The further study on the accuracy of DEM terrain representation

2003-2004 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe

Encouraging the use of urban green space: the mediating role of attitude, perceived usefulness and perceived behavioural control

Prior studies have identified key factors that influence recycling intention. However, these studies rarely pay attention to the interaction of attitude and subjective norm that influences recycling intention. This study applied a conceptual model by extending the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) for addressing the gap. The study collected 246 responses through a street survey in Hong Kong. Findings revealed that two interaction terms (i.e., experiential attitude and subjective norm; instrumental attitude and subjective norm) influenced recycling intention. It implies that subjective norm plays a crucial role in motivating recycling behaviors. Moreover, subjective norm could increase the likelihood of recycling for people exhibiting positive experiential attitude, and motivate people who possesses limited knowledge on recycling benefits of practicing recycling behaviors. Policy implications were drawn from the findings. Limitations of the study and future research direction were also discussed

Salient attributes of urban green spaces in high density cities: the case of Hong Kong

This study aimed to elicit users' perceptions of key attributes of urban green spaces (UGS) in Hong Kong, a compact and land-hungry city, and assess their associations with perceptions of the usefulness, quality, and the frequency of visits in a sample of users of these spaces. This study first employed the repertory grid technique to interviews with 21 respondents to elicit users' assessment of key attributes of green spaces. Second, the factors that emerged were used to develop a questionnaire, which was administered telephonically to 263 individuals who were users of these spaces. The responses were then analysed by multiple regression to assess the extent to which the attributes predicted users' attitudes regarding usefulness and quality and users' behaviour regarding frequency of use of the spaces. The results suggested that the four factors of attributes (features, naturalness, accessibility, and variety of facilities) significantly predicted both of the attitudes and the behaviour relevant to UGS in Hong Kong. Accessibility was most important to the frequency of use and features were the most important to attitudes regarding usefulness and quality. The results imply that policymakers and urban planners could more effectively and sustainably utilise limited land resources by considering users' nuanced meanings and perceptions of urban green spaces. Limitations of the study and future research directions are discussed

A review on political factors influencing public support for urban environmental policy

Environmental quality is important to urban residents’ physical, social and psychological well-being. Governments have been formulating and implementing policies to mitigate environmental deterioration in cities. To effectively implement policies and achieve policy goals, gaining sufficient public support is an essential prerequisite; the policies would be in ruins and the government may also suffer from setbacks in other policy areas in the absence of public support. Therefore, to understand what contributes to public support is a crucial task for policymakers. Though current literature on socio-demographic and attitudinal/psychological factors provides fruitful accounts for policy support, a comprehensive examination of political determinants has yet to be established. In response to this, this review paper explores political factors that influence level of policy support based on existing literature. An integrated framework is proposed to explain policy support for urban environmental policy. This paper also discusses the possible directions of future research

Understanding public support for recycling policy: to unveil the political side of influence and implications

Policy support from the public is gaining importance for successful implementation of environmental policy. Yet the underlying factors of policy support for environmental policy have not been comprehensively examined. While considerable number of studies offered explanation of the phenomenon from the perspective of environmental psychology and social psychology, the growing attention to political factors has not been adequately addressed. In light of this, the present study systematically identified political factors and integrated them with psychological attributes to build a conceptual model for investigating level of policy support for recycling policy. A random household telephone survey was conducted in Hong Kong. 504 valid responses were collected for model testing. The results suggested that although psychological attributes, attitude and perceived benefits, are significant in predicting recycling policy support, political factors are stronger predictors, which perceived policy effectiveness, policy fairness, policy preference, and participatory process demonstrated a significant effect on the level of policy support. In addition, the explanatory power of the conceptual model remarkably increased after political factors were added to the model. The model enables us to compare effects of different sources on the level of policy support, in turn, advances our understanding of the phenomenon. In addition to shaping positive attitude towards recycling and enhancing perceived benefits of recycling practices among the public, policy-makers should put more efforts in formulating a fair, responsive recycling policy that demonstrates capability of policy goal attainment. Public involvement during policy formulation stage is also highly encouraged for mobilizing greater public support

