Socio-spatial Variations Research Articles

Small-area estimation and analysis of HIV/AIDS indicators for precise geographical targeting of health interventions in Nigeria. a spatial microsimulation approach

BackgroundPrecise geographical targeting is well recognised as an indispensable intervention strategy for achieving many Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This is more cogent for health-related goals such as the reduction of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, which exhibits substantial spatial heterogeneity at various spatial scales (including at microscale levels). Despite the dire data limitations in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs), it is essential to produce fine-scale estimates of health-related indicators such as HIV/AIDS. Existing small-area estimates (SAEs) incorporate limited synthesis of the spatial and socio-behavioural aspects of the HIV/AIDS pandemic and/or are not adequately grounded in international indicator frameworks for sustainable development initiatives. They are, therefore, of limited policy-relevance, not least because of their inability to provide necessary fine-scale socio-spatial disaggregation of relevant indicators.MethodsThe current study attempts to overcome these challenges through innovative utilisation of gridded demographic datasets for SAEs as well as the mapping of standard HIV/AIDS indicators in LMICs using spatial microsimulation (SMS).ResultsThe result is a spatially enriched synthetic individual-level population of the study area as well as microscale estimates of four standard HIV/AIDS and sexual behaviour indicators. The analysis of these indicators follows similar studies with the added advantage of mapping fine-grained spatial patterns to facilitate precise geographical targeting of relevant interventions. In doing so, the need to explicate socio-spatial variations through proper socioeconomic disaggregation of data is reiterated.ConclusionsIn addition to creating SAEs of standard health-related indicators from disparate multivariate data, the outputs make it possible to establish more robust links (even at individual levels) with other mesoscale models, thereby enabling spatial analytics to be more responsive to evidence-based policymaking in LMICs. It is hoped that international organisations concerned with producing SDG-related indicators for LMICs move towards SAEs of such metrics using methods like SMS.

On the geographies of monuments and migration memory-making

Within the burgeoning geographical literature on public memory, a subset centres on what monuments can inform us about the complex realities of migrants whose lives often straddle between two (or more) nations, thus giving rise to trans-cultural and trans-local dynamics that exceed (and may even potentially challenge) the nation. This paper examines monuments established to presence the former-exiled-turned-migrant Moluccan community in the Netherlands to proverbially fold them into the Dutch population, and celebrate alterity in the context of pluralism. And yet, it also frames how these monuments reflect the limits and paradoxes of such an endeavour particularly by virtue of the fraught relationships – due to hitherto unresolved pasts but also tense presents – between the Moluccans and their host societies; as well as fault-lines – owing to myriad intersecting geographies astride religion, generational axes, socio-spatial variations, political affiliations or connections to original homelands – that exist among these Moluccans today, even as they may be born into (or have attained) citizenship status. More broadly, the paper puts into question the extent that public monuments, as a specific material commemorative genre, may in fact be appropriate for remembering phenomena typically associated with postcolonial mobility, diversity and flux.

Drinking water disparities and aluminum concentrations: Assessing socio-spatial dimensions across an urban landscape

The United States Environmental Protection Agency does not enforce a maximum contaminant level of Aluminum (Al) in treated drinking water and trace amounts are commonly found in household tap water. Al is known to impact the aesthetics of tap water, and research shows that exposure may have adverse impacts on human health. Socioeconomic status (SES) may play a role in Al exposure since some water treatment plants utilize “Alum” as an affordable treatment method, even though higher Al concentrations can result in finished drinking water. The objective of this study is to identify socio-spatial variations in concentrations of Al in household tap water across a highly diverse urban landscape. A total of 96 households in eastern Palm Beach County, Florida were randomly selected and tap water samples were collected from an unfiltered faucet and tested for Al. Al was above method detection limit in 56% of the samples analyzed, and 6% of the samples were above Florida’s secondary maximum contaminant level (concentrations ranged from 0.009 mg/L - 0.429 mg/L). Significant spatial clusters of higher Al concentrations in areas of lower SES were identified using local spatial autocorrelation (Getis-Ord Gi*). Maximum Likelihood of Spatial Lag and Spatial Weighted Least Squares HET regression models confirm a significant association between higher Al concentrations in tap water and lower SES. The findings of this study may be useful to water officials who aim to reduce levels of Al in tap water by prioritizing communities that experience the greatest socioeconomic deprivation.

