Environmental hazards In Albania: case study - Shkoder Region

This paper takes into consideration the occurrence of environmental hazards in Albania, analyzing their patterns of development for this country in general and for Shkoder region, which is located in its North-western part, in particular. Based on the use of the existing scientific literature, on a concrete case study and on field work, this paper analyzes in more detail the occurrence of the last earthquake that hit Albania in 2019 and the floods that occurred in Shkoder region in 2010. The paper finds out that, the most important environmental hazards faced both at the national and regional level, are earthquakes and floods; despite the fact that landslides, avalanches, wildfires, epidemic diseases and technological hazards have their relative importance, too. One of the main conclusions drawn based on these data, is that the consequences of these hazards, besides their natural character are also driven by stimulated factors of human vulnerability, such as population growth, urbanization, poverty, unsustainable development, natural resource degradation, inadequate infrastructure and weak institutional capacity. As a conclusion, this paper provides concrete recommendations on how to minimize the effects of environmental hazards in Albania and Shkodra region, by adapting and preparing to them.
FIRST AUTHOR
Dritan Rustja, University of Shkoder
KEY WORDS
Environmental hazards; Albania; Shkoder region; vulnerability; adaptation

Examining Food Insecurity in the Arctic Region: Case Study of Arviat, Lessons to be Learned from Building Greenhouses in the Far North

Food insecurity is impacting a greater share of populations worldwide. This is as true in highly developed regions as it is in remote regions. In the Arctic region those residents impacted by this health risk range from 46% to 70% depending on the region and the community. This research will measure the impact of two 42-foot geodesic dome greenhouses on the most vulnerable members of Arviat, Nunavut, the second largest community in the region.   The preliminary research survey completed on June 2019 prior to the first harvest provides the baseline data to measure the influence that fresh locally grown produce has on the community's members.  The greenhouse is unique in the Arctic as it is owned and operated by the Hamlet and all food grown and harvested is provided gratis to the recipients. This research will measure the food secure status of the participants after they have benefited from two years growing seasons of fresh local produce. 
FIRST AUTHOR 
Julie Robertson, Ryerson University
SECOND AUTHOR
Brian Ceh, Ryerson University
​KEY WORDS
Food; security; insecurity; Arviat; Arctic; greenhouse​

Exploring Historic Landscapes in a GIS Environment - A Study of Lahore, Pakistan

This paper explores the use of GIS methods to map and visualise a city's historic landscape. Using Lahore, Pakistan, as a pilot case, the study aims to understand the challenges involved in conceptualising a city's dynamic past in a digital environment. The thesis demonstrates how GIS is applied to record and in the process represent what used to be, what was lost and what came to be over time in the context of Lahore - a city associated with different rulers. Historic maps, photographs, gazetteers, historical and literary accounts, memoirs etc., and contemporary mapping platforms constitute examples of data sources. The documentation of place-names and the extent to which they can be linked to other types of data is central to the study. With the help of examples, the paper draws attention to the constraints and choices faced in defining the study area, in representing a historic urban landscape(s) in a geodatabase and in collecting and creating meaningful data. 
FIRST AUTHOR
Fatimah Khan, FK Consulting
KEY WORDS
Historical GIS; historic urban form; spatial humanity; history 

Exploring Local Heterogeneity in Social Vulnerability using Geographically Weighted Principal Components Analysis (GWPCA)

Social vulnerability index (SoVI) has been widely used to measure the extent to which people or places are socially vulnerable. The SoVI is computed as an aggregate index that linearly combines a few principal components resulted from the principal component analysis (PCA) on a number of selected social variables, and it can quantify the relative level of social vulnerability but cannot indicate the heterogenous local social conditions that contribute to the vulnerability in various degree. The specific local social conditions that either attenuate or amplify local social vulnerability is of much need in policy-making to reduce local vulnerability. This study explores the heterogeneity in the components and local social conditions of social vulnerability by using the geographically weighted principal components analysis (GWPCA), and it also investigates how the local heterogeneity in the vulnerable social conditions has evolved over time and across the Greater Houston metropolitan area in the United States. It found that the SoVI exhibits persistent spatial patterns in the study area, and the major contributing variables can vary from time to time, but the disadvantages in economic condition, education attainment, and family structure have appeared to be prominent factors to high social vulnerability.
FIRST AUTHOR
Gainbi Park, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
KEY WORDS
Social vulnerability; Principal Components Analysis (PCA); Geographically Weighted Principal Components Analysis (GWPCA); Spatial heterogeneity; Houston

