Espaço urbano

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.

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.

Urban Latin America has become synonymous with violence and insecurity. Whereas levels of violence since 2000, in terms of homicide rates, dropped everywhere else in the world, Latin America and the Caribbean were the exception. Often, efforts to explain this make a connection between poverty, crime, and violence that finds its typical representation in peripheral urban areas: shanty towns. This paper challenges such one-dimensional assumptions by critically examining the complex nexus between violence, insecurity and urban space in urban Latin America. We will define contemporary urban violence in the region and discuss its key characteristics and explanatory factors. Then, we will examine the socio-spatial dimensions of violence and insecurity in three domains: the linkages between criminal gangs, drugs, and violence in peripheral areas; the impact of violence and fear on the strategies of seclusion employed by specific social classes; state responses, especially policing, to show how regimes of public security are differentiated in socio-spatial terms. We will argue that these differences reflect differences in citizenship status and citizenship subjectivity, between the privileged and the excluded. This in turn generates bottom-up responses by urban residents that take matters of security and law enforcement in their own hands.

Emerging from the global city literature of the 1980s and 1990s, a vast scholarship has developed that embraces the ‘dual city’ concept as a useful analytical tool for explaining how global transformations produce polarization within cities. However, less is known about how local policies shape uneven patterns of development. Through an examination of Rio de Janeiro's Favela Pacification Program, we argue that state-level public policies play a significant role in institutionalizing duality. The recent military occupation of the slums in Rio de Janeiro demonstrates how the historically and politically contextualized public policy of confrontation has exacerbated tensions between the city's elites and poor residents along a number of social, economic, and political dimensions. Local policymakers can influence the impact of globalization on social polarization by considering the effects of public policies on spatial justice.

COVID-19 initially spread among prominent global cities and soon to the urban centers of countries across the globe. While cities are the hotbeds of activities, they also seem highly exposed to global risks including the pandemic. Using the case of COVID-19 and the World Risk Index framework, this paper examines if the leading cities from the global south are inherently vulnerable and exposed to global risks and can they exacerbate the overall risk of their respective nations. Compared against their respective national averages, most of the 20 cities from 10 countries analyzed in this paper, have higher exposure, lower adaptive capacity, higher coping capacity and varied susceptibility. As this relative understanding is based on respective national averages which are often lower than the global standards, even high performance on certain indicators may still result in elevated predisposition. This paper concludes that the leading urban centers from the global south are highly likely to be predisposed to global risks due to their inherent vulnerability and exposure, and many of the drivers of this predisposition are related to the process of urbanization itself. This predisposition can enhance the overall exposure and vulnerability of the nation in which they are located.

The Sustainable development goals (SDG) aim for reducing poverty (SDG 1) and to upgrade all slums (SDG 11). The first indicator in SDG 11 describes the proportion of the urban population residing in slums. However, the currently available data is based on national estimates that follow globally varying methodologies and concepts. In this paper, a uniform approach is implemented to obtain slum population estimates in eight different cities from three continents. The approach relies on earth observation datasets on the spatial extent of the slums and one of the most accepted gridded population dataset: WorldPop. The results shed light on the distribution of population in slums around the world. Nevertheless, the question of the accuracy of these population numbers arises. Therefore, a broad range of literature data containing population counts is gathered for the cities investigated, for varying years and for different spatial scales. The literature data is compared to results obtained by the presented approach. The comparison yields a plausibility assessment for different cities, indicating varying levels of deviation. We find in all cities a clear bias in estimating the slum population - mostly underestimations -, even though some cities reveal a significantly better fit to the data. In conclusion, this study provides a methodology to systematically assess the accuracy of globally available datasets in the context of slums and thereby to highlight the large uncertainties which can empirically be observed.

Existing studies on spatial justice discuss how different aspects of spatial injustices repeatedly deprive the poor and low-income urban dwellers of access to urban amenities. According to these studies, increasing equity in the allocation of urban resources for all categories of urbanites can remedy these injustices. However, land tenure security, a pre-condition for access to urban amenities for the poor and low-income urban dwellers, is hardly addressed. This study explores the potential of spatial justice to land tenure security discourse, using a metasynthesis of the literature on both concepts. It draws upon the Brazilian experience of implementing inclusive urban (re)development framework, which aims at integrating the poor and low-income urban dwellers in the urban fabric. Land tenure security is understood from the spatial aspect of social justice, rather than its traditional economic conceptualisation. We find that the pursuit of the three forms of spatial justice (alongside the processes of urban (re)development) promotes the three elements of tenure security differently. Procedural justice is identified as the main driver of land tenure security, whose prominent features are the perceived and the de facto tenure security.

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.

Cities worldwide face the challenge of balancing densification and open space provision. However, few studies investigate how urban morphology influences that balance across different cities and continents. We identified eight urban morphological types characterizing high-density residential areas in São Paulo, Brasília (Brazil), and Berlin (Germany) and assessed those morphologies using seven indicators: population density, housing density, Floor Space Index (FSI), Ground Space Index (GSI), average building height, Open-Space Ratio (OSR), and average number of people per built area. Our findings from the Brazilian cities showed that intense verticalization does not automatically ensure open space and high density. Vertical morphologies showed the highest FSI values but not the highest housing densities, and had low to moderate OSR values, comparatively. Three morphologies found in Berlin (Contemporary, Half-Open and Edge) balanced housing density and OSR best (127–147 dwellings/ha, 0.5 to 0.8 OSR values, on average). Berlin’s Traditional type showed the best balance between FSI, GSI, average building height and OSR, with buildings ranging from 1 to 9 storeys. It also achieved the highest housing densities (188 dwellings/ha, on average), but at a cost of OSR. Those findings suggest that a compact city model with perimetral blocks (Half, Edge and Traditional types) could provide an optimum use of urban space, if open space provision is properly considered. We further discuss the advantages and implications of block-based urban planning and design (traditional in Berlin and other European cities) in contrast to plot-based (often observed in Latin American cities).

This paper presents a study on quality of life and sustainability indicators relating to site-planning parameters for low income public housing projects in the region of Campinas, Brazil. The study is based on a post-occupancy-evaluation (POE), conducted in five housing developments. Most of these housing projects are based on a repetitive model and are devoid of urban infrastructure. Users act on their own in providing for some elements considered necessary to create an identity and community spirit. Results show that the population relates quality of life to economic factors and sustainability is associated to reduce utility bills. Houses are preferred to apartments and satisfaction with the present housing conditions is high, despite low feelings of security in the neighbourhood. This work is part of a broader study, which aims to develop design evaluation tools. Most sensitive quality of life and sustainability indicators related to site-planning should permeate these tools and establish design guidelines. The inclusion of a large number of qualitative design issues into the decision-making process and the questioning of existing standardized solutions are seen as essential means to increase local housing quality.