Tying transnational activism to national protest: Facebook event pages in the 2017 Romanian #rezist demonstrations

This article considers the use of public social media in transnational expatriate activism. It is an investigation of connections among users of Facebook event pages associated with 122 cities worldwide where demonstrations took place in 2017, in support of the anti-corruption Romanian #rezist protests. An exploration of interconnections between socio-demographics, space and network characteristics, it probes the association of geographic location and the gender of page users to connectivity in comment and share networks to reveal a connectivity differential. Connections increased when users were active on the same pages whereas users’ common location related to comparatively lower levels of commenting but not sharing activity. At the same time, while a larger proportion of them were male, users displayed a systematic tendency to interact with the other gender. Renewed attention should thus be paid to socio-spatial variations in the use of social media that both localize and help bridge transnational activism.

Tying Transnational Activism to National Protest: Facebook Event Pages in the 2017 Romanian #rezist Demonstrations

This article considers the use of public social media in transnational expatriate activism. It is an investigation of connections among users of Facebook event pages associated with 122 cities worldwide where demonstrations took place in 2017, in support of the anti-corruption Romanian #rezist protests. An exploration of interconnections between socio-demographics, space and network characteristics, it probes the association of geographic location and the gender of page users to connectivity in comment and share networks to reveal a connectivity differential. Connections increased when users were active on the same pages whereas users’ common location related to comparatively lower levels of commenting but not sharing activity. At the same time, while a larger proportion of them were male, users displayed a systematic tendency to interact with the other gender. Renewed attention should thus be paid to socio-spatial variations in the use of social media that both localize and help bridge transnational activism.

Socio-Spatial Variations in Commuting Patterns in Suburban Beijing

With rapid urbanization and suburbanization in China, there is clear evidence of the decoupling of home-work locations in cities which is in contrast to the socialist danwei system where workers were housed in workplace compounds. This paper examines the diverse commuting patterns of suburban neighbourhoods in the Beijing metropolitan region. The research first examines the relationship between the characteristics of commutes in terms of time, distance, and mode, and the socio-economic attributes of residents. The analysis allows us to examine how different socio-economic groups, via latent class analysis, are often spatially concentrated in marginalized neighbourhoods, and further disadvantaged in their commuting experience. The socio-spatial variations in commuting patterns are analysed via GIS mapping analysis, statistical testing, and multiple regression analysis. Major variations were found in the commuting patterns in terms of time, distance and mode across different socioeconomic groups and across various suburban neighbourhood types. The results from regression models further suggest that personal resources have the strongest influence on commuting time but less so on distance, regardless of the type of neighbourhoods in which they live. The findings call for integrative planning and major transport measures, at different spatial scales, to shape commuting behaviour. Despite the unique institutional and cultural context of China, the lessons learnt from the need to have integrative strategic planning are relevant to other cities, and especially those in the developing world which are undergoing rapid urbanization.

The Impact of Urban Inequalities on Monitoring Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals: Methodological Considerations

There is much discussion regarding the Sustainable Development Goals’ (SDGs) capacity to promote inclusive development. While some argue that they represent an opportunity for goal-led alignment of stakeholders and evidence-based decision-making, other voices express concerns as they perceive them as a techno-managerial framework that measures development according to quantitatively defined parameters and does not allow for local variation. We argue that the extent to which the positive or negative aspects of the SDGs prevail depends on the monitoring system’s ability to account for multiple and intersecting inequalities. The need for sub-nationally (urban) representative indicators poses an additional methodological challenge—especially in cities with intra-urban inequalities related to socio-spatial variations across neighbourhoods. This paper investigates the extent to which the SDG indicators’ representativeness could be affected by inequalities. It does so by proposing a conceptual framing for understanding the relation between inequalities and SDG monitoring, which is then applied to analyse the current methodological proposals for the indicator framework of the “urban SDG,” Goal 11. The outcome is a call for (1) a more explicit attention to intra-urban inequalities, (2) the development of a methodological approach to “recalibrate” the city-level indicators to account for the degree of intra-urban inequalities, and (3) an alignment between methodologies and data practices applied for monitoring SDG 11 and the extent of the underlying inequalities within the city. This would enable an informed decision regarding the trade-off in indicator representativeness between conventional data sources, such as censuses and household surveys, and emerging methods, such as participatory geospatial methods and citizen-generated data practices.

