Work In Urban Areas Research Articles

The role of universities in regional economic development based on tourism in Lampung

This study aims to analyze the role of universities in economic development in the areas of tourism-based communities in Lampung. This study uses secondary data related to tourism, higher education, and macroeconomics of Lampung Province during the period of 2000-2016. The analysis is done by using panel regression method. The results show that Higher Education plays an enormous role in the economic development of the economy in the blood-based areas of tourism and which has tourism potential in Lampung. Most of the villagers who are in tertiary education but work in urban areas as a weakness of their contribution and domino effect on low investment, welfare, and lack of employment. This is why they are wandering to the big city. There is also a social gap which has significant economic disparities. They have access to education, health, and supporting infrastructure. In terms of the number of existing universities, it was found that they have not been able to optimally improve economic development in these areas.

Use of Drilling Muds for Remediation

Drilling wells is an ecologically dangerous type of work accompanied by contamination of soil, subsurface and surface waters, pollution of open air with drilling and technological wastes. Throughout the drilling process, drilling waste is generated, such as drilling muds, return drilling muds, drilling waste water. The resulting waste is usually disposed of at landfills, which ensure minimal environmental impact. The use of drilling muds in other spheres is hindered by the complex composition of oily waste. Samples of liquids and solids in drilling wastes, picked at three locations, were subjects for analysis. The waste sample was analyzed for moisture content, organic substances, oil products, silicon, iron and other substances. Based on the studies performed, the authors propose additional introduction of substances possessing high sorption capacity into drilling mud to improve its properties. The most effective way should be using a sorbent capable of retaining organic and heavy metals. The resultant homogeneous soil-like mixture possesses the necessary and sufficient properties to be used as a mineral base for remediation after performing construction work in urban areas.

A Tale of Two Tails: Commuting and the Fuel Price Response in Driving

The consumer price responsiveness of driving demand is central to the welfare consequences of fuel price changes. This study uses rich data covering the entire population of vehicles and consumers in Denmark to find a medium-run price elasticity of driving of -0.30. We uncover an important feature of driving demand: two small groups of much more responsive households that make up the lower and upper tails of the work distance distribution. The first group lives close to work in urban areas. The second group lives outside of major urban areas and has the longest commutes. Access to public transport appears to be the force behind the existence of the tails, enabling the switch away from driving. We find that a fuel price increase of 1 DKK/liter implies an average deadweight loss of 0.66 DKK/liter, but there is considerable heterogeneity and the tails bear a larger share of the loss.Institutional subscribers to the NBER working paper series, and residents of developing countries may download this paper without additional charge at www.nber.org.

Attitudes of physicians providing family planning services in Egypt about recommending intrauterine device for family planning clients

ObjectivesTo assess the attitudes of physicians providing family planning services at the public sector in Egypt about recommending intrauterine device (IUD) for family planning clients, and to identify the factors that could affect their attitudes. MethodsA descriptive cross sectional study, in which all the physicians providing family planning services in Assiut Governorate were invited to complete self-administered questionnaires. The study participants were recruited at the family planning sector monthly meetings of the 13 health directorates of Assiut Governorate, Upper Egypt. 250 physicians accepted to participate in the study. Bivariate and Multivariate regression analyses were performed to identify the most important predictors of recommending IUD to family planning clients when appropriate. ResultsLess than 50% of physicians would recommend IUD for clients with proper eligibility criteria; women younger than 20 years old (49.2%), women with history of ectopic pregnancy (34%), history of pelvic inflammatory diseases (40%) or sexually transmitted diseases (18.4%) and nulliparous women (22.8%). Receiving family planning formal training within the year preceding data collection and working in urban areas were the significant predictors of recommending IUD insertion for appropriate clients. ConclusionPhysicians providing family planning services in Upper Egypt have negative attitudes about recommending IUD for family planning clients. Continuous education and in-service training about the updated medical eligibility criteria, especially for physicians working in rural areas may reduce the unfounded medical restrictions for IUD use.

