Urban and municipalities management
V. Dhenge; G. Nimbarte
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Smart cities are technology-driven urban agglomerations. Sustainability, competitiveness, and quality of life are the three cardinal principles for smart cities. The available studies specific to smart cities are related to smart technologies, innovations, smart infrastructure, ...
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Smart cities are technology-driven urban agglomerations. Sustainability, competitiveness, and quality of life are the three cardinal principles for smart cities. The available studies specific to smart cities are related to smart technologies, innovations, smart infrastructure, etc., and limited studies are conducted from citizens’ perspectives. The present study aims to assess the impact of governance, general well-being, also called ease of living of citizens, and citizens’ perception of smart cities on their quality of life in mid-sized smart cities of India. The innovation and novelty of present study is that it attempts to fill the research gap in studies on smart cities by adopting the citizen-centric approach rather than infrastructure and technology-centric approach in developing countries. METHODOLOGY: Three Indian mid-sized smart cities, Pune, Nagpur, and Indore were identified for the study. For the purpose of this study, a few hypotheses were developed and a structured questionnaire was prepared from the literature review. The data was collected from Pune, Nagpur, and Indore smart cities and it was analyzed by performing factorial analysis and Structural Equation Modelling using appropriate statistical package software.FINDINGS: The findings from the statistical analysis validated the hypotheses. The results of the study indicate a strong positive impact of citizens’ perception of smart cities on quality of life (Standardized Estimates = 0.66) while governance (Standardized Estimates = 0.11) and ease of living (SE=0.46) presented low to medium impact relationship with citizens’ quality of life.CONCLUSION: The findings of this study concludes that citizens’ perception has highest influence on their quality of life. Considering these findings in the context of mid-sized smart cities, this study significantly contributes in existing research on tools and indicators of quality-of-life assessment in urban centers specifically in developing countries. This research article attempts to provide a substantial theoretical and practical contribution to urban studies.
Urban and municipalities management
S. Mahdinezhad; M.H. Boochani; A.A. Malekafzali
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The importance of integrated urban management has become increasingly evident in today's world, particularly for large cities facing physical, spatial, and demographic growth and complexity. In Iran, the lack of effective citizen participation and integrated management has ...
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The importance of integrated urban management has become increasingly evident in today's world, particularly for large cities facing physical, spatial, and demographic growth and complexity. In Iran, the lack of effective citizen participation and integrated management has posed a significant challenge to the urban management system. To address this issue, this research focuses on the role of citizens and urban activists in various levels of Tehran metropolis management, including policy making, planning, supervision, and control. It also evaluates the legislative and executive layers to emphasize their importance in achieving effective urban management.METHODS: The present study adopts a qualitative research design, with a practical orientation in terms of its objectives, and an analytical-exploratory approach for data collection. The study focuses on experts and city managers as the statistical population of interest. To gather data, a questionnaire was developed and distributed among the target community. The reliability of the questionnaire was assessed using Cronbach's alpha coefficient, which yielded a high value of 0.97. Data analysis involved the use of descriptive statistics, including frequency, frequency percentage, mean, and standard deviation, as well as inferential statistics, specifically the one-sample t-test. The statistical analysis was conducted using the SPSS software package.FINDINGS: According to the findings, 31.4% of the responses identified the citizens and 25.7% of the responses identified the municipality as the owner of the city. 68.6% of the answers have identified the municipality as the manager of Tehran city. Also, 80% of the respondents said that management fragmentation is the biggest challenge of urban development in Iran. The most influential institutions in the process of urban management are Tehran Municipality at the policy-making level, self-governing experts and researchers at the planning level, the Tehran Islamic Council at the monitoring and control level, the Islamic Council at the legislative level and Tehran Municipality at the executive level, while the citizens are the last.CONCLUSION: The present urban management approach faces significant obstacles in the form of fragmentation and inadequate coordination among decision-making entities. These challenges result in disarray, duplication of efforts, and squandering of resources. Consequently, the absence of transparency and lucidity in the roles of city proprietors and managers, coupled with the lack of precise delineations for the engagement of organizations, individuals, and institutions in the urban management process, could impede the attainment of sustainable development objectives and curtail the capacity of civil society to comprehend and partake in effective urban governance.
