Costs and benefits of urban dispersion on a local scale: presentation of an ongoing research project

There is an increasing urbanization of the world population, but the city has been taking new shapes,different from traditional compact and continuous forms. In the emergent city, mobility has transformed social and spatial relations, construction is intertwined with increasingly abandoned green spaces and the urban structure is fragmented and dispersed. Such dispersion, even without many defenders among key urban theorists, is nowadays a reality, unplanned, but practised and accepted. Arguments for and against dispersion have long been confronted, remaining unchanged: for some, it means contact with nature, space and intimacy; for others, it is a simulacrum of nature, isolation and anonymity. Such subjective arguments are important in the identification of different concepts of quality of life. But there are other arguments, objective ones: land consumption, public infrastructure costs, mobility costs and housing prices. The Research Project “Costs and Benefits of Urban Dispersion on a local scale”, from which this communication derives, seeks opinion, as precise as possible, on these issues. To do so, it will consider costs and benefits. Studies seeking to quantify costs, relating mainly to the USA, analyse dispersion, the majority of times, on a regional scale. In this Project, we intend to compare costs between different “Base Land Units” of the extended city – a concept similar to that of the neighbourhood unit or of the neighbourhood itself. Our main goal is, then, to analyse and, if possible, to confront costs and benefits of different land use types. By benefits we understand quality of life, a concept that changes from opinion group to opinion group. We intend to transform this concept into an algorithm which integrates this variability, based on the current literature, similar previous studies and on the answers to a questionnaire applied to the inhabitants of Aveiro-Ílhavo and Évora (our case studies).Regarding costs, we will look at local public infrastructure (including networks, all public space and public equipments) and mobility (integrated costs per km and per user for each transport mode). Quantification of costs relating to land consumption and other environmental externalities (nature and landscape based) has to be left for a later research opportunity. Our conclusions, supported by public questionnaires, will be expressed quantitatively: an utility function to represent opinions on quality of life; an integrated cost for local infrastructure + mobility; and a methodology to relate the two functions for a variety of scenarios. This will result in the formulation of a comparative opinion, expressed in cost-benefit terms, between the various typologies of dispersed occupation and, also, between these and those of continuous occupation. To formulate an operative proposal regarding urban dispersion, it is important to understand how the market works (in terms of its agents, procedures and prices) for current dispersed occupation dynamics. This paper will go through the work undertaken so far, describing concepts and methods and presenting preliminary results when possible. It will not only focus on the Project’s general methodology, but also on methodologies specific to each Task, whenever it is thought appropriate

Custos de sistema de gestão de resíduos urbanos

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Identificação e caracterização de unidades territoriais de escala local

O trabalho aqui apresentado insere-se no Projecto de Investigação “Custos e Benefícios, à escala local, de uma Ocupação Dispersa” e contém: • A definição do conceito de Unidade Territorial e, com maior destaque, de Unidade Territorial de Base; • A formulação duma Metodologia para a Identificação e Caracterização de Unidades Territoriais de Escala Local, a qual articula métodos abordados por outros autores noutros artigos da presente publicação; • A explicitação, conceptual e aplicada, dum dos métodos aplicados, o da “Identificação de Conjuntos de Edifícios por Método Digital”

The Accounting Reflection of the Investment’s Tax Benefits

Purpose: The central objective is therefore to explain the tax benefits for investment and their reflection in the rendering of accounts, by understanding the broad concept of tax benefits, understanding the diversity that exists, with a particular focus on effectively demonstrating their applicability.   Theoretical Framework: In view of the Portuguese economic context, the government has systematically created new programs and adopted tax measures aimed at granting tax benefits to promote the growth and economic development of companies. According to Teixeira (2008), the legislator establishes tax benefits with the aim of protecting the environment, encouraging savings, fostering employment and vocational training, preserving culture and cultural heritage, making incentives in tax systems crucial. In Portugal there are various types of tax benefits, such as income tax, tax deductions, investment tax and others. There are around 600 tax benefits that you can take advantage of if you consider all the conditions for their use.   Design/Methodology/Approach: In this research, the tax benefit being analyzed will be investment, due to its importance in the business world and the complexity associated with it, making it an important instrument in terms of promoting competitiveness, supporting investment and, consequently, the economy of countries.   Findings: It was possible to conclude that, except for the BFCIP, all the benefits are processed via IRC tax’s deduction and can’t be combined with other benefits of the same nature, except for RFAI and DLRR, which can be combined with each other if the limits aren’t exceeded.   Research, Practical & Social Implications: This information can be used by any interested entitie to improve current conditions, optimize and enhance the usage of tax benefits for investment.   Originality/Value: Tax benefits are a hot topic in the business world and beyond, given that they are a special tax regime that allows companies to have a tax advantage or relief compared to the normal one, helping them to have a lower financial impact by bearing less tax

