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

Includes bibliography

Current issues and prospects in the transport sector: urban transport, rail transport and highway maintenance

This edition of the FAL Bulletin tells of recent events and trends in urban transport, railways and highway maintenance in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Entraves espaciais: brownfields caracterizados por aterros de resíduos sólidos urbanos desativados no município de São Paulo - SP

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

A cartografia e o geoprocessamento como instrumento de análise das propostas de redefinição dos limites territoriais da Floresta Nacional do Jamanxim - Estado do Pará

Neste trabalho, categoriza-se o território a partir do ponto de vista relacional do poder e uso do espaço, fazendo referência ao manejo de uso múltiplo sustentável dos recursos naturais da Unidade de Conservação Floresta Nacional (FLONA) do Jamanxim. Criada por decreto presidencial de fevereiro de 2006 possui uma área de 1,3 milhão de hectares, no município de Novo Progresso, próxima à BR-163, ultimamente têm sido palco de batalha no qual está sendo pleiteada a sua (re) configuração territorial. De um lado alguns Atores Sociais com o apóio de políticos da região, objetiva permanecer ocupando 46% do total da área, propondo contornos territoriais através da formação de um mosaico de unidades de conservação na área que hoje é a FLONA. Do outro lado o Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade – ICMBIO que defende a permanência de toda área como Floresta Nacional, excluindo, no entanto, três das 13 regiões estudadas e avaliadas por Analistas deste instituto no ano de 2009. Este estudo objetiva analisar as proposta de redefinição territorial da FLONA, especificamente a viabilidade de implementação da mesma em cada uma das propostas, para tanto o trabalho utiliza-se da ferramenta do sensoriamento remoto, a fim de realizar mapeamento multitemporal da dinâmica de uso e ocupação do solo na Floresta Nacional de Jamanxim, com intuito de investigar a dinâmica de ocupação utilizada na área, evidenciando a convenção da Floresta em Antropismo nos anos de 1984, 1990, 2000 e 2009. O resultado indica que a FLONA do Jamanxim tem seu histórico de ocupação similarcom o restante da Região Amazônica, incentivados por programas de Colonização ofertados pelo Governo Federal, a população que reside em seu interior remonta as décadas de 70 e 80, as quais começam a usar a terra de forma a desmatar para implantar pecuária, garimpo, madeireiras e etc. A forma de ocupação territorial da área que hoje é a Floresta Nacional do Jamanxim indica que a batalha por redefinição territorial ou outras categorias de Unidade de Conservação menos restritivas será longínqua, enquanto existirem entraves por parte do órgão gestor (ICMBIO) em executar a plena gestão da FLONA do Jamanxim.

Urbanização e estratégias de desenvolvimento no Pará: da ocupação ribeirinha aos assentamentos precários

Este texto investiga os investimentos recentes na produção de habitação e urbanização de assentamentos precários da primeira geração de contratos do Programa de Aceleração do Crescimento - PAC, na sua modalidade Infraestrutura Social e Urbana, em andamento na capital do Pará, Belém, e em cidades que desempenham funções de cidades médias no estado do Pará - Marabá e Castanhal. Para melhor situar o problema, o texto explicita como ciclos econômicos ocorridos na região estão associados ao crescimento demográfico, ao desenvolvimento urbano e à produção dos assentamentos informais nessas cidades, e explora como as intervenções respondem a variáveis tais como acesso a terra e inserção na cidade, gestão e regulação urbanística disponíveis, padrões de uso e ocupação do solo praticados, e potencial de consolidação dos assentamentos após a intervenção, na expectativa de inferir se há padrões entre tais ações e qual sua contribuição para a estruturação do espaço dessas cidades.

