Search Results (8)

This paper supports the idea of agroecology playing an integral role in development ‘smart cities’ and its application in different settlement contexts in South Africa. As alluded to in the People-Centered Smart Cities framework, the application of the smart cities approach can be extended to various settlement contexts. This paper promotes ‘the smart city’ concept in different contexts, including rural and small settlement environments, incorporating agroecology, a paradigm which guides us towards building sustainable and equitable urban environments. This approach can significantly contribute to the improved and more resilient design and development of human settlements. The Preferred Reporting Items for Reviews and Meta-analysis were employed to analyze primary and secondary data sources, thereby formulating descriptive and analytical themes around agroecology and smart cities. This paper utilized 54 articles, offering a robust foundation for the paper’s analysis and discussions. Additionally, the paper underscores the adherence to policy and legislative spaces for smart city strategy-led budgeting. It advocates for robust financial policies and long-term development financial strategies aligned with several the Sustainable Development Goals, but especially SGD 11, which is to create inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable cities and habitats. The construction of smart campuses, smart rural settlements, and smart school programs is demonstrated by the Centre for Ecological Intelligence at the University of Johannesburg’s food systems hub, the Phumulani rural agrivillage, and the Eastern Cape and Tshwane food security school programs. These showcase projects act as compelling models illustrating how the principles of smart cities can be applied to diverse settlement contexts. Full article

Understanding the travel patterns of university campus visitors is crucial for developing effective transportation strategies. Existing research predominantly focuses on student commuting within specific regions, often overlooking the diverse needs of faculty and staff and varying campus contexts. This study addresses a significant gap in the literature by investigating travel behaviors at Beirut Arab University (BAU), which has not been previously studied in this context. BAU’s unique situation, with campuses in both urban and rural zones, presents distinct transportation challenges, particularly for those traveling between these areas. Through a comprehensive survey of students, faculty, and staff, this research explores differences in transportation modes, travel distances, durations, and patterns. Statistical techniques, including one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), Chi-Squared, and McNemar-Bowker tests, reveal significant variations among traveler groups. The findings highlight specific needs, such as improvements in bus services, car-sharing programs, and parking facilities, essential for creating sustainable campus environments. By examining these travel behaviors, the study offers valuable insights into the complexities of campus transportation, contributing new perspectives to the field. The originality of this research lies in its focus on an underexplored area, providing a deeper understanding of how diverse university environments impact transportation choices. This work not only fills a critical void in campus transportation research but also offers practical recommendations for enhancing transportation systems in similar settings. Full article

While there have been studies on the relationship between higher education institutions and regional economic growth, few have delved into the economic impact of decentralized higher education institutions at the county level and associated reginal disparities in terms of socio-economic development. Utilizing the data of the Chinese universities that started to establish their campuses in counties since the year 1999, this study investigates the influence of rural university campuses on county-level GDP and industrial composition spanning from 2001 to 2020. It also delves into the temporal dynamics and regional discrepancies associated with this impact. The findings of this study show that (a) rural university campuses wield a notable positive influence on the GDP of their respective counties, particularly shaping the structure and ratio of secondary and tertiary industries; (b) the magnitude of this effect is contingent upon the duration of campus establishment and growth, intensifying over time; (c) variations in this impact are evident across the eastern, central, and western regions of China, where there are vast socio-economic differences. This study underscores the significant spillover effect of higher education decentralization on county-level economies and advocates for the pivotal role of rural university campuses in propelling county-level economic progress. Additionally, it proposes coordinated policy support from national, regional, and rural university campus authorities; the establishment of requisite support structures; and the comprehensive consideration of regional nuances. Full article

Our study explores the question: what kind of landscape situations emerge between the urban fabric and a school building as a result of 21st-century suburbanisation? To answer this question, we will compare a traditional school town and a suburban settlement. Located less than thirty kilometres from Budapest, the traditional town is Vác, one of the most important historical school towns in Hungary. Dunakeszi, on the other hand, directly borders the capital and was a rural settlement at the beginning of the 20th century. This settlement is a typical example of urban sprawl. Its schools have occupied a place in the urban fabric since the second half of the 20th century. During our research, we used thick description and thoroughly analysed where the buildings are situated within the given urban structure, how their appearance can be described, and what their architecture communicates. Our basic argument is that while traditional settlement schools are a central element of the urban fabric, in the suburbs, schools occupy empty spaces of ‘leftover plots’ or develop new campuses in the interurban landscape. The results showed that regardless of the historical past of a given settlement, 21st-century educational institutions create separated, closed campuses in areas affected by suburbanisation processes. The primary reason for moving out is simply a lack of space in downtown areas, which is universally apparent in larger cities. The various roles and tasks schools fulfil also contribute to the process, for example the integration of sports fields or the increasing expectation to be accessible by car. Full article