Urban and municipalities management
M. Eshghizadeh
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Land use change can directly affect rainfall-runoff relationships. The change in land use is an essential factor in runoff production. This research evaluated the effect of urban development scenarios of land use change on runoff in Gonabad city of Iran. The innovation and ...
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Land use change can directly affect rainfall-runoff relationships. The change in land use is an essential factor in runoff production. This research evaluated the effect of urban development scenarios of land use change on runoff in Gonabad city of Iran. The innovation and importance of this work are to determine which land use changes have the greatest impact on the flood discharge in this urban area. Also, determine how much the minimum development of urban green space is to control and reduce peak flood discharge in this city that is located in a dry area.METHODS: The effect of urban development scenarios on runoff was evaluated by the WinTR-55 model in 5 sub-basins of Gonabad city. The main data required for inputting to the WinTR-55 model are sub-area and reach characteristics, curve number, and storm data. The storm data in TR-55 are 24-hour rainfall amounts in a return period of 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100 years. The changes in the maximum flood discharge and flow hydrograph in each sub-area and return period were calculated by the WinTR-55 model under existing land use conditions and 9 scenarios of urban development.FINDINGS: The greatest increase in runoff production was related to the conversion of abandoned fallow and agricultural lands to residential. Also, the most effective increase or decrease of land cover change in peak flow discharge and total flow volume was at the 2-year return period. The decreased effect of the development of green spaces and urban gardens on peak flow discharge and total flow volume was seen only if their development was more than 50%. The average maximum decrease in peak discharge and total flow volume was 22.7% and 16.1%, respectively. While the average maximum increase in peak discharge and total flow volume was 84.4% and 53.9%, respectively.CONCLUSION: The effect of increasing green spaces and urban gardens on the reduction of peak discharge and volume of runoff was also evident in the study area. Land management and preventing the conversion of permeable land uses such as agricultural, gardening, fallow lands, and rangeland will be much simpler and less costly. Urban land use management to prevent urban floods requires the expansion of permeable surfaces, especially green spaces, and urban gardens. These are the important novelty of this research that can be beneficial for future urban developments of Gonabad city and its flood management activities.
Urban and municipalities management
P. Tolouei; F. Babaei Semiromi; R. Arjomandi; A.H. Hassani; R. A. Azizinejad
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The aqueduct is one of the most complex and amazing inventions of human history, created to meet the most vital needs of human society in arid and semiarid regions areas. If aqueducts are properly maintained, reconstructed, and restored, they can be valuable water supply system ...
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The aqueduct is one of the most complex and amazing inventions of human history, created to meet the most vital needs of human society in arid and semiarid regions areas. If aqueducts are properly maintained, reconstructed, and restored, they can be valuable water supply system from ground water resources. The quality of the water in these sources will have a direct impact on the consumer of its consumption, so it seems necessary to check the water quality of these sources.METHODS: This study investigated the state of five aqueducts in Tehran using parameters such as calcium, magnesium, phosphate, sulfate, turbidity, total hardness, nitrate, alkalinity, electrical conductivity, Biochemical Oxygen Demand, Chemical Oxygen Demand, total coliform and fecal coliform. Then the obtained values were compared with the permissible limits of the World Health Organization and the national standard of Iran. The data was analyzed using SPSS26 software and a one-sample t-test.FINDINGS: The results of water quality during a one-year survey period showed that the parameters of alkalinity, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, sulfate, and nitrate were below the maximum desirable and permissible standards of the national standard of Iran and the World Health Organization, and therefore will not create any restrictions for drinking and agricultural use. Total hardness, phosphate, turbidity, calcium, magnesium, and chlorine have discrepancies with the national standards of Iran and the World Health Organization and these components must be adjusted for use. According to the one-sample t-test, there was a significant difference between the average and the permissible values of all parameters except magnesium at the 95% confidence level. All aqueducts except the America aqueduct had levels of fecal coliform that were higher than the maximum allowed by the environmental standards therefore, before using the aqueduct, it must be purified to control the environmental standards.. However, the total coliform, Biochemical Oxygen Demand, Chemical Oxygen Demand levels were not a problem. In addition, the water quality of these sources was placed in a group (C3S1) based on the Wilcox diagram.CONCLUSION: The physical and chemical analysis of the studied aqueduct water showed that the water quality is suitable for the irrigation of green spaces and salt-resistant plants. The biological characteristics of the studied aqueduct water also revealed that these sources were polluted by domestic and industrial effluents. This issue will only grow worse with time, as the amount of rainwater decreases and the amount of pollution in the underground water sources increases.
