The Military Metropolis: Defense Dependence in U.S. Metropolitan Areas

2011 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon Gauchat ◽  
Michael Wallace ◽  
Casey Borch ◽  
Travis Scott Lowe
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Metropolitan Areas ◽  
Military Spending ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Military Bases ◽  
Urban Economies ◽  
Defense Procurement ◽  
Urban Political Economy ◽  
Defense Contracts ◽  
The Military

This article examines the “military metropolis,” an urban community that depends highly on military expenditures in order to sustain economic vitality. We build on past theories of military Keynesianism and employ insights from urban political economy theory to examine the effects of defense contracts and defense personnel spending on five measures of labor market quality (median household income, income inequality, poverty 125 percent, unemployment, and casualization) in 276 U.S. metropolitan statistical areas in the year 2000. Whereas previous studies of military spending have focused primarily on nations and U.S. states, this study examines metropolitan areas. We test three hypotheses about how federal military outlays might influence urban economies: first, the defense–dependency hypothesis suggests that urban areas rely on defense dollars in varying degrees to sustain their economic stability and vitality. Second, the localized effects hypothesis proposes that defense personnel spending on military bases and civilian personnel will have more immediate effects on urban economies than spending on defense procurement contracts. Third, the gunbelt hypothesis predicts that military spending has affected urban economies unevenly, benefiting metropolitan areas in some regions of the country more than others. The results of this study support all three hypotheses. We offer interpretations of our results and discuss the policy implications for U.S. metropolitan areas.

scholarly journals Racial residential segregation and economic disparity jointly exacerbate the COVID-19 fatality in large American cities

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qinggang Yu ◽  
Cristina Salvador ◽  
Irene Melani ◽  
Martha Berg ◽  
Enrique Neblett ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Income Inequality ◽  
Residential Segregation ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Metropolitan Areas ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Structural Inequality ◽  
Racial Residential Segregation ◽  
Economic Disparity ◽  
The U.S

The disproportionately high rates of both infections and deaths of underprivileged racial minorities in the U.S. (including Blacks and Hispanics) during the current COVID-19 pandemic show that structural inequality can be lethal. However, the nature of this structural inequality is poorly understood. Here, we hypothesized that two structural features of urban areas in the U.S. (racial residential segregation and income inequality) contribute to numerous health-compromising conditions, which, in turn, exacerbate COVID-19 fatalities. These two features may be particularly lethal when combined. To test this hypothesis, we examined the growth rate of both confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths in an early 30-day period of the outbreak in the counties located in each of the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. The growth curve for cases and deaths was steeper in counties located in metropolitan areas that residentially segregate Blacks and Hispanics. Moreover, this effect of racial residential segregation was augmented by income inequality within each county. The current evidence highlights the role of racial and economic disparity in producing the devastating human toll in the current pandemic. It also offers important policy implications for making virus-resilient cities.

New Patterns of Urbanization in Indonesia: Emergence of Non-statutory Towns and New Extended Urban Regions

2021 ◽  
pp. 097542532199038
Author(s):  
Fadjar Hari Mardiansjah ◽  
Paramita Rahayu ◽  
Deden Rukmana
Keyword(s):  
Urban Growth ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Urban Population ◽  
Metropolitan Areas ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Urbanization Process ◽  
Urban Regions ◽  
Using Data

Indonesia is home to more than 260 million people and is one of the world’s most rapidly urbanizing countries. Between 1980 and 2010, Indonesia’s urban population grew about fourfold, from 32.8 to 118.3 million. Using data from National Census publications, this article examines the urbanization patterns and trends in urban growth in Indonesia from 1980 to 2010. The urbanization process has increased the number of cities in Indonesia from 50 to 94 and expanded large urban regions. Most of these expanded urban regions are located on the island of Java, including the metropolitan areas of Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya, Semarang, Malang, Surakarta and Yogyakarta. The article also identifies the emergence of non-statutory towns and new extended urban regions outside the jurisdictions of urban municipalities. The policy implications of the emergence of such urban areas are additionally discussed.

Problems of military-political interaction between the countries of the West and Central Asia at the turn of the XX–XXI centuries

2020 ◽  
pp. 27-33
Author(s):  
Boris G. Koybaev
Keyword(s):  
Central Asia ◽  
The United States ◽  
Military Bases ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
The West ◽  
Regional Environment ◽  
Western Influence ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Political Interaction ◽  
The Military

Central Asia in recent history is a vast region with five Muslim States-new actors in modern international relations. The countries of Central Asia, having become sovereign States, at the turn of the XX–XXI centuries are trying to peaceful interaction not only with their underdeveloped neighbors, but also with the far-off prosperous West. At the same time, the United States and Western European countries, in their centrosilic ambitions, seek to increase their military and political presence in Central Asia and use the military bases of the region’s States as a springboard for supplying their troops during anti-terrorist and other operations. With the active support of the West, the Central Asian States were accepted as members of the United Nations. For monitoring and exerting diplomatic influence on the regional environment, the administration of the President of the Russian Federation H. W. Bush established U.S. embassies in all Central Asian States. Turkey, a NATO member and secular Islamic state, was used as a lever of indirect Western influence over Central Asian governments, and its model of successful development was presented as an example to follow.

