Search Results (261)

Hungarian legislation—TÉKA 280/2024 and ÉKM 9/2023, effective January 2025—requires hospitality properties to install operational EV charging infrastructure. This study develops a techno-economic scenario model assessing DC Fast Charging (DCFC) powered by formic acid (HCOOH)-based proton-exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell microgrids as an alternative to conventional grid-tied AC charging in energy-constrained rural tourism destinations. Three containerized HCOOH-PEM configurations (100 kW, 500 kW, 1 MW) are modelled using published technical parameters and secondary market benchmarks, and results are interpreted through Porter’s competitive advantage theory and Ritchie and Crouch’s destination competitiveness framework. All reported values are simulation outputs derived from predefined assumptions rather than empirically validated findings. Under these assumptions, the DC-HCOOH configuration projects annual EBITDA of €72,946 per unit (284% above the modelled AC baseline) with a comparable simple payback period, while ancillary guest spending during DCFC dwell-time (‘Charge and Spend’) is projected at roughly 5.3 times the AC level. Sensitivity scenarios show that payback estimates are highly responsive to CAPEX scope and ancillary-margin assumptions. Findings offer a conceptual basis for destination managers, investors, and policymakers, while underscoring the need for empirical validation with primary operational data. Full article

Currently, access to safe drinking water in developing countries remains a structural challenge. Despite progress, many households still lack access to clean and safe water, leading to serious consequences for health, human dignity, and the economy. This research aims to evaluate the impact of drinking water and sanitation investment projects on monetary expenditures for water consumption. Using data from the 2017 and 2023 National Household Survey (ENAHO-INEI) in Peru, a longitudinal study with a retrospective cohort design was conducted. The complex, probabilistic sampling method allowed for modeling both periods using ordered multiple response logit regression. The results show that household connections to potable water positively impacted water consumption expenditures in 2017 (n = 21,251) and 2023 (n = 19,482). Similarly, connections to sanitation facilities positively influenced expenditures in 2017, although no significant evidence was found in 2023. Having access to safe water (adequate chlorine) versus unsafe water (inadequate chlorine) showed a positive effect on consumption expenditures in both years, reflecting that families must bear a double expense to access alternatives such as bottled water. A higher monthly income of the head of household, associated with greater age and years of education, increases expenditures on potable water, excluding households in monetary poverty. A differentiated design of water policies is recommended, based on natural region (coast, highlands, and rainforest) and area (urban or rural), considering the different water access alternatives according to the geographic location of the dwelling. Full article

Post-disaster reconstruction is often framed as an opportunity to revitalize rural areas, yet its implications for the social and cultural sustainability of traditional rural morphology and identity remain contested. This study examines the spatial transformation of Gezin village, located on the eastern shore of Lake Hazar in Maden, Elazığ (Türkiye), on the East Anatolian Fault Zone, following the relocation and reconstruction processes triggered by successive earthquakes. Using the Hierarchical Morphological Analysis Method, the pre-disaster traditional settlement and the post-disaster residential areas were compared at the building, structure, parcel/building-block, and macroform levels, drawing on field studies, TOKİ housing plans, Microsoft Building Footprints, HGM orthophotos, and Sentinel-2 land use/land cover data processed in ArcGIS Pro 3.5.0 and QGIS 3.44.11. The findings reveal a two-directional outcome: the transition from adobe and masonry dwellings to reinforced-concrete and light-steel housing increased earthquake resilience at the building scale, but eliminated the production-oriented housing typology—courtyard, barn, hayloft, and storehouse—and replaced the topography-compatible organic fabric with compact, planned blocks. Between 2017 and 2025, built-up areas expanded by about 33% (from 136 to 182 ha), while cultivated land decreased by 66.4 ha and grassland by 73.3 ha. The study concludes that context-detached reconstruction functions as spatial relocation and identity loss, and advocates place-based, sustainable reconstruction approaches. Full article

