Uneven Development Research Articles

Climate risk assessment and adaption ability in China's coastal urban agglomerations - A case study of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao greater bay area

As climate change intensifies, extreme weather events, especially the coastal flooding is becoming increasingly severe. Carbon emissions exacerbate climate change, leading to increased frequency and intensity of extreme precipitation, which may result in flooding. This study focuses on the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), a coastal city cluster in China, and adopts the scenario analysis approach to evaluate flood risks in the different carbon mitigation scenario from the perspectives of dangerousness, and adaption ability. The result shows that the Huizhou in the east of the GBA and the Zhaoqing in the northwest have the highest level of flood disaster risk. However, the central region of the GBA (Guangzhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, and Foshan) is very vulnerable to disaster-inducing environments and hazard-affected bodies, which means that the flooding risk and the impact of such risk in the GBA display regional differentiation characteristics and the spatial patterns of them are different. According to the carbon neutrality scenario, the flood risk in the GBA peaks in 2030, and decreases during 2030–2090. In contrast, under the uneven development and high carbon pathways, the risk peaks in 2060, and the overall risk by 2090 is roughly the same as that in 2060. In addition, the regions with the highest flood disaster risk are Guangzhou, Foshan, Dongguan and Zhongshan along the Pearl River estuary. Overall, it shows that areas with higher levels of urbanization and more developed economies will face higher flooding risks. The “dangerousness-adaption ability” structure can reflect the spatial distribution pattern of flood disaster risks, identify the priority areas for flood prevention and control, and is conducive to risk management. At the same time, the research results show that ecological protection have a positive effect on reducing flood risk. In addition, corresponding policy recommendations for pre-disaster, mid-disaster and post-disaster have been proposed, providing references for flood risk management in the GBA.

ASSESSING THE VIABILITY OF ROMANIA'S NEWLY ESTABLISHED METROPOLITAN AREAS

The legislation of new metropolitan of Romania areas follows the complicated and confusing experience of previous metropolitan areas, instilling a sense of excessive caution among both public authorities and researchers. A review of the literature demonstrates the prevalence of theoretical, methodological and sectoral approaches when dealing with this functional frame of territorial delineation. Our research proposes an exploratory analysis of the major metropolitan areas (MMAs) developed around county seats, in order to understand the medium and long-term dynamics affecting the development of these territorial structures contingent on local governance. By using a methodology based on the harmonisation of statistical series according to the current administrative structure, as well as on the cartographic analysis of demographic trends between 1992 and 2021, the study demonstrates the uneven development trends of major metropolitan areas, increasing the risk of widening territorial gaps.

Nudging Sustainable Development: Reviewing Energy Transition and Economic Development

Recently, as more countries and regions have embarked on the path of energy transition, the speed and manner of economic development have been influenced in varying degrees. However, the relationship between energy transition and economic development remains unclear, as research conclusions are inconsistent. The aim of this study is to systematically examine the relationship between energy transition and economic development using the literature review approach. This study selected 102 studies from Scopus that explicitly address energy transition and economic development as our final sample for this investigation, aiming to clarify the current research status on factors, barriers, and pathways of energy transition, and discuss related theories about energy transition. The results indicate a significant increase in research volume on this topic over the past four years, with nearly half of the studies focusing on cross-regional countries or economic entities. The sampled literature reveals various relationships between economic development and energy transition, including one-way promotion, one-way inhibition, bidirectional causality, and ineffectiveness. Factors influencing energy transition include technology, financial support, environmental governance, human capital, taxation, rents, and foreign direct investment (FDI). The main obstacles to energy transition lie in the scarcity of environmental resources, path dependence, and uneven development. Based on these research findings, this study discusses prospects and potential directions for future studies.

Research on the coordinated development between land urbanization and population urbanization in Shaanxi Province, China.

