scholarly journals Rural landscapes in Latvia: a comparative analysis of representations and perceptions

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
pp. 82-94
Author(s):  
Andris Klepers ◽  
◽  
Iveta Druva-Druvaskalne ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Rural Landscape ◽  
Annual Cycles ◽  
Rural Landscapes ◽  
Farm Work ◽  
Iconic Image ◽  
The Impact

As a reflection of Latvian identity, the country’s rural landscapes are a living embodiment of both natural and cultural heritage, contributing to quality of life for local communities and serving as a magnetic pulling factor for international tourists. Traditional farmsteads (viensētas) are perceived as symbolic spaces which have developed gradually, especially since the 19th Century, through annual cycles of farm work alongside extensive farming. Yet their existence is threatened by the impact of transitional changes such as depopulation, globalisation, the non-competitive nature of traditional farming models, and changes in society and the lifestyle of young people. Many abandoned farmsteads are disappearing under large areas of cropland or forest, and some newly built private houses do not have a connection with the traditional rural landscape. The aim of this study is to explore the way that perceptions of farmsteads and rural landscapes have changed over time within local communities. This is done by comparing representations of countryside landscape ideals in the media from 1920 to 1940 and perceptions of farmsteads as an element of countryside landscapes within local rural communities today (<12 % of the population of Latvia lived on a farmstead in 2019). The findings show that in the period when most people lived in the countryside, a particular kind of idealised rural landscape was often visually represented in the mainstream media, strengthening stereotypes about symbolic landscapes. These concepts are still strongly rooted in the perceptions of current rural inhabitants and there was consensus among respondents about the elements which are associated with high-quality rural landscapes. Although the daily routines of the traditional farmstead today have been changed by a number of factors and many elements of the rural landscape have lost their functionality, symbolism — including the iconic image of separate family farmsteads — helps to maintain a continuing metanarrative of national identity, creating nostalgic ties which lead many to have a preference for living in the countryside, holding perceptions about the availability of various ecosystem services next door which will improve their quality of life.

scholarly journals The Impact of Tourism on the Quality of Life of Communities in Tourist Destination Areas: A Systematic Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (F) ◽  
pp. 129-136
Author(s):  
Ni Made Sri Nopiyani ◽  
I Md Ady Wirawan
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Tourism Development ◽  
Community Support ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Tourist Destination ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
The Impact

BACKGROUND: Tourism development can have a positive or negative impact on the lives of local communities. AIM: This systematic review aims to determine the impact of tourism on the quality of life (QoL) of people in tourist destination areas. METHODS: The search was conducted on the Science Direct database, Taylor Francis, EBSCO Host, Wiley Online Library, and Google Scholar. The keywords used were “residents’ QoL” AND impacts of tourism. Inclusion criteria were articles that focus on the QoL of people in tourist destination areas, published from 2015 to 2019 in peer-reviewed journals, in English. Articles were excluded if they were qualitative studies, literature reviews, and if full papers were unavailable. The review was conducted on 18 articles selected from 673 articles obtained in the initial search. RESULTS: Tourism has an impact on the QoL of local communities. In general, the domains that are perceived as being positively affected are the improvement of the economy, employment opportunities, community pride, cultural exchanges, and increased facilities availability. Meanwhile, the domains that are negatively affected in most of the studies are health, safety, quality of the physical environment, cost of living, accessibility to public facilities, and social relations. Apart from that, there is also dissatisfaction with the types of jobs available and the low level of community involvement in tourism development. CONCLUSIONS: Tourism can have both positive and negative impacts on the QoL of local communities. Efforts to minimize the negative impacts of tourism should be undertaken to improve community support for tourism development.

scholarly journals Growing an Architecture: an exploration of form and materiality as catalysts to reurbanize and empower rural Tanzanian communities

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kara Green
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Environmental Degradation ◽  
Vernacular Architecture ◽  
Rural Landscape ◽  
Rapid Urbanization ◽  
Rural Migrants ◽  
Catalytic Potential ◽  
Rural Tanzania

Tanzanian rural migrants moving to cities in search of opportunity have triggered the country’s rapid urbanization. Many migrants, particularly women, are not empowered by the rural-to-urban move and suffer from a degraded quality of life. The rural landscape suffers environmental degradation due to deforestation resulting from the need to supply materials to the rapidly growing urban fabric. This thesis asserts that balance must be achieved between urban and rural development. It posits that balance will be attained by empowering rural communities through the provision of an architectural program, which responds to the communities needs, such as a clinic, primary school, and women's empowerment centre. The research explores the relationships between the contemporary discourses on development, on vernacular architecture, on the changing nature of the profession, and most importantly, on the catalytic potential of form and materiality. The above will be put to test in the representative community of North Muleba in rural Tanzania.

scholarly journals Income Inequality in Quality of Life among Rural Communities in Malaysia: A Case for Immediate Policy Consideration

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (23) ◽  
pp. 8731
Author(s):  
Govindamal Thangiah ◽  
Mas Ayu Said ◽  
Hazreen Abdul Majid ◽  
Daniel Reidpath ◽  
Tin Tin Su
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Emerging Economies ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Rural Residents ◽  
Income Groups ◽  
The Impact

Quality of life (QOL) is a proxy of health and social well-being. Hence, it is vital to assess QOL as it informs the strategies of policymakers to enhance the living conditions in communities. Rural areas in emerging economies are underserved in terms of modern facilities and technologies, which impact QOL. To address this, this study investigated whether income played a role in the QOL of rural residents within emerging economies using a large survey of Malaysian adults above 18 years old. The study extracted data from a sample of 18,607 respondents of a health and demographic surveillance system survey. A generalized linear model was used to estimate the impact of three income groups, the bottom 40%, middle 40% and top 20%, on perceived QOL, controlling for sociodemographic, chronic disease co-morbidities and mental health status. Results of the study showed a statistically significant association between income and the physical, psychological, social and environmental QOL domains. Using the bottom 40% as a reference category, the middle 40% and top 20% income groups showed a significant and positive association across the four domains of QOL. Hence, intervention programs are necessary to escalate the income levels of rural communities, especially the bottom 40%, to uplift perceived QOL among rural residents.

