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The purpose of this study is to examine institutional quality’s absorptive capacity in African countries’ remittances-finance nexus.

A balanced panel data set of thirty African countries between 2000 and 2022 is used for the study. The study adopts an augmented mean group (AMG), method of moment quantile regression (MMQR) and two-step system generalized method of moment (2SGMM) as the estimation techniques due to the nature of the data set.

The findings of the direct effect reveal that remittances do not constitute the growth of financial development, while institutional quality promotes the growth of financial development in the long. The moderating effect of institutional quality in the linkages shows that the interactive term of institutional quality and remittances has a significant positive effect on financial development in the region. Hence, institutional quality moderates the impact of remittances. These results are robust to different proxies of financial development and estimates obtained from MMQR and 2SGMM.

This study, therefore, suggests that institutional quality is essential in the linkages between remittances and financial development. Hence, remittances should be seen as one of the instruments that can be used to develop the financial sector rather than survival mechanisms for households.

This study contributes to the literature by unearthing the absorptive capacity of institutional quality in the nexus between remittances and financial development in African countries, which extant studies have neglected.

The inscription of Yazd historical fabric in United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) world heritage list has provided the city with the opportunity of international competence and to achieve a global identity. Fahadan is one of the nine historical quarters and the core of formation of the Yazd city. Fahadan is one of the nine historical quarters and the core of formation of Yazd city. The article intends to provide suitable policies for converting it into a sample creative quarter in Yazd historical fabric.

The article benefits from qualitative research and the strategic planning method based on a creative city approach, uses SWOT technique (a technique for finding an organization's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) for situation analysis and the Oregon model for visioning.

Two categories of hard and soft factors play a role in transitioning Fahadan quarter into a creative quarter. By expanding the scope of jobs related to jewelry, and creating its supporting activities in the food and leisure sector, a creative economy can be discovered in Fahadan quarter which alongside reinforcement of unique physical features of the area, forms a creative place. Its goal will be viewed as the place where artisans pave their way for reaching a creative quarter with new management.

The research presents policies to realize soft and hard factors required for creativity in the quarter, and shows step by step a small-scale pattern in the context of urban creativity planning, that can be used in historical fabrics with similar situation.

Bangladesh is one of the leading countries that has been facing serious air pollution issues, with an exponentially higher death rate attributed to it than other environmental pollution. This study aims to identify the sources and dynamics of particulate matter (PM) pollution across different micro-environments in Rajshahi City.

PMs’ concentration data were collected from 60 sampling stations, located across the six micro-environments of the study area, throughout the year using “HT 9600 Particle Counter.” To assess the level of pollution, the air quality index (AQI) was calculated, and different methods, including observation, group discussion, interview and questionnaire survey, were used to identify the pollution sources.

Both PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ exhibit varied concentrations in different micro-environments, and the area covered by different AQI classes differs considerably throughout the year. The monthly average concentration of PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ was highest in January, 200 and 400 µg/m³ and was lowest in September, 46 and 99 µg/m³, respectively. Among the total 1,440 observations, 853 observations (59.24%) exceeded the national standard. Based on the pollution level, different months and micro-environments in the city have been ranked in descending order as January > December > February > March > April > November > October > May > June > July > August > September and traffic > commercial > industrial > residential > green cover > riverine environment.

Although numerous research has been conducted on air pollution in Bangladesh, the authors are certain that no attempt has been made to address the issue from a multi- micro-environmental perspective. This makes the methodology and findings truly unique and significant in the context of air pollution research in Bangladesh.