Survey Of Municipalities Research Articles

Quality of life in the big city (the case Dnipro city)

The article discusses the heuristic possibilities of objective and subjective approaches to determiningthe quality of life of individuals in modern society. In order to construct a measurement of the quality oflife of the population, objective and subjective indicators were defined in this perspective: quantitativeones that record the presence or absence of a certain property and qualitative ones that record the extentof its manifestation and development. For the empirical representation of the quality of life of residentsof the city of Dnipro, data from sociological studies, the «Dnipro – my hometown» and the fourth all-Ukrainian municipal IRI survey were used.Possibilities and conditions for self-realization of the person are characterized, subjective level ofevaluation of strategies of success, professional prospects, achievement of material well-being in theurban space is determined through the prism of age differentiation. Positive shifts in the perception of thecity as an inclusive space (the spread of inclusive education, the opening of children’s and playgrounds,which take into account the needs of children with disabilities , etc.) have been noticed.Characteristics of urban social life were determined through fragmentation, disunity, decentralization,dehumanization. They are becoming the markers of modern society. These processes affect the emotionalinternal state of the individual and determine the sphere of his social fears. The main factors that causeanxiety and fear in the mass consciousness of the residents of the city are related to economic issues –rising prices, loss of work, closure of enterprises. The structure of expenditures and the assessment ofwell-being, as well as the level of satisfaction with material goods, have been determined. The subjectivecharacteristic of the labor market and opportunities to engage in entrepreneurial activity are provided. Thegeneral summary of the quality of life in Dnipro is presented in the Summary of Capability AssessmentIndex.

La trame noire, un indicateur de la place de la nature dans l’aménagement du territoire

The impact of artificial night lighting on the quality of the night sky, biodiversity and human health are now well known. The creation of a trame noire (set of practices to reduce light pollution), based on the model of the trame verte et bleue, may appear to be a relevant tool to meet the challenges of the energy and ecological transition. In recent years, many French municipalities have been experimenting with the modification of public lighting. However, the efficiency of these actions in environments impacted by artificial lighting sources may be raised. Through a strong partnership between research and public institutions, the TRAMENOIRE project studies the ecological and social challenges of setting up a night ecological network in the Lille European Metropolis (MEL). Based on a survey of MEL municipalities, we analyse the practices and motivations of public lighting stakeholders. These indirectly shed light on the process of social acceptability of such projects and the transition. Based on a survey of MEL municipalities, we analyse the practices and motivations of the municipalities. The survey indirectly sheds light on the process of social acceptability of such projects and the transition.

Land-management strategies and the detached housing stock in shrinking municipalities – evidence from Germany

For some years, increased attention has been paid to the single-family housing stock in Germany and the further designation of building land by municipalities. A Germany-wide anonymous survey of municipalities sheds light on the municipalities’ land management strategies with regard to declining populations and their anticipation of future problems for the further use of the single-family housing stock. The results of the quantitative survey are supplemented by qualitative interviews with municipal experts from case studies that were selected on the basis of criteria such as population decline, old-age dependency ratio, the share of single-family homes and vacancy rates. The aims of the survey and the interviews are to assess municipal representatives’ perceptions of population decline and of the necessity of undertaking measures to deal with shrinkage. Research questions are: What measures do municipalities consider appropriate to counter population loss and falling demand for housing in shrinking regions? How important are single-family housing areas in the perception of German municipalities? The results indicate that a continued designation of building land seems to be one of the most important measures used to cope with insufficient demand. The aim is to attract new inhabitants, particularly to shrinking cities. However, this approach reinforces current problems because it lowers demand for the housing stock and increases the risk of vacancies.

