Local City Research Articles

Research on the characteristics of residents who choose the residential areas in the fringe of a local city

Research on the characteristics of residents who choose the residential areas in the fringe of a local city

Impacts of low-carbon city pilot policy on ecological well-being performance across Chinese cities: A spatial difference-in-difference analysis

Attaining a win-win goal among ecological conservation and well-being development is an inevitable requirement for China's transition towards low-carbon cities. Using a dataset of China's 277 cities during 2007-2021, this paper explores the local-neighbor impacts of the Low-Carbon City Pilot (LCP) policy on ecological well-being performance (EWP) by adopting the spatial difference-in-difference (SDID) approach. Then, explaining its action mechanism from a green lifestyle perspective. The results show that: (1) the quantity of sample cities with excellent EWP levels is on an upward trend, rising from 13 in 2007 to 76 in 2021, an increase of 22.75%; (2) LCP policy facilitates the growth of EWP in local cities and exerts notable spatial spillover effects, enhancing EWP in neighboring cities within 1300 km; (3) Improving residents’ green consumption awareness is an effective mechanism for LCP policy to enhance EWP of local and surrounding cities; (4) The local-neighbor effects of LCP on EWP are more significant in non-resource, government innovation-preferring and large cities. These results can offer valuable insights for policymakers in formulating environmental strategies that reconcile ecological environment with well-being growth.

Establishing a Graft-Versus-Host Disease (GVHD)-Focused Multidisciplinary Telehealth Clinic

Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is a complication following allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant that frequently causes multiorgan affection and decrease in quality of life. Global assessment and care of these patients require a multidisciplinary approach, but access to focused clinics is limited given their scarcity and location in major cities, as well as mobility and transportation challenges that frequently affect these patients. Thus, we established a multispecialty GVHD telehealth (TH) clinic and hypothesized that a virtual platform will expand access to clinical care in children and adults. The clinic team members included BMT specialist, nursing, dermatologist, dentist, nutritionist, physiatrist, research personnel, and others as needed. We evaluated all GVHD-related visits (in-person and TH) conducted in a single center from 01/2022 to 12/2022. Ninety-three patients received a total of 308 visits, and one-third were via TH. Approximately half of the in-person group had at least 1 TH visit, and 10 patients were seen exclusively via TH. Most patients had advanced chronic GVHD. More male patients were seen in GVHD clinic, but female patients had increased in clinic visits via TH (41% TH versus 32% in-person). One-third of clinic visits were from patients of racial and ethnic minorities. While only 6% (n = 12/217) of in-person visits were for patients living >100 miles from the center, 34% (n = 31/91) of TH visits were from far distances including out-of-state. At baseline, the most common patient-reported symptoms in a subset of patients included fatigue, disturbed sleep, and distress. Fifteen patients completed a follow-up symptom survey and reported significantly reduced distress regarding their GVHD (P = .02), although other symptoms remained stable. A multidisciplinary TH clinic provided care for adult and pediatric patients with GVHD. We demonstrated preliminary feasibility of building a robust TH platform with a collaborative multispecialty approach that allowed access and continuity of medical care. Gender inequalities were reduced, and distance to our center represented a lesser barrier to attending specialized care via TH. Additionally, patients reported a significant reduction in distress. Our findings support the ongoing development of a virtual platform to improve access to specialized GVHD care.

Source identification of heavy metal contamination in beach sediments of the ancient city of Phaselis in Antalya, Türkiye

The ancient city of Phaselis, which is located along gravel, coarse sandy, and sandy beaches, is a popular area visited by thousands of domestic and foreign tourists every year, and has been selected as the study area. Sediment samples collected from 57 different locations in the ancient city of Phaselis were analyzed using an X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometer, and the major, trace, and rare earth element contents of the samples were revealed. The heavy metals arsenic (As), cobalt (Co), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), tin (Sn), stronsium (Sr), and zinc (Zn) were used in the pollution index calculations. Distribution maps revealed that heavy metal concentrations reached higher levels, especially in the eastern part of the study area. Therefore, it is recommended to plant rooted macrophytes that can absorb the heavy metals Cr and Ni and perform phytoremediation of the sediment in the region.