Exploring the Relationship between Environmental Factors and Obesity

Obesity continues to be an on-going health problem in the U.S. Health geographers have pursued much research on this topic, but more often the focus is on socio-economic and racial/ethnic factors, the built environment (e.g., walkability), or the availability of fresh foods (e.g. food deserts). This research controls for these factors in an attempt to uncover the extent to which climate, population density (as a proxy for rurality), and other environmental factors correlate with obesity at the county level.
Understanding what environmental traits seem to lead to higher or lower obesity levels can provide health departments and other involved agencies with insight into how positive traits (those that correlate with lower obesity) can be enhanced or recreated as well as how negative traits can be reduced or mitigated to encourage healthier nutrition and exercise habits of residents in higher obesity areas.
FIRST AUTHOR
Jon Comer, Oklahoma State University
KEY WORDS
Obesity; environmental; correlation

Fast Track Your Data Extraction Experience with AppEEARS!

Searching, downloading, and transforming geospatial data to make it right for your project takes way too much time! NASA's Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC) has developed an intuitive, no-cost web application that will do most of the work for you! This presentation will show you how to access and explore geospatial data from multiple federal archives using the Application for Extracting and Exploring Analysis Ready Samples (AppEEARS). AppEEARS provides access to over 120 no-cost geospatial data products that cover a range of variables including elevation, fire, population, precipitation, reflectance, snow cover, surface temperature, vegetation data, and more! With AppEEARS you are able to subset, mosaic, reproject, and examine data and data quality information over your study area through charts and graphs without needing to download a single byte of data to your machine. Prefer analyzing the data yourself? Bulk download your analysis ready outputs as csv, GeoTIFF, or NetCDF4 format to get started. Sound too good to be true? Attend this talk to watch AppEEARS in action! 
FIRST AUTHOR
Danielle Golon, Innovate, Inc. - Contractor to the USGS
​KEY WORDS
Remote Sensing; Geospatial; Tool 

From Brewer to Baker: Transformative Praxis through Upcycling Brewers' Spent Grain

Brewing requires large amounts of natural resources, such as water, energy, and agricultural outputs like hops and grain. Grain is essential to the brewing process - and produces a significant proportion of brewers' waste. Brewers' spent grain (BSG) is the largest by-product of brewing and can be a burden for breweries seeking to be(come) more sustainable. As breweries strive to increase their operational efficiency and come closer to a zero-waste production cycle, processes for repurposing BSG become appealing. Sustainable waste management can also help to address other social issues, like hunger. Using a transformative praxis approach, wherein a business plan using BSG for a safe and marketable food product in Central Texas was created, and a test business launched, this research inquired whether BSG from central Texas breweries could be effectively upcycled into a baking mix for human consumption and how a business doing so might improve local breweries' sustainability profile while strategically feeding food insecure populations. The findings indicate that BSG can be successfully repurposed into a baking mix, and the test business showed the potential for profit, but there are some limitations (environmental, economic, regulatory) that make it difficult to bridge brewers and bakers in this way.
FIRST AUTHOR
Delorean S. Wiley, Texas State University
SECOND AUTHOR
Colleen C. Myles, Texas State University
​KEY WORDS
Sustainability; waste management; craft beer; praxis

From the Sunbelt to the Frostbelt: Examining the Changing Geography of Active Adult Communities, 1954 - 2020. 