The Rural-Urban Continuum of Polarization: Understanding the Geography of the 2018 Midterms

The Forum ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth M. Johnson ◽  
Dante J. Scala
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Metropolitan Areas ◽  
Political Attitudes ◽  
The United States ◽  
Rural America ◽  
Rural Regions ◽  
Urban America ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas ◽  
The Continuum

Abstract This study of the 2018 congressional midterms demonstrates how voting patterns and political attitudes vary across a spectrum of urban and rural areas in the United States. Rural America is no more a monolith than is urban America. The rural-urban gradient is better represented by a continuum than a dichotomy. This is evident in the voting results in 2018, just as it was in 2016. We found that the political tipping point lies beyond major metropolitan areas, in the suburban counties of smaller metropolitan areas. Democrats enjoyed even greater success in densely populated urban areas in 2018 than in 2016. Residents of these urban areas display distinctive and consistent social and political attitudes across a range of scales. At the other end of the continuum in remote rural areas, Republican candidates continued to command voter support despite the challenging national political environment. Voters in these rural regions expressed social and political attitudes diametrically opposed to their counterparts in large urban cores.

scholarly journals Investigation of Nanogrids for Improved Navy Installation Energy Resilience

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 4298
Author(s):  
Alissa Kain ◽  
Douglas L. Van Bossuyt ◽  
Anthony Pollman
Keyword(s):  
National Security ◽  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Systems Engineering ◽  
Critical Loads ◽  
Electrical Energy ◽  
Terrorist Attacks ◽  
Military Bases ◽  
Specific Interest ◽  
The Military

Military bases perform important national security missions. In order to perform these missions, specific electrical energy loads must have continuous, uninterrupted power even during terrorist attacks, adversary action, natural disasters, and other threats of specific interest to the military. While many global military bases have established microgrids that can maintain base operations and power critical loads during grid disconnect events where outside power is unavailable, many potential threats can cause microgrids to fail and shed critical loads. Nanogrids are of specific interest because they have the potential to protect individual critical loads in the event of microgrid failure. We present a systems engineering methodology that analyzes potential nanogrid configurations to understand which configurations may improve energy resilience and by how much for critical loads from a national security perspective. This then allows targeted deployment of nanogrids within existing microgrid infrastructures. A case study of a small military base with an existing microgrid is presented to demonstrate the potential of the methodology to help base energy managers understand which options are preferable and justify implementing nanogrids to improve energy resilience.

RURAL–URBAN MIGRATION AND CHILD SURVIVAL IN URBAN BANGLADESH: ARE THE URBAN MIGRANTS AND POOR DISADVANTAGED?

2008 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. MAZHARUL ISLAM ◽  
KAZI MD ABUL KALAM AZAD
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Urban Poor ◽  
Child Survival ◽  
Childhood Mortality ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Urban Migration ◽  
Under Five ◽  
Urban Migrants ◽  
Urban Rural

SummaryThis paper analyses the levels and trends of childhood mortality in urban Bangladesh, and examines whether children’s survival chances are poorer among the urban migrants and urban poor. It also examines the determinants of child survival in urban Bangladesh. Data come from the 1999–2000 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey. The results indicate that, although the indices of infant and child mortality are consistently better in urban areas, the urban–rural differentials in childhood mortality have diminished in recent years. The study identifies two distinct child morality regimes in urban Bangladesh: one for urban natives and one for rural–urban migrants. Under-five mortality is higher among children born to urban migrants compared with children born to life-long urban natives (102 and 62 per 1000 live births, respectively). The migrant–native mortality differentials more-or-less correspond with the differences in socioeconomic status. Like childhood mortality rates, rural–urban migrants seem to be moderately disadvantaged by economic status compared with their urban native counterparts. Within the urban areas, the child survival status is even worse among the migrant poor than among the average urban poor, especially recent migrants. This poor–non-poor differential in childhood mortality is higher in urban areas than in rural areas. The study findings indicate that rapid growth of the urban population in recent years due to rural-to-urban migration, coupled with higher risk of mortality among migrant’s children, may be considered as one of the major explanations for slower decline in under-five mortality in urban Bangladesh, thus diminishing urban–rural differentials in childhood mortality in Bangladesh. The study demonstrates that housing conditions and access to safe drinking water and hygienic toilet facilities are the most critical determinants of child survival in urban areas, even after controlling for migration status. The findings of the study may have important policy implications for urban planning, highlighting the need to target migrant groups and the urban poor within urban areas in the provision of health care services.

The effects of population and housing density in urban areas on income in the United States

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-47
Author(s):  
Daniel Hummel
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Metropolitan Areas ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
The United States ◽  
Housing Density ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Urban Density ◽  
Urbanization Economies ◽  
Benefits And Costs

Cities in the United States have become increasingly less dense either from sprawl from rapid development or vacancy due to decline. The benefits and costs of urban density have been a topic of research since the mid-20th century. The effect of urban density on incomes is one of these areas of research. Based on concepts rooted in urbanization economies and social output, it is assumed in this paper that an increase in urban density increases incomes. Urban density is defined as population and housing density. It was found using a cross-sectional lagged mediated multiple regression that population and housing density have statistically significant indirect effects on income in a sample of more than 300 metropolitan areas in the United States. The significant effects of these variables on employment and the effect of employment on income mediated these effects.

scholarly journals Schools at the Rural-Urban Boundary: Blurring the Divide?

