Mapping and measuring urban-rural inequalities in accessibility to social infrastructures

Equal access to social infrastructures is a fundamental prerequisite for sustainable development,but has long been a great challenge worldwide.Previous studies have primarily focused on the accessibility to social infras-tructures in urban areas across various scales,with less attention to rural areas,where inequality can be more severe.Particularly,few have investigated the disparities of accessibility to social infrastructures between urban and rural areas.Here,using the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan urban agglomeration,China,as an example,we investigated the inequality of accessibility in both urban and rural areas,and further compared the urban-rural difference.Accessibility was measured by travel time of residents to infrastructures.We selected four types of social infrastructures including supermarkets,bus stops,primary schools,and health care,which were funda-mentally important to both urban and rural residents.We found large disparities in accessibility between urban and rural areas,ranging from 20 min to 2 h.Rural residents had to spend one to two more hours to bus stops than urban residents,and 20 min more to the other three types of infrastructures.Furthermore,accessibility to multiple infrastructures showed greater urban-rural differences.Rural residents in more than half of the towns had no access to any infrastructure within 15 min,while more than 60%of the urban residents could access to all infrastructures within 15 min.Our results revealed quantitative accessibility gap between urban and rural areas and underscored the necessity of social infrastructures planning to address such disparities.

Spatial Distribution Pattern and Influencing Factors of Bed-and-breakfasts(B&Bs)from the Perspective of Urban-rural Differences:A Case Study of Jiaodong Peninsula,China

There are significant differences between urban and rural bed-and-breakfasts(B&Bs)in terms of customer positioning,economic strength and spatial carrier.Accurately identifying the differences in spatial characteristics and influencing factors of each type,is essential for creating urban and rural B&B agglomeration areas.This study used density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise(DBSCAN)and the multi-scale geographically weighted regression(MGWR)model to explore similarities and differences in the spatial distribution patterns and influencing factors for urban and rural B&Bs on the Jiaodong Peninsula of China from 2010 to 2022.The results showed that:1)both urban and rural B&Bs in Jiaodong Peninsula went through three stages:a slow start from 2010 to 2015,rapid development from 2015 to 2019,and hindered development from 2019 to 2022.However,urban B&Bs demonstrated a higher development speed and agglomeration intensity,leading to an increasingly evident trend of uneven development between the two sectors.2)The clustering scale of both urban and rural B&Bs continued to expand in terms of quantity and volume.Urban B&B clusters characterized by a limited number,but a higher likelihood of transitioning from low-level to high-level clusters.While the number of rural B&B clusters steadily increased over time,their clustering scale was comparatively lower than that of urban B&Bs,and they lacked the presence of high-level clustering.3)In terms of development direction,urban B&B clusters exhibited a relatively stable pattern and evolved into high-level clustering centers within the main urban areas.Conversely,rural B&Bs exhibited a more pronounced spatial diffusion effect,with clusters showing a trend of multi-center development along the coastline.4)Transport emerged as a common influencing factor for both urban and rural B&Bs,with the density of road network having the strongest explanatory power for their spatial distribution.In terms of differences,population agglomeration had a positive impact on the distribution of urban B&Bs and a negative effect on the distribution of rural B&Bs.Rural B&Bs clustering was more influenced by tourism resources compared with urban B&Bs,but increasing tourist stay duration remains an urgent issue to be addressed.The findings of this study could provide a more precise basis for government planning and management of urban and rural B&B agglomeration areas.

Conservation-minded Urban Green Space System Planning in the Urban-rural Integration

Environmental and ecological problems in the urban-rural integration were analyzed, characteristics of urban green space system introduced, such as excellent landscape eco-structure, distinctive historical and humanistic features, and diversified natural landscape resources, and also challenges pointed out. Evolution, overall spatial structure and conservation concept of conservation-minded urban green space system planning were elaborated, on the basis of which the evaluation system of conservation-minded urban green space system was studied, and it was proposed that mutual relationship between impact factors of compound value and qualitative evaluation factors should be taken into consideration as a whole in evaluating conservation effects of green space system. Quantitative evaluation indexes and qualitative evaluation measures were analyzed, an objective and precise evaluation system for the conservation-minded urban green space system was established by combining qualitative and quantitative analysis to improve ecological environment during the urbanization, and fully show planning concepts of conservation-minded green space system.

