Addressing the urban heat islands effect: A cross-country assessment of the role of green infrastructure

© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. The Urban Heat Islands (UHI) effect is a microclimatic phenomenon that especially affects urban areas. It is associated with significant temperature increases in the local microclimate, and may amplify heat waves. Due to their intensity, UHI causes not only thermal discomfort, but also reductions in the levels of life quality. This paper reviews the important role of green infrastructure as a means through which the intensity of UHI may be reduced, along with their negative impact on human comfort and wellbeing. Apart from a comprehensive review of the available literature, the paper reports on an analysis of case studies in a set of 14 cities in 13 countries representing various geographical regions and climate zones. The results obtained suggest that whereas UHI is a common phenomenon, green infrastructure in urban areas may under some conditions ameliorate their impacts. In addition, the study revealed that the scope and impacts of UHI are not uniform: depending on peculiarities of urban morphologies, they pose different challenges linked to the microclimate peculiar to each city. The implications of this paper are threefold. Firstly, it reiterates the complex interrelations of UHIs, heat waves and climate change. Secondly, it outlines the fact that keeping and increasing urban green resources leads to additional various benefits that may directly or indirectly reduce the impacts of UHI. Finally, the paper reiterates the need for city planners to pay more attention to possible UHI effects when initiating new building projects or when adjusting current ones

Vulnerabilidade socioambiental, redução de riscos de desastres e construção da resiliência: lições do terremoto no Haiti e das chuvas fortes na Região Serrana, Brasil Socio-environmental vulnerability, disaster risk-reduction and resilience-building: lessons from the earthquake in Haiti and torrential rains in the mountain range close to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil

Dados sobre desastres no mundo apontam para uma maior gravidade nos países com menores níveis de desenvolvimento econômico e social. Neste contexto, políticas de redução de riscos de desastres e construção da resiliência constituem prioridades na agenda do desenvolvimento sustentável, estando entre os temas eleitos para a Rio+20. O objetivo deste artigo é, através de uma contribuição de natureza conceitual e dos exemplos de desastres em países com níveis de desenvolvimento diferentes, o terremoto do Haiti e as chuvas fortes na Região Serrana (Rio de Janeiro, Brasil), demonstrar como a vulnerabilidade socioambiental cria condições para os desastres, ao mesmo tempo em que limita as estratégias para prevenção e mitigação. Ao final são apontados alguns dos desafios que a redução de riscos de desastres e a construção da resiliência exigem em contextos de vulnerabilidade socioambiental, o que inclui mudanças nos padrões de desenvolvimento social, econômico e ambiental orientados para a sustentabilidade ecológica e a justiça social como pilares do desenvolvimento sustentável.<br>Data on disasters around the world reveal greater seriousness in countries with lower social and economic development levels. In this context, disaster risk-reduction and resilience-building policies are priorities in the sustainable development agenda, featuring among the topics selected for the Rio+20 Summit. By means of a contribution of a conceptual nature and from examples of disasters in countries with different development levels, namely the Haiti earthquake and the torrential rains in the mountain range close to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, the scope of this article is to demonstrate how socio-environmental vulnerability creates conditions for disasters, while at the same time limiting strategies for their prevention and mitigation. Lastly, some of the measures that disaster risk reduction and resilience-building demand in a socio-environmental vulnerability context are highlighted. These involve changes in the current patterns of social, economic and environmental development geared toward ecological sustainability and social justice as pillars of sustainable development

Análisis del concepto de recursos naturales en dos estudios de caso en Argentina Analysis of the concept of renewable natural resources in two case studies in Argentina

El concepto de "recursos naturales", al igual que la misma idea de "naturaleza", presentan una dificultad para ser pensados en la investigación social, ya que su misma etimología nos hace suponer un carácter "esencial" o inmutable. Pero los "recursos naturales" no son dados de manera objetiva, sino que se relacionan con necesidades sociales específicas. De manera que tanto históricamente como en el presente estos han sido objeto de disputa entre actores en posiciones sociales desiguales y la propia noción de "recursos naturales" ha ido modificando su significado. En el presente trabajo nos proponemos desandar, a partir del análisis de dos casos etnográficos específicos, los conceptos de "recurso natural renovable" y "recurso natural no renovable". Como un modo de hacer visible aquello que se oculta cuando una categoría de la ciencia, en este caso, de la economía, forma parte del sentido común.<br>The concept of "natural resources", in the same way as the idea of "nature" is difficult to be thought in the social investigation, probably because its own etymology supposes some essential or unchangeable characteristic. But "natural resources" are not objectively defined, but they are related to specific social needs. So, historically and nowadays resources have been under dispute among social actors unequally positioned. In these arguments, the very notion of "natural resources" itself has been changing its meaning. In this paper "Natural Resources" and "Renewable and Non renewable" classification are reviewed through the analysis of two specific ethnographic cases in Argentina, as a way of making visible what is hidden when a scientific concept, in this case a concept from the economics, takes part in the common-sense