Search Results (767)

Existing studies have mainly focused on either intangible cultural heritage (ICH) or traditional villages separately, while limited attention has been paid to their coupled spatial relationship and influencing mechanisms at the provincial scale. To address this gap, this study investigates the spatial characteristics and influencing factors of 869 national and provincial intangible cultural heritage (ICH) items and 777 traditional villages in Yunnan Province using Geographic Information Systems (GISs) and geographic detector methods. The results indicate significant differences in their spatial distribution patterns: ICH exhibits a “multi-core clustering” structure, whereas traditional villages present a “dual-core clustering with multiple dispersed patches” pattern. The study further reveals a spatial mismatch as well as a significant positive spatial correlation between ICH and traditional villages. Natural environmental conditions and historical-cultural factors jointly shape their spatial differentiation, while socio-economic factors such as urbanization exert a stronger influence on ICH distribution, and demographic and economic conditions more strongly affect traditional villages. This study contributes to the literature by integrating cultural landscape theory with GIS-based spatial analysis to reveal the spatial interaction mechanisms between ICH and traditional villages in Yunnan Province. The findings provide theoretical support and practical implications for cultural heritage conservation, rural revitalization, and territorial spatial planning in ethnically diverse border regions. Full article

Air pollution is an emerging environmental and public health concern in Uganda; however, the evolution of atmospheric pollution research in the country has not been comprehensively synthesized. This study presents a scoping review of peer-reviewed literature published between 1990 and 2025, examining the temporal trends in research output, key pollutants investigated, the study environments and research methodological approaches. A structured literature search was conducted across three academic databases (Google Scholar, Web of Science, and PubMed) and eligible studies were screened and analysed using a standardized data extraction framework. The results reveal highly uneven growth in research output, with minimal activity prior to 2010, followed by rapid expansion after 2015 and a pronounced surge between 2020 and 2025. Particulate matter (PM_2.5 and PM₁₀) dominated the literature across all periods, while gaseous pollutants such as NO₂, SO₂, CO, and O₃ were comparatively underrepresented. Most studies were conducted in urban environments, particularly in Kampala, whereas rural ambient monitoring remained limited. Methodologically, the literature evolved from proxy-based and gravimetric approaches to the increased use of low-cost sensors, portable monitors and satellite-derived data. Despite recent advances, the predominance of short-term and spatially constrained studies highlights persistent gaps in long-term and nationally representative air quality monitoring. This review synthesizes trends, methodological developments, and evidence gaps in atmospheric pollution research in Uganda over a 35-year period, providing a foundation for strengthening future monitoring and policy frameworks. Full article

Background/Objectives: Western Canadian and U.S. communities outside urban centres remain underserved by primary, specialist, emergency, mental health, and chronic-disease services. These access problems reflect distance, weather, workforce shortages, specialist maldistribution, primary care attachment gaps, broadband limitations, and the governance realities of Indigenous and Tribal communities. This scoping review with narrative synthesis examined how telehealth and virtual-care models affect rural access in western Canada and the western/frontier United States. Methods: Searches were completed on 21 May 2026 in PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, Scopus, the Cochrane Library, and PubMed Central. Supplementary searches included Google Scholar, publisher platforms, reference-list checking, and official Canadian and U.S. health-system sources. Peer-reviewed evidence published from 1 January 2016 to 21 May 2026 was eligible when it addressed rural, remote, frontier, Indigenous, underserved, western, or northern healthcare settings and reported access, implementation, safety, continuity, equity, or service-use outcomes. Results: The search identified 112 records; 27 duplicates were removed, 85 records were screened, 37 full texts were assessed, and 28 peer-reviewed records were included. Seven official sources were retained separately. Evidence was mainly observational, qualitative, mixed-methods, implementation-focused, or review-level. Moderate confidence supported telehealth for travel reduction and specialist input, especially through eConsultation, provider-to-provider consultation, telementoring, and real-time emergency support. Confidence was low to moderate for hybrid primary care and telemental health, and low for durable reductions in emergency department use. Conclusions: Telehealth may be most appropriately implemented as a hybrid, locally anchored, culturally safe access model, not as a stand-alone substitute for rural primary care, specialist capacity, or emergency services. Implementation should include broadband support, local physical assessment capacity, documentation, continuity, patient education, and clear escalation pathways. Full article

