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"REGIONAL ENVIRONMENT"
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The Attractiveness of Adaptive Heritage Reuse: A Theoretical Framework
Adaptive heritage reuse is a useful method to bring new meaning into a culture, manage heritage sites, and promote tourism development. However, it is not always successful, and there is no theoretical framework to understand its attractiveness and value. This study aimed at developing such a theoretical framework based on the analysis of nine cases of adaptive heritage reuse in Taiwan. The probe question technique of qualitative interview was used to assess the attraction framework. A total of 90 respondents were interviewed based on constant comparative analysis with the sampling strategy of theoretical saturation. The results illustrate the heritage and activities of the reuse environments, including natural and regional environments. These environments produce recreational values, including self-growth, health benefits, and social benefits. As promoting activities is an important attraction for tourists in the heritage reuse environment, the natural environment can be used to plan and design heritage outdoor activities. Finally, the regional environment can be an important basis for assessing the feasibility of adaptive heritage reuse, including historical streets, surrounding tourist attractions, and high transportation accessibility. This theoretical framework can be used to achieve sustainable management of heritage sites.
Journal Article
Does Land Abundance Explain African Institutions?
The land abundance view of African history uses sparse population to explain pre-colonial land tenure and slavery. I document the geographical forcing variables that predict land rights, slavery and population density in a cross section of global societies. I discuss whether these correlations support theories of land rights and slavery, including the land abundance view. I show that pre-colonial institutions predict institutional outcomes in Africa in the present, including land transactions, polygamy and public goods. Pre-colonial institutions have effects above those of geography. The colonial reversal of fortune did not erase their influence.
Journal Article
Dynamics of innovation in a globalizing china
Existing theoretical attempts to understand the dynamics of technological innovation have focused on the influence of regional environment and inter-firm relations. More recently, however, a number of studies have suggested that firm-specific attributes be taken as the key to innovation. This study examines the determinants of technological innovation in China’s ICT firms based on a large-scale questionnaire survey. We reveal that firm-level attributes are of great importance to innovation whereas the influences of region/relation-specific factors are modified by the types of innovation and by firms’ strategies and motivations. The role of regional and relational assets should not be over-emphasized at the expense of firm-level attributes. Research emphasis should be placed on the process of how firm attributes interacted with regional environment and inter-firm relations to shape innovation. The article concludes with a plea to bring ‘the firm’ back to the centre and adopt an interactionist approach to understanding technological innovation.
Journal Article
Construction of Evaluation Index of Nature-Relatedness Effect of Public Art Landscape Under the Background of Sustainable Development of Environment
Purpose: From the two dimensions of aesthetic nature-relatedness and experience nature-relatedness, we systematically construct an evaluation index system of public art nature-relatedness effect composed of the attraction effect index, communication effect index, reflection effect index, and experience effect index. The construction of the evaluation index system has laid a perfect foundation for the nature-relatedness evaluation of public art landscape. Theoretical framework: 'Natural-relatedness' is a kind of relationship, which contains the individual's recognition, praise, tolerance, and understanding of the interconnection between man and nature. The content involved not only includes the individual's feeling of facing nature but also the self-concept contained in nature, as well as the individual's values of nature, self, and society. The natural-relatedness has a positive effect on people's green ecological view and healthy outlook on life. Design/methodology/approach: This study used literature analysis, field research, analytic hierarchy process, and case analysis. Through literature analysis, we sort out the current situation and problems in regional environmental planning at home and abroad. The evaluation index system of the natural coupling effect of the public art landscape is constructed by the analytic hierarchy process. The case analysis method is used to analyze the evaluation results. Findings: The evaluation index system includes four secondary evaluation indexes: 'the attraction effect, '' reflection effect, '' communication effect ' and ' the experience effect, 'and 13 tertiary indexes under the secondary indexes. The construction of the evaluation index of the nature-relatedness effect provides a theoretical basis for studying natural public connection in public art landscape design. Research, Practical & Social implications: This study combines theory with practice, takes the practical problems encountered in the sustainable development of the regional environment as the starting point, and explores the nature-relatedness mechanism from the public perspective. This research helps to improve the effectiveness of public art landscape design practice and has a significant role in promoting the negative emotions of the public in the city. Originality/value: The construction of the evaluation index of the natural connection effect of public art helps to narrow the intimacy and interaction between the public art landscape and the public. The study also provides a specific direction for the creation of the public art landscape.
