scholarly journals Urban Shrinkage and Socio-Economic Segregation in Medium-Sized Cities: The Case of Schwerin (Germany)

2021 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 29-46
Author(s):  
David Huntington
Keyword(s):  
Population Decline ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Spatial Effects ◽  
Urban Hierarchy ◽  
Large Cities ◽  
Economic Segregation ◽  
Urban Patterns ◽  
Housing Estates ◽  
Vulnerable Population Groups

Abstract Although past studies have found that processes of urban shrinkage may act as a catalyst for socio-economic segregation, these relationships remain underexplored outside the context of large cities and capitals. Moreover, cities at lower-tiers of the urban hierarchy in post-socialist Europe have been doubly excluded from the critical discourse on the socio-spatial effects of shrinkage. Hence, this article examines how shrinkage affects socio-economic segregation in the medium-sized post-socialist city of Schwerin, employing segregation indices to assess levels of spatial unevenness and location quotients to map intra-urban patterns of vulnerable population groups over time. Results indicate processes of shrinkage may exacerbate socio-economic segregation in medium-sized cities and that the spatial heterogeneity of shrinkage intersects with uneven distributions of affluence and poverty. However, suggesting that legacies of state socialism shape contemporary socio-spatial change, segregation in Schwerin is strongly conditioned by its socialist-era housing estates, which are generally characterised by the highest rates of population decline, vacancy, and vulnerable groups.

Health Strategies in Latin America for the Elderly in relation to COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Vol 128 (S2) ◽  
pp. S301-S311
Author(s):  
Nidia Bonilla ◽  
Lorena Cudris ◽  
Beatriz Mendoza ◽  
Andrés Gamboa ◽  
Jesús Forgiony-Santos5
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Communication Strategies ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Health Programs ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Psychological Resources ◽  
Design And Implementation ◽  
Latin American Countries ◽  
Vulnerable Population Groups

Introduction: The quarantine measures adopted because of the COVID-19 pandemic have involved the design and implementation of health programs to mitigate the effects of the pandemic and to understand the mental health implications for the elderly, one of the most vulnerable population groups. Objective: To characterize the strategies and programs implemented by Latin American countries due to the COVID-19 pandemic, focused on the older population. Methods: Forty-five documents were reviewed including scientific articles, decrees, and guidelines issued by the Ministries of Health of 13 Latin American countries under the search criteria, COVID 19, health, and older adults. Results: Strategies were implemented according to the stages and levels of incidence of the pandemic, the most vulnerable groups were protected in the case of the elderly aged 60 or 65. It allowed classifying the countries according to the objective of their health actions focused on prevention, promotion, rehabilitation, and recovery of the patient. Discussion: The health services have been reoriented by prioritizing the increase of health promotion and disease prevention through information, education, and communication strategies. Conclusions: The health emergency decreed by the countries did not prioritize strategies or policies against the emotional and mental aspects, and the subsequent affectations of social isolation that test the strategies and psychological resources of the new normality.

Increasing Returns to City Size in the Face of an Impending Decline in the Sizes of Large Cities: Which is the Bogus Fact?

1977 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
D R Vining ◽  
T Kontuly
Keyword(s):  
Great Britain ◽  
Population Decline ◽  
Increasing Returns ◽  
City Size ◽  
Metropolitan Regions ◽  
Large Cities ◽  
Industrialized Nations ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Usa

A summary of recently published statistics show an actual or imminent population decline in the great metropolitan regions of many, if not all, of the major industrialized nations (Japan, France, Great Britain, Sweden, Norway, Italy, the USA). The only exceptions so far found to this emerging trend are Finland and Hungary.

scholarly journals Spatial Effects of Urban Agglomeration on Energy Efficiency: Evidence from China

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 3338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiang Du ◽  
Mengqin Zhao ◽  
Ming Zeng ◽  
Kezhen Han ◽  
Huaping Sun
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Spatial Structure ◽  
Spatial Location ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
Spatial Effects ◽  
Positive Role ◽  
Large Cities ◽  
Central Regions ◽  
Spatial Location Information ◽  
Concentration Degree

The rapid expansion of large cities in China has substantially increased energy consumption. With ever stringent environmental policy in force, energy efficiency becomes an important issue. As the emergence of these urban agglomerations (UAs) is usually due to externality effects of spatially concentrated factors, this paper investigates how these factors can affect energy efficiency. Based on mono index, which is used to describe the spatial location information, we have constructed the spatial-structure index of UAs. Using panel data on ten major UAs in China from 2008 to 2017, we find that, in the whole sample, there is an inverse relationship between the spatial structure of UAs and energy efficiency: The higher the concentration degree of factors of UAs, the lower the energy efficiency. Across different regions, however, the relationship between spatial structure and energy efficiency is heterogeneous. The concentration degree of factors in the eastern and central regions of China is relatively high, and the spatial structure there does lead to a decrease in energy efficiency. By contrast, UAs in China’s western region are in a period of factor concentration, with spatial structure playing, in that region, a positive role in improving energy efficiency.