Digital Economy Reformulation and Economic Competitiveness of Smart Cities: An Application of Soft Systems Methodology

Smart cities have become a new trend in urban development worldwide, and digital economy plays a crucial role. Therefore, this study aimed to create a novel formulation of digital economy that contributes to improving competitiveness of smart cities and provides practical guidance on digital economy strategies. A Soft System Methodology (SSM)–based action that utilizes the concept of systems was used to investigate conceptual models from different perspectives, from conceptual thinking to real-world–based action. Moreover, Indonesia was selected as a case study due to its extensive implementation of smart cities over the past five years, with over 250 cities participating in the program. The study successfully identified five scopes of digital economy, namely digital technology, digital service, shared economy and platform, digitalized economy, and financial services. It also identified six crucial criteria of economic competitiveness, namely human resources, product offerings, innovation capability, economic productivity, ease of business and investment, as well as financial capital. In conclusion, local cities and regencies' governments need to accelerate digital economy by creating supporting policies, making collaboration, effective digital marketing, improving digital literacy, guaranteeing cyber security, as well as protecting consumers and data privacy.

Assessing the economic impact of innovative cities

ABSTRACT This study examines the effects of South Korea’s Innovative City (IC) policy, which aims to redistribute public institutions to local cities to alleviate urban congestion and mitigate regional disparities. Utilizing the synthetic control method, this study evaluates the policy’s influence on local productivity and investigates its spillover effects. The findings reveal a marked increase in productivity within rural cities, highlighting the policy’s efficacy in less urbanized areas. However, the outcomes vary across different locales, with some urban ICs experiencing productivity enhancements, while rural ICs near expanding urban areas do not. Additionally, the study observes limited spillover effects in cities near ICs, indicating that indirect benefits are not uniformly distributed.

The impact and spatial spillover effect of traditional culture on urban green innovation: Empirical evidence from China

The issues of resource scarcity and environmental pollution has become huge challenges that all of humanity faces together. To resolve the issue, promoting urban green innovation capacity is important. This study uses 189 prefecture-level cities and above in China from 2011 to 2020 as samples, and empirically test the impact and spatial spillover effect of traditional culture on urban green innovation. This study finds that: (1) Traditional culture can improve the local green innovation and positively impact the green innovation in neighboring cities by radiation effect, and the conclusion remains valid after robustness tests; (2) Talent flow and data flow negatively moderate the positive impact of traditional culture on green innovation in local cities. In addition, from a dynamic perspective, traditional culture has a negative impact on green innovation in neighboring cities because of the siphon effect; (3) The spatial spillover effect of traditional culture on urban green innovation shows distinct heterogeneity due to the different regions and whether it is a low-carbon pilot city. This study verifies the important value of Chinese traditional culture in urban sustainable development, which is of great significance for the protection and inheritance of traditional culture and the improvement of urban green innovation.

Transit-oriented development (TOD) or development-oriented transit (DOT): how does it matter for sustainable urban growth?

ABSTRACT Urban growth patterns occur in various ways with tangible practical consequences. A key dilemma with regard to development and transportation revolves around whether the former follows the latter or vice versa. This study assessed this nexus with transit-oriented development (TOD) and development-oriented development (DOT) cases by using the land use/land cover (LU/LC) classification technique in a developing country example of a city in Turkey. Spatial data included high-resolution Sentinel 2A, Rapid Eye, and two SPOT satellite images and CORONA air photos acquired in 2021, 2013, 2000, 1989, and 1979, respectively, within three buffer zones (500, 750, and 1000 m) for both development forms. While the study acknowledges unorthodox TOD selection criteria and generalizability concerns, the results demonstrate that the TOD drastically reduced green areas (as opposed to ideal TOD requirements), while the DOT excessively grew commercial land uses and street networks. Both developments commonly impaired agricultural, vacant, and water land use. Such transformations direct local governments, transit agencies, and city planners to resolve ideal sustainable urban growth patterns by using remote sensing data and quantitative analysis.

