The Government of Qatar is investing considerable resources in the development of integrated transport infrastructure as a solution to traffic congestion and environmental degradation. Autonomous vehicles are expected to be one of the methodologies for enhancing the quality of the built environment and fostering a more sustainable and environmentally conscious urban milieu. While autonomous cars have the potential to address urban difficulties and be utilized for personal, group, and public transit purposes, their implementation in the specific context of Doha has not been thoroughly analyzed. This research explores the potential impacts that autonomous vehicles are expected to have on travel demands, parking needs, and urban planning. It discusses the benefits and challenges associated with autonomous vehicles and predicts their likely implementation and development based on the different precedents. In addition, it explores how it will affect planning decisions such as drop-off and pick-up areas, parking and public transit. The research utilizes a qualitative approach through literature content analysis, field observations, and mobility analysis. Several case studies are analyzed to explore how autonomous vehicles can operate within a limited zone. The study uncovers the issue of ownership and mode of operation as essential factors that can affect the impact of autonomous vehicles (AVs). In addition, implementing AVs may create complex environmental concerns when greener and more sustainable transportation models are not integrated. It is recommended that Doha adopt integrated planning and implementation of AV technologies to ensure that AVs align harmoniously with the environmental stewardship requirement. The research study also presents urban design frameworks for how existing urban spaces can accommodate autonomous vehicles.

This study deals with the impact of Vietnam bank size, loans, credit risk, and liquidity on Vietnam banks’ net interest margin, which are crucial for economic development. High profit margins result in a lower bad debt ratio due to timely loan collection and good liquidity. This study applies a panel data model to evaluate the relationship among bank size, loans, credit risk, liquidity, and marginal profitability, which are increasingly important in commercial bank growth. Data were collected from 2010 to 2022, and test methods were applied to select a good-fit model. Realizing that the factors that have a close correlation and affect the profit margin are 33.6% and 16.07%, 75.2%, 37.51%, 64.30%, and 41.11%, and R2 is 59.04%, respectively, this suggests that financial managers need to develop appropriate strategies and policies to adjust the factors that adversely affect commercial bank profitability.

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.

Over several centuries, the native vegetation of the flat part of the Bogotá Savanna has been almost completely replaced by crops, pastures and urbanization. The last remnant of this vegetation is a small forest (10 hm²), located at Hacienda Las Mercedes on the northern edge of the city of Bogotá. The reduced size and isolation of the forest, aggravated by the uncontrolled growth of invasive vegetation (lianas and wild blackberry) has resulted in the loss of many species. However, in recent years the forest has been subject to rehabilitation actions and currently the area is immersed in a reserve where more extensive restoration programs are planned. In order to evaluate changes in the bird community to estimate the effects of restoration actions, the avifauna present in 2001–2002 and in 2014 was recorded by visual and auditory records at fixed points in the forest. Twenty-seven forest species were found in the first census and 30 in the second, and the relative abundances of at least a third of them also increased over the 13 years, indicating a positive result in the recovery of the forest. The results highlight the recovery capacity of the degraded ecosystems and the importance of continuing with restoration actions in the reserve area.