Complete neighbourhoods, places where residents can meet their daily needs on foot, have become a central component of healthy and sustainable urban planning. Yet most assessment frameworks are calibrated for dense metropolitan environments, leaving rural and peri-urban municipalities without operational tools suited to their territorial needs. This article presents MilieuxVie, an open-source, browser-based interactive mapping application developed for the Laurentides health region of Québec (76 municipalities, 11 land-based unorganised territories, 2 indigenous territories and 4 aquatic administrative units; 93 territorial units in total; ~680,000 inhabitants). The tool evaluates the spatial accessibility of 12 service categories drawn from the Vivre en Ville (2026) complete-neighbourhood framework and OpenStreetMap data, using 2026 residential parcels from the provincial property assessment roll as origin points and weighting results by number of dwelling units. Three adaptive radius tiers (dense, intermediate, rural), based on residential dwelling-unit density (dwellings per km² of residentially designated urban land), scale the distance standards to settlement density. Because thresholds are scaled to settlement density, scores express context-relative service proximity rather than a uniform pedestrian standard and should not be read as directly comparable absolute accessibility across rural, peri-urban, and urban settings. A dedicated urban perimeter mode further disaggregates analysis to sub-municipal built-up zones, aligning the tool with Québec’s provincial Government land-use planning guidelines (GLPG). Gap analysis outputs identify which service types fall below the 70% coverage target, helping elected officials and planners identify where to focus further analysis. Results illustrate the scope of accessibility deficits across the region and highlight the analytical limits of uniform distance thresholds when applied beyond metropolitan contexts. Scores differ significantly across different settings (Kruskal–Wallis p = 0.006); the adaptive radius tiers narrow but do not close the structural gap, with rural municipalities scoring significantly lower than dense ones. The tool is freely available and requires no software installation, making it directly deployable by local planning offices. Full article

Rural territories on the periphery of Andean intermediate cities are undergoing accelerating peri-urban transformation that threatens agricultural land and the cultural landscapes embedded in vernacular housing traditions. Although vernacular architecture has been studied extensively in heritage conservation and bioclimatic research, its potential as a spatial indicator of territorial change remains underexplored. This study proposes the Vernacular Housing–Landscape Transformation Framework (VH–LTF), an interpretive and methodological framework that reads vernacular housing typologies as indicators of rural–peri-urban landscape transformation, and applies it preliminarily through a composite measure, the Rural–Peri-Urban Landscape Transformation Index (RPLTI). The framework is developed and tested as a settlement-scale proof-of-concept on a documented corpus of 25 vernacular dwellings in Barrio Cera, Taquil parish, Loja, Ecuador, an Andean peri-urban settlement at 2238 m a.s.l. located approximately 20 km from the city of Loja. Three morphological typologies (I, L, and C forms), built with adobe, eucalyptus timber, reedwork, stone, and clay tile, were classified and assessed across five analytical dimensions: territorial, typological, material, socio-spatial, and landscape transformation. Preliminary evidence indicates that typological progression, patterns of material substitution, patio function, and predial vegetation loss vary together along the settlement’s road-accessibility gradient and may serve as observable markers of land-use change and cultural-landscape erosion. The findings are exploratory and context-specific rather than statistically generalizable. The framework may provide planners and researchers with a low-cost diagnostic for characterizing peri-urban Andean settlements; further validation in larger, multi-settlement corpora is required before transfer to other contexts. Full article

Given the heterogeneity in data on heat pump performance curves across manufacturers, selecting the appropriate one for more detailed studies is complex. Machine learning (ML) techniques can be very helpful in this endeavor. In this case, four techniques were used: artificial neural networks (ANN), support vector machines (SVM), Gaussian Process (GP), and decision trees (DT), to predict HP performance maps. These four techniques were then applied to a hybrid installation consisting of an air-water HP boiler and a biomass boiler modeled with TRNSYS and connected in series. Performance maps were generated using TRNSYS type 581. Key aspects, including overall efficiency, emissions, lifetime costs, and design and control parameters, were then analyzed. The study found that the coefficient of variation of root-mean-square error (CVRMSE) was 14.9% for the DT model, 11.4% for the ANN, 11.1% for the SVM, and 10.7% for the GP model. The GP model was ultimately used to develop an HP performance map due to its highest accuracy, and comparisons with baseline data revealed significant differences in efficiency, operational costs, and emissions, among others. Full article

