Land cover mapping analysis and urban growth modeling using remote sensing techniques

The rapid growth of big cities has been noticed since 1950s when the majority of world population turned to live in urban areas rather than villages, seeking better job opportunities and higher quality of services and lifestyle circumstances. This demographic transition from rural to urban is expected to have a continuous increase. Governments, especially in less developed countries, are going to face more challenges in different sectors, raising the essence of understanding the spatial pattern of the growth for an effective urban planning. The study aimed to detect, analyse and model the urban growth in Greater Cairo Region (GCR) as one of the fast growing mega cities in the world using remote sensing data. Knowing the current and estimated urbanization situation in GCR will help decision makers in Egypt to adjust their plans and develop new ones. These plans should focus on resources reallocation to overcome the problems arising in the future and to achieve a sustainable development of urban areas, especially after the high percentage of illegal settlements which took place in the last decades. The study focused on a period of 30 years; from 1984 to 2014, and the major transitions to urban were modelled to predict the future scenarios in 2025. Three satellite images of different time stamps (1984, 2003 and 2014) were classified using Support Vector Machines (SVM) classifier, then the land cover changes were detected by applying a high level mapping technique. Later the results were analyzed for higher accurate estimations of the urban growth in the future in 2025 using Land Change Modeler (LCM) embedded in IDRISI software. Moreover, the spatial and temporal urban growth patterns were analyzed using statistical metrics developed in FRAGSTATS software. The study resulted in an overall classification accuracy of 96%, 97.3% and 96.3% for 1984, 2003 and 2014’s map, respectively. Between 1984 and 2003, 19 179 hectares of vegetation and 21 417 hectares of desert changed to urban, while from 2003 to 2014, the transitions to urban from both land cover classes were found to be 16 486 and 31 045 hectares, respectively. The model results indicated that 14% of the vegetation and 4% of the desert in 2014 will turn into urban in 2025, representing 16 512 and 24 687 hectares, respectively.

Mota-Engil new prospects of growth: Overcoming the financial crisis

The 2008 global financial crisis caused the collapse of business key sectors, declines in consumer wealth and a fall in economic activity resulting in a global recession. In some European countries, the 2008 crisis contributed to a sovereign-debt crisis which had a strong impact in Southern European countries. The construction sector was particularly affected, with budget cuts disturbing public investment and no financing available for private constructors. This report intends to explain how Mota-Engil, faced this situation of low growth, and which strategies were adopted by the management to overcome the difficult economic conjecture, mainly in its domestic market: Portugal. The report is organized as a case-study. The first part, the case narrative, is subdivided into 6 parts, and the second part is the teaching note. The teaching note is constituted by the four questions and their respective responses.

Can the Yield Spread predict economic growth? An assessment for European countries

Double Degree. A Work Project presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Economics from the NOVA- School of Business and Economics and a Masters Degree in Management from Louvain School of Management

Financial depth, stock markets and economic growth in the EU-15 countries

The aim of this paper is to assess the impact of financial depth on economic growth in the EU-15 countries from 1970 until 2012, using the two-step System GMM estimator. Even though it might be expected a positive impact, the results show it is negative and sometimes even negative and statistically significant. Among the reasons presented for this, the existence of banking crises seems to better explain these results. In tranquil periods, financial deepening appears to have a positive impact, whereas in banking crises it is persistently negative and statistically significant. Also, after an assessment of the impact of stock markets on economic growth, it appears that more developed countries in the EU-15 have an economy more reliant on this segment of the financial system rather than in bank intermediation.

Overcoming the “European Paradox”: The role of Regional Innovation Systems (RIS) in translating R&D investments into economic and employment growth

The emergence of the so-called “European Paradox” shows that R&D investment is not maximally effective and that increasing the scale of public R&D expenditures is not sufficient to generate employment and sustained economic growth. Increasing Governmental R&D Investment is far from being a “panacea” for stagnant growth. It is worth noting that Government R&D Investment does not have a statistically significant impact on employment, indicating the need to assess the trade-offs of policies that could lead to significant increases in government expenditure. Surprisingly, Governmental R&D Employment does not contribute to “mass-market” employment, despite its quite important role in reducing Youth-Unemployment. Despite the negative side-effects of Governmental R&D Employment on both GVA and GDP, University R&D Employment appears to have a quite important role in reducing Unemployment, especially Youth-Unemployment, while it also does not have a downside in terms of economic growth. Technological Capacity enhancement is the most effective instrument for reducing Unemployment and is a policy without any downside regarding sustainable economical development. In terms of wider policy implications, the results reinforce the idea that European Commission Research and Innovation policies must be restructured, shifting from a transnational framework to a more localised, measurable and operational approach.

The quest for growth in the German organic food retail market: Historical trends, current strategies, and future outlook

This paper aims to provide strategies for the organic supermarket chain “Alnatura” to shape the demand and its market share of the organic food & beverage (F&B) market in Germany within the next five years. Through the historic evolution and the current market assessment of Germany, compared to a benchmark country (US), as well as prospective trends in Germany, reasons and opportunities for market growth are evaluated. In addition, an industry attractiveness, competitor and company analysis is executed. Based on those findings and a conducted survey, suggestions to adjust Alnatura´s current business strategies are deduced and finally examined on its risk and feasibility.

