The goal of our article was to systematize studies that investigated the impact of living conditions in large national regions on individual alcohol consumption. We sought publications on the research topic in PubMed, Google Scholar, OpenGrey, Crossref and eLibrary databases from the moment they were created until December 31, 2021. After removal of duplicates and unsuitable publications, and full-text review of remaining published sources, the final sample included 81 publications. The majority of ultimately selected papers were published after 2010, represented the United States of America, and considered samples of children and youths, either the younger population or the general adult population. High quality was characteristic for 19 studies, while satisfactory quality was exhibited by 46 publications. The most consistent associations with individual alcohol consumption were revealed for the legislative environment (especially for integral scales and indices), alcohol pricing policy, the prevalence of alcohol consumption and binge drinking in the population, and unemployment rate. Among the shortcomings of the reviewed articles, we should mention the prevailing assessment of the impact of only one type of regional characteristics, as well as the lack of studies analyzing the interaction of environmental influence at the territorial level of different scales. Protocol PROSPERO CRD42021234874.

Views of fire in the contemporary physical sciences arguably accord with Heraclitus’ proposal that ‘all things are an exchange for fire, and fire for all things, as goods for gold and gold for goods.’ Fire is a media, as John Durham Peters has stated, a species of transformative biochemical reactions between the flammable gases found in air, such as oxygen, and those found in fuels, such as plants. Inspired by an ignition source, these materials react and transform themselves and their surrounds into light and heat energy, carbon dioxide, water vapour, char and much else besides. Fire is conjunctural, durational and transformative. Fire is a dialectician, at once consuming living and dead organic matter and providing both the space and ingredients for new and renewed organic life. In this article, we consider the diverse ways in which fire is today framed as a social problem, an ecological process, an ancient tool, a natural disaster, a source of economic wealth and much more. In this way, we seek to explore the value and limits of ‘elemental thinking’ in relation to the planetary predicaments described by ‘the Anthropocene’.

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) had become a priority in many school systems. Geography has a tradition of investigating human-environment interactions and geography education is vital in order to make sense of sustainable development (SD). In this paper, the authors aimed to contribute to the implementation of ESD and SD in middle school geography, in The People’s Republic of China. This research employed a series of methods to analyze the content in (SD) in middle school geography standards and textbooks. The research surveyed geography teachers (n=237) and assessed geography students (n=246). Results exemplified both positive and negative conclusions from the data. Primarily, the findings suggested that geography education was important to ESD implementation, although the requirements for SD are low in Chinese middle schools. The SD content was reflected clearly in the content standards and textbooks, but it was not evenly distributed in geography education. Many geography teachers in China have ample geography and interdisciplinary knowledge and they can use textbooks and other teaching methods to teach SD. The students’ performance, in a sample of four key schools, was considered “OK”, however there was still room for improvement. Most students were familiar with people, resources, environmental problems and climate change, however most were unable to grasp the factual knowledge about SD, such as international events and documents, latest predicted data and research on global warming, as well as the indicators used in the specific SD assessment. Suggestions include providing students with more practical activities and a chance to do hands-on experiments, as well as building student organizations and clubs; improve Teachers’ knowledge and understanding through teacher training program and build a platform for communicating ideas of SD through modern communication technology. Ideas of SD should be integrated into students’ daily life.

This essay discusses the complicated relationship between ideology and faith, focusing on the importance of faith. It endeavors to enrich the critical examination of religion by providing a platform to analyze the multifaceted nature of ideologies and their profound influence on human geography. This study is particularly distinctive for its focus on the complex interplay of Marxism, religion, and modernity, deepening our understanding of how these dynamics shape contemporary societies.

This study explores the relationship between mental and physical therapeutic through three dimensions: man-environment relationships; a sense of place and symbolic landscapes. The study used a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods. Local residents living in the coastal area of Xinglin Bay are the research objects. Quantitative data analysis revealed that the frequency of residents' visits was an important variable affecting their physical and treatment perceptions. In addition, the significance is higher for females than for males. The text analysis shows that the environment, especially the ecological restoration of water quality and migratory birds, is of great significance to the identity of local residents. Daily activities contribute to a sense of place and are what make the coast a place of therapeutic landscape function.

