Developing a Plastic Waste Management Program: From River Basins to Urban Beaches (Case Study)

Solid waste accumulation in coastal environments has been a growing concern. In the coastal megacity of Recife, Pernambuco state, Brazil, plastic waste issues currently exist both at the ocean scale and river basin scale. The city is known as the 'Brazilian Venice' thanks to the Capibaribe River, which crosses many neighborhoods, running in a west-east direction into the Atlantic Ocean. This paper provides the initial basis to develop a Plastic Waste Management Program proposal for implementation in the city of Recife, given the lack of resolutions that have looked at plastic waste management through integrated water environment scales (from river basin to ocean). The methodology used included articulation and documental collection from four main public agencies from the state/city and stakeholders. The results showed its relevance for better plastic waste management in Recife, considering an integrated water environment on a river basin-to-ocean scale by using the recognized major connected water environments (Capibaribe river and Boa Viagem beach). Similar integrated program proposals could be made for other coastal areas, enabling not only the identification of fragilities but also the exchange of information regarding the theme

The voice of civil society organizations: engagement of civic organizations in the democratic governance in Cabo Verde

This thesis focuses on the engagement of civil society organizations (CSOs) in the public policy process in Cabo Verde. It has three focuses: It starts with the analysis of CSOs engagement in the national public policy process; then it focuses on CSOs involvement in local governance process, while the third part analyses the influence of that engagement on the performance of local government institutions. The thesis develops around two fundamental questions: “What factors influence the engagement of CSOs in the political process in Cabo Verde?” and, “To what extent does the engagement of CSOs influence government performance in Cabo Verde?” To answer these questions, two hypotheses have been considered: the institutional hypothesis, focusing on “political opportunity structures” that lead the engagement of CSOs in politics. The second hypothesis is the social capital, in its bridging and linking forms. The social changes occurred in Cabo Verde after its independence and the inauguration of democracy in 1990 prompted the resurgence of old social and solidary institutions of collective public goods that had existed in the country throughout its history. As these institutions gained conscience of the strength of their resource power, they became more politically active, and so, more engaging in the country’s political process. The institutional and the social capital hypotheses guide the development of the present work. They are not contradictory, as they may seem. Instead, they are harmonized throughout the research to complement each other.Esta tese analiza o envolvimento de organizações da sociedade civil (OSC) nos processos de produção e implementação de políticas públicas em Cabo Verde. Essa análise é desenvolvida em três momentos: começa com a abordagem do envolvimento das OSCs nos processos de formatação e implemetação de políticas públicas a nível nacional; depois, e num segundo momento concentra-se no envolvimento das OSCs no processo de governança local. Por último, a análise centra-se na influência que o envolvimento das OSC exerce sobre o desempenho dos governos locais (Câmaras Municipais). A tese desenvolve-se em torno de duas questões fundamentais: "Que factores influenciam o envolvimento das OSCs no processo político em Cabo Verde?" e, "Até que ponto o envolvimento das OSCs influencia o desempenho das instituições governmentais em Cabo Verde?" Para responder a estas perguntas, foram consideradas dua hipóteses: a hipótese institucional, com o foco nas “estruturas de oportunidade política” que conduziram ao engajamento das OSC no processo político em Cabo Verde. A segunda hipótese é a do capital social, nas suas formas de bridging e linking. As mudanças sociais que ocorreram em Cabo Verde após a independência, e a inauguração da democracia em 1990, levaram ao ressurgimento de "instituições tradicionais" de solidariedade, de produção de bens públicos coletivos, e resolução de problemas colectivos. Deste modo, as formas organizacionais colectivas tradicionais ganharam consciência da força do seu poder, e se tornaram politicamente mais ativas e, portanto, mais engajadas no processo político do país. Assim, as duas hipóteses, institucional e de capital social, norteiam o desenvolvimento do presente trabalho. Elas não são contraditórios como podem parecer. Em vez disso, elas se harmonizam, e se complementam ao longo do desenvolvimento pesquisa

Sustainable Smart Cities and Smart Villages Research

ca. 200 words; this text will present the book in all promotional forms (e.g. flyers). Please describe the book in straightforward and consumer-friendly terms. [There is ever more research on smart cities and new interdisciplinary approaches proposed on the study of smart cities. At the same time, problems pertinent to communities inhabiting rural areas are being addressed, as part of discussions in contigious fields of research, be it environmental studies, sociology, or agriculture. Even if rural areas and countryside communities have previously been a subject of concern for robust policy frameworks, such as the European Union’s Cohesion Policy and Common Agricultural Policy Arguably, the concept of ‘the village’ has been largely absent in the debate. As a result, when advances in sophisticated information and communication technology (ICT) led to the emergence of a rich body of research on smart cities, the application and usability of ICT in the context of a village has remained underdiscussed in the literature. Against this backdrop, this volume delivers on four objectives. It delineates the conceptual boundaries of the concept of ‘smart village’. It highlights in which ways ‘smart village’ is distinct from ‘smart city’. It examines in which ways smart cities research can enrich smart villages research. It sheds light on the smart village research agenda as it unfolds in European and global contexts.