Harmonizing National Topographic Data Using an Automated Quality Validation Process

Harmonizing National Topographic Data Using an Automated Quality Validation Process

Assessing the role of criminality in neighbourhood safety feelings and self-reported health: results\xa0from a cross-sectional study in a Dutch municipality

BackgroundNeighbourhood safety has repeatedly been shown to be associated with the health and well-being of the residents. Criminality is often seen as one of the key factors affecting neighbourhood safety. However, the relationship between crime, fear of crime and feelings of safety remains underexplored.MethodsData on socio-demographic, health and safety perceptions was extracted from the Maastricht municipality survey (the Netherlands) (n = 9656 adults) and merged with data on official neighbourhood crime rates from the Police Registry. Pearson correlation coefficients and multilevel logistic regression models were computed to assess the association between aspects of objective and perceived criminality, individuals’ feelings of safety and health.ResultsThe correlation between the police recorded crime and residents’ perceptions of the neighbourhood crime rates was weak (0.14–0.38), with the exception of violent crime (0.59), which indicates that other factors contribute to the perceptions of safety. In turn, the perception of higher rates of violent crime and more nuisance (on the scale 0–10) but not other types of crime or nuisance was positively associated with feeling unsafe (OR 1.27 [1.22;1.32] and 1.39 [1.33;1.46], respectively). Lower general feelings of safety at both the individual and neighbourhood level were consistently associated with worse self-rated health. Among different indicators of safety, the general feelings of safety had the most pronounced association with health, while subjective or objective measures of crime showed limited to no direct relationship with health.ConclusionsPublic health policies targeting safety as a social determinant of health should consider prioritizing areas of violent crime and nuisance to improve general feelings of safety. Further research is needed to understand which factors aside from criminality are driving residents’ feelings of safety.

Adoption of e-government services by small municipalities

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to fill the research gap in online information and service adoption by small public organizations. According to the US Census, small municipalities with populations of 5,000 or less constitute 76 percent of all municipalities. Moreover, although these governments can benefit most from e-government adoption, their e-government activities are rarely studied.Design/methodology/approachThe primary data collection is a state-wide survey of small municipalities along with collecting data on websites and other government documents. The data analysis utilized logistic regression for adoption decisions.FindingsThe findings suggest a distinct set of factors influencing e-government adoption by small municipalities as opposed to large ones. Moreover, management support for open access to government is critical for both e-government information and transaction services while transaction services are also driven by administrative capacity and citizen demand.Originality/valueThis study is original in several ways. First, it is comprehensive in incorporating capacity and network factors along with motivation for management support. Second, it focuses on small municipalities that are important but less studied. At last, it provides a rich understanding of the distinction between information and transaction e-government services.

Managing for Citizen Satisfaction: Is Good Not Enough?

Citizen satisfaction is a popular means of performance management. It underscores a common conception that citizens are customers who are concerned about the quality of public goods and services. We offer a theory that suggests the quantity of public goods and services is also important. We develop our theory based on democratic models of the public where citizens are concerned about equity and accessibility to public goods and services. Using data from two municipal surveys and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), we test three hypotheses and find that both quality and quantity of public service provision are significant antecedents to citizen satisfaction. In our conclusion, we explain how these results call for a more complex conceptualization of the performance associated with managing for citizen satisfaction, and we recommend public managers develop and employ skills that recognize the complex consumptive and democratic attributes of citizens in a public economy.

Association between time-appropriate vaccinations in early childhood and individual and community-level factors in Japan

