Sistemas urbanos emergentes: procesos informales de gestión y producción de espacio público

Esta investigación analiza la capacidad del urbanismo de albergar sistemas emergentes de gestión urbana. El objetivo de esta tesis es describir estos procedimientos informales, realizando un exhaustivo recorrido a través de diversas experiencias de alteración del modo de gestión urbana al uso, para dar lugar a una sistematización de estos procesos que siente las bases para plantear nuevas formas de gestión urbana. Es decir, el fin no es tanto hacer una clasificación de las intervenciones más relevantes en materia urbana, sino descubrir su estructura, un orden para el desorden, una taxonomía en esas actuaciones que permita reformular las formas actuales de gestión de lo público. Se ha tratado de dibujar un mapa de oportunidades posibles en torno a la gestión del espacio urbano. A través de los procesos estudiados, esta investigación analiza los éxitos y fracasos obtenidos en los últimos cinco años de gestión alternativa de espacios vacantes, buscando extraer formulas susceptibles de incorporarse al modo actual de hacer ciudad. Este estudio pretende abordar un aspecto parcial, aunque fundamental del urbanismo, dando prioridad a lo público, sin la intención de negar el resto de formas del espacio urbano. Se concentra en los parámetros relativos a la interpretación de lo público: desatiende al conjunto urbano para descifrar ese fragmento. Así, el interés principal de esta tesis se concentra en la producción del espacio público. Al entender este ámbito como no exclusivo del urbanismo, otras actividades como el arte, la filosofía, la antropología o la sociología han aportado aspectos fundamentales dentro de esta investigación. De esta forma se ofrece un acercamiento poliédrico desde puntos de vista interdisciplinares, tratando de descubrir con rigor las posibilidades contrastadas de mejora del espacio urbano producido por los procesos emergentes de gestión informal de lo público. Mediante un metodología creada ex profeso (una estructura definida por tres líneas estratégicas: Gobernanza, Complejidad y Cohesión Social, que se desglosan en seis conceptos clave cada una) esta investigación analiza los aspectos relativos a la producción informal del espacio público de los sistemas emergentes. En relación con la Gobernanza, una parte de esta tesis se dedica al estudio de la informalidad, la transversalidad, la apropiación, la participación, la transparencia y las redes. La Complejidad se ha estudiado en su relación con la diversidad urbana, el uso sostenible del espacio público, la reactivación, la producción de espacio público, la ecología urbana y los procesos creativos. Para Cohesión Social se ha investigado la innovación en equipamientos, los procesos bottom-up, el rizoma, la identidad, los sistemas líquidos y el empoderamiento. Esta máquina para analizar se prueba en tres soportes urbanos: la escena urbana, los edificios-contenedores y los vacíos urbanos. Se han estudiado cinco situaciones urbanas en la ciudad de Madrid, seleccionados por ser las prácticas urbanas más relevantes de los últimos cinco años. Si bien este análisis nace de estos cincos casos, el modelo podría ser útil para otras investigaciones interesadas en los aspectos informales de la gestión urbana. Esta investigación se propone reclamar otras dimensiones más innovadoras que, si bien se escapan a los modos habituales de trabajar del urbanista, se revelan intensamente en los modos actuales de reclamar y producir espacio urbano. Se ha pretendido descubrir el espacio urbano como contenedor situacional del sentido público, potencial multiplicador de efectos funcionales como la gestión, la temporalidad, la participación, la rehabilitación, la multiplicidad de usos, la corrección del compacidad; efectos perceptuales y estéticos en la escena urbana; efectos políticos, de formación, de adquisición de poder; efectos sociales como la generación de nuevas redes, la creación de identidades. Se pretende que esta investigación arroje conclusiones que puedan tener aplicabilidad en la gestión y planificación del espacio público de ciudades y entornos urbanos inmersos a procesos semejantes. ABSTRACT This research examines the ability of urban planning to accommodate emerging urban management systems. The purpose of this thesis is to describe such informal procedures, by carrying out an exhaustive review across the different approaches to urban management, in order to systematize them as the basis for new ways of urban management. The aim is not, that is, to classify relevant urban interventions, but to recognize the intrinsic structure, an order for disorder, a taxonomy in those proceedings that could help reformulating existing forms of public management. The attempt has been to draw a map of possible opportunities around the management of urban space. Through the processes that have been the object of study, this research analyzes the successes and failures over the last five years of alternative management of vacant spaces, seeking to extract formulas that are likely to join the current way of making city. The focus of this urban study is the interpretation of public concepts, considered as key dimensions, not obliterating the other forms of urban space, but trying to make an in-depth analysis of this fragment within the global urban concept. Other activities intrinsically associated to public space generation, such as art, philosophy, anthropology or even sociology, are also contributing to this research. This interdisciplinary approach tries to enrich the research by recognizing the informal elements participating in emergent public management processes. The ex profeso devised methodology is structured by three main strategies: governance, complexity and Social Cohesiveness. Governance considers elements associated to informality, transversal dynamics, appropriation, participation, transparency and networking. Complexity encompasses elements of urban diversity, sustainable usage of public space, reactivation, urban space production, urban ecology and creative processes. Social Cohesiveness includes elements for equipment innovation, bottom-up processes, rhizome, identity, liquid systems and empowerment. This analyzing machine is tested on three urban scenarios: the urban scene, container buildings and empty spaces. Five relevant urban situations in Madrid have been selected, all of them developed in last five years, thus establishing the basis for other experiences of informal urban management. The result of the research, confirms the relevance of additional dimensions to traditional approaches for urban development. The urban space is recognized as a situational container of public sense and a potential multiplier of functional effects such as public management, temporality, participation, rehabilitation, multiplicity of uses, correction of compactness; perceptual and esthetic effects on the urban scene; politic effects, training, empowerment; social effects as generating new networks and identity creation. To sum up, the purpose of this thesis is to share the conclusions obtained by evaluating reference scenarios that could be applied in similar processes for cities and urban environment management and planning.

