O uso de vasto material cartográfico, como fotografias aéreas dos anos de 1962, 1972, 1978, 1995 e 2000, levantamento planialtimétrico cadastral, georreferenciado a uma rede cadastral, carta geológica e pedológica do Município, Legislação Federal, Estadual e Municipal e com o apoio do software Spring, possibilitou estudar a evolução de uma região representada pelos Bairros Santa Teresinha, Vila Sônia e Parque Piracicaba, todos do Município de Piracicaba, SP, apresentava características rurais até meados de 1960, quando passou a ter suas terras loteadas e transformadas em área urbana. Sendo um dos vetores de crescimento do Município, a velocidade com que as áreas foram modificadas foi bastante grande e em pouco tempo o que era rural passou a ter problemas de grandes cidades. Inúmeros loteamentos de formas e padrões variados foram aparecendo e a urbanização foi realizada sem obedecer a nenhum critério técnico, exceto as leis vigentes. A implantação de loteamentos de interesse social contribuiu para o grande adensamento de lotes na área. Quanto às áreas destinadas ao lazer da população, quase todas foram implantadas segundo a legislação vigente na época da aprovação de projeto, porém, como não houve uma severa fiscalização por parte de poder público e pelos moradores, do total de áreas destinadas a sistema de lazer, apenas 22,3% estão disponíveis para uso e 37,07% foram utilizadas indevidamente. O uso indevido constituiu na construção de centros comunitários, unidades de saúde, escolas e principalmente invasões, sendo estas últimas transformadas em favelas o que piorou ainda mais as condições de lazer existentes no local. Analisando as áreas de sistema de lazer, quanto à classificação, foram aplicadas duas metodologias distintas, sendo selecionadas pelo fato de ser a mais citada pela literatura (Jantzen) e outra por ter sido proposta no Plano Diretor de Desenvolvimento de Piracicaba (PDD) e os resultados, no caso de Jantzen, trazem uma discordância entre os costumes brasileiros e legislação vigente. No caso do proposto no PDD, um pouco mais próxima aos costumes de nosso país, porém apresenta alguns problemas de ordem técnica. As áreas de preservação permanente referentes a drenos intermitentes, existentes na área estudada, foram praticamente ignoradas, até a atualidade, tendo sido quase toda aterrada para a locação de lotes. A população passou de 1.130 habitantes a 38.850 habitantes em um prazo de 40 anos e a densidade populacional apresenta grandes concentrações, em várias partes da área em estudo, principalmente no Bairro Vila Sônia, que chega a apresenta densidade de 361hab/ha, maior que a de alguns bairros da região central do Município de São Paulo. Os índices de áreas verdes encontrados estão bastante aquém do exigido por vários autores, porém semelhantes a muitos municípios onde foram aplicados os cálculos seguindo a mesma metodologia. Com os dados levantados, elaboraram-se propostas para a ocupação do solo das áreas peri-urbanas, quanto à locação de novos parques e à proteção de áreas de preservação permanente. Na área já urbanizada, realizou-se proposta de prioridade na implantação de sistemas de lazer. / The use of vast cartographic material, as aerial pictures of the years of 1962, 1972, 1978, 1995 and 2000, rising cadastral planialtimétrico, georreferenciado to a cadastral net, geological and pedologic letter of the Municipal district, Federal Legislation, State and Municipal and with the support of the software Spring, made possible to study the evolution of an area represented by the neighborhood Santa Teresinha, Vila Sônia and Parque Piracicaba, all of the Municipal district of Piracicaba, SP, presented rural characteristics even middles of 1960, when he/she started to have your lotted lands and transformed in urban area. Being one of the vectors of growth of the Municipal district, the speed with that the areas were modified it was quite big and in little time that was rural he/she started to have problems of great cities. Countless divisions into lots in ways and varied patterns went appearing and the urbanization was accomplished without obeying her/it any technical criterion, except the effective laws. The implantation of divisions into lots of social interest contributed to the great adensamento of lots in the area. With relationship to the areas destined to the leisure of the population, almost all were implanted at that time according to the effective legislation of the project approval, however, as there was not a severe fiscalization on the part of being able to public and for the residents, of the total of areas destined to leisure system, 22,3% are only available for use and 37,07% were used improperly. The improper use constituted in the construction of community centers, units of health, schools and mainly invasions, being these last ones transformed at slums that it still worsened more the existent leisure conditions in the place. Analyzing the areas of leisure system, with relationship to the