This thesis develops quantitative indicators of environmental sustainability for Mexico City and its metropolitan zone of influence (MCMZ). These indicators of sustainability were developed by taking into account seven key variables for the urban environment: the water supply situation, air pollution, transportation and roads, energy, solid wastes, the housing supply and green areas. Based on these indicators and the history of the city's physical evolution since it was founded seven centuries ago, a desirable type of urban form is proposed, one in which there is a "decentralized concentration" which would allow Mexico City to approach sustainability in a time frame that concludes in or about the year 2030. Accordingly, the thesis proposes urban policy measures that, while addressing issues of sustainability, permit Mexico City to face the challenges of globalisation, which would entail transforming it into a "global city'' within a worldwide network of great cities. The urban policy and environmental measures that are recommended anticipate the largest economic, demographic and technological changes that will affect Mexico City, but are above all in harmony with the natural ecosystems of the elevated endorheic basin in which it lies. They do no call for a break with or the alteration of the city's natural landscape or its already constructed historical patrimony and, when possible, they presuppose a new sustainable hydraulic model, capable of restoring lakes and recharging the underground aquifer. Finally, a great deal of emphasis is placed on the recuperation of green areas in accordance with the basin's original natural vegetation. / Geography / D.Litt. et Phil. (Geography)

Os impactos ambientais do transporte assumem diversas formas e têm efeitos locais, regionais e globais. A crescente dimensão do tema desperta interesse mundial, expresso em inúmeras propostas voltadas à moderação dos impactos em áreas urbanas e em rodovias, bem como à integração entre transporte e sustentabilidade. O referencial teórico mostra que a recomendação de ações para redução de impactos ambientais depende de conhecimento do cenário de intervenção e também da compatibilidade entre propostas, características da área e necessidades da população local, ao passo que a análise do estado-da-arte em cidades globais baliza possíveis metas a atingir. O presente trabalho teve como objetivos criar uma metodologia de avaliação de impactos ambientais e investigar a relação entre transporte, qualidade ambiental e qualidade de vida em alguns locais de São Paulo. Tendo como norte os conceitos de transporte sustentável e desenho ambiental, foi elaborado um modelo de diagnóstico de qualidade ambiental e qualidade de vida. Para tanto, duas pesquisas foram aplicadas: uma subjetiva, caracterizando a demanda por infra-estrutura urbana e a qualidade de vida da população; e a outra objetiva, cujos resultados permitiram avaliar os impactos ambientais. As pesquisas ocorreram em 3 Subprefeituras do Município de São Paulo, sendo que a avaliação dos resultados teve como base o uso de alguns indicadores de qualidade ambiental e uma calculadora de externalidades, especialmente desenvolvidos para o estudo. A metodologia mostrou ser viável para diagnosticar a qualidade de vida da população local, as características físicas pontuais e os impactos ambientais resultantes do tráfego local. O levantamento facilitou a sugestão de uma série de intervenções pontuais, constituindo um instrumento de avaliação flexível e replicável em outras localidades. / The environmental impacts of transport take a myriad of forms and spread locally, regionally and globally. The growing dimension of the issue raises worldwide interest, translated into a series of proposals focused on the mitigation of such impacts in urban areas and motorways, as well as the integration between transport and sustainability. The theoretical framework has shown that the suggestion of mitigation measures requires knowledge about the target scenario, and also balance among proposals, features of the area and the local population?s needs, whereas the analysis of transport in global cities provide some state-of-the-art examples likely to be pursued. The main objectives were to create a methodology for the environmental impact assessment and to investigate the relationship among transport, environmental quality and quality of life at specific spots in the City of São Paulo. Taking into account the concepts of sustainable transport and environmental design, a model for the diagnosis of environmetal quality and quality of life was prepared. For this purpose, two different surveys were carried out: one concerning subjective aspects, featuring the demand for urban infrastructure and the population?s quality of life; and another concerning objective aspects, whose analysis enabled the assessment of environmental impacts. These surveys took place at three administrative regions in the City of São Paulo. The analysis relied on some environmental quality indicators and a simple calculator, especially devised for this project. The methodology has proved to be feasible for the appraisal of the local population?s quality of life, the physical characteristics of the sampled spots and the environmental impacts resulting from local traffic. The survey has facilitated the recommendation of a series of local interventions, making up a flexible and easily adaptable assessment tool.

