scholarly journals Mapping Potential Zones for Ecotourism Ecosystem Services as a Tool to Promote Landscape Resilience and Development in a Brazilian Municipality

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (24) ◽  
pp. 10345
Author(s):  
João Roque Guerrero ◽  
António Teixeira Gomes ◽  
José de Lollo ◽  
Luiz Moschini

In recent decades, with the increasing global need for sustainable development, ecotourism has emerged as one of the most efficient activities that can be used to reconcile economic development with environmental conservation. A growing interest in the ecotourism and ecosystem services provided by landscapes makes such services increasingly necessary within municipal planning processes. This study aims to construct a geoenvironmental model based on geographic information systems (GISs) to spatially identify areas with greater capacity to promote ecotourism, with a practical case study of the city of Brotas, Brazil. The model can produce an integrated analysis of landscape components using geoenvironmental, topographic, and urban data. As a result, four zones were classified according to their ecotourism potential, with 81% of the overall local territory showing great potential, which not only reinforces the territory’s resilience regarding sustainable development, but also demonstrates that ecotourism should be included in discussions related to environmental planning in Brotas, as well as in other municipalities that have ecotourism potential.

Author(s):  
Elīna Konstantinova ◽  
Līga Brūniņa ◽  
Aija Peršēvica ◽  
Marga Živitere

A very important factor for sustainable development is a balance between the exploitation of natural resources for socio-economic development, and conserving ecosystem services that are critical to everyone’s wellbeing and livelihoods. The strategical importance of ecosystem services is set by the UN Millennium Ecosystem Assessment in 2005, which put ecosystem services firmly on the policy agenda and the EU Biodiversity Strategy, which states that “Member States must map and assess the state of ecosystems and their services in their national territory by 2014, assess the economic value of such services, and promote the integration of these values into accounting and reporting systems at EU and national level by 2020”. The aim of the paper is to present and discuss the approach of ecosystem services assessment for sustainable land use and strategical development scenarios. The paper will focus on the role of ecosystem services in development and spatial planning, and this approach can be integrated in planning processes and decision making. There will be presented a case study for two coastal territories in Latvia, where an ecosystem services assessment was implemented and sequentially different development scenarios considered and analysed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 392
Author(s):  
Estibaliz Sáez de Cámara ◽  
Idoia Fernández ◽  
Nekane Castillo-Eguskitza

Since the United Nations (UN) approved the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development in 2015, higher education institutions have increasingly demonstrated their commitment by supporting several initiatives. Although a great deal of progress has been made, there is still a lack of integrative approaches to truly implement Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in higher education. This paper presents a practical case that illustrates how to design and articulate SDGs within an institutional setting adopting a holistic approach: EHUagenda 2030 plan of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). It is based on empirical inquiry into global and holistic sustainable transformation and a real experience to move towards a verifiable and pragmatic contribution to sustainability. This plan describes the contribution to 12 of the 17 SDGs, along with three sectorial plans (Equality Campus, Inclusion Campus and Planet Campus), as well as the refocus of the UPV/EHU’s Educational Model and the panel of sustainable development indicators, which addresses the technical aspects of monitoring the SDGs. The methodology (mapping; mainstreaming; diagnosis and definition and, finally, estimation) is systematic and replicable in other universities yet to embark upon this integration. This case study makes a contribution towards the understanding of the complexity of the changes in Higher Education and the ways to approach it.


2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonie M.E.A. Cornips ◽  
Vincent de Rooij ◽  
Irene Stengs

This article aims to encourage the interdisciplinary study of ‘languaculture,’ an approach to language and culture in which ideology, linguistic and cultural forms, as well as praxis are studied in relation to one another. An integrated analysis of the selection of linguistic and cultural elements provides insight into how these choices arise from internalized norms and values, and how people position themselves toward received categories and hegemonic ideologies. An interdisciplinary approach will stimulate a rethinking of established concepts and methods of research. It will also lead to a mutual strengthening of linguistic, sociolinguistic, and anthropological research. This contribution focuses on Limburg and the linguistic political context of this Southern-Netherlands region where people are strongly aware of their linguistic distinctiveness. The argument of the paper is based on a case study of languaculture, viz. the carnivalesque song ‘Naar Talia’ (To Italy) by the Getske Boys from the city of Heerlen.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 202-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Safa H. Ashoub ◽  
Mohamed W. Elkhateeb

This article builds on theoretical foundations from enclave urbanism, authoritarian planning and neoliberal urbanisation to explore contemporary socio-spatial transformation(s) happening in Cairo, Egypt. Relying on a nationwide road development project, inner-city neighbourhoods in Cairo are turning into urban enclaves, whereby populations are being separated by a multiplicity of transport-related infrastructure projects. As these rapid planning processes are occurring, our article aims to explain why these developments are crucial and unique in the context of the post-Arab Spring cities. We argue that the new road infrastructure is creating a spatially and socially fragmented city and transforming the urban citizenry into a controllable and navigable body. We use an inductive approach to investigate the effects of the new road infrastructure and its hegemonic outcomes on the city. On a conceptual level, we propose that the enclaving of the city is a containment method that has erupted since the mass mobilisations of the Arab Spring. In doing so, we use qualitative analysis to explain empirical evidence showing how the city is being transformed into nodes of enclaves, where communities are getting separated from one another via socio-spatial fault lines.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 238-251
Author(s):  
Barbara Roosen ◽  
Liesbeth Huybrechts ◽  
Oswald Devisch ◽  
Pieter Van den Broeck

