The paper attempts to answer the following key question: how will a city′s world rank change in the face of crisis in its main economic sector? Crisis is defined here as a decline in financial performance in the give...The paper attempts to answer the following key question: how will a city′s world rank change in the face of crisis in its main economic sector? Crisis is defined here as a decline in financial performance in the given sector, which leads to the decline of its constituent firms and corporations on the world economic scene. The World Economic Center Index(WECI) has been created in order to rank cities based on the value of their resident corporations by sector and show their level of stability upon the removal of the most important sector. This provides information on the potential of each analyzed city as well as on its advanced features or area of specialization. Research has shown that nearly half the World Economic Centers are dominated by the financial and materials sectors of the economy. Different sectors dominate different regions of the world. For example, consumer staples and materials were dominant in North America, while information technology and financials were dominant in Europe. In Asia, several sectors tend to dominate the economy. Research has shown that the ability of a principal economic sector to resist economic crisis largely depends on the strength of the command and control function of a city. Finally, a high globalization level of a city is a key determinant of its susceptibility to economic crisis.展开更多
This study aims to understand the life circumstances and social exclusion experienced by disabled older adults in urban Shanghai and Hong Kong. It also explores the relationship between social exclusion and quality of...This study aims to understand the life circumstances and social exclusion experienced by disabled older adults in urban Shanghai and Hong Kong. It also explores the relationship between social exclusion and quality of life. The researcher collected questionnaire data in one Shanghai and one comparable Hong Kong community. The survey included 460 older adults from a community in Shanghai and 250 older adults from a community in Hong Kong. The Shanghai sampling was stratified while the Hong Kong samphng was multi-step random sampling. Both processes are representative. Functional capacity and disability had a significant relationship with the quality of life of older adults. This implies that the social environment is not inclusive for disabled older adults in many ways. Neighborhood exclusion stood out as the most significant form of social exclusion. Although disability is more and more commonly understood as an element of human diversity, the disabled are still not fully functional in society. There are still many environmental barriers and social conditions that need to be improved to achieve community inclusion. Suggestions for how to achieve an inclusive society for all and especially for the disabled elderly are discussed.展开更多
文摘The paper attempts to answer the following key question: how will a city′s world rank change in the face of crisis in its main economic sector? Crisis is defined here as a decline in financial performance in the given sector, which leads to the decline of its constituent firms and corporations on the world economic scene. The World Economic Center Index(WECI) has been created in order to rank cities based on the value of their resident corporations by sector and show their level of stability upon the removal of the most important sector. This provides information on the potential of each analyzed city as well as on its advanced features or area of specialization. Research has shown that nearly half the World Economic Centers are dominated by the financial and materials sectors of the economy. Different sectors dominate different regions of the world. For example, consumer staples and materials were dominant in North America, while information technology and financials were dominant in Europe. In Asia, several sectors tend to dominate the economy. Research has shown that the ability of a principal economic sector to resist economic crisis largely depends on the strength of the command and control function of a city. Finally, a high globalization level of a city is a key determinant of its susceptibility to economic crisis.
文摘This study aims to understand the life circumstances and social exclusion experienced by disabled older adults in urban Shanghai and Hong Kong. It also explores the relationship between social exclusion and quality of life. The researcher collected questionnaire data in one Shanghai and one comparable Hong Kong community. The survey included 460 older adults from a community in Shanghai and 250 older adults from a community in Hong Kong. The Shanghai sampling was stratified while the Hong Kong samphng was multi-step random sampling. Both processes are representative. Functional capacity and disability had a significant relationship with the quality of life of older adults. This implies that the social environment is not inclusive for disabled older adults in many ways. Neighborhood exclusion stood out as the most significant form of social exclusion. Although disability is more and more commonly understood as an element of human diversity, the disabled are still not fully functional in society. There are still many environmental barriers and social conditions that need to be improved to achieve community inclusion. Suggestions for how to achieve an inclusive society for all and especially for the disabled elderly are discussed.
