Evolución y crisis de la región metropolitana de Madrid 1985-2007. Análisis de las diversas perspectivas para la transformación del gobierno urbano: una revisión crítica del planeamiento

La Región Metropolitana de Madrid (RMM) ha sufrido una gran transformación urbana en el periodo 1985-2007, en el cual ha crecido la población, ha crecido fuertemente el cuerpo físico, pero sobre todo han crecido su coste y su consumo, lo que supone que se ha vuelto más insostenible. Para tratar de comprender esta evolución asimétrica se ensayan sucesivos modelos que tratan de explicar la transformación de la realidad a través de la articulación de las formas de poder y sus políticas asociadas dentro del contexto local-metropolitano. Si se compara la transformación urbana en el periodo 1985-2007 respecto a la registrada durante el desarrollismo previo al presente periodo democrático, se encuentran similitudes, como el amplio consumo de suelo, pero el modelo desarrollista se inscribe en otras lógicas y tiene otros parámetros de contexto y es congruente ya que las últimas décadas del Régimen Franquista se caracterizan por un importantísimo aumento poblacional que se correspondía con el fuerte crecimiento industrial de la RMM. Esa congruencia relativa se pierde en el periodo estudiado, a pesar de que en 1985, se aprueba el Plan General de Ordenación Urbana de Madrid centrado en la ciudad existente y con un crecimiento contenido, y que puede considerarse un modelo abortado. Tras numerosas transformaciones políticas, económicas, sociales y urbanísticas se llega a una situación opuesta a la prevista en el citado Plan. Más de veinte años después, en 2007, se presentan no solo síntomas de agotamiento del modelo finalmente adoptado, sino su quiebra dramática tanto en su dimensión inmobiliario-financiera como del espacio del bienestar. Es precisamente la supresión de los mecanismos de regulación lo que ha caracterizado la evolución de los modelos urbanos, en correspondencia con la desregulación de las actividades económicas y de los flujos de capital propios del modelo "neoliberal". La actual crisis financiera internacional, en especial en algunos países periféricos europeos como España, ha demostrado cómo las políticas económicas que se han llevado a cabo, fuera de toda regulación, han resultado insostenibles. Pero no se trata solo de una crisis económica. En el caso español, de todas las dimensiones de la crisis, destaca la dimensión urbana, o el auge y caída del ciclo inmobiliario, debido a la urbanización intensiva del territorio en relación con el circuito secundario de la acumulación capitalista, habiendo tenido especial incidencia en algunos territorios como la RMM. En la Región Metropolitana de Madrid la situación actual es de crisis urbana, causada principalmente por el divorcio entre las necesidades y la producción de ciudad, pues no se ha basado el crecimiento en la creación de nuevos hogares, u otras cuestiones demográficas, sino en la acumulación de capital a través del crecimiento de la ciudad. Además, dicho crecimiento está conformado por una expansión urbana descontrolada, con mayores requerimientos energéticos que el modelo compacto y complejo tradicional, lo que unido a la escala de los procesos, supone un sistema urbano progresivamente ineficiente. El caso de la RMM resulta paradigmático, ya que la región ha desempeñado un papel como laboratorio de nuevas formas de gobierno y planificación que han dado un mayor protagonismo al espacio, que ha entrado en las dinámicas centrales principalmente por el apoyo al crecimiento físico, a la vez que han confluido circunstancias específicas, como un nuevo impulso al centralismo, lo que ha potenciado ciertas políticas, como considerar la ciudad como motor de crecimiento económico y de competitividad en el concierto europeo y mundial de ciudades. El estudio del papel de la planificación y sus crisis en la sucesión de los modelos, muestra su función nuclear en la propia constitución de estos —es parte fundamental de su aparato de regulación— y su valor no solo para poder entender el periodo, sino para poder proyectar otro futuro urbano. Este enfoque conduce a establecer la relación del planeamiento con las diferentes crisis económicas en el periodo de estudio lo que permite diferenciar tres momentos de dicha relación: la planificación urbanística austera bajo la influencia de la crisis fordista, la salida de la crisis a través de la imposición de un modelo urbano basado en el sobreproducción de espacio urbano, y la entrada en una crisis inmobiliaria y de financiarización en relación a la adopción de un modelo multidimensionalmente insostenible. El análisis de este periodo es la base para apuntar perspectivas que permitan transformar el gobierno urbano hacia un modelo urbano