Objective Recently, in Japan, the compulsory vaccinations administered during early childhood have been becoming increasingly varied. As a result, the vaccination schedule has become complicated. In this study, we aimed to identify the association of time-appropriate vaccination during early childhood (dependent variable) with individual-level factors including socioeconomic status and having a family doctor. We also studied the association of time-appropriate vaccination with community-level factors including the number of pediatricians in a community.Methods Multilevel logistic regression models were used for analysis. Time-appropriate BCG, DPT, and measles vaccinations were the dependent variables. Individual-level data were obtained through a survey of parents of 18-month-old children as part of the final evaluation of "Healthy Parents and Children 21"; community-level data were obtained through a survey of municipalities as part of the aforementioned final evaluation as well as through a national survey. There were 23,583 parents in 430 municipalities who were eligible for analysis.Results Time-appropriate vaccination of infants was carried out by 88.3% of parents. The results of the multilevel logistic regression showed that time-appropriate vaccination was significantly lower for those who did not have a family doctor (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 0.45; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.36-0.55), the fourth or later birth order (0.23; 0.19-0.28), mothers aged less than 19 years at childbirth (0.17; 0.13-0.24), full-time working mothers (0.52; 0.47-0.58), and those under very difficult economic conditions (0.66; 0.57-0.77). Among community-level factors, only use of vaccination data by a municipality had a significantly negative association with the dependent variable.Conclusion Not having a family doctor, the mother's young age, late birth order, poor economic status, and full-time working mothers were risk factors associated with delayed vaccinations. It is necessary to improve environments that promote infants having a family doctor as well as to promote special approaches toward families at risk for delayed vaccinations.

Green Public Procurement: Case Study of Latvian Municipalities

Abstract Green public procurement (GPP) is an instrument for public institutions that have made sustainable consumption and financial aids savings, particularly taking into consideration expenses of the total life cycle of the agreement, not just the procurement price. Municipalities are important to promotion of sustainable consumption through their positive effects on citizens and other stakeholders. The present paper analyses the contribution of municipalities of the Republic of Latvia in developing sustainable consumption through GPP. The aim of the paper is to explore the development of GPP in municipalities, analysing influencing factors. By analysing data from the Procurement Supervision Agency and the State Regional Development Agency, the proportion of GPP is explored. The paper includes data collected in a survey of municipalities of Latvia aiming to identify the main factors that promote the development of GPP and the ones that are obstacles for implementing the GPP. The conclusions show that GPP is a relatively new activity in Latvia, especially in relation to sustainable consumption. Analytical, graphic, statistical research methods as well as other qualitative and quantitative research methods have been used in the research.

Characteristics and challenges of health promotion volunteer organizations in Japan: Findings from a national municipality survey

Objective Various types of health promotion organizations exist in Japan, including volunteer organizations that promote healthy diets, health improvement, and maternal and child health. Health promotion volunteers, trained and recruited by municipalities, provide counseling and education on various health concerns to community members. A previous study on the effect of these activities and the organizational challenges demonstrated a decrease in the number of volunteer members. The present study aimed to identify the organizational characteristics and challenges of health promotion volunteer work in Japan to gain insight into volunteer recruitment and organizational management.Methods A questionnaire was sent to 1,873 Japanese municipalities via e-mail or postal mail (excluding Tokyo's 23 wards). For cities of cabinet order, a questionnaire was sent to each borough in the municipality. Data were collected from February to March 2017. The survey was used to collect data on four types of health promotion volunteer organizations: healthy diet (organizations of volunteers who were shokuseikatsu kaizen suishinin), health improvement (organizations of volunteers who were kenkozukuri suishinin), and two types promoting maternal and child health (organizations of volunteers who were boshihoken suishinin and aiikuhan). We asked about the presence or absence of the organization type, year of establishment, number of members, the largest age group, recruitment methods, etc. Twelve organizational challenges were measured with a six-item Likert scale (from 1="strongly agree" to 6="strongly disagree"). Proportions of active members in the volunteer organization ranged from 0% to 10%.Results Eight hundred eight municipalities responded to the survey (valid responses: 805, valid response rate: 43.1%). The presence or absence of the four types of volunteer organizations differed among the municipalities. The most common type was organizations of volunteers who were shokuseikatsu kaizen suishinin (84.7% municipalities), followed by kenkozukuri suishinin (64.3%), boshihoken suishinin (26.4%), and aiikuhan (10.1%). The total ratio of responses of "strongly agree," "agree," and "somewhat agree" about the organizational challenges, including "The organization cannot find new members easily" and "The participants are always the same people," was commonly more than 50% for the four types of volunteer organizations. The challenges, including "Many do not enjoy what they do," "For many volunteers, participation is limited due to work and family obligations," and "The goal of the activities is not widely shared among volunteers," were significantly correlated to the proportion of active members in the volunteer organization for all four types of organizations.Conclusion This study revealed that organizational characteristics differed among the four types of health promotion volunteer organizations; however, many of the organizational challenges were found to be common throughout Japanese municipalities.