The first active adult community, Youngtown, opened in 1954 in the quintessential sunbelt state of Arizona. Residents of active adult communities stereotypically enjoy endless recreational opportunities in warm sunny places.  In this study, data on the characteristics of active adult communities built by the top 10 community builders and a text analysis of select national newspapers is used to examine the temporal patterns in the number and spatial location of active adult communities from 1954 to 2020.  The text analysis was carried out using keywords and the named entity recognition (NER) functions of the natural language processing package spaCy in ProQuest.  Data on individual retirement communities was collected using a search of community, real estate and builder's websites. The results of the builder analysis show that the number of active adult communities remained low until the 1990s. The majority of active adult communities were built after 1990. The results of both analyses show that active adult communities are clustered in sunbelt states before the 1990s. After the 1990s, active adult communities were constructed across the US.  In the 2000s, the newspaper data in particular shows that active adult communities were increasingly constructed close to large urban centers. 
FIRST AUTHOR
Susan Lucas, University of Pittsburgh
SECOND AUTHOR
Susan Grunewald, University of Pittsburgh
KEY WORDS
Active adult communities; Text analysis; GIS

GeoEPIC: Launching virtual field geography experiences in the time of COVID

With the present COVID-19 circumstances, opportunities afforded students for field experiences in the K-16 classroom are interrupted. Moreover, on-line opportunities for field geography opportunities may be cost-prohibitive for school programs facing tight budgets and challenging transitions from face-to-face to remote learning.  Our team designed GeoEPIC, a learning platform to house field geography lessons using virtual reality, to simulate a classic field geography experience.  We offer a sample lesson for AP Human Geography and Comparative Government and Politics that uses GIS tools, remote sensing, "field measurements", gamified content and virtual reality to allow teachers and students to partake in multi-dimensional, novel landscape, field opportunities. 
Inquiry-based learning paired with field geography are valuable teaching tools that allow students an intrinsic understanding of "place" via engagement in direct, authentic experiences in the environment. Fieldwork is active learning, developing skills beyond course curriculum, and acquainting the student with data collection, tool and device use, map reading analysis, interpretation and analysis, while interacting with others for a deeper, socio-emotional learning experience.  GeoEPIC, as a repository for field lessons, has the potential to increase availability of supplemental education opportunities lost because of the pandemic.
FIRST AUTHOR 
Diana Gielstra, Prescott College
SECOND AUTHOR
Dawna Cerney, Youngstown State University
THIRD AUTHOR
Lynn Moorman, Mount Royal University
FOURTH AUTHOR
Niccole Cerveny, Mesa Community College
KEY WORDS
Virtual reality; immersive geography; virtual field trips; inquiry-based learning

Geography and the Study of Spanish in Spain

Studying a foreign language is not just about translating words from one language to another. It also includes learning about the cultures that are linked to the language, and an effective way to understand those cultures is to incorporate learning about a country's human and physical geography in a language-based educational experience abroad. In the case of Spain, a study of human geography topics such as migrations, urban and built environments, and religion and culture, combined with topographical features that served as barriers or as facilitators to human geography activities, helps explain European Spanish language features.
FIRST AUTHOR 
Jose Torres, Weber State University
KEY WORDS
Geography; Spanish language and culture; interdisciplinarity; study abroad; Spain

Going beyond vulnerability to apply a racially equitable COVID-19 testing strategy in the Detroit region

In the public health geography and public health communities, "vulnerable" is often a term used to avoid the discomfort of naming structural racism. Academic descriptions default to broad categories and focus on clinical outcomes, but rarely tackle the underlying and undeniable impact of racism on health. Detroit is home to some of the worst health outcomes, including high infant mortality, maternal mortality, deaths from asthma, diabetes, and heart disease. For all of the listed health outcomes, vulnerable is readily employed as a descriptor, yet it would encompass over 80% of the city's population. Is the entire city vulnerable? This question drove the strategic outreach of COVID-19 mobile testing teams in the Detroit region where we sought to go beyond "vulnerable" and direct support to "racially-concentrated areas of poverty" (Census Tracts where Poverty >= 40%, Nonwhite population >= 50%). ZIP Code of Community level case data were utilized from a 9-county region reported by the local health departments and normalized by cases per 100,000 people. Chronic disease prevalence and mortality rates were used. Case clusters were identified using the Gi* statistic and racially-concentrated areas of poverty were overlaid to identify gaps and targets to get more testing to communities in need. 
FIRST AUTHOR
Alex B. Hill, Wayne State University
SECOND AUTHOR
Steve Kozinewski, Wayne State University
​KEY WORDS
COVID-19; case cluster; local health department; community testing; structural racism

