Globalization and Exclusionary Urban rowth in Asian Countries

This paper overviews the debate on the relationship between the measures of globalization, economic growth and pace of urbanization, and speculates on its impact on the quality of life and poverty in the context of Asian countries. After experiencing moderate to high urban growth for three to four decades since the 1950s, most of these countries have reported a significant deceleration. This questions the postulate of the epicentre of urbanization shifting to Asia. It also lends credence to the thesis of exclusionary urban growth, which is linked with the formal or informal denial of entry to poor migrants and increased unaffordability of urban space of the rural people. An analysis of the policies and programmes at the national and regional levels shows that these have contributed to the ushering in of this era of urban exclusion. The process of elite capture in the global cities has led to ‘sanitization’ and cleaning up of the micro environment by pushing out the current and prospective migrants and informal activities out of the city boundaries. Given the political economy of urban growth and the need to attract global and domestic capital into cities, governments would not interfere with ‘elitist interests’. Asia, thus, is unlikely to go the same way as Latin America did in the second half of the last century. To absorb incremental labourforce outside agriculture, many of the large countries may, however, promote the small and medium towns that have unfortunately reported economic stagnation and deceleration in population growth. Furthermore, a few among the small and less developed countries are likely to experience high urban growth, largely due to foreign investment. This would impact on the geopolitical balance on the continent despite the fact that expansion in the urban and industrial base in these countries would not make a dent on macro-level aggregates.globalization, urbanization, urban growth, URGD, exclusionary urbanization, inequality, poverty, small towns, small Asian countries economic resiliency, Liberia

Strain induced variations in transport and optical properties of SrVO3_3: a DFT+U study

First-principles calculations based on density functional theory + Hubbard U (DFT+U) approach have been carried out to study the strain induced variations in the optical and transport properties of the correlated perovskite SrVO$_3$. By virtue of its conductivity, high carrier mobility and optical transparency, SrVO$_3$ can be used as a potential replacement of indium tin oxide (ITO) as a transparent conductor. As strain tuning is an effective way to tune the electron-electron correlations in correlated oxides, the epitaxial strain induced variations in V-3d bandwidth, band center shift and band splitting at high symmetry points (${\Gamma}$, R) in SrVO$_3$ are investigated. The alterations in resistivity, carrier concentration, Hall coefficient and plasma frequency with applied strain are also elucidated. Our calculations revealed that under tensile strain, the lifting of the threefold degeneracy of 3d-t$_{2g}$ orbital and d-band narrowing reinforces a relatively less conducting state thus limiting the $\omega_P$ to lower frequencies. On the contrary, in case of compressive strain the d-band widening predominates leading to an increase in carrier concentration and decrease in resistivity enhancing the metallic state. As a result, $\omega_P$ is increased to higher frequencies which decreases the optical transparency window. Hence, our results and findings clearly demonstrate the interdependence between the optical and transport properties, and provides a detailed mechanism to tune the optoelectronic properties of SrVO$_3$ for its applications as a transparent conducting oxide

India, Germany and Europe: a Spatial Perspective at SDG 3 on Good Health and Well-Being

Responding to crucial challenges in urban and rural development led the United Nations decide on the New Urban Agenda as well as the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In order to understand the spatial patterns, which SDGs produce, a national and supranational spatial perspective is taken on SDG 3 “Good health and Well-Being”. Progress in health concomitantly affects several pathways of development in a country. Persistent improvements in the life expectancy at birth ascertain significant progress towards health care in any country. The development in the respective health system is validated by improving health-related indicators, such as institutional deliveries, infant and child mortality rates, full immunisation and nutrition. Sub-goal 3.7 addresses the universal access to sexual and reproductive health care services, including family planning, information and education. Adolescent pregnancy leading to teenage parenthood is an obviously global concern affecting low- and high-income countries in the same way. Alternating maps illustrate the spatial perspective on SDG 3 in India, Germany and Europe by taking manifold national as well as supranational views wherever feasible