Enhancing peer interaction during guided play in Finnish integrated special groups

ABSTRACTThis article focused on the pedagogy that enhances peer interaction in integrated special groups. In Finland, most children identified as having special educational needs (SEN) attend day-care in mainstream kindergarten groups; the rest are in integrated or segregated early childhood special education (ECSE) groups in public day-care centres [National Institute of Health and Welfare. 2013. “Child Day Care 2013 – Municipal Survey.” Accessed March 15, 2016. https://www.julkari.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/116231/Tr16_14.pdf?sequence=4]. An integrated group, which typically consists of seven children without and five with SEN, is supposed to be an inclusive environment that provides an atmosphere in which every child can feel togetherness and be scaffolded [Pihlaja, P. 2009. “Erityisen tuen käytännöt varhaiskasvatuksessa – näkökulmana inkluusio.” [The Special Education Practices in Early Childhood Education – Inclusion as Viewpoint.] Kasvatus 2: 146–156]. Our aim was to examine how ECSE professionals’ pedagogical practices were used to enhance peer interaction in interactive play. We analysed 14 videotaped sessions of guided play and conceptualized the studied phenomenon by portraying five guidance types in which the identified pedagogical practices were used in different ways.

National survey of municipalities examining the introduction of Honnintsuchiseido and its effect on the issuance of resident record copies for academic research

Objectives This study examines the dissemination of Honnintsuchiseido (a system of providing notifications to citizens that a municipality issued a copy of resident record to a third party) in Japan and its effect on the use of copies of resident record for academic research.Methods In February and March 2015, a telephone survey was conducted in 1,741 municipalities (including special wards) in Japan. The survey examined the implementation of Honnintsuchiseido and standards for issuing copies of resident record for academic research in the municipalities. Further, we analyzed the implementation of Honnintsuchiseido and the results of requests for issuing copies of resident record for the Biobank Japan (BBJ) project.Results The results found that 28.9% of the municipalities had already introduced Honnintsuchiseido. Approximately 85% of the municipalities responded that their each official judged the issuance of copies of resident record for academic research based on a handbook of paperwork for the Basic Resident Registration. Further, approximately 14% responded that they had common definite standards in their officials for judging the issuance of copies of resident record for academic research. One of the main reasons for the refusal to issue copies of resident record in the BBJ project was that the consent form of the project did not specify the use of the resident record. In addition, some municipalities refused because the standards for judgments were revised with the implementation of Honnintsuchiseido. However, there was no significant association between the introduction of Honnintsuchiseido and the refusal to issue copies of resident record for the BBJ project.Conclusions Some municipalities refused to issue copies of resident record because the standards were revised with the implementation of Honnintsuchiseido. Further, many municipalities did not have any common specific criteria for judging the issuance of copies of resident record for academic purposes. Therefore, specific standards should be formulated to clarify the type of research having public interest, which will support the judgment of municipalities regarding the issuance of copies of resident record for academic research.

Health-related behaviours mediate the relation between ethnicity and (mental) health in the Netherlands

