In the last decades the urban environment has been the subject of studies of many researchers, mainly about themes related to planning and sustainable managing of this space. The topics from these discussions become fundamental to the execution of better practices of environmental quality and life quality for the people. The city of Aracaju, Sergipe State, where this study was conducted, presents a variety of environmental problems that demands the analysis of several parameters and factors related to these themes. As a way of contributing to one more aspect for the discussion of sustainability of the city, the main objective of this research was to analyze the quality of the Public Green Areas System of Aracaju, in order to contribute with information that assist a more suitable planning of these areas. Therefore, the information and data analyzed during this study were organized into 3 chapters. Chapter 1 corresponds to the theory reference that fundaments the main themes approached in this research. Chapter 2 deals with the classification, characterization and mapping of the categories that build the Green Areas System. The results were obtained through the analysis of Secondary Data Bank and field activities, assisted by a Public Area Classification Model (PACM). This way, 313 public areas were identified, classified into three types: (1) areas associated to the road system (avenue islands and roundabouts); (2) areas not associated to protected areas (squares, parks and leisure areas); (3) areas associated to protected areas (Conservation Units and Permanent Preservation Areas). The protected areas are the most meaningful for the System, they occupy 80.6% of all the classified green area, while the other classes occupy only 19.4% of the total. Chapter 3 analyzed and discussed the space rates of the public green areas of the city, which were obtained through interpretation of Quickbird satellite images (2008) and data processing in programs of Geographic Information System (SIG s). The related aspects were evaluated into 3 rates: (1) Green Area Percentage PAV; (2) Tree Coverage Percentage PCA and (3) Public Green Area Rate by Inhabitant IAVP. The PAV was treated as the rate that reflects the environmental quality of the system considering the influence of all areas independently of its quality. The PAV of the city is 14.48% compared to urban areas, the PCA is 9.7% and the IAVP that takes into consideration the evaluation of the socio-environmental function of the green area, was only 3.4m ² of green area per inhabitant. The adopted methodological procedures were considered adequate to identify and qualify the categories of the green areas of the city. Moreover, it was essential to analyze the space rates in a more detailed and objective way. / Nas últimas décadas o ambiente urbano tem sido objeto de estudo de muitos pesquisadores, principalmente, sobre temáticas relacionadas com o planejamento e a gestão sustentável desse espaço. Os produtos gerados nas discussões sobre esses temas tornaram-se fundamentais para a execução de melhores praticas no âmbito da qualidade ambiental e da qualidade de vida das pessoas. O município de Aracaju, estado de Sergipe, área de estudo desta pesquisa, apresenta uma série de problemas ambientais que implica na análise de diversos fatores e parâmetros relacionados com essas duas temáticas. Como forma de contribuir com mais um aspecto para a discussão da sustentabilidade do município, o objetivo geral desta pesquisa foi analisar a qualidade do Sistema de Áreas Verdes Públicas do município de Aracaju, a fim de contribuir com informações que auxiliem o planejamento mais adequado dessas áreas. Para isso, as informações e dados analisados durante o estudo foram organizados em 3 capítulos. O Capítulo 1 corresponde ao referencial teórico que fundamenta a pesquisa, o qual foi construído por meio de uma revisão bibliográfica. O texto abordou temáticas gerais relacionadas com o desenvolvimento, sustentabilidade e a problemática ambiental do Ambiente Urbano, e mais específicas que correspondeu a considerações sobre as áreas verdes urbanas. O Capítulo 2 traz a classificação, caracterização e o mapeamento das categorias que compõem o Sistema de Áreas Verdes. Os resultados foram obtidos por meio da análise de Bancos de Dados Secundários e realização de atividades de campo, com auxilio de um Modelo de Classificação de Áreas Públicas (MCAP). Dessa forma, foram identificadas 213 áreas públicas, classificadas em três tipos de classes: (1) áreas associadas ao sistema viário (canteiros e rotatórias); (2) áreas não associadas a áreas protegidas (praças, parques e complexos de lazer) e (3) áreas associadas às áreas protegidas (Unidades de conservação e Áreas de Preservação Permanente). As áreas protegidas são as mais significativas do Sistema ocupando 80,6% de toda área verde classificada, enquanto que as demais classes