Many fields have been affected by COVID-19, including education. The pandemic has prompted a change in education due to the requirement for social distancing. Campuses are now closed in many educational institutions across the globe, and teaching and learning are now conducted online. Internationalization has significantly slowed down. A mixed-method study was designed for this research, with the goal of ascertaining the impact of COVID-19 on Bangladeshi students enrolled in higher education during and after the pandemic. A questionnaire with 19 questions on a Google form was used to collect quantitative data using a 4-point Likert scale and was conducted on 100 students from different universities in the southern part of Bangladesh, such as Barisal University, Patuakhali Science and Technology University, and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University. For collecting qualitative data, six quasi-interviews were conducted. A statistical package for Social Science (SPSS) was used to analyze both quantitative and qualitative data. The quantitative results demonstrated that during the COVID-19 pandemic, pupils continuously received teaching and learning. The current study’s findings revealed a significant positive correlation between the COVID-19 pandemic and teaching, learning, and student achievement and a significant negative correlation between the COVID-19 pandemic and student goals. The study also revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic had a detrimental effect on students enrolled in higher education programs at the universities. The qualitative judgment showed that students faced many problems when joining classes, such as poor Internet connection and insufficient network and technological facilities, etc. Some students live in rural areas and have slow Internet speeds, which sometimes prevented them from joining class. The findings of the study can help policy makers in higher education to review and adopt a new policy in higher education in Bangladesh. It can also help education instructors in universities to develop a proper study plan for their students. Full article

Background: The outbreak of COVID-19 has seriously threatened the health of people around the world. To prevent the spread of the epidemic, Chinese universities have implemented closed management of campuses. The implementation of restrictive measures has gradually caused changes in the quality of sleep and the psychological state of college students. In addition, college students are faced with the dual pressure of employment and study, and the psychological pressure is huge. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate sleep and depressive symptoms among college students. Methods: Using the method of stratified cluster sampling, 6695 college students were selected from three universities in Jiangxi, Anhui, and Xinjiang provinces from April to May 2022. The Chinese version of the Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) and the self-rating depression scale (SDS) were used for the survey. Hierarchical logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the relationship between the PSQI and the SDS. Results: Overall, during the outbreak of COVID-19, 69.0% of males and 73.5% of females had poor sleep quality among Chinese college students and the detection rate of depressive symptoms was 43.6% for males and 47.8% for females, respectively. Taking students with good sleep quality as references, after controlling for covariates, hierarchical logistic regression shows that Chinese college students with poor sleep quality have a higher OR value (OR = 12.0, 95%CI: 10.2~14.1, p < 0.001), especially in males (OR = 43.8, 95%CI:30.2~63.6, p < 0.001). For both males and females, the OR value of college students with the following characteristics was higher: rural college students (males, OR = 50.32, 95%CI: 32.50–77.93; females, OR = 8.03, 95%CI: 6.45–9.99), overweight college students (males, OR = 62.17, 95%CI: 19.47–198.53; females, OR = 16.67, 95%CI: 6.48–42.88), and college students drinking sugar-sweetened beverages (males, OR = 59.00, 95%CI: 36.96–94.18; females, OR = 8.16, 95%CI: 6.63–10.05) (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Poor sleep quality is associated with depressive symptoms among Chinese college students, especially college males. Our research suggests that it is necessary to consider the improvement of sleep quality and depressive symptoms among college students during the COVID-19 epidemic. Full article

Educational institutions, especially universities, have been major pillars in societal transformation throughout society’s history. They have been leading change through their discoveries, research results, and foremost, their example. Nowadays, universities have once again taken the role of leading change in a world that is profoundly determined to have a sustainable approach to life, paying attention to the long-term effects of their actions. In this sense, under the impact of deep digitalization, this paper advocates for the sustainable development of universities regarding campuses’ expansion to rural areas. Moreover, it was demonstrated that sustainable development can be achieved by embracing the potential of digitalization. Based on a multicriteria analysis of the Romanian development regions, the research results showed that the rural area might be a welcoming environment for campuses of sustainable universities, based on digitalization at the level of the rural area in all activity fields, which is an initiative that would generate positive outcomes on many levels for different types of stakeholders, such as universities, students, staff, rural area population, and the nearby business environment. Future research aims to approach and explain the compounded effects of such an approach in depth and establish an even clearer picture of how beneficial such an expansion could prove to all factors considered under a knowledge-based society with digitized information as a vital pillar. Full article

In contemporary times, bike sharing programs are gaining importance as an influential transportation mode in both urban and rural areas. They are also used as a vital transportation mode on university campuses which serve as a healthy and environmentally-friendly transportation system. However, having an appropriate location for a bike station is important, so as to maximize the benefits of the service. This study used an origin–destination (O-D) matrix to identify appropriate bike station locations at the Morgan State University campus. The O-D matrix analysis identifies three locations Cumming Hall/University Health Center, Rawling Hall, and Center for Built Environment and Infrastructure Studies as the most appropriate locations to start a pilot, which will serve most of the campus (students, faculty, staff) and connect them to the maximum number of facilities at Morgan State University. The O-D matrix takes into account the occupancy or population of individual buildings based on enrollment over the past four years, the distance to the center of the campus where maximum facilities including the graduate and undergraduate offices are located, and the frequency of the university shuttle connecting most of the buildings. This methodology can be replicated and used on other university campuses and will help further bike sharing programs. Full article