Urban and municipalities management
M.S Khan; I.J. Mousumi; M.H. Jaman; M.M. Billah
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Reducing the salinity intrusion from sea water, a closure dam has been constructed on Little Feni River at Musapur Union in 2016. The objective of this research was to assess the soil quality based on the variables, i.e., PH, total organic carbon, total organic matter, total ...
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Reducing the salinity intrusion from sea water, a closure dam has been constructed on Little Feni River at Musapur Union in 2016. The objective of this research was to assess the soil quality based on the variables, i.e., PH, total organic carbon, total organic matter, total nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, electrical conductivity, salinity and total dissolved solids, respectively.METHODS: A total of 21 soil samples were collected from 7 sampling stations with 10-15cm depth. The PH, total organic carbon, total organic matter, total nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, electrical conductivity, salinity and total dissolved solids were measured with pH meter, titration, Van Bemmelen factor, spectrophotometer, conductivity meter and salinity meter, respectively. Data were analyzed by statistical package for the social sciences, maps were produced by Arc GIS software and cluster analysis was done by Ward method, respectively.FINDINGS: The mean concentrations of PH, total organic carbon, total organic matter, total nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, electrical conductivity, salinity and total dissolved solids were 8.1±0.169, 0.506±0.278%, 0.873±0.465%, 0.044±0.023%, 21.599±8.312ppm, 0.462±0.47ppm, 2.024±526.76dS/m, 2.024±2.382ppt and 222.448±259.927ppm, respectively. The study result revealed that the ranges of these soil parameters were 7.19-8.5, 0.27-1.07%, 0.50-1.82%, 0.02-0.09%, 9.45-32.19ppm, 0.25-1.53ppm, 123.23-1625dS/m, 0.64-7.37ppt and 63.57-802.33ppm, respectively. Strong positive correlation observed between total organic matter and total organic carbon (r=0.999), total nitrogen and total organic matter (r=0.998), potassium and electrical conductivity (r=0.991), salinity and potassium (r=0.994), potassium and total dissolved solids (r=0.989). Likewise, phosphorous was positively correlated with potassium (r=0.444), electrical conductivity (r=0.476) and salinity (r=0.467) with significance level of p ≤ 0.05. The variance test elicited that F value of PH, total organic carbon, total organic matter, total nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, electrical conductivity, salinity and total dissolved solids were 25.505 (p<0.000), 18.011 (p<0.001), 14.013 (p<0.003), 23.478 (p<0.000), 29.393 (p<0.000), 17.924 (p<0.001), 9.502 (p<0.009) and 4.944 (p<0.046), respectively. The spatial distribution showed the reducing pattern of concentrations from outside to inside area of the closure dam. The cluster analysis showed the same sources of origin for pH, total organic carbon, total organic matter, total nitrogen, potassium, phosphorous and salinity (NaCl) which might be the possible cause of anthropogenic activities, i.e., use of chemical pesticide/fertilizer for agricultural cultivable land.CONCLUSION: It is concluded that inside soil was more fertile rather than outside soil after the construction of closure dam. Lastly, the rate of crop production will be increased and soil should be more productive in the study area.
Urban and municipalities management
S. Watundu; B. Kalinda Mkenda; N. Mwelu
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The demand for travel is increasing along with the development of the urban city. Since its establishment in 1890, the same situation has been replicated in Uganda, particularly in Kampala, the capital city. The city has grown tremendously, and this has spilled over to neighboring ...
