Income, Income Inequality and the “Hidden Epidemic” of Traffic Fatalities

Few, if any, epidemics responsible for 20 million severe injuries and/or deaths each year, globally, receive less public attention than do traffic accidents truly making them a “hidden epidemic”. Worse yet, the epidemic is growing as evidenced by World Health Organization data which show deaths from traffic accidents increasing by 20 percent between 1990 and 2002. In this paper we examine how a country’s stage of development and its distribution of income affect its traffic fatality rate. In our theoretical analysis, we show that traffic fatalities should have a nonlinear relationship with a country’s level of per capita income while being a decreasing function of income equality. We test our model’s predictions by evaluating data from 79 countries between 1970 and 2000, taking into account other factors that influence traffic fatalities like the motorization rate, health care networks, education, and alcohol consumption and find strong evidence of the theoretical model’s predictions. Specifically, the empirical results indicate that traffic fatalities are negatively related to income equality throughout its range and also are negatively related to per capita income, above a threshold of about $11,500.Vulnerable road users, traffic safety interventions, per capita income, income inequality

Who participates in local government? Evidence from meeting minutes

Scholars and policymakers have highlighted institutions that enable community participation as a potential buffer against existing political inequalities. Yet these venues may bias policy discussions in favor of an unrepresentative group of individuals. To explore who participates, we compile a novel data set by coding thousands of instances of citizens speaking at planning and zoning board meetings concerning housing development. We match individuals to a voter file to investigate local political participation in housing and development policy. We find that individuals who are older, male, longtime residents, voters in local elections, and homeowners are significantly more likely to participate in these meetings. These individuals overwhelmingly (and to a much greater degree than the general public) oppose new housing construction. These participatory inequalities have important policy implications and may be contributing to rising housing costs.Accepted manuscrip

focusing on Ilsan newtown

Thesis(Master) --KDI School:Master of Development Policy,2019This paper examines changes in housing values associated with route extensions of a public rail service in South Korea. The purpose of this study is to analyze the causal impacts of the second opening of Gyeongui Line (first route extension) and the opening of Gyeongui-Jungang Line (second route extension) on the apartment prices in Ilsan Newtown. This study defines the treatment and control groups depending on geographical proximity to rail stations, and tests the net impacts of the extensions using the difference-in-differences model. It collected the transaction data from 2012 to 2015 provided by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport in South Korea. This study finds that the first and second route extensions of the rail service have positive effects on the apartment prices that fall within 800m distance from rail stations, and higher treatment effects are found from the second extension. These findings suggest that the increase in accessibility to distant areas through railway line extensions have positive effects on the regional values in the metropolitan area.I. Introduction II. Literature review III. Overview of Gyeongui-Jungang Line and Ilsan Newtown IV. Data and Empirical Strategy V. Empirical Result VI. ConclusionOutstandingmasterpublishedYeontaek JIN

How to Improve the Capture of Urban Goods Movement Data?

The surveys specifically focused on the thorough knowledge of urban freight transport appeared about ten years ago. The local problematic of goods transport at local level was partially taken into account by the city planners and by the researchers: until recent years, the integration of goods transport in the total urban flows models was estimated applying a multiplying factor to car traffic. Delivering goods was not considered like a concern.Because of the quick growth of car traffic in the cities, the main stakes changed too: the fight against traffic congestion, the management of the lack of space (shipment consolidation and storage), the attempts to reduce local environmental impacts and global externalities (energy saving, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions), and economic valuation of city centres (under the pressure of a slowed down economic growth).All these changes were taking place in a context in which available rooms for manoeuvre were limited by factors such as congestion, concerns about the quality of urban life and budget restriction. It resulted in a growing unease on the freight transport industry and the city authorities, the latter having little or no data, methods and references in order to elaborate a satisfactory policy framework.surveys on urban freight transport ; urban freight movements ; urban freight data collection ; urban goods data collection ; diversity of measurement units and methods ; state of the art

Water Integration for Squamscott Exeter (WISE): Preliminary Integrated Plan, Final Technical Report

This document introduces the goals, background and primary elements of an Integrated Plan for the Lower Exeter and Squamscott River in the Great Bay estuary in southern New Hampshire. This Plan will support management of point (wastewater treatment plant) and nonpoint sources in the communities of Exeter, Stratham and Newfields. The Plan also identifies and quantifies the advantages of the use of green infrastructure as a critical tool for nitrogen management and describes how collaboration between those communities could form the basis for an integrated plan. The Plan will help communities meet new wastewater and proposed stormwater permit requirements. Critical next steps are need before this Plan will fulfill the 2018 Nitrogen Control Plan requirements for Exeter and proposed draft MS4 requirements for both Stratham and Exeter. These next steps include conducting a financial capability assessment, development of an implementation schedule and development of a detailed implementation plan. The collaborative process used to develop this Plan was designed to provide decision makers at the local, state and federal levels with the knowledge they need to trust the Plan’s findings and recommendations, and to enable discussions between stakeholders to continue the collaborative process. This Plan includes the following information to guide local response to new federal permit requirements for treating and discharging stormwater and wastewater: Sources of annual pollutant load quantified by type and community; Assessment and evaluation of different treatment control strategies for each type of pollutant load; Assessment and evaluation of nutrient control strategies designed to reduce specific types of pollutants; Evaluation of a range of point source controls at the wastewater treatment facility based on regulatory requirements; Costs associated with a range of potential control strategies to achieve reduction of nitrogen and other pollutants of concern; and A preliminary implementation schedule with milestones for target load reductions using specific practices for specific land uses at points in time; Recommendations on how to implement a tracking and accounting program to document implementation; Design tools such as BMP performance curves for crediting the use of structural practices to support nitrogen accounting requirements; and Next Steps for how to complete this Plan

Whither China's urbanisation? Patterns of development and problems

Since economic reforms started in 1978, urbanisation in China has been taking place at a faster rate than ever before. This recent urban development is characterised by overcrowded agglomerations, fast­growing small-medium cities, imbalance in regional development, widening rural-urban disparities, urban housing shortage, heavy traffic congestion and serious damage to the environment. This research examines the characteristics of China's urbanisation and the patterns of its development. Although the patterns can be explained by cumulative causation, the trickle-down effect should not be ignored because the effectiveness of trickle-down also depends on the geographical distance. More research is necessary to test which theory can better explain the patterns of China's recent urbanisation development. This article also studies the environmental impact of China's rapid urbanisation development. It is argued that future growth need not be purchased at the expense of higher levels of pollution. But China is a developing and growing country with many competing claims on public and private resources. Reconciling these claims and prioritising environmental policies requires careful analysis of the economic costs and benefits of urbanisation. At present, the Chinese government's agenda on urbanisation, environment and development in the 21st century is but a visionary concept, which lacks a comprehensive policy framework and realistic implementation measurements. Actions for the next twenty-five years rest on three pillars: harnessing market forces, creating incentives for investment in cleaner urban environment, and developing effective regulation and a legal framework

The Right Track: Building a 21st Century High-Speed Rail System for America

Provides an overview of U.S. investment in high-speed intercity passenger rail, its economic and environmental benefits, analyses by region, and key steps for building an efficient network, including balancing private investment with public safeguards