Garden Bird Feeding: Insights and Prospects from a North-South Comparison of This Global Urban Phenomenon

Intentional feeding of wild birds in gardens or backyards is one of the most popular forms of human-wildlife interactions in the developed world, especially in urban environments. Scale and intensity of bird feeding are enormous with mainly birdseed consumed daily by a range of species. This represents a subsidy to natural diets of birds attracted to the feeders and typically involves novel dietary components. Yet, relatively little is known about how it influences the behavior and ecology of the species visiting feeders. In part, research has been hampered by logistical difficulties of working in urban areas but studies have demonstrated powerful influences on behavior and phenology of avian breeding, the spread of disease, and the structure of avian communities. Here, we compare bird feeding between Northern and Southern Hemispheres as a means of exploring how similarities and differences in avian responses might inform knowledge of this global urban phenomenon. We start by tracing its origins to north-western Europe and how its expansion has occurred before considering how geographical differences in feeding practices and attitudes map onto bird feeding ‘on the ground’. We explore some of the major emerging themes of recent interest, including why citizens are motivated to feed birds, whether birds become fully dependent on food supplements, the role of feeding in avian disease transmission, and how feeding changes urban bird communities. By proposing that scientists work in collaboration with the public providing food to birds, we pose key research questions that need to be answered urgently and suggest accompanying experimental approaches to do so. These approaches are essential if we are to improve our understanding of how bird feeding shapes the behavior, ecology, movements, and community structure of urban birds. Our hope is that through such citizen science we will be able to provide advice as to location-relevant practices that should maximise benefits to both urban biodiversity and human wellbeing, and minimise potential adverse impacts. We demonstrate that bird feeding is important for urban biodiversity conservation, community engagement, and in establishing personal connections with nature and their associated benefits.

Urban Health Extension Services Utilization in Bishoftu Town, Oromia Regional State, Central Ethiopia

BackgroundEthiopia has been deploying specially trained new cadres of community based health workers in urban areas of the country known as urban health extension professionals since 2009. At present, relatively little work has focused on understanding to what extent this new program is accepted and used by the community.MethodsBoth qualitative and quantitative surveys were performed from March 10, 2012 to March 25, 2012 to explore the utilization of urban health extension services in Bishoftu Town, Oromia regional state, Central Ethiopia using a cross sectional study design. Qualitative data were collected using a total of 4 focus group discussions and 26 in-depth interviews. Quantitative data were collected from 418 randomly selected households using pre-tested, structured, interviewer-administered questionnaires. Data entry and analysis were done using SPSS version 16.0. Qualitative data were analyzed thematically.ResultsOf the 418 interviewed households, 72.8% of them had at least one service related contact with urban health extension professionals in the previous 6 month. The mean frequency of service related contact with Urban Health Extension Professionals was found to be 2.24 (±1) contacts per 6 months. The total number of households graduated as a model family in the study area was 3974 (14.3%). Though participants felt that urban health extension professionals faced community resistance at program implementation, its acceptability greatly improved in this study. Despite this, individual competencies of urban health extension professionals, availability of supply and logistic system, and the level of support from kebele officials were reported to influence the program acceptability and utilization.ConclusionsThe introduction of urban health extension professionals positively changed the attitude of the majority of the households involved and improved the acceptability of the program. All stake holders, governmental and nongovernmental organizations, should have supportive systems to increase the acceptability and utilization of urban health extension services.

Who Engages in Undeclared Work in Urban Europe? A Critical Evaluation of the Marginality Thesis

The view that undeclared work is undertaken by marginalised populations (i.e., those groups relatively excluded from the formal labour market) is a core assumption of not only modernisation theory, which holds that undeclared work is conducted by and for marginal population at the ‘bottom of the pyramid’, but also political economy theory, which views contemporary capitalism to outsource and subcontract production to the undeclared economy where marginalised populations conduct such work as a survival strategy. Until now however, few extensive evaluations of the validity of this marginality thesis have been conducted in relation to urban environments. To fill this gap, this paper reports data from a 2013 cross-national survey of urban populations in 28 European member states. Using multilevel mixed-effects logistic regression analysis, this reveals that although some marginalised groups in urban Europe (those having difficulties paying their household bills and younger age groups) are significantly more likely to participate in undeclared work, others are not (the unemployed) and yet others (women and urban dwellers in less affluent European regions) are significantly less likely to participate. The outcome is a more variegated theorisation of which marginal groups participate in undeclared work in urban areas and the need for policy towards the undeclared economy to address this more nuanced understanding.

