Over the last few decades, countries in the South have been undergoing rapid urbanization, as if to make up for lost time. Sub-Saharan Africa is characterized by a very low urbanization rate compared to0 the rest of the world. Although the African continent reached its urban transition in 2015, Niger remains by far the least urbanized country, with a rate of 17%. The city of Niamey is the main urban center, with an estimated population of 1,449,801 hbts in 2023, spread over an area of around 33,100 ha. The aim of this study is to analyze the spatial expansion of the city of Niamey from 1984 to 2023. The main data used in this study are raster images from the United States Geological Survey (USGS), vector data from Open Sources Map (OSM) and GoogleEarth, secondary data from the National Institute of Statistics (INS) and field observation. This study enabled us to conclude that between 1984 and 2023, the city of Niamey underwent very strong spatial expansion. The city grew from 4,690 ha to 33,100 ha, i.e. 28,410 ha absorbed in 39 years, with exceptional growth between 2014 and 2023, when the urban area doubled. Its population has risen from 397,437 at the time of the 1988 general population and housing census to an estimated 1,449,801 in 2023 (INS), an increase of 1,052,364 in 35 years. Between these two dates, population density fell from 87.7 to 43.8 inhabitants/km2, i.e. half that of 1984. This spatial expansion has resulted in unprecedented peri-urbanization.
Leisure education has an impact not only on individuals but also on the environment and society. The present study aimed to explore and describe experts’ knowledge and experience about leisure education to develop leadership among youth with physical disabilities. The present study used a qualitative research approach through an exploratory design to answer the research question. Five participants were purposefully recruited and selected based on their expertise in the topic of interest. Participants’ expertise ranged from leisure, recreation, youth and leadership. The participants had experience working in higher education institutions, and community projects, held doctorate qualifications, and have over ten years in this field. Data was collected online using Google Meet software using semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions. Data was analyzed using a thematic analysis framework and guidelines. The findings of this study suggest that youth with physical disabilities can develop personal capacity through leisure education programmes. Leisure education programmes can be meaningful to youth with physical disabilities and have a developmental impact, including leadership. Youth with physical disabilities’ capacities and abilities should be nurtured and protected to allow growth and independence. The implications are that leisure education programmes for leadership development must be intentional to achieve the intended outcome.
Indonesia, as a maritime country, has many coastal areas with fishing villages that have significant potential, especially in sociological, economic, and environmental aspects, to be developed as models for sustainable development. Indonesia, with its long-standing fishing traditions, showcases the abundant potential and traditional that could help address global challenges such as climate change, rapid urbanization, and environmental and economic issues. This study aims to develop a conceptual model for sustainable cities and communities based on local potential and Wisdom towards the establishment of a Blue Village in the fishing village of Mundu Pesisir, Cirebon, Indonesia. The urgency of this study lies in the importance of developing sustainable strategies to address these challenges in coastal towns. This study involves an interdisciplinary team, including experts in sociology, social welfare, architecture, law, economics, and information technology. Through the identification of local natural and sociocultural resources, as well as the formulation of sustainable development strategies, this study develops a conceptual Blue Village model that can be applied to other coastal villages. The method employed in this study is qualitative descriptive, involving the steps of conducting a literature review, analyzing local potential, organizing focus group discussions, conducting interviews, and finalizing the conceptual model. The study employed, a purposive sampling technique, involving 110 participants. The results of the study include the modeling of a sustainable city and community development based on local potential and Wisdom aimed at creating Blue Villages in Indonesia, and It is expected to make a significant contribution to the creation of competitive and sustainable coastal areas capable of addressing the challenges of climate change and socioeconomic dynamics in the future.
This research aims to test the effect that the implementation of green practices at a major sport tourism event, the Badminton World Championships in Huelva (Spain), has on the future intention of spectators to return to similar sport events. A total of 523 spectators who attended the event were randomly selected and self-administered in the presence of the interviewer. A confirmatory factor analysis of the model and a multi-group analysis were carried out. Sporting events have a great impact on the environment in which they are organised, mainly when they are linked to tourism, whether at an economic, social or environmental level. The results indicated that green practices indirectly influence spectators' future intentions through emotions and satisfaction, direct antecedents. In addition, green practices directly affect both image and trust, and indirectly affect satisfaction. In conclusion, green practices are a variable to be taken into account when planning the organisation of a sporting event that aims to consolidate itself in the tourism and sports services market.
The present study focuses on improving Cognitive Radio Networks (CRNs) based on applying machine learning to spectrum sensing in remote learning scenarios. Remote education requires connection dependability and continuity that can be affected by the scarcity of the amount of usable spectrum and suboptimal spectrum usage. The solution for the proposed problem utilizes deep learning approaches, namely CNN and LSTM networks, to enhance the spectrum detection probability (92% detection accuracy) and consequently reduce the number of false alarms (5% false alarm rate) to maximize spectrum utilization efficiency. By developing the cooperative spectrum sensing where many users share their data, the system makes detection more reliable and energy-saving (achieving 92% energy efficiency) which is crucial for sustaining stable connections in educational scenarios. This approach addresses critical challenges in remote education by ensuring scalability across diverse network conditions and maintaining performance on resource-constrained devices like tablets and IoT sensors. Combining CRNs with new technologies like IoT and 5G improves their capabilities and allows these networks to meet the constantly changing loads of distant educational systems. This approach presents another prospect to spectrum management dilemmas in that education delivery needs are met optimally from any STI irrespective of the availability of resources in the locale. The results show that together with machine learning, CRNs can be considered a viable path to improving the networks' performance in the context of remote learning and advancing the future of education in the digital environment. This work also focuses on how machine learning has enabled the enhancement of CRNs for education and provides robust solutions that can meet the increasing needs of online learning.
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