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Article
Publication date: 12 January 2015

Rongwei Chu, Matthew Liu and Guicheng James Shi

The purpose of this paper is to examine spending pattern of Chinese migrant workers from rural regions to urban cities from a social identity perspective, which stems from Chinese…

1204

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine spending pattern of Chinese migrant workers from rural regions to urban cities from a social identity perspective, which stems from Chinese Hukou system (household registry system). This study proposes a theoretical model for consumer utility function (a combination of economic utility and social utility) which takes into account the choice of social identification.

Design/methodology/approach

This study focusses on the influence of rural and urban identification on consumption patterns of Chinese migrant workers. These assumptions were verified based on a survey with 650 samples in Shanghai, one of the most developed cities in China.

Findings

Results indicate that affirmative social identification has a significantly positive effect on the level of consumption for migrant workers. High level of rural identification has a more significant impact than urban identification on survival consumption including food, medicine and family support. On the other hand, high level of urban identification has a more significant impact than rural identification on development consumption including education for children, training and recreation. Besides, there are significant interaction effects between income and identity on consumption, which confirms the identity effect on classical economic model and is in line with identity economics’ arguments.

Originality/value

This study outlines the importance of social identity in both economics and marketing domains and proposes a theoretical model which advances understanding of a model on similar lines proposed by Akerlof and Kranton’s (2000) and Benjamin et al. (2010). Empirical tests with Chinese migrant workers’ data present that their consumption patterns are influenced by their level of social identifications.

Details

Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, vol. 27 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-5855

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 September 2019

Abdalrahman M.G. Kittana and Bruno De Meulder

Contemporary wars are continuously striking population centres across the globe with devastating consequences of destruction and annihilation, and leading to mass casualties…

Abstract

Purpose

Contemporary wars are continuously striking population centres across the globe with devastating consequences of destruction and annihilation, and leading to mass casualties within civilians. The purpose of this paper is to question the role of architecture and urban tissue in packing up civilians’ resilience and survival practices during urban warfare.

Design/methodology/approach

The investigation is based on critical spatial analysis of survival narratives obtained from an empirical study conducted in the city of Nablus in Palestine.

Findings

This paper shows that, due to its unique and highly complex socio-spatial entanglement, the kasbah of Nablus represents a paradigm in the (re)creation of community resilience. This paradigm is based on the interaction of three main elements: a multi-layered urban tissue accumulated along 2,000 years of urban evolution; a thick matrix of cultural and social constructs; and the lifting and switching of a lot of social conventions related to space during times of war.

Originality/value

The agency of architecture in supporting civilian survival practices during urban warfare is visited, nevertheless only partially unpacked by a number of prominent studies. This paper provides a deeper level of investigation and understanding of the interplay between the architecture of the city and resilience capacity.

Details

Archnet-IJAR: International Journal of Architectural Research, vol. 13 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2631-6862

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 March 2022

Navid Hooshangi, Navid Mahdizadeh Gharakhanlou and Seyyed Reza Ghaffari-Razin

The duration of an urban search and rescue (USAR) operation directly depends on the number of rescue teams involved. The purpose of this paper is to simplify the earthquake…

Abstract

Purpose

The duration of an urban search and rescue (USAR) operation directly depends on the number of rescue teams involved. The purpose of this paper is to simplify the earthquake environment and determine the initial number of rescuers in earthquake emergencies in USAR operation.

Design/methodology/approach

In the proposed methodology, four primary steps were considered: evaluation of buildings damage and the number of injured people by exerting geospatial information system (GIS) analyses; determining service time by means of task allocation; designing the simulation model (queuing theory); and calculation of survival rate and comparison with the time of rescue operations.

Findings

The calculation of buildings damage for an earthquake with 6.6 Richter in Tehran’s District One indicated that 18% of buildings are subjected to the high damage risk. The number of injured people calculated was 28,856. According to the calculated survival rate, rescue operations in the region must be completed within 22.33 h to save 75% of the casualties. Finally, the design of the queue model indicated that at least 2,300 rescue teams were required to provide the calculated survival rate.

Originality/value

The originality of this paper is an innovative approach for determining an appropriate number of rescue teams by considering the queuing theory. The results showed that the integration of GIS and the simulation of queuing theory could be a helpful tool in natural disaster management, especially in terms of rapid vulnerability assessment in urban districts, the adequacy and appropriateness of the emergency services.

Details

International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment, vol. 15 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1759-5908

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 25 September 2020

Tashi Dendup, Yun Zhao and I Gusti Ngurah Edi Putra

The differences in the distribution of factors associated with under-five mortality (UFM) can help explain the rural-urban inequities in UFM. The determinants contributing to UFM…

1862

Abstract

Purpose

The differences in the distribution of factors associated with under-five mortality (UFM) can help explain the rural-urban inequities in UFM. The determinants contributing to UFM in rural and urban areas have not been previously explored in Bhutan. This study examined the factors associated with UFM in rural and urban Bhutan and the role of the factors in explaining UFM disparity.