Feasibility analysis of using short-term rainfall time series to evaluate rainwater harvesting systems considering climate change

Employing recent short-term historical rainfall data may enhance the performance of rainwater harvesting systems (RWHs) in response to climate change. However, this assumption lacks extensive research, and the evaluation of RWHs currently relies on long-term historical rainfall time series. This study evaluates the feasibility of this assumption and aims to identify the optimal rainfall time series for evaluating RWH performance under climate change. We evaluated RWHs in residential buildings across 16 Japanese cities utilizing historical rainfall time series of varying lengths and 30-year predicted rainfall time series. The minimum rainfall time series length was obtained based on the similarity index between the evaluation results for historical and future periods. The corresponding optimal series can be determined from the distribution of similarity indices in the minimum length. Finally, we introduce supply pressure indices (SPIs) to summarize the rainfall characteristics of these optimal rainfall time series. Our findings highlight that the minimum rainfall time series length increased from 1 year to 30 years as building non-potable water demand rose and city locations varied. Utilizing rainfall time series incorporating recent rainfall data yielded more dependable evaluation results for RWHs under climate change. These optimal rainfall time series share common characteristics with SPIs ranging from 5.37 to 17.87 mm/d, contingent on the local rainfall patterns. Our study concludes that utilizing recent short-term historical rainfall data is feasible to evaluate and design RWHs under climate change.

Spatiotemporal Evolution of Urban Land Green Utilization Efficiency and Driving Factors: An Empirical Study Based on Spatial Econometrics

Green development is an inevitable choice for sustainable development under the constraints of environmental resources. This paper attempts to explore the connotation of urban land green utilization efficiency (LGUE) and reveal its spatial differentiation characteristics. This study adopts the super-SBM model to measure LGUE from 2009 to 2022 and analyzes the spatiotemporal variation rules. Then, the study reveals the spatial influencing factors of LGUE, drawing the following conclusions: (1) the average efficiency value of LGUE at the national level is still at a low level, but it is on an upward trend. There are significant differences in LGUE among the eastern, central, and western regions, with the highest LGUE in the eastern region and the lowest in the western region. (2) The spatial distribution of LGUE in various cities across the country is not entirely random but shows significant spatial autocorrelation characteristics. The improvement in LGUE in a region can improve the surrounding region's LGUE. (3) Economic development level promotes the improvement of local city LGUE, but its impact on LGUE of surrounding neighboring cities is not significant; local city industrial structure upgrading can improve LGUE in both local and neighboring cities; foreign investment in local cities can promote LGUE in both local and neighboring cities; the increase in population density will hinder LGUE in local cities but improve surrounding cities LGUE. The intervention degree of local city government will suppress the improvement of LGUE in both local and neighboring cities.

Is urban innovation capacity shaping new models of economic development? Evidence from the circular economy

AbstractCircular economy (CE) theory emphasizes that following the reduction, reuse, and recycling (3R) principles can promote the practice of the CE; at the same time, innovative technologies support the feasibility of these principles. However, in academia, it remains unknown whether innovative technologies can be used to effectively implement CE theory. This study estimates the CE performance of 280 cities in China using the super‐efficiency SBM–data envelopment analysis (DEA) model and analyzes the relationship between urban innovation capability (UIC) and the CE using a two‐way fixed‐effects model. The research findings are as follows: First, UIC enhances the CE performance. Second, unlike in green finance, when inclusive finance reaches a certain threshold, the promoting effect of UIC becomes stronger. Third, UIC has both a positive direct effect (local cities) and an indirect effect (neighboring cities). Mechanism tests on improving people's livelihoods, strengthening clean energy development, optimizing industrial structure, and improving agricultural productivity can explain these two effects. Finally, compared with general innovation, the impact of green innovation capability is greater, especially when it comes to green invention innovation. In addition, an innovation‐driven CE shows significant results in terms of carbon reduction and household income. This study theoretically and empirically confirms the driving force of innovation in the CE, providing favorable policy suggestions for countries facing economic transformation, such as China.

