Estudos relacionados ao consumo de recursos e à emissão de resíduos na escala territorial local se originaram nas pioneiras pesquisas associadas ao conceito de metabolismo urbano. Nos últimos 15 anos, observa-se um crescimento do número de estudos aplicados a cidades, municípios ou regiões metropolitanas. A Análise dos Fluxos de Materiais - AFM (Material Flow Analysis) vem se consolidando como a abordagem metodológica predominante para esse tipo de investigação, a qual objetiva prover informações sobre fluxos de materiais e de energia, usualmente em unidades de massa, entrando e deixando uma sociedade. No entanto, todos os casos estudados na literatura prévia correspondem a capitais nacionais ou a municípios com centralidade econômica e de gestão do território na região as quais pertencem. Adicionalmente, não há estudos desenvolvidos no Brasil. Em face dessas lacunas, o objetivo principal deste trabalho é a caracterização dos fluxos de materiais associados ao metabolismo de um município brasileiro de pequeno porte (MBPP). Para tanto se adotou como estudo de caso o município de Feliz-RS. Como objetivos intermediários da pesquisa estabeleceram-se: a) Identificação dos métodos existentes para caracterização de fluxos de materiais na escala local e análise das possibilidades de aplicação no contexto dos MBPP; b) Desenvolvimento de um detalhamento metodológico da AFM, para a caracterização dos fluxos de materiais de MBPP; c) Análise das limitações e oportunidades para uso da AFM, na avaliação de sustentabilidade ambiental de municípios. Como resultados, avalia-se que o detalhamento metodológico desenvolvido é funcional e replicável para municípios brasileiros com o mesmo perfil, além de fornecer informações bastante detalhadas acerca dos fluxos ocorrentes no município adotado como caso. Assim, é possível realizar análises com diferentes níveis de desagregação. Quanto aos fluxos de materiais de Feliz, encontrou-se que o consumo doméstico de materiais per capita (DMC/ per capita) do município é alto, se comparado àqueles já caracterizados na literatura. Essa constatação corrobora com a proposição de que municípios com produção primária e secundária tendem a demandar, proporcionalmente, mais recursos do que aqueles que são consumidores finais. Quanto ao uso da AFM, na avaliação de sustentabilidade ambiental, verifica-se um alto potencial, com vantagens, em relação a outros métodos correntemente adotados. Entretanto, essas oportunidades ainda são pouco exploradas no contexto internacional e ignoradas no Brasil, ao se analisar a literatura existente. / Studies related to resources consumption and wastes emissions in a local territorial scale were originated from pioneering researches related to the urban metabolism concept. Over the past 15 years, there was a growth in the number of such studies applied to cities, municipalities and metropolitan areas. At the same time, Material Flow Analysis - MFA was consolidated as the predominant methodological approach for this type of research. However, it must be pointed out that all studied cases have been related to national capitals or counties, with economics centrality and land management in their own area. Besides, no studies of this nature were found as being developed in Brazil. Thus, the main goal of the research presented in this paper was to characterize material flows associated with the metabolism of a small Brazilian municipality and for this purpose the municipality of Feliz was adopted as a case study. Three intermediate objectives were established: a) To identify existing methods for material flows characterization on the local scale and to analyse the possibilities of applying them in the context of small Brazilian municipalities; b) to develop a MFA methodological detailing for the characterization of material flows of small Brazilian municipalities; c) to analyse constraints and opportunities for the use of MFA in the assessment of municipalities environmental sustainability. As results, it is considered that the methodological detailing developed raises the possibility of replicating the procedures applied in Feliz to other Brazilian municipalities, being this research a first and referential step in this direction. Besides, it provides very detailed information on flows occurring in the municipality adopted as the case study. Thus, it is possible ti further develop of analyses considering different levels of disaggregation. Concerning the material flows associated with the metabolism of Feliz, it was found that the studied municipality presents a DMC per capita comparable or superior to that of larger municipalities already analyzed by previous researches. This finding corroborates the hypothesis that municipalities with primary and secondary production tend to demand proportionately more resources than those who are the final consumers. Regarding the use of the MFA in the assessment of municipalities environmental sustainability, it was verified that it presents a high potential, with advantages over other methods currently adopted. However, when analyzing the existing literature it was noticed that these opportunities are still little explored in the international context and ignored in Brazil.

