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Statistical disease mapping is a valuable public health tool, as it identifies spatial patterns of disease occurrence. However, the Modifiable Areal Unit Problem (MAUP) poses challenges to disease mapping, as the aggregation of geographic units can impact statistical inferences. The effect of the MAUP depends on contextual factors, for example the geographic structure, aggregation level, choice of model, and the underlying data-generating process. We conducted a comprehensive simulation study to understand the role of these factors on the MAUP in the context of Australian disease mapping. We aggregated and rezoned disease count data at a fine geographic scale before fitting spatial and non-spatial regression models to assess the impact of the MAUP on coefficients. To aid the exploration of simulation results, we developed an interactive Shiny application that enables detailed and interactive exploration of the simulation results. This study highlights the need for disease mapping researchers to analyse sensitivity with rezoning and aggregation tools.

Background The built environment around schools that are regularly accessed by young people is determined by governments, national and regional policies in each country or region. Zoning regulations for tobacco and alcohol sales are expected to restrict availability and access by young people. This study aimed to examine (non) compliance with tobacco and alcohol zoning regulations around schools in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Methods In a representative sample of geographic locations in Bangladesh, India North (Delhi) and India South (Chennai), Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the built environment was mapped by systematically walking all streets within the site boundary to collect data on different types of tobacco and alcohol retailers and schools. Data was collected on KoboToolBox, and the maps indicating zoning compliance were created using ArcGIS. Descriptive analysis of outlet compliance to the zoning laws was conducted at the national and school levels, with heterogeneity analyses done by school type, income level and outlet type for tobacco and alcohol. Results The zoning regulations for tobacco and alcohol differed among the settings ranging from 50 to 100 m for tobacco and absolute bans to 500 m for on-premise alcohol. Among the five different settings within the four countries, 441 areas were studied, including 3615 schools. Non-compliance with the zoning laws is evident in all jurisdictions for both tobacco and alcohol. Within restricted zones around schools (location non-compliant with zoning laws), 12–38% of outlets selling tobacco and 16% to 100% of outlets selling alcohol were identified. For supply non-compliance, 3–70% of shops within the school buffer zones were selling tobacco, while only 0.2–1% of shops were selling alcohol. Conclusions Non-compliance with tobacco and alcohol zoning regulations has been observed around schools in Bangladesh, India (North and South), Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Within each country, there was a higher percentage of alcohol outlets that were location non-compliant than for tobacco, except for South India. In India and Sri Lanka, there was a higher percentage of supply non-compliance for tobacco than alcohol. This study calls for governments to strictly enforce existing zoning regulations that are expected to restrict access to tobacco and alcohol for young people.

American zoning is under attack on multiple fronts. The concerns of zoning's many critics range from social and racial justice, to private property rights, to the extreme shortage of affordable housing, to climate-change resilience and sustainability. A growing number of voices have called for, at a minimum, the elimination of single-family zones; some even champion the abolition of this ubiquitous method of American land use regulation. This Article is the first detailed look at what would happen if zoning's critics got their way. The most efficient means for erasing zoning from American law would be for the U.S. Supreme Court to find it unconstitutional, so this Article features excerpts from three fictitious Supreme Court opinions that reflect the jurisprudence of today's iteration of the Roberts Court. Unfortunately for those who see the elimination of zoning as a magic bullet for many of society's ills, a judicial declaration that zoning violates the protections afforded by the Due Process, Takings, Equal Protection, and Contracts Clauses would only result in the re-creation of some of zoning's most problematic aspects, bringing American society back to square one. Moreover, eliminating classic (\"Euclidean\") zoning would invalidate modern modifications that respond to current socioeconomic and environmental conditions. Rather than waving goodbye to zoning, this Article offers four achievable steps that local and state governments can take today to continue the longstanding process of adapting zoning (the good and the not-so-good) to changing realities.

Synopsis: Low-density, large-lot residential zoning of more than three acres perpetuates economic and racial inequality, constrains housing supply and housing markets, and makes housing costs unaffordable. It covers much of suburban America, contributing to a litany of harms in our housing system, but it has survived judicial challenges with few exceptions. This Article considers the judicial treatment of large-lot residential zoning and suggests how it can be reformed.

A broad coalition has formed to oppose restrictive zoning laws. According to this coalition, zoning is largely to blame for the current housing crisis facing the United States, and to increase the housing supply, cities across the country should embrace upzoning--that is, loosen zoning laws to allow for greater density. Like many other well-intentioned policy changes, upzoning has the possibility for negative unintended consequences. Among those consequences is noise pollution. In recent decades, noise pollution has gone largely undiscussed in the United States. Notwithstanding this neglect, existing research demonstrates that noise pollution can have serious adverse effects on people's health and performance.

A fatal conflict in the legal definition of family lurks at the intersection of family law and zoning law. Family law doctrines have increasingly embraced the claims of \"functional families\" — those whose bonds can be traced to cohabitation and shared domestic life. At the same time, zoning laws have narrowed to recognize only formal families, effectively restricting residency to individuals related by blood, marriage, or adoption. As a result, family law's \"functional turn\" remains vulnerable in at least thirty-one states. Using original legal analysis and historical research, this Note illuminates that contradiction, explains how it arose, and argues that it must be resolved to protect diverse family forms. This Note surveys the \"functional turn\" in state family law and develops a novel historical account of the shifting definition of family in zoning law, documenting its \"formal turn.\" It then offers normative and practical reasons why the definition of family should be loosened, offering recommendations for legislative and judicial reform.

Ecosystem conditions at the regional level are critical factors for environmental management, public awareness, and land use decision making. Regional ecosystem conditions may be examined from the perspectives of ecosystem health, vulnerability, and security, as well as other conceptual frameworks. Vigor, organization, and resilience (VOR) and pressure–stress–response (PSR) are two commonly adopted conceptual models for indicator selection and organization. The analytical hierarchy process (AHP) is primarily used to determine model weights and indicator combinations. Although there have been many successful efforts in assessing regional ecosystems, they remain affected by a lack of spatially explicit data, weak integration of natural and human dimensions, and uncertain data quality and analyses. In the future, regional ecosystem condition assessments may be advanced by incorporating recent improvements in spatial big data and machine learning to create more operative indicators based on Earth observations and social metrics. The collaboration between ecologists, remote sensing scientists, data analysts, and scientists in other relevant disciplines is critical for the success of future assessments.

The housing shortage and affordability crisis have elicited calls for a reappraisal of the allocation of zoning power between state and local governments. Although scholars have given significant attention to potential legal reforms, there has been little discussion of the local administration of zoning codes. Over the course of the twentieth century, local governments embraced more flexible approaches to regulating land use, allowing regulations to adjust to changing conditions and demands and local governments to extract benefits from new development. This flexibility relies in part on the exercise of discretion by administrative agencies, most notably zoning boards of appeal. Flexibility and the exercise of discretion are not without costs, particularly in terms of predictability. They also frequently lead zoning boards to ignore relevant legal standards and exceed the scope of their delegated authority.