Voluntary initiatives of non-profit organizations in the formation of creative communities and creative spaces of the city: a philosophical view

Relevance. This article examines the topical issue of the role of the non-profit sector in urban development from a philosophical point of view. The authors cite key concepts that reveal the socio-legal aspects of the work of NGOs; define the socio-philosophical significance of the activities of non-profit organizations in Russian cities.The purpose of the study is to identify the impact of volunteer initiatives of the non-profit sector on the development of creative locations of cities, the dynamics of territorial development.Objectives: to determining the relationship of NGOs with the development of the creative potential of the city; socio-philosophical analysis of competitive materials of applications from non-profit organizations to civil society development funds; identification of directions for the formation of urban creative and innovative spaces created with the help of NGOs.Methodology. The work uses a systematic method, an analytical review and synthesis of the information under study. The authors used materials from open data reports on the evaluation of the results of the projects of the winners of the competitions for grants from the President of the Russian Federation for the development of civil society in 2022.Results. The result is an idea of the socio-cultural modernization of the urban sphere. Initiative in the implementation of voluntary urban socially significant projects forms the sustainability of urban living conditions, the investment and image attractiveness of the city, and the positive migration issue. The interrelation between initiative projects of representatives of the non-profit sector and socio-cultural design of the environment, activation of the creative class, and improvement of the comfort level of urban areas is revealed. Modern active NGOs in Russian cities represent the avant-garde, implementing creative projects and broadcasting cultural trends, creative practices that define the conceptual meanings of the development of a particular city (region). Projects based on the voluntary aspirations of citizens and related to the assistance of specific social groups acquire a sustainable character of development and form the features of the city.Conclusion. The results of the study showed that the work of the non-profit sector in Russian cities is transforming urban spaces by developing creative resources and creative industries.

Occurrence of Micro-Plastics in Tigris River Water in Middle of Iraq

Abstract Microplastics, which are emerging pollutants in the environmental world, have become a source of concern for researchers and the public by virtue of the increasing use of plastic and mismanagement of plastic waste. Currently, research focuses on marine environments, with less attention to freshwater environments, especially urban rivers. In this study, 11 samples were taken from surface water along the Tigris River in the city of Baghdad and from the Kut Dam. The process of chemical digestion using H2O2 (30%) was used to digest natural organic materials, separation by density to get rid of unwanted materials, and then examination under an optical microscope and FTIR. The abundance of plastic materials ranged from 27to74 particles/sample size. Polypropylene, polyethylene and polystyrene were common types of microplastics as they represented (66.92%) of the samples. Fibers and fragments were the dominant microplastic forms in all samples. White color is the dominant characteristic of all samples. It has been shown that hydrodynamic conditions and the locations of urban cities and industrial facilities affect the concentrations of microplastics. The study’s results at S9, S10, and S11 show that microplastics are accumulating in the dam, indicating that the dam might act as a sink for microplastics.

Local power play: the post-election repression and local governance

ABSTRACT We explore the aftermath of electoral defeats for incumbents in competitive authoritarian regimes, positing that they escalate repression in response. While prevailing research on competitive authoritarian regimes typically analyses incumbent repression at the national level, we focus on its effects on local political actors. Our argument centres on subnational variation in repression, influenced by the incumbent’s strength within the local city council. Specifically, incumbents tend to employ legislative blockage to hinder opposition mayors from efficiently delivering public goods when their party holds a majority of seats in the city council. We present original data on legislative proposals in city councils and employ a mixed-method approach to investigate this phenomenon. The 2019 local elections in İstanbul offer a unique opportunity to probe the dynamics of repression against the opposition at the local level. Our findings underscore that repression neutralizes emerging political leaders, thereby undermining municipal administration in the process.