Influência das áreas verdes urbanas na temperatura e na umidade do ar em São Carlos-SP

A remoção da vegetação para dar lugar a edificações e superfícies pavimentadas implica na anulação de diversos serviços ambientais. Entre eles está o sombreamento, que impede a aquecimento do ar derivado da re-emissão da radiação solar pelas superfícies. O ar quente e seco contribui para o aumento da sensação de desconforto e favorece a incidência de doenças respiratórias. O objetivo deste trabalho foi analisar valores de temperatura e umidade do ar, comparando-se dados coletados por estações meteorológicas automáticas instaladas em regiões arborizadas e áridas da cidade, durante a ocorrência de episódios representativos do clima da região. Os procedimentos metodológicos, baseados na Climatologia Dinâmica, consistiram em relacionar a sucessão de tipos de tempo meteorológico de escala regional às diferenças observadas entre os pontos de estudo, provocadas por fenômenos provenientes das atividades humanas. Isto permitiu a clara identificação de variações climáticas críticas para o conforto e a saúde humanos, tais como grandes amplitudes térmicas e baixos valores de umidade do ar. Os resultados mostraram amplitudes térmicas menores nas áreas arborizadas (em média 3ºC) e, em alguns casos, umidade do ar mais elevada em comparação aos valores observados nas partes áridas estudadas. Estas verificações reforçam a afirmação da necessidade de ampliação das áreas verdes de São Carlos, que contribuem na atenuação as condições climáticas de desconforto e insalubridade. Em conseqüência, aumentam a qualidade de vida da população e as condições de sustentabilidade do ambiente urbano. Tal afirmação vem ao encontro da legislação ambiental brasileira e dos anseios da população são-carlense. Espera-se que as constatações deste trabalho sejam um elemento adicional na adoção de políticas públicas mais comprometidas com a saúde humana e ambiental.

Rewilding Ballard | Growing Small-Scale Community Habitat

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Heterogeneity in Residential Yard Care: Evidence from Boston, Miami, and Phoenix

The management of residential landscapes occurs within a complex socio-ecological system linking household decision-making with ecological properties, multi-scalar human drivers, and the legacy effects of past management. Conventional wisdom suggests that resource-intensive turf grass yards are the most common landscaping outcome, resulting in a presumed homogeneous set of residential landscaping practices throughout North America. We examine this homogenization thesis through an interview-based, cross-site study of residential landscape management in Boston, Phoenix, and Miami. Counter to the homogeneity thesis, we find that yard management practices often exhibit heterogeneity, for example, in groundcover choice or use of chemical inputs. The degree of heterogeneity in management practices varies according to the scale of analysis, and is the outcome of a range of constraints and opportunities to which households respond differently depending on their existing yard and landscaping preferences. This study highlights the importance of multi-scalar and cross-site analyses of decision-making in socio-ecological systems, and presents opportunities for longitudinal and cross-site research to examine the extent to which homogeneity is actually present in the management of residential landscapes over time and in diverse places.

Ecological Science and Transformation to the Sustainable City

There is growing urgency to enhance the sustainability of existing and emerging cities. The science of ecology, especially as it interacts with disciplines in the social sciences and urban design, has contributions to make to the sustainable transformation of urban systems. Not all possible urban transformations may lead toward sustainability. Ecological science helps identify components of resilience that can favor transformations that are more sustainable. To summarize the dynamics and choices involved in sustainable transformations, a “metacity” framework is presented, embracing ecological processes in cities as complementary to those involving society, power, and economy.