Design/methodology/approach

The dataset of 6,398 single births (4,999 in rural and 1,399 in urban areas) from the 2012 Bhutan National Health Survey was analyzed. Logistic regression analysis accounting for the complex survey design was performed to investigate the determinants.

Findings

The UFM rate was 2.75 times higher in rural than in urban Bhutan. In rural communities, children of younger mothers, born in households without safe sanitation and electricity, and central and eastern regions had increased UFM odds. Whereas, children born to working mothers and educated fathers, and born in households with non-working household heads had lower UFM odds in urban areas. A higher number of births and smaller household size was associated with an increased UFM odds irrespective of rural-urban residence. Environmental factors were attributable for the largest portion of rural UFM disadvantage.

Originality/value

This study helps to understand the rural-urban differences in the factors influencing UFM in Bhutan. The findings suggest that policies aimed to improve environmental and socioeconomic conditions, women empowerment, and those aimed to enhance health utilization can help reduce the rural-urban child survival disparity and accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal target.

Details

Journal of Health Research, vol. 35 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0857-4421

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 October 2021

Marina Johnson, Abdullah Albizri, Antoine Harfouche and Salih Tutun

The global health crisis represents an unprecedented opportunity for the development of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions. This paper aims to integrate explainable AI into…

Abstract

Purpose

The global health crisis represents an unprecedented opportunity for the development of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions. This paper aims to integrate explainable AI into the decision-making process in emergency scenarios to help mitigate the high levels of complexity and uncertainty associated with these situations. An AI solution is designed to extract insights into opioid overdose (OD) that can help government agencies to improve their medical emergency response and reduce opioid-related deaths.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper employs the design science research paradigm as an overarching framework. Open-access digital data and AI, two essential components within the digital transformation domain, are used to accurately predict OD survival rates.

Findings

The proposed AI solution has two primary implications for the advancement of informed emergency management. Results show that it can help not only local agencies plan their resources for timely response to OD incidents, thus improving survival rates, but also governments to identify geographical areas with lower survival rates and their primary contributing factor; hence, they can plan and allocate long-term resources to increase survival rates and help in developing effective emergency-related policies.

Originality/value

This paper illustrates that digital transformation, particularly open-access digital data and AI, can improve the emergency management framework (EMF). It also demonstrates that the AI models developed in this study can identify opioid OD trends and determine the significant factors improving survival rates.

Details

Industrial Management & Data Systems, vol. 123 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-5577

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 June 2017

Şebnem Eroğlu

The purpose of this paper is to examine the key sources of poor urban households’ relative success (or failure) in reducing poverty by income generation activities. It…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the key sources of poor urban households’ relative success (or failure) in reducing poverty by income generation activities. It specifically investigates the conditions of informal employment in order to understand how and to what extent they affect households’ chances of success.

Design/methodology/approach

The data were drawn from interviews with 17 low-income households randomly selected from an informal gecekondu settlement based in the capital city of Turkey.

Findings

The research challenges the dominant viewpoint, which attributes success to having fewer dependants or more resources. It shows that success depends more on the benefit delivery capacity of resources and this depends largely on wider structural factors. Informal employment is found to constitute one key structural factor, which limits households’ chances of success to a greater extent than formal employment not only through condemning them to low pay but also through imposing more restrictions upon their access to state welfare.

Research limitations/implications

The case study has significant implications for poverty research and measurement since it reinforces the idea that an improved understanding of poverty and its causes requires a multi-dimensional approach that takes into account the conditions of work extending beyond pay.

Practical implications

The study shows that substantial improvement upon the lives of poor households requires changes at the macro-level, and the adoption of an employment-centred approach where the priority is given to the creation of jobs with decent working conditions, tighter labour market regulation and effective enforcement of these regulations.

Originality/value

Through a qualitative as well as quantitative exploration of low-income households living in the periphery of the Turkish capital, the study empirically challenges the conventional wisdom about urban survival which overemphasises the resilience of poor people. It also contributes to the less developed parts of the research literature on informal employment through demonstrating its poverty-inducing effects. Furthermore, the study makes a theoretical contribution by developing a new conceptual framework that places informal employment within the wider context of household resources, livelihoods and poverty.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 37 no. 5/6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 18 May 2020

Marwa Sobhy Montaser

This paper aims at contributing to our understanding of how self-settled Syrian refugees (registered and non-registered) use informal practices to forge their non-political agency…

1555

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims at contributing to our understanding of how self-settled Syrian refugees (registered and non-registered) use informal practices to forge their non-political agency and how this agency could be considered as political acts.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper was conducted per the qualitative data analysis (in-depth interviews and participant observation), attributed to the critical ethnographic approach, through which refugees’ everyday struggle is explored, additionally, that was incorporated with the analysis of Syrians’ Facebook groups and formal sources.