Crafting urban identities: Local cuisine and city branding in Indonesia and Myanmar

Background: This comparative study examines the significant role of local cuisine in shaping urban identities and enhancing city branding in Indonesia and Myanmar. With a rich tapestry of culinary traditions, these Southeast Asian nations offer unique insights into how food culture can be leveraged as a strategic asset in urban planning. The research delves into integrating local cuisine in city branding initiatives, highlighting successful examples from major cities in both countries. By analyzing local food's cultural, economic, and social dimensions, the study underscores its potential to foster a sense of place and community, attract tourism, and stimulate local economies. Method: This study uses a comparative case study approach to investigate the role of local cuisine in shaping urban identity and enhancing city image in Indonesia and Myanmar. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders and document analysis from various sources. Data analysis was conducted using thematic analysis to identify key themes and comparative analysis to highlight differences and similarities between the two countries. This approach allows the study to develop practical recommendations for urban planners and policymakers. Findings: The findings reveal that incorporating local cuisine into urban planning not only preserves culinary heritage but also enhances the distinctive character of cities, making them more appealing to both residents and visitors. Furthermore, the research discusses the challenges and opportunities urban planners and policymakers face in promoting local cuisine while balancing modernization and cultural preservation. Conclusion: Through a comparative lens, the study provides practical recommendations for cities aiming to integrate culinary elements into their branding strategies. The insights gained from Indonesia and Myanmar's experiences can serve as a valuable reference for other cities globally, seeking to enrich their urban identities through the celebration of local cuisine. Novelty/Originality of this study: The development of a comprehensive model for integrating local cuisine into a city’s branding strategy provides practical and measurable guidance for city planners to leverage culinary heritage to enhance city attractiveness, identity, and local economic empowerment while maintaining the authenticity and sustainability of culinary traditions.

Analysis of Road Safety Perception and Influencing Factors in a Complex Urban Environment—Taking Chaoyang District, Beijing, as an Example

Measuring human perception of environmental safety and quantifying the street view elements that affect human perception of environmental safety are of great significance for improving the urban environment and residents’ safety perception. However, domestic large-scale quantitative research on the safety perception of Chinese local cities needs to be deepened. Therefore, this paper chooses Chaoyang District in Beijing as the research area. Firstly, the network safety perception distribution of Chaoyang District is calculated and presented through the CNN model trained based on the perception dataset constructed by Chinese local cities. Then, the street view elements are extracted from the street view images using image semantic segmentation and target detection technology. Finally, the street view elements that affect the road safety perception are identified and analyzed based on LightGBM and SHAP interpretation framework. The results show the following: (1) the overall safety perception level of Chaoyang District in Beijing is high; (2) the number of motor vehicles and the proportion of the area of roads, skies, and sidewalks are the four factors that have the greatest impact on environmental safety perception; (3) there is an interaction between different street view elements on safety perception, and the proportion and number of street view elements have interaction on safety perception; (4) in the sections with the lowest, moderate, and highest levels of safety perception, the influence of street view elements on safety perception is inconsistent. Finally, this paper summarizes the results and points out the shortcomings of the research.

관광과 지역 정체성 정치

Despite being one of Korea's six major cities during the Japanese colonial era, Mokpo has declined to a small local city post-liberation. Since the establishment of the local government system, Mokpo has aimed to reinvent itself as a tourist destination. Over the past 20 years, the city has implemented six major tourism development and promotion projects, including night scenery lighting, a marine music fountain, urban regeneration of the old city center, a suspension cable car, hotel construction on Samhakdo Island, and branding Mokpo as a “romantic harbor city.” Throughout this process, there have been conflicts, competition, and cooperation with various civic and local interest groups. This research, based on related studies and Logan & Molotch's (2007) growth machine theory, analyzes how different groups formed growth and anti-growth coalitions and how they struggled over six key projects. Newspaper articles documenting these conflicts, competition, and cooperation were reviewed. To enhance reliability and validity, peer review and an interview with a local newspaper editor were conducted. The findings show that while the growth machine theory is useful in examining Mokpo's coalitions and their conflicts, it has limitations in fully explaining the phenomenon's complexity. The study concludes by discussing future research directions and the role of deliberative democracy in sustaining Mokpo's development as a tourist city.

