Connected Countryside: The Inhibiting Effect of Social Media on Rural Social Movements

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Schuler ◽  
Mai Truong
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Online Communication ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Information Flows ◽  
Urban Movements ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas

While much research focuses on social media and urban movements, almost no research explores its potentially divergent effects in rural areas. Building on recent work emphasizing the multidimensional effects of online communication on vertical and horizontal information, we argue that while the Internet may facilitate large-scale urban movements, it inhibits large-scale rural movements. Because social media increases vertical information flows between government and citizens, the central government responds quickly to rural protests, preventing such protests from developing into a large-scale movement. By contrast, social media does less to change the vertical information flows in urban areas. We explore the plausibility of our argument by process tracing the evolution of protests in urban and rural areas in Vietnam in the pre-Internet and in the Internet eras.

scholarly journals Is global dimming and brightening in Japan limited to urban areas?

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katsumasa Tanaka ◽  
Atsumu Ohmura ◽  
Doris Folini ◽  
Martin Wild ◽  
Nozomu Ohkawara
Keyword(s):  
Solar Radiation ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Temporal Trends ◽  
Surface Radiation ◽  
Surface Solar Radiation ◽  
Decadal Time Scale ◽  
Global Dimming ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas

Abstract. Observations worldwide indicate secular trends of all-sky surface solar radiation on decadal time scale, termed global dimming and brightening. Accordingly, the observed surface radiation in Japan generally shows a strong decline till the end of the 1980s and then a recovery toward around 2000. Because a substantial number of measurement stations are located within or proximate to populated areas, one may speculate that the observed trends are strongly influenced by local air pollution and are thus not of large-scale significance. This hypothesis poses a serious question as to what regional extent the global dimming and brightening are significant: Are the global dimming and brightening truly global phenomena, or regional or even only local? Our study focused on 14 meteorological observatories that measured all-sky surface solar radiation, zenith transmittance, and maximum transmittance. On the basis of municipality population time series, historical land use maps, recent satellite images, and actual site visits, we concluded that eight stations had been significantly influenced by urbanization, with the remaining six stations being left pristine. Between the urban and rural areas, no marked differences were identified in the temporal trends of the aforementioned meteorological parameters. Our finding suggests that global dimming and brightening in Japan occurred on a large scale, independently of urbanization.

China’s Low-Carbon Urbanization Progress and Pathway

2015 ◽  
Vol 03 (04) ◽  
pp. 1550028
Author(s):  
Benfan LIANG ◽  
Jiahua PAN ◽  
Ying ZHANG ◽  
Yanchun MENG ◽  
Shouxian ZHU
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Great Influence ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
High Carbon ◽  
Ecological Civilization ◽  
Urbanization Rate ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas

Low-carbon urbanization is the integration of urbanization and low carbonization. It is the low-carbon transformation of current urban areas, the new trend of developing model of urban and rural areas, which includes the low-carbon transition in production, living style, and ecological spaces, the low-carbon reform in economy, society, structure, and the developing model, as well as changing urban areas from high-carbon style to low-carbon style. The urbanization rate of China is almost the same with global average level, and is expected to reach 80% in 2050. Currently, urbanization replaces industrialization, becoming an important force influencing socio-economic development, climate and ecological environment changes, international relations, and political patterns. With a 2[Formula: see text]C rise in temperature, human beings have to face a series of risks brought by climate change. China’s large-scale urbanization is of great influence on others. In this context, it is necessary to take a scientific cognition of China’s urbanization process, clarifying urbanization developing pathway, turning carbon constraints into carbon bonus, avoiding high-carbon lock, and then to take opportunities in promoting economic structure under “new normal” conditions, accelerating the upgrade from urban civilization to ecological civilization, and to reach both 100-year goal and low-carbon developing goal, leading sustainable development globally.

scholarly journals Enhancing Food Security by Institutionalizing Collaborative Food Alliances in Urban Areas

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (15) ◽  
pp. 4103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vibhas Sukhwani ◽  
Arie Nurzaman ◽  
Nadia Paramitha Kusumawardhani ◽  
Anwaar Mohammed AlHinai ◽  
Liu Hanyu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Policy Coordination ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas ◽  
Multi Stakeholder ◽  
Key Aspects

Narrowing the food supply-demand gaps between urban and rural areas within a regional space has today become a serious challenge due to the growing urban population. Resultantly, urban markets are increasingly being dominated by industrial food chains, despite their negative socio-environmental impacts. To address this issue, this paper discusses the need and significance of ‘Collaborative Food Alliances’ (CFAs), which promote the direct supply of food products from rural farmers to urban residents through improved producer–consumer relationships. Based on the literature survey, this study underlines that the current CFAs are confronted with several challenges including the small scale of functioning and limited financing. While the current research on CFAs is focused on theoretical place-based studies, this paper argues that institutionalization of CFAs at a large scale is highly important for enhancing food security in urban areas. It mainly deliberates on two key aspects: (a) The process of institutionalizing CFAs and (b) A feasible financing mechanism to support CFAs. This paper emphasizes that urban local governments have a central role to play in institutionalizing CFAs, either as a lead agency or as a facilitator. It concludes with specific suggestions on three key determinants of multi-stakeholder engagement, financial constraints and policy coordination at a regional level.

