Search Results (135)

This article examines the relationship between human capital accumulation, household income, and shared prosperity using 2005–2018 household surveys in Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda. Human capital is found to be positively and significantly correlated with household wellbeing in all five nations. Health’s indirect benefits in Cameroon, Ethiopia, and Kenya augment its direct benefits. Education has monotonic welfare benefits from primary to tertiary levels in all countries. Human capital and labour market participation are strongly associated with household wellbeing. The equalization of human capital endowments increases income for the 40% of the least well-off groups in three of the sample countries. All countries except Uganda record a decrease in human capital deprivation over the period studied. Redistribution is associated with a reduction in human capital deprivation, although less systematically than in the growth scenario. These results suggest that sizeable reductions in human capital deprivation are more likely to be accomplished by interventions that focus on boosting general human capital outcomes than those that redistribute the human capital formation inputs. In countries with declining human capital deprivation, the within-sector interventions seem to account for this success. Substantial heterogeneity in human capital poverty exists within and across countries and between rural and urban areas. Full article

Urban regulations in Amman, Jordan, enforce uniform building setbacks irrespective of topography, exacerbating shading effects and compromising daylight access in residential areas—a critical factor for occupant health and psychological well-being. This study evaluates the interplay between standardized setbacks, slope variations (0–30%), and shadow patterns in Amman’s dense, mountainous urban fabric. Focusing on the Al Jubayhah district, a mixed-methods approach was used, combining field surveys, 3D modeling (Revit), and seasonal shadow simulations (March, September, December) to quantify daylight deprivation. The results reveal severe shading in winter (78.3% site coverage in December) and identify slope-dependent setbacks as a key determinant: for instance, a 15 m building on a 30% slope requires a 26.4 m rear setback to mitigate shadows, compared to 13.8 m on flat terrain. Over 39% of basements in the study area remain permanently shaded due to retaining walls, correlating with poor living conditions. The findings challenge Amman’s one-size-fits-all regulatory framework (Building Code No. 67, 1979), and we propose adaptive guidelines, including slope-adjusted setbacks, restricted basement usage, and optimized street orientation. This research underscores the urgency of context-sensitive urban policies in mountainous cities to balance developmental density with daylight equity, offering a replicable methodology for similar Mediterranean climates. Full article

Objectives: Survival from lung cancer is worse in the UK than in some other countries, with late stage at diagnosis implicated in poor prognosis. The route and referral urgency by which patients obtain a diagnosis influence outcomes. This study investigated whether socio-demographic factors are associated with lung cancer routes to diagnosis in England. Materials and Methods: A total of 181,763 primary invasive lung cancers (ICD-10 C34.0-C34.9) diagnosed from 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2016 were abstracted from the English National Cancer Registration Database. Multivariable logistic regression was used to examine associations between patients’ socio-demographic characteristics and likelihood (adjusted odds ratios) of (i) emergency presentation versus all primary care-initiated routes and (ii) urgent (“two-week wait”/2WW) versus standard primary care-initiated referral. Models included the following factors: deprivation quintile of area of residence at diagnosis (IMD income domain); sex; age; ethnic group; rural/urban residence; and (in the emergency model) region. Results: Socio-demographic variations in diagnosis routes were observed. Patients presenting as emergencies (35.2%) were more likely to be 80 years of age or older, female, of non-White ethnicity, and resident in areas of greater deprivation or the London region. In contrast, 2WW patients (28.3%) were more likely to be aged between 50 and 69 years old, of White ethnicity, and resident in an area of greater deprivation or resident outside of an urban centre; diagnosis through 2WW did not vary by sex. Conclusions: Routes to diagnosis are subject to distinct socio-demographic patterning. Action is needed to ensure that new referral guidelines and lung cancer screening roll-out do not widen socio-demographic inequalities in diagnosis. Full article

Teacher professional development (PD) programs ensure quality education, and quality education is the basis for sustainable development. However, the non-participation of mathematics teachers in PD still represents a tough challenge for several school systems and remains poorly understood. Using data from the 2011, 2015, and 2019 cycles of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), we analyzed more than 200 national datasets to identify countries with relevant proportions of non-participation in PD and model cross-nationally the relationship between the odds of this outcome and a set of variables at the teacher and school level, including the interaction between job satisfaction and the attributes of the schools. Successive logistic regression models applied to each national dataset reveals that, in different countries, the teachers’ job satisfaction, sex, teaching experience, the completion of initial teaching training, and the schools’ attributes (i.e., location and socio-economic status (SES)) were significantly associated with the odds of non-participation in PD amongst mathematics teachers. Three cases (Lebanon and Japan in 2015, and Norway in 2019) describes opposite patterns of results for the interaction between the teachers’ job satisfaction and the type of school location (urban vs. remote rural). In Lebanon in 2019, female teachers, as well as more experienced teachers and those teachers working in deprived areas were significantly more likely to report non-participation in PD. This study underscores the importance of undertaking regular and reliable cross-national monitoring of teachers’ non-participation in PD to guide policy efforts aligned with indicator 4.c.7 of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals framework. Full article

