Search Results (9,635)

Rapid urbanization has intensified inequalities in the distribution of urban green resources, making green equity a critical concern within the framework of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This study examines Zhangdian District in Zibo City, China, a representative “Whole-Area Park City” pilot area. This study integrates 1 km population density grid data with GIS network analysis, space syntax, population-weighted service pressure assessment, and a location–allocation model. Using these methods, it evaluates four categories of urban parks from the perspectives of spatial distribution, road connectivity, and social equity. The results reveal that vehicle and cycling modes achieved nearly complete 15 min coverage, whereas pedestrian accessibility remained insufficient. Walking accessibility for comprehensive parks reached 77.69%, whereas that of community parks and petty street gardens was below 33%. Population-weighted analysis further suggests that more than 78% of residents, concentrated in dense central–western neighborhoods, are served by only 21% of total park area. The Gini coefficient of per capita park area reached 0.4765, indicating substantial inequality in park green space allocation. After optimization through the addition of 76 new parks, improvements in road connectivity, and construction of a slow-traffic system, the Gini coefficient decreased to 0.4053, representing a 14.9% reduction. Meanwhile, the population below the national standard declined from 78.09% to 40.64%. These findings reflect spatial accessibility and area-based equity, while actual park service value also depends on park quality, facilities, and user behavior. This study provides quantitative evidence for equity-oriented park planning and a replicable framework for sustainable urban green space planning. Full article

This study addresses second-home ownership not merely as a form of tourism accommodation or real estate investment, but as a home-building process intersecting with local life, belonging, daily practices, and sustainable destination governance. While the economic, environmental, and community impacts of second-homes have been extensively discussed in the literature, how individuals perceive their primary and secondary homes differently in terms of the bodily, material, vibrant, imaginary, and emotional dimensions of home has been examined in a limited number of studies. This research analyzes paired data obtained through a two-stage online questionnaire from 223 British participants who own a secondary home in the Mugla–Ortaca region and a primary home in the United Kingdom. The 18-item Home Scale was used as the measurement tool. Confirmatory factor analysis, reliability–validity analyses, measurement invariance, and paired-samples t-tests were applied. The findings show that the bodily home difference was not statistically significant at the conventional 0.05 threshold, whereas primary-home scores were significantly higher in the material, vibrant, imaginary, and emotional home dimensions. The small to small-medium effect sizes suggest that the results should be interpreted cautiously as an asymmetrical home-building process rather than as evidence of a hierarchical superiority of the primary home. The study proposes a planning approach that does not view second home owners as merely transient consumers in sustainable coastal–rural destinations, but rather considers social sustainability, service planning, seasonality management, and local community engagement channels together. Full article

Loneliness describes a complex experience, the subjective incongruence between one’s desired and perceived social connections. The study of loneliness has increased but mostly through quantitative methods, leaving a gap in the personal experience and understanding of what it means to be lonely. The everyday language used to articulate the personal experience of loneliness remains underexamined. To address this gap, we conducted 18 semi-structured life story interviews with older adult mental health service users. Interviews were conducted via telephone and lasted on average 45 min. Participants were included on the basis of being objectively classified as lonely and ranged in age from 66 to 84. This paper provides a thematic analysis of responses to the question “What does loneliness mean to you?” Responses include subjective and objective aspects, as well as frequency, duration, and intensity, and social, emotional, and existential loneliness. Loneliness is a multidimensional, personal experience, rather than a single construct. Participants discussed loneliness alongside social isolation, depression, grief, feelings of emptiness, purpose, meaning, boredom and hopelessness. These insights are important for informing how we frame loneliness in research, policy, and practice, and for highlighting that our language needs to be sufficiently inclusive to capture the complexity of loneliness, not only for work with mental health service users but in public health. Full article