Urban growth dilemmas and solutions in China: Looking forward to 2030

China's urbanization and industrialization process is replacing large amounts of farmland, which is strongly driven by the country's land finance regime, with the intensified regional/local competition for manufacturing investment opportunities pushing local governments to expropriate farmland at low prices while leasing land at high market value to property developers. The additional revenue obtained in this way, termed financial increment in land value, can drive local economic growth and provide associated infrastructure and other public services. At the same time, however, a floating population of large numbers of inadequately compensated land-lost farmers, although unable to become citizens, have to migrate into urban areas for work, causing overheated employment and housing markets, with rocketing unaffordable housing prices. This, together with various micro factors relating to the party/state's promotion/evaluation system, plays an essential role leading to serious economic, environment and social consequences, e.g., for migrant welfare, the displacement of peasants and loss of land resources, in need of immediate attention.Our question, therefore, is whether such type of urbanization is sustainable. What are the mechanisms behind China's phenomenal urbanization process? From the perspective of institutionalism, this paper investigates the institutional background of the urban growth dilemma and solutions in urban China by introducing an inter-regional game theoretical framework to indicate why the present urbanization pattern is unsustainable. Looking forward to 2030, major policy changes are made from the triple consideration of the floating population, social security and urban environmental pressures. This involves (1) changing the land increment based finance regime into a land stock finance system, (2) the citizenization of migrant workers with affordable housing and (3) creating a more enlightened local government officer appraisal system to better take into account societal issues such as welfare and beyond.

Haptic Feedback to Assist Bus Drivers for Pedestrian Safety at Low Speed

Buses and coaches are massive Passenger Transportation Systems (PTS), because they represent more than half of land PTS in the European Union. Despite that, bus accident figures are lower than other means of transport, but its size and weight increase the severity of accidents in which buses are involved, even at low speed. In urban scenarios, turnings and maneuvers around bus stops are the main causes of accidents, mostly due to low visibility, blind spots, or driver's distractions. Therefore, there is an increasing interest in developing driving assistance systems to avoid these situations, among others. However, even though there are some solutions on the market, they are not meant to work in urban areas at low speed and with the sole purpose of preventing collisions with pedestrians. In this sense, the paper proposes an active safety system for buses in maneuvers at low speed. The safety system consists of haptic feedback devices together with collision avoidance and risk evaluation systems based on detected people nearby the bus. The performance of the active safety system has been validated in a simulated urban scenario. Our results show that driver's reaction time is reduced and time to collision increased due to the proposed low-speed active safety system. In particular, it is shown that there is a reduction in the number of high risk cases and collisions, which implies a considerable improvement in safety terms. In addition to this, a brief discussion about current regulations for innovative safety systems on real vehicles is carried out.

Young adults’ perceptions of and affective bonds to a rural tourism community

Many rural areas, in Sweden and worldwide, experience population decline where the young leave for education and work in urban areas. Employment has declined in several rural industries, such as ag ...

Willingness-to-Pay for Community-Based Health Insurance among Informal Workers in Urban Bangladesh.

IntroductionReliance on out-of-pocket payment for healthcare may lead poor households to undertake catastrophic health expenditure, and risk-pooling mechanisms have been recommended to mitigate such burdens for households in Bangladesh. About 88% of the population of Bangladesh depends on work in the informal sector. We aimed to estimate willingness-to-pay (WTP) for CBHI and identify its determinants among three categories of urban informal workers rickshaw-pullers, shopkeepers and restaurant workers.MethodsThe bidding game version of contingent valuation method was used to estimate weekly WTP. In three urban locations 557 workers were interviewed using a structured questionnaire during 2010 and 2011. Multiple-regression analysis was used to predict WTP by demographic and household characteristics, occupation, education level and past illness.ResultsWTP for a CBHI scheme was expressed by 86.7% of informal workers. Weekly average WTP was 22.8 BDT [Bangladeshi Taka; 95% confidence interval (CI) 20.9–24.8] or 0.32 USD and varied significantly across occupational groups (p = 0.000) and locations (p = 0.003). WTP was highest among rickshaw-pullers (28.2 BDT or 0.40 USD; 95% CI: 24.7–31.7), followed by restaurant workers (20.4 BDT 0.29 USD; 95% CI: 17.0–23.8) and shopkeepers (19.2 BDT or 0.27 USD; 95% CI: 16.1–22.4). Multiple regression analysis identified monthly income, occupation, geographical location and educational level as the key determinants of WTP. WTP increased 0.196% with each 1% increase in monthly income, and was 26.9% lower among workers with up to a primary level of education versus those with higher than primary, but less than one year of education.ConclusionInformal workers in urban areas thus are willing to pay for CBHI and socioeconomic differences explain the magnitude of WTP. The policy maker might think introducing community-based model including public-community partnership model for healthcare financing of informal workers. Decision making regarding the implementation of such schemes should consider worker location and occupation.