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The demand for travel is increasing along with the development of the urban city. Since its establishment in 1890, the same situation has been replicated in Uganda, particularly in Kampala, the capital city. The city has grown tremendously, and this has spilled over to neighboring towns. Road transport carries 99 percent of the traffic in Kampala Capital City, causing massive congestion on city roads. Increased traffic could result from residents of the city or visitors from other parts of the country. Thus, understanding societal travel behaviours of city dwellers is necessary for better planning and policy guidance. This study examines the socio-demographic determinants of urban household demand for road travel in Kampala City. METHODS: Data from the Kampala Capital City Authority’s transport and household travel habits survey were used in this study. A sampling plan developed by the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area Transport Master Plan Project was followed. Households were drawn from parishes stratified by residential typology using a simple random sampling method. Based on the social economic groupings, a proportional sample of 1906 households was drawn. Data on household characteristics, personal attributes of the household head and travel habits data were obtained. Given the observed over dispersion, a Negative Binomial Regression was estimated.FINDINGS: The results show that household daily demand for travel increase with the size, age, and education level of the head. Compared to households with 1-3 members, results indicate a significant increase in the difference between the logs of the daily trips taken by 0.329 and 0.587 for households with 4-6 and above 6 members, respectively; the older the household head, the higher the difference between the logs of expected number of trips, compared to households with heads aged 15-24 years, those whose heads are aged 25-34, 35-44, 45-54 and above 54 years, the difference of the logs of the expected number of trips taken increases significantly by 0.0769, 0.149, 0.163 and 0.212 trips, respectively; household heads working in the private sector reduces the difference in the logs of daily travel by 0.0659 trips when compared to the public sector; the more educated the household head, the more trips taken daily. Households with a private car make fewer trips than those without.CONCLUSION: Sensitization programmes for reducing unnecessary and avoidable travel and family size are required. Uptake of distribution and or redistribution polices for development activities and investments to other urban centers and regions.
Urban and municipalities management
L.A. Chamwali; A.J. Mzava; S. Watundu
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Developing countries have been experiencing a rapid increase in their population. This comes in hand with more human activity and hence increased solid waste generation as one of the by-products. The continuous surge in solid waste generation is a challenge to these countries. ...
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Developing countries have been experiencing a rapid increase in their population. This comes in hand with more human activity and hence increased solid waste generation as one of the by-products. The continuous surge in solid waste generation is a challenge to these countries. Thus the need to make conducive decisions for solid waste management. To achieve this, in 2009, the Government of Tanzania privatized solid waste management services and enacted the Environmental Regulations Law. However, only 20% of solid waste generated in urban Tanzania is collected but instead dumped in landfills. In Morogoro, one of the urban centers in Tanzania, municipal officials can only collect and dispose in landfills less than 35% of the 200 tons of solid waste generated per day. This raises concerns about the technical efficiency of solid waste management and specifically solid waste collection services in Morogoro municipality. The purpose of this study is to measure technical efficiency and analyze the determinants of technical inefficiency for solid waste collection services in Morogoro municipality.METHODS: Primary data was collected using a structured questionnaire with both open-ended and closed-ended questions. Morogoro municipality has a population of 290 waste management agents from whom a sample of 201 was selected using cluster and purposive sampling methods. A stochastic frontier approach was used to measure technical efficiency and analyze the factors determining technical inefficiency. STATA 14 software was used for model estimation and tests. .FINDINGS: Results show that technical efficiency for solid waste collection services in Morogoro Municipality is 81.56% that is below the technical efficiency threshold of 95%. Thus solid waste collection services in Morogoro municipality are inefficient. In addition, age of the waste management agent, number of houses participating in waste collection, and number of waste collection tools belonging to the waste management agents are significant determinants of technical inefficiency.CONCLUSION: Results suggest an improvement in solid waste collection through increased wide service coverage. Increased community participation is a necessity and thus mass awareness campaigns are unavoidable. It is appropriate to procurement enough tools and labor force by the solid waste collection agents. Morogoro municipal authority should provide a stern law enforcement process.
Urban and municipalities management
S. Motahari; A. Taftiyan; M. Moeinadin
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Global events in recent months, such as the (COVID-19) pandemic, have put pressures on the public budget Especially in municipalities that have made it more difficult to understand and measure. Meanwhile, Fiscal discipline as one of the most basic concepts of optimal management ...