Asthma prevalence in large urban areas of developing countries is a significant public health concern, with increased rates driven by various socioeconomic and environmental factors. This study aims to predict asthma risk in Tehran, a major urban center in Iran. Data from 1473 asthma patients, alongside demographic, socioeconomic, air quality, environmental, weather, and healthcare access variables, were analyzed using geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing techniques. Three ensemble machine learning algorithms—Random Forest (RF), Gradient Boosting Machine (GBM), and Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost)—were applied to model and predict asthma risk. A Negative Binomial Regression Model (NBRM) identified seven key predictors: population density, unemployment rate, particulate matter (PM_2.5 and PM₁₀), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), sulfur dioxide (SO₂), neighborhood deprivation index, and road intersection density. Among the algorithms, GBM outperformed the others, with a training RMSE of 0.56 and a test RMSE of 1.07, demonstrating strong generalization. Additionally, GBM achieved the highest R-squared values (0.95 for training and 0.76 for testing) and lower MAE values (0.43 for training and 0.88 for testing). Effective pattern recognition was confirmed by EV values of 0.95 for training and 0.75 for testing, along with a Moran’s I value of 0.17, indicating minimal spatial autocorrelation. Full article

Background/Objectives: Many deprived communities in the UK have low fruit and vegetable (FV) intake, leading to poor health outcomes. Fresh Street is a place-based voucher approach that enables households to buy FV from local independent suppliers. Fresh Street Community embeds this approach within community hubs, thus enabling households to use vouchers to purchase FV from community centres. This paper explores the enablers and barriers influencing the uptake of Fresh Street Community in two UK urban areas of high deprivation. Methods: This three-phase exploratory qualitative study was informed by ‘co-production’ with community researchers at both sites: (1) literature review and observations identifying enablers and barriers in FV voucher schemes; (2) semi-structured interviews and focus groups with the research team and community food researchers to ‘validate’ the factors identified in phase 1 and to develop explanatory narratives for these factors; and (3) participatory and thematic analysis of the enablers and barriers to finalise the identified factors. Results: A total of ten enablers and sixteen barriers were validated across both sites. However, differences in local contexts and operational procedures impacted future FV voucher scheme implementation. The important role of community food researchers to engage participants and support the synthesis of findings is also presented. Conclusions: This study offers practical and critical insights for researchers, community food researchers, and practitioners on factors that influence a community centre-based FV voucher scheme to address nutritional inequalities. Full article

This study, as a contribution to the research on urban land grabbing (grabs) as a global phenomenon, seeks to evaluate the populist belief that developers swallow up urban land originally zoned for community purposes under Government, Institution and Community (GIC) zoning, thus depriving communities of space for their own benefit. The authors applied a systematic analysis of non-aggregate planning and development statistics to better interpret the features of the land market as regulated by zoning. Their research focuses on the salient features of redevelopment projects that enjoy successful planning applications and onsite development in GIC zones. They compared the planning and development statistics, obtained from the Planning Department’s website, of 425 approved GIC projects with those of the 261 Comprehensive Development Area (CDA) zone projects. Subject to the limitations of the data collected, the results qualify a negative view of land oligarchs (powerful land developers) who sought land under unitary ownership obtained in the past at nominal land premiums for quick windfalls. Particularly, GIC redevelopments were found to have proceeded much faster than CDA developments and, hence, were a natural attraction to developers, which were diverse, not exclusively private, and produced a few urban innovations during the redevelopment process. Full article

Electrification of private cars is a key mechanism for reducing transport emissions and achieving net zero. Simultaneously, the development of public electric vehicle (EV) charging networks is essential for an equitable transition to EVs. This paper develops and analyses an extensive, nationally representative dataset of EV-charging sessions taking place on a key public charging network in Scotland between 2022 and 2024 to gain insights that can support the development of public charging infrastructure. Data were collated from 2786 chargers and analysed to establish a detailed characterisation of the network’s organisation and utilisation. The network considered is government-owned and was fundamental to the Scottish rollout of public chargers. Key insights from our analysis of the developed dataset include quantified disparities between urban and rural charger use-time behaviours, with the most rural areas tending to have charging activity more concentrated towards the middle of the day; an analysis of the numbers of deployed chargers in areas of greater/lesser deprivation; utilisation disparities between charger technologies, with 35% of slower chargers being used at least once daily compared to 86% of rapid/ultra-rapid chargers; and demonstration that charging tariff introductions resulted in a 51.3% average decrease in sessions. The implications of our findings for policy and practice are also discussed. Full article