Career preferences of final year medical students at a medical school in Kenya–A cross sectional study

BackgroundThe World Health Organization (WHO) recommended physician to population ratio is 23:10,000. Kenya has a physician to population ratio of 1.8:10,000 and is among 57 countries listed as having a serious shortage of health workers. Approximately 52 % of physicians work in urban areas, 6 % in rural and 42 % in peri-urban locations. This study explored factors influencing the choice of career specialization and location for practice among final year medical students by gender.MethodsA descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out on final year students in 2013 at the University of Nairobi’s, School of Medicine in Kenya. Sample size was calculated at 156 students for simple random sampling. Data collected using a pre-tested self-administered questionnaire included socio-demographic characteristics of the population, first and second choices for specialization. Outcome variables collected were factors affecting choice of specialty and location for practice. Bivariate analysis by gender was carried out between the listed factors and outcome variables with calculation of odds ratios and chi-square statistics at an alpha level of significance of 0.05. Factors included in a binomial logistic regression model were analysed to score the independent categorical variables affecting choice of specialty and location of practice.ResultsInternal medicine, Surgery, Obstetrics/Gynaecology and Paediatrics accounted for 58.7 % of all choices of specialization. Female students were less likely to select Obs/Gyn (OR 0.41, 95 % CI =0.17-0.99) and Surgery (OR 0.33, 95 % CI = 0.13-0.86) but eight times more likely to select Paediatrics (OR 8.67, 95 % CI = 1.91-39.30). Surgery was primarily selected because of the ‘perceived prestige of the specialty’ (OR 4.3 95 % CI = 1.35-14.1). Paediatrics was selected due to ‘Ease of raising a family’ (OR 4.08 95 % CI = 1.08-15.4). Rural origin increased the odds of practicing in a rural area (OR 2.5, 95 % CI = 1.04-6.04). Training abroad was more likely to result in preference for working abroad (OR 9.27 95 % CI = 2.1-41.9).ConclusionsThe 4 core specialties predominate as career preferences. Females are more likely to select career choices due to ‘ease of raising a family’. Rural origin of students was found to be the most important factor for retention of rural health workforce. This data can be used to design prospective cohort studies in an effort to understand the dynamic influence that governments, educational institutions, work environments, family and friends exert on medical students’ careers.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12909-016-0528-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Analysing implementer narratives on addressing health inequity through convergent action on the social determinants of health in India.

BackgroundUnderstanding health inequity in India is a challenge, given the complexity that characterise the lives of its residents. Interpreting constructive action to address health inequity in the country is rare, though much exhorted by the global research community. We critically analysed operational understandings of inequity embedded in convergent actions to address health-related inequalities by stakeholders in varying contexts within the country.MethodsTwo implementer groups were purposively chosen to reflect on their experiences addressing inequalities in health (and its determinants) in the public sector working in rural areas and in the private non-profit sector working in urban areas. A representing co-author from each group developed narratives around how they operationally defined, monitored, and addressed health inequality in their work. These narratives were content analysed by two other co-authors to draw out common and disparate themes characterising each action context, operational definitions, shifts and changes in strategies and definitions, and outcomes (both intended and unintended). Findings were reviewed by all authors to develop case studies.ResultsWe theorised that action to address health inequality converges around a unifying theme or pivot, and developed a heuristic that describes the features of this convergence. In one case, the convergence was a single decision-making platform for deliberation around myriad village development issues, while in the other, convergence brought together communities, legal, police, and health system action around one salient health issue. One case emphasized demand generation, the other was focussed on improving quality and supply of services. In both cases, the operationalization of equity broke beyond a biomedical or clinical focus. Dearth of data meant that implementers exercised various strategies to gather it, and to develop interventions – always around a core issue or population.ConclusionsThis exercise demonstrated the possibility of constructive engagement between implementers and researchers to understand and theorize action on health equity and the social determinants of health. This heuristic developed may be of use not just for further research, but also for on-going appraisal and design of policy and praxis, both sensitive to and reflective of Indian concerns and understandings.