Effective approach toward low-carbon development: Digital economy development enhances carbon efficiency in cities

The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) proposes to accelerate the development of the digital economy and promote “carbon neutrality”. In 2020, China announced a “double carbon” target. In 2022, the size of China's digital economy has reached 7.5 trillion dollars, ranking second in the world. Against this background, this paper takes 211 cities in China from 2011 to 2019 as the research object and tries to sort out the impact of the development of the digital economy on the carbon efficiency of cities in order to find an effective path for cities to realize low-carbon development. The results of the study show that the development of the digital economy significantly improves the carbon efficiency level of Chinese cities. After a series of endogeneity and robustness tests, the conclusion still holds. Public environmental concern and technological innovation are the key mediating paths. In addition, the digital economy has a significant non-linear effect on the carbon efficiency of Chinese cities. On the one hand, the low-carbon effect of the digital economy is only realized when the level of digital economy development is lower than the critical value of 0.040 and higher than the critical value of 0.085; on the other hand, the lower the level of urban carbon efficiency is, the greater the effect of the digital economy on urban carbon efficiency. Further research shows that the digital economy has a significant spatial spillover effect on the improvement of urban carbon efficiency, and the development of the digital economy not only helps to improve the carbon efficiency level of the local city but also positively influences the improvement of the carbon efficiency of neighboring cities through the spatial spillover effect. The heterogeneity study found that in eastern cities and megacities, the digital economy has a more obvious effect on the improvement of carbon efficiency. In the context of the booming digital economy, this paper tries to find an effective new path for urban low-carbon development by means of developing the digital economy.

Public Spaces and Events

This review identifies research articles published in Event Management that discuss the use of public spaces for events. Events and festivals utilize public spaces, which are specific geographic locations in cities. These public spaces transform into places when imbued with meaning through experiences related to events and festivals. This article reveals that uniqueness, emotions, and cocreation through social interaction are important in facilitating events and festivals, although there is also the danger of becoming exclusive, commercialized, commodified, and privatized. Considering the dearth of studies looking at public spaces, future studies may delve into analyzing public space utilization during events and festivals, aiming to unveil spatial trends pertinent to both a city’s overarching urban policies and its tailored event (and tourism) strategies.

Spillover Effects of Urban Expansion on Land Green Use Efficiency: An Empirical Study Based on Multi-Source Remote Sensing Data in China

Land is an important carrier of resource elements, and improving land green use efficiency (LGUE) is the key to achieving “smart growth” in cities. This study takes 269 cities in China from 2008 to 2020 as the research object and integrates multisource remote sensing data, GIS spatial analysis, and spatial econometric models to explore the evolutionary characteristics of LGUE and the spatiotemporal effects of urban expansion on LGUE. The results show that (1) urban LGUE increases over time and has certain gradient distribution and spatial dependence characteristics; (2) urban expansion has a significant inverted U-shaped relationship with LGUE, indicating that maintaining reasonable urban expansion is the key to improving LGUE, but excessive urban expansion has a strong negative spatial effect on LGUE. In terms of spillover effect, for every 1% increase in the square term of urban expansion, the LGUE of the local city decreases by 0.0673%, but the neighboring city increases by 0.2283%; and (3) urban expansion has significant spatiotemporal heterogeneous effects on LGUE, and spatial development boundaries must be reasonably determined to achieve “smart growth”. Currently, some cities in China are expanding rapidly, and we hope to provide key support for promoting the “smart growth” of cities and improving LGUE.