The coordinated development of land urbanization and population urbanization is crucial for the advancement of new urbanization. The study applied the entropy weight method and coupling coordination degree model, taking Shaanxi-a province in China characterized by a moderate pace of economic development and volume, along with distinct geographic and demographic features within its region-as the subject. It assessed the coordination conditions of these two types of urbanization from both macro and micro scales during the years 2010-2022. Utilizing the Analytic Network Process (ANP), the study ranked and analyzed the causes of issues stemming from uneven development, thus connecting a crucial link from theoretical analysis to decision-making implementation. The results showed that: (1) The province's land urbanization index was between 0.075 and 0.203, whereas the population urbanization index ranged from 0.221 to 0.408, with the development of the former significantly lagging behind the latter. (2) The coupling degree between land and population urbanization ranged from 0.835 to 0.854, with a coordination degree between 0.148 and 0.306. This indicated that a close connection had been formed between the two, yet a benign coupling relationship had not been established, displaying a spatial distribution characterized by "high in the middle, low in the north and south". (3) The limitation on further urban expansion was identified as the primary issue to be addressed (with a weight of 0.324), followed by insufficient infrastructure (with a weight of 0.261). The extent of ecological environmental damage was comparatively lower (with a weight of 0.225), and the degree of social injustice was the lowest (with a weight of 0.191). Therefore, to alleviate the problems associated with the imbalanced development between land urbanization and population urbanization, measures such as optimizing land spatial layout, enhancing urban ecological service functions, and strengthening the central cities' radiating effect should be implemented.

Reconciling Tensions in the Analysis of Bourgeois Revolutions: A Critical Realist Approach

When and how do agents consciously reproduce or unconsciously transform social structures? This inquiry is pivotal for advancing a theory of socio-historical development, particularly in addressing a key debate within International Historical Sociology (IHS) surrounding modern revolutions. This debate revolves around the tension between the “consequentialist” interpretation of bourgeois revolutions and the “revisionist” critiques, notably from the “historicist” wing of Political Marxism (PM). This article contends that the tension arises from an inadequate conceptualization of the agent-structure relationship. Drawing on Roy Bhaskar’s transformational model of social activity (TMSA) and critical realist philosophy of science, the article proposes a conceptual framework reconciling PM’s focus on class struggle to understand the historical specificity of capitalism with the role bourgeois revolutions historically and structurally played for the development of capitalism. Integrating Bhaskar’s framework with historical materialism-inspired debates on bourgeois revolutions, the paper suggests that agents’ unconscious actions can transform social structures amid social disintegration (“classic bourgeois revolutions”). Conversely, agents consciously seek to preserve and reproduce social structures, as seen in “passive revolutions”. This occurs when social structures, marked by inequality and hierarchies, are viewed as historical constructs rather than natural phenomena, particularly in the context of uneven and combined development of capitalism. This analysis contributes to ongoing IHS debates, enriches our comprehension of modern revolutions, and extends TMSA by empirically delineating circumstances wherein agents consciously uphold or unwittingly trigger the transformation of social structures.

Manajemen Pemasaran Outlet Cuci Sepatu Ngumbah Shoes

Entrepreneurship is a creative business that is formed based on innovation to create something new, has added value, provides benefits, creates jobs and the results are useful for other people. Entrepreneurship is always confused with Medium Enterprises, although this is not always the case, because not always the business owned by an entrepreneur is classified as a Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME). Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) can be interpreted in various ways by various sources. The basis for formulating the meaning of MSMEs can be based on the amount of business results/income, the amount of capital, the number of workers and the form of business. Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) apparently have an important role in making a positive contribution to overcoming economic, social problems, in the form of high levels of poverty, large numbers of unemployed people, especially among people with low education, inequality in income distribution, uneven development processes between urban and rural areas and the problem of urbanization with all its negative impacts.
  
  

Regional gap and sustainable development of interpreting level in mainland China: A statistics and GIS-based study.