ocupam apenas 19,4% do total. O Capítulo 3 dedicou-se a análise e discussão dos índices espaciais de áreas verdes públicas da cidade, os quais foram obtidos por meio da interpretação de imagens de satélite Quickbird (2008) e processamento de dados em programas de Sistema de Informações Geográficas (SIG s). Avaliou-se quali-quantitativamente os aspectos relacionados com 3 índices: (1) Percentual de Áreas Verdes - PAV; (2) Percentual de Cobertura Arbórea PCA e seu respectivo índice (Índice de Cobertura Arbórea por Habitante) e o (3) Índice de Áreas Verdes Públicas por Habitante IAVP. O PAV foi tratado como índice que reflete a qualidade ambiental do sistema por considerar a influencia de todas as áreas, independente da sua qualidade. O PAV da cidade é de 14,48% em relação à área urbanizada, o PCA é de 9,7% já O IAV, que leva em consideração a avaliação da função socioambiental da área verde, foi de apenas 3,4m² de área verde por habitante. Os procedimentos metodológicos adotados foram considerados adequados para identificar e qualificar as categorias de áreas verdes do município. E a análise dos índices espaciais refletiu de forma mais criteriosa e objetiva a qualidade socioambiental das áreas verdes públicas do município.

A constituição da idéia de meio ambiente urbano é aqui avaliada sob a perspectiva das concepções que, historicamente, tentam enquadrar as cidades em categorias biológicas, tais como “corpo”, “organismo” e, contemporaneamente, “(ecos)sistema”. Essa tendência de naturalização ou biologização das cidades é característica do pensamento social pelo menos desde o século XIX: seus antecedentes são certamente ainda mais remotos, mas as origens de seus aspectos contemporâneos mais característicos podem ser encontradas em meados do século XVIII. Este trabalho visa resgatar alguns dos aspectos mais importantes dessa história, pondo em questão a validade de tais categorias para compreensão e intervenção sobre a cidade real. Para tanto, o trabalho dedica-se a investigar os sentidos atribuídos à idéia de natureza e a conseqüente apreciação da agência humana, e da cidade em particular, feita por essas concepções. Qualifica-se o processo de naturalização como parte de um esforço mais amplo de negação ou disciplinamento do artifício (a ação humana) e do acaso (a ausência de causalidade ou finalidade) na constituição do mundo – negação esta que resultaria em um conjunto de categorias de estase para interpretação da realidade e, afinal, em apologia do status quo. Desde o sanitarismo do século XIX até a Ecologia do pós-2ª. Guerra Mundial, passando pelo caso particularmente controverso da Eugenia, as tentativas de biologização das cidades, tanto por parte das ciências biomédicas quanto do próprio Urbanismo em constituição, apontam para uma tendência de dominação pelo conhecimento técnico que permeia de forma recorrente a modernidade capitalista. Nela, tanto a “natureza” quanto os seres humanos comuns (não “escolhidos”) são concebidos como recursos naturalmente passivos e sujeitados, incapazes de criar, cabendo-lhes apenas o papel de “resistir” ou “reagir”, ou ainda serem “protegidos”. Esse “paradigma da dominação” é que requer reconhecimento e enfrentamento, indicando a necessidade de politizar e historicizar a questão ambiental, principalmente em relação às cidades. / In this dissertation the formulation of a concept of ‘urban environment’ is based on the perspective of ideas which have historically attempted to understand cites in biological terms, such as “body”, “organism” or more recently “eco-system”. This tendency to ‘naturalize’ or conceive cities in biological terms has been a characteristic of social thinking especially since the 19th century. The roots of this tendency are certainly much more remote but this perspective did receive an important impulse from the mid-18th century ideas of the enlightenment. The following dissertation attempts to recuperate some of the more important aspects of this history, questioning the validity of this tendency for the comprehension of and intervention in contemporary cities. Because of this, the study is dedicated to the investigation of the various understandings attributed to the idea of nature with their peculiar appreciation of human agency and of the city. Qualifying this process of naturalization is seen as part of a wider preoccupation of negating or disciplining notions of ‘the artificial’ seen as the product of human agency, and of ‘chance’ when seen as the absence of causality or finality, in our constitution and interpretation of the world which in very many cases becomes an apology in favor of the ‘status quo’. Since the influence of ideas based on hygiene and sanitary conditions in the 19th century and the Darwinian twin conceptions of ecology and the controversial idea of eugenics (up to the mid 20th century) urban history has accepted the expanding role of biological