Novas tecnologias e meio urbano

Emerging from the citizen movements of the early 2010s, New Municipalism merges the administrative capacity of municipal government with the organizational capacities of activists and social movements to build more equal, just and ecological local economies. In these contexts, Digital Municipal Currencies (DMCs) emerge as potent instruments of counter-hegemonic struggle, enabling cities to implement welfare policies and local economic revitalization. However, a trans-local paradox inheres to New Municipalism: how to remain local yet advance broader systemic transformation? This study compares three DMCs in Rio de Janeiro, addressing the paradox by introducing the notion of ‘standardized malleability’. It describes how cities adopt a uniform monetary infrastructure while adapting policies to local contexts, thus balancing local adaptation with trans-local scalability. The study reveals how the temporal dynamics of multi-scalar transformation shape the adoption patterns of DMCs across municipalities – from radical pioneer experiences to more pragmatic implementations – demonstrating that system change occurs through ‘repeated instances’ regardless of ideological orientation. Findings reveal DMCs as promising instruments for urban governance, enabling progressive policies amid financial constraints. However, their long-term viability depends on stable funding sources, prompting discussions on evolving DMC designs to enhance sustainability and wider adoption. The article ends with a reinterpretation of what constitutes ‘the political’ in multi-scalar transformation processes, from ‘radicalism’ to a shift of the boundaries of what is considered possible and the creation of new democratic spaces for co-governance.

Social Forums, modeled on the World Social Forums, are not social movements in the classic sense. They are not, and do not purport to be, the organizational form through which basic social change will be achieved, or can best be pursued. But they do bring together elements of many social movements, afford an opportunity for coalition-building among them, frequently around urban issues, and thus make a significant contribution to achieving such change. Conceivably they may be the foundation for an international social movement for change, but if so it is likely to coalesce about a specifically political program. Some concrete suggestions are made which might enhance their effectiveness.

This paper examines the effects of the new economy on national city size distribution in 102 countries. Results show that the new economy has significant effects on city size distributions and such effects are heterogeneous across countries. Human capital contributes to the polarization of city size distribution in developed countries and service-dominated countries, while it helps to equalize city size distribution in industrial-dominated countries. While innovation promotes an equalized city size distribution in general, globalization promotes polarization and then equalization of city size distribution. Information and communication technology triggers an equalized followed by a polarized city size distribution, and has contributed to an equalized city size distribution in service-dominated countries. It is evident that thriving new economic processes are changing the global urban hierarchy and reshaping national city size distribution. This study facilitates an in-depth understanding of the effects of the new economy on city size distribution, which is of great importance to promote more equitable development and urbanization.

The employment of means for efficient use of water and energy are being increasingly incentivized, in relation to the sustainability of buildings. In Brazil, there is much concern regarding the difficulty of getting low-income segments of the population to adopt energy-saving technologies. This study provides guidelines for the inclusion of manufactured, low-cost solar water heaters (LCSWH) in low-income housing in combination with environmental education of this segment of the population. Therefore, a group of dwellings located in a low-income community in Campinas SP, Brazil, was selected for installation of LCSWHs, which were assembled and installed by the study population itself, who also participated in environmental awareness workshops. Particularly apparent in the results obtained, was a tendency to reduce energy consumption by using the LCSWH, attributable in part to behavioral changes from environmental awareness; and that the planning, application or organized systematization of knowledge is feasible in low-income housing, provided it is not promoted solely by dependency culture, since the objective is to provide an instrument for self-discovery, mobilization and participation by the population.

Upgrading existing social housing (SH) requires user-centred participatory processes to promote values. Comparative case studies in Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK are presented. Living Labs (LLs) were conducted for the delivery of user values and to promote an informed decision-making process. Tools and LL activities were tested to engage stakeholders in the upgrading process, support the co-creation of solutions and address social and societal challenges. The main research aims were to facilitate SH upgrading processes focusing on the delivery of value for users, achieving end-user empowerment, as well as assessing participatory decisionmaking through LLs. Research goals were achieved in each case study setting. The evaluation of specific cases informed a conceptual framework and guidelines to facilitate upgrading through LLs in varied SH landscapes.