This study examined rural pre-service teachers’ preferences for online learning platforms, Telegram, WhatsApp, and Moodle discussion forums in the Open Distance e-Learning environment. This group of students experiences digital illiteracy, limited access to assistive technologies, and network challenges, which may prevent them from optimally utilising formal learning platforms such as Moodle. They can, however, use Telegram and WhatsApp, as they regularly engage informally on these platforms. Against this backdrop, this study explored rural pre-service teachers’ experiences with Moodle and these social media platforms in an Open-Distance e-Learning space. This study employed a descriptive, qualitative case study with semi-structured interviews, guided by Siemens’ Connectivism theory. Fifteen student teachers from the College of Education in an ODeL institution were purposively sampled to provide in-depth insights into their lived experiences of platform use. The findings revealed that, although each platform served a unique instructional function, their perceived professionalism, safety, and interactivity differed substantially. Social media platforms such as Telegram and WhatsApp were lauded for their immediacy, accessibility, and low bandwidth usage, chiefly among rural pre-service teachers from economically disadvantaged communities. However, participants perceived these platforms as unprofessional, disruptive, and unsafe. Conversely, Moodle’s discussion forum was viewed as a credible, structured space that fostered academic discipline through the presence and guidance of lecturers. These contrasting perceptions highlight tensions between accessibility and academic regulation within ODeL environments. Although prior studies support incorporating social media platforms into LMSs, this research extends this discourse by emphasising the need to balance accessibility, interaction, and academic integrity within resource-constrained contexts. The study concludes that social media platforms and discussion forums can complement each other in ODeL, encouraging student interaction and inclusion, while discussion forums ensure educational rigour, safety, and institutional integrity. Full article

This systematic literature review comparatively examines two largely parallel research streams: the 15-minute city (15MC) and neighbourhood satisfaction (NS), identifying their overlaps, divergences, and unresolved tensions. It combines a bibliometric analysis of two thematic corpora with an in-depth full-text synthesis of empirical studies, following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) reporting practices. The bibliometric results show a rapidly expanding 15MC field since 2020, centered on proximity, accessibility, and sustainability, while NS research has a longer tradition focused on subjective well-being and perceived neighbourhood experiences, including environmental comfort, social cohesion, safety, and neighbourhood quality. Across the literature, the synthesis shows that spatial proximity and measured accessibility are important but insufficient to explain NS without also considering service quality, environmental comfort, perceived safety, and social relations. The review highlights persistent gaps in linking objective accessibility metrics with subjective outcomes, as well as mismatches in neighbourhood definitions and spatial scales. It also identifies limited evidence on temporal dynamics, population heterogeneity, and the social effects of proximity planning, including gentrification and displacement. Building on five conceptual bridges, the review proposes an integrated framework connecting objective proximity-based planning conditions with subjective, social, and contextual determinants of neighbourhood satisfaction. Full article

Background: In the context of a multi-stakeholder program promoted by Regione Lombardia in collaboration with Fondazione The Bridge and the University of Pavia, the present study investigates the organization and availability of hospital-based vaccination services for high-risk patients. Framing hospitals as strategic hubs for vaccination delivery, the study aimed to map service availability, operational settings and dedicated pathways across the region. Methods: A structured questionnaire was administered in 2025 to 40 healthcare organizations, encompassing 114 hospital facilities, including Local Health and Social Care Authorities (ASSTs) and both public and private Scientific Institutes for Research, Hospitalization and Healthcare (IRCCSs). Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were performed, and findings were compared with those from the 2023 and 2024 editions of the same survey, developed within the “Vaccination—an opportunity for high-risk patients” project, using Pearson’s chi-square test. Results: In 2025, 99 facilities (86.8% of respondents) reported providing vaccination services for at-risk individuals. Dedicated vaccination pathways were generally available in more than 50% of facilities for nearly two-thirds of the risk categories considered. Vaccination services for diabetic patients were available in 70.7% of facilities. Among healthcare workers, influenza (93%) and SARS-CoV-2 (89.5%) vaccines were the most frequently offered, with rates approximately ten percentage points higher than those of other vaccines. Conclusions: Overall, these findings indicate a regional model progressively consolidating hospital-based vaccination for high-risk groups, with a consistent upward trend in service availability from 2023 to 2025. Full article