Do different parenting patterns impact the health and physical growth of 'left-behind' preschool-aged children? A cross-sectional study in rural China.

Many migrants from rural China seek work in urban areas and leave their children in their home villages to be raised by relatives. These children are often referred to as 'left-behind children'. Parental migration tends to have a profound impact on a child's growth. This study sought to assess the prevalence of illness and malnutrition among children in rural areas raised with different parenting patterns and to explore factors affecting their health and development. A cross-sectional survey was conducted to examine the physical health of children raised with different parenting patterns and to explore associated risk factors. In total, this study examined 735 children ages 3-6 years in eight rural villages in two counties of Shandong Province. Their primary caregivers were interviewed with a semi-structured questionnaire. Anthropometric measurements of the children were taken and their nutritional status was determined according to WHO Child Growth Standards. This study found a relatively high prevalence of wasting, overweight and obesity among left-behind children. After potential confounders were controlled for, the parenting pattern, annual household income and health literacy of the primary caregiver significantly influenced the health and developmental indicators of children. This study highlighted the impact of the characteristics of the primary caregiver on a child's health and development and the importance of practical interventions for preschool-aged children who are left behind and raised with different parenting patterns.

Gender and jobs: Evidence from urban labour market in India

This paper examines the trend, pattern, structure and qualitative aspects of jobs available to women workers in Urban Areas in the post-reform period. Apart from this, the paper also analyses the determinant of female work participation and their sectoral and occupational choice of work. The study finds that over a period of time female work participation has declined in urban areas despite having a wide spectrum of job opportunities. The magnitude of decline is much sharper in the case of illiterate women, women from lower castes and poorest economic classes. Considering the structure of employment, it is observed that the female employment in regular salaried jobs has increased but in the other two categories it has declined. However, within regular salaried jobs, females are highly concentrated in few low-productivity sectors and stereotypical feminine occupations. Further, a very sharp inequality by class is noticed among regular salaried women workers. The paper finds that women from the poorest classes are highly concentrated in the informal sector with no job contract, no social security and extremely poor working condition as compared to workers from the richest class. The paper argues for an urgent policy intervention to ensure access to productive and decent jobs and to provide protection to these vulnerably placed women workers.

The artisanal economy through the prism of practical actions: the case of the parisian glover-perfumers in the 18 th century

The guilds that partly organize artisanal work in urban areas in modern France have long been considered to be institutions that are shut away in their statutes and their regulations, protective of their monopolies, conventional and averse to innovation. This dubious image of artisans inherited, on the one hand, from the political culture of the French Revolution, which connected this particular way of organizing work with the society of orders and privileges, and on the other hand with a “large enterprise culture” that has characterized the analyses of several French historians, is today being questioned.

Affordable Housing Schemes: Overcoming Homeownership Problems

Homeownership is a problem among younger working households (YWH). This is a more serious problem with YWH working in urban areas. New housing schemes introduced by the government show that measures are being taken. This paper aims to determine homeownership problems among YWH in order to assess the new housing schemes towards helping YWH. The questions arise are what are the homeownership problems among YWH and to what extent does YWH perceive the new housing schemes to help them. The objectives are to ascertain homeownership problems among YWH and to explore the perceptions of YWH on the new housing schemes introduced. The study was conducted qualitatively through in-depth interviews with YWH. The findings showed that the main homeownership problem highlighted by the YWH is housing prices are high in urban area which resulted to the location of affordable houses inconvenient. From the assessment, majority of the YWH agree with the new housing schemes. However there are weaknesses such as high land prices and absence of financial literacy. In conclusion, housing schemes should also consider financial education as part of their aims. Nevertheless, the introduction of housing schemes is beneficial to address homeownership problems among YWH.

