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The purpose of this study is to analyze the horizontal expansion of Burayu Town between 1990 and 2020. The study typically acts as a baseline for integrated spatial planning in small- and medium-sized towns, which will help to plan sustainable utilization of land.

Landsat5-TM, Landsat7 ETM+, Landsat5 TM and Landsat8 OLI were used in the study, along with other auxiliary data. The LULC map classifications were generated using the Random Forest Package from the Comprehensive R Archive Network. Post-classification, spatial metrics, and per capita land consumption rate were used to understand the manner and rate of expansion of Burayu Town. Focus group discussions and key informant interviews were also used to validate land use classes through triangulation.

The study found that the built-up area was the most dynamic LULC category (85.1%) as it increased by over 4,000 ha between 1990 and 2020. Furthermore, population increase did not result in density increase as per capita land consumption increased from 0.024 to 0.040 during the same period.

As a result of financial limitations, there were no high-resolution satellite images available, making it challenging to pinpoint the truth as it is on the ground. Including senior citizens in the study region allowed this study to overcome these restrictions and detect every type of land use and cover.

Data on urban growth are useful for planning land uses, estimating growth rates and advising the government on how best to use land. This can be achieved by monitoring and reviewing development plans using satellite imaging data and GIS tools.

The use of Random Forest for image classification and the employment of local knowledge to validate the accuracy of land cover classification is a novel approach to properly customize remote sensing applications.

This study aims to investigate key aspects of public ownership of land, expropriation and compensation laws and practices in Ethiopia with special reference to Burayu Town.

A mixed research technique of descriptive and analytic approach is applied in the research. This study used a purposive sampling technique to select case study counties and a systematic method for sampling households. Questionnaire surveys, focus group discussions, interviews and observations were used to collect empirical data. Average, percentage and paired-sample t-test analyses are used for quantitative data analysis.

Significant discrepancies exist between the expropriation laws and how property valuation and compensation are practiced in Ethiopia. The findings include the arbitrariness in designating public interest status to projects; unfair property valuation practice that neglects location factor to determine market value due to a skewed understanding of public ownership of land; and the assignment of property valuators who have no valuation expertise and proper knowledge of expropriation related laws. Findings revealed the socio-economic status of expropriated households has deteriorated due to the expropriation of their landholding.

It was difficult to locate the relocated persons as they were resettled in different localities. Furthermore, the town officers were not forthcoming to provide complete information on the expropriation and compensation procedures they followed. However, this study overcame the limitations through persistent requests and availing time for the data gathering.

The findings indicated the need to redefine relationships between public ownership of land, public interest and expropriation of landholding. A proper understanding of the triad will pave the way for better expropriation practice in Ethiopia and in countries where land is under public ownership.

The social implication of the study revealed that the socio-economic situation of relocated persons was adversely affected due to the poor implementation of laws.

The disparity between public ownership of land and the rights of citizens on landholding is misunderstood by policymakers. Research has shown for the first time the root cause for the discontent of expropriated persons in Ethiopia.

This study aims to examine Musina municipality’s tourism development status and plans with existing documents and respondents’ responses on their envisaged implications on tourism development and sustainability initiatives in Vhembe District, Limpopo Province, South Africa.

Surveys, interviews and focus group discussions, supplemented by field observation and document reviews, gray literature alongside published literature, were applied. Subsequently, Microsoft Excel and cross-tabulation analysis orchestrated the analysis of the data.

The policy and strategy aspects contributing to the previous and actual tourism statuses in Musina municipality are defined. The study concludes that Musina Municipality has rich tourism possibilities but lacks a better tourism strategy to empower local communities. Nonetheless, it dwells in the most tourism-based landscape within the Vhembe District of Limpopo.

Musina Municipality is one of the driest areas in the north of Limpopo Province in South Africa. It is also marked by impoverished rural communities. Studies on sustainable tourism and development have increased in recent years. However, rare studies specialize in synergies within various forms of tourism. Also, significant resources to advance local communities in rural areas are not sufficiently appreciated.