This thesis seeks to review Urban Sustainability in cities of the Developing South within the broader spectrum of Sustainable Development. Notably, the Developing South has for many years struggled to embrace Sustainability in its general terms: in part, because of the fragile institutions that cannot be counted on to uphold sustainability in the truest sense of the word; and in part because of the numerous challenges that often distract any attempt to prioritize Sustainable Development. Sustainability then becomes an option in the midst of other options, rather than an option that should affect all other options. Narrowing it down further to matters urban makes it even stranger in a host of cities across the Developing South. It is against this backdrop that this study seeks to examine in depth the contextual challenges that have invariably stood in the way of Sustainable Development across the Developing South. While it may not be practically possible in a four-month study to offer outright solutions or recommendations that could address these challenges in entirety, this study nevertheless has endeavoured to stay true to the realities that are often ignored whenever challenges of Sustainable Development are mentioned on global platforms. Among these realities is the reality of slum presence in most cities of the Developing South that existentially complicates any equation for urban sustainability ever formulated to provide a way out or forward for these cities. State governments understand this too well, and so do Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and international organizations alike involved in the crusade for improved living conditions for city resident, and in particular slum residents. Yet the State governments have never been as resolute in their quest for slum free cities. The question then remains: exactly what are the sustainable approaches for this noble cause? While the State governments have over the years insisted on enforcing conventional approaches (that include forced evictions, relocations and/ or redevelopment); one international network, however, thinks and responds differently to slum situations. The network is Shack/Slum Dwellers International (SDI). It is considerably this network of slum dwellers and their undeniably innovative approach to urban sustainability and inclusivity that largely frames the direction and general content of this study. Specifically, the methodology adopted in the study is one of a Case study - which in this case is SDI; and two separate Cases, namely Railway Relocation Action Plan (RAP) in Nairobi, Kenya and slum Re-blocking project in Joe Slovo, Cape Town, South Africa, respectively - as typical cases that captures in large part the enormous contribution that SDI is making towards inclusive and sustainable cities in the Developing South. In the discussion part, however, the study introduces Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) as a comparative methodology to SDI’s approach. SSM particularly benefits from LUMAS model and Social Learning – both key components that potentially reserve a dynamic capacity to enriching SDI’s approach as a future reference methodology for urban sustainability and inclusivity.

This study aims to demonstrate the critical role of waste management in urban sustainability, promote planners' contribution to proactive and efficient waste management, and facilitate the integration of waste management into mainstream sustainability planning. With anticipated increases in population and associated waste generation, timely and effective waste management highlights one of the most critical challenges of sustainable development, which calls for meeting "the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" (WCED, 1987). Waste management in urban areas plays a particularly important role, given that waste generated from urban areas are often exported out of the region for processing and treatment, and the impacts of waste disposal activities may pass on to the other jurisdictions, and even to the next generations. An urban system cannot be sustainable if it requires more resources than it can produce on its own and generates more wastes than the environment can assimilate. The current waste management practice, which focuses on short-term impacts and end-of-pipe solutions, is reactive in nature and inadequate to promote sustainability within urban systems, across jurisdictions, and across generations. Through material flows in and out of urban systems, many potential opportunities exist to reduce waste generation and to minimize the negative impacts on the environment, the economy, and the society. City planners' involvement in waste management, however, has been largely limited to siting waste management facilities. Linking waste management with three important lenses in planning-land use, economic development, and environmental planning, this study investigates the impacts of urban growth on waste management activities, the need of transforming the reactive nature of current waste management, and the challenges and opportunities that planners should address to promote urban systems' self-reliance of material and waste management needs. This study includes three empirical analyses to complement theoretical discussions. First, it connects waste statistics with demographic data, geographic characteristics, and policy instruments at the county level to examine whether waste volume can be decoupled from urban population growth. Second, it examines the life cycle costs of different waste management options and develops a simulation study to seek cost-effective strategies for long-term waste management. Third, it compiles evidence of geographic-specific characteristics related to waste management and demonstrates why waste management policies cannot be one-size-fit-all. This study finds that, with successful implementation of strategic policy design, waste generation and its associated impacts can be decoupled from population and urban growth. Good lessons about waste reduction programs can be learned from different communities. Meanwhile, this study also reveals various challenges facing communities with heterogeneous characteristics, such as housing density, building age, and income. Accordingly, this study discusses the potential opportunities for planners to contribute to community-specific waste management programs, the prospect of transforming waste management practice from a cost burden to a long-term economic development strategy, and the need to incorporate waste management into the sustainable urban planning agenda.

