The present paper discusses the case of the Madrid Nuevo Norte Project (MNNP) in order to examine the relation of this mega-project with the city’s sustainable development. For this reason, the study used a qualitative approach using semi-structural interviews with experts (Madrid’s town hall, Madrid State, and the program management office and other external) that relayed strongly with MNNP. The expert panel requirements are split in six expertise areas: sustainability, urban development, urban planning, government or public affairs, project management or Madrid Nuevo Norte (MNN) key stakeholders. The study highlighted the vital importance of MNNP as a flagship sustainable project for the rest of Europe, that meets sustainability criteria for contributing substantially in the improvement of the quality of life of final users and for the community in general. For instance, it contributes to the regeneration of the city’s degraded area, to the interconnection of an isolated part of the city and public transportation connection, improving the external image of Madrid. Despite of it, there are some challenges that should be carefully managed such as applying sustainable solutions from other cities not properly tailored to Madrid, housing pricing accessibility increase due to the lack of terrain in Madrid and the politization of the project as discussion topic between local parties. In this context, local authorities should give particular emphasis in complying with the principles of sustainability for improving the overall performance of MNNP, ensuring social justice and prosperity for the people of Madrid.

The reform of the training mode for English majors in the context of the new liberal arts is a dynamic process that conforms to social needs, continuously improves and optimizes. After a series of special investigations, this article proposes development ideas for the cultivation of English majors in local applied undergraduate universities based on the analysis of the demand for English majors' abilities in the job market. The aim is to solve the problems of unclear characteristics of English major talent cultivation in local applied undergraduate universities and weak competitiveness of graduates in employment.

The implementation of the "the Belt and Road" requires the common development of the "five links" of policies, facilities, trade, finance and popular support, among which "people to people connectivity" is the premise of the coordinated promotion of the "five links", and cultural communication, exchange and cooperation are the foundation and guarantee of the popular support project. The "the Belt and Road" cultural communication, exchange and cooperation are diverse in content and form. We need to identify the opportunities and challenges we face, make long-term strategic plans, and take practical countermeasures and implementation paths according to the characteristics of cultural communication diversity. Some domestic scholars have conducted research on cultural communication strategies and analyzed the opportunities and challenges they face, but there is a lack of diversity analysis on the forms of communication that should be adopted. This paper explores and studies the "the Belt and Road" cultural communication strategy, implementation path and safeguard measures, constructs a new model of diversified cultural communication and exchange cooperation, and tries to play a certain role in promoting the actual effect of cultural communication and exchange cooperation and better safeguarding the "the Belt and Road" community of interests.

China-Africa economic integration generally looks lucid, as evidenced by rising bilateral trade, as well as Chinese FDI, aid, and debt financing for infrastructure development in Africa. The engagement, however, appears to be strategically channeled to benefit China’s resource endowment strategy. First, Chinese FDI in Africa is primarily resource-seeking, with minimum manufacturing value addition. Second, China has successfully replicated the Angola model in other resource-rich African countries, and most infrastructure loans-for-natural resources barter deals are said to be undervalued. There is also a resource-backed loan arrangement in place, in which default Chinese loans are repaid in natural resources. Third, while China claims that its financial aid is critical to Africa’s growth and development processes, a significant portion of the aid is spent on non-development projects such as building parliaments and government buildings. This lend credence to the notion that China uses aid to gain diplomatic recognition from African leaders, with resource-rich and/or institutionally unstable countries being the most targeted. The preceding arguments support why Africa’s exports to China dominate other China’s financial flows to Africa, and consist mainly of natural resources. Accordingly, this study aims to forecast China-Africa economic integration through the lens of China’s demand for natural resources and Africa’s demand for capital, both of which are reflected in Africa’s exports to China. The study used a MODWT-ARIMA hybrid forecasting technique to account for the short period of available China-Africa bilateral trade dataset (1992–2021), and found that Africa’s exports to China are likely to decline from US$ 119.20 billion in 2022 to US$ 13.68 billion in 2026 on average. This finding coincides with a period in which Chinese demand for Africa’s natural resources is expected to decline.

This article reports the development of an index of culturality in Chile. Fifteen quantitative variables indicative of local cultural development are used to measure the access to cultural opportunities in each Chilean district. This approach was adopted from the theoretical framework of cultural materialism theorized by Marvin Harris in the seventies. Using this framework, a ranking is developed among 164 districts to determine the degree of cultural development exists in each and the variables that are the influential on the enhancement of this indicator. The results showed that the districts of Rancagua, Providencia, La Reina, El Bosque, and Valparaíso have better cultural opportunities based on their material forms, which are mainly driven by obtaining funds for cultural projects, workers’ salaries, civic activity, and public libraries. Based on the results of this ranking, a baseline is proposed to develop it using new data. In addition, recommendations are provided regarding public policies that have promoted cultural development in the communities with unsuccessful results. The article provides significant information for decision makers in Chile and a quantitative method for exploring cultural materialism in specific territories.