This article explores ‘dialectical design dialogues’ as an approach to engage with ethics in everyday urban planning contexts. It starts from Paulo Freire’s pedagogical view (1970/2017), in which dialogues imply the establishment of a horizontal relation between professionals and amateurs, in order to understand, question and imagine things in everyday reality, in this case, urban transformations, applied to participatory planning and enriched through David Harvey’s (2000, 2009) dialectical approach. A dialectical approach to design dialogues acknowledges and renegotiates contrasts and convergences of ethical concerns specific to the reality of concrete daily life, rather than artificially presenting daily life as made of consensus or homogeneity. The article analyses an atlas as a tool to facilitate dialectical design dialogues in a case study of a low-density residential neighbourhood in the city of Genk, Belgium. It sees the production of the atlas as a collective endeavour during which planners, authorities and citizens reflect on possible futures starting from a confrontation of competing uses and perspectives of neighbourhood spaces. The article contributes to the state-of-the-art in participatory urban planning in two ways: (1) by reframing the theoretical discussion on ethics by arguing that not only the verbal discourses around designerly atlas techniques but also the techniques themselves can support urban planners in dealing more consciously with ethics (accountability, morality and authorship) throughout urban planning processes, (2) by offering a concrete practice-based example of producing an atlas that supports the participatory articulation and negotiation of dialectical inquiry of ethics through dialogues in a ‘real-time’ urban planning process.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoxiao Wang ◽  
Ruiting Shi ◽  
Ting Wang

Purpose Due to the different actual construction conditions in different cities, the requirements for community livability may also differ due to different geographical locations and urban construction priorities. The research system in this paper can be applied to study similar old communities in old urban areas. The indicator system would need to be adjusted in different places, based on specific construction situations and higher planning requirements. This process would provide valuable insights for effective construction projects that support the livability of the old communities. Design/methodology/approach Based on sustainable and people-oriented development principles, this study considered the development of old urban communities during today’s rapid urban renewal and development. Using previous literature and related research experience, this study established an evaluation indicator system to assess the livability of old urban communities. Based on the local resident experience and satisfaction, the study investigated current weaknesses in the construction of livable old urban communities and developed corresponding recommendations for reform based on these. The goal was to provide guidance and recommendations for renewing old communities in during urban development and further promote the sustainable development of the city. Findings Based on the people-oriented principle and focusing on old urban communities as the research object, this study constructed an evaluation indicator system to evaluate the livability of urban old communities. The goal was to identify the weaknesses in the construction of old urban communities, with a focus on livability. Using the Bei’anmen community in Nanjing as a case study, the AHP method and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method were applied to evaluate the overall target level and specific indicators, with the goal of assessing the level of livability in the Bei’anmen community.[AQ2] The results show that the livability of the Bei’anmen community is “very poor,” with significant room for improvements in community livability. This study also proposed corresponding measures for improving problems related to livability in the old urban community. Establishing the indicator system may help evaluate the livability of similar old communities in Nanjing and the same types of old communities in other cities. Understanding the overall livability of communities under construction can help identify weaknesses in other own construction approaches and may inform appropriate steps to improve the sustainable construction of the community in the wave of continuous urban renewal. This may realize the further development of livability in the community. Originality/value The community is an integral part of the city and strengthening the community’s civilization can support a harmonious and stable social environment. In constructing livable communities, improving the community civilization can promote social progress and civilization, promote social harmony and support the harmonious and sustainable development of communities. To strengthen the construction of a livable community, it is important to apply a residential perspective and provide a good platform for managing community participation and interaction. This may include organizing community-level cultural activities and strengthening communication between residents to increase the residents’ affection for the community. This would enhance the residents’ sense of belonging, forming a harmonious and stable atmosphere of community life, mutual help and mutual tolerance.


Crowdsourcing ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 489-516
Author(s):  
Jennifer Minner ◽  
Andrea Roberts ◽  
Michael Holleran ◽  
Joshua Conrad

Integral to some conceptualizations of the “smart city” is the adoption of web-based technology to support civic engagement and improve information systems for local government decision support. Yet there is little to no literature on the “smartness” of gathering information about historic places within municipal information systems. This chapter provides three case studies of technologically augmented planning processes that incorporated citizens as sensors of data about historic places. The first case study is of SurveyLA, a massive effort of the city of Los Angeles to comprehensively survey over 880,000 parcels for historic resources. A second case study involves Motor City Mapping, an effort to identify the condition of buildings in Detroit, Michigan and a parallel historical survey conducted by volunteers. In Austin, Texas, a university-based research team designed a municipal web tool called the Austin Historical Survey Wiki. This chapter offers insights into these prior efforts to augment planning processes with “digitized memory,” web-based technology, and public engagement.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 449
Author(s):  
Massimiliano Pepe ◽  
Domenica Costantino ◽  
Vincenzo Saverio Alfio ◽  
Maria Giuseppa Angelini ◽  
Alfredo Restuccia Garofalo

The aim of this article is to provide a dedicated approach to the realisation of a CityGML model for the valorisation and the conservation of existing cultural heritage. In particular, for the ancient city of Taranto (Italy), several levels of details (LODs) have been built. CityGML models in LOD1 for the most representative periods were realised, which were characterised by urban changes from the mid-1800s until today. To achieve this aim, great importance was devoted to the process of integration of the different file formats. A geographic information system (GIS) approach has been put in place for the construction of the CityGML model in LOD1. In addition, the study also focused on the realisation of a CityGML model in LOD3 of a bridge of a particular historical and architectural interest, called “Ponte di Porta Napoli”, also situated in the city of Taranto. In the latter case, the CityGML model was realised starting from the geomatics survey. Therefore, the project structured in this way represents an important tool for the sharing of (georeferenced) territorial information. The CityGML models represent a valid support for spatial planning processes and measures for the protection, monitoring and conservation of urban elements.


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