Implications of agricultural production, policy and land use changes on water resource assessment

Una gestión más eficiente y equitativa del agua a escala de cuenca no se puede centrar exclusivamente en el recurso hídrico en sí, sino también en otras políticas y disciplinas científicas. Existe un consenso creciente de que, además de la consideración de las cambiantes condiciones climáticas, es necesaria una integración de ámbitos de investigación tales como la agronomía, planificación del territorio y ciencias políticas y económicas a fin de satisfacer de manera sostenible las demandas de agua por parte de la sociedad y del medio natural. La Política Agrícola Común (PAC) es el principal motor de cambio en las tendencias de paisajes rurales y sistemas agrícolas, pero el deterioro del medio ambiente es ahora una de las principales preocupaciones. Uno de los cambios más relevantes se ha producido con la expansión e intensificación del olivar en España, principalmente con nuevas zonas de regadío o la conversión de olivares de secano a sistemas en regadío. Por otra parte, el cambio de las condiciones climáticas podría ejercer un papel importante en las tendencias negativas de las aportaciones a los ríos, pero no queda claro el papel que podrían estar jugando los cambios de uso de suelo y cobertura vegetal sobre las tendencias negativas de caudal observadas. Esta tesis tiene como objetivo mejorar el conocimiento de los efectos de la producción agrícola, política agraria y cambios de uso de suelo y cobertura vegetal sobre las condiciones de calidad del agua, respuesta hidrológica y apropiación del agua por parte de la sociedad. En primer lugar, el estudio determina las tendencias existentes de nitratos y sólidos en suspensión en las aguas superficiales de la cuenca del río Guadalquivir durante el periodo de 1998 a 2009. Desde una perspectiva de política agraria, la investigación trata de evaluar mediante un análisis de datos de panel las principales variables, incluyendo la reforma de la PAC de 2003, que están teniendo una influencia en ambos indicadores de calidad. En segundo lugar, la apropiación del agua y el nivel de contaminación por nitratos debido a la producción del aceite de oliva en España se determinan con una evaluación de la huella hídrica (HH), teniendo en cuenta una variabilidad espacial y temporal a largo de las provincias españolas y entre 1997 y 2008. Por último, la tesis analiza los efectos de los cambios de uso de suelo y cobertura vegetal sobre las tendencias negativas observadas en la zona alta del Turia, cabecera de la cuenca del río Júcar, durante el periodo 1973-2008 mediante una modelización ecohidrológica. En la cuenca del Guadalquivir cerca del 20% de las estaciones de monitoreo muestran tendencias significativas, lineales o cuadráticas, para cada indicador de calidad de agua. La mayoría de las tendencias significativas en nitratos están aumentando, y la mayoría de tendencias cuadráticas muestran un patrón en forma de U. Los modelos de regresión de datos de panel muestran que las variables más importantes que empeoran ambos indicadores de calidad del agua son la intensificación de biomasa y las exportaciones de ambos indicadores de calidad procedentes de aguas arriba. En regiones en las que el abandono agrícola y/o desintensificación han tenido lugar han mejorado las condiciones de calidad del agua. Para los nitratos, el desacoplamiento de las subvenciones a la agricultura y la reducción de la cuantía de las subvenciones a tierras de regadío subyacen en la reducción observada de la concentración de nitratos. Las medidas de modernización de regadíos y el establecimiento de zonas vulnerables a nitratos reducen la concentración en subcuencas que muestran una tendencia creciente de nitratos. Sin embargo, el efecto de las exportaciones de nitratos procedente de aguas arriba, la intensificación de la biomasa y los precios de los cultivos presentan un mayor peso, explicando la tendencia creciente observada de nitratos. Para los sólidos en suspensión, no queda de forma evidente si el proceso de desacoplamiento ha influido negativa o positivamente. Sin embargo, los mayores valores de las ayudas agrarias aún ligadas a la producción, en particular en zonas de regadío, conllevan un aumento de las tasas de erosión. Aunque la cuenca del Guadalquivir ha aumentado la producción agrícola y la eficiencia del uso del agua, el problema de las altas tasas de erosión aún no ha sido mitigado adecuadamente. El estudio de la huella hídrica (HH) revela que en 1 L de aceite de oliva español más del 99,5% de la HH está relacionado con la producción de la aceituna, mientras que menos del 0,5% se debe a otros componentes, es decir, a la botella, tapón y etiqueta. Durante el período estudiado, la HH verde en secano y en regadío representa alrededor del 72% y 12%, respectivamente, del total de la HH. Las HHs azul y gris representan 6% y 10%, respectivamente. La producción de aceitunas se concentra en regiones con una HH menor por unidad de producto. La producción de aceite de oliva ha aumentado su productividad del agua durante 1997-2008, incentivado por los crecientes precios del aceite, como también lo ha hecho la cantidad de exportaciones de agua virtual. De hecho, las mayores zonas productoras presentan una eficiencia alta del uso y de productividad del agua, así como un menor potencial de contaminación por nitratos. Pero en estas zonas se ve a la vez reflejado un aumento de presión sobre los recursos hídricos locales. El aumento de extracciones de agua subterránea relacionadas con las exportaciones de aceite de oliva podría añadir una mayor presión a la ya estresada cuenca del Guadalquivir, mostrando la necesidad de equilibrar las fuerzas del mercado con los recursos locales disponibles. Los cambios de uso de suelo y cobertura vegetal juegan un papel importante en el balance del agua de la cuenca alta del Turia, pero no son el principal motor que sustenta la reducción observada de caudal. El aumento de la temperatura es el principal factor que explica las mayores tasas de evapotranspiración y la reducción de caudales. Sin embargo, los cambios de uso de suelo y el cambio climático han tenido un efecto compensatorio en la respuesta hidrológica. Por un lado, el caudal se ha visto afectado negativamente por el aumento de la temperatura, mientras que los cambios de uso de suelo y cobertura vegetal han compensado positivamente con una reducción de las tasas de evapotranspiración, gracias a los procesos de