Urban transport planning in a context of demographic, social, economic and technological change

Transport planning necessarily takes into account more than just the immediate time-frame. In the case of urban transport, planning needs to come up with solutions in regard to infrastructure which is expensive and may have a useful life extending over several decades. Therefore, planning must take note of economic, technological, social and demographic changes that influence trips undertaken.The purpose of this article is to explore some of the trends that may well be observed in upcoming decades. The article arrives at the conclusion that, in a period of considerable change and uncertainty, failure to take heed of recent trends may result in the construction of infrastructure that is not always the most appropriate and, what is more, that urban development militates against the efficient operation of public transport and, as a result, is likely to jeopardize the sustainability of cities in the long term.

Climate Change and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean. Overview 2009

Includes bibliography

The urban female labour market in Latin America: the myth and the reality

Includes bibliography

Changes in the urban female labour market

Includes bibliography

Adaptation to climate change in megacities of Latin America: Regional Learning Network of the research project ClimateAdaptationSantiago (CAS)

The main objective of this publication is to document the current state of urban climate change adaptation practice in Latin America. It is a summary of the three workshops of the Regional Learning Network that was set up under the ClimateAdaptationSantiago project (CAS), encompassing six large Latin American cities (Bogotá, Buenos Aires, Lima, Mexico City, São Paulo and Santiago). It aims to synthesize information on the manifestations and impacts of climate change in those Latin American cities that participated in the network, and above all, governance in the form of concrete actions. The publication is based on information obtained from the participants in the three workshops, but also includes additional scientific input and reflections by the editors. All of this information makes a major contribution to highlighting the different paths these six cities are pursuing in response to climate change. To that end, the publication discusses the various courses of action on climate change adaptation, with the aim of learning from these cases and highlighting practical examples.

The economics of climate change in Latin America and the Caribbean: Paradoxes and challenges of sustainable development

The robust growth of Latin American and Caribbean economies in recent years has led to an improvement in economic and social conditions in the region. It has also had collateral negative effects, however, such as more air pollution in urban areas and a serious deterioration of various natural assets, including non-renewable resources, water resources and forests. There are economies and societies within the region that are highly vulnerable to all sorts of adverse impacts of climate change, and whose production structures and consumption patterns still tend to leave a large carbon footprint. This situation has reached the point of undermining the foundations of the region’s economic buoyancy. Latin America and the Caribbean therefore needs to make the transition in the years to come towards a sustainable form of development that will preserve its economic, social and natural assets for future generations and leave them with a legacy of a more equal, more socially inclusive, low-carbon form of economic growth. Viewed from this standpoint, the climate change challenge is also a sustainable development challenge, and if it is to be addressed successfully, a global consensus that recognizes the asymmetries and paradoxes of the problem will have to be reached..