Current evidence indicates that humans and animals are at increased risk of multiple health challenges due to microplastic (MP) profusion. However, mitigation is constrained by inadequate scientific data, further aggravated by the lack of evidence in many African countries. This review therefore synthesized evidence on the current extent of MP pollution in Africa and the analytical techniques for reporting.

A literature search was undertaken in research databases. Medical subject headings (MeSH) terms and keywords were used in the literature search. The authors found 38 studies from 10 countries that met the inclusion criteria.

Marine organisms had MPs prevalence ranging from 19% to 100%, whereas sediments and water samples had between 77 and 100%. The most common and dominant polymers included polypropylene and polyethylene.

This review shows that most studies still use methods that are prone to human errors. Therefore, the concentration of MPs is likely underestimated, even though the authors’ prevalence evaluations show MPs are still largely pervasive across multiple environmental matrices. Also, the study reveals significant spatial disparity in MP research across the African continent, showing the need for further research in other African countries.

Even though some reviews have assessed MPs pollution in Africa, they have not evaluated sample prevalence, which is necessary to understand not only concentration but pervasiveness across the continent. Secondly, this study delves deeper into various methods of sampling, extraction and analysis of MPs, as well as limitations and relevant recommendations.

Hazel Kyrk’s contribution is the most advanced formulation of the economics of consumption as a social phenomenon, an approach to the analysis of consumption that, originated from Veblen’s theory, was developed in the US in the early 20th century. This approach was part of a wider stream of empirical analyses of consumption expenditure that had begun more than a century earlier.

Along with elements that can be traced back to the neoclassical tradition, in Keynes’ analysis of consumption, we find original elements. The dependence of consumption expenditure on the level of income, which is essential for asserting the principle of effective demand, can also be found in a long tradition of empirical studies. In qualifying this relationship, Keynes uses theoretical elements echoing key insights of the economics of consumption as a social phenomenon. There is no documentary evidence that Kyrk or the economics of the social relevance of consumption came to Keynes’ attention. It is possible, however, to develop reasonable speculative considerations to argue a link between Keynes’ elaboration and both the empirical literature on the determinants of consumption and the economics of consumption as a social phenomenon.

This study aims to add to the understanding of the significance of football in cities, where most major football clubs are located. Specifically, this study offers a distinctive perspective on what might be regarded as “football cities” by the study's mobilisation of theories of the urban mosaic, the calculable city and identity. This study contributes to the emergent field of popular culture (Jeacle, 2012) and, within this field of popular culture, the significance of soccer. The particular setting of this study is the city. This paper is a contribution to the established accounting literature on city studies but within the neglected study of football in cities.

This paper's focus is on the significance of football clubs in one city. The theoretical approach adopted is a blending of studies of the urban mosaic (Timms, 1975), the calculable city (Lapsley et al., 2010) and the established trend of identification studies in accounting. This investigation was undertaken in the city of Edinburgh by observation of football in city life. This research is a form of participant observation in which the author lived in the city in this study. The researcher undertook interviews with key actors in both football clubs and city management, made use of local media and scrutinised publicly available documents on both the clubs and the city administrations.

This research reveals the importance of the city mosaic in explaining the limited significance of football in this city. This approach underlines the merits of contextual studies. However, the evidence presented also reveals the presence of strong identity relationships between football clubs and the clubs' fans. These results reveal an internal perspective on city management and the activities of football clubs and the clubs' host city. The presence of multiple football clubs in a single city offers more diffuse identity relationships, with football clubs fostering stronger identification with the club than with the city. There is also evidence of single, dual and multiple identity relationships in this study which contrasts with the single identity perspectives of prior accounting research.

The focus of this paper is on the research question posed in the Call for Papers - Is there a Soccer Society? The findings of this study offer only limited evidence of a soccer society.

There is a need to study other cities with football clubs to determine those which are mosaics and those which are dominated by football.

This a study which embraces the importance of social context in finding meaning in accounting research. This paper introduces the novel concept of the city mosaic which is a novel way of understanding different city contexts.

Prior research on football has examined fans' behaviour, financial crises at football clubs and governance structures. This paper extends these earlier analyses by addressing the social context of football clubs in the city. Whilst most accounting research revealed rapid changes in identity during reforms, this study reveals a more complex relationship which aims to build continuity and commitment of fans' identity with the bigger football clubs in this city.