Ecological and social challenges have tested the ability of conventional land development as a route to a sustainable future. Early sustainability paradigms have been part of the response towards better development practices, but many critics have argued that more needs to be done – to move beyond essentially degenerative sustainability paradigms towards more explicitly regenerative sustainability paradigms. This practicum examines the Canada Lands Company (CLC) development of its CFB Calgary properties (Garrison Woods and Currie Barracks) to explore the progress around sustainability paradigms and to prospect the case for Regenerative Design and Development (RD+D) as a new operative worldview governing CLC’s planning and land development practices. A literature review and a series of focused interviews with key informants were the main research methods, within the context of the case study set, to pursue a series of research questions, culminating with: How – and in what ways, with what rationale – could RD+D be considered an appropriate new worldview for CLC’s next generation of leading-edge-seeking projects? What are its prospects? It was generally concluded that RD+D is a viable, emerging sustainability approach for CLC. More specifically, on the basis of this research, CFB Calgary was assessed as having been developed with what may now be defined as a green approach – implicitly sustainable, in aspiration at least; the next progression on this would involve a more explicit sustainable approach, then restorative, all laying the ground for a potentially regenerative approach. If RD+D had been the operative worldview during inception and execution of CFB Calgary, there would almost certainly have been a very different process and outcome. However, it would probably require a dedicated champion of RD+D, within CLC, for this post-conventional sustainability approach to be seriously considered. The Company’s track record – as an innovative land developer – encourages the view that RD+D could well be a good fit – as a potential next-generation planning and development approach.

[pt] Enquanto aumenta o uso da sustentabilidade nos projetos urbanos, cresce a necessidade de se elaborar indicadores de sustentabilidade que sirvam como referência para avaliar as políticas urbanas implantadas na cidade. Com isso surgem novos sistemas de avaliação que levam em consideração o entorno, a localização, a mobilidade urbana, a infraestrutura e a gestão ambiental, colocando em prática conceitos do novo urbanismo e desenvolvimento sustentável. Através de indicadores qualitativos de sustentabilidade, mostra-se como as cidades poderiam ser pensadas para absorver o crescimento urbano, sem deixarem de ser autossustentáveis, oferecendo oportunidades sem colocar em risco as gerações futuras. Após um levantamento dos parâmetros conceituais urbanos de sustentabilidade, foi elaborado um estudo de caso do loteamento Centro Metropolitano, localizado na Barra da Tijuca, indicando a sua possibilidade de certificação de acordo com os padrões exigidos pela certificação LEED ND (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Neighborhood Development). / [en] The terms Sustainable Neighborhoods or Green Neighborhoods have been increasingly used by society as a positive way to occupy new areas. This concern for the sustainable development of cities has meant that developers across the country to adhere to this thought, seeking certification as a way to classify their projects at different levels of sustainability and add value to their works (FARR, 2013). Currently there are numerous enterprises certified and in process of certification in the country. However, environmental certification for neighborhoods has not been much discussed and used in Brazil. While the use of sustainability increases in urban projects, it grows the need to develop sustainability indicators that serve as a reference for assessing urban policies implemented in the city. What can be seen nowadays is an urban legislation where the indices for construction differ from the indices required by environmental certifications, and therefore require a compatibility of urban laws with environmental certifications, enabling thus a sustainable urban growth of neighborhoods (FARR, 2013). The main problem of this research is: what would be the best way to measure sustainability in urban settlements. The indicators are fully applicable to the Brazilian urban environment? The construction is major cause of degradation in the environment. Thus it justifies the choice of this subject, as an attempt to gather information and data to encourage the construction of neighborhoods that cause less environmental impacts. The overall objective of this research consist of listing sustainability indicators for urban neighborhoods and housing developments, which are in accordance with the law of Rio de Janeiro and the local reality. The methodology adopted for this study consist of the following stages of research: conceptualize the term urban sustainability; describe indicators with essential importance to enable sustainable urban development; list the most used and recognized environmental certifications for neighborhoods; analyze the LEED ND certification; analyze and apply the concepts of LEED ND in the study subdivision.