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Global events in recent months, such as the (COVID-19) pandemic, have put pressures on the public budget Especially in municipalities that have made it more difficult to understand and measure. Meanwhile, Fiscal discipline as one of the most basic concepts of optimal management of resources and expenditures requires purposeful research and in this regard, the present study was conducted to identify and ranking the factors affecting the fiscal discipline of Municipalities to improve financial aspects of urban management.METHODS: In this research, the mixed exploratory approach has been used so that the qualitative method has played an exploratory role and the quantitative method has played a confirmatory role. Also, in the qualitative stage, the Meta-Synthesis Method and in the quantitative stage, the Shannon entropy method have been used to ranking the factors.FINDINGS: By reviewing 34 studies out of 114 initial studies, researchers identified 14 indicators and 110 codes as factors affecting the Fiscal discipline of Municipalities mentioned in various studies during the years 2000 to early 2021; Identified and categorized in the form of four balanced scorecard (BSC) perspectives.CONCLUSION: The results of this research, in addition to the richness of the literature on the concept of fiscal discipline, assist municipalities in managing fiscal discipline and supervisory institutions in assessments by providing a categorized checklist of factors.
Urban and municipalities management
O. Gotore; A. Munodawafa; R. Rameshprabu; T.P. Phillip Masere; V. Mushayi; T. Itayama
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The major sources of pollution along the Mukuvisi River are industrial effluents from Msasa, Graniteside, and Southerton industrial sites, sewage effluent from Firle sewage works, pesticide and fertilizer runoff from Pension and surrounding farms, and domestic and diffuse pollution ...
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The major sources of pollution along the Mukuvisi River are industrial effluents from Msasa, Graniteside, and Southerton industrial sites, sewage effluent from Firle sewage works, pesticide and fertilizer runoff from Pension and surrounding farms, and domestic and diffuse pollution from residential areas. The primary objective of this study was to assess the impact of point and non-point pollution sources on macroinvertebrates variability and investigate the seasonal water quality deterioration along the Mukuvisi River. To evaluate macroinvertebrate community diversity using South African Scoring System 5 protocol for rapid bioassessment of water quality. The combined application of benthic macroinvertebrates and physic-chemical parameters was the focus of this research to validate the water quality status of the urban River systems concerning emerging pollutants in urban areas.METHODS: According to the Harare municipality pollution control strategy and surveillance, only twelve accessible sampling points were chosen along the river. Macroinvertebrate samples and physic-chemical measurements were collected once or twice a month, according to the city of Harare’s sampling schedule. The ancillary information, temperature, pH, and conductivity were measured on-site with a mercury bulb thermometer, a pH meter, and a conductivity meter, respectively. The standard South African Scoring System 5 sampling protocol was used for the sampling and identification of the macroinvertebrates community.FINDINGS: The early assessments showed that water pollution was, in the 1st place and as a primary issue, a biological matter, and its primary effects could have been traced to living organisms. Eutrophication in Manyame catchment, Harare, Zimbabwe is subjected to prolonged and cumulative ecosystem stress because of human activities, sewage disposal, and industrial discharges, among other pollution sources. The Phosphorus-P, Biological Oxygen Demand, Chemical Oxygen Demand, and Ammonia-NH3 (from 0, 6.9, 118, and 0 to 3.8, 81.9, 840, and 31 mg/L respectively) concentration increases downstream in both seasons. The Dissolved Oxygen saturation was 75% and 67% upstream in the dry-and-wet season and was reduced to 0% downstream in both seasons. The evaluation of macroinvertebrate diversity provided evidence that Mukuvisi River water was polluted based on the South African Scoring System, especially in the dry season.CONCLUSIONS: The physic-chemical parameters were significantly related to macroinvertebrates diversity. In the assessment of river water quality, both macroinvertebrate indices and physio-chemical parameters can be sampled together to avoid bias. The results indicated that human activities from the upstream were inducing water pollution. Industries need to adhere to the wastewater discharge guidelines.
Urban and municipalities management
A. Jafari Shahrestani; E. Sangi; H. Mazaherian; S. Movaghar Hoor
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Given the tremendous progress of today's societies and the expectations of the people from public institutions that are increasing day by day, having complex organizations is inevitable. As a non-parametric border method, data envelopment analysis approach has been presented ...
