infrastructure

Sustainability and resiliency analysis of cities is not completed without considering the whole system of interacting sectors. The purpose of this study is to introduce an algorithm for assessment of overall seismic resiliency increase of urban areas due to the reduction of Intra- and Interdependencies between different sectors and retrofitting infrastructures. The proposed method is versatile, and different dimensions of resiliency, i.e., social, economic, technical, physical, institutional, and security dimensions of resiliency are considered in the study. In this research, the technical dimension, i.e., the functionality of water and power networks are modeled as an example, and some solutions to increase overall resiliency of an urban district against earthquake is investigated. The algorithm is based on the inoperability input-output model, and the interaction between water and power sectors in a metropolitan district is surveyed. Based on the results of a number of Monte Carlo simulations of different dependency scenarios, it is quantitatively shown that the decrease in interdependency has a direct and great effect on the increase in serviceability and overall resiliency indices, but the pattern of this effect is different between various earthquake scenarios. It is concluded that the reduction of interdependency has an increasing effect on the overall resiliency index. Thus, an optimum value for interdependency reduction can be obtained to increase resiliency index using the Pareto principle, and the influence of reducing of interdependency on increasing the resiliency of a region as a whole is investigated. The proposed model may be used in system analysis for other dependent sectors and for different disasters and can also be considered as a helpful measure for decision-makers in sustainability and resiliency enhancement studies.

Spillovers have attracted wide attention in the areas of research in economics during the past decades. The reason for the interest in the topic lies in their important role in endogenous growth theory and the explanation of productivity growth. This paper investigates the spatial spillover of different types of public infrastructure on economic growth across EU-28 NUTS-II regions during 1995-2015. Particularly, we developed the previous studies by consedeing spillover in all types of the GDP sector composition including agriculture, industry, and services. The spatial Durbin panel data model is employed to consider spatial spillovers of both public infrastructure and economic growth. Empirical results show the positive spatial spillovers of communication infrastructure in all the sectors. The spillover effect of transport infrastructure is positive in the service and agricultural sector, whereas it is negative in the industry sector. Moreover, the spillover effect of local infrastructure is insignificant in all three sectors. Finally, we find significant evidence of positive geographical spillovers of economic growth implying spatially-growth dependency of regions to growth rate of neighboring regions. JEL Classification: H54, O47, C21

The study examined the quantity and quality of infrastructure in Ibadan, Nigeria with a view to using information to providing policy guidelines for sustainable infrastructural development. Using stratified sampling technique, a total of fifteen wards from the five local government areas in Ibadan metropolis were selected for study. The selection of all the local government areas is based on the fact that all of them cut across all the residential zones in the metropolis and them all spatially coverage at the centre of the city. Primary data for the study were collected through the questionnaire administered on 1,035 respondents (2% of household heads in all the residential buildings in the metropolis), using systematic sampling technique. Descriptive and inferential statistics were employed to analyse the data obtained. Findings showed that deviations about the mean of the satisfaction index of the facilities such as church and dispensary were higher than their respective FAI. Furthermore, findings revealed that these infrastructural facilities were very adequate to the residents, but the residents were not satisfied with their adequacy in the study area. These facilities were mosque, nursery/primary school and secondary school. This implied that these facilities were available and adequate to greatly satisfy the residents. Thus, the study concluded that infrastructure facilities in Ibadan metropolis were fair.

Migration of people to urban areas from the rural areas usually comes with its challenges in terms of infrastructural requirement and housing to cater for growing population. One of the challenge for the urban dwellers in Nigeria is that of adequate housing. The inability of the government to meet this demand has seen the people concerned seeking alternative solutions to housing need. The resulting settlements are usually unplanned hence becoming a challenge for government to manage in terms of providing infrastructure facilities. With the growing incidence of global warming and the attendant increase in flooding in most urban areas of Nigeria, especially between year 2000 and 2013, the safety of the people who live in slums have become a concern to the state governments due to issues of flooding and collapsed buildings. Government usually evicts such people and clear the settlement; however the people simply relocate to another area. The aim of this paper is to exامینe how community participation can be used to provide housing for the urban poor based on their living requirement, drawing from the experience of selected case studies from Kenya. The research method adopted for the study is a qualitative research method using case studies of selected communities in Kenya and selected communities in Nigeria. A comparative analysis is drawn with these communities. The research concludes by proposing how community participation process should be incorporated into provision of housing for the urban poor.