A presente pesquisa surge a partir da reflexão sobre o sistema atual de produção de alimentos e abastecimento das cidades e as consequências geradas no ambiente e na saúde da população. Há um movimento para o retorno da produção de alimentos nas cidades, onde a maioria da população mundial habita, tanto com a finalidade de reduzir os impactos ambientais da agricultura industrial, quanto para proporcionar o acesso equitativo a alimentos mais saudáveis e com preços mais acessíveis. O desenvolvimento sustentável busca sistemas resilientes de produção visando à existência de cidades mais seguras e autossuficientes. Uma cidade autossuficiente é aquela que consegue gerar infraestrutura básica para se manter dentro de sua pegada física e metabolizar os resíduos gerados, minimizando os efeitos negativos dos assentamentos urbanos no ambiente. Dentre a busca por alternativas que contribuíssem para o planejamento de cidades mais sustentáveis, foi identificado o conceito da agricultura urbana (AU); em particular, das hortas domésticas. As hortas domésticas, consideradas um dos sistemas de cultivo mais antigos do mundo, parecem ser a mais bem-sucedida estratégia de AU para aumentar a segurança alimentar das famílias, além de proporcionar diversos outros benefícios. Desse modo, o objetivo principal deste trabalho é contribuir para um maior entendimento sobre como as hortas domésticas podem se constituir em uma estratégia para aumentar a segurança alimentar nas cidades, particularmente em áreas urbanas de pequenas municipalidades objetivando uma maior sustentabilidade urbana. Para o desenvolvimento do trabalho, foram utilizadas duas estratégias de pesquisa principais: pesquisa bibliográfica e estudo de caso. A pesquisa foi desenvolvida em três etapas: compreensão, desenvolvimento e reflexão Na etapa de compreensão, realizou-se a revisão bibliográfica para entendimento do tema e para obtenção de subsídios para as etapas seguintes. Na etapa de desenvolvimento, foi realizado um estudo exploratório, no objeto de estudo, o Município de Feliz (RS), cujo objetivo foi avaliar o potencial das hortas domésticas, em termos de produção de alimentos, bem como de outros benefícios proporcionados aos moradores urbanos. Em uma segunda etapa, foi desenvolvida uma metodologia para avaliar o potencial da área de estudo, em termos de produção de alimentos para suprir as necessidades alimentares da população local, visando a autossuficiência alimentar. Na etapa de reflexão, apresentam-se os resultados da pesquisa e as contribuições teóricas. A presente pesquisa é inovadora, e corroborou a teoria acerca do potencial de produção de alimentos das hortas domésticas, em termos de segurança alimentar e autossuficiência das pequenas municipalidades, a partir do estudo realizado em Feliz/RS. Além disso, os casos de hortas domésticas analisados no estudo exploratório, revelaram que já existem inúmeras iniciativas de autossuficiência alimentar com diversa produção de alimentos na área de estudo, bem como disponibilidade de áreas potenciais de agricultura urbana, para ampliar essa atividade. / The following research proposal emerges from the reflection of our current food production system and cities supply and their consequences to the environment and to city people’s health. Presently, there is a movement towards food production comeback in cities, where the majority of the present world population lives. Such movement has the goal of reducing the environmental impacts caused by intensive farming, as well as providing fair access to healthier food, at more affordable prices. Sustainable development aims at resilient systems of production, as well as on safer and more self-reliant cities. A self-reliant city provides basic infrastructure, keeping it into its ecological footprint. During the search for alternatives for more sustainable cities planning, the concept of urban agriculture (UA) was identified, more specifically backyard food production. Home food gardens, considered to be one of the oldest ways of producing food, seem to be UA’s most successful strategy to increase family food security, besides providing a number of added benefits. This way, the main goal of this research is contributing to a better understanding on how residential food gardens can constitute a strategy to increase food security in cities, particularly in urban areas and small towns aiming a higher degree of sustainability. For the development of this study, two specific research strategies were used: literature review and case study. The research was carried out in three steps: comprehension, development and reflection. In the comprehension step, a