This study investigates the psychological and contextual mechanisms through which consumers’ awareness of agriculture’s contribution to climate change translates into a willingness to pay (WTP) for low-carbon agricultural products. Drawing on data from Eurobarometer 93.2 (ZA7739; N = 24,193), the research applies a moderated mediation model (Hayes’ PROCESS Model 14) to examine the mediating role of support for mandatory environmental labelling and the moderating effect of residential context. The results indicate that climate change awareness is significantly and positively associated with WTP. Moreover, support for mandatory labelling partially mediates this relationship, suggesting that institutionalized transparency may serve as a key mechanism through which environmental concern becomes economically actionable. The findings further reveal that this indirect effect is moderated by the level of urbanization, being stronger in urban areas than in rural settings. This highlights the importance of socio-spatial context in shaping consumer responses to sustainability information. Overall, the study contributes to the literature on sustainable consumption by demonstrating that willingness to financially support low-carbon agriculture depends not only on environmental awareness but also on trust-enhancing policy instruments and contextual factors. The findings offer important implications for policymakers aiming to promote sustainable food systems through information-based regulation. Full article

Male circumcision (MC) has been shown in studies from South Africa, Kenya, and Uganda to reduce heterosexual Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) transmission among men by approximately 50–60%. Despite Namibia’s adoption of voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) as part of national HIV prevention strategies, uptake remains suboptimal in some communities. This study assessed the knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions (KAP) of male circumcision among men aged 20–40 years in Otjiwarongo, Namibia, and examined socio-demographic factors associated with these outcomes. A community-based cross-sectional survey was conducted between March and May 2024, involving 359 participants selected through multistage sampling. Data were collected using structured, pre-tested questionnaires and analysed using STATA version 19. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and binary logistic regression were used to summarise data and identify predictors of favourable KAP outcomes. Overall, 69.1% of respondents demonstrated good knowledge of male circumcision, 72.7% had positive attitudes, and 69.9% reported positive perceptions. Awareness of male circumcision was high (91.9%); however, only 69.4% of participants recognised its role in reducing HIV infection risk, and notable misconceptions persisted regarding its protective effects and procedural aspects. Multivariable analysis showed that urban residence (AOR = 1.58; 95% CI: 1.03–2.42; p = 0.035) and higher education (AOR = 4.12; 95% CI: 1.21–14.02; p = 0.024) were significant predictors of favourable KAP outcomes. In addition, good knowledge was strongly associated with positive attitudes (AOR = 3.25; 95% CI: 2.01–5.26; p < 0.001) and perceptions (AOR = 2.87; 95% CI: 1.79–4.60; p < 0.001). In conclusion, while knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions towards male circumcision were generally favourable, important gaps and misconceptions remain. Targeted, culturally appropriate health education interventions are needed, particularly among rural and less-educated populations, to improve understanding and acceptance of VMMC as part of comprehensive HIV prevention strategies. Full article

While land development opportunities stemming from planning regulations demonstrably influence rural household income, quantitative evidence quantifying these effects remains limited. Measuring and decomposing these effects can empirically support territorial spatial planning policies aimed at alleviating associated regional development imbalances and advancing sustainable rural development. This study selects Wuhan’s Sino-French Eco-City (urban development zone) and Xiaosi Township (wetland conservation zone) as typical zones. Based on 573 randomly sampled rural households, we explore the effects of land development opportunities on rural household incomes and find that: (1) Land development opportunities for non-agricultural conversion in the urban development zone significantly increase rural households’ total income, wage income, though their corresponding contribution rates are limited. Endogenously accumulated endowments such as human capital and economic status dominate the formation of such income gaps. (2) Planning-induced land development opportunities yield coefficients of 1.0442 for local employment income and −0.4567 for agricultural business income, with both statistically significant at the 1% significance level. Decomposition results show their respective contribution rates of 70.68% and 86.77%, demonstrating that such opportunities primarily account for cross-regional rural household income gaps. (3) Whereas non-agricultural land development opportunities narrow disparities in households’ local employment income, they raise inequality in rural households’ migrant employment, business, property and transfer income. These growth and equality-enhancing effects on local wage income are particularly pronounced for households possessing high-quantity but low-quality human capital. This study recommends supporting protected zones via farmer vocational training, expanded rural public service expenditure, and a benefit-sharing mechanism that channels land development gains to ecological and agricultural regions to strengthen households’ endogenous development capacity. Full article