disminución de la densidad de matorral y de degradación forestal. El estudio proporciona una visión que fortalece la interdisciplinariedad entre la planificación hidrológica y territorial, destacando la necesidad de incluir las implicaciones de los cambios de uso de suelo y cobertura vegetal en futuros planes hidrológicos. Estos hallazgos son valiosos para la gestión de la cuenca del río Turia, y el enfoque empleado es útil para la determinación del peso de los cambios de uso de suelo y cobertura vegetal en la respuesta hidrológica en otras regiones. ABSTRACT Achieving a more efficient and equitable water management at catchment scale does not only rely on the water resource itself, but also on other policies and scientific knowledge. There is a growing consensus that, in addition to consideration of changing climate conditions, integration with research areas such as agronomy, land use planning and economics and political science is required to meet sustainably the societal and environmental water demands. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is a main driver for trends in rural landscapes and agricultural systems, but environmental deterioration is now a principal concern. One of the most relevant changes has occurred with the expansion and intensification of olive orchards in Spain, taking place mainly with new irrigated areas or with the conversion from rainfed to irrigated systems. Moreover, changing climate conditions might exert a major role on water yield trends, but it remains unclear the role that ongoing land use and land cover changes (LULCC) might have on observed river flow trends. This thesis aims to improve the understanding of the effects of agricultural production, policies and LULCC on water quality conditions, hydrological response and human water appropriation. Firstly, the study determines the existing trends for nitrates and suspended solids in the Guadalquivir river basin’s surface waters (south Spain) during the period from 1998 to 2009. From a policy perspective, the research tries to assess with panel data analysis the main drivers, including the 2003 CAP reform, which are having an influence on both water quality indicators. Secondly, water appropriation and nitrate pollution level originating from the production of olive oil in Spain is determined with a water footprint (WF) assessment, considering a spatial temporal variability across the Spanish provinces and from 1997 to 2008 years. Finally, the thesis analyzes the effects of the LULCC on the observed negative trends over the period 1973-2008 in the Upper Turia basin, headwaters of the Júcar river demarcation (east Spain), with ecohydrological modeling. In the Guadalquivir river basin about 20% of monitoring stations show significant trends, linear or quadratic, for each water quality indicator. Most significant trends of nitrates are augmenting than decreasing, and most significant quadratic terms of both indicators exhibit U-shaped patterns. The panel data models show that the most important drivers that are worsening nitrates and suspended solids in the basin are biomass intensification and exports of both water quality indicators from upland regions. In regions that agricultural abandonment and/or de-intensification have taken place the water quality conditions have improved. For nitrates, the decoupling of agricultural subsidies and the reduction of the amount of subsidies to irrigated land underlie the observed reduction of nitrates concentration. Measures of irrigation modernization and establishment of vulnerable zones to nitrates ameliorate the concentration of nitrates in subbasins showing an increasing trend. However, the effect of nitrates load from upland areas, intensification of biomass and crop prices present a greater weight leading to the final increasing trend in this subbasins group, where annual crops dominate. For suspended solids, there is no clear evidence that decoupling process have influenced negatively or positively. Nevertheless, greater values of subsidies still linked to production, particularly in irrigated regions, lead to increasing erosion rates. Although agricultural production has augmented in the basin and water efficiency in the agricultural sector has improved, the issue of high erosion rates has not yet been properly faced. The water footprint (WF) assessment reveals that for 1 L Spanish olive oil more than 99.5% of the WF is related to the olive fruit production, whereas less than 0.5% is due to other components i.e. bottle, cap and label. Over the studied period, the green WF in rainfed and irrigated systems represents about 72% and 12%, respectively, of the total WF. Blue and grey WFs represent 6% and 10%, respectively. The olive production is concentrated in regions with the smallest WF per unit of product. The olive oil production has increased its apparent water productivity from 1997 to 2008 incentivized by growing trade prices, but also did the amount of virtual water exports. In fact, the largest producing areas present high water use efficiency per product and apparent water productivity as well as less nitrates pollution potential, but this enhances the pressure on the available water resources. Increasing groundwater abstractions related to olive oil exports may add further pressure to the already stressed Guadalquivir basin. This shows the need to balance the market forces with the available local resources. Concerning the effects of LULCC on the Upper Turia basin’s streamflow, LULCC play a significant role on the water balance, but it is not the main driver underpinning the observed reduction on Turia's streamflow. Increasing mean temperature is the main factor supporting larger evapotranspiration rates and streamflow reduction. In fact, LULCC and climate change have had an offsetting effect on the streamflow generation during the study period. While streamflow has been negatively affected by increasing temperature, ongoing LULCC have positively compensated with reduced evapotranspiration rates, thanks to mainly shrubland clearing and forest degradation processes. The research provides insight for strengthening the interdisciplinarity between hydrological and spatial planning, highlighting the need to include the implications of LULCC in future hydrological plans. These findings are valuable for the management of the Turia river basin, as well as a useful approach for the determination of the weight of LULCC on the hydrological response in other regions.