literature review was made in order to better understand the subject and to look for subsidies for the following steps. In the development step, an exploratory study on the object of study was made. The object of study was the municipality of Feliz (RS), where the goal was to evaluate in what extent residential food gardens could supply a family’s necessities of food and what other benefits it could provide to urban inhabitants, and, on a second stage, a methodology was developed to assess the potential of the area of study with regard to food self-reliance. In the reflection step, the results of the research and theoretical contributions were presented. In addition, a sample of home food gardens were identified and analyzed, and showed that there are already various good initiatives aiming at food self-reliance in the area of study, being as well identified the availability of potential plots for expanding urban agriculture in the municipality’s area.

Submitted by Maria Medeiros (maria.dilva1@ufcg.edu.br) on 2018-08-28T12:13:35Z No. of bitstreams: 1 NICOLE CAVALCANTI SILVA - DISSERTAÇÃO (PPGRN) 2018.pdf: 3052114 bytes, checksum: 9bf3283526efc2550c19ee6631bd675c (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-28T12:13:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 NICOLE CAVALCANTI SILVA - DISSERTAÇÃO (PPGRN) 2018.pdf: 3052114 bytes, checksum: 9bf3283526efc2550c19ee6631bd675c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-07-13 / Capes / As políticas públicas voltadas ao desenvolvimento urbano são indissociáveis das diretrizes para a construção e consolidação de práticas sustentáveis em cidades. Nesse contexto, o presente trabalho teve como objetivo geral analisar as contribuições das principais políticas públicas urbanas governamentais existentes na esfera Nacional, Estadual e Municipal para a sustentabilidade urbana da cidade de Campina Grande-PB, a partir do modelo proposto por Martins (2012). Em termos metodológicos, a pesquisa realizada foi do tipo exploratória, descritiva de abordagem qualitativa, conduzida sob a forma de um estudo de caso, com visitas de campo e aplicação de questionários semiestruturados aos representantes do poder público de Campina Grande-PB. A análise dos dados levou-se em consideração a triangulação metodológica: análise de dados primários, dados secundários e observação não participante direta. Os principais resultados da pesquisa apontaram que o poder público municipal da cidade de Campina Grande-PB, tem desenvolvido e implementado políticas, planos, programas e projetos que reduzem omissões ou lacunas entre as políticas públicas urbanas governamentais e a sustentabilidade urbana da cidade. Todavia, existem inconsistências entre à existência de políticas públicas e sua efetiva execução, cabendo ao poder público municipal da cidade direcionar melhor atenção e execução das políticas públicas para os temas que receberam classificação insustentável e potencialmente insustentável em relação a sustentabilidade urbana. Assim, a pesquisa forneceu um conjunto de informações fundamentais para a formulação e implementação de investimentos, projetos e políticas públicas voltados ao desenvolvimento urbano sustentável da cidade, à medida que, a ausência de políticas públicas podem influenciar no desenvolvimento urbano em bases insustentáveis. / Public policies aimed at urban development are inseparable from the guidelines for the construction and consolidation of sustainable practices in cities. In this context, the main objective of this study was to analyze the contributions of the main urban public policies existing at the National, State and Municipal levels for the urban sustainability of the city of Campina Grande-PB, based on the model proposed by Martins (2012). In methodological terms, the research was exploratory, descriptive of a qualitative approach, conducted in the form of a case study, with field visits and application of semi-structured questionnaires to representatives of the public authority of Campina Grande-PB. Data analysis took into account the methodological triangulation: analysis of primary data, secondary data and direct non-participant observation. The main results of the research indicate that the municipal public power of the city of Campina Grande-PB has developed and implemented policies, plans, programs and projects that reduce omissions or gaps between urban public policies and the city's urban sustainability. However, there are inconsistencies between the existence of public policies and their effective execution, and it is up to the municipal public power of the city to direct better attention and execution of public policies to the subjects that have received unsustainable and potentially unsustainable classification in relation to urban sustainability. Thus, the research provided a set of fundamental information for the formulation and implementation of investments, projects and public policies aimed at sustainable urban development of the city, as the absence of public policies can influence urban development on unsustainable bases