classification, they were applied two different methodologies, being selected by the fact of being the more mentioned by the literature (Jantzen) and other for it being proposed in the master plan of Development of Piracicaba (PDD) and the results, in the case of Jantzen, bring a disagreement between the Brazilian habits and effective legislation. In the case of the proposed in PDD, a little closer to the habits of our country, however it presents some problems of technical order. The areas of permanent preservation referring to intermittent drains, existent in the studied area, they were practically unknown, until the present time, having been almost all terrified for the lease of lots. The population passed from 1.130 inhabitants to 38.850 inhabitants in one period of 40 years and the population density presents great concentrations, in several parts of the area in study, mainly in the neighborhood Vila Sônia, that arrives her it presents density of 361hab/ha, larger than the one of some neighborhoods of the central area of the Municipal district of São Paulo. The indexes of green areas found are quite on this side of the demanded by several authors, however similar to many municipal districts where were applied the calculations following the same methodology. With the lifted up data, proposals were elaborated for the occupation of the soil of the peri-urban areas, with relationship to the lease of new parks and the protection of areas of permanent preservation. In the area already urbanized, he/she took place priority proposal in the implantation of leisure systems.

A criação de políticas públicas possui papel estratégico principalmente em relação aos problemas ambientais de ordem global. No entanto, é preciso que exista a compatibilização entre as políticas locais e nacionais, e destes com os tratados internacionais. Em se tratando das avaliações de impacto, o encadeamento das considerações ambientais de diferentes políticas, planos, em diferentes níveis político-administrativos, é chamado de tiering. Procurando esclarecer quais as condições e fatores que determinam um sistema de tiering efetivo, esta pesquisa teve por objetivo identificar e analisar as variáveis que potencialmente influenciam o encadeamento de informações e decisões ambientais entre os diferentes níveis de planejamento. Para tanto, em um primeiro momento, foi realizada uma revisão sistemática da literatura. Em seguida, com a ajuda metodológica da análise de conteúdo, a informação bruta foi sistematizada e agrupada em diferentes tópicos, levando à criação de uma lista de critérios avaliativos e seus respectivos indicadores de performance. Então, com a finalidade de ilustrar a aplicabilidade, essa lista foi utilizada em dois casos do setor de expansão urbana, sendo um deles no Brasil (cidade de Ribeirão Preto) e o outro na Escócia (cidade de Glasgow). Desse modo, foi possível analisar ambos os sistemas de tiering, apontando similaridades, limitações e especificidades para cada caso. Dentre estas foi possível apontar a fragmentação institucional brasileira em relação ao planejamento sobre o uso do solo, a falta de um planejamento em escala regional e a inclusão apenas residual das considerações ambientais nas políticas, planos e programas (PPPs). Além disso, em relação ao modelo de análise proposto, muito mais do que classificar os estudos de caso e atribuir superioridade ou inferioridade, este serviu de guia dirigido para investigação das diferenças estruturais entre os casos estudados. Mais estudos são necessários para se aumentar o entendimento acerca das diferenças entre sistemas de tiering e para propor novas maneiras de analisar tais sistemas / The creation of public policies has a strategic role in tackling global environmental problems. However, there is a need to reconcile and make compatible local and national policies, and these with international treaties. Regarding, environmental impact assessments, the linking of environmental considerations of different policies, plans, and programs at different political-administrative levels is called tiering. Intending to unravel the conditions and factors that determine an effective tiering system, this research aimed to identify and analyze the variables that potentially influence the flow of environmental information and decisions among the various levels across the planning hierarchy. To achieve this goal, first a systematic review of the scientific literature was carried out. Then, with the methodological help of the content analysis, the raw information was systematized and grouped into different topics, leading to the creation of a list of evaluative criteria and their respective performance indicators. In order to demonstrate applicability, this list was used in two cases of the housing and urban expansion sector, one of which in Brazil (city of Ribeirão Preto) and the other in Scotland (city of Glasgow). In this way, it was possible to analyze both tiering systems, pointing out similarities, limitations and specificities for each case. Among these are the Brazilian institutional fragmentation in terms of land-use planning , the lack of the regional tier, and the lack of systematic inclusion of environmental considerations in policies, plans and programs (PPPs) development. Regarding the analysis framework proposed, it served more guidance to unravel the structural differences between the two contexts, than as a way to rank and classify them in terms of superior and inferior. More studies are needed to improve the understanding the differences in tiering systems and to propose new ways of analyzing them