Internal and external costs of transport in Portugal

Urban dispersion (sprawl) is a reality, however unplanned it may be. Its supporters advocate contact with nature, space and intimacy; however, alleged disadvantages include land consumption, public infrastructure and mobility costs, and housing prices. The Research Project “Costs and Benefits of Urban Dispersion on a local scale” seeks to contribute to the debate with an objective approach based on the quantification of costs, externalities and benefits of different urban settlement patterns, thus “bringing urban form back to planning”. This paper presents one of the Project’s tasks, the one concerning mobility costs, both internal and external. Quantified internal costs include investment, inspection, insurance, energy and maintenance; external ones include accident and environmental costs, calculated for road and rail transport. Different methods are combined depending on available data sources in order to achieve figures for each of the cost components per vehicle-km, ton-km and passenger-km for 2005, at 2009 prices. Results show that internal costs are larger than external ones for the majority of motorized transport, except two-wheelers, and for rail. External costs are larger than internal ones for soft modes, mainly due to high accident costs. Cost components, both internal and external, related to fuel consumption are the most relevant in heavy modes’ cost structures. Investment costs are the most important category for the majority of the remaining modes. Results also stress that current occupancy rates, load factors and vehicle mileages hinder the economic efficiency of collective and two-wheeled modes of transportation and may contribute to the pervasiveness of cars in Portugal

Custos internos e externos de Mobilidade em Portugal

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EFFECTIVENESS OF THE BUSINESS FAILURE PREDICTION MODELS IN THE IBERIAN TRANSPORT COMPANIES

Purpose: validate, in the existing models, its effectiveness and ability to provide useful information for decision-making, allowing the choice of one that presented as the best alternative for predicting bankruptcy for companies in the transport economic sector (NACE H) up to 6 years before it occurs.   Theoretical Framework: in the last decades, since Beaver's (1966) preliminary work in bankruptcy prediction, followed by Altman (1968) models, numerous authors developed different techniques and models to this purpose. Of all the techniques used and developed in almost 60 years of bankruptcy prediction study, Multivariate Discriminant Analysis (MDA) stands out. Despite its limitations, it best combines management and usage simplicity offering stable levels of efficiency.   Design/Methodology/Approach: we selected, Portuguese and Spanish companies, from the transport and storage economic sector, subject to statutory auditing, in a sample of 22 companies, considered healthy, according to the most common criterion in the literature: Equity above zero, during six and that in the seventh were considered bankrupt (Equity below zero) and another, paired with the previous one, by Total Assets and Revenues, with 36 companies that presented Equity above zero throughout all the analyzed period, granting the analyzed models full forecasting potential. Were used 21 multi-sectorial models, for different timelines and geographies, with a greater presence in the literature, or developed by Edward Altman, a unique researcher on this subject, between 1979 and 2014.   Findings: As a main conclusion, in addition to the description of models and techniques, the formulations developed by Carvalho das Neves (1998), Lizarraga (1998) and Monelos et al. (2011) were the best predictors of bankruptcy, up to 6 years before it occurs, for Portuguese and Spanish companies in the transport economic sector (NACE H).   Research, Practical & Social Implications: This information can be used by any interested entity to improve current conditions, optimize and enhance the usage the bankruptcy forecast models.   Originality/Value: The global financial crisis and the growing number of company closures make it crucial to understand the causes of corporate failure, with emphasis on forecasting and anticipating it

Field oriented control of an axial flux permanent magnet synchronous motor for traction solutions

Electric Vehicles (EVs) are increasingly used nowadays, and different powertrain solutions can be adopted. This paper describes the control system of an axial flux Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor (PMSM) for EVs powertrain. It is described the implemented Field Oriented Control (FOC) algorithm and the Space Vector Modulation (SVM) technique. Also, the mathematical model of the PMSM is presented. Both, simulation and experimental, results with different types of mechanical load are presented. The experimental results were obtained using a laboratory test bench. The obtained results are discussed.F CT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia in the scope of the project: PEst - OE/EEI/UI0319/201