Assessing the impact of adaptive accessibility on the optimal transport policy implementation by using an integrated land-use/transport model for Madrid

Accessibility is an essential concept widely used to evaluate the impact of land-use and transport strategies in transport and urban planning. Accessibility is typically evaluated by using a transport model or a land-use model independently or successively without a feedback loop, thus neglecting the interaction effects between the two systems and the induced competition effects among opportunities due to accessibility improvements. More than a mere methodological curiosity, failure to account for land- use/transport interactions and the competition effect may result in large underestimation of the policy effects. With the recent development of land-use and transport interaction (LUTI) models, there is a growing interest in using these models to adequately measure accessibility and evaluate its impact. The current study joins this research stream by embedding an accessibility measure in a LUTI model with two main aims. The first aim is to account for adaptive accessibility, namely the adjustment of the potential accessibility due to the effect of competition among opportunities (e.g., workplaces) as a result of improved accessibility. LUTI models are particularly suitable for assessing adaptive accessibility because the competition factor is a function of the number of jobs, which is related to land-use attractiveness and the number of workers which is related, among other factors, to the transport demand. The second aim is to identify the optimal implementation scenario of policy measures on the basis of the potential and adaptive accessibility and analyse the results in terms of social welfare and accessibility. The metropolitan area of Madrid is used as a case-study and two transport policy instruments, namely a cordon toll and bus frequency increase, have been chosen for the simulation study in order to present the usefulness of the approach to urban planners and policy makers. The MARS model (Metropolitan Activity Relocation Simulator) calibrated for Madrid was employed as the analysis tool. The impact of accessibility is embedded in the model through a social welfare function that includes not only costs and benefits to both road users and transport operators, but also costs and benefits for the government and society in general (external costs). An optimisation procedure is performed by the MARS model for maximizing the value of objective function in order to find the best (optimal) policy imp lementations intensity (i.e., price, frequency). Last, the two policy strategies are evaluated in terms of their accessibility. Results show that the accessibility with competition factor influences the optimal policy implementation level and also generates different results in terms of social welfare. In addition, mapping the difference between the potential and the adaptive accessibility indicators shows that the main changes occur in areas where there is a strong competition among land-use opportunities.

Assessing the accessibility impact of transport policy by a land-use and transport interaction model - The case of Madrid

Accessibility is an essential concept widely used to evaluate the impact of transport and land-use strategies in urban planning and policy making. Accessibility is typically evaluated by using separately a transport model or a land-use model. This paper embeds two accessibility indicators (i.e., potential and adaptive accessibility) in a land use and transport interaction (LUTI) model in order to assess transport policies implementation. The first aim is to define the adaptive accessibility, considering the competition factor at territorial level (e.g. workplaces and workers). The second aim is to identify the optimal implementation scenario of policy measures using potential and adaptive accessibility indicators. The analysis of the results in terms of social welfare and accessibility changes closes the paper. Two transport policy measures are applied in Madrid region: a cordon toll and increase bus frequency. They have been simulated through the MARS model (Metropolitan Activity Relocation Simulator, i.e. LUTI model). An optimisation procedure is performed by MARS for maximizing the value of the objective function in order to find the optimal policy implementation (first best). Both policy measures are evaluated in terms of accessibility. Results show that the introduction of the accessibility indicators (potential and adaptive) influence the optimal value of the toll price and bus frequency level, generating different results in terms of social welfare. Mapping the difference between potential and adaptive accessibility indicator shows that the main changes occur in areas where there is a strong competition among different land-use opportunities.

Land use modelling and the role of stakeholders in natural protected areas: the case of Doñana national park, Spain

Doñana, a National Park since 1969, a UNESCO site since 1994 among other protected area designations of national and international character, is a coastal dune and marshland ecosystem of outstanding importance for biodiversity and conservation at the mouth of the Guadalaquivir River, Southwest Spain. However, the Doñana natural area is seriously threatened by global change factors such as humanly induced climate change, habitat loss, overexploitation of ecosystem services, and pollution. Not all stakeholders are convinced of the benefits of the national park, and management of Doñana, its environs and watershed are the subject of intense disagreement. This interplay between natural characteristics of great value with intense human pressure makes Doñana a fascinating workshop for the study of global human environment interactions. Here, we discuss the role of stakeholders in the application of a cellular automatabased model to Doñana and its environs and present the results of a series of exercises undertaken with stakeholders to parametrize the model, something often done by researchers without stakeholder engagement. By engaging with stakeholders early in the project, feedback generated from workshops contributes to model development. Stakeholders are therefore contributors of empirical data for the model as well as independent evaluators providing local and specialist knowledge.

Impacts of the EU Biofuel Target on Agricultural Markets and Land Use - A Comparative Modelling Assessment

The Renewable Energy Directive (2009/28/EC) requires that 20% of the EU's energy needs should come from renewable sources by 2020, and includes a target for the transport sector of 10% from biofuels. This report analyses and discusses the global impacts of this biofuel target on agricultural production, markets and land use, as simulated by three agricultural sector models, AGLINK-COSIMO, ESIM and CAPRI. The impacts identified include higher EU production of ethanol and biodiesel, and of the crops used to produce them, as well as more imports of both biofuels. Trade flows of biofuel feedstocks also change to reflect greater EU demand, including a significant increase in vegetable oil imports. However, as the extra demand is small in world market terms, the impact on world market prices is limited. With the EU biofuel target, global use of land for crop cultivation is higher by 5.2 million hectares. About one quarter is area within the EU, some of which would otherwise have left agriculture.

Neighborhood mobility: A Long-Gone Pardigm? Approaching proximity and land use mix using data from home based surveys.

