scholarly journals Is Agent-Based Simulation a Valid Tool for Studying the Impact of Nature-Based Solutions on Local Economy? A Case Study of Four European Cities

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 7466
Author(s):  
Rembrandt Koppelaar ◽  
Antonino Marvuglia ◽  
Lisanne Havinga ◽  
Jelena Brajković ◽  
Benedetto Rugani
Keyword(s):  
Social Life ◽  
Local Economy ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Purchasing Behavior ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
European Cities ◽  
Commercial Activities ◽  
Potential Capacity ◽  
The Impact

Implementing nature-based solutions (NBSs) in cities, such as urban forests, can have multiple effects on the quality of life of inhabitants, acting on the mitigation of climate change, and in some cases also enhancing citizens’ social life and the transformation of customer patterns in commercial activities. Assessing this latter effect is the aim of this paper. An agent-based model (ABM) was used to assess change in commercial activities by small and midsize companies in retail due to the development of parks. The paper focuses on the potential capacity of NBS green spaces to boost retail companies’ business volumes, thus increasing their revenues, and at the same time create a pleasant feeling of space usability for the population. The type of NBS is not specified but generalized into large green spaces. The simulation contains two types of agents: (1) residents and (2) shop owners. Factors that attract new retail shops to be established in an area are simplified, based on attractor points, which identify areas such as large green spaces within and around which shops can form. The simulations provided insights on the number of retail shops that can be sustained based on the purchasing behavior of citizens that walk in parks. Four European cities were explored: Szeged (Hungary), Alcalá de Henares (Spain), Çankaya Municipality (Turkey) and Milan (Italy). The model allowed analyzing the indirect economic benefit of NBSs (i.e., large green spaces in this case) on a neighborhood’s economic structure. More precisely, the presence of green parks in the model boosted the visits of customers to local small shops located within and around them, such as cafés and kiosks, allowing for the emergence of 5–6 retail shops (on average, for about 800 walking citizens) in the case of Szeged and an average 12–14 retail shops for a simulated population of 2900 persons that walk in parks in the case of Milan. Overall, results from this modeling exercise can be considered representative for large urban green areas usually visited by a substantial number of citizens. However, their pertinence to support for local policies for NBS implementation and other decision-making related activities of socioeconomic nature is hampered by the low representativeness of source data used for the simulations.

Green spaces, quality of life, and citizen perception in European cities

2021 ◽  
Vol 196 ◽  
pp. 110922 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincenzo Giannico ◽  
Giuseppina Spano ◽  
Mario Elia ◽  
Marina D’Este ◽  
Giovanni Sanesi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
European Cities

scholarly journals Noise at the time of COVID 19: The impact in some areas in Rome and Milan, Italy

Noise Mapping ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 248-264
Author(s):  
Rosa Maria Alsina Pagès ◽  
Francesc Alías ◽  
Patrizia Bellucci ◽  
Pier Paolo Cartolano ◽  
Ilaria Coppa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sound Pressure ◽  
Traffic Noise ◽  
Motor Vehicles ◽  
Acoustic Environment ◽  
Commercial Activities ◽  
Real Time Traffic ◽  
Italian Regions ◽  
Almost All ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed in Italy at the end of January 2020, when the first positive cases for the virus were identified. At the beginning of March, the virus had spread to all Italian regions and on 10 March 2020 the lockdown phase began, limiting the movement of people and prohibiting almost all commercial activities, businesses and non-essential industries. As a result, millions of people were forced to stay at home, causing a drastic drop in traffic volume, which significantly changed the acoustic environment and air quality of cities. On 4 May 2020, the lockdown was partially lifted and activities were progressively reopened. Therefore, traffic gradually started to increase and, consequently, the noise emitted by motor vehicles. This behaviour was confirmed by the data collected by the DYNAMAP system, an automatic platform developed within the LIFE DYNAMAP project, providing real time traffic noise maps in terms of sound pressure levels and impacts at receivers (people and dwellings exposed to noise level bands). In this paper traffic and non-traffic-related noise events in the cities of Rome and Milan from March to May 2020 are analysed and compared to the corresponding values in 2019 to evaluate the effects of the lockdown period.

scholarly journals Perceptions of hospital admission in patients with cystic fibrosis

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Merel Visse ◽  
Tineke Abma ◽  
Hetty Van den Oever ◽  
Yvonne Prins ◽  
Vincent Gulmans
Keyword(s):  
Cystic Fibrosis ◽  
Hospital Admission ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Intravenous Injections ◽  
Societal Context ◽  
Normative Expectations ◽  
The Impact