Urban and Regional Cooperation and Development

This is an open access book. This book, first of all, introduces the new unveiled Guangdong-Macao Intensive Cooperation Zone with details as a special mode of the regional collaborative development that is committed to be mutually beneficial to both sides with different political and economic systems. China's central authorities have recently issued a masterplan for constructing the Guangdong-Macao Intensive Cooperation Zone at Hengqin Island in September 2021. As China's first and last European colony and one of China’s two special administrative regions (SARs), Macao has developed the gambling industry seven times larger than that of Las Vegas. However, the problem of the homogeneous industrial structure and the urgent need to promote sustainable economic growth by regional cooperation have been important theoretical and practical issues discussed by scholars and policy-makers. The Guangdong-Macao Intensive Cooperation Zone (ICZ) is managed under special customs supervision between two boarder lines and expected to diversify Macao’s economy. Then, this book dissects the theory of regional synergistic development and its applications in a number of international comparative and cross-interdisciplinary case studies worldwide. Finally, from the perspective of land use, transportation connection, and social service, this book thoroughly explores the challenges and strategies to implement the new cooperation model within the framework of one country, two systems, two customs, and two currencies to achieve a win–win situation using updated first-hand data collected by literature review, case study, field survey, spatial analysis, and interview

Urban and Regional Cooperation and Development

This is an open access book. This book, first of all, introduces the new unveiled Guangdong-Macao Intensive Cooperation Zone with details as a special mode of the regional collaborative development that is committed to be mutually beneficial to both sides with different political and economic systems. China's central authorities have recently issued a masterplan for constructing the Guangdong-Macao Intensive Cooperation Zone at Hengqin Island in September 2021. As China's first and last European colony and one of China’s two special administrative regions (SARs), Macao has developed the gambling industry seven times larger than that of Las Vegas. However, the problem of the homogeneous industrial structure and the urgent need to promote sustainable economic growth by regional cooperation have been important theoretical and practical issues discussed by scholars and policy-makers. The Guangdong-Macao Intensive Cooperation Zone (ICZ) is managed under special customs supervision between two boarder lines and expected to diversify Macao’s economy. Then, this book dissects the theory of regional synergistic development and its applications in a number of international comparative and cross-interdisciplinary case studies worldwide. Finally, from the perspective of land use, transportation connection, and social service, this book thoroughly explores the challenges and strategies to implement the new cooperation model within the framework of one country, two systems, two customs, and two currencies to achieve a win–win situation using updated first-hand data collected by literature review, case study, field survey, spatial analysis, and interview

CItyMaker

Due to its complexity, the evolution of cities is something that is difficult to predict and planning new developments for cities is therefore a difficult task. This complexity can be identified on two levels: on a micro level, it emerges from the multiple relations between the many components and actors in cities, whereas on a macro level it stems from the geographical, social and economic relations between cities. However, many of these relations can be measured. The design of plans for cities can only be improved if designers are able to address measurements of some of the relationships between the components of cities during the design process. These measurements are called urban indicators. By calculating such measurements, designers can grasp the meaning of the changes being proposed, not just as simple alternative layouts, but also in terms of the changes in indicators adding a qualitative perception. This thesis presents a method and a set of tools to generate alternative solutions for an urban context. The method proposes the use of a combined set of design patterns encoding typical design moves used by urban designers. The combination of patterns generates different layouts which can be adjusted by manipulating several parameters in relation to updated urban indicators. The patterns were developed from observation of typical urban design procedures, first encoded as discursive grammars and later translated into parametric design patterns. The CItyMaker method and tools allows the designer to compose a design solution from a set of programmatic premises and fine-tune it by pulling parameters whilst checking the changes in urban indicators. These tools improve the designer’s awareness of the consequences of their design moves

CItyMaker:

Due to its complexity, the evolution of cities is something that is difficult to predict and planning new developments for cities is therefore a difficult task. This complexity can be identified on two levels: on a micro level, it emerges from the multiple relations between the many components and actors in cities, whereas on a macro level it stems from the geographical, social and economic relations between cities. However, many of these relations can be measured. The design of plans for cities can only be improved if designers are able to address measurements of some of the relationships between the components of cities during the design process. These measurements are called urban indicators. By calculating such measurements, designers can grasp the meaning of the changes being proposed, not just as simple alternative layouts, but also in terms of the changes in indicators adding a qualitative perception. This thesis presents a method and a set of tools to generate alternative solutions for an urban context. The method proposes the use of a combined set of design patterns encoding typical design moves used by urban designers. The combination of patterns generates different layouts which can be adjusted by manipulating several parameters in relation to updated urban indicators. The patterns were developed from observation of typical urban design procedures, first encoded as discursive grammars and later translated into parametric design patterns. The CItyMaker method and tools allows the designer to compose a design solution from a set of programmatic premises and fine-tune it by pulling parameters whilst checking the changes in urban indicators. These tools improve the designer’s awareness of the consequences of their design moves

Planners in the Future City: Using City Information Modelling to Support Planners as Market Actors

Recently, Adams and Tiesdell (2010), Tewdwr-Jones (2012) and Batty (2013) have outlined the importance of information and intelligence in relation to the mediation and management of land, property and urban consumers in the future city. Traditionally, the challenge for urban planners was the generation of meaningful and timely information. Today, the urban planners’ challenge is no longer the timely generation of urban data, rather, it is in relation to how so much information can be exploited and integrated successfully into contemporary spatial planning and governance. The paper investigates this challenge through a commentary on two City Information Modelling (CIM) case studies at Northumbria University, UK. This commentary is grouped around four key themes, Accessibility and availability of data, accuracy and consistency of data, manageability of data and integration of data. It is also designed to provoke discussion in relation to the exploitation and improvement of data modelling and visualisation in the urban planning discipline and to contribute to the literature in related fields. The paper concludes that the production of information, its use and modelling, can empower urban planners as they mediate and contest state-market relations in the city. However, its use should be circumspect as data alone does not guarantee delivery of a sustainable urban future, rather, emphasis and future research should be placed upon interpretation and use of data