El WCTR es un congreso de reconocido prestigio internacional en el ámbito de la investigación del transporte y aunque las actas publicadas están en formato digital y sin ISSN ni ISBN, lo consideramos lo suficientemente importante como para que se considere en los indicadores. Policies trying to increase walking within urban mobility modal split usually highlight the importance of the functional patterns and the environmental quality of the urban space as major drivers of citizens modal choices. Functional characteristics would be mainly associated to an appropriate mix of land uses within neighbourhoods, whereas environmental quality would be associated to the characteristics of urban spaces. The purpose of this research is threefold: first, to identify relevant proxy indicators, which could characterize pedestrian-friendly land use mix and environmental quality. Second, to assess, for both traits, existing disparities among neighbourhoods in a major metropolitan area. And finally, to explore the association between both indicators and children mobility patterns: according to their built environment, which neighbourhoods have a greater proportion of children and, how is their mobility? Using data from the 2004 household mobility survey in the 128 neighbourhoods of the municipality of Madrid, this paper concludes that potentially favourable conditions at the neighbourhood level seem to have only a modest influence in,mobility patterns , in terms of both, selection of closer destinations and a higher share of walking within modal split. The citys policy choices, with intensive investment in road and public transport infrastructure may explain why short-distance mobility is not as important as it could have been expected in those neighbourhoods with more pedestrian-friendly conditions. The metropolitan transport system is providing mobility conditions, which make far-away destinations attractive to most citizens.

Neighbourhood mobility: a longgone Paradigm? Approaching "proximity" and "land use mix" using data from home-based surveys

Policies trying to increase walking within urban mobility modal split usually highlight the importance of the functional patterns and the environmental quality of the urban space as major drivers of citizens modal choices. Functional characteristics would be mainly associated to an appropriate mix of land uses within neighbourhoods, whereas environmental quality would be associated to the characteristics of urban spaces. The purpose of this research is threefold: first, to identify relevant proxy indicators, which could characterize pedestrian-friendly land use mix and environmental quality. Second, to assess, for both traits, existing disparities among neighbourhoods in a major metropolitan area. And finally, to explore the association between both indicators and children mobility patterns: according to their built environment, which neighbourhoods have a greater proportion of children and, how is their mobility? Using data from the 2004 household mobility survey in the 128 neighbourhoods of the municipality of Madrid, this paper concludes that potentially favourable conditions at the neighbourhood level seem to have only a modest influence in,mobility patterns , in terms of both, selection of closer destinations and a higher share of walking within modal split. The city s policy choices, with intensive investment in road and public transport infrastructure may explain why short-distance mobility is not as important as it could have been expected in those neighbourhoods with more pedestrian-friendly conditions. The metropolitan transport system is providing mobility conditions, which make far-away destinations attractive to most citizens.

Whole system approaches for managing land-use change to deliver multiple benefits from biodiversity in tropical forest landcapes

Presentamos en una sesión dedicada al proyecto ROBIN: Session No. 101: Whole system approaches for managing land-use change to deliver multiple benefits from biodiversity in tropical forest landcapes (Chairs: Terry Parr, Michael Schmidt, Kirsten Thonicke - Theme 3)

El valor funcional de la estructura verde urbana: Aportación desde el estudio de los espacios verdes de la ciudad de Bragança (Portugal)

Los espacios verdes urbanos han asumido una creciente relevancia por su aportación a la calidad de vida de las poblaciones y a la sostenibilidad de las ciudades. Su valor funcional depende de su integración en una estructura verde eficaz, con múltiples elementos, y que pueda responder a las expectativas de la población, manteniendo una relación coherente con el territorio. En esta tesis se desarrolla y aplica una metodología para el análisis de la estructura verde en distintos niveles, considerando la interpretación de los elementos y procesos territoriales y la respuesta a las expectativas y necesidades de la población. Los distintos planteamientos de esta metodología son aplicados en la ciudad de Bragança, una ciudad media portuguesa. Entre los resultados de este análisis resulta que la excesiva expansión urbana generó la proliferación de espacios verdes asociados a espacios vacantes, poco útiles y degradados, condición ampliada por planes de ordenación que acentúan el incremento del suelo urbanizable, en su mayoría no concretizado. En su relación con los espacios verdes, los ciudadanos manifiestan preferencia por el uso de los espacios verdes públicos de mayores dimensiones en el contexto local y con una mayor complejidad de elementos, respondiendo de modo más adecuado a los requisitos complementarios de múltiplos usuarios. La distribución espacial de los espacios verdes urbanos asume además una importante relevancia en las condiciones de uso y en el modelo de movilidad hacia los espacios verdes. ABSTRACT Urban Green spaces are now recognized to be major contributors to inhabitants’ quality of life and to urban sustainability. Their functional value is dependent on the existence of an efficient green structure, with multiple spaces, that can meet inhabitant’s expectations while having a coherent relation with the landscape, alongside with their individual attributes. This Thesis applies a methodology for the analysis of the Green Infrastructure on different levels, taking into account the interpretation of its elements and their relation to landscape processes, alongside with the evaluation of the answer to inhabitants’ needs and expectations. The different assumptions and methods are tested in the city of Bragança, a Portuguese medium sized city. Among the results from the case study, it is argued that the urban expansion of the traditional city lead to the proliferation not only of useful urban green spaces but also of vacant land. This condition has been increased by land use planning options that overstate the offer for residential areas, most of them not developed. Inhabitants’ relation with the green infrastructure is mostly dependent on larger local public green spaces, which offer a wide range of natural and artificial elements, addressing the needs of multiple users. The spatial distribution of urban green spaces also has a major influence on users’ frequency in the use of such spaces and in the means of travel that they choose.

¿Planificar los comunes? Autogestión, regulación comunal del suelo y su eclipse en la Inglaterra precapitalista.

