Iran has one of the oldest civilizations in the world, and many elements of today’s urban planning and design have their origins in the country. However, mass country-city migration from the 1960s onwards brought enormous challenges for the country’s main cities in the provision of adequate housing and associated services, resulting in a range of sub-standard housing solutions, particularly in Tehran, the capital city. At the same time, and notably in the past decade, Iran’s main cities have had significant involvement in the smart city movement. The Smart Tehran Program is currently underway, attempting to transition the capital towards a smart city by 2025. This study adopts a qualitative, inductive approach based on secondary sources and interview evidence to explore the current housing problems in Tehran and their relationship with the Smart Tehran Program. It explores how housing has evolved in Tehran and identifies key aspects of the current provision, and then assesses the main components of the Smart Tehran Program and their potential contribution to remedying the housing problems in the city. The article concludes that although housing related issues are at least being raised via the new smart city technology infrastructure, any meaningful change in housing provision is hampered by the over centralized and bureaucratic political system, an out of date planning process, lack of integration of planning and housing initiatives, and the limited scope for real citizen participation.

This paper investigates the transformative role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in enhancing infrastructure governance and economic outcomes. Through a bibliometric analysis spanning more than two decades of research from 2000 to 2024, the study examines global trends in AI applications within infrastructure projects. The analysis reveals significant research themes across diverse sectors, including urban development, healthcare, and environmental management, highlighting the broad relevance of AI technologies. In urban development, the integration of AI and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies is advancing smart city initiatives by improving infrastructure systems through enhanced data-driven decision-making. In healthcare, AI is revolutionizing patient care, improving diagnostic accuracy, and optimizing treatment strategies. Environmental management is benefiting from AI’s potential to monitor and conserve natural resources, contributing to sustainability and crisis management efforts. The study also explores the synergy between AI and blockchain technology, emphasizing its role in ensuring data security, transparency, and efficiency in various applications. The findings underscore the importance of a multidisciplinary approach in AI research and implementation, advocating for ethical considerations and strong governance frameworks to harness AI’s full potential responsibly.

This study explores the advancement of ethical practices and environmental sustainability in Thai banking through an in-depth case analysis of Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), the country’s first indigenous bank founded in 1907. SCB has significantly influenced ethical banking practices and sustainability initiatives. The research provides a unique comparative analysis of SCB’s ethical frameworks and sustainability policies, assessing their impact on key stakeholders, including customers, employees, the community, and the environment. Employing a qualitative case study methodology, this study utilizes secondary data from SCB’s reports and CSR documents, analyzed through thematic analysis and descriptive statistics. The findings reveal SCB’s substantial progress in aligning ethical considerations with environmental sustainability, contributing new insights into ethical decision-making processes and the balance between profit and responsibility. Recommendations are provided to enhance ethical and sustainable practices in banking, adding to the discourse on corporate responsibility, environmental stewardship, and sustainable development.

This study aims to take Chinese higher vocational colleges professional group leaders as the research subjects to analyze the components of their key competencies, develop the competency model of professional group leaders (PGL), and analyze the main factors influencing the model. It provides a powerful help for improving the scientific level of the construction and management of the teaching staff in higher vocational colleges and filling the gap in the research on the quality and ability of Chinese professional group leaders. A mixed research method is deployed in this study. Data are collected with the help of a self-administrated questionnaire and a semi-structured interview based on grounded theory. Data analysis involves structural equation modeling using AMOS, complemented by qualitative coding in NVivo. It concludes that the competency development model of professional group leaders comprises two main dimensions: explicit competencies and implicit competencies. Explicit competencies include cross-border adaptability (CBA), resource integration ability (RIA), innovation and development practice ability (IDPA), management leadership ability (MLA), and interdisciplinary scientific research ability (ISRA). Implicit competencies include personality attitude (PA), and intrinsic motivation (IM). The study fills a significant gap in the literature by providing a detailed model of competency for professional group leaders in the context of higher vocational education, offering a practical framework for improving the training and management of teaching staff and promoting the development of professional groups effective in vocational colleges.

While infrastructure provides necessary public services and is vital for the socio-economic development of a nation, public funds alone cannot finance all infrastructure needs in society, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, where many countries are facing budget deficits. Although private financing schemes, such as public-private partnerships (PPPs) and land value capture, have been considered intensively, they have yet to produce adequate private capital flows to infrastructure projects due to a lack of incentives for private investors. Against the background, this paper proposes a new financing mechanism in which governments might divert some of the increased tax revenue from the spillover effects of newly constructed infrastructures to fund the private sector through grants or subsidies. The empirical work in Vietnam shows a significant increase in tax revenues after completing two expressways, supporting our idea about spillover effects, which includes small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) development. This study’s results suggest that spillover effects can bring new opportunities for governments and multilateral development banks (MDBs) to implement infrastructure projects with greater private sector involvement in the region. It also proposes some financial schemes, such as land capture and financing for business startups, including SMEs, to enhance the spillover effects of infrastructure.

Purpose: Kindergartens are an important educational environment for the development of children at an early age, and they also play a crucial role in developing the values of sustainable development. The purpose of this study is to investigate kindergarten teachers’ perceptions of observable and sustainable development practices. Design, methodology, approach: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 302 Saudi kindergarten teachers. Additionally, observation cards were utilized to collect data on actual practices of sustainable development in kindergartens. Data were analyzed using Nvivo12, a qualitative data analysis software, and descriptive analysis methods. The main themes were produced first, and then the perspectives were organized around them. Finding: The impact of social and cultural factors on the development of values, the lack of resources available to implement educational activities, and teacher awareness and training gaps were found to be the main barriers to the development of sustainable development values in kindergartens. Originality, value: To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study in Saudi Arabia that has looked into the environmental and social perceptions of early childhood teachers about sustainable development practices, so the study’s findings can highlight the importance of reorienting teacher education programs toward sustainability in order to bridge knowledge and practice gaps.