Prof. Kaichun Zhou (p), Dr. Chunla Liu, Prof. Binggeng Xie (p), Prof. Xiaoqing Li, Lei Wang, Prof. Jiancheng Zheng

Land-use and land-cover change (LUCC) is widely used as a core driving factor in environmental assessment and policy-relevant research. However, LUCC data are subject to substantial uncertainty stemming from differences among data products, temporal instability, and classification inconsistencies. While these uncertainties are increasingly acknowledged at the data level, their implications for the stability of scientific conclusions and the reliability of policy-relevant knowledge remain poorly understood. In particular, it is unclear whether regions characterized by high LUCC uncertainty also exhibit greater inconsistency in LUCC-dependent research findings. This study develops an integrated analytical perspective to examine the relationship between LUCC data uncertainty and the stability of research conclusions across regions and thematic domains. Drawing on a large body of LUCC-related studies, we synthesize reported findings and assess the consistency of evidence in terms of effect direction, statistical significance, and the relative role of LUCC among multiple driving factors. Rather than focusing on pooled effect sizes, the analysis emphasizes patterns of agreement and disagreement in reported conclusions as an indicator of knowledge stability. By linking spatial patterns of LUCC uncertainty with patterns of knowledge instability, this work provides new insights into how data limitations may affect scientific evidence and policy interpretation. The proposed framework contributes to ongoing discussions on uncertainty in environmental research and highlights regions where LUCC-based evidence may require more cautious use in decision-making.

Ms Jiin Lee (p), Prof In Kwon Park

Local government mascot characters serve as place branding instruments in South Korea, where municipalities introduce these visual symbols to construct regional identity in competitive inter-municipal environments. This study examines whether such mascots achieve inter-regional differentiation or instead exhibit institutional isomorphism through standardized design repertoires.

We conducted a computational analysis of 207 municipal mascots in South Korea, excluding 22 cases with insufficient visual or textual data. We employed OpenAI's GPT-4o vision-language model (VLM) to extract structured attributes—including entity types, symbolic connections, and thematic elements—from mascot images and accompanying textual descriptions. To validate VLM-based extraction, a subset of cases was independently coded by human annotators, yielding substantial inter-rater agreement. Subsequently, 3,072-dimensional semantic embeddings were generated using the text-embedding-3-large model and analyzed through k-nearest neighbor (k=8) sparsified similarity networks, applying Louvain community detection and k-medoids clustering algorithms.

Our analysis identified four distinct design paradigms with high intra-cluster cosine similarities (0.826–0.843). Mixed entity types combining multiple symbolic elements and human-form representations dominate the dataset, accounting for 57% of all designs. Symbolic resources concentrate on tangible regional assets: local agricultural specialties (21.3%), historical figures (18.8%), and geographic landmarks (17.4%). Thematic framing centered on nature (34.3%), culture (28.0%), and future orientation (26.1%).

However, the modest average silhouette score (0.103) indicates that mascot designs occupy a continuous semantic space with overlapping boundaries rather than forming discrete categories. Chi-square analysis finds no statistically significant association between administrative region and cluster assignment, suggesting design conventions exhibit nationwide diffusion patterns that transcend geographic boundaries.

These findings reveal that South Korean municipal mascots serve both as tools for place differentiation and as vehicles of symbolic homogenization. The convergence toward standardized design repertoires challenges the effectiveness of mascot-based branding strategies for regional distinction. This study contributes methodologically by applying VLM-based visual analysis to large-scale place branding research, and by offering empirical evidence of isomorphic tendencies in symbolic practices within contemporary urban governance.

Dr. Kristóf Gyódi (p), Andrew Ward, Loretta Lees, Makarand Mody

Short-term rentals (STRs) expanded rapidly in Boston during the 2010s, amid rising tourism, intensifying housing affordability pressures, and growing concerns over gentrification and displacement. In response, the City of Boston adopted a comprehensive STR ordinance in June 2018, with enforcement beginning in September 2019. While existing research suggests that STR regulation can reduce listings, various limitations remain: causal evidence is concentrated in a small number of cities and often relies on aggregate indicators that obscure intra-urban variation; enforcement dynamics and non-compliance remain under-examined; and few studies adopt mixed-methods approaches that connect market-level change to the practices and perceptions of hosts and regulators. This study addresses these gaps through a mixed-methods evaluation of Boston’s 2018–2019 STR regulations. First, we estimate zip-code-level difference-in-differences models using AirDNA STR data and US Census neighborhood indicators, benchmarking Boston against a wide sample of major US cities. Second, we conduct semi-structured interviews with licensed STR operators and city officials to examine host decision-making, perceptions of regulation, and the institutional constraints shaping enforcement. Third, we conduct forensic analysis of major hosts to identify patterns of rule evasion and structural features of non-compliance. Our quantitative results indicate a substantial reduction in STR supply following enforcement, with an estimated decline of approximately 55%. Notably, the regulations reduced both occasional “sharing economy” listings and professional STR supply, producing broadly similar proportional declines across listing types. However, we also identify attenuation of the treatment effect for entire-home listings managed by professional operators, consistent with uneven compliance and enforcement challenges. Forensic analysis of the largest providers reveals high levels of non-compliance, including duplicated or invalid licenses and the strategic use of exemptions, often embedded within complex ownership and management arrangements. Interview evidence further supports these patterns: while compliant hosts generally reported low administrative burden, they perceived enforcement as uneven and widely believed that larger operators continued to violate the rules. Taken together, our findings suggest that Boston’s STR regulations meaningfully reduced overall supply but have not shifted the market toward a more genuine home-sharing model. Persistent non-compliance appears to be driven by low fines relative to STR profitability, staffing constraints within enforcement agencies, and exemptions that are difficult to verify in practice. The study concludes with policy recommendations.

Prof. Tomoyasu Tanaka (p)

In Japan, sewerage services are owned and managed by municipal governments. The size of companies varies according to the population size of municipalities. At present, a lot of sewerage companies have serious problems. Firstly, sewerage companies are confronted with severe financial conditions. Water demand cannot increase due to population decline and widespread use of water-saving equipment. Therefore, revenue from sewage charge has been gradually decreasing. On the other hand, because sewer facilities are aging and natural disasters (e.g. earthquake, flood) frequently occur, operators need to maintain and repair facilities and take measures against disasters. Accordingly, capital cost has been gradually increasing. Secondly, sewerage companies are facing a labor shortage because of population decline. It is particularly difficult for some small companies to continue to provide sewerage services.
In order to solve these problems, since 2017, the Japanese government has been promoting wide-area consolidation policy to ensure the sustainable management of sewerage systems. In response, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism (MLIT), which controls sewerage companies, developed a planning manual for wide-area consolidation and sharing of facilities and resources. After that, some companies proceeded with consolidation of facilities within and between companies, but management consolidation such as mergers has not occurred. One reason why management consolidation has not occurred is the lack of evidences of benefits arising from consolidation.
Under these circumstances, in this paper, we estimate translog cost function and examine the economies of scale in wastewater treatment and sludge treatment in Japanese sewerage industry. We estimate cost function using annual data on river basin sewerage companies which treat both sewage and sludge. We investigate whether economies of scale exist in wastewater treatment and sludge treatment and provide evidences regarding the benefits of wide-area consolidation policy.