Participation index: a measure to identify rural transport disadvantage?

This paper develops a composite participation index (PI) to identify patterns of transport disadvantage in space and time. It is operationalised using 157 weekly activity-travel diaries data collected from three case study areas in rural Northern Ireland. A review of activity space and travel behaviour research found that six dimensional indicators of activity spaces were typically used including the number of unique locations visited, distance travelled, area of activity spaces, frequency of activity participation, types of activity participated in, and duration of participation in order to identify transport disadvantage. A combined measure using six individual indices were developed based on the six dimensional indicators of activity spaces, by taking into account the relativity of the measures for weekdays, weekends, and for a week. Factor analyses were conducted to derive weights of these indices to form the PI measure. Multivariate analysis using general linear models of the different indicators/indices identified new patterns of transport disadvantage. The research found that: indicator based measures and index based measures are complement each other; interactions between different factors generated new patterns of transport disadvantage; and that these patterns vary in space and time. The analysis also indicates that the transport needs of different disadvantaged groups are varied.     

新疆农村产业融合发展研究

现运用面板回归模型结合产值贡献度的方法评价了新疆农村产业融合度,结果表明,新疆农业与农产品加工业融合度、农业与农业服务业融合度均较低。通过地理信息可视化表达发现,新疆农村产业融合度且存在明显的区域差异。最后,结合新疆农村产业融合发展所面临的困境,提出了需要完善农业教育服务体系;培育区域特色品牌;加强对各种利益联结方式的监督引导等建议。     

对农村宅基地管理问题的思考

许多省（市）依据《中华人民共和国土地管理法》及《中华人民共和国土地管理法实施条例》并结合当地实际相应出台了一些地方性法规或规章,以加强农村宅基地的管理,但当前农村宅基地管理仍存在一些问题。农村宅基地管理必须要有相应措施跟上才能使其更具现实性和有效性,才能保证村民宅基地的使用科学化、合理化、集约化,加快实现社会主义新农村建设蓝图。     

论中西部农村土地承包经营权流转的制约因素与破解对策——以湖北、贵州两省的实证调研为依据

通过实证考察湖北、贵州两省近几年农村土地承包经营权流转的现状及对其成因的探析可以发现,中西部地区的农村要达致土地承包经营权规模化经营的理想状态,还有诸多制约因素有待克服。破解之道主要在于应构建有利于促进土地承包经营权流转的配套制度,营造有利于土地承包经营权流转的社会条件和经济环境。     

Fostering rural and agricultural tourism: exploring the potential of geocaching

Geocaching is a modern-day version of “hide and seek” where participants use geographical longitude and latitude coordinates to locate a “geocache” using a GPS device or mobile app. An agriculturally focused geocache program could foster tourism, interest and educational opportunities about rural and agricultural areas, and could facilitate additional patronage of businesses that operate in these areas. As a prerequisite to such a program, however, organizations must commit to establishing and maintaining a geocache. This study explores the perceived benefits and constraints to an organization's participation in a rural or agriculturally focused geocache program. A case example of an agriculturally focused geocaching program, AgCache, is used as a starting point. In-depth interviews of program Founders and current participants explored the program's background and goals, and experiences of participating sites. Complimenting this, a survey collected information from potential host sites, and probit model analyses were used to assess influences on an organization's interest in hosting a geocache. While many organizations indicated that they would be interested in such a program, several indicated (addressable) concerns. Characteristics of the organization and respondent were found to significantly influence their interest. Findings are instructive for targeting and recruiting organizations into an agricultural or rural geocaching program.     

Rural tourism quality of services: fundamental contributive factors from tourists’ perceptions

Despite the importance of quality of services in the rural tourism sector, it is somewhat surprising that little study has been done to delve into the fundamental contributive factors that contribute to quality of services from the tourists’ perceptions. This is the first known study undertaken with a view to understand the fundamental contributive factors (i.e. climate change, carrying capacity, relaxation environment, and community support) from the environmental perspectives that link with quality of services in rural tourism destinations. A total of 400 questionnaires were distributed to the tourists who visited four study sites from Borneo Heights, Sarawak, and 215 were returned and used for analysis. To assess the developed model, SmartPLS 2.0 (M3) is applied based on path modelling and then bootstrapping. Interestingly, the findings revealed that tourists are more concerned about the changing of climate and relaxation environment at the destination. They also agreed that community support plays a significant role in the development of quality of services in the rural tourism. This study further discussed on the implications of the findings, limitations, and directions for future research.     

Bundling attractions for rural tourism development

Tourism is often regarded as a viable solution to economic crisis, especially for remote areas without many development options. While many tourism destinations have strong cultural or heritage assets, not all destinations have primary attractions that can bring visitors to the region. Rather than developing special interest “themes”, rural areas that do not have enough of any one type of tourism resource to act as a primary draw may consider bundling different attraction types to increase visitation. The purpose of this study is to investigate the preferences of visitors to secondary heritage sites and explore the relationship between heritage tourism and alternative, non-heritage activities in rural areas. Findings revealed that motivation to visit small-scale heritage sites consisted of two dimensions: learning and recreation. The two motivational dimensions influenced visitors’ interest in different heritage attractions and likelihood of visiting heritage tourism “scenarios”. As for alternative activities, there was a cluster of “popular” activities that were enjoyed by both learning-oriented and recreation-oriented respondents, but recreation-oriented visitors were more interested in nature-based activities and sport-related activities than learning-oriented visitors. Findings can help rural communities improve secondary attractions and diversify their tourism product by bundling heritage attractions with non-heritage activities.     

Application of appreciative inquiry in tourism research in rural communities

Appreciative inquiry is a participatory research method based on positive psychology. Founded upon grounded theory and the social constructivist paradigm, appreciative inquiry is a simple, effective, and epistemologically sound tool to understand the rural population’s knowledge, needs, and priorities without alienating them from research. Based on the study conducted to comprehend the interrelationships among conservation, livelihood, and tourism development in three rural communities located in the vicinity of Chitwan National Park, Nepal, this study argues that appreciative inquiry can be a useful tool for conducting tourism research in rural communities. This study employs five steps, including grounding, discovery, dream, design, and destiny.     

Confronting sustainable development in two rural heritage valorization models

Many rural areas have reinvented their territorial development through tourism, turning to vernacular heritage to ensure their future. Various models of heritage preservation and valorization are adopted where small-scale agriculture is no longer viable. Among them, ecomuseums and place-based labelization schemes transform rural heritage into an economic resource while remaining grounded in cultural and architectural preservation and identity transmission to future generations. Both face criticisms, including being decried as fostering the museumification and mythification of the rural, effectively holding back rural areas in an imagined and romanticized past rather than providing a vision for a sustainable future. The Association of the Most Beautiful Villages of France and the Ecomusée d'Alsace illustrate the debate. This investigation analyzes how these two initiatives challenge critics. It unveils their respective understandings of the future of rurality and their approach to promoting sustainable communities through tourism. By highlighting responses to tensions between valorizing the past and forward development in the countryside, findings reveal paradigm shifts from traditional habitat preservation to future-oriented architectural pedagogy in one case, while operational exigencies and normative quality principles mitigate opportunities in the other.     

论我国农村纠纷行政调解的制度构建

行政调解在解决新时期农村纠纷中具有明显的优势,但目前行政调解的机构、人员、基本原则、程序、调解协议效力等方面均存在缺失。为此,从健全机构、提高人员业务素质、明确应遵循的基本原则、完善程序、赋予调解协议相应效力等方面提出了行政调解制度构建的具体设想。