Spatial pattern of urban-rural integration in China and the impact of geography

Urban-rural integration (URI) is a global challenge that is highly related to inequalities, poverty, economic growth, and other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Existing research has evaluated the extent of URI and explored its influencing factors, but urban-rural linkages are seldom incorporated in evaluation systems, and geographical factors are rarely recognized as the influencing factors. We construct a URI framework including regional economy, rural development, urban-rural linkage, and urban-rural gap. Based on a dataset consisting of 1,669 counties in China in 2020, we reveal the spatial pattern of URI and find a high correlation between the spatial pattern of URI and the relief degree of land surface (RDLS). Using structural equation modeling, we discover that topography has direct ( − 0.18, p < 0.001) and indirect ( − 0.17, p < 0.001) effects on URI. The indirect negative effects are mediated through the infrastructure, and the combination of localized advantages and modern technical conditions could mitigate the negative impact of topography. Finally, we identify 742 counties as lagging regions in URI, which can be clustered into eight types. Our findings could facilitate policy designing for those countries striving for integrated and sustainable development of urban and rural areas.

Evolutionary Decision-Making and Planning for Autonomous Driving Based on Safe and Rational Exploration and Exploitation

Decision-making and motion planning are extremely important in autonomous driving to ensure safe driving in a real-world environment.This study proposes an online evolutionary decision-making and motion planning framework for autonomous driving based on a hybrid data-and model-driven method.First,a data-driven decision-making module based on deep reinforcement learning(DRL)is developed to pursue a rational driving performance as much as possible.Then,model predictive control(MPC)is employed to execute both longitudinal and lateral motion planning tasks.Multiple constraints are defined according to the vehicle’s physical limit to meet the driving task requirements.Finally,two principles of safety and rationality for the self-evolution of autonomous driving are proposed.A motion envelope is established and embedded into a rational exploration and exploitation scheme,which filters out unreasonable experiences by masking unsafe actions so as to collect high-quality training data for the DRL agent.Experiments with a high-fidelity vehicle model and MATLAB/Simulink co-simulation environment are conducted,and the results show that the proposed online-evolution framework is able to generate safer,more rational,and more efficient driving action in a real-world environment.

Motion Planning for Autonomous Driving with Real Traffic Data Validation

Accurate trajectory prediction of surrounding road users is the fundamental input for motion planning,which enables safe autonomous driving on public roads.In this paper,a safe motion planning approach is proposed based on the deep learning-based trajectory prediction method.To begin with,a trajectory prediction model is established based on the graph neural network(GNN)that is trained utilizing the INTERACTION dataset.Then,the validated trajectory prediction model is used to predict the future trajectories of surrounding road users,including pedestrians and vehicles.In addition,a GNN prediction model-enabled motion planner is developed based on the model predictive control technique.Furthermore,two driving scenarios are extracted from the INTERACTION dataset to validate and evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed motion planning approach,i.e.,merging and roundabout scenarios.The results demonstrate that the proposed method can lower the risk and improve driving safety compared with the baseline method.

Spatiotemporal Evolution and Influencing Factors of Urban-rural Construction Land in Rural Industrialized Areas in China:Case Studies in Changyuan City and Xinxiang County of Henan Province

Since China’s reform and opening up in 1978,the acceleration of industrialization and urbanization in China had led to dramatic changes in the pattern of urban-rural land use.In this paper,we focused on the rural industrialized areas in central China(Xinxiang County and Changyuan City of Henan Province).We used the average nearest neighbor index,spatial statistical analysis,and a structural equation model to analyze the spatiotemporal evolution and influencing factors of urban-rural construction land based on multisource spatial data and survey data.The results showed that:1)from 1975 to 2019,the spatial distribution of urban-rural construction land in rural industrialized areas had evolved from homogeneous distribution to local agglomeration.In terms of comparative analysis of cases,the spatial distribution of urban-rural construction land in Changyuan City had shown a trend from diffusion to agglomeration,and Xinxiang County had overall shown a spatial change from homogenization to agglomeration and then to regional integration development.2)The hot spots with increased urban-rural construction land significantly expanded,and they had a high degree of spatial overlap with industrial development.Among them,Xinxiang County was concentrated in central and marginal areas,and Changyuan was mainly concentrated in central urban areas.3)From the evolution of spatial proximity of urban-rural construction land,rural industrialized areas generally decline,showing the characteristics of internal differentiation in the rate of change.4)Industrial development,social economy,the policy environment,and urban development played a positive role in promoting the expansion of urban-rural construction land in rural industrialized areas.To promote the optimal use of regional land and the integrated development of urban-rural areas,we should combine the advantages of regional endowment,formulate development strategies according to local conditions,and adjust the way that land is used in a timely manner.