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T14:56:19Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2006 - Carolina Dutra de Araujo.pdf: 826530 bytes, checksum: 346e62ad3b11cda64581a8817a7baad6 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-10-26 / The objective of this work was to contribute to the study of tourism environmental planning, specifically Tourism Carrying Capacity methodologies. To do this, two methods were compared, Limits of Acceptable Changes (LAC) e Visitor Activities Management Process (VAMP), in relation to the adequacy to the area, identifying the environmental risks and anthrop pressures; and related to the focus on local issues and the visitors profile, in Praia Preta, located in the Parque Estadual da Ilha Grande, Angra dos Reis, RJ. Few differences were observed between the methods, with little advantage to LAC. We suggest that two fundamental components should take part of a Tourism Carrying Capacity framework: the visitors profile and activities and the residents perception related to local tourism. Such information should compose the management strategies in Protected Areas. / O objetivo da pesquisa foi contribuir para o estudo do planejamento ambiental tur?stico, especificamente sobre as metodologias de Capacidade de Carga Tur?stica. Para tanto, foram comparados dois m?todos, Limits of Acceptable Changes (LAC) e Visitor Activities Management Process (VAMP), quanto ? adequa??o ao local, identificando os riscos ambientais e press?es antr?picas; e quanto ? aten??o ?s quest?es locais e perfil do visitante, na Praia Preta, localizada no Parque Estadual da Ilha Grande, Angra dos Reis/RJ. Observaram-se poucas diferen?as entre os m?todos, com algumas vantagens para o LAC. Sugeriram-se que dois componentes fundamentais devem fazer parte de uma metodologia de Capacidade de Carga Tur?stica: a caracteriza??o do perfil e atividades praticadas pelo visitante e a percep??o dos residentes acerca do turismo no local, informa??es que deveriam compor as estrat?gias de manejo em ?reas protegidas.

Submitted by Fernanda Ciolfi (fernanda.ciolfi@puc-campinas.edu.br) on 2016-08-12T18:10:18Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Wando Roberto Trentin.pdf: 2886501 bytes, checksum: f29c34d3f59deacdcef391203fdd9c33 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-12T18:10:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Wando Roberto Trentin.pdf: 2886501 bytes, checksum: f29c34d3f59deacdcef391203fdd9c33 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-06-24 / This paper presents the diagnosis of urban infrastructure of the Santo Antonio de Posse / SP, with emphasis on aspects related to economic, environmental and social. It made state literature review of the art of planning concepts applicable to urban infrastructure systems. The detailed diagnosis is the main premise of the methodology, covering the topics of use and occupation, sanitation, urban mobility, environment and telecommunications. The Plan county Director served as a starting point to identify, through the intersection of the data collected, the evaluation of guidelines and strategies proposed in the medium and long term. The diagnosis led to the development of considerations in the context of prospective evaluations, which served to outline the expected product, which is the region's sustainable development and territorial planning in urban and rural levels. / Este trabalho apresenta o diagn?stico da infraestrutura urbana do Munic?pio de Santo Ant?nio de Posse/SP, com ?nfase nos aspectos relacionados a sustentabilidade econ?mica, ambiental e social. ? feita revis?o bibliogr?fica do estado da arte dos conceitos de planejamento aplic?veis aos sistemas de infraestrutura urbana. O diagn?stico detalhado ? a principal premissa da metodologia utilizada, abrangendo os t?picos de uso e ocupa??o do solo, saneamento b?sico, mobilidade urbana, meio ambiente e telecomunica??es. O Plano Diretor do munic?pio serviu como ponto de partida para identificar, atrav?s do cruzamento dos dados coletados, a avalia??o das diretrizes e estrat?gias propostas a m?dio e longo prazo. O diagn?stico propiciou a elabora??o de considera??es no ?mbito das avalia??es prospectivas, que serviram para delinear o produto esperado, que ? o desenvolvimento sustent?vel da regi?o e seu ordenamento territorial, nos n?veis urbano e rural.