This article argues that there is a “substance” within places that is essential for understanding local space and its spatial processes but remains a research lacuna in human geography. It consists of geographical entities which, through relationships with the place, participate significantly in processes within it, e.g., production of its space, configuring the nature of its space, and transforming the nature of the place. I first address the issue of a geographical entity and its agency that is attributed to it under the posthuman paradigm and how it may be viewed relationally, highlighting commonalities and differences between human geography and sociology, why entitativity does not defy relationality, the nature of relationality of geographical entities, and how it may be studied practically. Three geographical entities with different natures and geographical contexts are illustrated: the spatiality of an urban military base; the nature of a rural space created and transformed by an industrial compound; and the transformed nature of a place by an intentional community. The discussion highlights the merit of geographical entities as significant “substances” for understanding local space and the various issues and questions that surface when engaging with them. The conclusion dwells upon the value of studying geographical entities for human geography and for geography in general. Full article

Linpan in Chengdu Plain, a distinctive form of dispersed rural settlement on the Chengdu Plain, is composed primarily of traditional rural dwellings embedded within woodlands environments. These settlements play multifunctional roles related to agricultural production, daily life, ecological sustainability, and the preservation of folk culture, thereby holding significant ecological and cultural value. In recent decades, rapid urbanization has profoundly impacted the spatial patterns, ecological environments, and livelihood systems of Linpan in western Sichuan, posing severe challenges to their preservation and development. To investigate the extent and nature of these changes, this study examines the spatiotemporal evolution of Linpan in Chengdu over five time periods from 1980 to 2020, employing both macro- and micro-scale analyses. Settlement types were classified based on their transformation trajectories, and representative cases were selected to identify and interpret the key driving forces behind these changes. The results indicate that: (1) at the macro level, Linpans have undergone a clear transition from small-scale, widely distributed, and irregularly shaped patterns to more centralized, aggregated, and standardized spatial configurations, particularly in the peri-urban areas of Chengdu; (2) at the micro level, the internal composition of Linpan has changed substantially, with a marked decline in woodlands coverage. The original integration of buildings and trees has shifted towards a spatial arrangement characterized by peripheral and fragmented vegetation; (3) Changes in production methods have prompted the spatial restructuring of Linpan settlements, transitioning from uniformly dispersed arrangements to clustered formations along road-adjacent resource points. Concurrent population and housing migration has reduced the total number of Linpan, while individual settlements have increased in size and density. Additionally, planning and construction policies have guided the morphological transformation of Linpan from organically evolved forms to geometrically regular configurations. Full article

This study, through a hybrid approach to post-occupancy evaluation (POE) of four types of high-energy-efficiency housing in rural Scotland, explores the manifestation, formation mechanism, and mitigation pathways of energy risks in high-energy-efficiency housing from environmental and socioeconomic dimensions. The findings reveal a “high-efficiency paradox”: better fabric performance and lower heating demand do not guarantee reduced carbon emissions, fuel poverty alleviation, or energy resilience. Actual energy risks are formed by the combined effects of multiple factors, including building size, energy infrastructure, resident characteristics, energy prices, and policy, exhibiting a clear systemic coupling characteristic. The study further verifies that, in the context of rural Scotland, relying solely on indicators such as EPC may lead to misjudgements of housing sustainability. Heating demand, total energy consumption, carbon emissions, and energy expenditure exhibit a partially decoupled relationship. Thus, rural housing sustainability should shift from a technically efficient approach to a comprehensive strategy integrating design, infrastructure, affordability, and social equity. The study proposes context-specific mitigation pathways including multi-source energy systems, place-sensitive policies, socio-economic support, and a multi-criteria assessment framework, providing empirical references for rural housing energy transition and energy risk governance. Full article