Health Fragility and Vulnerability From Environmental Pollution

The negative effects of air pollution on human health are implicit, but the differential effects on vulnerable populations remain unclear. In addition, it is unknown if air pollution monitoring policies and placement strategies are spatially adequate to assess personal health exposures. Moreover, due to a lack of pollution monitoring data based on where they live, vulnerable and undeserved populations health risks may be underrepresented.  
This paper evaluates the ozone air pollution-monitoring network in Dallas - Fort Worth (DFW) by assessing the active spatial scale and deriving the monitored surface using spatial representativeness and the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) coverage thresholds.  Using socioeconomic data and social determinants of health, it contends that although significant strides have been made, the current pollution sensor network is unable to capture environmental pollutants threat to fragile community's public health. 
FIRST AUTHOR
Kari Northeim, University of North Texas
KEY WORDS
Vulnerability; racial disparities ozone; air pollution monitoring; environmental policy; regulatory compliance; urbanization

Hearts of Dixie?: Mapping a Vernacular South in the Early 20th Century

This study extends sociologist John Shelton Reed's and his followers' work delimiting a vernacular South back to the early 20th Century. Using historic city guides, I recorded and modeled the prevalence of the terms "southern" and "Dixie" at the beginning of business names in approximately 300 cities in 1910 and 1930. Then, I mapped the ratio of the "southern" and "Dixie" relative to "national" and "American." Notably, the relative frequency of "Dixie" expanded dramatically between 1910 and 1930, while "southern" shrank proportionately during the same period. This change in the term frequency differs significantly from what studies have observed using data from the past 40 years. Notably, Dixie's expansion between 1910 and 1930 was the strongest along the route of the Dixie Highway, casting doubt on the idea that historically the term was solely an indicator of neo-confederate sympathies. Ultimately, this study problematizes some of the assumptions behind the delimiting of vernacular regions via keywords. Consequently, despite being a macroscale aggregation technique, to measure vernacular regions through interpolation requires a keen understanding of local geographies and historical circumstances. 
FIRST AUTHOR
Jesse R. Andrews, Oklahoma State University
KEY WORDS
US South; Vernacular Regions; Dixie; Historical Geography

High-Speed Rail Network and College Choice in China

Transportation infrastructure changes the spatial allocation of population, not only in a quantity sense but also in a quality measure. Higher education in China is still a more planned system with a rigid supply that each college can only accommodate a given number of students each year. Hence, the change in college admission scores (selectiveness of colleges) only reflects the evolution of students' college preferences. In this paper, I test whether the marginal student who enrolls in a high-speed rail (HSR)-connected college is of higher ability (having higher test scores). I take the construction of HSR network since 2007 as a quasi-experiment. After the college city is connected to the HSR network, the admission cutoff score increases by 2.4 points on average. HSR-connected colleges become more selective, the marginal student who are now enrolling a HSR connected college has higher ability, measured by the test score of the College Entrance Exam.
FIRST AUTHOR
Shiyu Cheng, University of Kentucky
KEY WORDS
High-Speed Rail; Sorting of Students; Higher Education in China

How does social media influence the fear rhetoric surrounding climate change?

Twitter has recently gained notoriety as a platform that enables the exchange of information about political viewpoints, international policy, and social movements. In this paper, we use a mixed methods approach to analyze fearful attitudes expressed by Twitter users on the issue of climate change. A sentiment analysis of Twitter hashtags representing different viewpoints is conducted using a mixed methods approach. Dominant themes surrounding discussions of climate change are identified using a random sample of Tweets (n=1000) for each hashtag. Relationships between these themes and fearful attitudes expressed on Twitter are analyzed using a frequency analysis of commonly used terms and words, and a qualitative analysis of representative Tweets. This research will add to existing literature by identifying how fearful attitudes are expressed in online forums. Such information can be used to guide online discussions towards a productive dialog that reduces the stress and anxiety associated with the negative consequences of climate change.  
FIRST AUTHOR
Marissa Greer, University of North Texas
SECOND AUTHOR
Chetan Tiwari, University of North Texas
KEY WORDS
Climate change; twitter; social media; fear; awareness; environmental concern ​

How green is the service sector in China?

