Summer crowds: An analysis of USFS campground reservations during the COVID-19 pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, US public land managers faced the challenge of catering to large increases in camping demand, while maintaining social distancing guidelines. In this paper, we use multivariate linear regression to analyze weekly changes in reservations to US Forest Service (USFS) campgrounds between 2019 and 2020. The regression models estimate the impact of local COVID infection rates, public health restrictions, and spatial spillovers from proximity to National Parks (NPs), metropolitan areas and wildfire on camping demand. Our sample includes 1,688 individual USFS campgrounds from across the contiguous US. The results illustrate the dramatic increases in camping on USFS land that occurred in the summer of 2020 and demonstrate that increases in local infection rates led to significant increases in camping nights reserved in the summer. The results also illustrate that the increase in camping nights reserved at USFS campgrounds was particularly dramatic for campgrounds located near large metropolitan areas and near NPs that saw increases in overall recreational visits. These results point to the important role that public lands played during the pandemic and can help guide public land resource allocations for campground maintenance and operation.

Ecological Efficiency of Urban Industrial Land in Metropolitan Areas: Evidence from China

Industrial land is an indispensable strategic resource in urban development that plays an indispensable role in ensuring the industrial space of urban construction and development. Measuring and analyzing the eco-efficiency of industrial land utilization (ECILU) can provide insights into how to maximize the input–output ratio of industrial land and ensure the sustainable development of land resources and economies. Based on the undesirable output slacks-based measure (SBM) model, choosing land, capital, and labor as input indicators, and the industrial added value and carbon emissions as desirable and undesirable output indicators, this study measured the ECILUs in 78 cities and 13 metropolitan areas in four Chinese major economic zones from 2007 to 2018, analyzed their spatial and temporal evolution characteristics and regional differences, and constructed a Tobit regression model to test the influence mechanism of each variable on the ECILUs in different regions. This has important theoretical and practical significance for the Chinese government in formulating relevant policies and realizing the green utilization of urban land in the future. Empirical results showed that the ECILUs in most cities were low and that the differences between regions were large. The ECILU in the Western Economic Zone was relatively high, followed by the Eastern, Central, and Northeastern Economic Zones. According to the ECILU value and urban synergy degree of each metropolitan area, this study divided the 13 metropolitan areas into four categories. The regression analysis results showed that the variables had different effects on the ECILUs of all cities and the four economic zones in China. It is suggested that all economic zones should reinforce the optimization of industrial structure, control industrial pollutant discharge, and solve the phenomenon of labor surplus. The Eastern Zone should maintain the growth of its economy while focusing on soil quality. The Central Zone should focus on the efficient use of infrastructure, and the Western, Northeastern, and Central Zones should balance the green coverage area and the industrial land area to ensure the efficient use of urban industrial land.

Metro Transport Corporations:

Urban mobility revolution is transforming and traditional transportation agencies may be ill-equipped to oversee the changes. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. transit ridership was down as more people in metropolitan areas chose the convenience of options like Uber and Lyft. The apparent durability of working from home has exacerbated both fiscal and equity challenges for transit. Meanwhile, vehicle travel is already ahead of pre-pandemic levels in 15 states. The combination of reduced transit ridership and more cars threatens to worsen the challenges posed by climate change. Consumers have demonstrated their preference for the convenience new technologies provide. But the skills and capabilities of traditional urban transit agencies do not foster innovation. We propose that urban mobility be overseen by “Metro Transport Corporations,” public-private partnerships that combine the accountability of government with the entrepreneurial and technology-savvy influence of the private sector to address equity and sustainability challenges while driving superior customer service.

Assessment of thoron contribution to indoor radon exposure in Canada

From 2007 to 2013, simultaneous radon (222Rn) and thoron (220Rn) measurements were conducted in a total of 3534 residential homes in 34 metropolitan areas covering 71% of the Canadian population. While radon levels were above the detector’s detection limit in almost all homes, thoron concentrations were measurable in only 1738 homes. When analysis was limited to homes where thoron concentrations exceeded the detection limit, a pooled analysis confirmed that thoron is log-normally distributed in the indoor environment, and the distribution was characterized by a population-weighted geometric mean of 13 Bq/m3 and a geometric standard deviation of 1.89. Thoron contribution to indoor radon dose varied widely, ranging from 1.3 to 32% geographically. This study indicated that on average, thoron contributes 4% of the radiation dose due to total indoor radon exposure (222Rn and 220Rn) in Canada.

School Leavers With Verified Disabilities

Globally, young adult employment rates have declined in the 21st century. In Australia, youth from non-metropolitan areas have a lower engagement rate in employment than their metropolitan peers, despite one rarely hearing declarations from school leavers that they aim to be unemployed and never work. This chapter investigates transition outcomes for young adults from a non-metropolitan area through a small retrospective study. The purpose is to identify influences that may impact youth engagement in employment or training for school leavers in a small town, and that may be dissimilar from influences affecting their metropolitan counterparts. Research also focuses on the influences affecting transition to employment for school leavers with verified disabilities in non-metropolitan areas and what barriers they experience to accessing employment or study.

University campuses in Russia: architectural and urban development typology

The purpose of the present study is to develop a typology of university campuses reflecting all their diversity. The main attention is paid to the peculiarities of the location of the university campuses relative to the settlements, as well as their spatial planning arrangement. In general, depending on the spatial planning arrangement, three types of university campuses are defined and analyzed, namely, dispersed, dissected, and compact (local). The features of university complexes located in the metropolitan areas, largest, and large cities, as well as in medium and small cities, and outside of large settlements in the suburban area have been determined depending on the location of campuses relative to settlements. Besides, the authors have identified the ways of spatial planning development of existing university complexes and justified improving the spatial planning arrangement of university campuses. In general, four ways of the spatial development of existing universities are identified: purchasing facilities in the adjacent territory to expand the existing campus; placing the necessary additional facilities in the adjacent and other areas of the city, that is, integrating into the urban environment; creating an additional campus in a remote territory (often in the suburbs); and moving all or part of the university facilities to a new campus with a full-fledged infrastructure in another area of the city or suburb. The article provides examples of university campuses (complexes) in Russian cities for all the types considered, provided with the attached graphic schemes.