más deseable, o mejor aún, otros futuros posibles, que se enmarcan dentro de la alternativa principal que supone la sostenibilidad. Madrid's Metropolitan Region (MMR) has undergone a major urban transformation in the period 1985-2007, where the population has grown up, the built environment has grown strongly, but mostly its cost and consumption have grown, which means that it has become unsustainable. To try to understand this evolution successive asymmetric models are tested in order to explain the transformation of reality through the articulation of forms of power and its associated policies in that localmetropolitan context. Comparing the urban transformation in the period 1985-2007 to the existing during developmentalism in the current predemocratic period, both have similarities in terms of land consumption, but the previous developmentalism model is part of another logics and has got other context parameters. It is consistent since the last decades of the Franco Regime was characterized by an important population increase that corresponded to strong industrial growth of the MMR. This relative consistency is lost during the study period, although in 1985, with the approval of the Master Plan of Madrid that was focused on the existing city, with a limited growth, and it may be considered an interrupted model. After numerous political, economic, social and urban changes, there is the opposite situation to that foresight under that Plan. Over twenty years later, in 2007, there are not only signs of exhaustion of the model which was finally adopted, but also its dramatic collapse in both real estate and financial dimension of space as well. The urban transformation under analysis has relaunched the hegemony of the sectors that rule the growth of the Madrid's Metropolitan Region and it is supported by decision making and financing of the different administrations with the passivity of the social stakeholders and citizens. This has meant the removal of regulatory mechanisms that have characterized the evolution of urban models, corresponding to the deregulation of economic activities and capital flows according to "neoliberal" model. The current international financial crisis, especially in some European peripheral countries like Spain, has shown how economic policies that have been carried out, without any regulation, have proven unsustainable. But it is not only an economic crisis. In the Spanish case, of all the dimensions of the crisis, it is the urban dimension that is highlighted, or the rise and fall of real estate cycle, due to intensive urbanization of the territory in relation to the secondary circuit of capital accumulation, having had a particular impact in some territories such as the Madrid's Metropolitan Region. In Madrid's Metropolitan Region there is the current situation of urban crisis, mainly caused by the divorce between needs and the city (space) production, because no growth has been based on creating new homes, or other demographic issues, but in the capital accumulation through growth of the city. Furthermore, this growth is made up of urban sprawl, with higher energy requirements than the traditional compact and complex one, which together with the scale of processes, is increasingly an inefficient urban system. The case of Madrid's Metropolitan Region is paradigmatic, since the region has played a role as a laboratory for new forms of governance and planning have given a greater role to space, which has entered the core dynamics supported mainly by physical growth, while specific circumstances have come together as a new impulse to centralization. This has promoted policies such as considering the city as an engine of economic growth and competitiveness in the international and the European hierarchy of cities. The study of the role of planning and crisis in the succession of models, shows its nuclear role in the constitution of these models is a fundamental part of its regulatory apparatus- and also its value not only to understand the period, but to anticipate to other urban future. This approach leads to establish the relationship of planning with the various crises in the study period, allowing three different moments of that relationship: the austere urban planning under the influence of Fordist crisis, the output of the crisis through imposition of an urban model based on the overproduction of urban space, and entry into a housing crisis and financialisation in relation to the adoption of a multi-dimensionally unsustainable model. The analysis of this period is the basis for targeting prospects that translate urban governance towards a more desirable urban model, or better yet, other possible futures, which are part of the main alternative that is sustainability.