A new approach towards the sustainability of urban-rural integration:The development strategy for central villages in the Abbasiya District of Iraq using GIS techniques

The development of rural areas usually has a positive impact on the urban-rural integration. This study explores an innovative approach to stimulate rural development by proposing qualified villages as central villages that can provide basic urban services for their residents and residents of neighboring villages. This approach can contribute to overcoming the various problems that rural areas faced at the social, economic, and environmental levels. It seeks to achieve spatial sustainability of rural areas, representing a new approach by integrating urban development methods to revitalize rural villages. The study analyzed 15 villages belonging to Abbasiya District of AL Kufa City in the Najaf Governorate of Iraq. Based on the GIS techniques and the analysis of urban service indicators(village population, percentage of urban building materials used in villages, distance between village and health centers, distance between village and main roads, nature of economic activity, distance between village and educational institutions, distance between village and drinking water sources, number of communication towers, and distance between village and urban administrative center), this study proposed that Abu Gharb and Albu Ghraib can served as central villages in Abbasiya District in the future. This study establishes a new rural spatial structure to achieve rural sustainable development, improves the development status of rural areas, and provides a theoretical basis for the government and relevant institutions to use urban service indicators, achieving rural sustainable development and formulating relevant development policies in Abbasiya District.

Thinking about Value Realization of Ecological Products under the Background of Urban-rural Integration in Chengdu“Western Control”Area

Chengdu's development strategy of“western control”has laid a solid ecological background for 8 western districts,cities and counties and cultivated good ecological resources.The integrated urban-rural development in the new era will realize the balanced development of urban and rural areas and give full play to the value of rural ecological resources through the“powerful combination”of urban and rural areas.To realize the urban-rural integration and high-quality rural development in Chengdu“western control”area,it is necessary to enhance the awareness of ecological resources and ecological products,and carry out unified planning of ecological infrastructure,ecological material products and ecological service products in the whole“western control”area.Meantime,ecological restoration must be carried out scientifically,and scene design for value transformation of ecological products should be implemented innovatively.

Constructing a Practice-Oriented Education System of Urban-Rural Planning

As China's urbanization accelerates, there is an increasing demand for urban-rural planning at both national and local levels, making it become an independent fi rst-level discipline. Currently in China, the teaching and research system of urban-rural planning is facing some problems like the uneven education level among various universities, improper knowledge system that hardly meets the actual social demands, and insufficient theoretical research. This article argues that, in order to train qualif ied planners capable of satisfying socio-economic development and urbanrural construction, the teaching and research system of urban-rural planning should be practice-oriented and meet social needs. The healthy development of urban-rural planning discipline should be based on the mutual promotion of teaching and research system.

Measures for Improving Laws and Regulations of Local Urban-Rural Plan Formulation

Recently there have emerged some problems in the process of plan formulation, an important part in urban-rural planning, such as public participation deficiency, insufficient control of plan adjustment and revision, unscientific plan formulation, problems in the review and approval procedure, lagging plan adjustment and amendment, etc. To deal with these issues, this paper puts forward a proposal to regulate the procedure of urban-rural plan formulation from the perspective of the legal and regulatory spirit, entity, procedure, and legislation and to improve the laws and regulations of urban-rural planning, so as to provide a technical and legal support for urban-rural integration and the harmonious development of urban and rural areas.