El progresivo adelgazamiento del Estado del Bienestar y la privatización de bienes y servicios públicos han propiciado la aparición de discursos que reclaman la recuperación de los comunes y su autogestión colectiva. En ese contexto las tierras y derechos comunales de la Inglaterra pre-capitalista han dejado de ser un asunto académico, reapareciendo intensamente en los imaginarios socioespaciales del activismo global. Aunque esa reapropiación del pasado parece legítima, dichas narrativas ignoran a menudo la complejidad implícita en la gestión, planificación y evolución de los comunes históricos. Para subsanar estas lagunas estudiamos las instituciones y modos de gobierno que sustentaban el régimen comunal de la tierra en este período, enfatizando su condición de planificación autogestionada de los usos del suelo y las prácticas asociadas al mismo. Este régimen fue sustituido por las leyes de cercamiento, dando paso a una lógica de planificación centralizada e insolidaria: una lógica en la que estaba implícita no sólo la extinción del control comunal y la privatización de la tierra, sino también la desposesión de los trabajadores rurales y su progresiva proletarización. Palabras clave: comunes, derecho comunal, planificación socioespacial, leyes de cercamiento, autogestión. ....................................................... The ongoing eclipse of the Welfare State and the privatisation of public goods and services have triggered the appearance of discourses that claim the recovery of the commons and their collective self-management. In this context historical common lands and rights in pre-capitalist England are no longer a mere academic issue, as they reappear intensely in the sociospatial imaginaries of global activism. This reappropriation of the past seems legitimate, but such narratives often ignore the complexity of the management, planning and evolution of the historical commons. To fill these lacunae I study the institutions and modes of government that underpinned the communal regime in this period, emphasizing its condition of self-managed land use planning. Enclosure acts destroyed this regime, introducing a new logic of centralized, iniquitous planning: a logic which included not only the extinction of communal institutions and privatisation of land, but also the dispossession of rural labourers and their progressive proletarianisation.

Modelo para la gestión de la ordenación territorial en el Ecuador en el marco de su Constitución

Ecuador, país sudamericano, aprobó en el año 2008 una Constitución en la que subyace un modelo de desarrollo humano multidimensional y alternativo al vigente. Sus dimensiones sociales, económicas, políticas, culturales y ambientales se encuentran en los textos correspondientes a los “Derechos”, “Régimen de Desarrollo” y “Régimen del Buen Vivir”; en tanto que las dimensiones territoriales se hallan expuestas en la “Organización Territorial del Estado”, conformada por regiones, provincias, cantones y parroquias rurales, con sus respectivos gobiernos autónomos descentralizados, a los que la misma Constitución les atribuye, entre otras, las competencias exclusivas de “planificar el desarrollo” y “formular los correspondientes planes de ordenamiento territorial”, y al Estado central la “planificación nacional”. No obstante, el marco legal dictado posteriormente -que otorga al Estado central la competencia de ordenación territorial, mediante la “Estrategia Territorial Nacional”-, no logra regular con eficacia, efectividad y eficiencia este ejercicio competencial, incluyendo en esta condición a los lineamientos técnicos dictados por el organismo nacional de planificación; volviendo urgente la vigencia de una ley que lo asuma, pero que demanda previamente el diseño de un modelo de gestión de estas competencias, propósito al cual procura contribuir el presente trabajo. Su estructura es la siguiente: Capítulo 1: “La problemática, objetivos y antecedentes”, en cuya formulación se destaca el estudio del marco jurídico y técnico vigente en relación a la ordenación territorial, partiendo de una breve visión sobre los empeños previos en Ecuador por adoptarla, y que se complementa con una evaluación preliminar de la experiencia vivida por los gobiernos autónomos descentralizados al formular y gestionar sus primeros planes de desarrollo y de ordenación territorial, en acatamiento del mandato constitucional. Luego se avanza en la definición del objetivo general del trabajo y de un conjunto coherente de objetivos específicos. Concluye este capítulo con el análisis del estado de la cuestión: los antecedentes sobre la ordenación territorial en América Latina, en el marco de sus predecesoras históricas. Capítulo 2: “Diseño del modelo de gestión”, que se inicia con el planteamiento de la metodología a seguir, condicionada especialmente por los propios textos constitucionales que vinculan en la relación de “correspondencia” a la ordenación territorial con la planificación del desarrollo y en consecuencia con el ejercicio de las competencias sectoriales asignadas por ella misma a los diferentes niveles de gobierno. Efectivamente, tal relación supone básicamente que la planificación del desarrollo adquiera el carácter de global, total, vale decir integral, en el sentido de que igualmente contemple sus dimensiones territoriales y que la planificación de éstas se integre a la de las dimensiones sociales, económicas, políticas, culturales y ambientales, de manera tal que en cada uno de los niveles la planificación del desarrollo sea un proceso único y un todo. Por estas condiciones, el diseño