Beyond Cybernetic Federalism in Community Development

Cybernetic federalism is the order of the day. But can the enormously diverse and politically fluid American federal system be understood and dealt with in this way ? How much federal assistance to allocate to a local jurisdiction for community development activities might be more preferably based on analysis of such diverse economic factors as changing city tax bases and shifting locations of economic activity, demographic considerations such as white flight and differential fertility ratios of child bearing women, and political considerations including the existence or non-existence of political machines, political corruption, and political ideologies favorable or unfavorable to publicly-assisted development

Quemando incienso en altares cercanos

El crecimiento masivo y global de las ciudades se ha convertido en uno de los más importantes retos  socioambientales del siglo XXI. Por lo tanto, es necesario un enfoque más proactivo en la búsqueda de alternativas para la conservación biológica. Este artículo analiza la importancia de los jardines domésticos urbanos como áreas estratégicas para la conservación biológica. Jardines domésticos urbanos (o quintais en portugués) se definen como espacios privados adyacentes a las viviendas, y que pueden contener, en grados variados, céspedes, polígonos con vegetación ornamental y alimentaria y fuentes de agua. É común que especies vegetales que han experimentado una disminución severa en sus hábitats silvestres, alcancen altas productividades o densidades en los jardines domésticos urbanos. Esos espacios tienen una enorme capacidad para el suporte de la biodiversidad aunque sea corriente en ellos un predominio de especies vegetales exóticas

Burning incense at nearby altars: urban domestic gardens as biological conservation spaces

The massive and global growth of cities has become one of the most important socio-environmental challenges of the 21st century. Therefore, a more proactive approach is needed in the search for alternatives for biological conservation. This article analyzes the importance of urban domestic gardens as strategic areas for biological conservation. Urban domestic gardens are defined as private spaces adjacent to dwellings, and may contain, in varying degrees, lawns, polygons with ornamental and food vegetation and water sources. It is common that plant species that have experienced a severe decline in their wild habitats, achieve high productivity or densities in urban gardens. These spaces have an enormous capacity for the support of the biodiversity although it is current in them a predominance of exotic vegetal species.El crecimiento masivo y global de las ciudades se ha convertido en uno de los más importantes retos  socioambientales del siglo XXI. Por lo tanto, es necesario un enfoque más proactivo en la búsqueda de alternativas para la conservación biológica. Este artículo analiza la importancia de los jardines domésticos urbanos como áreas estratégicas para la conservación biológica. Jardines domésticos urbanos (o quintais en portugués) se definen como espacios privados adyacentes a las viviendas, y que pueden contener, en grados variados, céspedes, polígonos con vegetación ornamental y alimentaria y fuentes de agua. É común que especies vegetales que han experimentado una disminución severa en sus hábitats silvestres, alcancen altas productividades o densidades en los jardines domésticos urbanos. Esos espacios tienen una enorme capacidad para el suporte de la biodiversidad aunque sea corriente en ellos un predominio de especies vegetales exóticas

Urban Afforestation in Brazil: a Reflection of Environmental Injustice

The objective of this paper is to draw broad view of the urban afforestation in Brazil, since the data of the trees around the households from of the Census 2010, made available by IBGE. We try to analyze the dynamics involved in this scenario. These data become very important to help understand the current reality of urban trees in different regions of the country and from these, open doors to new initiatives with the challenge of improving the quality of the urban environment and the environmental services involved. Our data analysis has revealed a positive relationship between urban planning and urban trees. In addition, we’ve found that smaller cities had a higher percentage of trees compared to large and medium cities

Global urban environmental change drives adaptation in white clover

Urbanization transforms environments in ways that alter biological evolution. We examined whether urban environmental change drives parallel evolution by sampling 110,019 white clover plants from 6169 populations in 160 cities globally. Plants were assayed for a Mendelian antiherbivore defense that also affects tolerance to abiotic stressors. Urban-rural gradients were associated with the evolution of clines in defense in 47% of cities throughout the world. Variation in the strength of clines was explained by environmental changes in drought stress and vegetation cover that varied among cities. Sequencing 2074 genomes from 26 cities revealed that the evolution of urban-rural clines was best explained by adaptive evolution, but the degree of parallel adaptation varied among cities. Our results demonstrate that urbanization leads to adaptation at a global scale