Background: In the context of population aging and the growing burden of chronic conditions, promoting exercise participation has become an important strategy for supporting healthy aging. However, older adults with chronic conditions often face multiple constraints related to symptom burden, risk perception, and everyday life. A theory-informed understanding of the determinants of exercise participation in this population is therefore needed. Methods: This study adopted a theory-informed qualitative descriptive design and conducted face-to-face semi-structured interviews with 30 community-dwelling older adults with chronic conditions. Purposive sampling was used to ensure variation in age, sex, chronic condition type, and exercise participation. Data were analyzed using the framework method guided by the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF), and the resulting themes were subsequently mapped onto the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation–Behavior (COM-B) model. Results: Participants were aged 60–86 years, and most were women, had low educational attainment, came from rural backgrounds, and lived with multimorbidity. Participants described exercise participation as a day-to-day process of negotiating symptoms, risk, functional boundaries, and everyday responsibilities rather than as a simple matter of willingness. Although most participants recognized the value of exercise, many lacked disease-specific knowledge about suitable exercise types, safe intensity, progression, and warning signs. Symptom burden and functional limitations constrained exercise, but many participants used symptom-based self-regulation strategies, such as resting, slowing down, or modifying activity when discomfort occurred. Family members, peers, health professionals, and community resources could either facilitate exercise or restrict it, depending on their accessibility, continuity, specificity, and practical relevance. Continued participation was closely linked to perceived benefits, controllable risk, self-efficacy, positive emotional experience, and immediate bodily feedback. Conclusions: Exercise promotion for older adults with chronic conditions should move beyond general advice and provide disease-adapted exercise education, symptom-based self-regulation strategies, family and peer support, professional guidance, age-friendly community resources, and feedback mechanisms that support long-term maintenance. Full article

Vernacular housing in the Andean region embodies long-standing building knowledge, environmental adaptation, and forms of social organization rooted in rural life. Over recent decades, these dwellings have undergone visible transformations linked to migration, changing aspirations, and the growing presence of industrialized construction materials. Rather than disappearing, vernacular forms have increasingly merged with contemporary solutions, producing hybrid architectural landscapes whose local dynamics are still insufficiently documented. This study analyzes the material, typological, and functional transformation of rural housing in Las Lagunas and Quisquinchir, two Indigenous communities located in Saraguro, Loja, Ecuador. A total of 192 houses were recorded through field observation and a structured digital survey implemented with KoBoCollect. The information was processed in R using descriptive statistics, contingency tables, chi-square tests, Cramér’s V, and standardized residual analysis. The findings show that architectural change in both communities does not occur through a simple replacement of traditional housing by modern models. Instead, vernacular, hybrid, and modern/eclectic typologies coexist within the same rural setting, revealing uneven and locally specific processes of transformation. The clearest differences emerge in construction materiality. Las Lagunas preserves a stronger presence of traditional wall systems, especially adobe and bahareque, while Quisquinchir shows a broader incorporation of industrialized materials, particularly concrete block. Statistical analysis confirmed significant associations between community and wall material, as well as between typology and wall material, whereas the relationship between community and architectural typology was comparatively weaker. Functional changes were also identified through the reduction or reconfiguration of intermediate spaces such as portals, patios, and corridors, suggesting a gradual shift toward more enclosed and specialized domestic environments. These results contribute empirical evidence for understanding architectural hybridization in Indigenous rural territories and support conservation and planning approaches capable of recognizing continuity, adaptation, and change within evolving Andean built landscapes. Full article

In the severely cold regions of northern China, large-scale clean heating retrofits in rural areas face critical problems, including substandard indoor thermal environments, excessive energy consumption, and prohibitive operating costs. To address these challenges, this study focuses on rural residences in Hohhot as the research subject. Field measurements were conducted throughout the heating season in a typical rural house in Hohhot, a representative city with severe cold weather, to collect indoor/outdoor thermal parameters and real-time operational data of an air-source heat pump (ASHP). A dynamic simulation platform was established using TRNSYS 18. The optimization scheme integrates passive envelope retrofitting (ground insulation improvement and energy-efficient windows) with the active optimized control of the ASHP system. Indoor thermal comfort was evaluated using the Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) index. The results show that the ASHP exhibits excellent heating effectiveness and economic viability, making it the preferred technology for rural residences in Hohhot and similar regions. After implementing the active–passive scheme, the proportion of time with comfortable indoor conditions in rural houses surges from 34.1% to 84.1%, while during the severe cold period, this proportion increases from 16.97% to 61%. The indoor thermal comfort index shifts from its previous state to the baseline comfort range of −1.0 to 0. The total heating energy consumption decreased from 18,646 kWh to 15,861 kWh, and the seasonal operating cost dropped from 3207 to 2579.3 RMB, achieving an overall reduction of 19.6% in both energy and costs. The proposed active–passive synergistic optimization scheme simultaneously improves the indoor thermal environment and reduces heating energy consumption, overcoming the limitations of single-measure retrofits. This study fills the research gap on the quantitative evaluation of active–passive synergy for rural clean heating in severely cold regions, providing a theoretical basis and technical support for clean heating retrofits in Hohhot and Inner Mongolia, facilitating low-carbon and efficient rural clean heating in northern China. Full article