Geographically weighted regression models for ordinal categorical response variables: An application to geo-referenced life satisfaction data

Ordinal categorical responses are commonly seen in geo-referenced survey data while spatial statistics tools for modelling such type of outcome are rather limited. The paper extends the local spatial modelling framework to accommodate ordinal categorical response variables by proposing a Geographically Weighted Ordinal Regression (GWOR) model. The GWOR model offers a suitable statistical tool to analyse spatial data with ordinal categorical responses, allowing for the exploration of spatially varying relationships. Based on a geo-referenced life satisfaction survey data in Beijing, China, the proposed model is employed to explore the socio-spatial variations of life satisfaction and how air pollution is associated with life satisfaction. We find a negative association between air pollution and life satisfaction, which is both statistically significant and spatially varying. The economic valuation of air pollution results show that residents of Beijing are willing to pay about 2.6% of their annual income for per unit air pollution abatement, on average.

Flexible Spatial Multilevel Modeling of Neighborhood Satisfaction in Beijing

This article develops an innovative and flexible Bayesian spatial multilevel model to examine the sociospatial variations in perceived neighborhood satisfaction, using a large-scale household satisfaction survey in Beijing. In particular, we investigate the impact of a variety of housing tenure types on neighborhood satisfaction, controlling for household and individual sociodemographic attributes and geographical contextual effects. The proposed methodology offers a flexible framework for modeling spatially clustered survey data widely used in social science research by explicitly accounting for spatial dependence and heterogeneity effects. The results show that neighborhood satisfaction is influenced by individual, locational, and contextual factors. Homeowners, except those of resettlement housing, tend to be more satisfied with their neighborhood environment than renters. Moreover, the impacts of housing tenure types on satisfaction vary significantly in different neighborhood contexts and spatial locations.

Good Guest, Bad Guest: The Micro-Geographies of Violence in Urban Kenya

This article analyses the 2007–08 postelection violence in Kenya arguing that there were significant socio-spatial variations to the conflict in urban areas that can be better understood through an analysis of localised framing processes. It argues that, in some urban neighbourhoods, an underlying frame of autochthony is (re)produced through lived experience, facilitating the casting of ethnic others as either good or bad guests in times of political transition. The flawed elections of 2007 justified the violent eviction of ‘bad’ guests in these settings. This frame of autochthony, however, is absent in other urban neighbourhoods, and so these spaces remained relatively calm for the duration of the crisis. The article further argues that the flexibility of the good guest/bad guest frame enabled its reconfiguration at the local level, leading to variations in the fault lines of conflict across both time and space. It concludes that frame analysis can help to elucidate these micro-geographies of conflict.

Analyzing the Determinants of Achievements of Beneficiaries of Literacy Programs in Morocco: A Multilevel Analysis

This paper aims to assess the determinants of success of literacy programs in Morocco. This work uses hierarchical models. This specification provides opportunities to simultaneously analyze the impact of individual variables and taking into account the socio-spatial variations. The results show that the quality of literacy services, as measured by the total score, the level of information about the level of knowledge, is subject to variability. The analysis highlighted the diversity of factors that may be responsible for this variability. Some of these variables are related to the characteristics of the beneficiaries, other characteristics of trainers and logistical conditions in which the literacy process unfolds.