Against the backdrop of globalization, interpreting, a translation communicative activity in a verbal way, plays an increasingly important role in international communications and exchanges. In response to this world pattern, the Chinese government attaches great importance to the interpreting industry. However, due to the national condition of uneven regional development, the English interpreting level across China is also unbalanced. Confronting this circumstance, previous research only stagnates at the level of recognizing the problem, but very few studies have attempted to solve the problem. Thus, the current study aims to figure out the regional interpreting level in mainland China by establishing and utilizing an innovative indicator system based on statistics and geography technologies. Based on the literature review and empirical questionnaire survey from different stakeholders, the study proposes an indicator system containing 3 first-level factors and 7 second-level factors to measure regional English interpreting levels. The weight of each indicator and scoring method is laid down based on factor analysis and interval marking. In addition, putting the innovative indicator system into practice, a total of 38 groups of regional data are collected to rank the regional interpreting level across China. Integrating with GIS and statistical techniques, the result visually shows that the English interpreting level across China is uneven at present: higher in the southern and eastern parts of China compared to that of northern and western China, which is unfriendly to sustainable development in the future. Facing this reality, a following-up analysis has been made for offering explanations of the results and suggestions for regional interpreting sustainable development.

Роль инвестиций в повышении экономической эффективности сельскохозяйственного производства

The research is aimed at studying the role of investments in increasing the economic efficiency of agricultural production. As a result of the analysis, a close relationship was revealed between the index of the physical volume of investments and the increase in gross output. More than 70 % of state support for agriculture is concentrated in the Central Federal District and the Volga Federal District. This fact determines the uneven development of rural areas. The authors note that the livestock industry, due to the high saturation of the domestic market, becomes less attractive to investors, as the risks of non-demand for products increase. A negative situation is also developing in grain production as a result of the lack of opportunities for the development of the production base, high export duties, reduced technological efficiency of cultivation, and high natural and climatic risks. A decrease in investments is also observed in the greenhouse industry, due to the highly competitive market and the lack of state support measures to reimburse capital costs for the construction of greenhouses. There is no stagnation in the industrial segment of dairy production. There is a tendency to suspend investment projects for the construction or modernization of livestock complexes, greenhouse complexes, grain terminals, as well as grain processing plants. The main attractive segments for investment at the moment are the production of fertilizers, grain cultivation, production of oils and fats, and production of dairy products.

Understanding Souvenirs from a Place‐Product Perspective: Territorialization, Deterritorialization, and Reterritorialization

Souvenir production and consumption play an important role in tourism destination development. Because constructs most commonly examined until now (e.g., authenticity, production methods, and souvenir typologies) have failed to explain several paradoxes, this study examines souvenirs from a different conceptual angle: product‐place relationships based on the framework of territorialization, deterritorialization, and reterritorialization. Based upon this theoretical framework, a new typology of souvenirs was generated–localized souvenirs, generic souvenirs, and customized souvenirs–which indicate changes in souvenirs within the broader context of time and space. Also, by examining souvenirs across the spatial and temporal domains, the uneven development of souvenirs at different stages is also revealed. These may deepen and reframe our understanding of souvenirs, production methods, and authenticity, which researchers have taken for granted in previous studies.

Research and Design of Public Spaces for Elderly People in Rural Areas

With the progress of society and economic development, China has reached an aging population. According tothe Chinese population census data, China has entered the second stage of an aging population society and has become one of the countries with the fastest growth rate of the elderly population in the world. It is expected that the elderly population in China will reach 250 million within the next fifteen years and exceed 450 million by 2050. Additionally, China is a country with uneven development between urban and rural areas. Many young and middle-aged people choose to work in cities, which leads to most rural residents being elderly. Thus, the phenomenon of the elderly living alone by themselves occurs. Therefore, the government and related experts are increasingly concerned about the physical and mental health of the elderly. The establishment of the elderly activity center is to meet the needs of the elderly cultural life, improve the level of elderly physical and mental health, and promote the harmonious development of the countryside. Many countries aware of this problem would emphasize park construction and nursing home design for the needs of the elderly. However, little research are performed on the activity center and public spaces for the elderly in underdeveloped rural areas. Design countermeasures of the public space should consider the physical, psychological, and behavioral needs of the elderly. This study summarizes the influencing factors, design principles, and design methods of public spaces to effectively meet the needs of the elderly for public activities. By creating and improving public social spaces suitable for the elderly in rural areas, the elderly can lead a comfortable life and solve loneliness issues.