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Given the tremendous progress of today's societies and the expectations of the people from public institutions that are increasing day by day, having complex organizations is inevitable. As a non-parametric border method, data envelopment analysis approach has been presented as a relative assessment tool to evaluate performance assessment of The Municipality of Tehran with 22 districts. This paper aims to assess all 22 districts of Tehran in terms of cash and sustainable income. METHODS: In this paper, BCC output-oriented model has been opted to employ DEA for the performance assessment of Tehran Municipality in 2020. In order to formulate optimal programs, especially in the income programs of the regions, it is necessary to consider the specific conditions and characteristics of each region. Therefore, while cash and sustainable incomes have been selected as the model's output, number of building permits, number of inhabitants, number of housing deals, and the price of the residential unit have been considered as inputs of BCC-O model. FINDINGS: BCC-O approach was implemented to classify 22 districts of the Municipality of Tehran. The findings revealed that 50 percent of districts namely 1, 6, 9, 12, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 operated efficiently. Also, it was determined that there has not been a proportional analogy between cash and sustainable income in comparison with input indices. For such areas an alternative program is proposed using the method. CONCLUSION: Due to the continuous increase of Tehran's county population and consequently the increase of citizens' requests and the lack of resources and facilities in Tehran Municipality on the other hand, it is necessary to formulate and implement the annual plans of the regions with higher accuracy. Given that at present the annual plan of cash and stable income of regions are based on past years' performance ignoring specific conditions of each region, so it is possible to evaluate a more real and precise value of income plan through DEA model with considering the conditions of each district. Decision-makers of inefficient districts can modify the approved plans of cash income and sustainable income base on the optimal value of the proposed data envelopment analysis model. Based on BCC-O model, guidelines are provided for transferring inefficient districts from the current state to the efficient ones. These values can be the basis for compiling the revenue plan for next year in districts of the Municipality of Tehran.
Urban and municipalities management
M. Montezarhojat; Y. Vakil Alroaia; E. Rashidi
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The main purpose of this study in qualitative section is to identify the factors affecting social media marketing in urban cyberspace and then in quantitative section, ranking these factors. Hence, the question has been raised as to what factors affect social media marketing ...
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The main purpose of this study in qualitative section is to identify the factors affecting social media marketing in urban cyberspace and then in quantitative section, ranking these factors. Hence, the question has been raised as to what factors affect social media marketing in urban cyberspace?METHODS: Due to the exploratory nature of this research, it is not possible to provide an initial answer or hypothesis to the aforementioned question, and the final answer has been obtained using the theme analysis approach. In addition, based on the Analytic Network Process multi-criteria decision-making technique, the priority of the elements affecting social media marketing was discussed. In order to collect the data and get the opinions of experts, professors of the Iran Broadcasting University and senior media managers, in-depth and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 participants who were selected using the theoretical sampling method as well as the snowball method.FINDINGS: Through a reciprocal process based on the theme analysis, key concepts associated with the social media marketing in urban cyberspace were extracted and finally, 1 pervasive theme and 32 subthemes were identified and categorized within the 4 main themes including factors related to marketing, competitive, and managerial factors, as well as, factors related to the social media. Also, the results from Analytic Network Process shows the preference value (Φ) of these factors respectively include the parameters of: Marketing-related factors (Φ=0.169); Managerial (Φ= 0.163); Competitiveness (Φ=0.139); and Social media (Φ=-0.133).CONCLUSION: Presence of media in novel communication space with its general and special audiences is an opportunity which should not be ignored by the National Media. Compared to the commercial advertisements in various radio and Television channels, marketing in this atmosphere is likely to make less money (particularly at the early days), but such presence is highly significant. According to the results, the most important factors affecting social media marketing in urban cyberspace are Marketing-related factors, Managerial, Competitiveness and Social media factors.
Urban and municipalities management
A. Narmilan; N. Puvanitha; G. Niroash; R. Vassanthini; M. Sugirtharan
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Increased demand for water has put pressure on the water supply system, which has led to environmental issues such as water resource over-exploitation and ecosystem balance breaks. This study aimed to examine household water consumption trends and management practices and compare ...