ABSTRACTObjective: Ethnic minorities in the Netherlands experience worse (mental) health than Dutch natives. So far, socioeconomic factors, discrimination, and the migration process have been identified as underlying factors, neglecting the potential role of health-related behaviours. This study investigates the mediating effect of lack of physical activity, smoking and alcohol consumption on ethnic inequalities in (mental) health in the Netherlands.Design: Data from a municipal health survey (2012) in the four largest cities in the Netherlands, including 15,633 Dutch natives, 1,297 Surinamese, 850 Turks and 779 Moroccans were analysed. Mediation analyses were performed on the associations between ethnicity and psychological distress (range 10–50) and self-rated health (range 1–5).Results: Being from an ethnic minority was associated with higher distress and poorer self-rated health, especially for Turks (higher distress 4.69, 95%CI 4.22–5.16; poorer health 0.35, 95%CI 0.30–0.40). Moroccans and Turks were the least physically active, Turks smoked the most, and Dutch natives drank the most. Lack of physical activity partially mediated the association between Turks (6% respectively 11%) and Moroccans (13% respectively 9%) for psychological distress and self-rated health. Smoking played a mediating role (3%) in Turks.Conclusion: Lower physical activity and smoking more cigarettes partly explained ethnic health inequalities in the Netherlands. The current findings suggest that intervening and facilitating certain ethnic groups in engaging in health behaviours could contribute to improving their health and reduce ethnic health inequalities.

DNA barcoding revises a misidentification on mossy frog: new record and distribution extension of Theloderma corticale Boulenger, 1903 (Amphibia: Anura: Rhacophoridae)

As an endangered animal group, mossy frog (genus Theloderma) has attracted the attention of biologists and wildlife conservationists. Clarifying the taxonomic status and distribution of each species in Theloderma is important to determine the conservation status for each species, establish appropriate conservation strategies and probe the speciation process. Recently, we discovered a medium-sized species of mossy frog of the genus Theloderma in April 2015 during municipal surveys of amphibians in Dayao Mountain of Jinxiu. It was collected from the water-filled tree cavities. However, there remains some uncertainty about the species determination of the mossy frog in the Yinshan station of Dayao Mountain in Guangxi Province, China. Previously, the mossy frog in Guangxi Province was recognized as Th. kwangsiense. In order to clarify the species status of the mossy frog obtained from Guangxi, we sequenced 2414 bp of the 12S and 16S genes in the sample collected from the Dayao Mountain. Combining all the sequence in NCBI, genetic analyses from the data suggest that the sample from the Dayao Mountain is Th. corticale rather than Th. kwangsiense. It is most likely that the most previous studies had wrong species identification. And, it is the first time we use DNA barcoding to prove that the species obtained from Guangxi is a new distribution of Th. corticale.

Organizational Strategy and the Outcomes of Fiscal Retrenchment in Major Cities in the United States

ABSTRACTThis study examines if organizational strategy—specifically strategy formulation and strategic stance—influences the outcomes of fiscal retrenchment in city governments. Fiscal retrenchment is defined here as the process of responding to a budget crisis. Analysis of data from a 2015 national survey of municipalities in the United States with a population of 50,000 or more indicates that a rational planning process is associated with fiscal recovery, whereas a defender strategy stance, which emphasizes organizational stability and efficiency, correlates with continuing fiscal difficulties. Examining the complex interactions between strategy formulation, strategic stance, and environmental turbulence, the empirical analysis indicates that a rational planning process that results in a defending stance is associated with slower fiscal recovery, but there is limited evidence that the relationship between strategy and fiscal recovery is dependent on external economic conditions.

Mapping risk factors for substance use: Introducing the YouthMap12

BackgroundIn adolescence, psychological problems and regular use of alcohol, cigarettes, cannabis and other drugs (AOD) tend to cluster together, strongly indicating that certain groups of young people are at elevated risk of developing a problematic use of AOD. ObjectiveThe aim of the present study was to develop an easy-to-implement screening instrument to identify subgroups of young people with different psychological problems at risk of problem use of AOD. Method3589 randomly selected young Danes between 15 and 25years of age, from a national survey (n=2702) and a municipality survey (n=887), answered a 12-item questionnaire (YouthMap12) with 6 items identifying externalizing problems (EP6) and 6 items identifying internalizing problems (IP6). Latent class analysis (LCA) was used to characterize groups at risk, and associations were estimated between EP6 and IP6 and regular use of AOD, and between latent class membership and regular use of AOD. ResultsLCA identified 6 classes with varying degrees of externalizing and internalizing problems: 70% of youth were in the low problem score class, and the remaining 30% were at various levels of risk. Regular use of cigarettes, cannabis and alcohol was strongly associated with classes characterized by externalizing problems, while over-the-counter and prescription medicine was strongly associated with classes characterized by internalizing problems. ConclusionsYouth at risk of problem use of AOD can be identified using a simple and easily administered instrument.