en cuestión demanda el tratamiento previo de los aspectos contemplados por la metodología en relación con la conceptualización y ordenamiento de la planificación y gestión del modelo de desarrollo humano previsto por la Constitución para los distintos niveles territoriales, seguido del análisis y evaluación del reparto competencial. En este marco se diseña el modelo de gestión en siete componentes específicos que definen los objetivos estratégicos generales a los cuales apuntará la ordenación territorial, estructuran con sus figuras –los planes–, un sistema integrado de alcance nacional, entienden al propio territorio bajo una visión sistémica y proponen un esquema metodológico general para la redacción de tales instrumentos. Luego se aborda en calidad de tema clave, la articulación con la planificación del desarrollo, el establecimiento de las dimensiones territoriales sectoriales y globales de ordenación en cada nivel territorial, que posibilita a su vez la formulación de los contenidos de las determinaciones de los planes y la definición de un conjunto de lineamientos para su gestión. Capítulo 3. “Verificación”, que se ha concretado en la puesta a consideración de un selecto grupo de expertos nacionales en ordenación territorial, el modelo propuesto siguiendo los procedimientos recomendados para este tipo de consultas. Capítulo 4. “Conclusiones Generales”, esto es, un conjunto coherente de proposiciones que condensan los resultados alcanzados en los diferentes capítulos precedentes y que demuestran la validez del modelo propuesto. ABSTRACT Ecuador approved a constitution, by 2008, where a multidimensional human development model, different to the one in force, underlies. Its social, economic, political, cultural and environmental dimensions are at the entries for "Rights", "Development Scheme" and "Rules of Good Living"; while the territorial dimensions are given by the "Territorial Organization of the State" section, consisting of regions, provinces, cantons and rural parishes, with their respective autonomous governments, to which the Constitution conferred, inter alia, the exclusive powers of "development planning" and "land use plan formulation," while the central state has the "national planning" competence. However, the subsequent issued legal framework - which gives the central state competences over land planning, using the "National Spatial Strategy" - fails to effectively regulate this exercise of jurisdiction, including in this condition the technical guidelines dictated by the national planning agency; thus becoming urgent to put in force a law that assume it, which demands the previous design of a management model of these competences, which is the aim that seeks to contribute the present work. Its structure is as follows: Chapter 1: "The problem, objectives and background" that includes the study of the legal and technical framework in force in relation to land planning, starts with a brief overview of previous efforts to adopt it in Ecuador. The chapter is complemented with a preliminary assessment of the experience of the autonomous governments to formulate and manage their early development plans and land planning, in compliance with the constitutional mandate. Subsequently the overall objective of the work and a coherent set of objectives are defined. This chapter concludes with an analysis of the state of art: the history of land use planning in Latin America in the context of their historical predecessors. Chapter 2, "Design of a management model", which begins with the methodological approach to follow, conditioned by the constitutional texts linking the relationship of "correspondence" land planning with development planning and with the exercise of the sectorial competences assigned by itself to different levels of government. Indeed, such a relationship basically means that development planning should acquire a global, comprehensive, complete, total, character in the sense that it also provides for their territorial dimensions and that their planning is integrated to social, economic, political, cultural and environmental factors, so that in each of the levels, development planning is a unique process and a whole. For these conditions, the design in question demands pretreatment of the aspects covered by the methodology in relation to the conceptualization and management of the planning and management of human development model envisaged by the Constitution to the various territorial levels, followed by analysis and evaluation of the distribution of powers. In this framework a management model is designed into seven specific components that define the overall strategic objectives which aim to land planning, structure plans, and an integrated nationwide system, that understand the territory under a systemic vision and propose a general methodological framework to draft these instruments. Then a key issue is addressed, the coordination with development planning, the establishment of sectorial and regional and global dimensions of management at each territorial level, which in turn allows the formulation of the contents of the plans determinations and defining a set of management guidelines. Chapter 3, "Verification", It has traduced into asking for the revision of the proposed model by a select group of national experts in spatial planning by following recommended procedures for such queries. Chapter 4, "General Conclusions", a coherent set of propositions that summarize the results obtained in the different preceding chapters, which demonstrates the validity of the proposed model.

