Estrutura econômica e mercado de trabalho

Cities are the major contributors to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. They account for about 75% of global energy consumption and up to 80% of global greenhouse gas emissions. With the ongoing rapid increase in urban population, expansion of middle class in urban centers in developing countries, and availability of cheaper vehicles such as Tata Nano and Bajaj RE60 in India, the demand for energy and associated emissions from cities are expected to grow rapidly. Though cities are in a better position to mitigate climate change, it does not necessary mean that there is a willingness on their part to capitalize on these mitigation opportunities. Climate change mitigation is not the priority for them because they face a number of competing priorities including local economic growth and development and service delivery. This paper suggests a range of policy tools that can help cities achieve both local priorities as well as reduce emissions, including GHGs. The suggested policies will be effective when used synergistically.

This paper analyses trends in the living conditions of slum and non-slum populations over the period 1990–2003, using urban and slum indicators from several developing world cities. It explains why where a person lives might condition his/her general health and household vulnerability. The data used are from UN-Habitat’s Global Urban Observatory database for 188 cities belonging to 8 different Millennium Development Goals Regions. The study provides evidence of a general improvement in various slum indicators, such as durable structures, access to safe water and access to improved sanitation. However, although there has been a decrease in under-5 mortality at city level, we observe that the same indicator can be up to five times higher for slum than for non-slum groups. We conclude that this evidence supports the importance of slum improvement and highlights this issue as one of the major challenges that a predominantly urbanized world faces.

Across the world, approximately 1.2 billion people live in rented accommodation. This article attempts to summarise how that situation has come about, what role renting plays in the housing systems of different countries, and how governments might improve their policies towards the rental sector. The paper is premised on the assumption that rental housing is an essential ingredient in any shelter programme and laments the reluctance of so many governments to have paid it attention in recent years.

This article discusses the relationship between segregation and urban redevelopment projects through an analysis of São Paulo's metropolis. Our assumption is that segregation is one of the components of capitalist urban space, since it is produced as a commodity, which determines its fragmentation and hierarchy. In the peripheral countries, this condition prevents thousands of people to live with dignity. In recent decades, the space production has become a possibility of investment for the capital in crisis. This situation reveals the importance of the urban renewal projects, because they reinforce public and private investments in specific areas of the cities, increasing its valuation. In this article, the analysis of Nova Luz Project shows that the segregation is a content of contemporary urbanism and that the city's production process is increasingly tied to the private interests and to the capital.

Appropriate finance can greatly increase the speed and lower the cost of incremental housing - the process used by much of the low/moderate-income majority of most developing countries to acquire shelter. Informal finance continues to dominate the funding of incremental housing. However, new sources have developed including housing microfinance, community-based finance savings and loan groups, and consumer credit for building materials. This paper examines informal and formal finance for incremental housing and makes recommendations for the vast expansion necessary to meet the affordable housing demand from the huge urban wave in developing countries projected over the next three decades.

Focusing on the labor market outcomes, we present the research methodology discussing the strategy to get rid of the usual identification hypothesis that restricts job locations to the central business district (CBD). Our strategy allows dealing with the simultaneous nature of business and housing locations, and urban prices determination in a richer geographical setting. Before proceeding to that, we look at some stylized facts concerning the spatial structure of our study region.

This paper presents one of the case studies of the international applied research project ‘‘Promoting Decent Work in Construction and Related Services: the Key Role of Local Authorities’’. An article in this special issue presents the aims, scope, methodology and rationale of this research project. The purpose of this article is to present the local employment situation in Santo André, using some indicators of the four key components of decent work. In this case study, quantitative data analysis included official statistics at both the national and local levels. In addition, qualitative information was collected by interviews with key actors of different institutions involved in the construction sector, namely staff of the Municipality of Santo André, workers’ unions and employers’ associations. The research also analysed the initiatives of the municipal authorities in Santo André to promote employment in the construction sector and related services. Special attention has been attributed to the Santo André Mais Igual (SAMI) programme, because it has been selected as an example of ‘‘best practice’’ for urban upgrading and social inclusion.

In recent decades, the world has witnessed a remarkable surge in urban expansion, leading to profound consequences for the global climate, biodiversity, and ecological environment. Despite the existence of numerous case studies, assessing the precise contributions of individual cities to this global trend has proven challenging, primarily due to the daunting task of collecting census data for thousands of cities. The study conducted a comprehensive analysis of the recent urban expansion in more than 6000 cities, utilizing state-of-the-art longterm datasets of urban impervious surface area (ISA), population, gross domestic product (GDP) data, and a global city boundary. By tracking the changes in ISA, population, and GDP, we assessed the magnitude and direction (increasing or decreasing) of these variables over time at both the global level and across different regions and countries. Through correlation analysis, we established statistical relationships between urban expansion and GDP growth as well as population change. Furthermore, we examined the profits of these cities and evaluated the projected flood risks they faced. Through the study, we conducted a comprehensive analysis and revealed detailed characteristics, patterns, and disparities in city development, economic output, population density, as well as the profits and projected flood risks across cities, countries, and regions. This in-depth understanding of recent urban expansion provides valuable insights for decision-makers and stakeholders to actively promote sustainable urban development and effectively manage associated risks in diverse geographical contexts.

This study investigated the mobility patterns of favela residents based on an analysis of their daily movements derived from high-frequency mobile phone data. Daily movements were measured considering the distance traveled at different times of day over the course of more than two months. Potential trip purposes for the most frequently visited locations were inferred based on land use data from property taxes. The high volume of geocoded data from mobile phones enabled the analysis during multiple days, also covering weekends, usually not considered in traditional transport surveys. The mobile phone data indicated that, on average, favela residents go farther from home during business days and perform less out of home activities during weekends when compared with non-favela residents. Further, distinct patterns for favelas and non-favela residents were mapped, considering different geographical areas, revealing space and time mobility inequalities.

Recently a large data set has been collected for LAC countries, which permits detailed study of household tenure. This data set constitutes the empirical basis of this paper in which the following research questions are addressed: What are the main patterns of urban housing tenure in LAC countries and how and why do they differ? What is the role of household income in determining urban housing tenure? To what extent does the presence of informal housing upset the positive linear relationship between income and tenure that is typically found in developed countries? The paper is organised as follows. The first section offers a brief review of the existing literature on the role of household income and tenure. The methodology employed in the study is explained in the second section and the results are presented in the third section.