The gradual decline of the Aral Sea’s water level over the past five decades poses a huge environmental problem in the heart of Central Asia. Uzbekistan, once blessed with abundant water resources, now struggles with water scarcity in certain regions. While global environmental issues contribute to some degree to this dilemma, irrigation mismanagement plays a central role. This study focuses on the widespread problem of irrigation mismanagement in Uzbekistan and specifically addresses the rural district of Oltinsoy in the southern province of Surkhandarya. The main objective of this research project is to propose effective measures that can alleviate the pressing problem of water scarcity in the region while emphasizing the urgent need for well-executed projects and careful maintenance to ensure long-term sustainability at the local level. It is important to note that this study does not include an examination of the impact of global warming on the decline of water resources in Uzbekistan.

Based upon the latest molecular phylogenies of Gonyosoma sensu lato, which recovered five clades with robust support, we utilize morphological characters to demonstrate the distinctiveness of each clade, resulting in the resurrection of three genera (Gonyophis Boulenger, 1891 [1], Rhynchophis Mocquard, 1897 [2], and Rhadinophis Vogt, 1922 [3]) and proposal of a new genus and a new tribe. A synopsis of the group, with descriptions and diagnoses, is provided for the five genera and eight species in addition to distribution maps and illustrations of the head of each taxon. An artificial key to the species and genera in the new tribe is presented in addition to estimated origin times for each clade.

This book review essay looks at Tim Marshall’s “Prisoners of Geography” and its in-depth examination of the interplay between geography and international politics. The aim is to highlight the book's key themes, including geopolitics, borders, trade routes, geopolitical conflict and colonial legacies. Through insightful analysis and engaging text, Marshall uncovers the central role that geography plays in shaping our world. The book’s continuing relevance is underlined by its links to significant global events and the author’s forward-looking questions. By recognising the practical factors that influence decision-making, rather than the purely ideological, the book offers a fresh perspective on current political and economic turmoil. The examination of the influence of geography and the call for increased international cooperation makes it a valuable resource for students of geography and anyone interested in political geography and globalisation.

Since the mid-20th century, tourism has become a strategic activity for the economy of the Balearic Islands, causing profound social, territorial and environmental transformations. This fact challenges local society, which must be aware of its environment in order to better face the future challenges posed by this economic activity. With this goal, the official curriculum has been analyzed, making it possible to ascertain the approach with which this subject is taught by the administration and what objectives are set. Furthermore, a review was carried out of the contents of geography textbooks in the third year of ESO and the second year of Baccalaureate, which correspond to the educational stages in which tourism aspects appear. The results obtained represent a fundamental strategic diagnosis in order to improve the teaching and learning of this key activity for the Balearic Islands, giving it more importance and adapting its approach to the current times.

Rural environment has experienced changes as a result of Covid-19, which encourage the introduction of sustainability in education. However, the representation of rurality in school geography and in the 2030 Agenda are factors that continue to present rurality as a concept opposed to urban spaces. The objective was to investigate the perception that the student has about the rural environment from an instrument and his drawings to understand if the explanation of it allows to introduce elements related to sustainability in educational projects. The quantitative research approach allows analyzing the psychometric properties of an instrument to measure the perception of the rural environment of a sample of 300 fifteen-year-old students from Brazil, Colombia and Spain. Those school knowledges that idealize rurality warn of the pedagogical difficulties to promote the teaching of rurality from sustainability criteria and condition the formation of students from a citizenship committed to social problems. This study is important because it diagnoses the elements that intervene in the teaching of rurality from school geography and provides some suggestions to include sustainability in educational projects.

The extant Keteleeria is endemic to East and Southeast Asia, while it is widely distributed in the northern hemisphere in Earth’s history. In this paper, we reported a novel wood fossil of Keteleerioxylon changchunense Shi, Sun, Meng et Yu sp. nov. collected from the middle member of Yingcheng Formation, Yingcheng Coal Mine, Changchun City, Jilin Province, Northeast China. The quantitative growth-ring analyses of K. changchunense indicate that it was evergreen and its leaf longevity was 1-3 years, which is consistent with the foliar retention of extant Keteleeria. Its high ring markedness index (RMI) indicates that the climate seasonality was pronounced during the early Albian in Songliao Basin, Northeast China. The fossil records of Keteleeria and closely related taxa indicate that this group might originate in Northeast China, spread and migrated northward during the Cretaceous, gradually decreased in the Cenozoic, and so far only survives in East and Southeast Asia.