Accessibility, Rural depopulation & the Modified Areal Unit Problem: An analysis of mainland Greece

In the realm of new economic geography studies, an ongoing debate centers around the role of transportation costs in redirecting economic activity away from peripheral areas towards urban spaces. This theory gains support from the phenomenon of rural depopulation in developed countries, as it is generally accompanied by improvements in accessibility due to new infrastructure and technology. This study introduces a methodology for analyzing the relationship between accessibility and regional inequality while accounting for rural depopulation. Moreover, it acknowledges the significance of the measurement timeframe, as the dynamics between accessibility components are not always synchronous. The developed methodology is employed for investigation within the geographical region of main-land Greece. The findings reveal that relative accessibility, in contrast to absolute accessibility, exhibits a correlation with rural depopulation in mainland Greece. Finally, the study examines the Modified Areal Unit Problem (MAUP) to address inconsistencies observed in similar spatial studies. The disparities in results among the various geographical administrative levels carry substantial implications for policymakers dealing with issues of urbanization and uneven regional development.

China’s rise and the United States’ response: implications for the global order and New Zealand/Aotearoa. Part I: Using uneven and combined development theory to explain China’s rise

ABSTRACT Part One of this article provides a novel condensed Marxist account of China’s rapid economic growth which underpins its rising geopolitical and military power. In the vast literature on China’s rise, pro-market reforms and/or state policy-making and interventionism are emphasised as causes, depending on whether a neoliberal or neomercantilist perspective is adopted. Although these accounts contain important elements of truth, Marxist economic theory and the theory of uneven and combined development emphasise the central role played by China’s comparatively high rates of exploitation and profitability in fuelling rapid economic growth. This Marxist perspective informs a critical analysis of China’s hybrid neoliberal policy regime, regionally decentralised system of government, huge trade surpluses and foreign currency reserves, inflows of foreign direct investment, state investment in infrastructure, rising socio-economic inequality, poor social provision especially of public health care, popular support for and potential sources of opposition to the CCP regime, and military modernisation.

Теоретические аспекты исследования взаимосвязи уровня развития информационно-коммуникационных технологий и социально-экономического развития регионов РФ

The influence of information and communication technologies (ICT) on the development of the country's economy as a whole and individual regions is considered, the importance of the ICT sector in the economic, social, and social processes of the country and its regions is noted. The necessity of identifying the relationship between the uneven development of the ICT sector and the socio-economic development of the regions is substantiated. A study of domestic and foreign works devoted to the relationship between the level of ICT development and socio-economic systems has been conducted. The author's interpretation of the concept of the “digital divide” is presented, the reason for its formation and strengthening, the concretization of the opportunities and threats it creates for the subsequent spatial development of Russia is revealed. By systematizing the characteristics of narrow and broad approaches to the definition of the digital divide, their advantages and disadvantages were highlighted, and the expediency of developing a new methodology for assessing digital inequality was proved. The essence of the narrow approach is manifested in the uneven access to ICT services, which is based on the uneven development of ICT infrastructure. The broad approach is based on the study of the level, causes and consequences of digital gaps between countries, regions, and territories. It is noted that the boundaries between the presented approaches are leveled as a reaction to the challenges of modernity, forming a new integral approach accumulating theoretical and methodological developments of previous periods. Improving management efficiency at the present stage is largely due to leveling the influence of factors exacerbating the digital divide, identifying and comprehensively studying emerging opportunities/threats for the development of specific territories.