metaphors. This has been expressive both in the biomedical sciences and also in the evolving science of urbanism. In many senses this has been part of the wider tendency towards domination by technical knowledge which is a recurrent feature of capitalist modernity. In this interpretation the dissertation attempts to show that ‘nature’, just as much as ordinary common people are conceived as resources, ‘naturally’ passive, without any capacity to create and with a mere capacity to ‘resist’, to ‘react’ or to ‘conform’ to their eventual ‘protection’. It is this academic paradigm of domination which needs to be recognized and confronted. In this sense the dissertation is an attempt to historically politicize the environmental question, especially in its urban dimension.

La thèse, intitulée Une ville cosmopolite, de l’écologie urbaine aux politiques, prend pour questionnement de départ les modalités d’articulation des dimensions urbaine et politique du cosmopolitisme. La première partie est consacrée à l’approche théorique de cette articulation à partir des écrits de R. E Park et des approches contemporaines du cosmopolitisme en sociologie urbaine et en philosophie politique, et propose une approche sociologique du cosmopolitisme. Celle-ci est mise à l’épreuve de l’enquête, à laquelle est consacrée la seconde partie, qui suit les mobilisations urbaines à Bruxelles des années 1960 à aujourd’hui et étudie ces modalités d’articulation des dimensions urbaine et politique du cosmopolitisme, afin de questionner le rôle de la ville dans l’émergence d’un cosmopolitisme politique. / Doctorat en Sciences politiques et sociales / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Much of the sustainable community planning and design discourse has been about prescribing and defining ends. A large gap exists between goals for sustainability and the ways and means to achieve them. Multiple barriers are encountered when implementation attempts are made. The research addresses the question: In what ways can demonstration projects increase social learning of effective planning, design and policy alternatives that assist in developing sustainable urban communities? Demonstration here is an area based, site specific planning and design process and built project showing potential adopters the benefits of employing various innovations. Five fields of scholarship and research (land-use and sustainable development; planning and design participation; urban experimentation and demonstration; innovation, diffusion and social learning; action for innovation and implementation) are drawn upon to inform the objectives. An analytical-evaluative framework for sustainable planning and design is developed, then applied in a detailed case study. The case study of Egebjerggard, a 928 dwelling, mixed use neighbourhood in Ballerup, Denmark provides an analysis of how leading practice can contribute to a better understanding of the potentials and challenges for advancing community policy, design and implementation at the neighbourhood and city-wide level. The analysis enables the interpretation of the Ballerup experience and the transfer of principles to the Canadian context. Two initiatives in sustainable community development in Calgary and Vancouver indicate the issues, opportunities and the state of practice. A proposed demonstration strategy outlines possible new institutional and organizational capacities and relationships in the Canadian residential planning and delivery system. The main contributions include: i) an empirical and descriptive-analytical case study providing a detailed account of integrated planning implementation and policy development in Denmark, ii) a strategy, its structure, organization and functions to carry out demonstration / exhibition in Canadian municipalities, iii) a normative proposition for and the evidence to support an expanded notion of demonstration directing attention to their value and potential. The benefits and returns outlined serve as a general argument for proceeding with a neighbourhood scale fully featured demonstration in any city in Canada. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2016-01-19T11:06:47Z No. of bitstreams: 1 katiadealmeidarotmeisterteixeiradebarros.pdf: 11532490 bytes, checksum: 57163513ef7b46d57d55bade08b63c85 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2016-01-25T17:56:47Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 katiadealmeidarotmeisterteixeiradebarros.pdf: 11532490 bytes, checksum: 57163513ef7b46d57d55bade08b63c85 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-01-25T17:56:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 katiadealmeidarotmeisterteixeiradebarros.pdf: 11532490 bytes, checksum: 57163513ef7b46d57d55bade08b63c85 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-03-30 / FAPEMIG - Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais / Esse trabalho