Since 2012, China's service industry ranked first with the total value added of 3.88 trillion dollars accounting for 45.5% of the total GDP, over the manufacturing industry of 45.4%. With the development of telecommunications technology and spring out of the internet, some service industries have been transforming into new models, such as the rising of electronic commerce, online financial industry, online education. which always gives people the impression of promoting carbon reduction. What's the reality about the green economy of service sector ？Therefore, more importance has been attached to the service industry in realizing the green economy strategy. How green is China's service industry and how different on the carbon emission of the different service sectors and the tendency?
FIRST AUTHOR
Cuiping Yu, Sanjiang University
SECOND AUTHOR
Michael L. Lahr, Rutgers University
KEY WORDS
Service sector; China; Green; SDA

How Neighborhood Effect Averaging Might Affect Assessment of Individual Exposures to Air Pollution: A
​Study of Ozone Exposures in Los Angeles

The neighborhood effect averaging problem (NEAP) can be a serious methodological problem that leads to erroneous assessments when studying mobility-dependent exposures (e.g., air/noise pollution) because people's daily mobility could amplify or attenuate the exposures they experienced in their residential neighborhoods. Specifically, the NEAP suggests that individuals' mobility-based exposures tend toward the mean level of the participants or population of a study area when compared to their residence-based exposures. This research provides an in-depth examination of the NEAP and how the NEAP is associated with people's daily mobility through an assessment of individual exposures to ground-level ozone using the activity-travel diary data of 2,737 individuals collected in Los Angeles. The results obtained with exploratory analysis and spatial regression models indicate that the NEAP exists when assessing individual exposures to ozone in the study area. Further, high-income, employed, younger, and male participants (when compared to low-income, nonworking, older, and female participants) are associated with higher levels of neighborhood effect averaging because of their higher levels of daily mobility. Finally, three-dimensional geovisualizations of the space-time paths and hourly ozone exposures of seventy-one selected participants who live in the same neighborhood corroborate the findings obtained from the spatial regression analysis.
FIRST AUTHOR
Junghwan Kim, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
SECOND AUTHOR
Mei-Po Kwan, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
KEY WORDS
Air pollution; neighborhood effect; human mobility; Los Angeles

Identifying Spatio-Temporal Trends in Groundwater Concentration of Arsenic Across Texas, 1990-2019 

Exposure to Arsenic (As) is known to be associated with several adverse health outcomes including skin and internal cancers. Geological processes and anthropogenic activities are known to influence As concentrations in groundwater and can lead to geographical differences in risk of exposure. In Texas, groundwater is the major source of water consumption and contains high As concentrations. While previous research has identified spatial and temporal trends in As concentrations in Texas, their focus is limited to relatively small geographic regions and/or short time periods. This paper uses a geostatistical model and well data from the Texas Water Development Board's groundwater quality database to identify areas with historically elevated values of As in groundwater as well as those areas showing a persistent increase. The first map identifies those areas that are consistently in the top one-third of As concentration between 1990 to 2019. The second map identifies those areas that show persistent increases in As concentrations over 5-year increments for the same time period. The results show several areas of concern especially in the Panhandle and Gulf Coast regions, where As concentrations exceed the 10 ug/L levels that studies show may contribute to an elevated risk of several diseases. Developing maps of existing and emerging risk of exposure will help guide health care intervention efforts for diseases that are commonly associated with As. 
FIRST AUTHOR NAME
Dayani Davilla, University of North Texas
SECOND AUTHOR
Chetan Tiwari, University of North Texas
THIRD AUTHOR
Paul Hudak, University of North Texas
KEY WORDS
Arsenic; Risk maps; Spatio-temporal patterns of arsenic in Texas 

Impact evaluation of subway line expansion on travel time : the case of Santiago de Chile

Santiago de Chile is one of the cities with the highest traffic congestion in Latinomaerica. According to Frost & Sullivan (2018), this city experienced economic losses reach to US $ 2.5 billion by 2018 which, relatively speaking, exceeds seven times the local public budget of the city. This research evaluates the impact of the expansion of metro line 6 as a natural experiment in Santiago de Chile on vehicular congestion in the main job access point of the city. We take a sample of 20 travel time for works days before and after of opening line from Uber Data Movement and use the opening timing of this new metro line as an exogenous shock that affects congestion because it can modify travel patterns (Yang et al, 2018). We use the inauguration date as the threshold to define an Interrupted Time Series Regression (ITSR) to evaluate impact on travel time (McDowall et al, 2019). The results show that the intervention did not have an impact in reducing travel times throughout the system. In addition, it is obtained that the urban areas that experience a reduction in the car travel times that spatial clusters are formed
​FIRST AUTHOR
Ariel Arcos, Universidad Católica del Norte
SECOND AUTHOR
Bernardo Lara, Universidad Católica del Norte
THIRD AUTHOR
Dusan Paredes, Universidad Católica del Norte
KEY WORDS
Subway expansion; impact evaluation; Vehicular congestion​