Método de análisis diacrónico para la intervención en el alojamiento con criterios ecológicos. El caso de Madrid 1940–2100

Las evidencias del impacto sobre el medio ambiente asociado al funcionamiento de las ciudades hacen que sea urgente proponer medidas que reduzcan este consumo y mejoren la eficiencia del metabolismo urbano. La existencia de límites en la disponibilidad de recursos materiales y energéticos, plantea actualmente un reto importante al ser humano: ¿son posibles otras formas de organización más adecuadas a esta condición de limitación? Para dar respuesta, resulta fundamental conocer cómo interactuarán nuestros sistemas urbanos en un modelo económico de continuo desarrollo, con la población que alojan, y si podrán adaptarse a la capacidad de carga limitada del Planeta, evitando futuras situaciones de colapso anunciadas desde distintos ámbitos científicos. En ese contexto, la tesis formula un método de análisis del alojamiento que, mediante la evaluación a largo plazo, permita proponer medidas de intervención para reducir el consumo de recursos asociado a su funcionamiento. Se parte de un enfoque ecológico para definir el alojamiento como una parte fundamental del sistema urbano, que está compuesto por tres elementos: habitantes, viviendas y recursos naturales; por tanto, para reducir los impactos asociados al alojamiento es necesario tener en cuenta la diferente naturaleza de estos elementos y el carácter dinámico de las relaciones que se producen entre ellos. La Ecología, a través del estudio de los ecosistemas, ha identificado estrategias de supervivencia y adaptación ante los cambios y perturbaciones. La similitud entre los elementos de un ecosistema (población y soporte) y los del alojamiento (habitantes, viviendas y recursos naturales) permite verificar que la aplicación de estas estrategias al alojamiento puede conducir a situaciones más deseables en la relación de los sistemas urbanos con su entorno A partir de esta hipótesis, se propone un método de análisis diacrónico1 o a largo plazo, para conocer la evolución en el tiempo del alojamiento a través de la cuantificación de una serie de indicadores descriptivos de los habitantes, las viviendas y los recursos naturales. La aplicación de este método a un sistema urbano permitiría conocer las características de los elementos del sistema y, para un ámbito temporal de futuro, prever su evolución, identificar escenarios no deseables y proponer medidas de intervención que corrijan anticipadamente estas situaciones y eviten impactos ambientales innecesarios. La validación del método de análisis se realiza mediante la aplicación al caso de Madrid en periodo retrospectivo (de 1940 a 2010) A partir del estudio de la evolución en Madrid de los indicadores seleccionados, se proponen medidas de intervención en el alojamiento basadas en estrategias ecológicas que habrían conducido a una evolución alternativa con un impacto menor sobre el medio ambiente que la situación actual. El método de análisis se aplica con carácter prospectivo definiendo tres escenarios de futuro para Madrid hasta 2100. Para cada uno de ellos se analiza la evolución previsible de los indicadores y se proponen diferentes medidas de intervención que, desde el punto de vista ecológico, conducirían a una situación más adecuada. La tesis concluye en el interés de este método de análisis diacrónico que permite estimar posibilidades en la evolución futura del alojamiento, identificar las necesidades de recursos para responder a las demandas de los habitantes y, desde un enfoque ecológico, definir, cuantificar y evaluar posibles medidas de intervención que reduzcan los impactos ambientales. El método, por tanto, es una herramienta de interés para la toma de decisiones en la intervención en el alojamiento y en la planificación urbana a largo plazo. ABSTRACT Evidence of the impact on the environment associated with the operation of cities make it urgent to propose measures to reduce energy consumption and improve the efficiency of urban metabolism. The limited availability of materials and energy resources currently poses a significant challenge to human beings: are more appropriate forms of organization for this limitation possible? In response, it is essential to know how our urban systems with the population they host will interact in an economic model of continuous development and whether they can adapt to the limited endurance capacity of the planet, thus avoiding future collapse situations which are being announced from different scientific fields. In this context, the thesis puts forward a method of housing analysis that by a long term assessment will enable to propose intervention measures to reduce resource consumption associated with its operation. The thesis is based on an ecological approach to identify housing as a fundamental part of the urban system, which is composed of three elements: inhabitants, homes and natural resources. Therefore, in order to reduce the impacts associated with housing it is necessary to consider the characteristics of these elements and the dynamic nature of the relationships among them. Ecology, through the analysis of ecosystems, has identified strategies for survival and adaptation to changes and disturbances. The similarity between the elements of an ecosystem (population and support) and housing (inhabitants, homes and natural resources) enables to verify that the implementation of these strategies to housing can lead to better situations in the relationship existing between urban systems with their environment. From this hypothesis, a diachronic or long term analysis method is proposed to know the evolution of housing over time through the quantification of a descriptive indicators series of inhabitants, homes and natural resources. The implementation of this method to a urban system would allow better knowledge of the characteristics of these elements and forecast their development, identify undesirable scenarios and propose early intervention measures to correct these situations and avoid unnecessary environmental impacts. The validation of the method of analysis has been proved in the city of Madrid for the years 1940-2010. From the analysis of the evolution of the indicators selected, accommodation intervention measures are proposed based on ecological strategies that would have led to an alternative development having less impact on the environment than that of the current situation. The analysis method is implemented prospectively defining three future scenarios for the city of Madrid until 2100. The likely evolution of the indicators are analyzed for each scenario and various intervention measures that would lead to a better situation from an ecological point of view are proposed. The thesis conclusion states the interest of this diachronic analysis method to estimate potential future developments in the housing field, identify resource requirements to meet the demands of the citizens and, from an ecological approach, define, quantify and assess possible intervention measures to reduce environmental impacts. The method, therefore, is an interesting tool for decision-making process as for the intervention in housing and urban planning in the long term.

