Rural-urban Dynamics Research Articles

Multiple Paths of Influencing Factors of College Students' Intention of Returning Home for Employment from the Perspective of Configuration: A fsQCA Approach☆

AbstractRural areas in China are undergoing significant transformations and development phases. This study employs fuzzy‐set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) on quantitative data from a survey of 168 college students to investigate the configurations of factors leading to a high willingness to return to their hometowns for employment. The study focuses on their intentions to return as the dependent variable, with independent variables including rural sentiment, social compatibility, risk tolerance, family support, and life satisfaction. The findings reveal nine distinct pathways that meet the criteria of perfect consistency (1.0) and demonstrate high explanatory power (coverage of 89.19%). These pathways are categorized into four types based on underlying motivations: emotion‐oriented, value‐oriented, responsibility‐oriented, and social‐oriented. The results offer theoretical and practical insights into encouraging talent return in rural China, emphasizing the importance of a multifaceted approach that incorporates emotional, social, and familial considerations. The study's findings are contextualized within the Chinese socioeconomic environment, offering valuable insights into rural–urban dynamics in China. These findings could also be applied to other countries and regions with similar urban–rural dynamics and immigration patterns.

To waste or not to waste: a multi-proxy analysis of human-waste interaction and rural waste management in Indus Era Gujarat

Waste management is paramount to town planning and ancient civilizations across the world have spent resources and mobilized labor for waste disposal and reuse. The study of waste management practices offers a unique window into the daily lives, social organization, and environmental interactions of ancient societies. In the Indus Valley Civilization, known for its urban planning, understanding waste disposal in rural settlements provides crucial insights into the broader socio-economic landscape. While extensive research has documented sophisticated waste management systems in urban Indus centers, little is known about practices in rural settlements. This gap limits our understanding of regional variations and rural-urban dynamics within the civilization. In this paper, using isotopic and microscopic proxies, we characterize the waste disposed of at the rural Indus settlement of Kotada Bhadli to reconstruct the sources of waste, including heated animal dung, and burned vegetation. We propose that rural agro-pastoral settlements in Gujarat during the Indus Era systematically discarded such waste in specific locations. By characterizing waste produced at Kotada Bhadli, we are also able to reconstruct the natural environment and how the natural and cultural landscape around the settlement was exploited by the residents of the settlement for their domestic and occupational needs. Our identification of the attention paid to waste disposal by the inhabitants of Kotada Bhadli adds significant data to our understanding of waste disposal as an insight into past lives.

Food allergy in a changing dietary landscape: A focus on the Asia Pacific region.

Recent studies have provided compelling evidence to suggest that various environmental factors play a significant role in the development of food allergies. As our society experiences rapid economic growth, increased urbanization, and a shift towards a more Westernized diet, the incidence of food allergies is also on the rise and the pattern is gradually evolving. This review will delve into the changes in the epidemiology of food allergies within the Asia-Pacific region and the various dietary practices and factors that are postulated to play a role in the rise in food allergies over the years. Although there have been important advancements in the field of food allergies, there are still numerous uncertainties regarding the intricate relationship between diet and food allergies. Specifically, the role of epigenetic factors in influencing the susceptibility to food allergies, as evidenced by studies that assessed the impact of migration and rural-urban dynamics, is not fully understood. Addressing this knowledge gap presents an opportunity to develop more effective prevention and treatment strategies that could greatly benefit individuals living with food allergies.

Rural–Urban Dynamics of Police Corruption: Views of Ghanaian Police Officers

Rural–Urban Dynamics of Police Corruption: Views of Ghanaian Police Officers

Physical and Social Spaces Interactions: Rural-Urban Dynamics in New Constructions in Kyrgyzstan

In Kyrgyzstan’s evolving cultural landscape in post-Soviet time, rural and urban dynamics reveal a captivating story of adaptation. This study explores domestic spaces, specifically the ‘bathhouse’, ‘naves’, and toilet placement preferences in newly built houses. The traditional rural ‘bathhouse’ has ventured into urban settings, challenging established notions. Conversely, the urban ‘naves’ now thrive in remote rural areas, reflecting evolving cultural tastes. Toilet placement choices among new settlement residents exemplify the fusion of rural and urban influences, highlighting their ability to adapt rural culture to urban living. This research underscores Kyrgyzstan’s complex cultural identity, where tradition and modernity harmonize, transcending urban and rural boundaries.