The Earth's climate is changing and cities are facing a warmer future. As the locus of economic activity and concentrated populations on the planet, cities are both a primary driver of greenhouse gas emissions and places where the human health impacts of climate change are directly felt. Cities increase local temperatures through the conversion of natural land covers to urban uses, and exposures to elevated temperatures represent a serious and growing health threat for urban residents. This work is concerned with understanding the interactions of global trends in climate with local influences tied to urban land covers. First, it examines temperatures during an extended period of extreme heat and asks whether changes in land surface temperatures during a heat wave are consistent in space and time across all land cover types. Second, the influences of land covers on temperatures are considered for normal and extreme summer weather to find out which characteristics of the built environment most influence temperatures during periods of extreme heat. Finally, the distribution of health vulnerabilities related to extreme heat in cities are described and examined for spatial patterns. These topics are investigated using meteorology from the summer of 2006 to identify extremely hot days in the cities of Atlanta, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Phoenix and their surrounding metropolitan regions. Remotely sensed temperature data were examined with physical and social characteristics of the urban environment to answer the questions posed above. The findings confirm that urban land covers consistently exhibit higher temperatures than surrounding rural areas and are much more likely to be among the hottest in the region, during a heat wave specifically. In some cities urban thermal anomalies grew between the beginning and end of a heat wave. The importance of previously recognized built environment thermal influences (impervious cover and tree canopy) were present, and in some cases, emphasized during extreme summer weather. Extreme heat health health vulnerability related to environmental factors coincided spatially with risks related to social status. This finding suggests that populations with fewer resources for coping with extreme heat tend to reside in built environments that increase temperatures, and thus they may be experiencing increased thermal exposures. Physical interventions and policies related to the built environment can help to reduce urban temperatures, especially during periods of extremely hot weather which are predicted to become more frequent with global climate change. In portions of the city where populations with limited adaptive capacity are concentrated, modification of the urban landscape to decrease near surface longwave radiation can reduce the chances of adverse health effects related to extreme heat. The specific programs, policies, and design strategies pursued by cities and regions must be tailored with respect to scale, location, and cultural context. This work concludes with suggestions for such strategies.

Human production needs are met through the use of modern technology that is increasingly recognised as a threat to the planetary ecosystem and social sub-system. In light of this recognition, there is evidence that a planned transition towards more sustainable technological infrastructure is occurring across various production sectors. This change is often associated with re-orientating technology based on the concept of sustainable development and national-level strategies such as <i>ecological modernisation</i>, which prescribes phasing-out environmentally malignant conventional technology for cleaner post-industrial solutions. There is evidence, however, that a transition towards cleaner technological options is occurring at the local level. In southern Ontario, Canada ecological technology (<i>ecotechnology</i>) has been adopted in small-scale agricultural and educational facilities for the management of manure and domestic sewage. Ecotechnology is designed to meet human production requirements and to restore the environment through combining natural systems and engineered components to achieve cleaner production. Two types of ecotechnologies were investigated during this research: <i>constructed treatment wetlands</i> for the management of manure and <i>greenhouse-based biological technologies</i> for the management of domestic sewage. These options are novel and can be expected to encounter barriers resulting from a <i>selection environment</i> favouring pre-existing technological options that have previously become established. The overall objective of the research was <i>to identify key factors both driving and constraining the adoption and implementation of the ecotechnology</i> across four case studies. This objective was accomplished through employing a qualitative, collective case study approach. The case studies revealed the motivation behind the adoption of the ecotechnology arose from the environmental values of users and formed the basis for rejecting the conventional options because they were not viewed as capable of improving the environment. However, the ecotechnology also exceeded user's aesthetic and operational level expectations. Barriers to the implementation of ecotechnology were also identified. The investigation revealed the existence of a <i>perspective-gap</i> between the ecological engineering science and traditional engineering science, which constrained implementation of the ecotechnology. Skepticism was found to arise due to the unique performance parameters and <i>soft</i> operational characteristics of ecotechnology, which contrast the <i>hard</i> technological fixes that are familiar to traditional engineering science. This perspective-gap may account for the institutional inertia, which became clear after the 1996 provincial budget reductions decreased the level of support for research and environmental technology development programs in Ontario. These reductions also devolved authority for small-scale wastewater treatment to the municipal level where lack of technical expertise and reliance on standardised regulations has constrained the development of alternatives. Constructive technology assessment suggests that the development of technology must be guided in cooperative <i>social learning</i> processes capable of reflecting the needs and values of stakeholders in order to achieve beneficial social and technological change. Evidence from the case studies revealed that a significant amount of capacity was developed when stakeholders collaborated and legitimated the <i>social experiments</i> where the ecotechnology was applied. These experiments demonstrate the significance of creating settings where users, technology proponents and provincial and local approval agents can collaborate. Through collaboration, social learning can be facilitated during the development of alternative technological solutions that may be congruent with ecological modernisation and the re-orientation of technology towards options that are ecologically-oriented.