Fenologia kwitnienia i produkcja pyłku w zróżnicowanych warunkach mikroklimatycznych dużego miasta oraz ich wpływ na przebieg sezonu pyłkowego brzozy (Betula spp.) i bylicy (Artemisia spp.) w Poznaniu

Wydział Biologii: Instytut Biologii Środowiska, Pracownia Aeropalinologii

Alternativas de integración de ecosistemas estratégicos a la planificación urbana. Estudio de caso: el crecimiento urbano sobre la función eco-sistémica del corredor natural Usaquén – Suba. Periodo 2003– 2016

Los modelos de gestión urbana a nivel global, incorporan en la planeación y en el desarrollo de los entornos urbanos, al suelo natural de soporte como estructura fundamental; debido principalmente a sus funciones ecosistémicas y a los bienes ambientales que provee, incluyendo la biodiversidad y la conservación de entornos con calidad paisajística, entre otros. Teniendo en cuenta lo anterior, el objetivo principal de esta investigación, consiste en hacer un seguimiento y caracterización del ecosistema estratégico del corredor biológico borde norte en la ciudad de Bogotá, con el fin de identificar y dar visibilidad a los aspectos críticos, que son necesarios a tener en cuenta en la política e instrumentos de planeación, para el tratamiento de ésta área. En el desarrollo de esta investigación, se aplicaron las nociones metodológicas de la ecología urbana, dando inicio con una fase de diagnóstico y caracterización de la situación actual, seguido de la formulación de alternativas, entre las que se destacan, la restauración ecológica. En el diagnóstico se pudo identificar que, si bien existe disponibilidad de agua y de cobertura vegetal en las condiciones de suelo, también está presente una gran presión inmobiliaria en el sector, lo cual, ha promovido la alteración de los predios, haciendo urgente un tratamiento integral de restauración ecológica de éste corredor, que permita la recuperación de la función ecosistémica, aportando beneficios a la ciudad.

Acoustic Design in Urban Development : analysis of urban soundscapes and acoustic ecology research in New York City

The world is urbanizing rapidly with more than half of the global population now living in cities. Improving urban environments for the well-being of the increasing number of urban citizens is becoming one of the most important challenges of the 21st century. Even though it is common that city planners have visions of a ’good urban milieu’, those visions are concerning visual aesthetics or practical matters. The qualitative perspective of sound, such as sonic diversity and acoustic ecology are neglected aspects in architectural design. Urban planners and politicians are therefore largely unaware of the importance of sounds for the intrinsic quality of a place. Whenever environmental acoustics is on the agenda, the topic is noise abatement or noise legislation – a quantitative attenuation of sounds. Some architects may involve acoustical aspects in their work but sound design or acoustic design has yet to develop to a distinct discipline and be incorporated in urban planning.My aim was to investigate to what extent the urban soundscape is likely to improve if modern architectural techniques merge with principles of acoustics. This is an important, yet unexplored, research area. My study explores and analyses the acoustical aspects in urban development and includes interviews with practitioners in the field of urban acoustics, situated in New York City. My conclusion is that to achieve a better understanding of the human living conditions in mega-cities, there is a need to include sonic components into the holistic sense of urban development.

Feeding ecology, density and biomass of the freshwater turtle, Phrynops geoffroanus, inhabiting a polluted urban river in south-eastern Brazil

This study examines the ecology of a population of Geoffroy's side-necked turtle Phrynops geoffroanus inhabiting a polluted urban river in Ribeirão Preto city, São Paulo state, south-eastern Brazil. Adult turtles fed mainly on Chironomidae larvae and pupae (Chironomus cf. plumosus, 100% of occurrence frequency) and domestic waste, but they also consumed terrestrial items (cockroach, snails) and carrion. Juvenile turtles showed more feeding diversity than the adults and exhibited a trend for predation on Chironomidae pupae, but this is not reflected in resource partitioning. The elevated number of turtles (170-230 turtles/ha of river) and biomass (255-345 kg/ha of river) inhabiting this urban river is probably the result of the abundance of sewage and organic waste produced by humans, the absence of predators, and increased availability of nesting areas. Such factors convert this area into an environment highly advantageous for the survival of Geoffroy's side-necked turtle.

