Comparative analysis of urban and rural environmental quality: the opinions of residents of the region

Abstract

The article presents the results of a comparative analysis of the opinions of the rural and urban settlements’ population of the Stavropol Territory on the qualitative characteristics of the living environment. The quality of life in the village, which to a small extent depends on the state of the environment (transport accessibility of infrastructure and social facilities, road and pavement, lighting, etc.), plays a significant role in the choice of permanent residence. Currently, the rural population has high demands on the living environment. Rural settlements have territorial-landscape, climatic features, the historically established traditional spatial organization of rural settlements and the social lifestyle of the villager. Therefore, the urban model of improvement in rural areas cannot be used. It is important to study the opinions of local residents to understand the directions of transformation and improve the quality of the environment of rural settlements. Directions for the development of the environment of a settlement significantly depend on the characteristics of traditional socio-cultural practices of the population. This study allows us to more accurately formulate the desired contours of the model of the environment of settlements. On the example of a comparative analysis of the problems of transport accessibility of social infrastructure by residents in different types of settlements, we have shown the actual discrepancy in their significance. To plan directions for the development of rural transport infrastructure, it is necessary to solve the issues of hard cover for light-duty vehicles that are designed to carry small cargoes necessary for personal subsidiary plots.

Quantitative Analysis and Cause Exploration of Architectural Feature Changes in a Traditional Chinese Village: Lingquan Village, Heyang County, Shaanxi Province

“…Zhou et al found that infrastructure, public service facilities, and the natural ecological environment were the main aspects of change when analyzing the element characteristics of the quality of rural human settlements in the suburbs of Beijing; further, they found that the supporting infrastructure and social coordination level were the most important for villagers to form an overall impression of a village [7]. Baklanov et al proposed that infrastructure and social facilities represent the quality characteristics of the living environment to a certain extent, adding that the unique spatial organization of rural settlements and villagers' lifestyles are also very important [8]. Yu et al divided the built environment elements into three categories: fixed elements, such as public infrastructure and buildings; semi-fixed elements, such as landscapes and signs; and non-fixed elements, such as representative people and their behaviors [9].…”

“…Among these levels, changes in construction land at the village level have been found to largely reflect changes in the number and size of buildings, which had a greater degree of influence on a village's architectural features than other changes. Furthermore, at the street level, public facilities and spaces, as important comprehensive places for villagers' daily lives and social communication, have been found to be the main carriers of a village's social features [7,8]. Studying these places is of great significance for understanding changes in village architectural features at the street level.…”