Somali refugee mothers navigating parenting in the United States face compounding challenges that extend well beyond the initial resettlement period. This study employed a multi-method qualitative design, including utilizing a focus group and follow-up key informant interviews with Somali refugee mothers. Thematic framework analysis identified three overarching domains of challenges and resilience. First, a pervasive deficit of functional literacy, defined as the practical capacity to navigate American institutional systems, emerged as the primary stressor, superseding material poverty as a barrier to daily functioning. Second, significant intergenerational tensions were documented, including role reversal between mothers and children, erosion of parental authority, and breakdown of the traditional expectations that adult children provide financial and social support to aging parents. Third, single motherhood amplified all other stressors, producing progressive role strain and mental health decline in the absence of extended family support. Despite these challenges, participants demonstrated substantial resilience through informal mutual aid networks, religious practice, and deliberate cultural and linguistic preservation. Findings have direct implications for the design of culturally responsive resettlement programming, family counseling services, and mental health interventions for Somali refugee populations. Full article

Social justice has become a cornerstone of contemporary educational systems, serving as both an ethical principle and a criterion for evaluating equity in learning opportunities. In the field of Physical Education (PE), its bodily and relational nature makes social hierarchies regarding ability, gender, and body image highly visible. This study adopted a qualitative descriptive design to explore how pre-service PE teachers conceptualize social justice and how they envision its didactic implementation within the Spanish curricular context. The findings provide a critical roadmap for teacher education programs, suggesting that fostering social justice requires moving beyond theoretical discourse toward specific pedagogical tools that address power dynamics and inclusion within Physical Education contexts. Full article

Industrial transformation in resource-based regions (RBRs) is a global challenge. Shanxi is a typical resource-based province in China. The long-term exploitation of coal resources has posed huge challenges to its ecological protection and high-quality development. Breaking away from the single-city perspective, this study focuses on the regional scale and comparative analysis and attempts to construct a novel three-dimensional analytical framework, namely, “industrial characteristics, industrial layout, and industrial policies”, to explore the industrial transformation path of typical RBRs. The results indicate the following: (1) Shanxi does not have obvious advantages in terms of resource endowment, with a severely heavy industrial structure and strategic emerging industries still in the initial stage of development. At the national strategic level, it is still necessary to strengthen the application of the “pioneer and pilot” policies and mechanisms for innovation. (2) In the context of high-quality development, Shanxi needs to clarify the industrial transformation orientation. For agriculture, the focus should be placed on characteristic and efficient development. For industrial development, priority should be given to upgrading advantageous industries and cultivating emerging industries. For the tertiary industry, it is necessary to form a development pattern of “new producer services + characteristic tourism”. In terms of regional development layout, Shanxi should establish a macro-pattern to promote inter-regional coordinated development. (3) In the new period, Shanxi should accelerate the construction of transportation systems to improve the convenience of inter-regional cooperation. It is essential to increase investment in education and scientific research so as to enhance the overall social innovation capacity. Meanwhile, differentiated regional development policies should be adequately supplied to drive the high-quality evolution of local industries. Focusing on the regional scale, the new logical analysis paradigm can provide theoretical references for RBRs to clarify the direction of industrial transformation and formulate transformation policies. Full article

This study examines whether stricter enforcement of mandatory social insurance contributions affects corporate income tax behavior in China. In the Chinese institutional context, mandatory social insurance refers to payroll-based employer and employee contributions to five statutory programs: basic pension insurance, basic medical insurance, work-injury insurance, unemployment insurance, and maternity insurance. These programs are directly related to social sustainability because they finance old-age income security, medical protection, workplace injury compensation, unemployment support, maternity protection, and labor-market stability. Using China’s 2018 social insurance collection reform as a quasi-natural experiment, we analyze A-share listed companies from 2014 to 2024 through a difference-in-differences design based on differential exposure between private firms and state-owned enterprises. To assess the reliability of the identification strategy, we employ firm and year fixed effects, event-study analysis, placebo tests, alternative measures of tax avoidance, and propensity score matching difference-in-differences robustness checks. The findings show a tax-fee seesaw effect: private firms subject to extensive regulatory scrutiny respond to more rigorous enforcement of social insurance contributions by increasing corporate income tax avoidance. Analysis of the mechanisms shows that the Whited-Wu index of financial constraints partially explains this phenomenon. The effect is more pronounced in firms with higher labor costs and greater administrative expense intensity, indicating that the increased response is driven by labor cost exposure and organizational discretion. By contrast, the effect is weaker among firms audited by the Big Four accounting networks—Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young, and KPMG—indicating that high-quality external audits constrain aggressive tax planning. Regionally, the effect is most pronounced in eastern China, where markets, labor costs, and tax-planning services are more developed. The findings contribute to the sustainable development literature by demonstrating that reforms designed to strengthen social insurance sustainability can unintentionally weaken tax compliance if payroll contributions, tax administration, and corporate financial pressures are not coordinated. The study highlights the importance of integrated fiscal governance for achieving socially sustainable and fiscally balanced development. Full article