Background: Non-melanoma skin cancers (NMSCs) are the most common cancers in the United States. Image-guided superficial radiation therapy (IGSRT) is an effective treatment for NMSCs. Patient comorbidities and socioeconomic status (SES) are known contributors to health disparities. However, the impact of comorbidities or SES on the outcomes of IGSRT-treated NMSCs has not yet been studied. This study evaluated freedom from recurrence in IGSRT-treated NMSCs stratified by SES and the number of comorbidities. Methods: This large retrospective cohort study evaluated associations between SES (via Area Deprivation Index (ADI)) or comorbidity (via Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI)) and 2-, 4-, and 6-year year freedom from recurrence in patients with IGSRT-treated NMSC (n = 19,988 lesions). Results: Freedom from recurrence in less (ADI ≤ 50) vs. more (ADI > 50) deprived neighborhoods was 99.47% vs. 99.61% at 6 years, respectively (p = 0.2). Freedom from recurrence in patients with a CCI of 0 (low comorbidity burden) vs. a CCI of ≥7 (high comorbidity burden) was 99.67% vs. 99.27% at 6 years, respectively (p = 0.9). Conclusions: This study demonstrates that there are no significant effects of SES or comorbidity burden on freedom from recurrence in patients with IGSRT-treated NMSC. This supports the expansion of IGSRT in deprived neighborhoods to increase access to care, and IGSRT should be a consideration even in patients with a complex comorbidity status. Full article

Air pollution, greenspace and noise are interrelated environmental factors with the potential to influence human health outcomes. Research has measured these exposures in diverse ways across the globe, but no study has yet performed a country-wide analysis of air pollution, greenspace, and noise in England. This study examined cross-sectional PM_2.5, NO₂, greenness, accessible greenspace, road noise, and rail noise exposure data at all residential postcodes in England (n = 1,227,681). Restricted cubic spline models were fitted between each environmental exposure and a measure of socioeconomic status, the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) rank. Population-weighted exposures by IMD deciles, urbanicity, and region were subsequently estimated. Restricted cubic spline models were also fitted between greenness and each other environmental exposure in the study. The results show some evidence of inequalities in exposure to air pollutants, greenspace, and noise across England. Notably, there is a socioeconomic gradient in greenness, NO₂, PM_2.5, and road noise in London. In addition, NO₂, PM_2.5, and road noise exposure decrease as greenness increases in urban areas. Concerningly, almost all air pollution estimates in our study exceed international health guidelines. Further research is needed to elucidate the socioeconomic patterns and health impacts of air pollution, greenspace, and noise over time. Full article

Increasing tenure security is essential for promoting safe and inclusive urban development and achieving Sustainable Development Goals. However, assessment of tenure security relies on conventional census and survey statistics, which often fail to capture the dimension of perceived tenure insecurity. This perceived tenure insecurity is crucial as it influences local engagement and the effectiveness of policies. In many regions, particularly in the Global South, these conventional methods lack the necessary data to adequately measure perceived tenure insecurity. This study first used household survey data to derive variations in perceived tenure insecurity and then explored the potential of Very-High Resolution (VHR) satellite imagery and spatial data to assess these variations in urban deprived areas. Focusing on the city of Kigali, Rwanda, the study collected household survey data, which were analysed using Multiple Correspondence Analysis to capture variations of perceived tenure insecurity. In addition, VHR satellite imagery and spatial datasets were analysed to characterize urban deprivation. Finally, a Random Forest regression model was used to assess the relationship between variations of perceived tenure insecurity and the spatial characteristics of urban deprived areas. The findings highlight the potential of geospatial information to estimate variations in perceived tenure insecurity within urban deprived contexts. These insights can inform evidence-based decision-making by municipalities and stakeholders in urban development initiatives. Full article