A presente pesquisa surge a partir da reflexão sobre o sistema atual de produção de alimentos e abastecimento das cidades e as consequências geradas no ambiente e na saúde da população. Há um movimento para o retorno da produção de alimentos nas cidades, onde a maioria da população mundial habita, tanto com a finalidade de reduzir os impactos ambientais da agricultura industrial, quanto para proporcionar o acesso equitativo a alimentos mais saudáveis e com preços mais acessíveis. O desenvolvimento sustentável busca sistemas resilientes de produção visando à existência de cidades mais seguras e autossuficientes. Uma cidade autossuficiente é aquela que consegue gerar infraestrutura básica para se manter dentro de sua pegada física e metabolizar os resíduos gerados, minimizando os efeitos negativos dos assentamentos urbanos no ambiente. Dentre a busca por alternativas que contribuíssem para o planejamento de cidades mais sustentáveis, foi identificado o conceito da agricultura urbana (AU); em particular, das hortas domésticas. As hortas domésticas, consideradas um dos sistemas de cultivo mais antigos do mundo, parecem ser a mais bem-sucedida estratégia de AU para aumentar a segurança alimentar das famílias, além de proporcionar diversos outros benefícios. Desse modo, o objetivo principal deste trabalho é contribuir para um maior entendimento sobre como as hortas domésticas podem se constituir em uma estratégia para aumentar a segurança alimentar nas cidades, particularmente em áreas urbanas de pequenas municipalidades objetivando uma maior sustentabilidade urbana. Para o desenvolvimento do trabalho, foram utilizadas duas estratégias de pesquisa principais: pesquisa bibliográfica e estudo de caso. A pesquisa foi desenvolvida em três etapas: compreensão, desenvolvimento e reflexão Na etapa de compreensão, realizou-se a revisão bibliográfica para entendimento do tema e para obtenção de subsídios para as etapas seguintes. Na etapa de desenvolvimento, foi realizado um estudo exploratório, no objeto de estudo, o Município de Feliz (RS), cujo objetivo foi avaliar o potencial das hortas domésticas, em termos de produção de alimentos, bem como de outros benefícios proporcionados aos moradores urbanos. Em uma segunda etapa, foi desenvolvida uma metodologia para avaliar o potencial da área de estudo, em termos de produção de alimentos para suprir as necessidades alimentares da população local, visando a autossuficiência alimentar. Na etapa de reflexão, apresentam-se os resultados da pesquisa e as contribuições teóricas. A presente pesquisa é inovadora, e corroborou a teoria acerca do potencial de produção de alimentos das hortas domésticas, em termos de segurança alimentar e autossuficiência das pequenas municipalidades, a partir do estudo realizado em Feliz/RS. Além disso, os casos de hortas domésticas analisados no estudo exploratório, revelaram que já existem inúmeras iniciativas de autossuficiência alimentar com diversa produção de alimentos na área de estudo, bem como disponibilidade de áreas potenciais de agricultura urbana, para ampliar essa atividade. / The following research proposal emerges from the reflection of our current food production system and cities supply and their consequences to the environment and to city people’s health. Presently, there is a movement towards food production comeback in cities, where the majority of the present world population lives. Such movement has the goal of reducing the environmental impacts caused by intensive farming, as well as providing fair access to healthier food, at more affordable prices. Sustainable development aims at resilient systems of production, as well as on safer and more self-reliant cities. A self-reliant city provides basic infrastructure, keeping it into its ecological footprint. During the search for alternatives for more sustainable cities planning, the concept of urban agriculture (UA) was identified, more specifically backyard food production. Home food gardens, considered to be one of the oldest ways of producing food, seem to be UA’s most successful strategy to increase family food security, besides providing a number of added benefits. This way, the main goal of this research is contributing