Search results

Mud architecture as one of the expressions of vernacular architecture illustrates the success of indigenous knowledge of traditional communities. Due to the pressure of industrialization, urbanization and globalization, the trend of using non-traditional measures guided by the Western-Euro-centric knowledge and technologies considers the traditional practices as expressions of backward past, under-development and poverty. Though mud as a building material is usually assumed as a fragile and ephemeral material that cannot survive against natural hazards, the surviving traditional mud buildings are needed to be investigated to know their performances during and after different types of natural hazard incidents.

This paper intends to study the available cases of mud architecture of Chattogram, Bangladesh to trace the history of their survival despite of experiencing multiple natural hazards and to understand their status and prospect of resisting hazards. Three individual homesteads are chosen as cases for conducting physical survey as well as engaging inhabitants and local masons of the locality in semi-structured interviews in a story telling mode to know the construction process and histories of experiencing natural hazards. Available literatures are reviewed, and experts are interviewed to understand the causes of their performances and possible ways to improve the quality.

Collected information on mud architecture demonstrates their quality of surviving against many natural challenges and this hazard-resilient quality can be enhanced through using contemporary building technologies and materials, promising to co-exist with the global trend.

This study as an attempt to reinvent the vernacular architectural heritage endorses the need of appreciating indigenous knowledge for enhancing community resilience against natural hazards.

As Africa’s internet penetration rates increase, and a significant portion of the continent’s population turns to social media as a source of news, platforms like Facebook are increasingly becoming crucial for political, public health, and risk communication. Thus, it is useful to gain insights into how state authorities are using these platforms to communicate with citizens especially in times of crisis. This study sought to examine how state authorities in Ethiopia, Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Zimbabwe framed public crisis communication on Facebook during the COVID-19 lockdowns in the respective countries. Qualitative content analysis of Facebook posts by the state authorities in the four countries over a six-week period before and after the COVID-19 lockdowns yielded several frames or strategies employed by authorities in the case countries. These included; education, caution, cooperation, government measures, hope, nationalism, and scaremongering. Other frames included impact, militarisation, politicisation, and religion. The analysis establishes, as in several other countries, Facebook as a current and strategic choice in state-spearheaded crisis communication. Whereas the main frames were globally and regionally driven, other frames encapsulated national contexts drawing on national histories, patriotism, hopes and fears that sometimes seemed contradictory and capricious.

Recently, the Government of India has emphasized digital financial inclusion for promoting cashless transactions with a vision to transform India from a traditional cash-based economy into a cashless economy. Technology-driven payment apps are facilitated greater access to cashless financial services and improve the speed, efficiency, accuracy and effectiveness of financial transactions. This study aims to explore the determinants of quick response (QR) code mobile payment (m-payment) adoption intention among marginalized street vendors in India.

The proposed research model was tested using 320 responses from QR code m-payment users. An interview schedule was performed using the structured questionnaire from marginalized street vendors by adopting a purposive sampling technique. The proposed research framework of this study developed on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). In addition to the existing variables proposed in the UTAUT model, three more variables have been added, namely, digital financial literacy (DFL), personal innovativeness (PI) and perceived trust (PT). Besides, the study used confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling techniques to analyze the data.

This study confirms that factors such as performance expectancy, effort expectancy, facilitating conditions, PT and customers’ DFL are significant determinants of street vendors’ intention to use QR code m-payment services. However, social influence and PI have shown an insignificant relationship with adopting a QR code m-payment system.

The results provide insights for policymakers and service providers. Specifically, government and bankers design promotional campaigns emphasizing the ease of use, perceived benefits, security and faster business transactions to accept and use the QR code m-payment system to encourage prospective users to achieve a cashless economy.

Many prior studies have widely concentrated on m-payment adoption intention in India. However, only a few studies have attempted to examine the factors influencing the adoption of QR code m-payment services among merchants from emerging economies. There is a dearth of studies on QR code adoption from an unorganized sector perspective, specifically marginalized street vendors. Therefore, this study explicitly examines the extent to which the determinants of adoption intention toward QR code-based m-payment services among marginalized street vendors within the framework of the extended UTAUT model by incorporating DFL, PI and PT. The findings of this study contribute, theoretically and practically, to the existing literature.