Differential public support for waste management policy: the case of Hong Kong

Gaining public support for environmental policy can promote pro-environmental behaviors and facilitate policy implementation. A telephone survey was conducted in Hong Kong to solicit 504 respondents’ level of support for different waste management policies and to investigate the role of key socio-demographic variables in influencing the level of support for these policies. Data was examined by using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). Findings revealed that variance in policy support for different measures differs significantly across gender, age groups, and education level, while household size and political inclination exhibited less association with support for the policies. Respondents also indicated a varying level of support across policy tools, with policies of developing recycling industry and extending Producer Responsibility Scheme received more support, but municipal solid waste charging scheme and publicity and education measure were less welcomed by respondents. Our analysis infers that current waste management framework should be driven toward a more coherent mode in order to secure greater public support and maximize policy effectiveness. Policy implications could be applied to waste management framework development in cities which share similar background with Hong Kong

The moderating effect of subjective norm in predicting intention to use urban green spaces: a study of Hong Kong

People living in urban areas are encouraged to use urban green spaces (UGS) because of the physical, psychological and social benefits offered by the green environment to city dwellers. Prior studies have investigated the physical, socio-psychological and demographic factors in explaining the use of UGS; however, the moderating effect of social influence has rarely been examined. Based on the theory of planned behaviour, a model extending the predictors of behavioural intention was proposed in this study. Data were collected by a telephone survey conducted in Hong Kong. The results revealed that attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control, and usefulness positively influence people’s intention of using urban green areas. It was also proved that the interaction terms of usefulness and subjective norm, and perceived quality and subjective norm, negatively influence behavioural intention. Insightful implications for studying UGS behaviour, suggestions for urban planning and promotion of using urban green spaces are discussed

Experiential and instrumental attitudes: interaction effect of attitude and subjective norm on recycling intention

Prior studies have identified key factors that influence recycling intention. However, these studies rarely pay attention to the interaction of attitude and subjective norm that influences recycling intention. This study applied a conceptual model by extending the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) for addressing the gap. The study collected 246 responses through a street survey in Hong Kong. Findings revealed that two interaction terms (i.e., experiential attitude and subjective norm; instrumental attitude and subjective norm) influenced recycling intention. It implies that subjective norm plays a crucial role in motivating recycling behaviors. Moreover, subjective norm could increase the likelihood of recycling for people exhibiting positive experiential attitude, and motivate people who possesses limited knowledge on recycling benefits of practicing recycling behaviors. Policy implications were drawn from the findings. Limitations of the study and future research direction were also discussed

Arabidopsis thaliana VDAC2 involvement in salt stress response pathway

Soil salinity seriously affects plants distribution and yield, while salt stress induces SOS genes, and voltage-dependent anion channels (VDAC) and a mitochondrial porin, are induced too. In this paper, phenotypes of AtVDAC2 transgenic lines and wild type (RLD) were analyzed. It was found that AtVDAC2 over-expressing transgenic plants were more sensitive to NaCl, and produced more H2O2 in the NaCl treatment. Also, to find the inner reason, the salt overly sensitive gene 3 (SOS3) expression level was changed with the expression of AtVDAC2. So, it was conjectured that the signal of salt stress response was first sent to AtVDAC2, then AtVDAC2 expression improved, leading to the down-stream signals changes, such as accumulation of H2O2 and improved expression of SOS3. So, it was found that in the over-expression of transgenic lines with AtVDAC2 up-regulation, SOS3 expression increased significantly, and in the inhibited-expressing lines, it was vice versa. In summary, AtVDAC2 was involved in salt stress signaling pathway, and it regulated SOS3 gene expression.Key words: Arabidopsis thaliana, voltage-dependent anion channels (VDAC), salt stress, signaling pathway

Topological Photonics

Topology is revolutionizing photonics, bringing with it new theoretical discoveries and a wealth of potential applications. This field was inspired by the discovery of topological insulators, in which interfacial electrons transport without dissipation even in the presence of impurities. Similarly, new optical mirrors of different wave-vector space topologies have been constructed to support new states of light propagating at their interfaces. These novel waveguides allow light to flow around large imperfections without back-reflection. The present review explains the underlying principles and highlights the major findings in photonic crystals, coupled resonators, metamaterials and quasicrystals.Comment: progress and review of an emerging field, 12 pages, 6 figures and 1 tabl