Entrepreneurship and the Informal Economy: An Overview

In recent decades, the field of entrepreneurship studies has become increasingly interested in the relationship between entrepreneurship and the informal economy. This paper reviews this burgeoning sub-field of entrepreneurship studies that recognizes how entrepreneurs do not always conduct their business affairs wholly by the rulebook. Evaluating this rapidly growing body of literature, it reviews the findings regarding the preponderance of entrepreneurs to engage in the informal economy, the nature of such informal entrepreneurship, the characteristics of informal entrepreneurs and the motives underpinning participation in such endeavor, along with the competing theories that have sought to explain engagement in this type of entrepreneurship. The tentative finding is that there are marked socio-spatial variations in the prevalence and nature of informal entrepreneurship, the characteristics of informal entrepreneurs and their rationales. The implication is not only that different theorizations of informal entrepreneurship apply more in some populations than others but also that some populations usually seen as lacking in entrepreneurial spirit are perhaps more enterprising and entrepreneurial than currently recognized and consequently, that legitimizing this hidden enterprise culture could be an important means of promoting enterprise and economic development in such populations. The paper concludes by highlighting future avenues for research on this subject.

Investigating the validity of rural–urban distinctions in the impacts of changing service provision: The example of postal service reconfiguration in Wales

There has been a longstanding interest in the impacts of socio-spatial variations in accessibility to public and private services in both urban and rural contexts. Previous studies have found that rural communities are often disproportionately impacted in accessibility terms by changes in service configuration. The aim of this study is to examine such claims in the context of changes to a key public service in the UK, namely the post office network, and potential implications in terms of spatial patterns of accessibility for the elderly across Wales. The postal service continues to undergo transformation that, it is postulated, will have major implications for users in different settings. The loss of permanent services, or changes in the number of products offered at a fixed or outreach branches, can be expected to have negative consequences for those most dependent on the service for paying bills, accessing financial products or obtaining vehicle licenses for example. Surveys by consumer bodies have identified the elderly as a group proportionately more likely to use post office services and as a consequence they are potentially more vulnerable to the impacts of network changes. Drawing on a Geographical Information System (GIS)-based analysis of changes of accessibility prior to, and following a recent Network Change Programme, findings presented in this paper do not support a clear rural–urban division in terms of the association between those output areas with high elderly populations and reduced access to (and choice of) post office branches. More research is needed however to examine variations in the availability of the different types of products being offered both under current levels of provision and in relation to newly proposed network transformation programmes.

Socio-Spatial Variations in Community Self-Help: A Total Social Organisation of Labour Perspective

Previous studies have suggested that community self-help in affluent populations revolves around engagement in formal community-based groups, whilst the participatory culture of deprived populations is more orientated towards informal (one-to-one) community participation. Reporting the findings of 861 face-to-face interviews conducted in affluent and deprived urban and rural English communities, and reading participation in community self-help through the lens of a ‘total social organisation of labour’ perspective, this article transcends this dichotomous depiction and provides a finer-grained more multi-layered mapping of the multifarious varieties of community self-help and its socio-spatial variations. The article concludes by exploring the implications for theory, practice and policy.

Mapping the Social Organization of Labour in Moscow: Beyond the Formal/informal Labour Dualism

The starting point of this paper is recognition that the depiction of a formal/informal labour dualism, which views formal and informal labour as separate and hostile realms, is inappropriate for capturing the range of labour practices in societies. This is because labour practices cannot be neatly separated into discrete formal and informal realms, the differences within the formal and informal spheres are as great as the differences between the two realms, and formal and informal labour are not always embedded in different economic relations, values and motives. Here, an alternative more nuanced conceptual lens is proposed that resolves these problems and in so doing captures the multifarious labour practices in societies, namely the total social organization of labour (TSOL) perspective. This depicts labour practices as existing along a spectrum from more formal-oriented to more informal-oriented practices and cross-cuts this with a further spectrum from non-monetized, through in-kind and reciprocal labour, to monetized labour. Applying this conceptual lens, the results of a survey of the anatomy of labour practices in an affluent, mixed and deprived district of Moscow, comprising 313 face-to-face interviews, are then analysed. This reveals that socio-spatial variations in the organisation of labour are not solely about the degree of formalization of working life. Instead, this study unravels that populations range from relatively affluent ‘work busy’ populations undertaking, and voluntarily selecting from, a multiplicity of labour practices, to relatively disadvantaged ‘work deprived’ populations engaged in a narrower range of practices and more commonly out of necessity and in the absence of alternatives. The outcome is call for both the wider application and refinement of this TSOL approach when mapping the social organisation of labour and evaluations of whether the findings from Moscow are more widely valid in other societal contexts.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND THE INFORMAL ECONOMY: AN OVERVIEW