Dimensión territorial de los sistemas alimentarios locales. El caso de Madrid

Una de las características definitorias del sistema urbano contemporáneo es su desterritorialización, es decir, su adopción de un modelo de desarrollo que se da al margen del territorio concreto que lo sustenta y de los recursos biofísicos y culturales existentes en él. Dicha desterritorialización es posible gracias al uso intensivo de energía que ha permitido ampliar hasta la escala global los flujos del metabolismo urbano. De este modo se han roto las relaciones de proximidad urbano-rurales, y se ha aumentado la dependencia de recursos externos. Entre las diferentes manifestaciones de esta desterritorialización se encuentra la organización del sistema alimentario, que en la actualidad responde a un modelo globalizado, en el que la distancia entre producción y consumo ha aumentado a costa de incrementar el gasto energético en transporte y conservación de alimentos. Este distanciamento físico va acompañado también de un distanciamiento social e identario, con la hegemonía de un modelo agroindustrial que no respeta los paisajes, las prácticas agrícolas, los conocimientos tradicionales ni las variedades genéticas locales. Tanto el modelo territorial como el alimentario son altamente vulnerables ante crisis externas que pueden alterar su funcionamiento. El enfoque (bio)regionalista desde el mismo inicio de la ciudad industrial hasta nuestros días ha propuesto un modelo de ordenación territorial alternativo, adaptado a las condiciones locales y basado en la proximidad, que dotaría al sistema territorial de mayor resiliencia y sostenibilidad. Para confirmar este presupuesto y evaluar la capacidad de reterritorialización alimentaria se ha desarrollado una metodología que aborda el estudio del sistema territorial como socioecosistema complejo, en el que se distinguen componentes de tipo social, construido y biofísico, que se encuentran interrelacionados. La historia de cambios en la organización del sistema, su estado actual y su capacidad de reorganizarse en estados alternativos son las bases de dicha evaluación. Esta metodología se aplica a la Comunidad de Madrid con el fin de describir su sistema territorial desde el punto de vista del abastecimiento alimentario y evaluar su capacidad de reterritorialización. ABSTRACT Deterritorialization is one of the defining characteristics of the contemporary urban system. This means that its development model is designed ignoring the attributes of the specific region in which is located, and the biophysical and cultural resources therein. Such territorialization is possible due to the intensive energy consumption that allows expanding to a global scale the flows of urban metabolism. This way, urban-rural linkages have been broken, increasing dependency on external resources. The modern food system is among the clearest expressions of a deterritorialized model. In a globalized food system, increasing distances between production and consumption spaces are possible through energy-intensive transport and preservation activities. Physical distanciation goes hand in hand with social disconnection and loss of identity, due to a hegemonic agro-industrial model that does not respect local landscapes, agricultural practices, traditional knowledge or genetic varieties. Both the regional and the food systems are highly vulnerable to external shocks that may affect their functions. The bioregionalist approach has proposed, since the industrial city until today, an alternative model, adapted to local conditions and rooted on proximity, which provides a sustainable and resilient regional planning and management. To confirm this assumption and assess the food reterritorialisation capacity, a methodology has been developed that address the regional system as a complex social-ecosystem, in which interrelated social, built and biophysical subsystems are included. Assessment is based in the analysis of regimes shifts in the history of the system, and in the description of its current and alternative states. This methodology is applied to the administrative region of Madrid in order to describe its regional food system and assess its reterritorialization capacity.

