Special issue commentary: People and places in urbanising China

A machine learning method for the large-scale evaluation of urban visual environment

Given the size of modern cities in the urbanising age, it is beyond the perceptual capacity of most people to develop a good knowledge about the beauty and ugliness of the city at every street corner. Correspondingly, for planners, it is also difficult to accurately answer questions like ‘where are the worst-looking places in the city that regeneration should give first consideration’, or ‘in t...

A commentary on hunger in Quranic verses

Hunger has been always regarded as one of the signs in mysticism and morality and all Sufis have known it as one of the bases for their special manner of life. Some have known it to mean eating based on need, some other to mean fasting and some to mean not eating but necessarily. The author, as is understood in the paper, relying on Quran and sunnah, has explained that the meanings are intended...

A Response to the Commentary Entitled: “Addressing the Shortage of Health Professionals in Rural China: Issues and Progress”

Investigating the status of people with special needs access to urban space and effect on voluntary activity in Mashhad-Iran Case study: Educational-Charity Complex Rehabilitation

The creation of urban space so that all segments of society can benefit from its facilities, provides opportunities for community participation and social activity and prevents their social isolation. In this study, we investigate the status of people with special needs access of urban space and its impact on volunteer activity in Mashhad. The approach of the present study is qualitative-quant...

Untimely Applause Was a Distraction; Comment on “Shanghai Rising: Health Improvements as Measured by Avoidable Mortality since 2000”

The paper published in the January 2015 issue of this journal by Gusmano and colleagues entitled “Shanghai rising: health improvements as measured by avoidable mortality since 2000” has spurred this commentary. We discuss controversial issues surrounding the concept of avoidable mortality in health service research in general and Gusmano’s study in particular. The impact of overall social devel...