Os impactos ambientais do transporte assumem diversas formas e têm efeitos locais, regionais e globais. A crescente dimensão do tema desperta interesse mundial, expresso em inúmeras propostas voltadas à moderação dos impactos em áreas urbanas e em rodovias, bem como à integração entre transporte e sustentabilidade. O referencial teórico mostra que a recomendação de ações para redução de impactos ambientais depende de conhecimento do cenário de intervenção e também da compatibilidade entre propostas, características da área e necessidades da população local, ao passo que a análise do estado-da-arte em cidades globais baliza possíveis metas a atingir. O presente trabalho teve como objetivos criar uma metodologia de avaliação de impactos ambientais e investigar a relação entre transporte, qualidade ambiental e qualidade de vida em alguns locais de São Paulo. Tendo como norte os conceitos de transporte sustentável e desenho ambiental, foi elaborado um modelo de diagnóstico de qualidade ambiental e qualidade de vida. Para tanto, duas pesquisas foram aplicadas: uma subjetiva, caracterizando a demanda por infra-estrutura urbana e a qualidade de vida da população; e a outra objetiva, cujos resultados permitiram avaliar os impactos ambientais. As pesquisas ocorreram em 3 Subprefeituras do Município de São Paulo, sendo que a avaliação dos resultados teve como base o uso de alguns indicadores de qualidade ambiental e uma calculadora de externalidades, especialmente desenvolvidos para o estudo. A metodologia mostrou ser viável para diagnosticar a qualidade de vida da população local, as características físicas pontuais e os impactos ambientais resultantes do tráfego local. O levantamento facilitou a sugestão de uma série de intervenções pontuais, constituindo um instrumento de avaliação flexível e replicável em outras localidades. / The environmental impacts of transport take a myriad of forms and spread locally, regionally and globally. The growing dimension of the issue raises worldwide interest, translated into a series of proposals focused on the mitigation of such impacts in urban areas and motorways, as well as the integration between transport and sustainability. The theoretical framework has shown that the suggestion of mitigation measures requires knowledge about the target scenario, and also balance among proposals, features of the area and the local population?s needs, whereas the analysis of transport in global cities provide some state-of-the-art examples likely to be pursued. The main objectives were to create a methodology for the environmental impact assessment and to investigate the relationship among transport, environmental quality and quality of life at specific spots in the City of São Paulo. Taking into account the concepts of sustainable transport and environmental design, a model for the diagnosis of environmetal quality and quality of life was prepared. For this purpose, two different surveys were carried out: one concerning subjective aspects, featuring the demand for urban infrastructure and the population?s quality of life; and another concerning objective aspects, whose analysis enabled the assessment of environmental impacts. These surveys took place at three administrative regions in the City of São Paulo. The analysis relied on some environmental quality indicators and a simple calculator, especially devised for this project. The methodology has proved to be feasible for the appraisal of the local population?s quality of life, the physical characteristics of the sampled spots and the environmental impacts resulting from local traffic. The survey has facilitated the recommendation of a series of local interventions, making up a flexible and easily adaptable assessment tool.

This thesis develops quantitative indicators of environmental sustainability for Mexico City and its metropolitan zone of influence (MCMZ). These indicators of sustainability were developed by taking into account seven key variables for the urban environment: the water supply situation, air pollution, transportation and roads, energy, solid wastes, the housing supply and green areas. Based on these indicators and the history of the city's physical evolution since it was founded seven centuries ago, a desirable type of urban form is proposed, one in which there is a "decentralized concentration" which would allow Mexico City to approach sustainability in a time frame that concludes in or about the year 2030. Accordingly, the thesis proposes urban policy measures that, while addressing issues of sustainability, permit Mexico City to face the challenges of globalisation, which would entail transforming it into a "global city'' within a worldwide network of great cities. The urban policy and environmental measures that are recommended anticipate the largest economic, demographic and technological changes that will affect Mexico City, but are above all in harmony with the natural ecosystems of the elevated endorheic basin in which it lies. They do no call for a break with or the alteration of the city's natural landscape or its already constructed historical patrimony and, when possible, they presuppose a new sustainable hydraulic model, capable of restoring lakes and recharging the underground aquifer. Finally, a great deal of emphasis is placed on the recuperation of green areas in accordance with the basin's original natural vegetation. / Geography / D.Litt. et Phil. (Geography)