Exploring the Informal Sector in Nepal: Performance Trend, Dualism, and Rural-Urban Dynamics

Exploring the Informal Sector in Nepal: Performance Trend, Dualism, and Rural-Urban Dynamics

Surveying the Landscape of Labor Market Threat Perceptions from Migration: Evidence from Attitudes toward Sub-Saharan African Migrants in Morocco

Morocco, once primarily known as a country of emigration and transit to Europe, has become a destination country for migrants, the majority of whom are from sub-Saharan Africa. Using an original nationally representative survey of 2,700 respondents, together with data from two census waves and one migrant regularization wave, the authors examine Moroccan citizens’ labor market threat perceptions from this new migrant group. Consistent with findings from studies conducted in developed countries, less educated, poorer respondents express higher labor market threat perceptions. The authors also find evidence, however, that city dwellers and employed female Moroccans are the most likely to report threat perceptions, even after controlling for greater “exposure” to migrants. The article contributes to literatures on migration exposure and how rural–urban dynamics shape labor market threat perceptions in a developing country.

Place-level urban–rural indices for the United States from 1930 to 2018

Rural-urban classifications are essential for analyzing geographic, demographic, environmental, and social processes across the rural–urban continuum. Most existing classifications are, however, only available at relatively aggregated spatial scales, such as at the county scale in the United States. The absence of rurality or urbanness measures at fine spatial resolution poses significant problems when the process of interest is highly localized, as with the incorporation of rural towns and villages into encroaching metropolitan areas. Moreover, existing rural–urban classifications are often inconsistent over time, or require complex, multi-source input data (e.g., remote sensing observations or road network data), thus, impeding the longitudinal analysis of rural–urban dynamics. In order to address this gap, we compare existing rural–urban classifications in the US, and we develop a set of distance- and spatial-network-based methods for consistently estimating the remoteness and rurality of places at fine spatial resolution, over long periods of time, aiming to provide and evaluate temporally consistent rural–urban classifications at fine spatial granularity, but scalable to arbitrary, coarser spatial units. We demonstrate the utility of our approach by constructing indices of urbanness for over 28,000 places in the United States from 1930 to 2018 and further test the plausibility of our results against a variety of evaluation datasets. We call these indices the place-level urban–rural indices (PLURAL) and make the resulting code and datasets publicly available so that other researchers can conduct long-term, fine--grained analyses of urban and rural change. In addition, due to the simplistic nature of the input data, these methods can be generalized to other time periods or regions of the world, particularly to data-scarce environments.

Enabling Conditions for Local Food Systems to Emerge in Predominately Rural Regions of Portugal—A Food Access Approach

Local food studies have stressed the importance of local food systems (LFS) in shortening the linkages between producers and consumers and in promoting resilient territories. Food consumption patterns are mostly studied around rural–urban dynamics, urban food security, and the revitalisation of rural communities, but little is known about the impact of LFS over rural residents and their capacity to access local foods. This paper explores the development of LFS in rural areas, from a food access approach, by characterising the rural landscapes promoting local food consumption. From a mapping of 74 predominately rural municipalities, statistical data of six socio-economic and political variables were collected to depict each municipality. A cluster analysis and Pearson’s correlation test informed us about the factors enabling these networks to emerge. Three clusters were identified: ‘meso-urban’, (N = 5) presenting urban-like characteristics (higher income and education levels, and reduced road infrastructure and small-scale farming); ‘dense’, (N = 26) characterised by high population density, road infrastructure and small-scale farming; and ‘castaway’ (N = 43) with low population density, income, post-secondary education, and expenditure in RD in agriculture. LFS emergence in rural Portugal was strongly determined by the levels of mean income and education levels in rural municipalities, which brought into question concerns regarding rural residents’ capacity to consume local foods. Low physical access, purchasing capacity, and awareness of food issues appeared to compromise the utilisation of these foods by the most socio-economically disfavoured groups. However, other territorial externalities and empirical work not included in this study could further complement our findings and provide a richer picture for the localisation of food systems in rural areas.