Journal Article
Combined Effects of Global Climate Suitability and Regional Environmental Variables on the Distribution of an Invasive Marsh Species Spartina alterniflora
Invasion by Spartina alterniflora seriously threatens native ecosystem along Chinese coast. Determining the main influential factors and their relationships with the distribution of S. alterniflora is thus crucial for invasion control. However, the distribution is influenced by environmental variables at different scales and the relative importance of cross-scale variables is unclear. Based on the MaxEnt modelling technique, a combined regional environmental niche (CREN) model was built by integrating the global climate niche (GCN) model into the regional environment niche (REN) model to study the combined effects of global climate suitability and regional environmental variables on species distribution. The CREN model performed much better than the GCN model with AUC, TSS, specificity and sensitivity values increasing by 0.12, 0.04, 0.05 and 0.45, whereas it performed as well as the REN model, but reduced the overfitting. When considering the combined effects, the predicted suitable area decreased from 66.90 % at the global scale to 18.53% at the regional scale. Global sensitivity analysis showed there were strong interactions among different variables, especially for elevation and global climate suitability, the most influential variables. Interactions reduced the importance of soil salinity, but enhanced that of soil percentage sand. The presence probability increased with increasing of global climate suitability and soil salinity, while decreased with increasing of elevation, soil organic carbon and percentage sand. The presence probability was the highest in moderately well drained and lowest in poorly drained soil. Ignoring the combined effects of cross-scale variables will prevent comprehensive elucidation of their relationship with species distribution, which should be considered to take effective measures against biological invasion.
Journal Article
Regional organisations and climate change adaptation in small island developing states
Regional organisations play a central role in coordinating regional climate change adaptation responses across small island developing states, 58 countries that are particularly vulnerable to climate change and its impacts. The effectiveness of these organisations in coordinating adaptation efforts is underexplored in the academic literature, and this paper helps to fill the gap. By developing the Framework for Assessing Regional Organisations Coordinating Climate Change Adaptation, it qualitatively assesses the adaptation-related inputs, projects/programmes and outputs of the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre, the Secretariat of the Pacific Community and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme. This assessment is enriched by data gathered through interviews with national and regional climate change and development officials in the Caribbean and Pacific. It finds that regional organisations are more effective with respect to their adaptation-related inputs and outputs, but are less effective in coordinating adaptation projects/programmes. It recommends that, in addition to differentiating organisational mandates, regional organisations should focus on resolving the major climate-related information deficit issues, helping countries to develop ready to finance investment projects, building national-level capacities to adapt and supporting the creation of an enabling environment for climate change adaptation.
Journal Article
What Regional Living Conditions Affect Individual Smoking of Adults in Russia
Objectives: Our study evaluated the impact of a wide range of characteristics of large administrative regions on the individual level of cigarette smoking in the Russian adult population. Methods: The pool of participants included 20,303 individuals aged 25–64 years. We applied 64 characteristics of the 12 Russian regions under study for 2010–2014. Using principal component analysis, we deduced five evidence-based composite indices of the regions. We applied the generalized estimating equation to determine associations between the regional indices and the individual level of smoking. Results: The increased Industrial index in the region is associated with the probability of smoking (odds ratio = 1.15; 95% confidence interval = 1.06–1.24). The other indices show associations with smoking only in separate gender and educational groups. Surprisingly, it was found that the Economic index has no associations with the probability of smoking. Conclusion: We evaluated the key associations of the territorial indices with the individual probability of smoking, as well as the mutual influence between the territorial indices and individual factors.
Journal Article