Hacia un Plano de Directrices Territoriales y Urbanísticas como instrumento esencial para la Habitabilidad Básica

La habitabilidad precaria (HaP) constituye hoy el primer problema mundial del urbanismo, la ordenación del territorio y varias otras disciplinas, como la arquitectura y varias ingenierías que, en conjunto, estructuran e impulsan el sector de la construcción mundial que se centra en atender el alojamiento humano en su diversidad de funciones. En la Conferencia Habitat II, celebrada en 1996 en Estambul, ante el desmesurado crecimiento cuantitativo de la HaP mundial, se planteó la prioridad de prevenir el problema de los nuevos asentamientos precarios: “paliar los problemas relacionados con los asentamientos humanos espontáneos mediante programas y políticas que se anticipen a los asentamientos no planeados”1, sin embargo, tras casi veinte años, aún no existe una herramienta sustantiva y específica que facilite a los políticos responsables de gestionar el desarrollo urbano en ciudades con bajos recursos de países en desarrollo, tomar decisiones que transformen de la forma más eficiente posible el fenómeno de la proliferación de asentamientos informales en una oportunidad de progreso y prosperidad para sus ciudades. La presente tesis parte de la convicción, que trata de fundamentar objetivamente a lo largo del desarrollo de su documentación, de que dicha herramienta fundamental ha de buscarse, a partir de la teoría Habitabilidad Básica, como un soporte esencial con el que reconducir los futuros procesos de ocupación espontánea periurbana. El propósito de la investigación se concreta en caracterizar, y conocer la óptima aplicabilidad, de un instrumento operativo elemental que ayude en la toma de decisiones estratégicas de las autoridades responsables sobre la mejor ubicación de los asentamientos que, hasta la existencia y aplicabilidad de este instrumento, se consideran espontáneos. Asentamientos espontáneos éstos que, en condiciones normales quedarían sujetos durante años a la precariedad mientras que por medio de tal instrumento abandonarían su génesis espontánea para acceder a través de planificación elemental a condiciones de Habitabilidad Básica. La materialización concreta de esta herramienta sería un plano sintético de directrices de ordenación territorial y urbana denominado Plano de Elección del Sitio (PES). Diseñado como un Modelo Teórico Elemental, su aplicación estaría preferentemente orientada a ciudades pequeñas de países en desarrollo que presenten escaso nivel institucional, limitada capacidad económica y técnica, así como ausencia o ineficacia en su planeamiento. A través de un proceso de investigación basado en: la mencionada teoría de la Habitabilidad Básica, la literatura científica de la materia y las experiencias de casos recientes de planificación urbana mediante la aplicación de sistemas de información del suelo, se propone una caracterización y aplicabilidad preliminar de la herramienta. Tras analizar pormenorizadamente sus fortalezas y debilidades y contando con la participación de un grupo de expertos independientes, el trabajo concluye con una nueva caracterización de la herramienta y la reformulación de la hipótesis inicial. ABSTRACT Nowadays, the precarious habitability (PHa) is the main problem of urbanism around the world, land-use planning and several other disciplines such as architecture and different engineering studies that, as a whole, structure and boost the global construction sector which focuses on meeting the Human accommodation in its functional diversity. In the Habitat II Conference in Istanbul in 1996, in light of the excessive quantitative growth of the global PHa, the priority of preventing the problem of new squatter settlements was raised: "to alleviate the problems related to spontaneous human settlements through programs and policies that anticipate unplanned settlements"2, however, after nearly twenty years, there is still no substantive and specific tool to facilitate policy makers to manage urban development for towns with low-income in developing countries, taking decisions that transform as efficiently as possible the phenomenon of the proliferation of informal settlements into an opportunity for progress and prosperity for their cities. This thesis is based on the conviction, which tries to objectively substantiate along the development of its documentation, that this fundamental tool has to be sought from the Basic Habitability theory as an essential support to redirect the future processes of peri-urban spontaneous occupation. The purpose of the research is carried out to characterize, and know the optimum applicability of a basic operational tool to assist in the strategic decisions making of the responsible authorities on the best location of settlements that, until the existence and applicability of this instrument, are considered spontaneous. Spontaneous settlements which, under normal conditions would be subject to the precariousness for years while under that instrument they would abandon their spontaneous genesis for accessing by elemental planning to the Basic Habitability. The concretionary materialization of this tool would be a synthetic guidelines plan of territorial and urban planning called Site Election Plan (SEP). Designed as a Elementary Theoretical Model, its application would preferably be oriented for small towns in developing countries that represent a low institutional, economic and technical limited capacity, as well as the absence or ineffectiveness in their planning. Throughout a research process based on: the aforementioned theory of Basic Habitability, the scientific literature of the subject and the experiences of recent cases of urban planning through the application of soil information systems, characterization and preliminary applicability of the tool is proposed. After attentively analyzing their strengths and weaknesses and with the participation of a group of independent experts, the paper concludes with a new characterization of the tool and the reformulation of the initial hypothesis.