Assessing Municipal Forestry Activity: A Survey of Home-Rule Municipalities in Texas, U.S.

Municipal forestry programs in the United States have been the subject of dozens of surveys over the past 40 years that offer valuable insight into what is occurring now and act as a point of reference in the future. Researchers surveyed home-rule municipalities (pop. 5,000 or greater) in Texas, U.S. to assess the commonality of the components of a municipal forestry program, municipal spending on urban forestry, and amount of assistance received from the Texas A&M Forest Service. Spending on urban forestry in Texas cities averaged USD $4.88 per capita overall. Basic tree ordinances, tree boards, non-profit tree advocacy groups, and proactive maintenance cycles were all fairly common. Urban forest management plans and tree inventories were very uncommon. About 70% of municipal forestry programs are housed in their cities’ Parks and Recreation Department, with the majority of the remainder occurring in their Public Works Department. The level of assistance received by municipalities from the Texas A&M Forest Service is consistent with the budget priorities and mission statement of that organization, which focuses on delivering technical and educational assistance over financial assistance. A lack of recent national trends to compare against greatly hampers understanding the efforts of Texas municipalities relative to other states. However, identifying current trends in Texas offers value to the Texas A&M Forest Service to understand the effect of their service delivery strategy. Urban foresters and city managers can also use these results to compare themselves against their peers, a common practice in setting municipal budgets and policy.

要支援家庭のための関連機関・団体の連携状況 －全国自治体調査結果から－

要支援家庭のための関連機関・団体の連携状況 －全国自治体調査結果から－

Neighborhood Environment Is Associated with Overweight and Obesity, Particularly in Older Residents: Results from Cross-Sectional Study in Dutch Municipality

We explored whether overweight and obesity were associated with the physical and social environment at neighborhood level. Data from Maastricht municipality survey (the Netherlands) were used (n = 9771 adults). Multinomial regression models were computed (outcome being normal weight, overweight, or obese). We found inconsistent associations between neighborhood social and physical environment characteristics and overweight and obesity in the total sample. The effects were more consistent and stronger for older residents (>65) and obesity as an outcome. Better scores on traffic nuisance, green space, social cohesion, nuisance, and safety were associated with lower odds of obesity among elderly (OR ranged between 0.71 [95 % CI 0.44 to 0.93] to 0.85 [95 % CI 0.74 to 0.96] for each point of improvement in neighborhood social and physical environment (scale 0–10)). We showed that there are neighborhood-level factors that are associated with obesity, particularly in elderly residents. These could be targeted in preventive strategies outside health care settings.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11524-015-9991-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Relationship between recycling rate and air pollution: Waste management in the state of Massachusetts

This study examines the relationship between recycling rate of solid waste and air pollution using data from a waste municipality survey in the state of Massachusetts during the period 2009–2012. Two econometric approaches are applied. The first approach is a fixed effects model, while the second is a Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) with fixed effects model. The advantage of the first approach is the ability of controlling for stable time invariant characteristics of the municipalities, thereby eliminating potentially large sources of bias. The second approach is applied in order to estimate the technical efficiency and rank of each municipality accordingly. The regressions control for various demographic, economic and recycling services, such as income per capita, population density, unemployment, trash services, Pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) program and meteorological data. The findings support that a negative relationship between particulate particles in the air 2.5μm or less in size (PM2.5) and recycling rate is presented. In addition, the pollution is increased with increases on income per capita up to $23,000–$26,000, while after this point income contributes positively on air quality. Finally, based on the efficiency derived by the Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) model, the municipalities which provide both drop off and curbside services for trash, food and yard waste and the PAYT program present better performance regarding the air quality.