Integrated international field trips maximize accessibility and preserve learning value in an age of
​uncertainty

Study abroad has benefits but also challenges associated with cost, time, and feasibility for a student's degree program.  Integrating international field trips into semester-long courses may provide opportunities that mitigate these challenges and make study abroad more accessible.  Based on preparations for a spring break field trip to the Philippines, integrated international field trips can allow for targeted recruitment, result in lower program costs, provide shorter duration trips that are more accessible, better establish foundational and introductory knowledge before departure, and eliminate fear of lost learning or programmatic scheduling in the event of cancellation due to global uncertainty.
FIRST AUTHOR 
Dominique Cagalanan, Coastal Carolina University
SECOND AUTHOR
​Clayton Whitesides, Coastal Carolina University
KEY WORDS
Experiential learning; field methods; field trips; forest ecology; geography

INTEGRATION OF STATISTICAL AND GEOSPATIAL INFORMATION AT DIFFERENT SCALES: STATISTICAL AND GEOSPATIAL
​FRAMEWORK OF THE AMERICAS AND COVID-19 VULNERABILITY INDEX

In the current information age, as a fundamental asset for decision-making, the integration of statistical and geospatial information is not an objective to be pursued, but rather a mandatory compliance requirement that allows the facts to be combined in their context . This integration can be approached at different scales: the global one, where the main territorial levels are articulated with the large-scale statistical variables that support the demographic, social, economic and environmental structures of a country; and the local one, in which the basic data associated with the observation units are combined with the spatial aggregations of greater detail, to visualize trends and distributions that allow targeting of follow-up and improvement actions in public policy. In this sense, the National Administrative Department of Statistics - DANE, is an active part of the Statistical and Geospatial Framework of the Americas -MEGA, this being a regional initiative for the articulation of statistical and geospatial information; In addition, it developed the methodology for calculating the vulnerability index for COVID-19 at the block level, which was used by Central America within the framework of the Integration of Statistical and Geospatial Information Project, reflecting the fundamental importance it has for the entity the aforementioned integration, in its mission to generate information for everyone.
FIRST AUTHOR
Sandra Liliana Moreno Mayorga, National Administrative Department of Statistics
KEY WORDS
Geospatial information; Statistical information; Statistical and Geospatial Framework of the Americas; Vulnerability index

Interdisciplinary Study Abroad: The Fruits of Two Traditions

Through New Mexico State University's Office of Study Abroad, Faculty-Led International Programs we create a dynamic two-course, cross-disciplinary experience for students. This combined course approach provided a fruitful avenue for transformative experiential student learning. Joint participation in Communication Studies and Geography disciplines created a rich study abroad framework. Benefits for the collaborating faculty team include cross-discipline interaction and enrichment, mutual support and backup, and dynamic feedback. Students demonstrate knowledge and the application of skills concerning cultural observation, cultural landscapes, and acculturative experiences. In-country student interactions included homestay and an extensive list of nationally recognized experts. Our interdisciplinary concordant course design greatly enhances the trip's purpose, and student participation and learning. Because of the universal nature of the design, its use is appropriate anywhere students are abroad in the world.
​FIRST AUTHOR
Daniel P. Dugas, New Mexico State University
SECOND AUTHOR
Eric Morgan, New Mexico State University
KEY WORDS
Interdisciplinary Study Abroad 

