Despite the existence of a voluminous body of literature covering the impact of infrastructure public-private partnerships (PPPs) on public value within the context of Western countries, scant attention has been paid to this topic in the Middle East. Given that the region has hosted numerous PPP projects that were implemented even without the rudimentary legal and regulatory frameworks considered essential for such projects to succeed, a study of PPPs within that region would thus be particularly useful, since an unpacking of the success factors for PPPs in the Middle East can reveal important practical insights that will advance the knowledge of PPP success factors overall. This paper, therefore, explores the rehabilitation and expansion of Jordan’s Queen Alia International Airport via the PPP route. It finds that the factors contributing to the project’s successful implementation can be categorized into those on the macro level related to political support, and the micro level factors concerned with management of daily activities involved in the partnership between the public and private sectors.

This paper aims to explain the administrative and the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) of the Indonesian Spaceport Project in Biak, Papua, Indonesia, under the Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) scheme, particularly from the protest to fear of environmental damage and traditional rights. This paper analyzes the factors that cause the local society’s reluctance to accept the development of Indonesia’s very first commercial spaceport. This paper uses a doctrinal methodology, which examines changes in the trend of ESG in implementing PPP projects. The method used is a qualitative systematic review of national and international studies. This paper finds that the lack of legal certainty for administrative and ESG as the main factor contributing to the pitfall of the PPP project in Biak Papua. No clear Government Contracting Agency (GCA), plus the fact that the Indonesian government puts too much weight on business consideration in PPP while Papuan people need more ESG, especially considering the historical conflict in the region, has been the epicenter of the problem. Given the ESG-PPP regulatory failure of spaceport development in Biak, more focused studies using comparative study methodology are needed to propose a more robust and customized ESG in PPP regulations in a politically and historically sensitive area. The authors forward a regulatory reform to balance administration, ESG, and business considerations in PPP projects for a spaceport.

Maps of forest stand condition—the current phase of the forest-forming process—will be useful for foresters in their forest management in addition to the forest planning and cartographic materials. The mapping methodology was applied in the test area of the Bolshemurtinsky forest district of the Krasnoyarsk region, which is typical for the southern taiga forests of East Siberia. Source data for mapping was obtained on the basis of descriptions of the forest subcompartments on the GIS attribute table of the forest district. Forest stand confinement to the terrain relief indicators was identified on the basis of the SRTM 55-01 digital terrain model data. Spatial analysis has been performed using the ArcGIS Spatial Analyst module. Mapping capability has been shown not only for the year of forest inventory but also for the earlier period of time. To determine the predominant species and the age of the 100-year-old forest stand, a scheme was proposed in which the conceivable options are typified depending on the succession trend, the forest stand age prior to disturbance, and the period of reforestation. Map fragments of the test area as of 2006—the year of forest inventory—and as of 1906—the year of the intensive colonization beginning in southern Siberia—are demonstrated. Maps of forest condition in the test area represent successions that are typical in the southern taiga forests of Siberia: post-harvest, pyrogenic, and biogenic. The methodology of forest condition mapping is universal.

This study rigorously investigates the Starlink Project’s impact on Thailand’s legal frameworks, regulatory policies, and national security concerns. Utilising a well-structured online questionnaire, we collected responses from 1378 Thai participants, meticulously selected to represent diverse demographics, technology usage patterns, and social media interactions. Our analytical approach integrated binary regression analysis to dissect the intricate relationships between various predictor variables and the project’s potential effects. Notably, the study unveils critical insights into how factors such as age, gender, education level, income, as well as specific technology and social media usage (including laptop, smartphone, tablet, home and mobile Internet, and TikTok), influence perceptions of Starlink’s impact. Intriguingly, certain variables like Twitter and YouTube usage emerged as non-significant. These nuanced findings offer a robust empirical basis for stakeholders to forge targeted strategies and policies, ensuring that the advent of the Starlink Project aligns with Thailand’s national security, legal, and regulatory harmony.

Knowledge of the presence of heavy metals in soils of agricultural areas is important to prevent their accumulation in cultivated plants. The objective of the present investigation was to evaluate the total concentrations and fractions of heavy metals Cd, Pb, Zn, Fe, Mn, Ni, Cu, Cr and Co in the tobacco-growing area of Pinar del Río, Cuba and their relationship with the physicochemical properties of soil. For the study, 59 samples of three types of soils were collected at 20 cm depth. The pseudo-total concentrations of metals in the soils are low and lower than the prevention values registered for Cuban soils. In general, the heavy metals studied present a high affinity for the most stable fractions of the soil, which means a low risk of transfer to the tobacco crop or accumulation in groundwater. The pseudo-total concentrations of heavy metals were low, below the alert values established for soils in the region. The heavy metals studied were mainly associated with the residual fraction, the second fraction with the highest association with metals was that linked to manganese and iron oxides. The principal component analysis showed that their main source is pedogenetic and that these elements are closely related to cation exchange capacity and calcium content.