to a better understanding on how residential food gardens can constitute a strategy to increase food security in cities, particularly in urban areas and small towns aiming a higher degree of sustainability. For the development of this study, two specific research strategies were used: literature review and case study. The research was carried out in three steps: comprehension, development and reflection. In the comprehension step, a literature review was made in order to better understand the subject and to look for subsidies for the following steps. In the development step, an exploratory study on the object of study was made. The object of study was the municipality of Feliz (RS), where the goal was to evaluate in what extent residential food gardens could supply a family’s necessities of food and what other benefits it could provide to urban inhabitants, and, on a second stage, a methodology was developed to assess the potential of the area of study with regard to food self-reliance. In the reflection step, the results of the research and theoretical contributions were presented. In addition, a sample of home food gardens were identified and analyzed, and showed that there are already various good initiatives aiming at food self-reliance in the area of study, being as well identified the availability of potential plots for expanding urban agriculture in the municipality’s area.

abstract: Cities are hubs for economic and social development, but they are increasingly becoming hotspots of environmental problems and socio-economic inequalities. Because cities result from complex interactions among ecological, social and economic factors, environmental problems and socio-economic inequalities are often spatially interconnected, generating emergent environmental inequity issues due to the unfair distribution of environmental quality among socioeconomic groups. Since urban environmental quality is tightly related to the capacity of urban landscapes to provide ecosystem services, optimizing the allocation of ecosystem services within cities is a main goal for moving towards more equitable and sustainable cities. Nevertheless, we often lack the empirical data and specific methods for planning urban landscapes to optimize the provision of ecosystem services. Therefore, the development of knowledge and methods to optimize the provision of ecosystem services is essential for tackling urban environmental problems, reducing environmental inequities, and promoting sustainable cities. The main goal of this dissertation is to generate actionable knowledge for helping decision-makers to optimize the allocation of urban vegetation for reducing environmental inequities through the provision of ecosystem services. The research uses the city of Santiago de Chile as a case study from a Latin-American city. To achieve this goal, I framed my dissertation in four linked research chapters, each of them providing methodological approaches to help link environmental inequity problems with the development of urban planning interventions promoting an equitable provision of urban ecosystem services. These chapters are specifically aimed at providing actionable knowledge for: (1) Identifying the level, distribution, and spatial scales at which environmental inequities are more relevant; (2) Identifying the areas and administrative units where environmental inequities interventions should be prioritized; (3) Identifying optimal areas to allocate vegetation for increasing the provision of urban ecosystem services; (4) Evaluating the role that planned urban vegetation may have in the long-term provision of ecosystem services by natural remnants within the urban landscape. Thus, this dissertation contributes to urban sustainability science by proposing methods and frameworks to address urban environmental inequities through the provision of ecosystem services, but it also provides place-based information that can be readily used for planning urban vegetation in Santiago. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Sustainability 2017