scholarly journals Understanding the Diversity of Urban–Rural Fringe Development in a Fast Urbanizing Region of China

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 2373
Author(s):  
Guoyu Li ◽  
Yu CAO ◽  
Zhichao He ◽  
Ju He ◽  
Yu Cao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Yangtze River Delta ◽  
Change Processes ◽  
Development Patterns ◽  
Developing Cities ◽  
Urban Rural ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas ◽  
The Yangtze River Delta

The territories between urban and rural areas, also called urban–rural fringe, commonly present inherent instability and notable heterogeneity. However, investigating the multifaceted urban–rural fringe phenomenon based on large-scale identification has yet to be undertaken. In this study, we adopted a handy clustering-based method by incorporating multidimensional urbanization indicators to understand how the urban–rural fringe development vary across space and shift over time in the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration, China. The results show that (1) the growth magnitude of urban–rural fringe areas was greater than urban areas, whereas their growth rate was remarkably lower. (2) The landscape dynamics of urban–rural fringe varied markedly between fast-developing and slow-developing cities. Peripheral sprawl, inter-urban bridge, and isolated growth were the representative development patterns of urban–rural fringe in this case. (3) Urban–rural fringe development has predominantly occurred where cultivated land is available, and significant inter-provincial differences and tendency shifts have been found in the land cover change processes therein. Our findings indicate that the urban–rural fringe development should be considered as a stage-dependent and place-specific process. This work extends previous knowledge by unraveling the diversity of urban–rural fringe in a fast urbanizing region, and can provide insights into reorienting the spatial planning and land use management within the urban–rural interface.

scholarly journals Alcohol consumption and the risk of Internet addiction in teenagers aged 13-17 years living in the urban and rural areas

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 110-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maciej Zygo ◽  
Emilia Potembska ◽  
Karol Zygo ◽  
Andrzej Stanisławek ◽  
Łukasz Karaś ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Internet Addiction ◽  
Computer Games ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Electronic Mail ◽  
Instant Messaging ◽  
The Internet ◽  
List Type ◽  
Internet Pornography ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas

AbstractThe aim of this paper was to determine differences and similarities between city dwelling teenagers aged 13–17 years who consumed/did not consume alcohol and their rural counterparts in regard to the severity of Internet addiction symptoms.Participants and methods: The examined group consisted of 1,191 people (890 girls and 301 boys) aged 13–17 years. The following instruments were used in the study: a sociodemographic questionnaire designed by the present authors, the Internet Addiction Questionnaire designed by Potembska, and the Internet Addiction Questionnaire (KBUI) designed by Pawłowska and Potembska.Results: The results show that adolescents who consume alcohol, both those living in urban and rural areas, are characterized by statistically significantly more severe Internet addiction symptoms measured by KBUI as compared to their non-drinking peers.Conclusions: Adolescents who consume alcohol, both urban and rural residents, are characterised by statistically significantly more severe symptoms of Internet addiction compared to their peers who do not consume alcohol.Adolescents who live in a city and who consume alcohol are significantly more likely to use Internet pornography than their non-drinking peers.Adolescents who live in urban areas are significantly more likely to use Internet pornography, play violent computer games and search for acceptance and understanding only in online interactions as compared to adolescents who do not consume alcohol.Underage city-dwellers who consume alcohol are significantly more likely to use electronic mail, instant messaging and web pages compared to their rural peers.

Thresholds, Financing, and Beneficiaries

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qin Gao
Keyword(s):  
Administrative Data ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
Population Coverage ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas ◽  
Bare Minimum ◽  
Average Consumption

Chapter 3 uses administrative data to describe the patterns in Dibao thresholds, financing, and beneficiaries and discuss its decentralized implementation. The chapter reveals that both urban and rural Dibao have undergone significant expansions in their thresholds, benefit levels, expenditures, population coverage, and number of beneficiaries over the years, with expansions occurring more rapidly and in more dramatic fashion in rural than in urban areas. However, the Dibao thresholds, or Dibao lines, remain low relative to average consumption levels, manifesting Dibao’s fundamental role as a last-resort, bare-minimum safety net program. Despite decentralized implementation and the requirement for local governments to commit a budget, Dibao expenditures have been heavily subsidized by the central government. Dibao’s population coverage in both urban and rural areas increased rapidly during the early stages of implementations but has leveled off in recent years.

scholarly journals Is global dimming and brightening in Japan limited to urban areas?