Overall Planning of Development of Urban-Rural Areas:A Policy Mechanism for Urban-Rural Coordinated Growth

While analyzing overall planning and coordinated development of urban-rural areas, this paper shows that overall planning for the development of urban-rural areas is a requirement for the best use of productive forces. It means the setting up of a policy mechanism for coordinated growth. Recognizing this, the government should set up a way to lead and manage a unified program to increase service and decrease controlling administration power, while safeguarding and fulfilling the farmers' ownership to the means of production.

Exploration on Detailed Control Planning Under Urban-Rural Planning Law:A Case Study on Wuhan

Based on the planning practice in Wuhan after the Urban-Rural Planning Law was implemented in 2008,this paper reviews the evolution of detailed control planning in China,and addresses its main problems and conflicts.The innovation of the hierarchical planning and administration system is discussed,and the administrative measures for the transition period in which the detailed control plans have not yet been made for all the urban areas is proposed.

Selection of media tools for community planning:A study from the perspective of communicative planning

In community planning,due to the lack of evidence regarding the selection of media tools,this study examines how a common but differentiated ideal speech situation can be created as well as how more appropriate media tools can be defined and selected in the community planning process.First,this study describes the concept and theoretical basis of media used in community planning from the perspectives of the multiple effects of media evolution on communicative planning.Second,the classification criteria and typical characteristics of media tools used to support community planning are clarified from three dimensions:acceptability,cost effectiveness,and applicability.Third,strategies for applying media tools in the four phases of communicative planning-namely,state analysis,problem identification,contradictory solution and optimization-are described.Finally,trends in the development of media tools for community planning are explored in terms of multistakeholder engagement,supporting scientific decision-making and multiple-type media integration.The results provide a reference for developing more inclusive,effective,and appropriate media tools for enhancing decision-making capacity and modernizing governance in community planning and policy-making processes.

Development of suburb farm landscape in the process of urban-rural overall planning from the perspective of ecological economics:a case study of Chengdu City

With the accelerating development of Chinese urbanization and the widening gap between rural and urban areas,urban-rural overall planning is to be an inevitable choice for economic and social development.However,the specific patterns and methods in urban-rural overall planning are greatly different.From the persperctive of ecological economy,taking the main physical and biological pattern of the farmland as research objects,this paper analyzes the components and characteristics of farm landscape,the relationship between farm landscape exploitation and rural tourism,and the role of farm landscape exploitation in planning urban and rural development.It expatiates on the pattern,method and principle of farm landscape development.Furthermore,based on the actual development case,this paper explores how to make high-grade tourism products with scientific and reasonable farm landscape development method,how to increase peasant income,how to improve urban and rural ecological economic environment,so as to promote urban-rural overall planning.

Influence of a diet meal plan on pepsinogen I and II,gastrin-17,and nutritional status in gastric ulcer patients

BACKGROUND Gastric ulcers(GUs)have a high risk of clinical morbidity and recurrence,and further exploration is needed for the prevention,diagnosis,and treatment of the disease.AIM To investigated the effects of a diet plan on pepsinogen(PG)I,PG II,gastrin-17(G-17)levels and nutritional status in patients with GUs.METHODS A total of 100 patients with GUs treated between May 2022 and May 2023 were enrolled,with 47 patients in the control group receiving routine nursing and 53 patients in the experimental group receiving dietary nursing intervention based on a diet plan.The study compared the two groups in terms of nursing efficacy,adverse events(vomiting,acid reflux,and celialgia),time to symptom improvement(burning sensation,acid reflux,and celialgia),gastric function(PG I,PG II,and G-17 levels),and nutritional status[prealbumin(PA)and albumin(ALB)levels].RESULTS The experimental group showed a markedly higher total effective rate of nursing,a significantly lower incidence of adverse events,and a shorter time to symptom improvement than the control group.Additionally,the experimental group’s post-intervention PG I,PG II,and G-17 levels were significantly lower than preintervention or control group levels,whereas PA and ALB levels were significantly higher.CONCLUSION The diet plan significantly reduced PG I,PG II,and G-17 levels in patients with GUs and significantly improved their nutritional status.