In recent decades, the field of entrepreneurship studies has become increasingly interested in the relationship between entrepreneurship and the informal economy. This paper reviews this burgeoning sub-field of entrepreneurship studies that recognizes how entrepreneurs do not always conduct their business affairs wholly by the rulebook. Evaluating this rapidly growing body of literature, it reviews the findings regarding the preponderance of entrepreneurs to engage in the informal economy, the nature of such informal entrepreneurship, the characteristics of informal entrepreneurs and the motives underpinning participation in such endeavor, along with the competing theories that have sought to explain engagement in this type of entrepreneurship. The tentative finding is that there are marked socio-spatial variations in the prevalence and nature of informal entrepreneurship, the characteristics of informal entrepreneurs and their rationales. The implication is not only that different theorizations of informal entrepreneurship apply more in some populations than others, but also that some populations usually seen as lacking in entrepreneurial spirit are perhaps more enterprising and entrepreneurial than currently recognized. Consequently, legitimizing this hidden enterprise culture could be an important means of promoting enterprise and economic development in such populations. The paper concludes by highlighting future avenues for research on this subject.

Injury and spatial epidemiology of severe adult trauma: implications for prevention

BackgroundIdentifying who is injured within a geographic region, by what mechanism, is essential for injury prevention (IP). Our objective was to define the injury and spatial epidemiology of severe adult...

Socio-spatial disparities of obesity among adults in the urban setting of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

To document the prevalence and the socio-spatial variations of obesity and to identify individual and household characteristics, lifestyles and dietary practices contributing to obesity and its socio-spatial distribution. Population-based cross-sectional survey. We selected 1,570 households from four strata characterised as unstructured and low building-density (ULBD), unstructured and high building-density (UHBD), structured and low building-density (SLBD) and structured and high building-density (SHBD) areas. Structured areas are those that were allotted by the township authority (cadastral services), with public services; unstructured areas refer to those developed with no cadastral organisation. Ouagadougou, the capital city of Burkina Faso. BMI was calculated in 2022 adults aged 35 years and above who were classified as obese when their BMI was >or=30 kg/m2. Obesity was investigated in relation to household and individual characteristics, lifestyles and dietary practices; adjusted odds ratios with 95 % confidence intervals were derived from a logistic regression model. The overall prevalence of obesity was 14.7 % (males 5.5 % and females 21.9 %). Age, gender, household equipment index, usual transport with motor vehicles and micronutrient-rich food consumption were associated with obesity. After adjustment for these factors, obesity remained associated with the area of residence: residents from SHBD areas were more likely to be obese than those from ULBD areas (OR = 1.41; 95 % CI 2.59,4.76). Obesity in Ouagadougou is a preoccupant problem that calls for more consideration. Thorough investigation is needed to assess the environmental factors that contribute to the socio-spatial disparity of obesity.

Why Do People Use Alternative Retail Channels? Some Case-study Evidence from Two English Cities

With the cultural turn/s in urban studies, participation in alternative retail channels (i.e. informal and/or second-hand modes of goods acquisition) has been reconceptualised as motivated more by the search for fun, sociality, distinction, discernment, the spectacular and so forth rather than by economic necessity. The aim of this paper is to evaluate critically this view. Drawing upon 511 interviews conducted in affluent and deprived neighbourhoods of two English cities, this is found to reflect accurately the meanings that relatively affluent populations attach to their usage of alternative retail channels. However, economic necessity remains the principal reason amongst lower-income urban populations who view their reliance on such channels when the majority does not as a sign of their exclusion from mainstream consumption practices. The paper thus concludes by calling for greater sensitivity to economic processes and recognition of the socio-spatial variations in the meanings of such channels.

The geography of educational disadvantage in Glasgow

The changing nature of work and growing competition for access to the core labour force has attached a premium to the value of education in advanced capitalist societies. Socio-spatial variations in the quality of the educational environment exert a major influence on individual life chances. This paper first examines the relationship between educational attainment and sociospatial context and then maps the differential incidence of educational disadvantage with reference to the city of Glasgow. The research findings inform the formulation of an education policy aimed at providing a socially sensitive response to the problem of educational disadvantage within the city.