisfaction, while negative aspects, e.g., the presence of cemeteries around residential areas (19.1%), impacted the residents significantly. Urban parks did not portray statistical significance in influencing the residents’ life satisfaction, despite having a positive impact across all radii of urban regions. Urban forests exhibited a positive impact, mainly within the 100–500-m radius, with a significant impact on resident life satisfaction. Our attempt to assess the values of landscape amenities in Jakarta using LSA marks a pioneering effort in the field of environmental science with respect to community preferences. Consequently, this study contributes significantly to the evolving yet limited literature in this domain. The results differ from those of the Global North research, emphasizing the need for context-specific urban planning strategies. Our study offers valuable insights for urban planners and government entities and can guide GOS development to enhance urban sustainability and community satisfaction. The implications extend to urban centers in Indonesia and other developing countries, emphasizing the importance of optimizing limited urban spaces based on community preferences. Doi: 10.28991/CEJ-2024-010-04-010 Full Text: PDF

Association between local amenities, travel behaviours and urban planning: A spatial analysis of a nationwide UK household panel study.

IntroductionGlobally, there has been a recent resurgence in planning policies focused on local living (such as the 20-min neighbourhood) with proposed benefits of creating sustainable and healthy places. The policies aim to provide improved spatial access to local amenities within short walkable distances of home to encourage walking and cycling and discourage car use, however these pathways have not been examined. This study aimed to quantify the density and diversity of local amenities and their association with daily/weekly travel behaviours. MethodsWe used data from Understanding Society, a national panel survey of UK adults. Spatial data were used to quantify the number and diversity of amenities that have previously been associated with active travel and focused on in 20-min neighbourhood policies within small geographical areas across the UK. These were linked to individual-level data describing daily and weekly travel behaviour for: walking (at least 10-min), cycling, car and bus use. Logistic regression models measured the association between individual amenities, their diversity and daily/weekly travel, whilst controlling for individual factors such as age, sex and employment, residing in a retail centre, as well as area-level urbanicity and deprivation. ResultsOur analysis revealed variations in active travel and car usage patterns by sex, employment status, urbanicity, and area-level deprivation. Local amenities were associated with daily travel behaviours with more amenities generally associated with more frequent walking and less regular bus and car travel. Furthermore, increased amenity diversity was associated with reduced daily car use (OR: 0.77, p < 0.001). Similar patterns were apparent for weekly travel outcomes. ConclusionsBoth access to specific local amenities as well as their diversity are both important neighbourhood factors for achieving shifts from motorised to active transport modes. Policy makers and planners need to ensure the diversity of local amenities are included in local living policies.