The urban heat island (UHI) effect has become a global environmental challenge, and quantifying the spatial heterogeneity of its driving mechanisms while developing differentiated regulation strategies remains a critical research gap. This study takes Berlin, Germany as a case study, integrating spatial autocorrelation analysis with a coupled geographically weighted regression (GWR) model to systematically investigate the spatial heterogeneity of the driving mechanisms of Local Climate Zones (LCZs) on surface urban heat island intensity (SUHII), and proposes refined regulation strategies. First, the WUDAPT method was employed to generate a LCZ map, and global and local Moran’s I were used to identify SUHII spatial clustering characteristics, dividing the study area into High–High (HH), Low–Low (LL), and Not Significant (NS) clustering zones. Second, Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and GWR coupled models were constructed to analyze the global and local relationships between LCZ composition and SUHII. The results indicate: (1) Berlin’s SUHII exhibits significant spatial clustering characteristics (Moran’s I = 0.984), with clear differentiation between the HH zone (25.8%, mean 2.67 °C) and the LL zone (26.4%, mean −0.16 °C); (2) the GWR model (R² = 0.921, AICc = 1279.538) significantly outperforms the OLS model (R² = 0.822, AICc = 2871.608), confirming strong spatial heterogeneity in the LCZ-SUHII relationship, with more pronounced advantages of GWR in urban–rural fringe areas; (3) LCZ 5 (low-density mid-rise buildings) and LCZ 2 (high-density mid-rise buildings) are key warming factors across the entire study area, but their warming effects are stronger in suburban areas than in central urban areas; LCZ A (dense trees) and LCZ G (water bodies) are key cooling factors across the entire area, but their cooling effects are stronger in central urban areas than in the suburbs. Based on these findings, this study establishes a differentiated strategy framework of “Zoning—Identifying Heterogeneity—Regulating”, proposing that HH zones should implement “carbon sink enhancement and source reduction”, NS zones should balance “ecological expansion with growth management”, and LL zones should adopt “strict protection and development restriction”. This framework provides a quantifiable scientific basis and practical guidance for refined urban thermal environment management. Full article

India exhibits substantial variation in neonatal mortality across regions and socioeconomic groups. This study used nationally representative survey data (2019–2021) to examine wealth-based inequalities in neonatal mortality. Socioeconomic disparities were assessed using Erreygers’ Normalized Concentration Index (ECI) and concentration curves, with subgroup analyses by residence, state development status (Empowered Action Group (EAG) vs. non-EAG), district typology, and region. Inequality was further decomposed using the Wagstaff method. Analysis of 176,843 most recent live births revealed marked rural–urban disparities, with neonatal mortality in rural areas (18.3 per 1000 live births) 1.6 times higher than in urban areas (11.5). Neonatal mortality was significantly concentrated among poorer households (ECI: −0.0123; p < 0.001), with greater inequality in urban areas, EAG states, and non-aspirational districts. Regional variation was evident, with the highest inequality in the Western and Central regions. Decomposition analysis showed that inequality was primarily driven by adverse household conditions and maternal risk factors concentrated among poorer populations. Key contributors included unclean cooking fuel, higher parity, large family size, normal delivery and inadequate antenatal care. These findings highlight the need for equality-focused strategies addressing both social determinants and gaps in access to quality maternal and newborn care. Full article

Studying the effect of the digital economy on the urban–rural income gap is essential for promoting sustainable urban–rural development and achieving common prosperity. This study uses the Spatial Durbin Model to examine the effect of the digital economy on the urban–rural income gap based on panel data from 31 Chinese provincial regions from 2011 to 2023. There are four different types of income gaps: wage, operational, property, and transfer. The effects of the digital economy on different types of income gaps are examined. The findings demonstrate that the digital economy simultaneously widens the urban–rural income gap in both local and neighboring areas, with a greater detrimental effect in neighboring areas. The digital economy narrows urban–rural operational and property income gaps, but it widens the urban–rural wage income gap in both local and neighboring areas. The effect of the digital economy on the urban–rural transfer income gap has not yet emerged. The local and neighboring effects of the digital economy on the urban–rural income gap exhibit notable variability across regions. Full article