Formación y determinación del valor del suelo: confrontación y discrepancias entre mecanismos de mercado y regulaciones administrativas

La determinación del valor del suelo implicado en los procesos de urbanización se mueve en una compleja dialéctica en la que algunos fenómenos de naturaleza morfológica como el modelado del espacio social, o el que se deduce de las determinaciones del planeamiento (aprovechamiento especialmente) se enfrentan a instrumentos de regulación que se rigen por normas de carácter administrativo (urbanísticas y expropiatorias, fiscales, financieras-hipotecarias etc.). En ese marco en el que las discrepancias son frecuentes se pretende analizar las posibles actuaciones encaminadas a influir sobre la formación de ese valor en el sentido de limitar las expectativas de aprovechamiento tradicionalmente vinculadas al sistema urbanístico establecido, destacando al respecto la implantación de criterios de sostenibilidad y participación ciudadana, así como que la utilización de normas administrativas de valoración con la finalidad de reducir tales expectativas y tratar de influir sobre el sistema urbanístico en su conjunto, no se considera suficiente para conseguir el logro de tales objetivos. Añadiendo, respecto del conjunto de normas administrativas de determinación del valor del suelo, que si bien las reglas urbanísticas y expropiatorias establecen actualmente reglas objetivas de valoración, a través de la normativa de valoración destinada a entidades financieras, o de carácter fiscal, se introducen criterios subjetivos que tratan de aproximarse al mercado, incluso en el caso del valor catastral, estructuralmente reglado. Esta separación de criterios ha llevado a un enfrentamiento al que ha venido a dar respuesta la reciente sentencia del Tribunal Supremo de 30 de mayo de 2014, que impone los criterios urbanísticos de consideración de situaciones básicas de suelo, frente a los fiscalmente regulados en relación con la normativa catastral en cuanto a la consideración de suelo urbanizable sin desarrollar, que pasa a ser considerado como en situación rural, siendo por tanto aplicables sobre el mismo las reglas de valoración que la normativa catastral establece para esta categoría de suelo (rústico) que no considera, incluso con la posterior modificación, de junio de 2015, incorporada para adaptarse a la mencionada sentencia, expectativas de aprovechamiento. Pero como se ha señalado, la exclusiva utilización de la normativa urbanística de valoración no se considera suficiente para evitar los efectos que sobre el valor de suelo produce la asignación de tales aprovechamientos, por lo que acuerdo con la actual legislación de suelo, deben asimismo potenciarse actuaciones encaminadas a un desarrollo sostenible así como a la participación ciudadana, la transparencia y el control, con la finalidad de lograr un mayor rigor en la utilización del suelo que ha de traducirse en su valoración. ABSTRACT Determining the land value involved in the urbanisation process implies a complex dialectic in which certain morphological natural phenomena like the modelling of social space or that deduced from planning determinations (especially land use) face regulatory instruments governed by administrative norms (urban planning and expropriator, tax, financial-mortgage etc.). In this context where discrepancies are common, the purpose is to analyse the possible actions geared to influence the formation of that value in the sense of limiting land use expectations traditionally linked to the established urban planning system, highlighting the implementation of sustainability criteria and citizen participation, as well as to consider that the administrative standards of evaluation for reducing said expectations, and trying to influence the urban system as a whole, are not considered sufficient for achieving these objectives. We might add, with respect to the set of administrative norms for determining the land value, that while urban and expropriations norms currently provide objective rules of valuation, subjective criteria are introduced trying to approach the market, including the structurally regulated cadastral value through valuation rules aimed at financial or fiscal institutions. This separation of criteria has led to a confrontation to which the recent ruling of the Supreme Court of May 30, 2014 responds. The aforementioned judgement imposes the urban core criteria for basic land use situations against those fiscally regulated in relation to cadastral regulations regarding the consideration of undeveloped building land, which is considered to be in a rural situation, making it subject to the same rules that cadastral valuation norms established for this category of land use (rustic) which do not consider, even with the subsequent amendment of June 2015, introduced to fit that judgment, use expectations. But as noted, the exclusive use of valuation planning regulations is not considered sufficient to avoid the effects on the land value produced by the allocation of said uses, so that according to the current land use legislation, actions aimed at sustainable development as well as citizen participation, transparency and control, shall be enhanced in order to achieve greater rigor in the use of land which should be translated in their valuation.