2017 ◽  
Vol 672 (1) ◽  
pp. 185-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Burdick-Will ◽  
John R. Logan
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Elementary Schools ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Educational Opportunity ◽  
Metropolitan Areas ◽  
Educational Inequality ◽  
Rural And Urban Areas ◽  
Public Elementary Schools ◽  
Rural And Urban ◽  
Commuting Patterns

Schools often mirror the communities in which they are located. Research on rural-urban school inequality tends to focus on the contrast among urban, suburban, and rural schools, glossing over the variation and similarities within these areas. We provide a richer description of the spatial distribution of educational inequality by examining school composition, achievement, and resources in all U.S. public elementary schools in 2010–2011. We take the traditional census categories derived from residential and commuting patterns, and apply them to schools across the country in analyses that reveal gradual transitions and blurry boundaries among the traditional zones. The results show high levels of variation within the suburbs and substantial commonality between rural and urban areas and suggest that census-defined metropolitan areas are not ideal when considering the geography of educational opportunity.

scholarly journals Bringing the Military Back in: Military Expenditures and Economic Growth 1990 to 2003

2008 ◽  
pp. 142-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Kentor ◽  
Edward Kick
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
National Development ◽  
Military Spending ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Less Developed Countries ◽  
Least Developed Countries ◽  
Military Organizations ◽  
Military Expenditures ◽  
Military Institution ◽  
The Military

After the “peace bonus” era, global military expenditures have escalated sharply despite some worldwide declines in military personnel. Theories on the economic impacts of the military institution and escalated military spending greatly differ and include arguments that they either improve domestic economic performance or crowd out growth-inducing processes. Empirical findings on this matter are inconclusive, in part due to a failure to disentangle the various dimensions of military expenditures. We further suggest that modern sociology's relative inattention to such issues has contributed to these shortcomings. We explore a new dimension of military spending that clarifies this issue—military expenditures per soldier —which captures the capital intensiveness of a country’s military organization. Our cross-national panel regression and causal analyses of developed and less developed countries from 1990 to 2003 show that military expenditures per soldier inhibit the growth of per capita GDP, net of control variables, with the most pronounced effects in least developed countries. These expenditures inhibit national development in part by slowing the expansion of the labor force. Labor-intensive militaries may provide a pathway for upward mobility, but comparatively capital-intensive military organizations limit entry opportunities for unskilled and under- or unemployed people. Deep investments in military hardware also reduce the investment capital available for more economically productive opportunities. We also find that arms imports have a positive effect on economic growth, but only in less developed countries.

scholarly journals Health benefits of decreases in on-road transportation emissions in the United States from 2008 to 2017

2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (51) ◽  
pp. e2107402118
Author(s):  
Ernani F. Choma ◽  
John S. Evans ◽  
José A. Gómez-Ibáñez ◽  
Qian Di ◽  
Joel D. Schwartz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Metropolitan Areas ◽  
Health Benefits ◽  
The United States ◽  
Emission Factors ◽  
High Impact ◽  
Attributable Mortality ◽  
Emission Reductions ◽  
Air Pollution Regulation

Decades of air pollution regulation have yielded enormous benefits in the United States, but vehicle emissions remain a climate and public health issue. Studies have quantified the vehicle-related fine particulate matter (PM2.5)-attributable mortality but lack the combination of proper counterfactual scenarios, latest epidemiological evidence, and detailed spatial resolution; all needed to assess the benefits of recent emission reductions. We use this combination to assess PM2.5-attributable health benefits and also assess the climate benefits of on-road emission reductions between 2008 and 2017. We estimate total benefits of $270 (190 to 480) billion in 2017. Vehicle-related PM2.5-attributable deaths decreased from 27,700 in 2008 to 19,800 in 2017; however, had per-mile emission factors remained at 2008 levels, 48,200 deaths would have occurred in 2017. The 74% increase from 27,700 to 48,200 PM2.5-attributable deaths with the same emission factors is due to lower baseline PM2.5 concentrations (+26%), more vehicle miles and fleet composition changes (+22%), higher baseline mortality (+13%), and interactions among these (+12%). Climate benefits were small (3 to 19% of the total). The percent reductions in emissions and PM2.5-attributable deaths were similar despite an opportunity to achieve disproportionately large health benefits by reducing high-impact emissions of passenger light-duty vehicles in urban areas. Increasingly large vehicles and an aging population, increasing mortality, suggest large health benefits in urban areas require more stringent policies. Local policies can be effective because high-impact primary PM2.5 and NH3 emissions disperse little outside metropolitan areas. Complementary national-level policies for NOx are merited because of its substantial impacts—with little spatial variability—and dispersion across states and metropolitan areas.

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