Optimal search path planning of UUV in battlefeld ambush scene

Aiming at the practical application of Unmanned Underwater Vehicle(UUV)in underwater combat,this paper proposes a battlefield ambush scene with UUV considering ocean current.Firstly,by establishing these mathematical models of ocean current environment,target movement,and sonar detection,the probability calculation methods of single UUV searching target and multiple UUV cooperatively searching target are given respectively.Then,based on the Hybrid Quantum-behaved Particle Swarm Optimization(HQPSO)algorithm,the path with the highest target search probability is found.Finally,through simulation calculations,the influence of different UUV parameters and target parameters on the target search probability is analyzed,and the minimum number of UUVs that need to be deployed to complete the ambush task is demonstrated,and the optimal search path scheme is obtained.The method proposed in this paper provides a theoretical basis for the practical application of UUV in the future combat.

Efficient Route Planning for Real-Time Demand-Responsive Transit

Demand Responsive Transit (DRT) responds to the dynamic users’ requests without any fixed routes and timetablesand determines the stop and the start according to the demands. This study explores the optimization of dynamicvehicle scheduling and real-time route planning in urban public transportation systems, with a focus on busservices. It addresses the limitations of current shared mobility routing algorithms, which are primarily designedfor simpler, single origin/destination scenarios, and do not meet the complex demands of bus transit systems. Theresearch introduces an route planning algorithm designed to dynamically accommodate passenger travel needsand enable real-time route modifications. Unlike traditional methods, this algorithm leverages a queue-based,multi-objective heuristic A∗ approach, offering a solution to the inflexibility and limited coverage of suburbanbus routes. Also, this study conducts a comparative analysis of the proposed algorithm with solutions based onGenetic Algorithm (GA) and Ant Colony Optimization Algorithm (ACO), focusing on calculation time, routelength, passenger waiting time, boarding time, and detour rate. The findings demonstrate that the proposedalgorithmsignificantly enhances route planning speed, achieving an 80–100-fold increase in efficiency over existingmodels, thereby supporting the real-time demands of Demand-Responsive Transportation (DRT) systems. Thestudy concludes that this algorithm not only optimizes route planning in bus transit but also presents a scalablesolution for improving urban mobility.

Exploration of Detailed Planning Practice of Chemical Industrial Parks under the Background of Territorial Space Planning

With the gradual completion of the overall planning of city and county land space,the detailed planning will be prepared according to the requirements of transmitting and refining the upper planning.Industrial parks are one of the“main forces”of local economic development,and the preparation of their detailed planning will escort their development.The key points of theControlIndicatorsofConstruction LandinIndustrialProjectsissued in 2008 and 2023 were compared,and the new requirements for detailed planning under the background of territorial space and the contradictions between the detailed planning of industrial parks and the overall planning of the upper territorial space were sorted out based on the summary of the existing problems in the development of chemical parks.It provides some ideas for the practice of detailed planning of chemical industrial parks under the background of territorial space.

Postpartum Family Planning at the Timbuktu Hospital in Mali

Introduction: Postpartum family planning is the prevention of pregnancies during the 12 months following childbirth. Few studies have been devoted to postpartum family planning in Mali. Our work will contribute to reducing unmet need for family planning. Objective: To study the use of contraceptive methods in the postpartum period in the obstetrics and gynecology unit of Timbuktu hospital. Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study with prospective collection of data from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2023. All women who gave birth having chosen and benefited from a contraceptive method were included. The statistical test used was the Fisher test with a significance threshold fixed at 5%. Results: The frequency of contraception in the postpartum period was 17.03%. The average age of clients was 26.14% with extremes of 14 and 45 years. They were paupiparous at 56.4% with an inter-birth interval of less than 12 months at 12.3%. More than half of the counseling (58.5%) was done during postnatal visits. The methods chosen were implants at 48.1%, injectable progestins at 21.3%, intrauterine device at 14.7%, miro-progestin pills at 13.5%, tubal ligation at 1 .4% and condoms at 1%. The regular follow-up rate was 51.1% of cases and 25.6% had no follow-up. Conclusion: The overall rate of postpartum family planning of 17.08% remains low. Improving FP staff skills will reduce unmet needs and contribute to increasing contraceptive prevalence in Timbuktu.