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (21) ◽  
pp. 13969-14001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katsumasa Tanaka ◽  
Atsumu Ohmura ◽  
Doris Folini ◽  
Martin Wild ◽  
Nozomu Ohkawara
Keyword(s):  
Solar Radiation ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Temporal Trends ◽  
Surface Radiation ◽  
Surface Solar Radiation ◽  
Decadal Time Scale ◽  
Global Dimming ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas

Abstract. Worldwide observations indicate secular trends of all-sky surface solar radiation on a decadal time scale, termed global dimming and brightening. Accordingly, the observed surface radiation in Japan generally shows a strong decline until the end of the 1980s and then a recovery until around 2000. Because a substantial number of measurement stations are located within or close to populated areas, one may speculate that the observed trends are strongly influenced by local air pollution and are thus not of large-scale significance. This hypothesis poses a serious question as to what regional extent the global dimming and brightening are significant: are the global dimming and brightening truly global phenomena, or regional, or even only local? Our study focused on 14 meteorological observatories that measured all-sky surface solar radiation, zenith transmittance, and maximum transmittance. On the basis of municipality population time series, historical land use maps, recent satellite images, and actual site visits, we concluded that eight stations have been significantly influenced by urbanization, with the remaining six stations being left pristine. Between the urban and rural areas, no marked differences were identified in the temporal trends of the aforementioned meteorological parameters. Our findings suggest that global dimming and brightening in Japan occurred on a large scale, independently of urbanization.

scholarly journals Patterns of Alcohol Consumption in the PURE Poland Cohort Study and Their Relationship with Health Problems

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (8) ◽  
pp. 4185
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Zatońska ◽  
Piotr Psikus ◽  
Alicja Basiak-Rasała ◽  
Zuzanna Stępnicka ◽  
Maria Wołyniec ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cohort Study ◽  
Alcohol Consumption ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Level Of Education ◽  
Adult Participants ◽  
Frequent Consumption ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas ◽  
Socio Demographic Factors ◽  
High Level

(1) Background: Alcohol is a leading risk factor of premature morbidity and mortality. The objective of this study was to investigate the patterns of alcohol consumption in the PURE Poland cohort study baseline. (2) Methods: A Polish cohort was enrolled in the baseline study in 2007–2010. The study group consisted of 2021 adult participants of urban and rural areas from the Lower Silesia voivodeship in Poland (747 men and 1274 women). (3) Results: In the overall study population, 67.3% were current drinkers, 10.3% were former drinkers, and 22.4% were abstainers. Current use of alcohol products was more prevalent in men (77.2%), people living in urban areas (73.0%), and people with a higher level of education (78.0%). The percentage of current drinkers decreased with increasing age (from 73.4% in 30- to 44-year-olds to 48.8% in participants aged 64 and more). The majority of participants (89.2%) declared a low level of alcohol intake. The chance of high level of intake of alcohol was four times higher in men than in women (OR 4.17; CI 1.64–10.6). The majority of participants (54.6%) declared most frequent consumption of low-alcohol drinks (beer, wine) and 21% declared most frequent consumption of spirits. Current drinkers had almost 1.5-fold higher odds of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) than never drinkers (OR 1.49, CI 1.03–2.17; OR 1.66, CI 1.27–2.18, respectively). Former drinkers had higher odds for hypertension and CVD than never drinkers (1.73, CI 1.05–2.85; OR 1.76, CI 1.22–2.53, respectively). (4) Conclusions: In our cohort study, we observed several socio-demographic factors differentiating the patterns of alcohol consumption. The preventive programs should focus predominantly on men, people aged <45 years, and those with a higher level of education.

The Economic Imperative: Cities Need Migrants

2021 ◽  
pp. 001946622110132
Author(s):  
Astha Agarwalla ◽  
Errol D’Souza
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Market Failure ◽  
Jel Classification ◽  
Industry Concentration ◽  
Wage Curve ◽  
Economic Agents ◽  
Reverse Migration ◽  
Local Labour

The policy responses to Covid-19 have triggered large-scale reverse migration from cities to rural areas in developing countries, exposing the vulnerability of migrants living precarious lives in cities, giving rise to debates asserting to migration as undesirable and favouring policy options to discourage the process. However, the very basis of spatial concentration and formation of cities is presence of agglomeration economies, benefits accruing to economic agents operating in cities. Presence of these agglomeration benefits in local labour markets manifests themselves in the form of an upward sloping wage curve in urban areas. We estimate the upward sloping wage curve for various size classes of cities in Indian economy and establish the presence of positive returns to occupation and industry concentration at urban locations. Controlling for worker-specific characteristics influencing wages, we establish that higher the share of an industry or an occupation in local employment as compared to national economy, the desirability of firms to pay higher wages increases. For casual labourers, occupational concentration results in higher wages. However, impact of industry concentration varies across sectors. Results supporting presence of upward sloping urban wage curve, therefore, endorse policies to correct the market failure in cities and promote migration as a desirable process. JEL Classification Codes: J2, R2

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.

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