Moving down the urban hierarchy: Turning point of China’s internal migration caused by age structure and hukou system

Urban Studies ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 004209802110077
Author(s):  
Xiaoyan Mu ◽  
Anthony Gar-On Yeh ◽  
Xiaohu Zhang ◽  
Jiejing Wang ◽  
Jian Lin
Keyword(s):  
Internal Migration ◽  
Age Structure ◽  
Population Sample ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Migration Pattern ◽  
Sample Survey ◽  
Eastern Region ◽  
Urban Hierarchy ◽  
Institutional Factor ◽  
Large Cities

Internal migration is critically important in China, where the fertility rate is declining and international immigration is under strict control. This study explores the massive population movement in China, examines the migration pattern of non- hukou migrants, 2010–2015 and 2014–2015 migration patterns through the urban hierarchy of the urban system using migration trajectories derived from the 2015 One Percent Population Sample Survey. Results reveal an emerging reversal from a predominantly upward pattern (e.g. most of the net flows move to high-level cities) to a downward one (e.g. from super-large/extra-large cities to large cities) in the recent migration trend. Regional disparities are significant. An upward and eastward tendency still dominates in the western, central and northeastern regions, whereas a downward and decentralised tendency has been initiated in the eastern region. The causes for the structural change include common factors found in developed countries, such as the influence of age and life courses. The age structure of China’s population caused by the ‘one-child’ policy weakened the upward momentum and led to a strengthening downward trend in the current migration pattern. The contextual and institutional factor hukou also has a significant effect on people’s migration directions. Hukou attracts people to move up or down the hierarchy to their registered place or where they can acquire registration. The characteristics of registered migrants reflect the different criteria of cities in granting hukou.

scholarly journals The vision of the theatrical audience in the theatrical-critical discourse of Eastern Halychyna (Galicia) in the 1920s and 1930s

2021 ◽  
pp. 84-92
Author(s):  
Sofiia Rosa-Lavrentii
Keyword(s):  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Large Cities ◽  
The Press

The article is devoted to the study of the image of the theatrical spectator of the Ukrainian theater in the theatrical-critical discourse of the period of 1920–1930. The theatrical spectator as an integral part of the theatrical process, and hence of theatrical history, is often underestimated by theater historians. However, even in theatrical-critical publications of this period we can trace certain composite images of the Ukrainian theatrical audience. The article explores what these images looked like, how they changed and how they can also look at the theatrical processes of time. The main source in which the image of the theatrical spectator of Eastern Halychyna (Galicia) "appeared" istheatrical-critical publications in the press of that time. In fact, two main images are formed: the Lviv public and the so-called "provincial" (although according to the press rhetoric of the time it included both spectators of large cities Stanislaviv, Ternopil, and smaller towns: Yavoriv, Stryi and others and spectators in villages). Each of these groups had its own characteristics and its own requests to the theater.

scholarly journals Advocating for vulnerable groups’ health promotion: development of institutional data

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 15-19
Author(s):  
Aikaterini Bouliari
Keyword(s):  
Access To Health Care ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Good Health ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Complex Situation ◽  
Life Chances ◽  
Social Challenge ◽  
Access To Health ◽  
The Social ◽  
Vulnerable Population Groups

Poor health cannot be attributed only to microbiological and genetical factors. It is a much more complex situation, involving both the conditions in which people live, such as access to health care, schools and education, as well as working conditions, recreation, homes, communities and cities, as well as cultural characteristics such as social status, gender, age, nationality, values and distinctions. All of these factors affect a person’s chances of leading a flourishing and healthy life. Chances of good health are not equally distributed within society causing health inequalities. Thus, organized societies and their institutions are called upon to set health protection frameworks as a social right for vulnerable population groups. The purpose of the article is to make a comprehensive reference to the term vulnerability, as well as the regulatory framework that is formed around it in the modern society. The social challenge is a framework based on inclusive human rights, justice and democracy.

scholarly journals Do pathogens become more virulent as they spread? Evidence from the amphibian declines in Central America

2013 ◽  
Vol 280 (1766) ◽  
pp. 20131290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben L. Phillips ◽  
Robert Puschendorf
Keyword(s):  
Central America ◽  
Population Decline ◽  
Rapid Evolution ◽  
Amphibian Declines ◽  
Environmental Drivers ◽  
Strong Impact ◽  
Spatial Effects ◽  
Southern Mexico ◽  
Amphibian Population ◽  
The Impact