Aims and objectives: This paper is a report of a study of experiences of people with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) with their hospital admission. It evaluates how they perceive their treatment and care and the impact on their social life (school or work). Background: In The Netherlands, people with CF are hospitalized in seven CF centers. In general, hospitalization may raise several challenges concerning the patient’s psychosocial well-being, before, during and after the admission. The admission of people with CF is complicated, because of segregated treatment and care that aims to prevent hospital-based cross-infection. Design: This article reports on a qualitative study. Methods: Data were collected during 2009 and 2010. Nineteen people with CF admitted for more than 5 days in one of the seven Dutch CF-centres participated. Results and conclusions: The findings are organized into five contexts with subthemes: Before admission & Arrival (1); Treatment & Care (2); Room & Stay (3); Discharge (4); Social & Societal context (5). The findings show that patients express a need for enhancing the quality of some treatments, like intravenous injections and patients express normative expectations of professionals that directly relate to their psychosocial well-being, e.g. they want to be ‘seen’ and treated as human beings and not solely as patients. They desire segregation policies to be consistent, whilst simultaneously they prefer flexible segregation guidelines. In general, respondents are satisfied with hospital facilities. The study reports on challenges concerning continuation of school and work during the admission. The paper is relevant to every hospital where people are being nursed in isolation.

The impact of future cities on commuting patterns: An agent-based approach

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (6) ◽  
pp. 1079-1096
Author(s):  
Marcello Marini ◽  
Anna P Gawlikowska ◽  
Andrea Rossi ◽  
Ndaona Chokani ◽  
Hubert Klumpner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Simulation Models ◽  
Single Family ◽  
Simulation Framework ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Commercial Activities ◽  
Transportation Sector ◽  
Commuting Time ◽  
Commuting Patterns ◽  
The Impact

Over the next 35 years, the population of Switzerland is expected to grow by 25%. One possible way to accommodate this larger population is to transform smaller cities in Switzerland through the direct intervention of urban planners. In this work, we integrate agent-based simulation models of people flow, mobility and urban infrastructure with models of the electricity and gas systems to examine the increase of the density of existing residential zones and the creation of new workplaces and commercial activities in these urban areas. This novel simulation framework is used to assess, for the year 2050, two different scenarios of urbanization in a region with small urban areas. It is shown that a densification scenario, with a preference for multi-dwelling buildings, consumes 93% less land than a sprawl scenario, with a preference for single-family houses. The former scenario also accommodates 27% more people than the latter scenario, as there is a higher penetration of battery electric vehicles – and therefore reduced air pollution from the transportation sector – and also a larger shift of commuters to the use of public transport. However, in the former scenario, the commuting time is 20% longer. The outcome of this work demonstrates how this novel simulation framework can be used to support the formulation of policies that can direct the transformation of urban areas.

Assessment of the Social Impacts of Community Based Tourism

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 268-302
Author(s):  
Robin Boustead ◽  
Sushma Bhatta
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Buffer Zone ◽  
Social Impacts ◽  
Local Economy ◽  
Community Control ◽  
Community Based ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Impact

Abstract We set out to assess the social impacts of tourism in a Community Based Tourism (CBT) destination by asking the following questions; (1) from a community and individual perspective, what are the major issues faced in a CBT destination?, and (2) is there any pattern to, or similarity between, quality of life and liveable environment impacts in a CBT destination? The Sagarmatha (Mt Everest) National Park in Nepal is used for the study area and where tourism is clearly an important contributor to the local economy. Despite high levels of resident and visitor satisfaction with tourism, survey results indicate that the major issues faced by communities and individuals in the Sagarmatha National Park and Buffer Zone (SNPBZ) are related to uncontrolled tourism development. This is most evident in a lack of relevant skills and training, increasing time burden to cater for tourists, frustrations felt by residents during peak season, the impact of inbound migration, lack of community control and most importantly, the impact of waste and water pollution. Management of the SNPBZ is based on a multi-stakeholder system that includes local population participation, but it does not seem to be working very well. Our survey indicates that uncontrolled growth of tourism businesses is placing increasing pressures on traditional cultures and the environment, thus creating negative impacts on quality of live and liveable environment for residents. Without an effective management system that enhances the ability of communities and Park management to control the impact of tourism, the situation is very likely to worsen in the future.