La construcción del espacio litoral : el caso de la costa de Cartagena

El litoral ha constituido a lo largo de la historia una importante fuente de recursos económicos además de un punto estratégico para la defensa del territorio. El comercio, la pesca o la industria de la sal han propiciado la formación de poblaciones y ciudades al borde del mar. La costa funcionó como un ámbito defensivo, peligroso e insalubre durante siglos donde el mar modulaba el frente costero sin grandes interacciones con un entorno prácticamente deshabitado. A mediados del siglo XIX, las innovaciones técnicas y la pacificación definitiva del Mediterráneo permiten poner en valor sus características naturales y de oportunidad. Sin perder del todo su valor defensivo, el litoral resurge como recurso productivo y como lugar de ocio y disfrute de la población. El valor estratégico de la costa quedará también reflejado en el marco normativo. El derecho civil moderno recuperará el concepto de Dominio público Marítimo Terrestre a través de la Ley de Aguas de 1866 que regulará también los usos y las limitaciones en la propiedad privada litoral. Desde ese momento, las transformaciones económicas, sociales, jurídicas y ambientales van a provocar un cambio significativo en la relación entre la sociedad y la costa que dará paso a la construcción del espacio litoral que hemos heredado. Desde la triple perspectiva del litoral como sistema físico ambiental, sistema económico, productivo y cultural, y sistema administrativo y legal, el principal objetivo de la tesis será reconstruir el proceso de transformación del litoral consecuencia de la evolución en la forma de producción del espacio, de área defensiva a recurso productivo, y desde mediados del siglo XIX hasta principios del siglo XXI. Sin embargo, la construcción del litoral no ha sido homogénea ni constante a lo largo del tiempo. Ha estado sujeta a los distintos vaivenes económicos y sociales pero también a los cambios en el modelo territorial definido por el marco legal vigente, así como a los reajustes del propio sistema físico. Como instrumento sociopolítico, el marco legal regula las presiones del sistema económico sobre el medio, apostando por una visión frente a otra, y posibilitando el grado de transformación final. Así, el conocimiento sobre el territorio en el que se interviene y la definición del modelo de litoral por parte de los poderes públicos irán configurando el espacio físico, económico y social desarrollado en la costa. Para la reconstrucción del proceso de construcción del litoral, la tesis define cuatro fases diferentes y aplica las hipótesis y la metodología a la costa de Cartagena. Se presenta gráficamente la evolución en los tres sistemas en cada una de las fases, y se recompone el relato histórico a través de los hitos más relevantes para el proceso. En cada una de las fases, el nuevo modelo intentará dar respuesta a todo aquello que no funcionó o se quedó a medias en el periodo anterior. Las crisis económicas provocan la ralentización de la actividad productiva y, consecuentemente, de las transformaciones en el territorio. Servirán para establecer, en principio, un cambio de paradigma en la lectura y gestión del litoral que acabará traduciéndose en un nuevo texto legislativo en materia de costas (1969, 1988 y 2013). La reforma de la normativa responde a una nueva forma de entender, ordenar, gestionar e intervenir en el territorio, donde se modulan las pautas pero también la intensidad en la intervención. Pero nace condicionada por el litoral heredado: los derechos generados durante la vigencia del marco legal anterior; el modelo económico y sus presiones y expectativas sobre el litoral; y el medio físico en el que se acumulan los procesos de degradación no resueltos y los nuevos riesgos. Así, las conclusiones de la tesis ponen de manifiesto la necesidad de una visión compleja e integral sobre el litoral, en la que el urbanismo y la ordenación del territorio serán fundamentales para afrontar los nuevos retos en su construcción a futuro. ABSTRACT The littoral has been throughout history an important source of economic resources and a strategic point for the defense of territory. Trade, fishing or salt industry have led to the formation of towns and cities on the edge of the sea. The coast served as a defensive, dangerous and unhealthy place where the sea modulated for centuries the waterfront without major interactions with a virtually uninhabited environment. In the mid-nineteenth century, technical innovations and the final pacification of the Mediterranean allowed to value its natural features and opportunities. Without entirely losing its defensive value, the coast emerges as a productive resource and as a place of leisure and enjoyment of people. The strategic value of the coast will also be reflected in the legal framework. The concept of maritime-terrestrial public domain will be recovered by the modern civil law and the law of waters of 1866 governs the uses and limitations of private ownership of the coast. Since then, the economic, social, legal and environmental changes will to cause a significant change in the relationship between society and the coast that will give way to the construction of littoral space inherited. From the triple perspective of the littoral as a physical environmental system, an economic, productive and cultural system, and an administrative and legal system, the main objective of the thesis is to rebuild its process of transformation, as a result of the evolution in the way that space is produced, from defensive zone to productive resource, and from the middle of the nineteenth century until the beginning of the twenty-first century. However, the construction of the coast has not been uniform nor constant over time. It has been subject to different economic and social fluctuations and also to changes in the territorial model defined by the legal framework in force, as well as to readjustments of the physical system itself. As socio-political instrument, the legal framework regulates the pressure of the economic system on the environment, it bets on a vision over another and facilitates the final degree of transformation. Thus, the knowledge on the territory that is being intervened and the definition of the model of shoreline by public authorities will configure the physical, economic and social space developed on the coast. For the reconstruction of the littoral building process, the thesis defines four different phases and applies the hypothesis and methodology to the coast of Cartagena. It introduces graphically the evolution of the three systems in each of the phases and it recomposes the historical account through of the most important milestones for the process. In each phase, the new model will attempt to answer everything that did not work or was half in the previous period. Economic crises cause a slowdown in productive activity and, consequently, in the changes of territory. They serve to establish, in principle, a paradigm shift for reading and managing the littoral, eventually resulting in new legal texts on coasts matter (1969, 1988 and 2013). The reform of legislation responds to a new way for understanding, arranging, managing and intervening on the territory, where the guidelines and also the intervention intensity are modulated. But it is born conditioned by the inherited coast: the rights generated under previous legal framework; the economic model and its pressures and expectations on the littoral; and the physical environment which accumulates degradation processes unresolved and new risks. Thus, the thesis conclusions highlight the need for a complex and comprehensive view on the littoral, where urban planning and land-use planning will be key to meet the future challenges in its construction.

An Integrated Transport Planning Framework Involving a Combined Utility-Regret Approach

Sustainable transport planning requires an integrated approach involving strategic planning, impact analysis and multi-criteria evaluation. This study aims at relaxing the utility-based decision-making assumption by newly embedding anticipated-regret and combined utility-regret decision mechanisms in an integrated transport planning framework. The framework consists of a two-round Delphi survey, an integrated land-use and transport model for Madrid, and multi-criteria analysis. Results show that (i) regret-based ranking has similar mean but larger variance than utility-based ranking; (ii) the least-regret scenario forms a compromise between the desired and the expected scenarios; (iii) the least-regret scenario can lead to higher user benefits in the short-term and lower user benefits in the long-term; (iv) utility-based, regret-based and combined utility-regret-based multi-criteria analysis result in different rankings of policy packages; and (v) the combined utility-regret ranking is more informative compared with utility-based or regret-based ranking.

Climate Change and Restoration of Degraded Land

The United Nations Climate Change Conference, Durban 2011, delivered a breakthrough on the international community's response to climate change. In the second largest meeting of its kind, the negotiations advanced, in a balanced fashion, the implementation of the Convention and the Kyoto Protocol, the Bali Action Plan, and the Cancun Agreements. The outcomes included a decision by Parties to adopt a universal legal agreement on climate change as soon as possible, and no later than 2015. One of the decisions adopted by COP 17 and CMP 7 regard to the land use, land-use change and forestry, and invites the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to review and, if necessary, update supplementary methodologies for estimating anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions by sources and removals by sinks resulting from land use, land-use change and forestry activities under Article 3, paragraphs 3 and 4, of the Kyoto Protocol. Land degradation is a human-induced or natural process which negatively affects the productivity of land within an ecosystem. The direct causes of land degradation are geographically specific. Climate change, including changes in short-term variation, as well as long-term gradual changes in temperature and precipitation, is expected to be an additional stress on rates of land degradation. Book Topics: • Introduction to Climate Change and Land Degradation • Change Mitigation • Climate Change and Waste Land Restoration • Water Management and Planning • Erosion and Hydrological Restoration • Forest Fire Land Restoration • Polluted Soils Restoration • Combating Climate Change by Restoration of Degraded Land • Research Matters – Climate Change Governance • Advanced Statistics Climate Change and Restoration of Degraded Land is of interests to academics, engineers, consultans, designers and professionals involved in restoration of degraded lands projects.