This essay critically discusses the integration of queer theory into human geography while emphasizing its ties to the principles of traditional geography. The need for a separate sub-discipline called queer geography is questioned. At the same time, legitimate concerns about possible departures from the fundamental goals of geography and the risks of anachronistic interpretations in applying modern concepts to historical landscapes are acknowledged. In this discourse, we strongly advocate for values such as freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and international human rights. It is important to emphasize that it is not the intent of this essay to denigrate campaigns for feminism or equality or to disparage the scholarship that emerges from the application of queer theory. On the contrary, we recognize the emergence of gender theories out of a need to advance social justice approaches. We believe that traditional human geography, itself, is capable of comprehensively examining space, time, and the complexity of human experience and offering workable solutions within its established framework. We therefore believe that the inclusion of queer theory can be harmoniously integrated into the contours of human geography, eliminating the need for a separate sub-discipline while preserving the integrity and purpose of the discipline.

In this research, we investigate the healthcare expenditure patterns in Uzbekistan, analyze their economic implications, and provide policy recommendations. The study focuses on the time frame from 2000 to 2019, employing quantitative data analysis, theoretical frameworks such as Wagner’s Law, and an economic geography perspective. Our objective is to gain insights into the relationship between economic development and healthcare spending, identify spatial disparities, and forecast future trends. The findings reveal fluctuations in per capita healthcare spending, emphasizing the necessity for sustainable financing mechanisms and preventive measures. Ultimately, our study underscores the significance of aligning healthcare expenditure decisions with economic objectives while prioritizing the well-being of the population.

This article examines the application of Keynesian theory in economic geography, focusing on regional development and reducing inequalities. The objective is to highlight the relevance and benefits of applying Keynesian principles in addressing spatial economic challenges. The novelty lies in examining the intersection of Keynesian economics and geography, which offers insights into regional planning, infrastructure development, and cluster formation. The results show how policymakers and researchers can use Keynesian theory to promote balanced growth and improve living standards. The keywords for this article are Keynesian theory, economic geography, regional development, disparities, and policy interventions.

Over the past decade, the credit quality of loan portfolios across most countries in the world remained relatively stable until the financial crises hit the global economy in 2007–2008. In this paper I discuss, the relationship between non-performing loans and economic landscape. Since 2008, nonperforming loans have been an increasingly hot topic in the international scene, due to their important and rising volume and their impact on the economy as a whole, on the banking system and on its credit supply. Since then, average bank asset quality deteriorated sharply due to the global economic recession. Yet the deterioration of loan performance was very uneven across countries. I am interested in explaining these differences in bank asset quality across countries and over time. In this paper, I therefore study the empirical determinants of non-performing loan (NPL) ratios using a data set for EU countries covering the past decade. The paper assumes that the spatial organization of banking systems and the geographical distribution of comercial banks branches, ATMs and GDP growth are major factors influencing the effectiveness in credit system. The aim of this paper is to construct a continuous and quantifiable model, which will demonstrate a role of economic condition, technology, competition, policy, business climate in Financial Stability. Main hypotheses suggests, that GDP growth, interest rate, new business, FDI, ATMs and geographical distribution of branches have an influences on NPL (non-performing loans).

Over the past three decades, the region has undergone significant changes that have transformed the social, economic and political landscape. The traces of these changes are particularly visible in the post-socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe. These processes have sometimes fragmented, sometimes reshaped, and sometimes transcended borders, reshaping the region. The focus of this study is on the 'geography' of companies, i.e. the concentration of companies with more than 10 employees in the region in the 15 countries selected, according to various criteria. The countries covered by the study are Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Kosovo, Montenegro, Northern Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. The data of the active economic operators (over 300 thousand) of the countries included in the study were analyzed by turnover and size. The spatial distribution of enterprises at the NUTS3 level presents a far more diverse picture than what is typically observed in economic indicators such as GDP. Additionally, the disparities in this particular distribution are not as pronounced or distinct as those of general economic indicators.

