Does Polycentric Development Improve Green Utilization Efficiency of Urban Land? An Empirical Study Based on Panel Threshold Model Approach

In the context of increasing resource and environmental constraints, measurement and determinants of green utilization efficiency of urban land (GUEUL) is currently the subject of a rapidly expanding literature. Previous research concerning determinants of GUEUL focuses primarily on effects of socio-economic conditions on GUEUL, and little attention has been devoted to impacts of spatial structure and urban development patterns. This research explores impacts of polycentric development on GUEUL of urban agglomeration (UA), using data for major UAs in China covering the period 2005–2019. GUEUL and the extent of polycentricity is measured by employing an improved directional slack-based measure (SBM) model and the rank-size distribution-based approach, respectively. The linkage between polycentric development and GUEUL is explored by estimating models of determinants of GUEUL, and the nonlinear characteristics of the relationship are investigated by employing the panel threshold model approach. The results suggest that polycentric development positively impacts GUEUL of UAs, and such effect rises with economic development levels. In addition, degree of agglomeration, economic development level and intensity of government investment in science and technology is found to be positively related to GUEUL. The empirical results have significant implications for improving GUEUL through formulating and implementing regional and urban policies.

Reshaping Louisiana’s Coastal Frontier: Managed Retreat as Colonial Decontextualization

This article describes social encounters produced through climate adaptation policy experimentation focused on managed retreat—a framework increasingly used by academics and planning professionals to describe various kinds of planned relocations from areas exposed to environmental hazards. Building on scholarship that examines the political ecology of resettlement and adaptation (Shearer, 2012; Maldonado, 2014; Marino 2015; Whyte et al. 2019), I draw on five years of ethnographic work conducted alongside Isle de Jean Charles Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw Tribal leaders as their longstanding Tribal resettlement planning was transformed by government investment. I found that Louisiana’s Office of Community Development relied on Tribal-led planning to garner federal funds, used those funds to transform the resettlement, and used planning process and documentation to erase the rationales behind and aims of Indigenous-led planning—a process I liken to Dina Gilio-Whitaker (2019)’s notion of decontextualization as a colonial strategy of erasure. I contend that state decontextualization of the resettlement from a struggle for cultural survival to managed retreat policy experimentation reproduced a frontier dynamic whereby colonial and capitalist coastal futures are rested upon the erasure of Indigenous peoples and their lifeways, institutions, and self-determination. Constructions of risk and community and timelines published in planning documentation were particularly important state tools used for decontextualization. Ethnographic accounts of such processes can inform future resistance to eco-colonial schemes within climate adaptation.

Theoretical analysis and relationship of government and private investment on economic growth and employment absorption

One of the goals to be achieved in developing public and private investment is to encourage economic growth and employment. Positive economic growth is needed because it means that it has driven faster economic growth and increased the absorption of Employment. This study aims to obtain an analysis of the theoretical relationship between government investment and private investment on economic growth and employment, especially in South Kalimantan Province as the object of research. South Kalimantan Province is one of the regions in Indonesia which has a large potential for natural resources. The method used in this research is to use Path Analysis and analysis of theoretical findings based on in-depth analysis of various literature studies and observations which are expected to prove that government investment and private investment affect employment and economic growth which in turn can affect poverty levels. . The results of the study are expected to obtain important theoretical findings that can contribute to the formulation of government policies.

Can Targeted Government Investment in Rural Establishments Induce Innovative Activity?

Rural economic development strategies increasingly focus on “homegrown” economic policies, including investing in entrepreneurial development. However, few studies have evaluated the effectiveness of these strategies, in part because of data constraints. Using a mixed-methods approach, basic t-tests, fixed-effect probit regression, and propensity scoring techniques on data from the Small Business Innovation Research Program and the Rural Establishment Innovation Survey, this article tests the effectiveness of federal policies in inducing innovative activity in rural and urban establishments. The authors also explore indirect comparisons between rural and urban establishments. They find that Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) awards can increase the likelihood that an establishment will act innovatively and that this effect may be larger in rural settings than in urban settings. Results suggest that targeted public investment can induce rural innovation.

Brief communication: A roadmap towards credible projections of ice sheet contribution to sea level

Accurately projecting mass loss from ice sheets is of critical societal importance. However, despite recent improvements in ice sheet models, our analysis of a recent effort to project ice sheet contribution to future sea level suggests that few models reproduce historical mass loss accurately and that they appear much too confident in the spread of predicted outcomes. The inability of models to reproduce historical observations raises concerns about the models' skill at projecting mass loss. Here we suggest that uncertainties in the future sea level contribution from Greenland and Antarctica may well be significantly higher than reported in that study. We propose a roadmap to enable a more realistic accounting of uncertainties associated with such forecasts and a formal process by which observations of mass change should be used to refine projections of mass change. Finally, we note that tremendous government investment and planning affecting tens to hundreds of millions of people is founded on the work of just a few tens of scientists. To achieve the goal of credible projections of ice sheet contribution to sea level, we strongly believe that investment in research must be commensurate with the scale of the challenge.