Caliata: An Indigenous Community in Ecuador Offers Lessons on Food Sovereignty and Sustainable Diets

ABSTRACTBackgroundTo achieve a healthy sustainable food system globally, it is imperative to understand how local food systems can provide healthy and sustainable conditions.ObjectiveTo explore, through the indigenous community of Caliata in the Ecuadorian highlands, the factors that support or hinder sustainable Andean food systems.MethodsWe designed a participatory mixed-methods study in Caliata (Chimborazo, Ecuador) and an inclusive and transdisciplinary research process with constant member checking. The study combined culturally validated qualitative methods (n = 49), agroecology-based site analysis, and household surveys (n = 57), including a modified 48-h recall. We used the NOVA food classification system to categorize the diet according to levels of processing and analyzed categorical and numeric data to understand the interplay of parcel size, agrodiversity, and diet diversity.ResultsFirst, the agroecological space is defined by the stewardship of Pachamama (Mother Nature), a central role in Andean cosmovision, leading to trophic interactions and cycles characterized by a diversity of heterarchical social organizations and agroecologically useful species. Second, consistency was found in dietary patterns; all respondents consume their produce, fruits being the most popular snack (in a 24-h period, 70% reported an average of 2.2 servings), and two-thirds of households' consumption represent unprocessed or minimally processed foods. Third, gendered agriculture and population aging represent demographic challenges, while chronic health problems remain relatively infrequent compared with the general population. Fourth, food sovereignty is an ecocentric concept based on production, exchanges of seeds and produce, consumption of produce, and knowledge of how agroecological space is treated. This system represents a nutrient loop tied to a system of knowledge about how to care for soil, land, and the ecological community.ConclusionsCaliata provides important perspectives on linkages between diet, biodiversity, use of agroecological space, and rural–urban dynamics. This small indigenous community offers lessons for achieving both healthy ecosystems and food security.

A gênese de Chavantes - SP até a primeira metade do século XX: relação rural-urbano

O objetivo do trabalho é apresentar a dinâmica rural-urbana de Chavantes até a primeira metade do século XX, momento de ruptura, em decorrência de mudanças nos processos produtivos e da acentuação e da intensificação da urbanização, trazendo novos papeis à cidade perante o rural. Considera-se nesse trabalho os elementos que influenciaram a gênese do município de Chavantes: a expansão dos trilhos da E.F. Sorocabana e do cafeeiros em direção ao Centro-Oeste Paulista, no início do século XX. Para a realização do trabalho, quanto à compreensão da gênese da cidade, consultou-se a bibliografia relativa à história de Chavantes e de Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo (do qual Chavantes foi distrito) bem como dados censitários, com o intuito principalmente, de analisar a dinâmica-rural urbana, durante o período citado. Foi realizado um levantamento de campo em junho de 2018, com o objetivo de coletar informações acerca dos aspectos históricos e da dinâmica rural-urbana, não esclarecidos pela bibliografia consultada. Compreendeu-se que, a origem de Chavantes relaciona-se diretamente à expansão cafeeira e a inserção da ferrovia, bem como o desenvolvimento do município, no período analisado, está atrelado aos dois elementos citados, importantes na dinâmica rural-urbana.

Rural–Urban Transition of Hanoi (Vietnam): Using Landsat Imagery to Map Its Recent Peri-Urbanization

The current trend towards global urbanization presents new environmental and social challenges. For this reason, it is increasingly important to monitor urban growth, mainly in those regions undergoing the fastest urbanization, such as Southeast Asia. Hanoi (Vietnam) is a rapidly growing medium-sized city: since new economic policies were introduced in 1986, this area has experienced a rapid demographic rise and radical socio-economic transformation. In this study, we aim to map not only the recent urban expansion of Hanoi, but also of its surroundings. For this reason, our study area consists of the districts within a 30km radius of the city center. To analyze the rural–urban dynamics, we identified three hypothetical rings from the center: the core (within a 10 km radius), the first ring (the area between 10 and 20 km) and, finally, the outer zone (over 20 km). To map land use/land cover (LULC) changes, we classified a miniseries of Landsat images, collected approximately every ten years (1989, 2000, 2010 and 2019). To better define the urban dynamics, we then applied the following spatial indexes: the rate of urban expansion, four landscape metrics (the number of patches, the edge length, the mean patch area and the largest patch index) and the landscape expansion index. The results show how much the city’s original shape has changed over the last thirty years: confined for hundreds of years in a limited space on the right bank of the Red River, it is now a fringed city which has developed beyond the river into the surrounding periurban areas. Moreover, the region around Hanoi is no longer solely rural: in just thirty years, urbanization has converted this territory into an industrial and commercial region.