Migrating injustices in the small city: drought-impacted interstate migrant workers’ experiences in Tiruppur’s sanitation sector

ABSTRACT Climate stresses like droughts amplify economic precarity, pushing low-income, caste-oppressed communities across India to pursue temporary rural-urban migration as an adaptation strategy. This paper develops an intersectional framework on ‘migrating injustices’ to examine how caste and regional identity mediate interstate rural-urban migrants’ experiences of vulnerabilities and injustices, particularly as these experiences move and endure with migration, shaping migrants’ adaptive abilities. The framework is applied to trace the injustices that a group of 800-odd drought-impacted, caste-oppressed, landless persons from central India experience through their adverse economic incorporation as sanitation workers in Tiruppur’s privatized sanitation sector in southern India. Findings reveal that a history of caste oppression and uneven development in their home region produced unequal drought impacts for our informants, pushing them to migrate. However, migrants’ caste and regional identity combine with their climate and economic precarity to direct their migration into precarious, unjust working conditions and employer-provided, environmentally risky accommodations—both removed from local socio-political networks, undermining migrants’ ability to contest injustices in Tiruppur. In highlighting the translocal and trans-sectoral intersections between the migrating environmental, economic, and caste-based injustices for circular migrants, the paper argues that eliminating migrating injustices is crucial for achieving transformative adaptation and urban climate justice.

Проблемы регионального развития Кыргызстана в условиях новых вызовов

The current situation in the world reflects the peculiarities of the interaction between American democracy and surrounding countries. All global economy participants need to determine their own position regarding the events taking place in the world and the growing confrontation. Under these conditions, there is a serious drop in the socio-economic sphere of the Kyrgyz Republic, which determines the relevance of studying the topic. The article shows the conditions and trends of socio-economic development of the Kyrgyz Republic’s regions and the features of its socio-economic development for 2010–2023. The issues of uneven regional development are discussed, in particular, the problems of regional economic policy in the context of modern challenges such as the geopolitical situation and digitalization processes, as well as the peculiarities of the trade relations formation are identified. The aim is to identify the key problems of regional development in the Kyrgyz Republic. The author conducts research of statistical material and publications of domestic and foreign scientists using the methods of analysis, synthesis, and induction. The study proposes measures to stabilize the situation in the region and the direction of economic policy in the new conditions of world economy. The most important measure is effort to increase the investments attraction in key sectors of the economy. The prospects and opportunities of the Kyrgyz Republic Government in overcoming key regional problems are considered.

Legitimising displacement: Academic discourse, territorial stigmatisation and gentrification

This article explores the territorial stigmatisation–gentrification nexus and how it is advanced by an intellectual pipeline between academics and policymakers in the USA. Despite much research revealing the pathologising narratives latent within displacement-inducing urban policies, little work has explicitly sought to underscore the influence of academic discourses in promoting these policies. Centring a triad of discourses surrounding concentrated disadvantage, social mix and neighbourhood effects – emergent namely from the academic fields of urban sociology, criminology, urban planning and urban economics – I provide an evidential linkage between academic discourse and displacement-causing US policymaking by conducting a document analysis of official reports related to two major US government programmes: the Moving to Opportunity for Fair Housing (MTO) Demonstration programme and the Housing Opportunities for People Everywhere (HOPE) VI programme. I suggest that these academic discourses operate to legitimise displacement via neighbourhood-centric framings which advance territorial stigmatisation and related gentrification. These discourses, I argue, reinforce the real estate state and the destructive capitalist force of uneven geographical development while working to facilitate the disregard of propositions that would effect structural change. I conclude with an explanation for the present configuration of the academy-to-policy pipeline and why it has failed to onboard critical, macro-structurally orientated scholarship, and issue a call for a direction forward.