The dominant policy decision emphasis on urbanisation problem in developing countries is its rate of growth, ignoring the level of provision of resources, including the infrastructure, to match this growth. It is against this background that the paper undertook a broad analysis of the state of infrastructure in developing countries using such indices as access and quality of water supply, sanitation and solid waste management, to explore how their provision and improvements over time could gradually match the rate of urbanisation. Extensive literature review was adopted for data collection in articles and journals which were analysized using content analysis technique. There is significant proportion of population using unimproved drinking water sources (42%), unimproved sanitation facilities (50%) and without access to designated waste disposal sites (44%). Water, sanitation and hygiene are key to improving health and development. Providing sustainable access to these infrastructures is the most important things that can be done to reduce disease and improve human development.

The center of Amman (Downtown) is one of the most marvelous sites in Jordan as it represents a wide range of heritage through time and space. However, the Downtown suffers from severe disorders in terms of negative urban development due to the cross cutting cultures between the past and present. Despite of its historical and cultural richness, several factors affected the architectural uniformity of the area. The successive cultural effect is clearly marked in the downtown of Amman. Political factors, such as the arrival of the Iraqi and Syrian refugees, significantly controlled the urban planning development in a heterogeneous way created poor and overcrowded areas of immigrants due to many residential abusive areas. Moreover, the lack of innovation and maintenance of the entire downtown area with no changes through time in addition to the lack of awareness made the downtown unable to response to various emergencies. Natural hazards threats for examples earthquakes and floods are considered as a big challenge influencing the urban, economic and cultural development process, particularly due its location in a valley surrounded by seven hills. The current study focuses on finding solutions to overcome the mufti-folds of risk surrounding the area. Recommendations are put forwards for decision makers to maintain the Amman Downtown form further degradation.

The present study was conducted with the aim of designing a model of barriers to the advancement of sports justice in  schools of deprived areas with a mixed method. The present study was a sequential exploratory research and a survey one. The research population in the qualitative section included sports teachers in deprived areas that were purposefully selected for qualitative interviews (interviews with 15 participants until reaching the theoretical saturation). The research population of the quantitative section consisted of 181 sports teachers . The data collection tool in the present study was a semi-structured interview and a researcher-developed questionnaire. In order to analyze the research data, coding in the qualitative part and structural equation method in the quantitative part were conducted. In the qualitative part, 25 concept codes and 5 main categories were extracted. In the quantitative part, all 5 main extracted categories (economic, manpower, management, infrastructure, motivation) had a proper fitness.

This study examines the infrastructural geopolitics of South Asia, with a particular emphasis on port developments and the effects of ports on the geostrategic positioning of South Asian countries. The infrastructure assists in the transportation and movement of goods between different countries. Many nations have invested significant money in developing modern ports that capitalize on globalization. South Asian countries have consistently bolstered their ports to compete with their Western counterparts in commerce. The evolving nature of international relations reveals that ports also play a different purpose in geopolitics. The world's fastest-growing region is suffering from a lack of infrastructure. Due to low intra-regional investment and trade, South Asia has poorer infrastructure than neighboring Southeast Asia. China invested in South Asian countries to achieve its goal of establishing a global trading route in the absence of intra-regional investments and trade in South Asia. Meanwhile India has also invested, for example, in Bangladesh and the Maldives to fortify its position in the Indian Ocean. How valuable are those Chinese investments to South Asian nations? According to the literature, it depends on the country's location and investment policies. China's rise as a revisionist power has drawn differing reactions from its neighbors and the world's dominant powers.