A GÊNESE E A DINÂMICA RURAL-URBANA DO MUNICÍPIO DE CANITAR - SP

O objetivo do trabalho é apresentar a gênese da pequena cidade de Canitar, cuja origem remete ao período cafeeiro, porém, presentemente pauta a economia municipal quase exclusivamente no cultivo de cana-de-açúcar, discutindo alguns elementos resultantes desse processo. A emancipação de Canitar, em 1993, insere-se no processo de desmembramentos de municípios, após a promulgação da Constituição Federal de 1988. Para a realização do trabalho, consultou-se as referências bibliográficas, dados censitários e foi realizado um levantamento de campo em junho de 2018, com o objetivo de coletar informações não discutidas pela bibliografia consultada. Compreendeu-se que a dinâmica rural-urbana de Canitar pauta-se atualmente na monocultura da cana-de-açúcar, sendo que aproximadamente 90% da área municipal é dedicada a esse cultivo e por outro lado, as atividades econômicas urbanas são pouco relevantes.

Rural-urban dynamics in the UK illegal puppy trade: Trafficking and trade in 'man's best friend'

Recently, much attention has been given to the presence and increase of transnational crime, particularly focusing on online illicit markets. A seldom-explored aspect of transnational online illicit markets is the rural to urban flow of the illicit goods. This paper details research on the UK puppy trade, documenting the movement of puppies reared in irresponsible and/or illegal conditions in rural locations and then advertised online for the urban market. Through analysis of online advertisements in Scotland and expert interviews, a stakeholder survey, and focus groups across Great Britain, we document the rural-urban dynamic of an overlooked transnational illicit market, a market facilitated by neo-liberalism and speciesism. While estimates on the value of the trade are problematic, the snapshot of online sales in Scotland alone suggests a marketplace with an annual value of at least £13 million (17,680 puppies). The cost of animal suffering associated with this trade is incalculable. Awareness must be raised and regulatory enforcement improved to reduce suffering and stop transnational criminals from profiting. This rural-urban dynamic presents a global challenge and demands an international response.

The countryside in the city? Rural-urban dynamics in allotment gardens in Brno, Czech Republic

Abstract The position of urban allotments in the rural-urban spectrum is evaluated in this paper, which contributes to literatures on urban gardening, as well as contemporary rural-urban dynamics. Historically, European allotments can be seen as a product of urbanisation. At the same time, they embody a number of “non-urban” characteristics that create the impression of “the countryside in the city”. This research project investigates how the urban and the rural are materialised, represented and practised in five allotment sites in Brno, Czech Republic. We follow three main lines of enquiry where the urban and the rural seem to meet: the physical environment of the allotments; the social life of these spaces; and food production as one of their core functions. Critical reflection of the rural-urban perspective advances our understanding of urban gardens, while, at the same time, allotments offer an example of hybrid spaces, which, in turn, contribute to discussions on current cities and countrysides. Overcoming the urban-rural dichotomy could facilitate the inclusion of urban gardening in contemporary cities.

