Accessibility and socio-spatial inequalities between locals and migrants in Xiamen city, China

10.33540/805 ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Yongling LI
2021 ◽  
pp. jech-2020-216108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malcolm Campbell ◽  
Lukas Marek ◽  
Jesse Wiki ◽  
Matthew Hobbs ◽  
Clive E Sabel ◽  
...  

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has asked unprecedented questions of governments around the world. Policy responses have disrupted usual patterns of movement in society, locally and globally, with resultant impacts on national economies and human well-being. These interventions have primarily centred on enforcing lockdowns and introducing social distancing recommendations, leading to questions of trust and competency around the role of institutions and the administrative apparatus of state. This study demonstrates the unequal societal impacts in population movement during a national ‘lockdown’.MethodsWe use nationwide mobile phone movement data to quantify the effect of an enforced lockdown on population mobility by neighbourhood deprivation using an ecological study design. We then derive a mobility index using anonymised aggregated population counts for each neighbourhood (2253 Census Statistical Areas; mean population n=2086) of national hourly mobile phone location data (7.45 million records, 1 March 2020–20 July 2020) for New Zealand (NZ).ResultsCurtailing movement has highlighted and exacerbated underlying social and spatial inequalities. Our analysis reveals the unequal movements during ‘lockdown’ by neighbourhood socioeconomic status in NZ.ConclusionIn understanding inequalities in neighbourhood movements, we are contributing critical new evidence to the policy debate about the impact(s) and efficacy of national, regional or local lockdowns which have sparked such controversy.


Urban Studies ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 004209802098571
Author(s):  
Francesca Pilo’

This article aims to contribute to recent debates on the politics of smart grids by exploring their installation in low-income areas in Kingston (Jamaica) and Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). To date, much of this debate has focused on forms of smart city experiments, mostly in the Global North, while less attention has been given to the implementation of smart grids in cities characterised by high levels of urban insecurity and socio-spatial inequality. This article illustrates how, in both contexts, the installation of smart metering is used as a security device that embeds the promise of protecting infrastructure and revenue and navigating complex relations framed along lines of socio-economic inequalities and urban sovereignty – here linked to configurations of state and non-state (criminal) territorial control and power. By unpacking the political workings of the smart grid within changing urban security contexts, including not only the rationalities that support its use but also the forms of resistance, contestation and socio-technical failure that emerge, the article argues for the importance of examining the conjunction between urban and infrastructural governance, including the reshaping of local power relations and spatial inequalities, through globally circulating devices.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Dennis Rosenberg ◽  
Galit Nimrod

Abstract Various factors determine the use of media in later life. Nevertheless, spatial inequalities among older media users have been accorded little attention in academic research. This study aimed to explore differences in variety (number) and intensity (duration) of both traditional and new media use among older adults residing in various types of localities. Data were obtained from the second wave of the ACT (Ageing + Communication + Technology) cross-national survey, comprising 7,927 internet users aged 60 and over from seven countries. The statistical analyses used in the study were chi-square and analysis of variance tests, and linear regression as a multivariate technique. The results indicated that spatial differences concern variety of media use to a greater extent than its intensity, especially with regard to use of traditional media via new devices. Overall, residents of large cities exhibited greater variety and intensity of media use than did their counterparts from smaller localities, especially rural ones. These findings supported the social stratification hypothesis – according to which individuals from more-privileged social backgrounds have better media literacy, use media to a greater extent and benefit from its use more than people from disadvantaged groups. The findings should be considered by practitioners and policy makers.


Author(s):  
Morgan Weiland ◽  
Paula Santana ◽  
Claudia Costa ◽  
Julia Doetsch ◽  
Eva Pilot

In 2006, a policy reform restructured the maternal and perinatal healthcare system, including closing smaller maternity units, to further improve care in Portugal. This study aimed to investigate the effects of the 2006 National Program of Maternal and Neonatal Health policy on spatial inequalities in access to care and consequently avoidable infant mortality. A thematic analysis of qualitative data including interviews and surveys and a quantitative spatial analysis using Geographic Information Systems was applied. Spatial inequalities were found which may lead to avoidable infant mortality. Inequalities exist in freedom of choice and autonomy in care, within a medicalized system. Changes in approach to and organization of care would further enhance equitable spatial access to care in maternal health and reduce avoidable infant mortality.


2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 472-479 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiefeng Kang ◽  
Jianyi Lin ◽  
Shenghui Cui ◽  
Xiangyang Li

Providing a comprehensive insight, water footprint (WF) is widely used to analyze and address water-use issues. In this study, a hybrid of bottom-up and top-down methods is applied to calculate, from production and consumption perspectives, the WF for Xiamen city from 2001 to 2012. Results show that the average production WF of Xiamen was 881.75 Mm3/year and remained relatively stable during the study period, while the consumption WF of Xiamen increased from 979.56 Mm3/year to 1,664.97 Mm3/year over the study period. Xiamen thus became a net importer of virtual water since 2001. Livestock was the largest contributor to the total WF from both production and consumption perspectives; it was followed by crops, industry, household use, and commerce. The efficiency of the production WF has increased in Xiamen, and its per capita consumption WF was relatively low. The city faces continuing growth in its consumption WF, so more attention should be paid to improving local irrigation, reducing food waste, and importing water-intensive agricultural products.


2009 ◽  
Vol 41 (5) ◽  
pp. 1129-1151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lapo Calamai

This paper investigates the relationship between devolution and regional disparities by looking at the case of Italy. By integrating the relevant quantitative and qualitative evidence, it attempts to answer two questions. Did the devolutionary process exert a positive influence on regional convergence in Italy? And, if so, why have its beneficial economic effects been concentrated in the Mezzogiorno? A clear historical link between the upsurge of devolution and the reduction of spatial inequalities is identified. However, this relationship plays out in a rather indirect way, and is strongly influenced by a series of exogenous factors which are thoroughly analysed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bartłomiej Kołsut ◽  
Tadeusz Stryjakiewicz

Abstract Aim of the study A centre-periphery structure reflects spatial inequalities in the level of economic development of countries and regions. Most often, it provides a simplified picture of spatial distribution of income or spatial accessibility. In this study the authors try to identify the relationship between the level of centrality/peripherality of an area and selected features of the personal car market, using the case of Poland. Method In order to identify the relationship between the level of centrality/peripherality of an area and selected features of the peresonal car market, the correlation and regression analysis has been used. As a dependent variable the index of centrality/peripherality consisting of population and enterprise income has been calculated for all Polish communes (gminas). The features of the car market (independent variables) are: 1) car ownership (number of cars per 1000 inhabitants), 2) sales of new cars, 3) the import of second-hand cars, and 4) the average age of personal cars. Result The research confirmed a positive correlation between the index of centrality/peripherality (and hence the central character of the commune) and the sales of new automobiles, and a negative correlation with the average age of cars. There is no correlation between the level of centrality/peripherality of an area and the indicators of car ownership and the import of second-hand vehicles.


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