The digital age requires people of all ages to communicate and organise their lives through digital technologies. The project EQualCare investigates how the growing population of older people living alone is managing this transition, how it shapes their (non-)digital social networks and what changes on a local level need to be brought about. This paper aims to give insight into the process of participatory action research (PAR) with older people in the community across four countries and reflects on experiences made by academic and co-researchers.

Following the emancipatory underpinnings of PAR, which aims to reduce inequalities through collaboration and co-design, EQualCare involved nine teams of co-researchers across Finland, Germany, Latvia and Sweden making older people the centre of policy development. Co-researchers were involved in formulating research aims, collecting data, reflecting on data, formulating and disseminating recommendations for local policy stakeholders.

Co-researchers’ motivation to invest considerable time and effort was driven by a desire to create a more equal future for older people living alone. Moreover, they were keen to involve marginalised older people and became frustrated when this proved difficult. Power dynamics played a role throughout the process but became productive as roles and responsibilities were renegotiated. Doing PAR with older people can be emotionally challenging for co-researchers when negative feelings around ageing are encountered.

The paper advances understanding on the process of PAR in ageing research by reflecting on the social, cultural and political contexts of doing PAR with diverse sets of older people.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the likely causes of failure of some sections of road pavements in Ajaokuta, Northcentral Nigeria. This was achieved through a geotechnical assessment of subgrade soils in affected areas.

The methods entailed field and laboratory methods and statistical analysis. Subgrade soil samples were retrieved from a depth of 1,000 mm beneath the failed portions using a hang auger. The soils were analyzed for natural moisture content (NMC), Atterberg limit (liquid limit, plastic limit and linear shrinkage), grain size distribution, compaction and California bearing ratio (CBR), respectively.

The results of the geotechnical tests ranged from NMC (12.5%–19.4%), sand (84%–98%), fines (2%–16%), LL (16.0%–32.2%), PL (17%–27.5%), LS (2.7%–6.4%), PI (2.5%–18.4%), maximum dry density (1756 kg/m2–1961 kg/m2), optimum moisture content (13.2%–20.2%), unsoaked CBR (15.5%–30.5%) and soaked CBR (8%–22%), respectively. Pearson’s correlation coefficient performed on the variables showed that some parameters exhibited a strong positive correlation with r2 > 0.5.

Funding was the main limitation.

Comparing the results with Nigerian standards for road construction, and the AASHTO classification scheme, the subgrade soils are competent and possess excellent to good properties. The soils also exhibited very low plasticity, a high percentage of sand, high CBR and low NMC, which implies that it has the strength required for road pavement subgrades. The likely causes of the failures are, therefore, due to the use of poor construction materials, technical incompetence and poor compaction of sub-base materials, respectively.

This study aims to explore the relationships between employees’ training orientation, organizational support for training and employees’ training satisfaction. It also investigates the mediating role of perceived value of training in the relationships.

Based on a literature review on training, the study proposes a theoretical model that links employees’ training orientation and organizational support for training to training satisfaction directly and indirectly via perceived value of training, while employees’ training satisfaction may influence affective commitment. The model was tested using responses from 364 Chinese employees in Macao.

Results of partial least square-structural equation modeling showed that employees’ training orientation influenced training satisfaction directly and indirectly through perceived value of training, while organizational support for training also influenced employees’ training satisfaction indirectly through perceived value of training. Training satisfaction had a positive effect on affective commitment.

The study’s limitations include a cross-sectional design and the characteristics of Macao’s economic structure. Although the causality of relationships was grounded in prior studies, reverse relationships might exist between some selected variables. It is suggested that a longitudinal study shall be carried out to confirm the causality of relationships. Additionally, Macao’s economy is dominated by its service sector. Future research can be carried out in other cities that have the manufacturing and high-technology sectors.

The study unveiled that employees’ training orientation including their general attitude towards training and training goal orientation and organizational support for training are key antecedents of training satisfaction. Human resources professionals in organizations must develop innovative ways, such as simulation games and competitions, to enhance the awareness of the importance of training to their employees. Additionally, they must advocate and demonstrate organizations providing supportive environments for training.