Many Western studies have indicated that older women are generally more vulnerable in terms of mobility compared to older men, particularly regarding driving. However, the situation may differ in the context of China. This study, based on activity diaries and semi-structured inter-views, focuses on the spatiotemporal behavior of older adults in Tianjin and explores how the constraints posed by activity companions (in terms of type, size, and composition) shape the mo-bilities of older men and women, including activity locations, travel distances, and transporta-tion modes. The key findings are as follows: First, older women are more engaged with their families due to a higher percentage and longer duration of activities spent with family members. Second, older men tend to have more concentrated travel distances near their homes compared to older women. Third, older women exhibit a broader range of activities in different locations and engage in longer-distance leisure travel with family members when compared to older men. In the context of Western literature, this study discusses older women's enhanced social interactions, their earlier retirement in China, and the impact of COVID-19 as factors that help explain these findings. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of accompanied mobilities among Chinese older adults using geographical theory and methods, emphasizing the importance of flexible work schedules for the workforce and the organization of community-based activities to promote the social interactions and mobilities of older adults.

Daniel Yergin’s “The New Map: Energy, Climate, and the Clash of Nations” is a remarkable and groundbreaking work that addresses the ever-changing global energy landscape and its profound geopolitical implications. In this modest book review, we aim to offer a fresh perspective by re-examining the core issues from the standpoint of political geography. The aim of this article is twofold: to enrich the existing literature on political geography and to provide valuable insights to students of geography to broaden their knowledge in this field.

This article, inspired by Dr. Jürgen Essletzbichler’s chapter namely “Locating Location Models” in The SAGE Handbook of Economic Geography (2011), delves into the legacy and significance of location theory. By examining its integration of historical analysis and theoretical abstraction, the study highlights the crucial role played by historical and geographical contexts in shaping spatial patterns. It emphasizes the importance of complementing abstract models with historical analysis to gain a deeper understanding of real-world spatial phenomena. Acknowledging the delay in the development of location theory attributed to the dominance of the German historical school, the article recognizes its enduring value and resurgence in the realm of modern evolutionary economic geography. Ultimately, the abstract underscores the contributions of location theory to our comprehension of spatial dynamics and its potential for further advancements in the field of economic geography.

Dogs are considered property under UK law, while current discourses of pet ownership place canine companions as part of an extended family. This means sentences for those who steal dogs are not reflective of a dogs’ sentience and agency, rather reflecting the same charges for those who steal a laptop or wallet. This is particularly problematic as dog theft is currently on the rise in England and Wales and led to public calls to change the law. Recognizing that a more robust analysis of dog theft crime statistics is required, we gathered dog theft data for 2015, 2016 and 2017 from 37 of 44 police forces through FOI requests. This paper uses this data to examine how dog theft crime statistics are constructed; assesses the strengths and weaknesses of this data; and categorizes, maps and measures dog theft changes temporally per police force in England and Wales. Our findings reveal there has been an increase in dog theft crimes, 1,294 in 2015, 1,525 in 2016 (+17.85%), and 1,678 in 2017 (+10.03%); and a decrease in court charges related to dog theft crimes, 62 (4.7%) in 2015, 48 (3.14%) in 2016, 37 (2.2%) in 2017. There were police force inconsistencies in recording dog theft crime which meant some data was unusable or could not be accessed or analysed. There is a need for a qualitative study to understand dog theft crime in different areas, and standardised approach to recording the theft of a dog by all forces across England and Wales.

This paper deals with an analysis of cartographical studies, the real estate cadastre, and its practical implementation, as well as the introduction of cartography into different education modules in university-level studies in Montenegro. There is a discussion of the development, production, and creativity in the fields of cartography and real estate cadastre over time, cartographical projection, scientific results, and recent changes such as advanced computer- and satellite-based technologies, GIS, cartographical visualization, and digital cartography. The impact of these changes on cartographical studies at the University of Montenegro is considered. Particular attention is given to analyses of cartography and the cadastre in institutions, and their connection with the development of cartography teaching modules of Geography, Geodesy and Geoinformatics at the University of Montenegro. The integrated analysis also covers the results of the questionnaire and the significance of the geo-topographical and cartographical heritage of Montenegro, with the aim of carrying these out. It can be seen that the tasks solved by using maps have tended to become more complex and that the cartographical methods employed in this have been always directed towards Montenegro’s most prominent and most urgent problems, including those that appear in the area of education.