Aedes aegypti pharate first instar aseasonal quiescence cues anticipatory plasticity with implications for urban vector ecology and control

The eggs of the dengue fever vector Aedes aegypti possess the ability to undergo an extended quiescence period hosting a fully developed first instar larvae within its chorion. As a result of this life history stage, pharate larvae can withstand months of dormancy inside the egg where they depend on stored reserves of maternal origin. This adaptation known as pharate first instar quiescence, allows A. aegypti to cope with fluctuations in water availability. An examination of this fundamental adaptation has shown that there are trade-offs associated with it. ^ Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are frequently associated with urban habitats that may contain metal pollution. My research has demonstrated that the duration of this quiescence and the extent of nutritional depletion associated with it affects the physiology and survival of larvae that hatch in a suboptimal habitat; nutrient reserves decrease during pharate first instar quiescence and alter subsequent larval and adult fitness. The duration of quiescence compromises metal tolerance physiology and is coupled to a decrease in metallothionein mRNA levels. My findings also indicate that even low levels of environmentally relevant larval metal stress alter the parameters that determine vector capacity. ^ My research has also demonstrated that extended pharate first instar quiescence can elicit a plastic response resulting in an adult phenotype distinct from adults reared from short quiescence eggs. Extended pharate first instar quiescence affects the performance and reproductive fitness of the adult female mosquito as well as the nutritional status of its progeny via maternal effects in an adaptive manner, i.e., anticipatory phenotypic plasticity results as a consequence of the duration of pharate first instar quiescence and alternative phenotypes may exist for this mosquito with quiescence serving as a cue possibly signaling the environmental conditions that follow a dry period. M findings may explain, in part, A. aegypti's success as a vector and its geographic distribution and have implications for its vector capacity and control.^

Urban hazards : spatial ecology and survivorship of a turtle in an expanding suburban environment

Aedes aegypti Pharate First Instar Aseasonal Quiescence Cues Anticipatory Plasticity with Implications for Urban Vector Ecology and Control

The eggs of the dengue fever vector Aedes aegypti possess the ability to undergo an extended quiescence period hosting a fully developed first instar larvae within its chorion. As a result of this life history stage, pharate larvae can withstand months of dormancy inside the egg where they depend on stored reserves of maternal origin. This adaptation known as pharate first instar quiescence, allows A. aegypti to cope with fluctuations in water availability. An examination of this fundamental adaptation has shown that there are trade-offs associated with it. Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are frequently associated with urban habitats that may contain metal pollution. My research has demonstrated that the duration of this quiescence and the extent of nutritional depletion associated with it affects the physiology and survival of larvae that hatch in a suboptimal habitat; nutrient reserves decrease during pharate first instar quiescence and alter subsequent larval and adult fitness. The duration of quiescence compromises metal tolerance physiology and is coupled to a decrease in metallothionein mRNA levels. My findings also indicate that even low levels of environmentally relevant larval metal stress alter the parameters that determine vector capacity. My research has also demonstrated that extended pharate first instar quiescence can elicit a plastic response resulting in an adult phenotype distinct from adults reared from short quiescence eggs. Extended pharate first instar quiescence affects the performance and reproductive fitness of the adult female mosquito as well as the nutritional status of its progeny via maternal effects in an adaptive manner, i.e., anticipatory phenotypic plasticity results as a consequence of the duration of pharate first instar quiescence and alternative phenotypes may exist for this mosquito with quiescence serving as a cue possibly signaling the environmental conditions that follow a dry period. M findings may explain, in part, A. aegypti’s success as a vector and its geographic distribution and have implications for its vector capacity and control.

Ecology, shell morphology, anatomy and sperm ultrastructure of the caenogastropod Pyrgula annulata, with a discussion of the relationship between the 'Pyrgulidae' and Caspian and Baikalian rissooideans

The composition of the Pyrgulidae and its relationships to other member families of the caenogastropod superfamily Rissooidea are examined after a consideration of new anatomical (including gross anatomy, sperm ultrastructure), conchological (including protoconch features), ecological, biogeographical and palaeontological data and a re-evaluation of existing literature. Pyrgulidae can be distinguished from hydrobiids unequivocally only with the aid of the radula. Sperm ultrastructural features suggest a very close relationship between the Pyrgulidae, the Hydrobiidae and the Bithyniidae (in fact no family-diagnostic sperm characters can be found to separate these three taxa). Based upon neontological and fossil evidence it is likely that pyrgulids represent a Miocene offshoot from a paratethyal hydrobiid lineage. Pyrgulids may also represent the stock from which the baicaliids arose, in which case the Pyrgulidae must be considered a paraphyletic group. The huge biogeographic gap between the Caspian Sea and Lake Baikal is to some extent bridged by the finding of a Neogene pyrgulid from the Altai Mountains. An alternative scenario for the origin of baicaliids is presented.