Human production needs are met through the use of modern technology that is increasingly recognised as a threat to the planetary ecosystem and social sub-system. In light of this recognition, there is evidence that a planned transition towards more sustainable technological infrastructure is occurring across various production sectors. This change is often associated with re-orientating technology based on the concept of sustainable development and national-level strategies such as <i>ecological modernisation</i>, which prescribes phasing-out environmentally malignant conventional technology for cleaner post-industrial solutions. There is evidence, however, that a transition towards cleaner technological options is occurring at the local level. In southern Ontario, Canada ecological technology (<i>ecotechnology</i>) has been adopted in small-scale agricultural and educational facilities for the management of manure and domestic sewage. Ecotechnology is designed to meet human production requirements and to restore the environment through combining natural systems and engineered components to achieve cleaner production. Two types of ecotechnologies were investigated during this research: <i>constructed treatment wetlands</i> for the management of manure and <i>greenhouse-based biological technologies</i> for the management of domestic sewage. These options are novel and can be expected to encounter barriers resulting from a <i>selection environment</i> favouring pre-existing technological options that have previously become established. The overall objective of the research was <i>to identify key factors both driving and constraining the adoption and implementation of the ecotechnology</i> across four case studies. This objective was accomplished through employing a qualitative, collective case study approach. The case studies revealed the motivation behind the adoption of the ecotechnology arose from the environmental values of users and formed the basis for rejecting the conventional options because they were not viewed as capable of improving the environment. However, the ecotechnology also exceeded user's aesthetic and operational level expectations. Barriers to the implementation of ecotechnology were also identified. The investigation revealed the existence of a <i>perspective-gap</i> between the ecological engineering science and traditional engineering science, which constrained implementation of the ecotechnology. Skepticism was found to arise due to the unique performance parameters and <i>soft</i> operational characteristics of ecotechnology, which contrast the <i>hard</i> technological fixes that are familiar to traditional engineering science. This perspective-gap may account for the institutional inertia, which became clear after the 1996 provincial budget reductions decreased the level of support for research and environmental technology development programs in Ontario. These reductions also devolved authority for small-scale wastewater treatment to the municipal level where lack of technical expertise and reliance on standardised regulations has constrained the development of alternatives. Constructive technology assessment suggests that the development of technology must be guided in cooperative <i>social learning</i> processes capable of reflecting the needs and values of stakeholders in order to achieve beneficial social and technological change. Evidence from the case studies revealed that a significant amount of capacity was developed when stakeholders collaborated and legitimated the <i>social experiments</i> where the ecotechnology was applied. These experiments demonstrate the significance of creating settings where users, technology proponents and provincial and local approval agents can collaborate. Through collaboration, social learning can be facilitated during the development of alternative technological solutions that may be congruent with ecological modernisation and the re-orientation of technology towards options that are ecologically-oriented.