The need to alleviate the difficulties of abstraction and improve students’ achievement in Physical Geography informed this research. This study investigated the Effects of Mastery Learning Strategy and Learning Retention on Senior Secondary School Students’ Achievement in Physical Geography. The study adopted the quasi experimental non-equivalent pre-test, post-test control group design. The Multi-stage sampling technique at four levels was used to select four co-educational secondary schools in Ganye Educational Zone in Nigeria. The sample for the study was 218 Senior Secondary School two (SS II) students offering Geography from four intact classes in the four selected secondary schools. The instrument used for data collection was “Physical Geography Achievement and Retention Test” (PGART). The reliability of the instrument was established using Kendall tau b statistic. This gave a reliability index of 0.74. Data collected were analyzed using Mann-Whitney U and t-Test. The results showed that Mastery Learning Strategy has the potentials to improve students’ learning outcomes, retention and achievement in all spheres of cognitive domain in Physical Geography better than the Conventional Method. Hence the need to incorporate this teaching strategy during instruction so that learners would be guided to learn meaningfully and be assisted to retain content learnt in Geography.

This article explores the behavioral geography of the Hajj pilgrimage, focusing on the impact of the physical environment on pilgrims' behavior. Using qualitative research and analyzing religious literature and online publications, the study reveals significant findings. The spatial arrangement of the Grand Mosque, including the central courtyard and pillars, influences pilgrims' behavior during the Tawaf ritual. Environmental factors such as crowds and noise affect pilgrims' experiences, evoking anxiety while enhancing the ceremony's spiritual significance. Cultural and religious beliefs also shape pilgrims' behavior during the circumambulation. This study provides valuable insights into the multifaceted factors shaping pilgrims' behavior during the Hajj, including spatial organization, cultural influences, and social interactions. The findings can inform improvements in infrastructure, crowd management, and services to enhance the overall pilgrimage experience.

Tourism Geographers in Anglo-American geographical departments migrate to teach and research tourism in applied schools and departments such as business, resource and environment, and even cultural and creative industry. Under national research assessment and funding pressures, tourism geographers are not encouraged to keep on undertaking serious theoretical researches related to their mother discipline and transferred to research applied researches and publish in hybrid journals. Such changes in tourism geographers` research behavior have not been tested and reported in Asian academic contexts, especially Taiwan while frequently being discussed internationally. This research aims to investigate the differences in the research behavior of tourism geographers between those who are staffed in geography departments and those who migrate to applies departments such as tourism and recreation, resource and environment, and others in terms of publishing journals, paradigmatic approaches, research types(qualitative, quantitative, and mixed), research methods and geographical scales conducted based on content analysis of articles published by tourism geographers in geography and tourism and recreation departments. This study revealed that there are significant differences in the research behavior of tourism geographers between different department. Finally, this paper explains the differences in terms of Taiwan changing social and economic conditions, academic traditions and politics of geography and applied departments, research habits and preferences of tourism geographers among departments and other aspects. This study can help international tourism geography academic circles to understand the complexity and diversity of tourism geography academic landscape of the Chinese language.

Researchers need to delineate the shoreline for different applications with no access to costly resources such as topographic maps and high-resolution satellite images. With the increase of open source data, this study aims to present a methodology to use open source data in the best possible way to map the shoreline. Several methods have been tested using open source remote sensing data (Landsat and Aster), such as supervised classification, unsupervised classification, manual mapping, and by applying some spectral indices, among others. The accuracy of the extracted shoreline data was verified using high-resolution open database images (such as Google Earth basemap). The results showed that the manually mapped shoreline through applying spectral index (green- near infrared/green+ near infrared) is the most accurate, although it remains important to modify it using high-resolution images of open databases. Open-source data showed acceptable accuracy in mapping the shoreline.