teve como objetivo quantificar e mapear a distribuição dos fragmentos florestais urbanos presentes na cidade de Juiz de Fora-MG/Brasil, circundados pela matriz urbana localizada originalmente em domínio da Mata Atlântica. Através da vetorização das aerofotos cedidas pela prefeitura da cidade, cada fragmento presente foi mapeado utilizando o programa ArcGIS 10, onde foram considerados fragmentos os resquícios de vegetação remanescente ou não, em meio à expansão demográfica desordenada que a cidade vem sofrendo.Após obter todos os componentes vetorizados, foi verificada a distribuição dos principais fragmentos florestais presentes na paisagem da cidade, utilizando geotecnologia e fotointerpretação na escala 1:2000. Sendo incluso no universo amostral todo e qualquer fragmento igual ou maior a meio hectare. Foram identificados 1122 fragmentos, compondo a área de9.662 ha da zona urbana da cidade. A distribuição dos mesmos não se encontra de forma homogênea pela cidade. A análise dos atributos e dos tamanhos foi feita com o auxílio da tabela dos mesmos e o programa ArcGIS 10. Os resultados evidenciaram que Juiz de Fora é uma cidade com 24% de presença de fragmentos florestais em meio à zona urbana. / This work aimed to identify and map the distribution of urban forest fragments present in the city of Juiz de Fora-MG/Brazil, which was originally surrounded by Atlantic Forest domain. Were considered the fragments of remaining vegetation or not, existing due to the disordered population growth that the city has been suffering. We used the computer application ArcGIS 10, where through the vectorization of aerial photography, courtesy by prefecture in the city, each fragment was mapped. After obtaining all vectorized components, the distribution of the forest fragments present in the landscape of the city was verified using geotechnology and image interpretation on the scale 1: 2000 Being included in the universe any fragment equal to or greater than half a hectare. Were identified 1122 fragments, representing an area of 9.662 ha the urban perimeter. The distribution of thereof is not homogeneously throughout the city. The analysis of the attributes and of the sizes was made with the aid of the same table. The results showed that Juiz de Fora is a city presenting 24% of forest fragments, in the midst of urbanization.

As cities expand globally, researchers must clarify how human activities and institutions shape biodiversity and conversely, how ecological processes shape human outcomes. Two features of contemporary cities motivate this thesis. First, urban residents, and especially children, are spending less time in nature and consequently, miss out on healthy and formative experiences with biodiversity. Second, residents with the least access to biodiversity tend to be those with the lowest socioeconomic status (SES). Together, these patterns convey a multi-layered environmental injustice: not only might urbanites become increasingly estranged from biodiversity, disinterested from its conservation, and disconnected from its benefits, but these outcomes may be most acute in communities already suffering from inequality in terms of exposure to hazards or limited economic opportunity. The first chapter explores how children’s behaviors and interests change after learning about animal habitats first-hand in an environmental education program. I conducted an evaluation of the ECOS program in Springfield, Massachusetts, in which I surveyed elementary school students about their memories of ECOS and their related environmental behaviors. Students with parents or peers that had participated in ECOS were more likely to repeat or discuss program activities after the program’s end. Findings will aid educators in Springfield and beyond in improving program impacts and sustainability. The second chapter explains under what conditions socioeconomic inequality becomes linked with biodiversity. I conducted a meta-analysis of published research that assessed SES-biodiversity relationships in 34 cities using fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis. I evaluated the contributions of study design and city-level conditions in shaping SES-biodiversity relationships for various taxonomic groups. The meta-analysis highlighted the contributions of residential and municipal decisions in differentially promoting biodiversity along socioeconomic lines. Further, we identified circumstances in which inequality in biodiversity was ameliorated or negated by urban form, social policy, or collective human preference. Findings will aid researchers and managers in understanding human drivers of biodiversity in their cities and how access to biodiversity may be unequally distributed. In sum, this thesis advances our knowledge about how biodiversity is structured in cities, who gets to experience it, and how such experiences influence our behaviors and interests.