RETROSPECTIVE CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF BARACK OBAMA’S AND OLUSEGUN OBASANJO’S POLITICAL COMMUNICATION FEATURES AND STYLES

Governments make calculated human capital commitment to political communication because of its indispensability and effectiveness as a veritable tool, which underlies and is underlined by massive government investment in public communication. Presidential communication is rooted in, influenced, and limited by, usually, certain written codes. This study examined why, when, and how two presidents said what they said, and why they did or not do as said. Thesis problem was unravelling how features and styles of two presidents facilitated their political communication and public policies. Study fitted into two models, using two political communication theories: mainly ‘Aristotelian Political Rhetoric;’ Walter Fisher’s ‘the Narrative Paradigm’ as theoretical guides. Using original communications of two presidents, this comparative and historical study bridged the sparse scholarship on comparative presidential political communication. Data were obtained from purposively selected sample population, collated, analysed and interpreted, deploying multiple instruments, majorly content and discourse analyses chosen for their effectiveness at measuring predetermined variables. Selected published presidential communications 178 and 158 each all totaling 336 obtained from secondary sources formed the sample population. Findings of study revealed both presidents were largely more dissimilar than otherwise. Their backgrounds reflected, not dominated their communications. As communicators, they were urban-romanticisers, but rural-jilters, promoting rural exclusion, and accessibility to selected urban congregations. Obama’s presidential communication was delivered using peculiar styles, like Olusegun Obasanjo’s, both relying on diverse notable features. Conclusively, presidential political communication should be additional statutory responsibility of presidents to legally guarantee accountability, and practical democracy. Presidential communication system must be deconstructed and reconstructed to promote professional speech-making, and polity-connected presidential political communication.

Homestead reduction, economic agglomeration and rural economic development: evidence from Shanghai, China

PurposeThe contradiction of construction land in economically developed regions is becoming more prominent, and the scale of construction land in some large cities is close to the ceiling. Therefore, China implemented the policy of construction land reduction in 2014. The main objective is to optimize the stock of homesteads and then help to realize rural revitalization by transferring land indexes across regions. Shanghai took the lead in implementing the reduction policy in 2014, for which reduction acceptance data are available. Thus, this paper evaluates the impact of homestead reduction on rural economic development based on data from towns in Shanghai.Design/methodology/approachThis paper uses the difference-in-difference (DID) model to analyze the policy effects of homestead reduction on rural residents' income and industrial integration development. Using economic agglomeration (EA) as a mediating variable, the authors explore how homestead reduction (HR) promotes EA to drive rural economic development and analyze the impact of geographic location and government investment.FindingsHR significantly promotes rural economic development and shows a significant cumulative effect. In the long run, HR can improve rural residents' income and promote industrial integration by promoting EA. The positive effect of HR and EA in suburban regions on industrial integration development is gradually increasing. However, the incentive effect on rural residents' income is weakening. The positive mediating effect of EA is significantly higher in regions with low government investment than in regions with high government investment.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to testing the impact of HR policy on rural economic development and can provide a reference for other regions aiming to implement reduction policy.

Intelligent Government Control System Construction Based on 5G IoT

This paper presents an in-depth analysis of the construction of an intelligent government control system in the context of 5G IoT. The research has conducted performance tests and network tests on the samples of the components which debugged the problems that occurred during the tests and analyzed and improved the system. The system designed in this study is not only easy to maintain but also very reliable and safe, with a high level of accuracy, and can be used for remote “five remote” and management of switchgear and other related power equipment. Based on this model, a dual middleware PaaS service selection algorithm is proposed, and a utility evaluation strategy is used to load balance the PaaS service. The test results show that the DMPS algorithm has a high selection accuracy and load balancing capability. Combined with the experience of local government investment and financing platform financing risk management and control practices, the financing risk control system established through the study is made more feasible. From the development history of local government investment and financing platforms, we study local government investment and financing platforms from the perspective of historical development and explore the root causes of their high financing risks and possible defects in the management process of daily work. Concerning the existing laws and regulations, practical operation norms, the framework of the local government investment and financing platform system, and other objective conditions, we start to build a financing risk control system for local government investment and financing platforms from both practical and operational management aspects, to find a financing risk control system that is in line with the regulations and effective. Finally, the system will be put into practice, and the effectiveness of the system will be tested by using the simulation operation method, and the results will be adjusted in time for the shortcomings of the system. The system is expected to help local government investment and financing platforms to reduce their risks so that they can provide better services for urban infrastructure construction and become a solid link in the economic development chain.