Assessment of national parks affected by naturbanization processes in Southern Europe

This paper assesses land-use changes related to naturbanization processes on three biosphere reserves in Southern Europe. A comparative analysis has been done on the National Parks in Peneda-Ger^es in North Portugal, C_evennes in South France and Sierra Nevada in South Spain, using Corine Land Cover data from 1990 until 2006. Results indicate that the process of land-use intensification is taking place in the frame of naturbanization dynamics that could jeopardize the role of Protected Areas. Focusing on the trends faced by National Parks and their surrounding territories, the analysis demonstrates, both in quantitative and spatial terms, the intensification processes of land-use changes and how it is important to know them for coping with increasing threats. The article concludes that in the current context of increasing stresses, a broader focus on nature protection, encompassing the wider countryside, is needed if the initiatives for biodiversity protection are to be effective.

Influence of river ecological condition on changes in physico-chemical water parameters along rivers

Dissertação de mestrado em Ecology

Deteção remota na avaliação das alterações da cobertura do solo no Parque Nacional da Peneda-Gerês

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia Civil

Estudo paleoetnobotânico do povoado da Idade do Ferro do Crastoeiro (Noroeste de Portugal)

Dissertação de mestrado em Arqueologia

Smart interior design of buildings and its relationship to land use

Architectural design is often associated with aesthetics and style, but it is also very important to building performance and sustainability. There are some studies associating architectural design to the choice for materials from sustainable sources, to indoor air quality, to energy efficiency and productivity. This article takes a step further to analyse how the use of efficient interior design techniques can impact the habitable space in order to improve building sustainability in land use. Smart interior design, a current trend related to the use of efficient and flexible furniture and movable walls in tiny or compact apartments, is analysed. A building with a standard design is used as a case study reference building and compared to a proposed theoretical design alternative using smart interior design techniques. In order to correctly assess sustainability performance, a quantifiable and verified method is used. Results showed that the use of smart interior design techniques can greatly reduce buildingsâ impact on the environment.

Assessment of the effects of the expansion of the city of Estarreja on the rational land use

The management of urban environment, together with the preservation of the natural environment and the creation of a sustainable built environment, is a complex challenge for contemporary societies. In the name of progress, cities are contributing for the degradation of all surrounding ecosystems. Therefore there is an arising demand for developing new strategies and a new urban development paradigm settled in the search for the equilibrium between natural and built environments and efficient use of resources. The objective of this paper is to analyse how the urban expansion of the city of Estarreja took place in relation to the land use, based on the land capability classification maps of the area. Based in the results some sustainable development strategies that might be applied to the city are discussed. The obtained results demonstrate that the city has been growing faster then its population, consuming vast portions of land, since its growth as been occurring in a linear form. Despite this fact, results show that most of this expansion took place towards a territory of lower agricultural potential, when comparing to the location of its original settlement.

Study of the of the concept of community buildings and its importance for land use efficiency

Nowadays cities are facing several environmental problems due to the population migration to urban areas, which is causing urban sprawl. This way, it is very important to define solutions to improve Land Use Efficiency (LUE). This article proposes the use of community buildings features as a solution to increase land use efficiency. Community buildings consider the design of shared building spaces to reduce the floor area of buildings. This work tests the performance of some case-study buildings regarding LUE to analyse its possible pros and cons. A quantifiable method is used to assess buildingsâ LUE, which considers the number of occupants, the gross floor area, the functional area, the implantation area and the allotment area. Buildings with higher values for this index have reduced environmental impacts because they use less construction materials, produce less construction and demolition wastes and require less energy for building operation. The results showed that the use of community building features can increase Land Use Efficiency of buildings.