In provinces where the dynamics of industrialization and urbanization are intensifying, migration flows from rural settlements to urban centers are transforming the socio-cultural structure and physical fabric of rural spaces, leading to the gradual weakening of the unique rural identity and, consequently, a decline in its sustainability. This study examines the population loss occurring in rural areas as a result of industrialization and urbanization processes, along with the accompanying issue of cultural heritage preservation, using the village of Akkoy in Bilecik as a case study. Akkoy is considered worthy of preservation due to its geographical location and its architectural fabric, which has survived largely intact to the present day. Within the scope of the research, the architectural typology of 134 traditional dwellings in Akkoy was analyzed in detail based on parameters such as plot relationships, number of floors, construction systems, material usage, and facade characteristics. The findings show that the structures in the village are examples of sustainable architecture, built using local materials (adobe, stone, wood) and adapted to the sloping terrain. However, it was determined that due to intense migration, a large portion of the structures are abandoned and at risk of losing their original identities. The study emphasizes that a comprehensive conservation and management plan covering not only the buildings but also socio-economic activities (silkworm farming, agriculture, etc.) must be implemented urgently to preserve Akkoy’s rural heritage. Full article

Improving indoor thermal comfort in high-altitude rural housing remains a persistent challenge for low-income communities in the Peruvian Andes. This study evaluates the thermal performance of a standardized Sumaq Wasi modular dwelling in Langui (Cusco, Peru, 3969 m.a.s.l.) and proposes passive envelope modifications that enhance comfort while preserving economic feasibility. A multi-objective optimization approach combining EnergyPlus simulations with the NSGA-II algorithm was applied to minimize total thermal discomfort ($TD{I}_{total}$), bedroom underheating ($TDI{U}_{bedrooms}$), and 10-year life cycle costs ($LCC$). The calibrated model incorporated field measurements of indoor air temperatures. Global sensitivity analysis using Morris and Sobol methods identified ceiling thermal transmittance as the dominant contributor for $TD{I}_{total}$, and exterior wall solar absorptance as the driver of $TDI{U}_{bedrooms}$. Optimization reduced $TD{I}_{total}$ and $TDI{U}_{bedrooms}$ to 22% and 8% of the base case, requiring additional investments of USD 2347 and USD 1959, respectively, above the base case cost (USD 8100). Cost-neutral strategies, raising exterior wall solar absorptance to 0.9 and increasing the skylight-to-roof ratio (13.1%), reduced bedroom underheating to 30% of the base case and outperformed a scenario with two 400 W electric heaters. These results demonstrate that context-appropriate passive design can substantially improve comfort under severe climatic and financial constraints. Full article

Existing reviews of technology-enabled care for older adults have primarily focused on technology usability, patient acceptance, and clinical outcomes. However, there remains limited synthesis of the organizational and system-level factors influencing the implementation of technology-enabled care in rural, regional, and remote contexts. This review addresses this gap by mapping barriers and facilitators using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research. Using technology to enable or enhance healthcare, rehabilitation, and self-management offers significant potential to improve access, outcomes, and equity for older adults; however, adoption and sustained use in rural, regional, and remote (RRR) settings remain limited. This scoping review aimed to identify factors influencing the implementation of technology-enabled care interventions for community-dwelling older adults in RRR contexts. Searches were conducted in PubMed, MEDLINE, CINAHL, Web of Science, and Scopus for empirical studies published from 2014 onwards. Barriers and enablers were mapped to the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) and synthesized narratively. The search identified 807 records, of which 433 remained after duplicate removal and 105 proceeded to full-text assessment. Five studies met the inclusion criteria, examining telehealth, telerehabilitation, remote monitoring, and mobile health applications. Across the included studies, 71 implementation factors were identified, comprising 39 barriers and 32 enablers mapped across five CFIR domains and 20 constructs. The most frequently reported barriers related to innovation recipients’ capability, innovation design, innovation complexity, and outer setting local conditions. The most frequently reported enablers related to innovation adaptability, innovation complexity, and innovation recipients’ motivation. Findings suggest that implementation in RRR settings depends less on technological sophistication than on aligning design and delivery with user capability and local system capacity, reducing cognitive and technical burden, and embedding relational and contextual support. Full article