Expansión y transformación del territorio : la ineficiencia de los fraccionamientos urbanizados : zona conurbada de Veracruz, México

La expansión de la ciudad y zona conurbada de Veracruz, se encuentra en una dinámica en donde convergen el medio artificial construido por el hombre y que ha generado una ciudad fragmentada; el medio natural, en el que se encuentran importantes componentes ecosistémicos de la zona costera; las políticas y estrategias que establecen los cinco Programas de ordenamiento urbano vigentes, sujetos al patrón de acumulación de capital, favoreciendo los intereses de la iniciativa privada. Bajo este panorama encontramos un territorio complejo que se encuentra cada vez más vulnerado y en riesgo de que los sistemas humano y natural colapsen. Lo anterior se evidencia en los nuevos desarrollos urbanizados, a partir del estudio de la problemática que presentan los fraccionamientos habitacionales, donde cada vez son más vulnerables, lo que constata su ineficiencia dentro del sistema urbano. ABSTRACT The expansion of the city and metropolitan area of Veracruz, is in a dynamic where converge the artificial environment built by the man and that has generated a fragmented city; natural environment, in which there are important ecosystem components of the coastal zone; policies and strategies that establish the five existing urban planning programs, subject to the pattern of accumulation of capital, favoring the private enterprises interests. Under this scenario is found a complex area that is more vulnerable every time and at risk of human and natural systems collapse. The above mentioned is evident in the new urbanized development, from studies of the problem posed by housing developments, finding that more and more vulnerable, which finds its inefficiency within the urban system.

Coastal Urban Flood Resislience versus Climate Change

Processes of founding and expanding cities in coastal areas have undergone great changes over time driven by environmental conditions. Coastal settlements looked for places above flood levels and away from swamps and other wetlands whenever possible. As populations grew, cities were extending trying to avoid low and wet lands. No city has been able to limit its growth. The risk of flooding can never be eliminated, but only reduced to the extent possible. Flooding of coastal areas is today dramatically attributed to eustasic sea level rise caused by global climate change. This can be inaccurate. Current climate change is generating an average sea level upward trend, but other regional and local factors result in this trend being accentuated in some places or attenuated, and even reversed, in others. Then, the intensity and frequency of coastal flooding around the planet, although not so much as a unique result of this general eustasic elevation, but rather of the superposition of marine and crustal dynamic elements, the former also climate-related, which give rise to a temporary raising in average sea level in the short term. Since the Little Ice Age the planet has been suffering a global warming change leading to sea level rise. The idea of being too obeying to anthropogenic factors may be attributed to Arrhenius (1896), though it is of much later highlight after the sixties of the last century. Never before, the human factor had been able of such an influence on climate. However, other types of changes in sea levels became apparent, resulting from vertical movements of the crust, modifications of sea basins due to continents fracturing, drifting and coming together, or to different types of climate patterns. Coastal zones are then doubly susceptible to floods. Precipitation immediately triggers pluvial flooding. If it continues upland or when snow and glaciers melt eventually fluvial flooding can occur. The urban development presence represents modifying factors. Additional interference is caused by river and waste water drainage systems. Climate also influences sea levels in coastal areas, where tides as well as the structure and dynamic of the geoid and its crust come into play. From the sea, waters can flood and break or push back berms and other coastline borders. The sea level, controlling the mouth of the main channel of the basin's drainage system, is ultimately what governs flood levels. A temporary rise in sea level acts as a dam at the mouth. Even in absence of that global change, so, floods are likely going to increase in many urban coastal areas. Some kind of innovative methodologies and practices should be needed to get more flood resilience cities