International Expansion and Strategies of Discount Grocery Retailers Revised

Grocery discounters are among the most successful retailers to internationalize. Colla in 2003 demonstrated the underlying causes that have determined the success or failure of the discount retailers internationally, revealing different strategic groups and internationalisation strategies. So far it has been argued that food discounters are prepared to accept a lower expansion speed in order to reduce risk and cost as much as possible. In addition, countries were selected which already reveal a certain market maturity. The purpose of this article is to revise the international expansion strategies of discount grocery retailers. While factors such as competitive advantages have not changed significantly, the paper argues for several factors, such as digitalization, that lead to the shift of key success factors as well as the geographical scope of internationalization. As one example serves German Aldi's market entry into China. So far, the German discounters have relied heavily on their standardized concept of the domestic market and are pursuing a global internationalization strategy, with the rapid establishment of a (stationary) branch and distribution network. Yet, in China, the grocery discounter is reinventing itself, totally abolishing the discount format. 
FIRST AUTHOR
Sina, Julius-Maximilians University of Wurzburg
KEY WORDS
Retail; Internationalization; Grocery Discount; Economic Geography 

Introducing IPUMS IHGIS - Population and Agricultural Census Data from Around the World

We are delighted to introduce the newest IPUMS project, the International Historical Geographic Information System (IHGIS). IHGIS assembles published data tables from population and agricultural censuses around the world and makes them available through a unified data access system in a consistent structure with high-quality metadata. To make IHGIS possible, we have developed a workflow and supporting software tools to transform data tables from the highly heterogeneous structures in which they are published into a consistent structure suited for data analysis. We also capture metadata describing the datasets, tables, variables, and geographic units and organize them into a coherent database. The IHGIS data access system enables users to select tables of interest and obtain customized data extracts including the selected tables and accompanying metadata. GIS boundary files representing the units described in the tables are also available. IHGIS will facilitate spatial research on population characteristics, demographics, education, employment, crop production, farm structure, and more in countries throughout the world. Like all IPUMS projects, IHGIS data are available free of charge.
FIRST AUTHOR
Tracy Kugler, University of Minnesota, IPUMS Data Center
KEY WORDS
Data infrastructure, population census, agricultural census, international

Legislative geographies of anti-protest bills at the U.S. state level

Since 2014, Black Lives Matter and related organizations in the U.S. have deliberately blocked limited-access highways to increase the visibility of their protests and to highlight the already-existing politics of transportation infrastructure. In response, in 2017 seventeen states introduced twenty-one pieces of legislation aimed at stopping such protests, either by increasing criminal penalties, creating new violations, or indemnifying drivers who accidentally hit protestors. While only two of these bills passed into law, they are still of interest for what they demonstrate about state-level legislative responses to protest and for possible future attempts to restrict the locations where protests can take place.
This paper address the question of why some state legislators supported these bills by sponsoring or co-sponsoring them while others did not, using logistic regression models. While political party of the legislator was the most important factor, other geographic and political variables mattered as well: the conservatism of voters, the whiteness of the district population, and the presence of an Interstate in the legislator's district. With a second wave of protests in 2020 using limited-access highways across the U.S., understanding who is sponsoring these bills and why is important for future social justice actions.
​FIRST AUTHOR
Julie Cidell, University of Illinois
KEY WORDS
Protest; social justice; legislation; state politics

Locational Analysis of Shopping Centers in Kaduna North LGA, Kaduna State, Nigeria

This paper carried out the locational analysis of shopping centers in Kaduna North Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria. Garmin Handheld GPS was used to obtain the coordinates of all the shopping centers in the study area. Average Nearest Neighbour was calculated using ArcGIS 10.4. The expected distance is 433.9973 meters, while the observed distance is 347.1671 meters with a z-score of -2.198730. The result shows that the pattern of distribution of shopping centers in Kaduna North is clustered. The study therefore recommends further research to ascertain the factors influencing the siting of shopping centers in Kaduna North Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
FIRST AUTHOR
Y. Saleh, Department of Geography, Kaduna State University
SECOND AUTHOR
M.L. Abubakar, Department of Geography, Kaduna State University
KEY WORDS
Average Nearest Neighbour; Shopping Centers; Supermarkets; Locational Analysis

Mapping the Ability of People to be Financial Responsible with their Money: Case Study of Toronto, Canada