Telecoupled Sustainable Livelihoods in an Era of Rural–Urban Dynamics: The Case of China

Recently, increasingly sophisticated studies have investigated the relationship between agrarian livelihoods and the environment, as well as rural–urban interactions in developing countries. The policies developed to respond to these dynamics can constrain livelihood options or provide additional opportunities. In the present study, using a modified version of the telecoupled sustainable livelihood framework to generalize dynamic livelihood strategies in the context of rural–urban transformation and by focusing on recent research in China, we review important factors that shape rural livelihood strategies as well as the types of strategies that typically intersect with livelihood and environmental dynamics. We then examine telecoupled rural–urban linkages given that the dynamics of the livelihood strategies of farmers can cause flows of labor, capital, ecosystem services, and other processes between rural and urban areas, thereby placing livelihood strategies in a dynamic context, which has not been considered widely in previous research. We show that most previous studies focused on the reduction of environmental impacts via livelihood diversification and rural–urban migration. We propose several areas for future policy development and research.

Cuban Kitchens: Spaces of Food and Life in Cuba

In this photo essay I present eleven portraits of Cubans, mostly women but some men, in their kitchens. After all, kitchens are intimate spaces; they are the home’s place of sustenance, of life. But kitchens are also the physical spaces where each of us, through the act of preparing and eating food, is enmeshed in a web of much broader social, economic, and political forces. Through the daily routine of buying groceries, preparing and cooking food, and sitting down to eat, we consume and metabolize the end result of all kinds of political, economic, cultural, and environmental processes far beyond our immediate reach. The photographs are preceded by a short essay in which I frame the images in terms of gender and kitchen spaces, food security, and the very specific rural–urban dynamics present in contemporary Cuba, and the intersection of race and food.

La historia doble de Villa Clarín

Este artículo presenta resultados parciales de un proceso de investigación que lleva cuatro años de duración en la comunidadde Villa Clarín, que desde el punto de vista político administrativo se ha venido considerando como un barrio de Palermo,corregimiento del Municipio de Sitio Nuevo, Magdalena, aunque se encuentra separado de este por más de doscientosmetros de distancia, en forma paralela al Caño Clarín y la carretera Barranquilla-Ciénaga. El problema de investigacióngiró alrededor del estudio de extrema pobreza de sus pobladores y el propósito de la investigación fue la reconstrucciónhistórica sobre la base de la tradición oral, pero también la realización de un análisis sociológico de esta, que se realizódesde la perspectiva de la Sociología dialógica. Como método de investigación se utilizó el enfoque dialógico y el tipode investigación desarrollado fue la Investigación Acción Participativa, IAP. Los resultados muestran que hay cuatro ejessociológicos de la historia de Villa Clarín: La violencia política y el abandono del Estado, la resiliencia y marginalidad, elasistencialismo y dejadismo y el desarraigo e individualismo. Las conclusiones muestran que la población se desarrolla enuna dinámica rural-urbana, que en sí mismo no debe verse como algo negativo, sino que puede ser el marco para generarprocesos de construcción de una propuesta de potencialidades de desarrollo social y humano que aproveche esas características.El título de Historia Doble evoca a varias dualidades de su historia, como la relación rural-urbano, la versión sobreel origen del pueblo por el conficto político, o por procesos espontáneos de poblamiento, y los enfoques de desarrollo,entre asistencialismo y resiliencia.

The Use of Greek in Early Roman Galilee: The Inscriptional Evidence Re-examined

Based on numbers alone, Greek had as much currency in first- as it did in second- and third-century Galilee. But measuring the use of Greek by calculating the number of inscriptions in each century is flawed methodology. This is because the inscriptional evidence is patchy and unrepresentative (as the very few inscriptions in Aramaic/Hebrew demonstrate). Scholars must first understand the various kinds of ancient bilingualism, then look for indications of these, including (written) Greek literacy. Literary and other evidence, especially factors that might encourage bilingualism, such as the influence of the administrative cities of Sepphoris and Tiberias and the surrounding Hellenistic cities, the state of the Galilean economy, and rural-urban dynamics, can then help to fill in the gaps. On the basis of all of the extant evidence, knowledge of Greek was probably quite common, with most people picking it up by force of circumstance rather than through formal instruction.

Can We Still Only Think ‘Rural’? Bridging the rural–urban divide for rural transformation in a globalized world

The international debate on structural change remains focused on sector–based approaches. The discussion on rural transformation is most often limited by the same long-standing bias. In order to answer the major challenges of their demographic and economic transition, many developing countries need to address their new rural-urban dynamics and to adopt territorial-based development strategies.