The virulence of a pathogen can vary strongly through time. While cyclical variation in virulence is regularly observed, directional shifts in virulence are less commonly observed and are typically associated with decreasing virulence of biological control agents through coevolution. It is increasingly appreciated, however, that spatial effects can lead to evolutionary trajectories that differ from standard expectations. One such possibility is that, as a pathogen spreads through a naive host population, its virulence increases on the invasion front. In Central America, there is compelling evidence for the recent spread of pathogenic Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) and for its strong impact on amphibian populations. Here, we re-examine data on Bd prevalence and amphibian population decline across 13 sites from southern Mexico through Central America, and show that, in the initial phases of the Bd invasion, amphibian population decline lagged approximately 9 years behind the arrival of the pathogen, but that this lag diminished markedly over time. In total, our analysis suggests an increase in Bd virulence as it spread southwards, a pattern consistent with rapid evolution of increased virulence on Bd's invading front. The impact of Bd on amphibians might therefore be driven by rapid evolution in addition to more proximate environmental drivers.

scholarly journals Spatial Inequity of Multi-Level Healthcare Services in a Rapid Expanding Immigrant City of China: A Case Study of Shenzhen

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (18) ◽  
pp. 3441 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Hu ◽  
Lin Li ◽  
Mo Su
Keyword(s):  
Manufacturing Industry ◽  
Urban Expansion ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Spatial Accessibility ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Medical Resources ◽  
Four Dimensions ◽  
Large Cities ◽  
Medical Facilities ◽  
Education Levels

Since the onset of reform and opening up in China, large cities in the nation have been experiencing problems related to limited medical resources. These resource limitations are due to rapid population growth and urban expansion. As the country’s fastest growing city, Shenzhen has experienced a substantial misalignment between the supply and the demand of healthcare services. Numerous researchers have analyzed spatial inequity in healthcare services by focusing on the spatial accessibility of medical facilities, such as hospitals, clinics, and community health service centers (CHSCs). However, the issue of inequity in healthcare services for vulnerable groups has largely been ignored. We chose general hospitals (GHs) and CHSCs, which provide direct healthcare services to residents, as the study objects. By performing spatial accessibility analysis using the gravity model and the two-step floating catchment area method, we investigated healthcare services inequity for vulnerable groups based on four dimensions: residential type, age, education level, and occupation. We found that the services provided by GHs cannot meet the demand in Shenzhen. This inadequacy is characterized by spatial centralization and neglect of those who reside in urban villages, who have low education levels, and who are employed in the manufacturing industry. In contrast, CHSCs generally serve a relatively broad population. This phenomenon is related to differences in the land and capital needs between GHs and CHSCs. Our study reveals that an appropriate adjustment of GH location could significantly improve healthcare services inequity. Therefore, to alleviate this inequity, it is particularly necessary to increase the number of GHs in the peripheral circle and in areas with large vulnerable populations, accelerate the implementation of the hierarchical medical system, and promote the transfer of medical resources to grassroot institutes through CHSCs. This study helps improve our understanding of healthcare services inequity in rapid expanding cities, which is of substantial significance for improving the planning and construction of medical facilities, facilitating scientific decision-making, and promoting social equity.

scholarly journals Does Urbanization Increase the Risk of Emerging Infectious Diseases in China? A Spatial Econometric Analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 165
Author(s):  
Xiuju Feng ◽  
Shutong Liu ◽  
Chuanrong Wang ◽  
Jittaporn Sriboonjit ◽  
Jianxu Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
Eastern China ◽  
Emerging Infectious Diseases ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
Spatial Effects ◽  
Spatial Error ◽  
Leading Role ◽  
The Impact

The current COVID-19 pandemic has inspired more and more discussion about the relationship between urbanization and emerging infectious diseases (EID). This paper aims to examine the spatial effect of urbanization on EID incidence, such as hepatitis, syphilis and gonorrhea in China. Taking into account geographical and economic factors, the estimation results of the Spatial Error Model (SEM) show that urbanization has increased the risks of EID transmission from 2003 to 2019 in China. The spatial effects of urbanization are slightly different due to different types of infectious diseases, with a larger effect on syphilis comparing with hepatitis and gonorrhea. The regional heterogeneity test shows that the impact of urbanization on EID in eastern China is stronger than that in the Midwest especially when considering spatial correlation. Policy implications that include health must be integrated into urban planning, attaching more importance to ecological construction, improving regional joint prevention and control mechanisms, and more attention being paid to vulnerable groups. Considering the frequent occurrence of COVID-19 among cities in China, we emphasize the importance of enhancing the coordinated anti-crisis capacity of urban clusters and highlight the leading role of central cities.

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