A Visual AGV-Urban Car using Fuzzy Control

The goal of the work described in this paper is to develop a visual line guided system for being used on-board an Autonomous Guided Vehicle (AGV) commercial car, controlling the steering and using just the visual information of a line painted below the car. In order to implement the control of the vehicle, a Fuzzy Logic controller has been implemented, that has to be robust against curvature changes and velocity changes. The only input information for the controller is the visual distance from the image center captured by a camera pointing downwards to the guiding line on the road, at a commercial frequency of 30Hz. The good performance of the controller has successfully been demonstrated in a real environment at urban velocities. The presented results demonstrate the capability of the Fuzzy controller to follow a circuit in urban environments without previous information about the path or any other information from additional sensors

Driving assistance system applied in curves for real vehicles | Sistema de ayuda a la conducción en curvas para vehículos reales

Decreasing the accidents on highway and urban environments is the main motivation for the research and developing of driving assistance systems, also called ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems). In recent years, there are many applications of these systems in commercial vehicles: ABS systems, Cruise Control (CC), parking assistance and warning systems (including GPS), among others. However, the implementation of driving assistance systems on the steering wheel is more limited, because of their complexity and sensitivity. This paper is focused in the development, test and implementation of a driver assistance system for controlling the steering wheel in curve zones. This system is divided in two levels: an inner control loop which permits to execute the position and speed target, softening the action over the steering wheel, and a second control outer loop (controlling for fuzzy logic) that sends the reference to the inner loop according the environment and vehicle conditions. The tests have been done in different curves and speeds. The system has been proved in a commercial vehicle with satisfactory results.

Making Transport Safer: V2V-Based Automated Emergency Braking System

An important goal in the field of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) is to provide driving aids aimed at preventing accidents and reducing the number of traffic victims. The commonest traffic accidents in urban areas are due to sudden braking that demands a very fast response on the part of drivers. Attempts to solve this problem have motivated many ITS advances including the detection of the intention of surrounding cars using lasers, radars or cameras. However, this might not be enough to increase safety when there is a danger of collision. Vehicle to vehicle communications are needed to ensure that the other intentions of cars are also available. The article describes the development of a controller to perform an emergency stop via an electro-hydraulic braking system employed on dry asphalt. An original V2V communication scheme based on WiFi cards has been used for broadcasting positioning information to other vehicles. The reliability of the scheme has been theoretically analyzed to estimate its performance when the number of vehicles involved is much higher. This controller has been incorporated into the AUTOPIA program control for automatic cars. The system has been implemented in Citroën C3 Pluriel, and various tests were performed to evaluate its operation.

Ultrasonic sensors in urban traffic driving-aid systems

Currently, vehicles are often equipped with active safety systems to reduce the risk of accidents, most of which occur in urban environments. The most prominent include Antilock Braking Systems (ABS), Traction Control and Stability Control. All these systems use different kinds of sensors to constantly monitor the conditions of the vehicle, and act in an emergency. In this paper the use of ultrasonic sensors in active safety systems for urban traffic is proposed, and the advantages and disadvantages when compared to other sensors are discussed. Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) for urban traffic based on ultrasounds is presented as an application example. The proposed system has been implemented in a fully-automated prototype vehicle and has been tested under real traffic conditions. The results confirm the good performance of ultrasonic sensors in these systems. ©2011 by the authors.

Efficiency and spatial equity impacts of high-speed rail extensions in urban areas

Urban areas benefit from significant improvements in accessibility when a new high speed rail (HSR) project is built. These improvements, which are due mainly to a rise in efficiency, produce locational advantagesand increase the attractiveness of these cities, thereby possibly enhancing their competitivenessand economic growth. However, there may be equity issues at stake, as the main accessibility benefits are primarily concentrated in urban areas with a HSR station, whereas other locations obtain only limited benefits. HSR extensions may contribute to an increase in spatial imbalance and lead to more polarized patterns of spatial development. Procedures for assessing the spatial impacts of HSR must therefore follow a twofold approach which addresses issues of both efficiency and equity. This analysis can be made by jointly assessing both the magnitude and distribution of the accessibility improvements deriving from a HSR project. This paper describes an assessment methodology for HSR projects which follows this twofold approach. The procedure uses spatial impact analysis techniques and is based on the computation of accessibility indicators, supported by a Geographical Information System (GIS). Efficiency impacts are assessed in terms of the improvements in accessibility resulting from the HSR project, with a focus on major urban areas; and spatial equity implications are derived from changes in the distribution of accessibility values among these urban agglomerations.