Uneven Development, Choice of Technique, and Generalized Worldwide Law of Value

We address the issue of persistent uneven development from a Marxist perspective. First, we show the conceptual problems in applying the unmodified law of value to the international setting. Second, we propose a generalization of the global law of value by introducing an additional level of abstraction into the global valorization process—national abstract labor. Third, we examine broad cases of internationalization caused by deviations in productivity differences across industries from the average productivity differences across countries. We discover an endogenous national and international dynamic push toward specialization that perpetuates uneven development. The benefits of such specialization are skewed in favor of more developed countries, and the potential for technological improvement created by the global division of labor blocks technological progress in less developed countries. JEL Classification: B14, F00, F63, O14

Differentiation of general education quality in single-industry Arctic towns as assessed by educational participants

Arctic territories, whose development is clearly focal in nature, are characterized by a higher proportion of single-industry towns in the total number of municipal divisions as compared to the national average. The uneven development of areas dominated by individual monopsonists manifests itself in different spheres, including the education system. The article summarizes the results of studying the quality differentiation of general education in single-industry Arctic towns. In this study, the author analyzed the results of a questionnaire survey carried out among the parents of students in general education institutions located in seven Arctic regions of the Russian Federation. Through comparison of the received responses, the author identified areas that distinguish the situation with education quality distribution in single-industry towns of the Russian Arctic from other territories of this macroregion.

The Mercosur Socio-Labour Declaration and the importance of judicial activism

Given the fragmentary and uneven development of Mercosur, the adoption of the Mercosur Socio-Labour Declaration has been a bold attempt to protect workers’ fundamental rights within a regional trade bloc. It was first adopted in 1998 and then substantially revisited in 2015. This article explores how Mercosur bodies and, particularly, national judges and their activism have circumvented the current intergovernmental institutional framework to consider the Socio-Labour Declaration as a justiciable instrument. This has allowed workers and citizens to rely upon it to challenge domestic legislations and protect their fundamental rights in the workplace. This piece concludes that an already overdue revision should not only reform the legal nature of the Socio-Labour, which should become a protocol to the Treaty of Asuncion, but should also regulate two crucial areas that are already shaping the Mercosur Member States’ labour markets, namely: platform work, and climate change with a particular focus on green jobs and just transition policies.

Relatedness and regional economic complexity: Good news for some, bad news for others

PurposeThis article aims to evaluate the entry and exit of companies from local productive structures, with a specific focus on the sectoral complexity of these activities and the complexity of these portfolios. The study focuses on empirically demonstrating the thesis that related economic diversification exacerbates the development gap between more and less complex regions.Design/methodology/approachThe article uses indicators formulated by the economic complexity approach. They allow a relevant descriptive analysis of the economic diversification process in Brazilian micro-regions and provide the foundation for the econometric tests conducted. Through three distinct estimation strategies (OLS, logit, probit), the influence of complexity and relatedness on the entry and exit events of firms from local portfolios is tested.FindingsIn all estimated models, the stronger relationship between an activity and a portfolio significantly increases its probability of entering the productive structure and, at the same time, acts as a significant factor in preventing its exit. Furthermore, the results reveal that the complexity of a sector reduces the probability of its specialization in less complex regions while increasing it in more complex regions. On the other hand, sectoral complexity significantly increases the probability of a sector leaving less complex local structures but has no significant effect in highly complex regions.Research limitations/implicationsDue to the data used, the indicators are calculated considering only formal job numbers. Additionally, the tests do not detect the influence of spatial issues. These limitations should be addressed by future research.Practical implicationsThe article characterizes a prevailing process of uneven development among Brazilian regions and brings relevant implications, primarily for policymakers. Specifically, for less complex regions, policies should focus on creating opportunities to improve their diversification capabilities in complex sectors that are not too distant from their portfolios.Originality/valueThe article makes an original contribution by proposing an evaluation of regional diversification in Brazil with a focus on complexity, introducing a more detailed differentiation of regions based on their complexity levels and examining the impact of sectoral complexity on diversification patterns within each group.