The global energy transition is frequently advocated as a means to achieve environmental sustainability. However, its distributional impacts remain inadequately understood, particularly in developing nations where approximately 666 million individuals still lack access to electricity. This study investigates whether the expansion of renewable energy consumption mitigates or exacerbates socioeconomic inequality across 82 developing economies from 2000 to 2022. Employing a multi-method econometric framework that considers cross-sectional dependence, heterogeneity, and nonlinear dynamics, we analyze three dimensions of equity: income inequality, monetary poverty, and disparities in electricity access between urban and rural populations. The findings reveal a complex relationship. While the expansion of renewable energy is associated with improvements in income distribution, it is also linked to persistent poverty and unequal access to energy services. This tension reflects what we term the “biomass paradox,” wherein the continued reliance on traditional biomass in low-income countries constrains the inclusiveness of energy transitions. Quantile regression analysis reveals that the effect of renewable energy reverses across the distribution: renewable energy slightly widens the energy access gap in countries where disparities are already small, but narrows it substantially in countries where the gap is widest. The results further indicate that the equity effects of renewable energy vary across contexts and are particularly sensitive to initial conditions and institutional capacity. In settings with weak governance, renewable expansion shows no statistically distinguishable effect on equity outcomes, whereas in stronger institutional environments, its effects become more transformative. These findings suggest that aggregate renewable energy targets that do not differentiate between traditional and modern sources may be misleading. More broadly, achieving a just energy transition necessitates not only expanding renewable capacity but also strengthening governance frameworks and directing investments toward contexts where energy inequalities are most pronounced. Full article

The urban–rural income gap remains a central issue in the income distribution of developing countries, constraining regional coordination and social equity. Although stable economic development is essential for narrowing this gap, the distributional consequences of local economic growth management have received insufficient attention, especially from the perspective of urban spatial structure. Drawing on the urban bias theory and spatial economics, this study uses panel data from 41 prefecture-level cities in the Yangtze River Delta region of China during 2007–2023 and applies a two-way fixed effects model to examine the effect of economic growth target pressure on the urban–rural income gap and the mediating role of urban spatial structure. The results show that economic growth target pressure significantly widens the urban–rural income gap, with an estimated increase of approximately 0.001–0.002 units in the Theil index. Mediation analysis further indicates that target pressure promotes a more monocentric urban spatial structure, which partially mediates the effect. The results also show evident temporal and regional heterogeneity. These findings suggest that growth-oriented local governance may reshape income distribution through spatial organization, offering empirical evidence for optimizing local economic management and urban spatial structure to promote coordinated urban–rural development. Full article

Point-of-sale (POS) consumer credit represents the most rapidly expanding retail-lending channel within the emerging Eurasian markets, necessitating a stringent operational framework for the underwriting model: the decision must be rendered within a mere few hundred milliseconds during the in-store checkout process, while the inputs are constrained to what the application XML is capable of conveying. This research endeavors to develop, internally validate, and operationally delineate a hybrid, explainable artificial intelligence framework aimed at POS credit scoring within the production portfolio of Kazakhstan’s largest second-tier bank. The architectural framework is delineated along two orthogonal dimensions—client tenure and decision-making channel—resulting in the formulation of three distinct production models: two transparent Weight of Evidence–Logistic Regression scorecards tailored for the real-time channel, and one isotonically-calibrated stacked ensemble (comprising LightGBM, CatBoost, and a three-layer neural network) designated for the batch channel. The selection of hyperparameters was conducted utilising Bayesian optimization within the context of stratified five-fold cross-validation. The digital scorecards achieve an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) of 0.847 and 0.835, whereas the offline ensemble enhances performance to an AUROC of 0.918, accompanied by a Kolmogorov–Smirnov statistic of 0.682 and a Gini coefficient of 0.836. The population stability indices persist below the threshold of 0.07, while isotonic recalibration effectively reduces the Brier score by 18%. Furthermore, an extensive examination of fairness demonstrates variations in approval rates within a margin of ±1.2 percentage points—and equalised-odds gaps below 1.5 percentage points in the true-positive rate and 0.7 percentage points in the false-positive rate—across multiple demographic factors such as gender, age, and distinctions between urban and rural classifications, thus establishing an artificial intelligence framework that is both regulatorily compliant and interpretable, aligning with the directives set forth by the Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market. Full article

