Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science最新文献

This paper aims to assess the impacts of climatic shifts caused by climate change on tourism destinations and provide a strategic roadmap to manage tourism development and investments in Turkiye. To assess the climate change impacts on the tourism sector, we focus on spatial variations in climate change, model the changing suitability of climatic conditions on tourism activities in different regions of Turkiye and estimate future climate conditions by considering climate scenarios. The “Tourism Climate Index” (TCI) is adopted to compare the suitability of the climate for tourism activities during the base years (1963–2017) and the projected years (2040–2069). In applying current and estimated climatic data, the case study destinations are assembled into three groups based on magnitude and direction of change, namely, alarming, moderate, and advantageous destinations. To provide a strategic roadmap, a matrix is developed regarding the number of international tourists, the number of accommodation facilities, tourism type and TCI results. As a result, nine zones are defined to represent the risks and potentials of the destinations, their priority levels in future tourism development are determined, and recommendations for each zone are formulated. İstanbul and Antalya excel with their high demand, advanced infrastructure and potential for an extended tourism season, while Nevşehir, Ankara, and Konya stand out as alternative destinations. On the other hand, İzmir and Muğla stand out with their high risk and high demand. The significance of this study lies in adaptions of climatic shifts to a tourism development roadmap. The results are critical for formulation of strategic tourism development plans from the local to the national levels for sustaining viability of the tourism market.

This study examined the volatility connectedness between rice price and selected fertilizer commodity products among global rice-producing countries that are mainly in the Asian and Pacific regions. For this purpose, natural gas, selected fertilizers, rice monthly price data, and commodity volatilities were estimated by exponential weighted moving average (EWMA). Furthermore, the connectedness of the volatilities were demonstrated by applying the TVP-VAR-based Diebold–Yilmaz approach. First, we constructed eight separate networks for each country and then determined the total connectedness index (TCI), net pairwise directional connectedness (NPDC), and pairwise connectedness index (PCI). The average TCI for all countries varied between 40 and 55%. The dynamic TCIs showed that the impact of food price volatility from 2007 to 2008 persisted until 2009. Connectedness across all networks was seen to decline after 2010, dropping to 40% or lower. Upon analyzing bilateral interconnectivity through the lens of the PCI values, a robust connectedness between triple superphosphate fertilizer price volatility and Bangladesh, Brazil, China, and Pakistan was evident. The interconnectedness of urea fertilizer and natural gas volatility with rice price volatility, along with the substitution relationships between other fertilizers, offers valuable information for investors to construct portfolios.

Previous theoretical studies on economic development and demographics have discussed the impacts of childcare policies but have not specifically addressed the relationships between population concentration in urban areas and fertility rates. While many studies focus on population size and density in regions and countries to understand regional economies, few studies explore the effects of childcare policies on demographics. Therefore, we investigated the effects of regional childcare policies on population migration and regional and total fertility rates. Our study presents a two-region overlapping generations model with the following findings: (1) increasing the tax rate to enhance urban childcare facilities leads to a short-term increase in the urban population proportion and restructures the economy to support urban area population concentration. (2) With a constant tax rate, the dispersion economy declines in total fertility as it develops, while the agglomeration economy sees an increase in total fertility during development. This model can clearly highlight the effects of policies aimed at addressing the shortage of childcare facilities in urban areas.

Debates on the advantages of regional industrial specialization versus diversification are a central focus in economic theory. Concepts of related and unrelated variety offer a potentially insightful framework to explore this complex issue. This study examined the effects of related and unrelated variety on employment and labor productivity growth for 81 provinces in Turkey using the proximity approach to measure relatedness. We found that only the related variety contributes to regional economic growth in Turkey. When regional disparities between the western and eastern provinces are accounted for, the related variety positively affects employment growth in the western provinces. On the other hand, labor productivity and related variety relationships appear to be valid only for the relatively less developed eastern provinces. These findings have significant implications for economic policies, particularly for nations such as Turkey where regional economic disparities are a major concern. This study underscores the need for a deeper understanding of the intricate dynamics of regional industrial mixes and the roles they play in regional economic growth.

Philosophies of contentment, peace and happiness underpin Indian culture. However, the low ranking of India in the World Happiness Report is a matter of concern. The objective of the study was to explore the determinants of subjective wellbeing (SWB) in India. We used data from 5 waves of world value surveys consisting of 11 Indian states in the post liberalized era (1990–2014). The dependent variables were happiness and life satisfaction. In addition, several socio-economic variables were also adopted to assess their impacts on SWB. The estimated results from the heteroscedastic ordered probit model showed that there is a significant impact of demographic and socio-economic variables on the happiness and life satisfaction of Indians. Factors such as high-income levels, financial satisfaction, freedom of choice and life control showed a positive impact on both happiness and life satisfaction of individuals. Moreover, belief in religion, family, friends, trust of most people and a meaningful life were also positively associated with happiness of Indians. Furthermore, male, elderly and unhealthy people were more unhappy and dissatisfied with their life. This study contributes to the literature by identifying several determinants of SWB for Indians after the country’s integration of the international market. The government needs to collect happiness related data during the census so that the country can implement happiness enhancing policies.