Uzbekistan, as an emerging national economy, aims to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) to foster the development of its free economic zones (FEZs). While recent policy reforms have enhanced the country's appeal to investors and facilitated the inflow of international capital, challenges persist in attracting investment. This study employs an economic geographical approach to analyze and propose solutions to these obstacles. By examining the spatial patterns of FEZs and FDI through a comprehensive geographical lens, this research utilizes document analysis as an alternative to empirical analysis, considering the broader context rather than focusing on a specific FEZ. The findings reveal that the insufficiency of an innovation-driven environment, logistical systems, energy resource-related issues, among others, negatively impact the inflow of FDI into FEZs. Moreover, the study underscores the significance of economic geography in understanding these factors. Finally, relevant insights and recommendations are provided from an economic geographical perspective.

Around one billion people live in informal settlements, globally, including over half of Nairobi, Kenya’s three million residents. The purpose of this study was to explore women’s fear of victimization within Mathare, an informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya and how fear of victimization influences behavior. Fifty-five in-depth interviews were conducted with women in 2016. A modified grounded theory approach guided data collection and analysis. Findings suggest fear of victimization is a serious concern in informal settlements. Women have found ways to adopt their behaviors that allow them to continue to function and protect their children despite fearing victimization, but at a potential cost to their health and well-being. Thus, there is a critical need for more research focused on social, economic, structural, community, infrastructure, technological, and individual strategies to prevent violence, enhance residents’ sense of safety, and, subsequently, minimize women’s fear of victimization in informal settlements.

As an important research content in cultural geography, the exploration and analysis of the laws of regional cultural differences has great significance for the discovery of distinctive cultures, protection of regional cultures and in-depth understanding of cultural differences. In recent years, with the "spatial turn" of sociology, scholars are paying more and more attention to the implicit spatial information in social media data and the various social phenomena and laws they reflect. One important aspect is to grasp the social cultural phenomena and its spatial distribution characteristics through the text. Using machine learning methods such as the popular natural language processing (NLP), this paper can not only extract hotspot cultural elements from text data but also accurately detect the spatial interaction pattern of some specific cultures and the characteristics of emotions towards non-native cultures. Taking the 6,128 answers to the question “what are the differences between South and North China that you never know” on the Zhihu Q&A Platform as an example, with the help of NLP, this paper has explored the cultural differences between South and North China in people’s mind. This paper probes into people’s feeling and cognition of the cultural differences between South and North China from three aspects, including spatial interaction patterns of hotspot cultural elements, components of hotspot culture and emotional characteristics under the influence of cultural differences between North and South. The study reveals that 1) people from North and South China have great differences in recognizing each other’s culture. 2) Food culture is the most popular among many cultural differences. 3) People tend to show negative attitude towards the food cultures different from their own. All these findings shed light upon the understanding of regional cultural differences and addressing cultural conflicts. In addition, this paper also provides an effective solution to the study from a macro perspective, which have been difficult for new cultural geography.

[Background] Previous research achievements of the service-oriented tourist city network have often focused on the analysis of its geographical distribution and service role of the important cities instead of the connections and hierarchical tendencies between the whole city in a large region.[Method]Using big data approaches on the regional connections of 38 tourism organizations including famous hotels, air passenger transport, tourism service agencies across 63 most important tourist cities in China. Fuzzy c-means clustering analysis is used to define 8 city arena clusters. [Results]According to the distributions of connectivity between 63 cities, these eight clusters play different service functional roles in the urban tourism network at four hierarchies. With their “center-edge” memberships, these arena clusters are formed by the interweaving process of regional and hierarchical tourism service connections. The results include the analysis of the various service-oriented tourist city in China and point out the geography “gap” faced by network. [Conclusion] Service-oriented tourist cities need to find their hierarchies and positioning in the network scientifically to avoid blind development, to make regional urban tourism sustainable development.

The role of agricultural transport costs in core-periphery structures has habitually been ignored in New Economic Geography (NEG) models. This is due to the convention of treating the agricultural good as the numéraire, thus implying that agricultural transportation costs are assumed to be zero in these models. For more than three decades, this has been the standard setting in spatial equilibrium analysis. The paper examines the effects of agricultural transport costs on the spatial organisation of regional structures in Peru. In doing so, the Krugman’s formulation of iceberg transport costs is modified to introduce the agricultural transport costs into the dynamic of the NEG models. We use exploratory spatial flow data analysis methods and non-spatial and spatial origin-destination flow models to explore how the regional spatial structure change when real transportation data for agricultural goods is included into the iceberg transport costs formulation. We show that agricultural transport costs generate flows that are systematically associated with flows to or from nearby regions generating thus the emergence of spatial spillovers across Peruvian regions. The results of the paper support the contention that NEG models have overshadowed the role of agricultural transport costs in determining the spatial configuration of economic activities.