scholarly journals THE INDICATORS OF SOCIOECONOMIC WELL-BEING OF RURAL COMMUNITY

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (26) ◽  
pp. 253-261
Author(s):  
Nurul Suliana Yusoff ◽  
Muhamad Fadhli Rashid ◽  
Norhazliza Abd Halim
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Rural Community ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Wealth Distribution ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Dimension ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas ◽  
The Impact

The imbalance of wealth distribution, age structure, and quality of life between urban and rural areas all over the world are needed to be addressed in ensuring socio-economic well-being. Rural areas and its community cannot be disregarded as they should have special attention in achieving socioeconomic status and well-being. The impact of socioeconomic well-being is significant where both economic and social dimension is related to the sustainability of rural areas. Sustainable development is connected to human well-being and quality of life where there is a growing interest in socioeconomic well-being measures to move towards sustainability. Therefore, this paper aims to provide an overview in developing the selection of socioeconomic well-being indicators of rural communities. Besides that, this paper also provides an overview of studies on indicators of socioeconomic well-being according to two-dimension namely economy and social as a fundamental framework for the analysis of the socioeconomic well-being of the rural community.

scholarly journals The Importance of the Sharing Economy in Improving the Quality of Life and Social Integration of Local Communities on the Example of Virtual Groups

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 754
Author(s):  
Anna Irena Szymańska
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Social Economy ◽  
Sharing Economy ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Urban Residents ◽  
Online Groups ◽  
A Site ◽  
The Impact

The main objective of the article was to demonstrate and prove the role of the sharing economy in integrating local communities as well as in improving the quality of life of urban residents. The sharing economy is an alternative model of consumption entered around an access to given goods without the need to possess it. The concept fits excellently into the ideas that are at the core of the social economy. Internet groups operating in the area of the sharing economy were analysed for the purpose of the article. Their members either live in or have other bonds with Krakow. They are usually focused around issues important for local communities. In the research, a triangulation method was used, involving a desk analysis as well as a passive observation and a covered participative observation. Such choice of methods allowed for the topic of the impact that the sharing economy has on the integration and the quality of life of urban residents to be analysed. The research confirmed that the sharing economy; as a form of social innovation; influences the improvement of the quality of life. Online groups integrate local communities and have a significant impact on the quality of life of city residents (T1; T2; T3; T4). The bilateral nature of dependency between the sharing economy and the quality of life was noticed. Firstly; the sharing economy affects the shape and quality of the product or service that is the subject of the transaction. It is also crucial to create a general “ambience of a site” in the internet group; which supports and stimulates satisfaction of the needs related to the sense of individuality; authenticity and community. On the other hand; the sharing economy affects the satisfaction of residents through economic; psychological; political and social impacts as well as individual ones; related to, e.g., the development of creativity and the acquisition of new skills

scholarly journals Growing an Architecture: an exploration of form and materiality as catalysts to reurbanize and empower rural Tanzanian communities

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kara Green
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Environmental Degradation ◽  
Vernacular Architecture ◽  
Rural Landscape ◽  
Rapid Urbanization ◽  
Rural Migrants ◽  
Catalytic Potential ◽  
Rural Tanzania

Tanzanian rural migrants moving to cities in search of opportunity have triggered the country’s rapid urbanization. Many migrants, particularly women, are not empowered by the rural-to-urban move and suffer from a degraded quality of life. The rural landscape suffers environmental degradation due to deforestation resulting from the need to supply materials to the rapidly growing urban fabric. This thesis asserts that balance must be achieved between urban and rural development. It posits that balance will be attained by empowering rural communities through the provision of an architectural program, which responds to the communities needs, such as a clinic, primary school, and women's empowerment centre. The research explores the relationships between the contemporary discourses on development, on vernacular architecture, on the changing nature of the profession, and most importantly, on the catalytic potential of form and materiality. The above will be put to test in the representative community of North Muleba in rural Tanzania.

Self-Compassion and Quality of Life in Adults Who Stutter

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 2097-2108
Author(s):  
Robyn L. Croft ◽  
Courtney T. Byrd
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Social Connectedness ◽  
The Self ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Self Compassion ◽  
Adults Who Stutter ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this study was to identify levels of self-compassion in adults who do and do not stutter and to determine whether self-compassion predicts the impact of stuttering on quality of life in adults who stutter. Method Participants included 140 adults who do and do not stutter matched for age and gender. All participants completed the Self-Compassion Scale. Adults who stutter also completed the Overall Assessment of the Speaker's Experience of Stuttering. Data were analyzed for self-compassion differences between and within adults who do and do not stutter and to predict self-compassion on quality of life in adults who stutter. Results Adults who do and do not stutter exhibited no significant differences in total self-compassion, regardless of participant gender. A simple linear regression of the total self-compassion score and total Overall Assessment of the Speaker's Experience of Stuttering score showed a significant, negative linear relationship of self-compassion predicting the impact of stuttering on quality of life. Conclusions Data suggest that higher levels of self-kindness, mindfulness, and social connectedness (i.e., self-compassion) are related to reduced negative reactions to stuttering, an increased participation in daily communication situations, and an improved overall quality of life. Future research should replicate current findings and identify moderators of the self-compassion–quality of life relationship.

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