L’armature verte urbaine rassemble tous les éléments de végétation contribuant à répondre aux défis majeurs associés à l’Anthropocène, comme l’adaptation au changement climatique, la préservation de la biodiversité, l’infiltration des eaux pluviales ou l’amélioration de la santé des populations. La cartographie précise des espaces végétalisés urbains fait aujourd’hui défaut bien que les données spatiales issues de capteurs aéroportés soient disponibles depuis de nombreuses années. De ce fait, il est aujourd’hui difficile d’évaluer la fonctionnalité des armatures vertes. Pour répondre à ce besoin d’évaluation, il s’est agi, dans le cadre d’étude de la Métropole de Lyon, de cartographier le territoire à un mètre de résolution spatiale entre 1984 et 2015 en utilisant une procédure orientée objet, et de rendre ces cartographies disponibles sur une plateforme web dédiée. Il en ressort que les surfaces végétalisées de la métropole sont comparables à celles d’autres agglomérations de même rang, mais que l’accès de la population à cette végétation est très inégalement réparti. Par exemple, seuls 11 % des habitants disposent d’un espace vert de plus de 2ha à moins de 5 minutes de chez eux. Souvent sous-estimés dans les politiques urbaines, les jardins des particuliers représentent deux fois la surface des espaces verts publics, et devraient faire l’objet des mêmes questionnements, quant à leur valeur pour la mitigation climatique ou pour la biodiversité. L’évaluation de l’armature urbaine ne s’arrête pas à sa cartographie, mais doit conduire à l’exploration de sa perception à différentes échelles spatiales, pour différents acteurs (habitants, professionnels et autres organismes vivants) et selon plusieurs mesures de bien-être physique, mental et culturel. / The urban green infrastructure brings together all the elements of vegetation that contribute to meeting the major challenges associated with the Anthropocene, such as adapting to climate change, preserving biodiversity, infiltrating rainwater or improving the health of populations. The precise mapping of urban green spaces is today lacking although spatial data from airborne sensors have been available for many years. As a result, it is now difficult to assess the functionality of greeninfrastructures. To meet this need for evaluation, the territory of the urban area of Lyon was mapped at one meter resolution between 1984 and 2015 using an object-oriented procedure. All maps generated were made available on a dedicated web platform. The results show that the green areas of the urban area of Lyon are comparable to those of other agglomerations of the same rank, but that the population’s access to this vegetation is very unevenly distributed. For example, only 11% of the inhabitants can find a green space of more than 2ha closer than a 5 minutes’ walk from home. Often underestimated in urban policies, private gardens make up twice the surface of public green spaces, and should be the subject of the same questions about their value for climate mitigation or the conservation of biodiversity. The evaluation of urban green infrastructures only starts with theirmapping, and should lead to the exploration of its perception at different spatial scales, for different actors (inhabitants, professionals and other living organisms) and according to several measures of physical, mental and cultural well-being.