Urban agriculture (UA) is a vital component of sustainable urban development. In China, however, it is more closely associated with policy-oriented urban modern agriculture (UMA), which integrates peri-urban production, agricultural modernization, multifunctional development, and urban–rural governance. Nevertheless, few researchers have conducted systematic cross-city evaluations of UMA development, especially in rapidly urbanizing national contexts. To address this research gap, we have developed a multidimensional evaluation framework to assess the level of UMA development across 36 large- and medium-sized cities in China during 2019–2023. The indicator system covers five dimensions: production capability, industrial integration, agricultural ecological sustainability, factor agglomeration, and operational modernization. A composite evaluation model combining objective weighting with expert-adjusted subjective weighting is applied to compute city-level performance scores. In addition, Ward’s hierarchical clustering method is utilized to identify distinct contextual city typologies. According to our findings, UMA development exhibits a relatively stable hierarchical structure. A handful of leading cities maintain clear advantages, but the majority remain concentrated in the middle and lower tiers with limited upward mobility. Alterations in city rankings predominantly occur among cities of comparable performance. Ward clustering of contextual indicators identifies four contextual city types related to UMA development: balanced development cities, economically efficient cities, resource-constrained cities, and agricultural-potential cities. These categories reflect differences in socioeconomic development, resource carrying capacity, and environmental capacity, and therefore help to interpret the constraints and feasible policy directions that inform UMA performance. Overall, our proposed framework proves to be a practical tool for benchmarking UMA development and informing differentiated policy design across city types. Full article

Using panel data from 40 counties in Jiangsu Province covering the period 2016–2023, this study proposes five testable propositions and develops econometric models to explore how digital financial inclusion influences high-quality economic development at the county level, as well as its associated spatial spillover effects—a topic that remains underexplored in the current literature. The main scientific contributions are threefold. First, digital inclusive finance is found to significantly enhance the quality of county-level economic development, although this positive effect is subject to diminishing marginal returns. Second, upgrading the industrial structure acts as a key mediating mechanism, whereas expanding income inequality between urban and rural areas weakens the beneficial impact. Third, the spatial econometric results point to a significantly positive spatial interdependence. Interestingly, while the direct local effect of digital inclusive finance is not statistically significant, it generates substantial positive spillovers to neighboring counties—a multiplier effect that adds new insights to the spatial economics literature. In terms of policy implications, these findings advocate not only for the establishment of inter-county cooperation mechanisms in digital finance but also for the adoption of regionally tailored development strategies and stronger integration between digital inclusive financial services and local specialized industries. It should be noted that these results are derived from the context of Jiangsu Province and are intended to serve as a reference for similar regional studies. Full article

Although South Africa has an extensive water infrastructure, it continues to face significant water scarcity due to its semi-arid climate, increasing urbanisation, ageing infrastructure, and pollution. These challenges, coupled with climate change and increasing water demand, have led to inefficiencies across the water value chain, particularly in rural areas. This review paper evaluates the current adoption of predictive analytics in South Africa’s water management system through a systematic literature review. It identifies the current applications, implementation gaps, and key system components that are suitable candidates to enhance efficiency, resource planning, and long-term sustainability in the sector. The findings show that while predictive models are being applied in urban systems for demand forecasting and proactive maintenance, only 15% of the reviewed studies address their actual adoption in rural or under-resourced contexts. This underscores the need for more inclusive development strategies to ensure equitable water service delivery. Although strides have been made in research and innovation, a major barrier is the slow transition from research to operational deployment, which hinders the full realisation of these technologies’ benefits that are essential for water supply sustainability and availability. Full article