Zoneamento geoambiental do município de Casa Branca (SP)

Pós-graduação em Geociências e Meio Ambiente - IGCE

Environmental fragility evaluation and guidelines for environmental zoning: a study case on Ibiuna (the Southeastern Brazilian region)

Environmental fragility models are important decision tools for policy makers as they help quantify environmental sensitivity and understand the relationship between human activities and environmental quality. The objective of this study was to evaluate three different environmental fragility models within the Brazilian rainforest region and to use the results to develop environmental zone classes. Two rural river basins located in Ibiuna, Sao Paulo state, Brazil, were studied. Input variables, including slope class, relief dissection rate, soil class, lithology, land cover, and climate data, were used to compute environmental fragility classes using three standard models. The model outputs were evaluated on their ability to accurately predict the most sensitive and least sensitive areas. The best models for each region were used to derive environmental zoning maps, including restoration priorities, best regions for agriculture, and areas with high needs for soil management. These maps will help support land use strategies for environmental restoration. This study provides insight into territorial ordering and management of environmental services with a regional perspective.

Environment and dispersal paths override life strategies and residence time in determining regional patterns of invasion by alien plants

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Análise das alterações geomorfológicas decorrentes dos processos de urbanização na bacia hidrográfica do córrego Lavapés, em Rio Claro/SP

In the last 60 years, many Brazilian cities practically doubled their population contingent. As a result of this process, there was an increase on the occupation level on unstable areas, from a physical point of view, and on the anthropogenic interventions at the natural ambient, reorganizing the existent process and forms. Thus, this work shows the results of the analysis of geomorphological changes deriving from urbanization processes at the Lavapés Stream watershed, located at Rio Claro county (SP). The goal of this work was reached by means of historical-evolutionary geomorphological cartography. To achieve this result, it had been prepared geomorphological and land usage charts for the years of 1962, 1988 and 2010, and a declivity chart. Those scenarios have been analyzed from the point of view of the General Systems Theory. The results were attached into an urban use restrictions chart, which allowed identifying the areas that should not be occupied, by geomorphological view and by environmental law restrictions

Characterization and thermal study of organic extracts of urban solid waste

The urban residues put in landfill of the city of Sa˜o Carlos-SP, Brazil, in 2004 represent 58.7 % of decomposed organic material. The aim of this research was to characterize samples of urban solid waste and its organic extracts targeting the use of this residue without damaging the environment. The curves were obtained in a nitrogen atmosphere, a heating rate of 20 C min-1 , the temperature of 30–600 C. In the original sample after humidity loss, an event occured concerning the water constitution in the TG curve with an endothermic peak in the DTA curve. There was a presence of inorganic residue in the ashes. The organic matter present in the USR sample disposed in the landfill is constituted by several polarity, organics compounds from the degradation of lignin, cellulose, lipids, and other materials which thermal stabilities are distinct. The hexane extract features in its constitution two fatty acids, stearic and triacontano´ic, which are nonpolar compounds originating from bacteria present in the residue. The acids groups in extract hexane also were evidenced by X-ray diffraction and FTIR.

Dinâmicas de apropriação e ocupação em diferentes formas de relevo: impactos e vulnerabilidades em ambientes urbanos

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Water Rights and Land Values in the West-Central Plains

Irrigation is vital to the economic activity of the west-central Great Plains. The crops grown, the distribution of center-pivot irrigation systems, and the basic transportation infrastructure is the same in northwest Kansas, northeast Colorado, and southwest Nebraska. But buyers of agricultural land face a different price for irrigated cropland in each of the states, even when the production characteristics of the land are similar. After accounting for factors like productivity and local property tax differences, we argue that it is the difference in water marketing rights between the three states that explains the price difference. The link between land values and water marketing rights is statistically developed by using Ordinary Least Squared (OLS) regression techniques. After adjusting for differences in property taxes, the analysis reveals that the implicit value of full water-marketing rights in the region is approximately $1,026 per acre. This valuation is within the range of estimates provided by other comparable studies across the country.