Geographers often look for data to better understand economic well-being.  However, economic well-being is precarious to define and often is based on singular sources of data, such as household income. One creative way of observing economic well-being on a spatial level is by observing credit-score data.  Typically, this data is very hard to come by, let alone be examined at a refined geographical scale. This study examines the use of a financial well-being indicator, that of credit scores, for the City of Toronto at the dissemination level. A dissemination tract is smaller than a census tract and often has around 500 to 1000 persons.   The study found that average credit scores in the City of Toronto seem to be increasing and that there is a strong spatial pattern. The arrangement seems to match up with general urban-economic development patterns. 
FIRST AUTHOR
Nicholas Pulsone, Ryerson University
SECOND AUTHOR
Brian Ceh, Ryerson University
KEY WORDS
Credit; score; Toronto; economic; development

Mapping the certified GIS Professionals (GISPs) in the U.S. 

The Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Professional (GISP) certification program has enjoyed great popularity in the past few years. We employ a data-driven method to study the characteristics and spatial patterns of the members in this certification program in the United States. The results show that the majority of GISPs (97.3%) are in urban areas and about 75% of the GISPs are male. Among all the GISPs, 3,971 GISPs (43.3%) play a managerial role, while 4,983 individuals (54.5%) assume a non-administrative role. Among the GISPs with a non-administrative role, 348 GISPs (7%) fall within the GIS Developer group, 3,392 GISPs (68%) belong to the GIS Analyst group, and 1,243 GISPs (25%) play other roles. Additionally, we also analyzed the spatial patterns of the GISPs at the state level and mapped out two hotspots and two coldspots. This study can help GIS educators and practitioners develop a better understanding of the current state of this certification program and make a contribution to the development of GIS as a profession. 
FIRST AUTHOR
Dapeng Li, Department of Geography and Geospatial Sciences, South Dakota State University
SECOND AUTHOR
Yingru Li, Department of Sociology, University of Central Florida
THIRD AUTHOR
Qunyh C. Nguyen, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Maryland School of Public Health
FOURTH AUTHOR
Laura K. Siebeneck, Department of Emergency Management and Disaster Science, University of North Texas
KEY WORDS
GIS certification; GIS education; spatial analysis; professional development 

Migration and place preferences: an experimental approach to student migration decision-making

How do university students evaluate prospective jobs in different cities after graduation? Here we explore the priorities underlying student migration decision-making and the determinants of urban attractiveness using a conjoint survey experiment. Building on research which has established the utility of experiments in evaluating complex migration decision-making, we provided UNC Charlotte students with seven hypothetical city and job packages to consider upon graduation. With each package, we offer randomly combined dimensions and possible values, including city name, salary, taxes, cost of living, rent, crime, pollution and commuting time. We hope that this research can serve as a proof of concept for a larger, more representative survey as well as a model for scholars working on migration and place preferences.
FIRST AUTHOR
Michael Ewers, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
SECOND AUTHOR
Bethany Shockley, American University of Sharjah
KEY WORDS
Migration; livability; place attractiveness; survey experiment

Modeling the spatial-temporal heterogeneity in the mental health, air pollution and
altitude relationship 

There has been a lack of study investigating the relationship between mental health and environmental characteristics, namely air pollution and altitude. The goal of this research is to develop and test improved methods that elucidate the complex relationships between mental health and environmental factors. The present study will test the hypothesis that air pollution is largely responsible for mental health on the basis of cross country studies. Thus, places with higher air pollution level will be more likely to have a higher rate of mental anxiety and depression. Altitude is also another environmental factor that may contribute to the regional variation in mental health. However, little research has been done to investigate the associations between the mental health and these two environmental characteristics. This research will address the research need by doing the following: 1) adapt both Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) and Geographically and Temporally Weighted Regression (GTWR) to better address the spatial-temporal variation of mental health with respect to air pollution and altitude, and 2) map the coefficient estimates of both GWR and GTWR models presenting relationship between county-level frequent mental distress (FMD) and environmental factors, namely altitude and air pollution and other potential covariates. The analyses will likely to demonstrate how mental is associated with air pollution and altitude in the United States. The findings will propose a need for further investigation into the extent that air pollution and altitude may serve as either a triggering factor or protective factor for mental health and have major implications in our understanding of the etiology of mental health by medical professionals.
FIRST AUTHOR
Hoehun Ha, Auburn University at Montgomery
KEY WORDS
Mental Health; Altitude; Air Pollution; GWR; GTWR

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