India, Germany and Europe: a Spatial Perspective at SDG 4 on Quality Education

Responding to crucial challenges in urban and rural development led the United Nations decide on the New Urban Agenda as well as the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In order to understand the spatial patterns, which SDGs produce, a national and supranational spatial perspective is taken on SDG 4 "Quality Education". SDG 4 highlights the human right on education and requests institutions to ensure inclusive and equal access to education for all. In many countries, one can note gender differences related to schooling at all levels or at graduation. Education in general and the education of females in particular influences largely the social and economic development of countries, ranging from health and birth control to a higher economic output of enterprises lead by mixed teams. The chapters visualise the spatial analysis of SDG 4, respectively on school graduates, female school graduates and scholar exclusion. Alternating maps illustrate the spatial perspective on SDG 4 in India, Germany and Europe by taking manifold national as well as supranational views wherever feasible

Deutschland, Europa und Indien: SDG 11 "Nachhaltige Städte und Gemeinden" in räumlicher Perspektive

Responding to crucial challenges in urban and rural development led the United Nations decide on the New Urban Agenda as well as the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The progress made in implementing the New Urban Agenda is referenced against the SDGs and vice versa. In order to understand the spatial patterns which SDGs produce, a national and supranational spatial perspective is taken on SDG 11 "Inclusive, Safe, Resilient and Sustainable Cities and Communities". While data availability determines the analysis, national or even supranational programmes support respective development and change. The chapters visualise the spatial analysis of SDG 11. Alternating maps illustrate the spatial perspective on SDG 11 in India, Germany and Europe by taking manifold national as well as supranational views wherever feasible

Oxygen vacancy induced metal-insulator transition in LaNiO

First principle calculations were carried out to examine the metal-insulator transition in LaNiO3 due to changes in oxygen content and consequent alteration of valence state of nickel. The optical properties of all the oxygen deficient LaNiO3−x compounds were calculated to illustrate the electronic structures of the compounds and the change they undergo during the metal-insulator transition. The metallic nature of LaNiO3 is characterized by the Drude peak in the optical conductivity spectra and the high reflectivity it exhibits in the low frequency region. The complex dielectric function and the optical conductivity spectra clearly show that, for x = 0.25, i.e., LaNiO2.75 becomes a semiconductor. As x increases further to 0.5, a gap in the optical spectra appears, indicating the insulating nature of LaNiO2.5. The insulating state of LaNiO2.5 is best described by the GW+HSE method which gives a good estimation of the optical gap of the material. The absorption spectra of LaNiO2.5 clearly reveal that this material is transparent in the low frequency region. This metal-insulator transition is followed by another insulator to semiconductor transition, as x is increased further to 1 i.e., in case of LaNiO2. The metal-insulator transition is then explained on the basis of electron localization function calculations, which show the increase in the covalent bonding in the system as the transition to the insulating state sets in

A DFT+U study of the catalytic activity of lanthanum nickelate

A density functional theory + Hubbard U (DFT+U) method is implemented to investigate the catalytic activity of lanthanum nickelate (LaNiO3) for oxygen reduction reaction. Comparison of the surface energies of different LaNiO3 surfaces shows that {001} surface has the lowest surface energy and hence maximum stability. Two possible terminations of the {001} surface namely LaO and NiO2 are considered to carry out all our DFT calculations. Calculation of bond lengths of the atoms near the surface and adsorption energies for the reaction intermediates revealed that LaO terminated {001} surface is unstable for the process of OOH adsorption and hence not preferred for the oxygen reduction reaction. However, NiO2 terminated {001} surface shows excellent catalytic activity for adsorption of all the reaction intermediates and hence is a favourable surface for reactions to occur. Superiority of the NiO2 terminated {001} surface as catalyst over the LaO terminated one, is also confirmed from the total and partial density of states of the surfaces in presence of the adsorbates, which also shows that the desorption rate of the reaction intermediates is low in case of LaO terminated {001} surface compared to the NiO2 terminated one

India: National Urban Policies and City Profiles for Delhi and Madurai

This research report reviews and analyses India’s planning and urban development policy documents for the last twenty years, identifying the key ideas and policies that have shaped the delivery of public services, paying particular attention to education and healthcare. This report also presents city profiles for two of India’s cities: Delhi and Madurai