Engineering geological data in support of municipal land use planning-a case study in Analandia, southeast Brazil

This paper presents a method for transforming the information of an engineering geological map into useful information for non-specialists involved in land-use planning. The method consists of classifying the engineering geological units in terms of land use capability and identifying the legal and the geologic restrictions that apply in the study area. Both informations are then superimposed over the land use and a conflict areas map is created. The analysis of these data leads to the identification of existing and forthcoming land use conflicts and enables the proposal of planning measures on a regional and local scale. The map for the regional planning was compiled at a 1:50,000 scale and encompasses the whole municipal land area where uses are mainly rural. The map for the local planning was compiled at a 1:10,000 scale and encompasses the urban area. Most of the classification and operations on maps used spatial analyst tools available in the Geographical Information System. The regional studies showed that the greater part of Analandia's territory presents appropriate land uses. The local-scale studies indicate that the majority of the densely occupied urban areas are in suitable land. Although the situation is in general positive, municipal policies should address the identified and expected land use conflicts, so that it can be further improved.

Impact of Land Degradation on Soil Microbial Biomass and Activity in Northeast Brazil

Land degradation causes great changes in the soil biological properties. The process of degradation may decrease soil microbial biomass and consequently decrease soil microbial activity. The study was conducted out during 2009 and 2010 at the four sites of land under native vegetation (NV), moderately degraded land (LDL), highly degraded land (HDL) and land under restoration for four years (RL) to evaluate changes in soil microbial biomass and activity in lands with different degradation levels in comparison with both land under native vegetation and land under restoration in Northeast Brazil. Soil samples were collected at 0-10 cm depth. Soil organic carbon (SOC), soil microbial biomass C (MBC) and N (MBN), soil respiration (SR), and hydrolysis of fluorescein diacetate (FDA) and dehydrogenase (DHA) activities were analyzed. After two years of evaluation, soil MBC, MBN, FDA and DHA had higher values in the NV, followed by the RL. The decreases of soil microbial biomass and enzyme activities in the degraded lands were approximately 8-10 times as large as those found in the NV. However, after land restoration, the MBC and MBN increased approximately 5-fold and 2-fold, respectively, compared with the HDL. The results showed that land degradation produced a strong decrease in soil microbial biomass. However, land restoration may promote short- and long-term increases in soil microbial biomass.

Land Use, Freshwater Flows and Ecosystem Services in an Era of Global Change

The purpose of this thesis is to analyse interactions between freshwater flows, terrestrial ecosystems and human well-being. Freshwater management and policy has mainly focused on the liquid water part (surface and ground water run off) of the hydrological cycle including aquatic ecosystems. Although of great significance, this thesis shows that such a focus will not be sufficient for coping with freshwater related social-ecological vulnerability. The thesis illustrates that the terrestrial component of the hydrological cycle, reflected in vapour flows (or evapotranspiration), serves multiple functions in the human life-support system. A broader understanding of the interactions between terrestrial systems and freshwater flows is particularly important in light of present widespread land cover change in terrestrial ecosystems. The water vapour flows from continental ecosystems were quantified at a global scale in Paper I of the thesis. It was estimated that in order to sustain the majority of global terrestrial ecosystem services on which humanity depends, an annual water vapour flow of 63 000 km3/yr is needed, including 6800 km3/yr for crop production. In comparison, the annual human withdrawal of liquid water amounts to roughly 4000 km3/yr. A potential conflict between freshwater for future food production and for terrestrial ecosystem services was identified. Human redistribution of water vapour flows as a consequence of long-term land cover change was addressed at both continental (Australia) (Paper II) and global scales (Paper III). It was estimated that the annual vapour flow had decreased by 10% in Australia during the last 200 years. This is due to a decrease in woody vegetation for agricultural production. The reduction in vapour flows has caused severe problems with salinity of soils and rivers. The human-induced alteration of vapour flows was estimated at more than 15 times the volume of human-induced change in liquid water (Paper II).