The energy-planning involves finding a set of sources and conversion devices so as to meet the energy requirements/demands of all the activities in an optimal manner. This could occur at centralized or decentralized level. The current pattern of commercial energy oriented development, particularly focused on fossil fuels and centralized electricity, has resulted in inequities, external debt and environmental degradation. The current status is largely a result of adoption of centralized energy planning (CEP), which ignores the energy needs of rural areas and the poor and has further contributed to environmental degradation due to fossil fuel consumption and forest degradation. CEP does not pay attention to the variations in socio-economic and ecological factors of a region, which influence success of any intervention. Decentralized energy planning (DEP) provides an opportunity to address the energy needs of poor as well as promote efficient utilization of resources. The DEP mechanism takes into account various available resources and demands in a region. DEP, in the Indian context, could be at several scales namely district, block, panchayats (cluster of villages) and village level. Energy planning at the village level is the lowest level of the application of decentralized planning principle. A village constitutes a cluster of households with distinct geographic boundary consisting of settlement, agricultural land, water bodies and any other land category, in most parts of India. Further, the village level plans must be prepared within the limits set by a panchayat, a block or a district level plans, for the sum total of various village plans must correspond to a panchayat (local council), block (or taluka), or district level plan. A panchayat is the lowest administrative unit consisting of a cluster of villages and an elected body to administer developmental activities. A block (or taluka) consists of a cluster of panchayats and a district consists of a cluster of blocks. The main hypothesis for this study is that centralized energy planning has lead to excessive dependence on fossil fuels and import of petroleum, leading to concerns on environment and energy security and finally neglect of the energy needs of the rural communities and poor in particular. DEP could meet the local energy needs particularly in rural areas, protect environment and promote a self reliant and sustainable energy path. In this study, methodology for adopting energy planning from grassroot or village to district level is explored. The study adopts and compares the DEP approach of moving from village (Ungra), to panchayat (Yedavani), to block (Kunigal) and finally to district (Tumkur) level. Aims and objectives of research . • To review energy planning approaches adopted in India . • To evaluate models and methods for DEP at different scales; Village, Panchayat, District and State levels . • To develop a sustainable and decentralized energy planning approach . • To analyze the sustainable decentralized planning approach using multiple objective goal programming model and develop sustainable energy mix for meeting energy needs at village, panchayat, block and district level . • To assess the implications of sustainable and decentralized energy planning from the context of socio-economic and environmental concerns. The central theme of the research work is to prepare an optimized area-based decentralized energy plan to meet the energy needs, incorporating all potential alternate energy sources and end-use devices at least-cost to the economy and environment. One of the environmental goals addressed is to minimize or avoid CO2 emissions to address climate change. Study area selected for DEP is Tumkur district of Karnataka state, India and the DEP is carried out for the year 2005 and 2020. Advanced operation research technique, goal programming, is used to solve the large and complicated energy system problem having multiple conflicting goals.

Cattle ranching in Vermilion Parish is a social-techno-ecological system (STES) that is currently vulnerable due to changing social, technological and ecological conditions. In addressing ways to increase the adaptive capacity of cattle ranching in Vermilion Parish, I used a multiple, mixed method approach grounded in a critical constructivist framework. Constructivism is the idea that our relationship to facts is constructed by our social context. It is these perceptions that shape people’s actions. By looking at these perceptions through an emancipatory frame I was able to understand multiple interpretations of meaning, consciously address them, consider how they may have shaped our actions, and then alter those meanings and power relationships. In an effort to increase the adaptive capacity of cattle ranching in Vermilion Parish, my research focused on actions, why people perform those actions, and how to change them. This research connected the physical landscape of the marshes, the individual landscape of perception, and the conceptual landscape of resilience. If resilience is the ability of a system (cattle ranching in vermilion parish) to recover after a disturbance, adaptive capacity is when the actors within the system can influence that system’s resilience. I explored the history of cattle ranching in Vermilion Parish from three different, but overlapping perspectives – environmental, social, and technological. These perspectives compliment the information from interviews and 3CM sessions. These 15 interviews revealed the perception of 11 types of threats facing cattle ranching in Vermilion Parish. The body of literature surrounding resilience theory identifies traits of highly adaptive systems. The recommendations and suggestions outlined in Chapter 6 exist at the intersection of the actors’ perception of specific threats and the decidedly generalized traits of highly adaptive systems. These suggestions were geared towards increasing the adaptive capacity of cattle ranching in Vermilion Parish. Given these layered landscapes and their complexity, my recommendations were subject to feedback loops and long periods of integration. These recommendations contribute to the theoretical foundation detailed in Chapter 3 by identifying specific ways that the actors of this particular system may be able increase their own adaptive capacity. / text