With the rapidly increasing of people’s purchasing power, the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry is supposed to grow dramatically. In order to gain more market access and profile, it is important for the FMCG manufacturers and retailers to find the preferences and provincial characteristics of consumers, to develop more suitable goods distribution strategy. Based on retails marketing data with geographic characteristics, this paper proposes a new combination of geography methods to solve the problems in distribution of FMCG. Via multiple K-means clustering and cross validation of KNN half off, the mesoscopic sales features are extracted through the classification of retails, which can indirectly grasp the consumer behavior characteristics. Based on space division and Moran’ I spatial autocorrelation arithmetic, two strategies are developed to satisfy consumer’s needs and promote sales, including conservative and positive strategies. According to our analysis, the total sales volume of the regions will increase by 5.1% and 10.3%. This study can be applied to the provide purchase strategies for FMCG retails according to their locations. The research can explore the consumption potential of different areas, thus improving the profile of retails and the development of economy in more mesoscopic scale.

Aerial image classification has become popular and has attracted extensive research efforts in recent decades. The main challenge lies in its very high spatial resolution but relatively insufficient spectral information. To this end, spatial-spectral feature extraction is a popular strategy for classification. However, parameter determination for that feature extraction is usually time-consuming and depends excessively on experience. In this paper, an automatic spatial feature extraction approach based on image raster and segmental vector data cross-analysis is proposed for the classification of very high spatial resolution (VHSR) aerial imagery. First, multi-resolution segmentation is used to generate strongly homogeneous image objects and extract corresponding vectors. Then, to automatically explore the region of a ground target, two rules, which are derived from Tobler’s First Law of Geography (TFL) and a topological relationship of vector data, are integrated to constrain the extension of a region around a central object. Third, the shape and size of the extended region are described. A final classification map is achieved through a supervised classifier using shape, size, and spectral features. Experiments on three real aerial images of VHSR (0.1 to 0.32 m) are done to evaluate effectiveness and robustness of the proposed approach. Comparisons to state-of-the-art methods demonstrate the superiority of the proposed method in VHSR image classification.

Geography has been a fundamental determinant of economic development throughout history, influencing resource distribution, trade routes, climate conditions, and the spatial organization of economic activity. This essay delves into the multifaceted role of geography in shaping economic outcomes, drawing upon historical analyses and contemporary economic theories. By examining the historical origins of economic growth, the impact of geographical barriers and advantages, the influence of climate and natural resources, and the spatial distribution of industries, we explore how geographical factors contribute to international inequality and the divergent development trajectories of nations and regions. The discussion incorporates insights from seminal works, including Koyama and Rubin's "How the World Became Rich," Davis and Weinstein's analysis of the geography of economic activity, and Redding and Venables' exploration of economic geography and international inequality, among others. We also consider the roles of institutions, governance, and technology as mediating factors that can amplify or mitigate the influence of geography on economic development. By highlighting the interplay between geography and these mediating factors, the essay underscores the importance of tailored policy interventions that consider geographical realities. Understanding this complex relationship is essential for addressing global and regional disparities and formulating effective development strategies that leverage geographical advantages while mitigating disadvantages.

In this paper we analyse spatial variation in Japanese dialectal lexicon by assembling a set of methodologies using theories in variationist linguistics and GIScience, and tools used in historical GIS. Based on historical dialect atlas data, we calculate a linguistic distance matrix across survey localities. The linguistic variation expressed through this distance is contrasted with several measurements, based on spatial distance, utilised to estimate language contact potential across Japan, historically and at present. Further, administrative boundaries are tested for their separation effect. Measuring aggregate association within linguistic variation can contrast previous notions of dialect area formation by detecting continua. Depending on local geographies in spatial subsets, great circle distance, travel distance and travel times explain a similar proportion of the variance in linguistic distance despite the limitations of the latter two. While they explain the majority, two further measurements estimating contact have lower explanatory power: least cost paths modelling contact before the industrial revolution, based on DEM and seafaring, and a linguistic influence index based on settlement hierarchy. Historical domain boundaries and present day prefecture boundaries are found to have a statistically significant effect on dialectal variation. However, the interplay of boundaries and distance is yet to be identified. We claim that a similar methodology can address spatial variation in other digital humanities, given a similar spatial and attribute granularity.