scholarly journals Sustainable Online Shopping Logistics for Customer Satisfaction and Repeat Purchasing Behavior: Evidence from China

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (20) ◽  
pp. 5626 ◽  
Author(s):  
Choi ◽  
Chung ◽  
Young
Keyword(s):  
Customer Satisfaction ◽  
Customer Service ◽  
Online Shopping ◽  
Customer Relationship ◽  
Purchasing Behavior ◽  
Logistics Services ◽  
Quality Of Delivery ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Repeat Purchasing

This study examines the impact of the quality of online shopping logistics services on customer satisfaction and in driving subsequent repeat purchasing behavior. Five hypotheses are established to represent the relationships between customer satisfaction and each factor of logistics services: quality of information, quality of order, quality of delivery, price of delivery, and customer service. The research includes surveys conducted over two months from 1 December, 2016, to 31 January, 2017, targeting mostly young Chinese customers with experience purchasing products online, thus representing e-commerce. A questionnaire was distributed to each subject in a sample of 150 Chinese customers with online shopping experience. The empirical analysis indicates that logistics service quality, and primarily the quality of delivery, has a statistically significant impact on customer satisfaction, which, in turn, has a statistically significant impact on repeat purchasing behavior. The results provide insight into the strategy behind China’s rapidly growing online shopping industry, which focuses on maintaining stability through long-term customer relationship management.

scholarly journals The impact of pregnancy on women’s oral health-related quality of life: a qualitative investigation

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Omid Fakheran ◽  
Mahmoud Keyvanara ◽  
Zahra Saied-Moallemi ◽  
Abbasali Khademi
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Oral Health ◽  
Pregnant Women ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Health Related Quality ◽  
Related Quality ◽  
Health Related ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background Complex psychological and physiological changes occur in women’s body during pregnancy. These changes affect both oral health status and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL). In almost all of the previous cross-sectional design studies on pregnant women, generic OHRQoL instruments have been used to measure OHRQoL. While such instruments may be reliable, they may not be appropriate to evaluate the OHRQoL in special populations like pregnant women. The purpose of this study was to investigate the self-perceived factors affecting the OHRQoL among pregnant women. Methods In this qualitative descriptive study, twenty- seven pregnant women were recruited from four healthcare centers located in Isfahan city, Iran. The interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to collect and analyze the data. Four criteria of credibility, dependability, transferability, and confirmability were implemented through established procedures to confirm the study rigor. Results Three major themes and six sub-themes capturing the impacts of pregnancy on women’s OHRQoL were identified. They covered all areas of life, including daily life, psychological well-being, social life, physical impact, and also barriers to utilization of dental care services. Some new domains such as “dentists’ refusal to treat pregnant women”, “negative feelings about pregnancy” and “concerns about fetal health” were found as important factors which could influence the OHRQoL during pregnancy. Conclusion The findings help to better understand the oral health issues impacting women during pregnancy and to achieve person-centered care and improved oral health outcomes in pregnant women. The conceptual framework created based on the results of this study may help health care workers and policy makers for improving the health of pregnant women.

Solving the mysteries of narcolepsy

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 252-253
Author(s):  
Mark Greener
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Mental Wellbeing ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Life Work

Narcolepsy can profoundly affect a patient's quality of life, including their mental wellbeing, social life, work and study. Mark Greener briefly summarises some recent papers that offer new insights into the causes of narcolepsy, the overlap with depression and other comorbidities, and the impact on patients.

scholarly journals Investigations of agent-based modelling for inpatient healthcare systems

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amirkiarash Kiani
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Care ◽  
Recovery Time ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Patient Acuity ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Agent Based Modelling ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Research Plan ◽  
The Impact

The goal of this research was to investigate the possibility of using Agent-based Modelling, a novel approach in computerized simulation, to assess the effects of staff ratio on recovery time and to develop an empirical research plan based on an inpatient unit. By creating a virtual unit, the researcher was able to develop an adjustable model to test several scenarios based on empirical evidence; to comprehend the impact of changes to staff ratio and patient acuity on nurses’ workload and quality of care to patients. This investigation found that acuity indices of patients have no significant effect on available recovery time or the number of unperformed activities. On the contrary, nurse/patient ratio has substantial effects on both available recovery time and the number of unperformed activities; which asserts the significant effect of insufficient nurse staffing on the well-being of nurses as well as quality of care to patients.

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