Part‐Peasants: Incomplete Rural–Urban Labour Migration in China

AbstractThe institutional settings in China, including the land allocation system and the household registration system, lead to a rural–urban labour migration pattern that differs from that in other countries. Individual peasants' labour is often split (typically over different times of the year) into two or more parts as a result of institutional factors. Individuals work both as peasants on the land and as temporary migrant workers in urban areas (or in rural non‐agricultural sectors). We examine this issue using province‐level panel data. The present study provides a new interpretation of the phenomenon of labour shortages in coastal cities and rising rural migrant wages in China in recent years, and discusses whether the Lewisian turning point has been reached. Under part migration, the rural labour supply to urban areas is smaller than would be the case with full migration of workers to urban areas, so that the Lewisian turning point occurs earlier. This finding has important policy implications for China's future development.

Urban development in Sub-Saharan Africa: bearer of goods and risks.

Sub-Saharan Africa remains the least urbanized region of the world and more than 60% of the population, 570 million people, still live in rural areas [1]. Over the next few decades Africa will be one of the most rapidly urbanizing regions [2], and with this transition is an expected rise in cardiovascular risk factors and disease (CVD) [3]. Across sub-Saharan Africa, many adults migrate back and forth from rural home communities to more urban areas for work and education; others have moved to urban areas; and in still other cases, rural communities themselves have urbanized. In this issue of PLOS Medicine, a study by Riha and colleagues is directly concerned with the latter scenario within the context of urbanizing rural Uganda [4]. As the authors aptly note, the crude dichotomy of urban-rural difference obscures the changes occurring within rural regions themselves, as characteristics of urban environments, defined as urbanicity [5], become more prominent. Urbanization is a complex worldwide phenomenon and challenges global populations to recalibrate a set of far reaching behaviors as the meaning of communities change, networks widen, and globalization influences attitudes and access to new resources. Some of these phenomena are likely to be health promoting, while others expose formerly rural populations to new risks. Riha and colleagues’ study is the first in Sub-Saharan Africa, to our knowledge, to examine how urbanicity relates to the development of CVD risk factors in rural regions [4]. It is an important and revealing study. The population was drawn from 25 Ugandan villages that were unambiguously rural by conventional standards. A previously developed multicountry urbanicity scale was applied to score each village on seven domains meant to capture the hallmarks of urbanization: increasing population size and density, declining role of agriculture as the principal source of employment, rising education and diversity in educational achievement, increasing access to electricity and modern sanitation, and the presence of communication infrastructure [5,6]. Compared to villages in the lowest quartile of urbanicity (most rural), individuals living in villages in the highest quartile (least rural) had a 50% increase in overweight, more than a 3-fold increase in heavy drinking, and were about 20% more likely to have low physical activity levels or a diet low in fruits in vegetables. This association showed minimal attenuation despite adjustment for individual level socioeconomic status (SES) quantified through a household asset and wealth index. There was no difference in smoking prevalence or hypertension. Given the great variability among countries in subSaharan Africa, it is unclear how generalizable these results are beyond Uganda.

Indian medical students in public and private sector medical schools: are motivations and career aspirations different? – studies from Madhya Pradesh, India

BackgroundIn recent years, there has been a massive growth in the private medical education sector in South Asia. India’s large private medical education sector reflects the market driven growth in private medical education. Admission criteria to public medical schools are based on qualifying examination scores, while admission into private institutions is often dependent on relative academic merit, but also very much on the ability of the student to afford the education. This paper from Madhya Pradesh province in India aims to study and compare between first year medical students in public and private sector medical schools (i) motives for choosing a medical education (ii) career aspirations on completion of a medical degree (iii) willingness to work in a rural area in the short and long terms.MethodsCross sectional survey of 792 first year medical students in 5 public and 4 private medical schools in the province.ResultsThere were no significant differences in the background characteristics of students in public and private medical schools. Reasons for entering medical education included personal ambition (23%), parental desire (23%), prestigious/secure profession (25%) or a service motive (20%). Most students wished to pursue a specialization (91%) and work in urban areas (64%) of the country. A small proportion (7%) wished to work abroad. There were no differences in motives or career aspirations between students of public or private schools. 40% were willing to work in a rural area for 2 years after graduating; public school students were more willing to do so.ConclusionThere was little difference in background characteristics, motives for entering medicine or career aspirations between medical students in from public and private sector institutions.