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Increased demand for water has put pressure on the water supply system, which has led to environmental issues such as water resource over-exploitation and ecosystem balance breaks. This study aimed to examine household water consumption trends and management practices and compare the efficacy of various water management interventions to reduce the Batticaloa district's water deficit.METHODS: The primary data was collected through a questionnaire survey from 300 households belonging to the urban area in Batticaloa District in Manmunai Pattu, Sri Lanka. The data were analyzed using correlation and linear regression analyses. A flow rate study was designed to assess the individual flow rate for each household.FINDINGS: The overall domestic water use is negatively correlated (p ≤ 0.01) with the household head's age and education level and positively associated with income level. As the household size, age, education level, number of taps, and household income showed statistical significance (p ≤0.05), the Linear regression model was statistically essential. Together, they accounted for 96.5% of the difference in per capita water consumption in the wet season. Moreover, most of the people are not aware of the cost of water per cubic meter and only 26.7% are aware of the cost and 88% of the respondents are more concerned about the quality of water and very few respondents (12%) are not concerned about the water quality.CONCLUSION: The results indicate that more water is used by people with higher incomes in urban areas than people with lower incomes. The use of water depends on household members' living standards, family size, age, education level, and the number of taps present in the household. Also, most household members are not aware of the efficient use of water in the study area.
Urban and municipalities management
Z. Omidi-Saravani; M. Kavoosi-Kalashami; A. Bakhshipour; I. Bagheri; C. Psomopoulos
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Establishing a good sound waste management system for a community requires a comprehensive knowledge of the current status and issues involved in present waste management system. This research was conducted to identify and prioritize waste management weaknesses in Saravan village ...
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Establishing a good sound waste management system for a community requires a comprehensive knowledge of the current status and issues involved in present waste management system. This research was conducted to identify and prioritize waste management weaknesses in Saravan village of Guilan province, Iran. METHODS: Data were gathered through a descriptive-analytical approach using a purposive sampling and researcher-made questionnaire method. Waste management weaknesses were prioritized by Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP), and Analytic Network Process (ANP). FINDING: The most important weakness of rural waste management in the study area was waste management structure, equipment, and infrastructures weakness (index C) with relative importance values of 38.1% in AHP, 37.3% in FAHP, and 38.2% in ANP approaches. The village inhabitants' weakness (index B) with relative importance values of 16.5% in AHP, 17.2% in FAHP, and 1.4% in ANP had the lowest priority among studied weaknesses. Workforce weakness (index A), and educational and cultural weakness (index D) were the second and third important weaknesses, respectively. The most important sub-indices weakness of these weakness indices were non-compliance of Rural Municipality Manager (RMM) with waste management standards, rules, and regulations; Waste disposal by the village inhabitants at the nearest site; failure to establish a solid waste fix station in the village; and lack of training and awareness of villagers about waste management. CONCLUSION: In order to establish a successful waste management system in rural areas, it is recommended to develop a comprehensive strategy that involves aspects such as; establishing proper waste management infrastructures, employment of skilled staff, and conducting training plans and motivational programs for staff and inhabitants.
Urban and municipalities management
A. Edrisi; H. Rezaei
Abstract
BACKGROUN AND OBJECTIVES: Ride-hailing is a term to describe booking rides and paying for car services through a smartphone app with a Transportation Network Company. As an innovation in the ride-hailing investigation in Iran, this paper is sought to analyze the influence of individual's demographic ...
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BACKGROUN AND OBJECTIVES: Ride-hailing is a term to describe booking rides and paying for car services through a smartphone app with a Transportation Network Company. As an innovation in the ride-hailing investigation in Iran, this paper is sought to analyze the influence of individual's demographic characteristics on their travel mode choice between ride-hailing, traditional taxi and private car. For this purpose, questionnaires in six different statuses have been designed, and 414 questionnaires have been completed in 22 districts of Tehran metropolitan region. METHODS: To check the utility of choosing private car and traditional taxi compared to ride-hailing, on short, medium, and, long travel distances with commuting and non-commuting purposes in the peak hours of morning and evening, the six multinomial logit models have been done by considering the ride-hailing option as reference alternative, and the private car and traditional taxi options as the first and second ` FINDING:Initially, six logit models were generated, which fitted models are all appropriate. All of the variables used in these models in choosing private car or traditional taxis compared to ride-hailing in different models were statistically significance. But, gender, household dimension, and individuals' educational level didn’t affect the individual's choice. CONCLUSION: The results showed that ride-hailing is more acceptable to younger people, and high-income people attract more to it. Therefore, ride-hailing services can be considered as a wealthy phenomenon and for the young generation. In addition, given the 67% response of individuals incline to use ride-hailing services in a shared way, because of the interest of individuals to use this mode of travel due to its lower cost in some situations, which can be considered as a separate mode of transportation.