<div><br></div><div>Extreme heat is one of the deadliest health hazards that is projected to increase in intensity and persistence in the near future. Temperatures are further exacerbated in the urban areas due to the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect resulting in increased heat-related mortality and morbidity. However, the spatial distribution of urban temperatures is highly heterogeneous. As a result, metrics such as UHI Intensity that quantify the difference between the average urban and non-urban air temperatures, often fail to characterize this spatial and temporal heterogeneity. My objective in this thesis is to understand and characterize the spatio-temporal dynamics of UHI for cities across the world. This has several applications, such as targeted heat mitigation, energy load estimation, and neighborhood-level vulnerability estimation.</div><div><br></div><div>Towards this end, I have developed a novel multi-scale framework of identifying emerging heat clusters at various percentile-based thermal thresholds T_thr and refer to them collectively as <i>intra-Urban Heat Islets</i>. Using the Land Surface Temperatures from Landsat for 78 cities representative of the global diversity, I have showed that the heat islets have a fractal spatial structure. They display properties analogous to that of a percolating system as T_thr varies. At the percolation threshold, the size distribution of these islets in all cities follows a power-law, with a scaling exponent = 1.88 and an aggregated Area-Perimeter Fractal Dimension =1.33. This commonality indicates that despite the diversity in urban form and function across the world, the urban temperature patterns are different realizations with the same aggregated statistical properties. In addition, analogous to the UHI Intensity, the mean islet intensity, i.e., the difference between mean islet temperature and thermal threshold, is estimated for each islet, and their distribution follows an exponential curve. This allows for a single metric (exponential rate parameter) to serve as a comprehensive measure of thermal heterogeneity and improve upon the traditional UHI Intensity as a bulk metric.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>To study the impact of urban form on the heat islet characteristics, I have introduced a novel lacunarity-based metric, which quantifies the degree of compactness of the heat islets. I have shown that while the UHIs have similar fractal structure at their respective percolation threshold, differences across cities emerge when we shift the focus to the hottest islets (T_thr = 90^th percentile). Analysis of heat islets' size distribution demonstrates the emergence of two classes where the dense cities maintain a power law, whereas the sprawling cities show an exponential deviation at higher thresholds. This indicates a significantly reduced probability of encountering large heat islets for sprawling cities. In contrast, analysis of heat islet intensity distributions indicates that while a sprawling configuration is favorable for reducing the mean Surface UHI Intensity of a city, for the same mean, it also results in higher local thermal extremes. </div><div><br></div><div>Lastly, I have examined the impact of external forcings such as heatwaves (HW) on the heat islet characteristics. As a case study, the European heatwave of 2018 is simulated using the Weather Research Forecast model with a focus on Paris. My results indicate that the UHI Intensity under this HW reduces during night time by 1^oC on average. A surface energy budget analysis reveals that this is due to drier and hotter rural background temperatures during the HW period.</div><div>To analyze the response of heat islets at every spatial scale, power spectral density analysis is done. The results show that large contiguous heat islets (city-scale) persist throughout the day during a HW, whereas the smaller islets (neighborhood-scale) display a diurnal variability that is the same as non-HW conditions. </div><div><br></div><div>In conclusion, I have presented a new viewpoint of the UHI as an archipelago of intra-urban heat islets. Along the way, I have introduced several properties that enable a seamless comparison of thermal heterogeneity across diverse cities as well as under diverse climatic conditions. This thesis is a step towards a comprehensive characterization of heat from the spatial scales of an urban block to a megalopolis.</div><div><br></div>

[pt] A relação porto-cidade é temática interessante de estudo para um melhor conhecimento da dinâmica do capital e do uso do solo nas cidades portuárias. Os estudos destas relações apontam para um paradoxo existente nas áreas portuárias, que acaba criando uma relação de grande potencial de desenvolvimento associado a uma espiral de obsolescência. Este trabalho passa por diversas etapas que permitiram um melhor entendimento do que são cidades globais e de como cidades portuárias atingem este status, na medida em que o desenvolvimento da navegação interoceânica foi determinante para que estas cidades se tornassem centros de cultura cosmopolita e globalizada. Esta pesquisa pretende discutir esta contradição com base na definição de como se estabelece a relação porto-cidade no Brasil e no exterior e na identificação das forças socioeconômicas, socioambientais e históricas que regem o surgimento, o crescimento e a manutenção das cidades portuárias modernas. Após revisão bibliográfica e a apresentação de casos práticos, foi constatado que os portos brasileiros se encontram ainda em moldes da operação portuária das décadas de 1960 a 1980 que, sem uma intervenção direta, continuarão a distanciar o caráter do porto da sua função urbana nas frentes históricas de litoral. O trabalho propõe a retomada de uma relação porto-cidade mais sustentável com base no estabelecimento de projetos em moldes participativos, em análises e avaliações ambientais mais amplas, incluindo as interfaces porto/ambiente, e na definição de seus escopos baseados nos conceitos de Paisagem Urbana Histórica, de Planejamento Urbano Sustentável e de Resiliência Urbana. / [en] The port-city relationship is an interesting theme to study in order to better understand the dynamics of capital and land use in port cities, which are considered global cities due to certain characteristics, Sassen (2001). Researches on these relationships show a paradox observed in port areas: a large potential for development associated with a spiral of obsolescence. This work encompassed many stages which allowed for a better understanding of what global cities are and of how port cities attain that status. The development of interoceanic navigation was determinant for these cities to become centers of a cosmopolitan and globalized culture. This study aimed to discuss these questions defining how the port-city relationship takes place in Brazil and worldwide, as well as identifying the socioeconomic, socio-environmental and historical forces that guide the creation, growth and maintenance of modern port cities. This work encompassed many stages which allowed for a better understanding of what global cities are and of how port cities attain that status. The development of interoceanic navigation was determinant for these cities to become centers of a cosmopolitan and globalized culture. This study aimed to discuss these questions defining how the port-city relationship takes place in Brazil and worldwide, as well as identifying the socioeconomic, socio-environmental and historical forces that guide the creation, growth and maintenance of modern port cities.

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