Energy poverty (EP) is a crucial socio-economic problem in current society, as it deprives people of a basic standard of living and quality of life. In general, EP is linked to various factors, but it is primarily associated with high energy costs, low household income, and inefficient building structures. Due to the recent energy crisis in Europe, the importance of these factors has escalated. Bearing in mind the above remarks, the REVERTER EU-funded LIFE project will develop and test nine roadmaps in four European countries (Brezovo—Bulgaria; Athens Urban area—Greece; Riga—Latvia; and Coimbra—Portugal) to alleviate EP by addressing the poor energy efficiency of dwellings. To directly observe real-life scenarios in designated pilot regions, questionnaire surveys were conducted, involving approximately 300 households in each pilot area. This paper presents and evaluates the outcomes of the survey conducted in the central region of Portugal. The findings allow for a deeper comprehension of the factors that impact energy poverty in Portugal, spanning socio-economic aspects, housing characteristics, mechanical systems, energy expenses, and behaviors, as well as the awareness of available support initiatives. Drawing from the survey’s insights, novel strategies are suggested to alleviate energy poverty, with a primary emphasis on crafting tailored, efficient policies that address the genuine requirements of households and individuals. Full article

Making cities health-promoting places is an evolving theme. Numerous studies confirm the health-promoting qualities of contact with nature and problems resulting from the deprivation of access to public green spaces. Easy access to safe and inclusive public green spaces is still one of the long-lasting problems of urbanized areas around the globe. It is one of the sustainable development goals, SDGs, proposed by the UN: 11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. Point 11.7 By 2030, provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces, in particular for women and children, older persons and persons with disabilities. The major question is how to implement this goal in practice and design cities to provide easy access to safe and inclusive public green spaces. One of the important concepts for sustainable urban development is the urban block, Macrolot, coined by Christian de Portzamparc, which led to the new urban morphology of eco-neighborhoods in France. It combines the traditional, walkable urban grid with the Le Corbusier vision for a healthy modernist city offering daylight, fresh air, and greenery for everyone. Among the advantages of this particular urban morphology are the increased presence of green spaces and possibilities for placemaking. Studying the effects of the urban form of the Macrolot is of great significance for sustainable urban development. In this study, five neighborhoods—three eco-neighborhoods from France designed according to the open urban block, Macrolot urban morphology, ZAC Massena, ZAC Trapeze, and ZAC Clichy-Batignolles, and two award-winning developments from Poland, Riverview and Ostoja Wilanów—were chosen as case studies. The application of the Macrolot concept to sustainable urban planning and design and the possibilities for operationalization of the SDG—11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable—are discussed. This study offers valuable evidence to inform urban planning and design. Full article

Urban crime prevention remains a critical challenge intertwined with socioeconomic disparities. This study investigates the spatial nexus between urban deprivation and crime decline in Chicago from 2015 to 2022, addressing the question: How do changes in neighborhood deprivation relate to crime reduction patterns? Using comprehensive crime incident and census tract Area Deprivation Index (ADI) data, this study conducted exploratory spatial analysis, regression modeling, and local bivariate relationship analysis. The findings reveal persistent hotspots of concentrated deprivation on Chicago’s south and west sides, alongside a general citywide crime decline. However, the current research uncovered significant spatial heterogeneity in both deprivation patterns and crime reduction, challenging the achievement of equitable public safety outcomes. Surprisingly, while crime incidents in 2015 and 2022 significantly predicted crime change, ADI scores were not statistically significant predictors in our regression model. Local bivariate analysis exposed diverse relationships between ADI changes and crime rate changes across neighborhoods, with 72.2% of census tracts showing no statistically significant relationship. This underscores the complexity of urban crime dynamics and the importance of local context in understanding these patterns. Our research contributes a nuanced understanding of the intricate relationship between urban deprivation and crime patterns, providing valuable insights for policymakers, law enforcement agencies, and urban planners. These findings highlight the need for integrated, long-term strategies that address both crime prevention and socioeconomic disparities, ultimately fostering safer, more equitable urban environments and informing evidence-based interventions tailored to specific neighborhood contexts. Full article

In recent decades, a large influx of migrants from rural areas to cities has brought numerous pressures to urban infrastructure, the environment, public services, and social stability. Therefore, promoting the social integration of migrants is crucial for the sustainable development of cities. Analyzing this situation from the perspective of social capital, as opposed to economic and human capital, can better reveal the underlying mechanisms behind social integration. Therefore, we sought to explore the impact mechanism of social integration among China’s migrants by establishing a comprehensive model that incorporates bonding social capital (BSC), bridging social capital (BRC), relative deprivation (RD), hometown attachment (HA), and social integration (SI) through research based on the 2017 China Migrant Dynamic Survey (CMDS). The results indicate that different types of social capital have varied impacts. Bridging social capital is positively correlated with social integration, with relative deprivation playing a mediating role between the two. In contrast, bonding social capital is negatively correlated with social integration, with hometown attachment moderating the relationship between them. This study enriches social capital theory in the field of migration research and provides recommendations for government efforts to promote social integration Full article