Estudos relacionados ao consumo de recursos e à emissão de resíduos na escala territorial local se originaram nas pioneiras pesquisas associadas ao conceito de metabolismo urbano. Nos últimos 15 anos, observa-se um crescimento do número de estudos aplicados a cidades, municípios ou regiões metropolitanas. A Análise dos Fluxos de Materiais - AFM (Material Flow Analysis) vem se consolidando como a abordagem metodológica predominante para esse tipo de investigação, a qual objetiva prover informações sobre fluxos de materiais e de energia, usualmente em unidades de massa, entrando e deixando uma sociedade. No entanto, todos os casos estudados na literatura prévia correspondem a capitais nacionais ou a municípios com centralidade econômica e de gestão do território na região as quais pertencem. Adicionalmente, não há estudos desenvolvidos no Brasil. Em face dessas lacunas, o objetivo principal deste trabalho é a caracterização dos fluxos de materiais associados ao metabolismo de um município brasileiro de pequeno porte (MBPP). Para tanto se adotou como estudo de caso o município de Feliz-RS. Como objetivos intermediários da pesquisa estabeleceram-se: a) Identificação dos métodos existentes para caracterização de fluxos de materiais na escala local e análise das possibilidades de aplicação no contexto dos MBPP; b) Desenvolvimento de um detalhamento metodológico da AFM, para a caracterização dos fluxos de materiais de MBPP; c) Análise das limitações e oportunidades para uso da AFM, na avaliação de sustentabilidade ambiental de municípios. Como resultados, avalia-se que o detalhamento metodológico desenvolvido é funcional e replicável para municípios brasileiros com o mesmo perfil, além de fornecer informações bastante detalhadas acerca dos fluxos ocorrentes no município adotado como caso. Assim, é possível realizar análises com diferentes níveis de desagregação. Quanto aos fluxos de materiais de Feliz, encontrou-se que o consumo doméstico de materiais per capita (DMC/ per capita) do município é alto, se comparado àqueles já caracterizados na literatura. Essa constatação corrobora com a proposição de que municípios com produção primária e secundária tendem a demandar, proporcionalmente, mais recursos do que aqueles que são consumidores finais. Quanto ao uso da AFM, na avaliação de sustentabilidade ambiental, verifica-se um alto potencial, com vantagens, em relação a outros métodos correntemente adotados. Entretanto, essas oportunidades ainda são pouco exploradas no contexto internacional e ignoradas no Brasil, ao se analisar a literatura existente. / Studies related to resources consumption and wastes emissions in a local territorial scale were originated from pioneering researches related to the urban metabolism concept. Over the past 15 years, there was a growth in the number of such studies applied to cities, municipalities and metropolitan areas. At the same time, Material Flow Analysis - MFA was consolidated as the predominant methodological approach for this type of research. However, it must be pointed out that all studied cases have been related to national capitals or counties, with economics centrality and land management in their own area. Besides, no studies of this nature were found as being developed in Brazil. Thus, the main goal of the research presented in this paper was to characterize material flows associated with the metabolism of a small Brazilian municipality and for this purpose the municipality of Feliz was adopted as a case study. Three intermediate objectives were established: a) To identify existing methods for material flows characterization on the local scale and to analyse the possibilities of applying them in the context of small Brazilian municipalities; b) to develop a MFA methodological detailing for the characterization of material flows of small Brazilian municipalities; c) to analyse constraints and opportunities for the use of MFA in the assessment of municipalities environmental sustainability. As results, it is considered that the methodological detailing developed raises the possibility of replicating the procedures applied in Feliz to other Brazilian municipalities, being this research a first and referential step in this direction. Besides, it provides very detailed information on flows occurring in the municipality adopted as the case study. Thus, it is possible ti further develop of analyses considering different levels of disaggregation. Concerning the material flows associated with the metabolism of Feliz, it was found that the studied municipality presents a DMC per capita comparable or superior to that of larger municipalities already analyzed by previous researches. This finding corroborates the hypothesis that municipalities with primary and secondary production tend to demand proportionately more resources than those who are the final consumers. Regarding the use of the MFA in the assessment of municipalities environmental sustainability, it was verified that it presents a high potential, with advantages over other methods currently adopted. However, when analyzing the existing literature it was noticed that these opportunities are still little explored in the international context and ignored in Brazil.