Human settlement patterns in the South are clearly inequitable and dysfunctional, with tenure insecurity remaining a significant issue. Consequently, there has been a dramatic increase in housing demand driven by rising household sizes and accelerated urbanization. Local governments have a clear mandate to ensure socio-economic development and promote democracy, which necessitates ongoing consultations and renegotiations with citizens. This paper critically examines the de-densification of informal settlements as a pivotal strategy to enhance the quality of life for citizens, all while maintaining essential social networks. Governments must take decisive action against pandemics by transforming spaces into liveable settlements that improve livelihoods. A qualitative method was employed, analyzing data drawn from interviews to gain insights into individual views, attitudes, and behaviors regarding the improvement of livelihoods in informal settlements. The study utilized a simple random sampling technique, ensuring that every individual in the population selected had an equal opportunity for inclusion. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twenty community members in Cornubia, alongside discussions with three officials from eThekwini Municipality and KwaZulu Natal (KZN) Provincial Department of Human Settlements. Data was analyzed using thematic analysis, and the findings hold substantial benefits for the most disadvantaged citizens. Therefore, municipalities have an obligation to transform urban areas by reducing inequality, bolstered by national government policy, to achieve a resilient, safe, and accessible urban future. The evidence presented in this paper underscores that local governments, through municipalities, must prioritize de-densifying informal settlements in response to pandemics or hazards. It is vital to leverage community-driven initiatives and reinforce networks within these communities. The paper calls for the establishment of a socially centered government through the District Development Model (DDM), emphasizing socio-economic transformation as a pathway to enhance community quality of life.

With the development of college education and the increasing demand of students' comprehensive quality training, the second classroom in colleges and universities has attracted much attention as an important form of education. The purpose of this study is to investigate and analyze the development of the second classroom in colleges and universities, and put forward corresponding countermeasures and suggestions. Through mixed research methods, including questionnaire survey, interview and literature research, we have a comprehensive understanding of the type and quantity of college second classroom projects, student participation, project quality and effectiveness, and organization and management. On this basis, we put forward a series of targeted countermeasures and suggestions, including strategies and measures to improve student participation, suggestions to improve the quality and effect of the project, and optimize the program of organization and management. The results of this study have important theoretical and practical significance for universities to improve the level of the second classroom and promote the all-round development of students.

The country has vigorously promoted the work of school aesthetic education, which is a great opportunity and also a major challenge for the art major of Yili Normal University. At present, the quality of teaching in the art major is not very optimistic. How to ensure and improve the teaching quality of the art major is worth pondering. Based on the investigation of the current situation of teaching quality in the art college, this article identifies the factors that hinder the improvement of teaching quality, analyzes the reasons, and ultimately provides strategies to improve the teaching quality of the art major, providing effective reference suggestions to ensure the teaching quality of the major.

The issue of quality of higher vocational education in China has become a common concern in all aspects of society, and promoting the improvement of the quality of education within higher vocational colleges is an important way to realize the high-quality development of higher vocational education. Based on the self-constructed five-dimensional model of factors influencing the improvement of the quality of education within higher vocational colleges, an empirical study was conducted using questionnaires and SPSS27.0 software on the teacher and student groups within 13 higher vocational colleges in Hainan Province, and the results showed that the teacher groups of different genders, titles, ages, academic qualifications and disciplines as well as the student groups of different genders and admission modes have different opinions on factors such as the level of governance, education and teaching, the integration of industry and education, student development and policy guarantees; and that there are different degrees of perception differences between teachers’ and students’ groups on the effect of internal education quality improvement. In order to promote the internal quality improvement of higher vocational colleges, it is necessary to improve the construction of modern university system to enhance the governance level, deepen the integration of production and teaching to innovate the education and training mode of talents, promote the development of the whole chain of education to improve the comprehensive quality of students, strengthen the construction of teaching staff to deepen the reform of education and teaching, and innovate the internal education policy and system to regulate the management order.

The provision of clean drinking water is an important public service as more than 700 million people do not have access to this basic need. When it comes to delivering public services in developing countries, government capacity is a crucial element. This study investigates whether state capacity is a significant determinant in the provision of safe drinking water using panel data from 88 developing countries from 1990 to 2017. The paper applies ordinary least squares and fixed effects regression approaches and uses the Bureaucratic Quality Index and the Tax/GDP ratio as metrics of state capacity. The findings indicate that in developing nations, the availability of clean drinking water is positively correlated with state capacity.