Thesis (MSc)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: A land cover classification showing the landscape structure of a given area is necessary to make appropriate measures for environmental planning. The environmental impacts from insensitive human activities have led to a severe loss of biodiversity in the Cape Floristic Region over time. The natural biodiversity of the North-West Sandveld in particular, has suffered severe loss and a high level of fragmentation. The rapid growth of certain agricultural practices in the Sandveld has led not only to loss of biodiversity, but the secondary effects of excessive water extraction, invasive alien fauna and flora species and harmful run-off from toxic herbicides and pesticides. To plan effectively, an accurate map of a suitable resolution needs to be created to effectively display spatial information. The primary aim was to demonstrate that a semi-automated fine-scale, land cover classification using object-oriented image analysis is possible for a large local area to examine the environmental issues pertaining to the Sandveld. Towards this aim, a model to classify land cover of the study area was developed and its effectiveness analysed and interpreted. To meet these requirements, pre-processed SPOT 5 satellite imagery was used to digitize certain classes and to generate frame, border and Normalized Differentiation Vegetation Index (NDVI) layers for the object-oriented classification in eCognition. The accuracy of the results was determined using the Kappa coefficient which gave an accuracy level of 70%. The environmental impacts were determined after area calculations were done on each class. The results showed that the natural areas still made up the greatest percentage of the Sandveld but that it is highly fragmented, especially along the coast and many areas, although left in a natural state, were being overgrazed by livestock. The temporary irrigated, temporary non-irrigated strip agriculture and permanent agriculture classes made up the most of the remainder of the areas and had the largest impact on the Sandveld‟s biodiversity. For the biodiversity of the Sandveld to remain intact, a balance between enforcing the law and encouraging inhabitants of the Sandveld to encourage more environmentally balanced practices needs to be created. Stewardship programmes and education will greatly enhance the effectiveness of any conservation efforts. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING:'n Landbedekkingsklassifikasie wat die landskapstruktuur van 'n gegewe gebied aandui, is noodsaaklik om gepaste omgewingsbeplanning toe te pas. Die effek van intensiewe menslike aktiwiteite op die omgewing oor 'n lang tydperk, het gelei tot die verlies van biodiversiteit in die Kaapse Blommestreek. Die natuurlike biodiversiteit van veral die Noordwes Sandveld is deur ernstige verliese, asook 'n vlak van fragmentasie beïnvloed. Behalwe dat die vinnige toename van sekere landboupraktyke in die Sandveld gelei het tot die verlies van biodiversiteit. Sekondêre faktore soos die oormatige water-ontrekking, indringerspesies van fauna en flora en die afloop van skadelike onkruiddoder en pes-weerende middels in rivierstelsels is ook verantwoordelik vir verlies van biodiversiteit. Om effektiewe beplanning moontlik te maak, is die skepping van 'n akkurate kaart met 'n geskikte resolusie wat die ruimtelike inligting effektief voorstel, nodig. Die hoof doel van hierdie studie was om 'n semi-geoutomatiseerde fynskaal landbedekkingsklassifikasie in 'n groot plaaslike gebied wat die omgewingskwessies rakende die Sandveld te bestudeer en demonstreer, deur gebruik te maak van objek-gerigte beeldanalise. Die effektiwiteit van 'n model wat ontwikkel is om die studiegebied te klassifiseer, was ontleed en geïnterpreteer. Om hierdie vereistes te bevredig, is voorverwerkte SPOT 5 satellietbeelde gebruik om sekere klasse te versyfer, asook om raam-, grens- en genormaliseerde plantegroei differensiasie indekslae vir beeldgerigte klassifikasie in eCognition te skep. Die akkuraatheid van die resultate was bepaal deur die Kappa-koëffisiënt wat 'n akkuraatheidsvlak van 70% gelewer het. Die omgewingsimpakte was bepaal deur opperlakteberekeninge vir elke klas te maak. Die resultate dui aan dat natuurlike gebiede steeds die grootste persentasie van die Sandveld beslaan, maar dat dit hoogs gefragmenteerd is, veral langs die kuslyn en dat baie gebiede, wat wel steeds in 'n natuurlike toestand is, oorbewei word deur vee. Die tydelike spilpuntbesproeide landbougebiede, tydelike nie-besproeide strooklandbou en permanente landbouklasse, beslaan die meeste van die oorblywende landbedekking van die Sandveld. Hierdie klasse het ook die grootste impak op die studiegebied se biodiversiteit. Om die biodiversiteit van die Sandveld te behou, moet 'n balans tussen die afdwing van wetgewing en die aanmoedig van meer omgewingsgebalanseerde praktyke in die Sandveld gevind word. Rentmeesterskap programme en opvoeding sal die effektiwiteit van enige bewaringspogings aansienlik verbeter.