Space-time analysis of the urban-rural grafient in the metropolitan area of Madrid and ist surroundings -Guadalajara and Toledo.

According to UN provisions in the period from 2007 to 2050 world population will grow up to 9200 million people. In fact, for the first time in history, in the year 2008 world urban population became higher than rural population. The increase of urban areas and their transport infrastructures has influenced agricultural land use due to their irreversible change, especially when they remain as periurban vacant land, losing their character and identity. In the Europe of the nineties, the traditional urban-rural gradient, characterized by a neat contact between both land types, has become so complex that it has change to a gradient in which it is difficult to separate urban and rural land uses. [Antrop 2004]. A literature review has been made on methodologies used for the urban-rural gradient analysis. One of these methodologies was selected that integrates ecological characterization based on the use of spatial metrics and geographical characterization based on spatial components. Cartographical sources used were Corine Land Cover at 1: 100000 scale and the Spanish Land Use Information System at 1:25000 scale. Urban-rural gradient paradigm is an analysis methodology, coming from landscape ecology, which enables to investigate how urbanization provokes changes in ecological patterns and processes into landscape. [Hahs and McDonnell 2006].The present research adapt this methodology to study the urban-rural gradient in the outskirts of Madrid, Toledo and Guadalajara. Both scales (1:25000 and 1:100000) were simultaneously used to reach the next objectives: 1) Analysis of landscape pattern dynamics in relation to distance to the town centre and major infrastructures. 2) Analysis of landscape pattern dynamics in the fringe of protected areas. The paper presents a new approach to the urban-rural relationship which allows better planning and management of urban áreas.

Flexible low-cost system to test batteries and ultracapacitors for electric and hybrid vehicles in real working conditions

Batteries and ultracapacitors for hybrid and electric vehicles must satisfy very demanding working conditions that are not usual in other applications. In this sense, specific tests must be performed in order to draw accurate conclusions about their behaviour. To do so, new advanced test benches are needed. These platforms must allow the study of a wide variety of energy storage systems under conditions similar to the real ones. In this paper, a flexible, low-cost and highly customizable system is presented. This system allows batteries and ultracapacitors to be tested in many and varied ways, effectively emulating the working conditions that they face in an electric vehicle. The platform was specifically designed to study energy storage systems for electric and hybrid vehicles, meaning that it is suitable to test different systems in many different working conditions, including real driving cycles. This flexibility is achieved keeping the cost of the platform low, which makes the proposed test bench a feasible alternative for the industry. As an example of the functionality of the platform, a test consisting of a 17-minute ARTEMIS urban cycle with a NiMH battery pack is presented.

Self-Tuning PID controller for autonomous car tracking in urban traffic

In this paper an on line self-tuned PID controller is proposed for the control of a car whose goal is to follow another one, at distances and speeds typical in urban traffic. The bestknown tuning mechanism is perhaps the MIT rule, due to its ease of implementation. However, as it is well known, this method does not guarantee the stability of the system, providing good results only for constant or slowly varying reference signals and in the absence of noise, which are unrealistic conditions. When the reference input varies with an appreciable rate or in presence of noise, eventually it could result in system instability. In this paper an alternative method is proposed that significantly improves the robustness of the system for varying inputs or in the presence of noise, as demonstrated by simulation.

A Propose-and-revise System for Real-time Traffic Management

The aim of this paper is to describe an intelligent system for the problem of real time road traffic control. The purpose of the system is to help traffic engineers in the selection of the state of traffic control devices on real time, using data recorded by traffic detectors on motorways. The system follows an advanced knowledge-based approach that implements an abstract generic problem solving method, called propose-and-revise, which was proposed in Artificial Intelligence, within the knowledge engineering field, as a standard cognitive structure oriented to solve configuration design problems. The paper presents the knowledge model of such a system together with the strategy of inference and describes how it was applied for the case of the M-40 urban ring for the city of Madrid.