The analysis of the human movement patterns based on the mobile network data makes it possible to examine a very large population cost-effectively, and led to several discoveries about human dynamics. However, the application of this data source is still not common practice. The goal of this study was to analyze the commuting tendencies of the Budapest Metropolitan Area using mobile network data and propose an automatized alternative to the current, questionnaire-based method. Commuting is predominantly analyzed by the census, but that is performed only once in a decade in Hungary. To analyze commuting, the home and the work locations of the subscribers are determined based on their appearances during and outside the working hours. The home locations were compared to census data at a settlement level. Then, the settlement and district level commuting tendencies were identified and compared to the findings of census-based sociological studies. It has been found that commuting analysis based on mobile network data strongly correlates with the census-based findings, even though home and work locations have been estimated by statistical methods. All the examined aspects, including commuting from sectors of the agglomeration to the districts of Budapest and demographic distribution of the commuters, show that mobile network data can be an automatized, fast, cost-effective, and relatively accurate way of commuting analysis, that could provide a powerful tool to the sociologists interested in commuting.

Although research has long established that the interaction with the natural environment is associated with better overall health and well-being outcomes, the Western model mainly focuses on treating the symptoms. In Aotearoa-New Zealand, the Indigenous Māori have long demonstrated significantly more negative health outcomes than non-Māori. Little research has examined the causes compared to Western populations or the role of the natural environment in health outcomes for Māori. An exploration of rongoā Māori (traditional healing system) was conducted to ascertain the importance of landscape in the process of healing. Eight rongoā healers or practitioners took part in semi-structured narrative interviews from June to November 2020. Transcribed interviews were analysed using an interpretative phenomenological analysis and Kaupapa Māori techniques. The findings show how rongoā is underpinned by a complex set of cultural values and beliefs, drawing from the connection to wairua (spirit), tinana (body), tikanga and whakaora (customs and healing), rākau (plants), whenua (landscape) and whānau (family). Incorporating such constructs into the landscape can foster our understanding of health and well-being and its implications for conceptualising therapeutic environments and a culturally appropriate model of care for Māori and non-Māori communities.

While the history of Lough Derg is extremely well-documented, there have been com-paratively fewer ethnographic reports. Given the highly elaborate Lough Derg websites and multiple postings by Lough Derg pilgrims, this researcher anticipated that Lough Derg – like many other Irish pilgrimages - would attract mostly recreational tourists. It does not. Pilgrims to Lough Derg do not see the site as primarily a tourist destination. Instead, they see Lough Derg primarily as a locus of intense religious experience. Lough Derg 3-day pilgrimages are rigorous and entail considerable self-sacrifice: fasting, sleep deprivation, cold, bare feet, prayer, no cell phones, and exposure to jagged rocks. Lough Derg’s 3-day pilgrimages closely follow patterns established centuries ago. Lough Derg is both "modern" and "timeless." It selectively incorporates ancient ritual and 21st century technology. This paper looks at the impact of the covid19 epidemic on Lough Derg pilgrimages. The site was closed to pilgrims during the 2020-2021 season and an on-line virtual pilgrimage was offered as a substitute. One unintended consequence of this virtual pilgrimage is that many pilgrims to Lough Derg now give greater prominence to what Corin Braga has categorized as fisi (ecstatic revelations) than to the physical journey itself (i e. somanodias). Post-covid pilgrims highlight the Internet: production of virtual texts and Internet vlogs. As in most pilgrimages worldwide, contemporary pilgrims to Lough Derg arrive with varied expec-tations and myriad motives. This ethnographic report examines these motives and offers a critique of James L. Smith (2016), who, like Edith and Victor Turner (1978) before him – saw Lough Derg as a symbol of Irish nationalism. Smith highlighted Lough Derg’s “moral geography” which, he argued, stems from its long history of isolation. But Post- covid Lough Derg is no longer isolated. The site has become more accessible through organized bus tours, improved public transportation, and development of a commercial tourist infrastructure.