Mobile payment services are increasingly embedded in everyday digital consumption, yet their sustainability relevance should not be assumed solely from technological adoption. This study conceptualizes sustainable mobile payment consumption as a relational and digital sustainability issue, reflected in the continuity, trust, diffusion, and resilience of mobile payment ecosystems rather than as a direct measure of environmental sustainability. Drawing on perceived value theory, relationship marketing, social exchange theory, and trust-based consumption logic, this study examines how mobile payment perceived value (MPPV) is associated with customer advocacy through customer experience and customer loyalty, while considering customer trust as a boundary condition. Survey data collected from 382 mobile payment users in Lebanon were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings suggest that MPPV is positively associated with customer experience, customer loyalty, and customer advocacy. Customer experience is positively associated with loyalty while loyalty is positively associated with advocacy. The sequential mediation results are consistent with the proposed relational pathway in which holistic perceived value is linked to advocacy through experience and loyalty rather than through transactional evaluations alone. Customer trust strengthens the associations between MPPV and both loyalty and advocacy, suggesting that trust amplifies value-based relational outcomes in high-uncertainty financial environments. The central finding is that holistic perceived value becomes sustainability-relevant when channeled through accumulated experience and loyalty into advocacy, and that this relational pathway is contingent on trust, a mechanism particularly consequential in Lebanon’s high-uncertainty financial environment. By positioning advocacy as a sustainability-relevant relational outcome, this study clarifies how perceived value, experience, loyalty, and trust jointly contribute to sustainable digital consumption in an emerging economy. Full article

The coupling coordination among digital village development, agricultural modernization, and agricultural carbon emission efficiency is critical for achieving green and high-quality agricultural development. Using panel data of 30 Chinese provinces (excluding Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and Tibet) from 2011 to 2024, this study measures agricultural carbon emission efficiency via the super-efficiency SBM model, evaluates the levels of digital village development and agricultural modernization using the entropy method, constructs a coupling coordination degree model to analyze the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of the three systems, and employs the Geographically and Temporally Weighted Regression (GTWR) model to reveal the spatiotemporally heterogeneous effects of governmental, market, and social factors on the coupling coordination degree. The results show that: (1) The three systems exhibit unbalanced development. The digital village development index increased from 0.430 to 0.634; agricultural modernization grew slowly from 0.308 to 0.411; and agricultural carbon emission efficiency surged from 0.146 to 0.655. (2) The coupling coordination degree of the three systems rose continuously from 0.382 to 0.661, transitioning from near disorder to primary coordination. Spatially, the eastern and northeastern regions led while the western region lagged, though Xinjiang reached good coordination (0.786) in 2024. (3) The GTWR model reveals that the marketization index (ranging from −0.0362 to 0.0559), agricultural land transfer rate (ranging from −0.1630 to 1.7952), fiscal support for agriculture (ranging from −0.0003 to 0.0232), and agricultural socialized services (ranging from −0.0019 to 0.0012) have positive effects with significant spatial heterogeneity. Rural infrastructure exhibits a “positive in the south, negative in the north” pattern (ranging from 0.0540 to 1.0460), while the overall social consumption level (ranging from −0.9680 to 0.6548) exerts a negative inhibiting effect. These findings provide a theoretical basis for understanding the spatial heterogeneity of the coupling coordination among the three systems and emphasize that differentiated, regionally tailored strategies are key to promoting green and high-quality agricultural development. Full article