Findings

The research paper concluded that everyday struggle strategies are considered as political acts by acquiring rights that many self-settled Syrian refugees are stripped of by international humanitarian agencies and host government. Hence, registered and unregistered refugees equally forge what is called “informal citizenship” through their presence via a blend of agency forms ranging from hidden agency to explicit one and via their incorporating into the informal contexts, leading them to carve a position of semi-legality that help them to circumvent the formal structural hardship.

Originality/value

This paper endeavors to study how urban refugees as change agents can convert their illegal presence to “probably refugeeness” to unsettle the prominent recognition of them as illegal non-citizens in southern cities.

Details

Review of Economics and Political Science, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2356-9980

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 August 2019

Regis Musavengane, Pius Siakwah and Llewellyn Leonard

The purpose of this paper is to question the extent to which Sub-Saharan African cities are progressing towards promoting pro-poor economies through pro-poor tourism (PPT). It…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to question the extent to which Sub-Saharan African cities are progressing towards promoting pro-poor economies through pro-poor tourism (PPT). It specifically examines how African cities are resilient towards attaining sustainable urban tourism destinations in light of high urbanization.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodological framework is interpretive in nature and qualitative in an operational form. It uses meta-synthesis to evaluate the causal relationships observed within Sub-Saharan African pro-poor economies to enhance PPT approaches, using Accra, Ghana, Johannesburg, South Africa, and Harare, Zimbabwe, as case studies.

Findings

Tourism development in Sub-Saharan Africa has been dominantly underpinned by neoliberal development strategies which threaten the sustainability of tourism in African cities.

Research limitations/implications

The study is limited to three Sub-Saharan African countries. Further studies may need to be done in other developing countries.

Practical implications

It argues for good governance through sustainability institutionalization which strengthens the regulative mechanisms, processes and organizational culture. Inclusive tourism approaches that are resilient-centered have the potential to promote urban tourism in Sub-Saharan African cities. These findings contribute to the building of strong and inclusive Institutions for Sustainable Development in the Sub-Saharan African cities to alleviate poverty.

Social implications

These findings contribute to the building of strong and inclusive institutions for sustainable development in the Sub-Saharan African cities to alleviate poverty.

Originality/value

The “poor” are always within the communities, and it takes a community to minimise the impact of poverty among the populace. The study is conducted at a pertinent time when most African government’s development policies are pro-poor driven. Though African cities provide opportunities of growth, they are regarded as centres of high inequality.

Details

International Journal of Tourism Cities, vol. 5 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-5607

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 12 June 2017

Guijun Li, YongSheng Wang, Daohan Huang and Hongtao Yang

The purpose of this paper is to study how to effectively allocate water, energy and food (WEF) resources in urban development.

2478

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study how to effectively allocate water, energy and food (WEF) resources in urban development.

Design/methodology/approach

An agent-based model combined with NetLogo simulation model has been used in this paper.

Findings

This paper proposes a framework for agent analysis in urban WEF consumption.

Research limitations/implications

Further discussions using empirical data are of great importance.

Practical implications

Apply to form the development model of the city in the future.

Originality/value

A new method of WEF management has been used at the city level.

Details

International Journal of Crowd Science, vol. 1 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2398-7294

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 September 2015

Ranjan Kumar Prusty and Kunal Keshri

– The purpose of this paper is to understand disparities in child immunization and nutritional status among children by migration status in urban India.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to understand disparities in child immunization and nutritional status among children by migration status in urban India.

Design/methodology/approach

The study utilized third round of National Family Health Survey (NFHS, 2005-2006) data, which is the Indian version of Demographic and Health Survey. Descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression models were used to study the levels and factors associated with child nutrition and immunization by migration status.

Findings

Results suggest that malnutrition and no immunization are very high among children of rural-urban migrants and full immunization is lower than urban non-migrants and urban-urban migrants. More than half of the children from marginalized households suffer from the problem of undernutrition among rural-urban migrants. Multivariate results show economic status, age of the mother, education, caste and media exposure are negatively associated with malnutrition and positively associated with immunization. Children from south, north-east and east are found to have lesser chance of being malnourished than north region of India.

Practical implications

The challenges experienced by rural-urban migrants are reflected over their children and needs a greater attention among policy makers in India.

Originality/value

The finding of this study that children of the rural-urban migrants are in a disadvantageous position in terms of nutrition and immunization. This reflects the precarious condition of rural-urban migrants who initially settles in poor neighbourhoods, which are characterized by lack of adequate sanitation and clean water, poor housing and overcrowding, and difficulty in access to modern health services brought out by many researchers.

Details

International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care, vol. 11 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-9894

Keywords

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