Urban and municipalities management
B.A. Hailemariam
Abstract
The study was conducted with the objective of selecting suitable site for urban green space development of Arba Minch town in Ethiopia using geographic information system and remote sensing based multi criterion analysis. To produce suitable site, four parameters were considered, these are slope, land ...
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The study was conducted with the objective of selecting suitable site for urban green space development of Arba Minch town in Ethiopia using geographic information system and remote sensing based multi criterion analysis. To produce suitable site, four parameters were considered, these are slope, land use land cover, distance to the main river and distance to road. Supervised classification followed by reclassification were done to classify suitable land use land cover for urban green space, digital elevation model data were used to generate slope suitability and buffering with different distance were used to produce suitable site using distance to the road and distance to the main river parameters’. Although a variety of techniques exist for the development of weight, one of the most promising techniques was the Pairwise Comparison Matrix in the context of a decision making process known as the Analytical Hierarchy Process and ratings were provided on a nine-point continuous scale, which ranges from 1 to 9. The most important parameters’ to predict the location of urban green space in the study area were distance to the main river followed by distance to the road as the experts’ rate it. Although, slope and land use land cover parameters’ are very important, they do not seem to have noticeable effect on urban green space development as of the experts’ response. So, on the bases of the ranks given by the experts the highest value was calculated for river which was 51.28%. The result shows that high suitability accounts 36.3 % of the total area, 45.5 % of the area is moderately suitable and the remaining 18.5 % of the town is not suitable for urban green space.
Urban and municipalities management
O.S. Shokunbi; O.O. Ajayi; D.O. Jegede; O.S. Shokunbi
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Solid wastes are composed of organic and inorganic pollutants (heavy metals) that can contaminate soil, underground and surface water; resulting in serious health challenges to humans. The bioavailability of cadmium, chromium, copper, lead and nickel on dumpsite soils, were ...
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Solid wastes are composed of organic and inorganic pollutants (heavy metals) that can contaminate soil, underground and surface water; resulting in serious health challenges to humans. The bioavailability of cadmium, chromium, copper, lead and nickel on dumpsite soils, were investigated during the wet and dry seasons of 2018 by a sequential extraction method (Tessier). METHODS: The soils were sampled from eight points within each of two dumpsites in Ilisan-Remo, Ogun State. Top soil of 0–15 cm depth was sampled, air-dried and sieved. The extracted soil samples were analysed for heavy metal concentrations using flame atomic absorption spectrometer. FINDING: In the dumpsite soils examined, cadmium, chromium, copper and lead were majorly bound to the residual fractions at the first and second dumpsites, respectively for both seasons with mean concentrations (mg/kg) of: Cd – 0.65 ± 0.12 and 1.20 ± 0.07, Cr – 36.83 ± 5.70 and 26.83 ± 3.57, Cu – 28.37 ± 3.69 and 8.04 ± 0.32, Pb – 12.40 ± 2.34 and 14.11 ± 2.44, but Ni was found mainly in the Fe-Mn oxide fraction during the wet season, with mean concentrations (mg/kg) of 6.22 ± 1.33 and 8.24 ± 0.78, for dumpsites A and B, respectively. The values obtained for these metals were higher during the dry season than a wet season and there were no metals in the mobile fractions for wet season. However, cadmium and lead were found in the carbonate fraction during the dry season, resulting in their bioavailability in the soils. CONCLUSION: The speciation results revealed that heavy metals were more bioavailable in the residual fractions. The absence of mobile fractions in the soils indicated that metals are not bioavailable for plants uptake at present condition; hence, the metals obtained are of geogenic rather than anthropogenic origin.