According to the United Nations Educational, Social and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), a peri-urban area is the territory where the urban boundary and the rural environment meet. This region developed as a result of rapid population growth and migration. Therefore, issues such as haphazard development, uncontrolled growth, unplanned land use changes, population pressures, low-income opportunities, unequal distribution of basic infrastructure, inadequate infrastructure, land issues, lack of government law and order, disruption of agricultural work, and so forth are present in this region. The objective of this study was to define the peri-urban zone using a scientific method, and then examine Durgapur Municipal Corporation (DMC) and the surrounding area between 1991 and 2011. To achieve the aforementioned goals, four models; a Weightage Overlay Analysis-Based Model, an Infrastructure and Transport Communication Data-Based Model, a Night Time Light Data-Based Model and a Census Data-Based Model were used. The best model for peri-urban demarcation was selected using a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. The majority of the inner and outer peri-urban regions were located around DMC as well as in the transitional area between the Raniganj Municipality and DMC. The percentage of peri-urban dwellings has increased over time. From 1991 to 2001 and 2011, the percentage share of peri-urban units climbed from 52.75 to 59.41% and 75.74%, respectively. The percentage of stative peri-urban units was 35.29 and 34.43% in the inner and outer peri-urban areas, respectively, while the percentage of moderately dynamic peri-urban units was 64.70% and 65.75%. The growth rate was 1.5% from 1991 to 2001, and 3.3% from 2001 to 2011. The Asansol-Durgapur Development Authority (ADDA) or local governments need to adopt a suitable strategy and put necessary measures into effect to guarantee that changes proceed smoothly and with adequate preparedness.

Climate change disproportionately impacts different sections of a population depending on their inherent vulnerability characterized by access to basic facilities, assets and other entitlements, place of residence, and demographic characteristics. Indigenous communities are more vulnerable than other social groups in a population due to their natural resource dependent livelihood and isolation from the mainstream population. Madhya Pradesh, the tribal state of India, has a higher share of marginalized populations (Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST)) and is characterized by higher disparities among the social groups. By constructing indices for socioeconomic, infrastructural and agricultural vulnerability for social groups and climate indices at the district level, this study attempted to assess differences in the vulnerability of each social group to climate change in districts of Madhya Pradesh. The study showed that SC and ST possess significantly high vulnerability to climate change than Non SC/ST due to significant differences in socioeconomic, infrastructural and agricultural vulnerability. The districts where each social group was most vulnerable differed, but the reasons for higher vulnerability remained the same across the groups. The results contribute to vulnerability reduction efforts of the state by identifying the districts most vulnerable to climate change for each social group and most vulnerable social groups in the district as well as at the state level. This study also provides wide applications in climate change vulnerability assessment of other Indian states and developing countries with similar socioeconomic and demographic characteristics.

This study explored the relationship between community participation/community attachment and subjective well-being (SWB) among Japanese older adults. The study was conducted in Japanese urban (Tokyo and Osaka) and rural (Shikoku region) areas. Structural equation modelling was performed to assess the potential relationship between community participation, community attachment and SWB. Results showed that community participation and community attachment were positively associated in both areas. However, community attachment had a significant impact on SWB only in rural areas with little impact on increasing SWB in urban areas. We conclude that the role of community attachment varies according to regions with different socioeconomic properties. These findings contribute to the design of detailed region-specific initiatives to improve SWB of older adults.

The second most populous country in the world, India, is severely facing challenges in managing increased amounts of solid and bio-medical wastes leading to associated physical and health hazards. The Government of India (GoI) has launched and modified different policies regarding the handling and management of solid, bio-medical and plastic wastes since independence to deal with the changing waste scenario of the country. However, with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country since early 2020, inadequacies of municipal solid waste management (MSWM), bio-medical waste management (BMWM), and plastic waste management policies have occurred with personal protective equipment (PPE) kits, such as facemasks, face shields, gloves, gowns, sanitizer bottles, and remnants of packaging goods from online shopping, putting the waste economy and ecology under further pressure. This article provides a systematic review of literature on the Indian SWM practices during COVID-19 within the larger context of the existing Indian MSWM, BMWM, and plastic waste management policies. Finally, we suggest ways by which the waste scenario can be tackled during cycles of crises including outbreaks of pandemics in the future. We advocate for involving multiple stakeholders like solid-waste management (SWM) officials, local community members, i.e., citizens, ragpickers, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) along with the deployment of different disposal methods, such as biomethanation, pyrolysis, etc. in designing effective and efficient policies and actions. We believe that these sets of recommendations have scalability, especially in managing COVID-19-Associated Waste (CAW) in the global South.

Graphical abstract