This essay analyzes the depictions of urban nature in Ottessa Moshfegh’s novel My Year of Rest and Relaxation (2018). The theoretical framework consists primarily of Astrid Bracke’s thoughts on “urban ecology”, Christophe Den Tant’s descriptions of “the urban sublime” and William Cronon’s thoughts on the concept of “Wilderness”, all of which work in the ecocritical field. My Year of Rest and Relaxation explores the concepts of naturalness and artificiality through language and various themes. It takes place in an urban environment where the main character chooses to isolate herself in her city apartment, hence the existence of nature in the traditional sense is absent, yet the text works consistently with elements of urban nature in varying situations. The way in which this urban nature is presented relates to other themes such as the exploration of borders and dichotomies such as nature and culture, organic and artificial as well as animate and inanimate.

Organic matter (OM) is often considered the “currency” for ecosystem processes, such as respiration and primary production. OM in aquatic ecosystems is derived from multiple sources, and is a complex mixture of thousands of different chemical constituents. Therefore, it is difficult to identify all the sources of OM that enter and exit aquatic ecosystems. As humans develop undisturbed land, the rate at which terrestrial OM (e.g.soil and plants) and associated nutrients (e.g.nitrogen) enters rivers has increased. Increased nutrients may lead to increased primary production from aquatic plants and algae, potentially causing eutrophication and harmful algal blooms. In this study, I identified and characterized different sources of OM in four watersheds of Northeastern Utah with multiple land covers such as cities, forests, and crops. I expected OM in watersheds with human-altered land cover would have more OM produced instream by algae and other primary producers, than OM in less disturbed watersheds, which typically have OM from terrestrial sources. I found that OM at river sites with high human impact had high amounts of OM from instream primary production, but there was also OM produced in-steam at sites with low human impact. The greatest differences in OM across watersheds was due to wastewater treatment effluent. I also measured microbial consumption rates of algal derived and terrestrially derived DOM in experimental streams to quantify how much faster algal derived OM was consumed than terrestrial OM. I found algal derived OM was consumed extremely fast, so fast that realistic measurements of its consumption in some river ecosystems may not be possible. It is important to identify and characterize sources of OM to rivers, so watershed manager scan devise effective OM reduction plans appropriate for the constituent of concern unique to that watershed or region. Constituents of concern associated with OM include pathogens affiliated with manure, toxins in harmful algal blooms, metals, and pharmaceuticals from wastewater treatment effluent. Each pollutant requires a unique mitigation strategy and therefore the first step to pollution mitigation is source identification.

To better understand the value of those who engage in environmental stewardship of natural areas, we studied volunteer steward's motivation to participate, their sustainable behaviors and attitudes toward stewardship-related constructs. Specifically, we designed and conducted a survey of volunteers who work as stewards in urban natural areas in Portland, Oregon. We hypothesize that as volunteer frequency increases: participants will be more motivated to participate for environmental reasons, volunteers will be more likely to feel a strong connection to the stewardship site, participants will be more likely to engage in public pro-environmental behaviors, and their level of environmental literacy will increase. Participants were sampled using a face-to-face survey methodology over the course of late winter and spring of 2012 during 18 different Portland Parks and Recreation sponsored stewardship events. We examined the motivations, attitudes and behaviors of the volunteers, and devised appropriate management implications for those organizing volunteer efforts. We equated a three-tiered typology of environmental literacy, based upon the frequency of volunteer participation, and analyzed our survey data using a principal component analysis, generalized linear models, and a qualitative coding analysis. The most frequent participants showed a higher likelihood of participation in public environmental behaviors, whereas participants at all frequency levels were also likely to participate in private environmental behaviors, such as removing invasive plants in one's yard. Volunteers across all frequencies of participation were motivated to engage in stewardship events by a desire to help the environment. By understanding volunteers' motivations and linked behaviors, park managers may gain insights about the recruitment, retention, and messaging of volunteers upon whom they may depend to achieve restoration goals. We recommend considering volunteers' motivations and benefits derived from participation in messaging to recruit and retain volunteers. Additionally, park managers should take advantage of educational opportunities linked to stewardship events, such as training programs and chances for volunteer mentorship.