Financing exponential growth at H3

H3 is a fast-food chain that introduced the concept of gourmet hamburgers in the Portuguese market. This case-study illustrates its financing strategy that supported an exponential growth represented by opening 33 restaurants within approximately 3 years of its inception. H3 is now faced with the challenge of structuring its foreign ventures and change its financial approach. The main covered topics are the options an entrepreneur has for financing a new venture and how it evolves along the life cycle and different business approaches, namely franchising. It aims to be used as a learning tool in courses such as entrepreneurial finance.

Impact of carbon/nitrogen feeding strategy on polyhydroxyalkanoates production using mixed microbial cultures

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) production using mixed microbial cultures (MMC) requires a multi-stage process involving the microbial selection of PHA-storing microorganisms, typically operated in sequencing batch reactors (SBR), and an accumulation reactor. Since low-cost renewable feedstocks used as process feedstock are often nitrogen-deficient, nutrient supply in the selection stage is required to allow for microbial growth. In this context, the possibility to uncouple nitrogen supply from carbon feeding within the SBR cycle has been investigated in this study. Moreover, three different COD:N ratios (100:3.79, 100:3.03 and 100:2.43) were tested in three different runs which also allowed the study of COD:N ratio on the SBR performance. For each run, a synthetic mixture of acetic and propionic acids at an overall organic load rate of 8.5 gCOD L-1 d-1 was used as carbon feedstock, whereas ammonium sulfate was the nitrogen source in a lab-scale sequence batch reactor (SBR) with 1 L of working volume. Besides, a sludge retention time (SRT) of 1 d was used as well as a 6 h cycle length. The uncoupled feeding strategy significantly enhanced the selective pressure towards PHA-storing microorganisms, resulting in a two-fold increase in the PHA production (up to about 1.3 gCOD L-1). A high storage response was observed for the two runs with the COD:N ratios (gCOD:gN) of 100:3.79 and 100:3.03, whereas the lowest investigated nitrogen load resulted in very poor performance in terms of polymer production. In fact, strong nitrogen limitation caused fungi to grow and a very poor storage ability by microorganisms that thrived in those conditions. The COD:N ratio also affected the polymer composition, indeed the produced poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) showed a variable HV content (1-20 %, w/w) among the three runs, lessening as the COD:N increased. This clearly suggests the possibility to use the COD:N ratio as a tool for tuning polymer properties regardless the composition of the feedstock.

Real convergence in per capita output and growth in Eurozone: A time-series approach

The real convergence hypothesis has spurred a myriad of empirical tests and approaches in the economic literature. This Work Project intends to test for real output and growth convergence in all N(N-1)/2 possible pairs of output and output growth gaps of 14 Eurozone countries. This paper follows a time-series approach, as it tests for the presence of unit roots and persistence changes in the above mentioned pairs of output gaps, as well as for the existence of growth convergence with autoregressive models. Overall, significantly greater evidence has been found to support growth convergence rather than output convergence in our sample.

Banco Invest understanding the drivers of growth

Field lab: Business project

Polyhydroxyalkanoates production by photosynthetic mixed cultures

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are natural biologically synthesized polymers that have been the subject of much interest in the last decades due to their biodegradability. Thus far, its microbial production is associated with high operational costs, which increases PHA prices and limits its marketability. To address this situation, this thesis’ work proposes the utilization of photosynthetic mixed cultures (PMC) as a new PHA production system that may lead to a reduction in operational costs. In fact, the operational strategies developed in this work led to the selection of PHA accumulating PMCs that, unlike the traditional mixed microbial cultures, do not require aeration, thus permitting savings in this significant operational cost. In particular, the first PHA accumulating PMC tested in this work was selected under non-aerated illuminated conditions in a feast and famine regime, being obtained a consortium of bacteria and algae, where photosynthetic bacteria accumulated PHA during the feast phase and consumed it for growth during the famine phase, using the oxygen produced by algae. In this symbiotic system, a maximum PHA content of 20% cell dry weight (cdw) was reached, proving for the first time, the capacity of a PMC to accumulate PHA. During adaptation to dark/light alternating conditions, the culture decreased its algae content but maintained its viability, achieving a PHA content of 30% cdw. Also, the PMC was found to be able to utilize different volatile fatty acids for PHA production, accumulating up to 20% cdw of a PHA co-polymer composed of 3-hydroxybutyrate (3HB) and 3-hydroxyvalerate (HV) monomers. Finally, a new selective approach for the enrichment of PMCs in PHA accumulating bacteria was tested. Instead of imposing a feast and famine regime, a permanent feast regime was used, thus selecting a PMC that was capable of simultaneously growing and accumulating PHA, being attained a maximum PHA content of 60% cdw, the highest value reported for a PMC thus far. The results presented in this thesis prospect the utilization of cheap, VFA-rich fermented wastes as substrates for PHA production, which combined with this new photosynthetic technology opens up the possibility for direct sunlight illumination, leading to a more cost-effective and environmentally sustainable PHA production process.

Growth strategies in tourism entertainment industry - a pratical application-

In the past few years, prompted by the globalization and the quality and ease of travel, the world has witnessed a boom in the tourism sector. The forecast is that this tendency will continue in the upcoming years, representing a set of opportunities for companies operating in this business area. Boost Tourism operates in the tourism entertainment industry. Its revenues growth has been exponential so the founders decided that it was time to take it to new heights. This Work Project aims to study three alternative growth strategies and, based on a comprehensive analysis of the industry and the market, provide recommendations to outline the optimal expansion path.