Background/Objectives: Parenting stress and life satisfaction are important indicators of family well-being and parent mental health in families of children with disabilities. However, limited empirical attention has been given to how these outcomes differ among parents whose children receive adapted physical activity (APA) services within South Korea’s Developmental Rehabilitation Service system. This cross-sectional study examined subgroup differences in parenting stress and life satisfaction according to sociodemographic, disability-related, and service-utilization characteristics among parents of children receiving APA services. Methods: Data were collected from 295 parents of school-aged children with disabilities enrolled in APA services at child development centers. Welch-type tests, Welch’s ANOVA or one-way ANOVA, Pearson correlation analyses, Benjamini–Hochberg FDR adjustment, and supplementary analyses of covariance (ANCOVA) were used to examine group differences and the stability of selected associations after adjustment for prespecified covariates. Confirmatory factor analysis and gender-based measurement invariance testing were also conducted for the adapted parenting stress scale. Results: Parenting stress subdomains were positively correlated with one another (r = 0.19–0.53) and negatively correlated with life satisfaction (r = −0.28 to −0.40). Female parents reported higher social and psychological stress than male parents. Household income showed the largest association with economic stress, and significant differences were also observed according to parental age, education level, disability severity, and selected service-utilization characteristics. Some associations remained after ANCOVA adjustment, whereas others were attenuated or emerged only after adjustment. Conclusions: The findings indicate subgroup differences in parenting stress and life satisfaction among parents of children receiving APA services. Because the study used a cross-sectional, self-reported design with convenience sampling and an adapted instrument, the results should be interpreted as preliminary associative evidence rather than evidence of causal or service-specific effects. Future longitudinal, comparative, and service-level research is needed to clarify how APA service contexts relate to caregiver well-being over time. Full article

With the rapid development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology, human-like AI service agents have been increasingly applied in service marketing. Online travel agency (OTA) platforms provide an important application context for such service agents in consumer-facing service interactions, such as travel planning and related services. Drawing on social cognitive theory and control theory, this study examines the psychological mechanisms underlying consumers’ intentions to adopt AI service agents. One pretest and two experiments involving 521 participants were conducted to investigate the effects of the AI service agent role on consumers’ willingness to use substitute vs. assist AI. The results show that consumers are more willing to use assist AI service agents than substitute AI service agents. This effect is mediated by human identity threat and sense of control. Moreover, higher consumer technology readiness moderates these effects, mitigating the preference for assist over substitute AI service agents. This study extends the conceptual framework of AI service agents in human–computer interaction research and offers practical implications for the effective design and deployment of AI service agents in OTA applications. Full article

This review analyzes the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) production and its contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A scoping review following PRISMA-ScR guidelines was conducted using the Web of Science (2020–2026), resulting in 225 included studies. Buffalo production is a multipurpose system that generates value through milk, meat, hides, manure, draft power, and animal-assisted services, with greater longevity than most livestock species. Economically, it supports income diversification, resource efficiency, and functions as a financial asset that can be sold to cover unexpected expenses. Socially, it enhances food security by providing nutrient-dense products, particularly milk with bioactive compounds associated with potential health benefits, and promotes women’s participation in livestock management and household economies. Environmentally, buffalo systems efficiently utilize low-quality forages, are adapted to marginal conditions, contribute to wetland conservation, and provide ecosystem services. These contributions align with several SDGs (1, 2, 5, 8, 12, 13, and 15). However, sector expansion is constrained by limitations in nutrition, management, veterinary services, and reproductive efficiency, as well as environmental challenges related to methane emissions and life cycle impacts. While global methane emissions from buffalo are lower due to their smaller population, emission intensity remains system-dependent and represents a critical challenge. In conclusion, water buffalo production represents a multifunctional and context-dependent system with significant potential to support sustainable development, although targeted innovations are required to improve productivity and address environmental challenges. Future research should integrate One Health and One Welfare approaches, develop long-term studies, and expand research under diverse experimental and field conditions to better characterize the potential health implications of buffalo-derived products. In addition, strengthening circular economy strategies, including region-specific diets to reduce emissions, remains a priority. Full article