Small municipalities are key to reducing waste and tackling climate change, but they often struggle to innovate and improve their capacity to deliver public services, especially in developing countries. This article explores how small municipalities can innovate in public service provision despite limited resources. Specifically, we analyzed municipal solid waste management (MSWM), a service typically overseen by municipalities and essential for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The study is based on a single case: Harmonia, a small Brazilian municipality selected for its exceptional waste recovery performance – the highest in the country – alongside composting and prevention initiatives. Following an economic and environmental assessment of MSWM effectiveness, including GHG emissions, the Multi-Level Perspective (MLP) was applied to analyze the political, social, and institutional factors that enabled innovation in Harmonia’s MSWM system. Findings suggest that successful innovation in small municipalities tends to rely on small-scale initiatives that require neither advanced technologies nor major investments. However, this depends on long-term support from a landscape of actors and public policies to scale up and coordinate efforts across departments, overcoming resource limitations. In Harmonia, the effectiveness of prevention actions, home composting, and recycling was rooted in decades of environmental education, social engagement, public awareness, and collaboration with other levels of government. These technological and management efforts led to costs (US$24.40 per inhabitant/year) and emissions (37.02 kg CO2eq per inhabitant) significantly below the national average (US$35.70 and 396.83 kg CO2eq per inhabitant, respectively).

This paper evaluates a technical assistance program for house self-builders in the region of the city of Campinas, Brazil. The assistance given is in the form of an individualized house design, distributed to selfbuilders, based on an automated computer aided design (CAD) generated design method. A case study is used to demonstrate the efficacy of the assistance program. The transfer process of a population from an environmental protection area to a new location and their need for rapid house construction is the specific case presented. Houses are evaluated as to satisfaction and environmental comfort conditions. As a result, lessons are learnt about assistance programs and their success in improving housing quality.

In the context of the complexities related to the expansion of the planet's urban areas and sustainability, the aim of this article is to analyze the Muepo/Riortas Project, an initiative developed between 1989 and 1996 by the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio) in partnership with the Brazilian National Agricultural Society (SNA) and Rio de Janeiro's Superintendency for the Environment. After conducting interviews with the coordinators and community leaders involved and analyzing technical reports produced by Rio's City Hall and PUC-Rio, the project's main lines of action were identified as the following: the political issues, sustainable soil productivity, range of vegetable species and economic viability of community allotments. The project addressed fundamental issues, such as the need for planning tools in order to guarantee the continuous production of a range of vegetable species over time and to maintain and expand the productive capacity of the soil through organic cultivation methods. The number of allotments established by the project was much lower than the 15 that were planned. Two units were opened during the period analyzed: the Allotment School and the Santa Cruz Community Allotment. Production at the Allotment School, located at the Wenceslau Bello School of Horticulture, involved the weekly harvest and sale of 250x2.5 kg vegetable bags for two years running. This was enough to guarantee the allotment's economic sustainability. The Santa Cruz Community Allotment, however, did not manage to achieve economic viability over the period analyzed. Technical issues associated with the planning and management of the soil were addressed well, but empowerment mechanisms and community involvement proved to be weak during the installation and maintenance of the allotment. In summary, the Muepo/Riortas Project has established new a paradigm for urban community allotments and should form the basis for any future multidisciplinary research seeking integrated solutions for the creation of more sustainable cities.

The main question concerns the ways in which knowledge management configurations (KM) within urban governance are being transformed through digitization and spatializing information (GIS). This question fits into broader discussions on how knowledge construction, circulation and utilization can improve competences in local government (efficiency and effectiveness), make urban planning more knowledge-based, and provide greater recognition of citizens’ knowledge (accountability). Local governments need such instruments in dealing with increasing complexity and uncertainty in urban development. We examine how uneven patterns of technological change in using ICT and GIS are transforming current local government work processes in terms of efficiency and effectiveness in their outcomes, utilizing empirical data from extended case studies in six medium-sized cities in India, South Africa, Brazil, and Peru, participating in the Chance2Sustain research network. Knowledge management in cities is configured through several dimensions: 1) discourses for digitizing KM in local urban development; 2) actor networks producing socio-spatial knowledge; 3) embedding KM in decision-making processes (power struggles, exclusion); and 4) influences of KM on work practices and interfaces with citizens. The case study results show that 1) KM discourses concerned four issues: strategic urban planning and integrated land use planning; determining geographic boundaries in urban development discourses; streamlining work processes of local governments, and mapping poverty and needs assessments; 2) initiatives mainly link government with the private sector at various scale levels; 3) codified and technical knowledge remains dominant in discussions on urban development; and 4) effects of KM are uneven, but improve work process efficiency, although the interface with citizens remains limited, focusing on middle-class relations to the exclusion of the poor.