The release of land for new housing development represents a primary function of the planning system within the United Kingdom. At the same time, it represents one of the most debated aspects of land use planning. Indeed, on the 5th June 1996, at the annual conference of the Royal Town Planning Institute, the then Secretary of State for the Environment, John Gummer, appealed for a national debate on the provision on new housing. He stressed that the projected growth in housing demand would have severe implications for the environment unless many of the issues associated with the growth were fully and openly discussed. This research explores the allocation of housing land within a high growth area. Using the former Grampian Region (Scotland) as a case study, the research investigates the principal technical and procedural issues associated with the release of land for new housing development. A range of qualitative and quantitative techniques are employed, set within a 'Structure and Agency' framework. The initial quantitative stage includes a detailed analysis of planning applications, appeals and residential development figures for the Aberdeen area. This provides an overview of the location and nature of past housing development and enables the identification of a number of issues pertinent to the release of housing land. These issues are subsequently discussed with the principal agents involved, namely, planners, developers, elected councillors and the general public. The main findings of the study suggest that the scale and location of new housing development, has and will continue to, represent one of the most controversial aspects of land use planning. This controversy has a protracting effect on the preparation of structure and local development plans throughout the United Kingdom. These delays increase the difficulty of maintaining an adequate supply of housing land and consequently expose the system to the appeal process and ultimately, the control of the developer. This undermines the influence of the other agents (planners, councillors and the public) as the system becomes increasingly 'appeal-led' and controlled by central government. At a specific level, the research questions the medium to long-term capacity of the Aberdeen area to accommodate brownfield housing alongside the extent to which the current planning system caters for residential choice. It suggests that further greenfield releases may be necessary at a strategic level in order to provide an adequate supply (and choice) of housing land. The study argues that the current approach towards housing land allocation is overly concerned with releasing a sufficient supply of housing to meet demand and fails to consider the extent to which this land will provide an adequate choice of housing. It is considered that the predominance of flatted accommodation within redeveloped brownfield sites and associated failure to provide an adequate choice of house type, size and location will only exacerbate the public's desire for suburban and rural living. Reservations are also expressed with regard to the current direction of policy thinking on brownfield housing, in particular, the drive towards maximising the density of such housing and corresponding desire for local planning authorities to review industrial land allocations in favour of residential use. The study recommends that further research is required in order to address the issue of housing choice within a brownfield-led strategy. It also recommends that the current level of central government involvement in local decision making requires further investigation. The requirement for planning authorities to provide an adequate and continuous supply of housing land and the extent to which this prevents authorities from fully accounting for windfall sites within their housing land strategies represents another issue upon which future research is required. Above all, the study illustrates the manner in which debate on the issue of housing land has progressed over the last five years. This clearly strengthens its validity as an issue worthy of detailed consideration. In this respect, further research is needed to refine the land use planning system and ensure that the future allocation of housing land can be undertaken more effectively.

O racionamento de água potável acontece em muitas cidades do mundo e é um assunto iminente para muitas outras. Tal fato se deve ao aumento gradativo das populações nos centros urbanos, que carrega consigo os efeitos da poluição dos mananciais, da impermeabilização, da modificação do clima, entre vários outros fatores adversos desta questão, tão séria, visto que o ser-humano é totalmente dependente da água doce para sua sobrevivência. Partindo deste pressuposto e seguindo a linha do uso racional da água para atenuar a sua escassez, esta pesquisa teve como objetivo desenvolver um estudo para caracterização da demanda urbana de água no setor residencial, de modo a auxiliar, entre outros fatores, a estabelecer a capacidade dos sistemas produtores, as solicitações máximas aos sistemas de distribuição, os investimentos para ampliação de capacidade e avaliação de benefício líquido potencial de medidas de conservação e uso racional da água voltadas à redução das vazões médias demandadas. Esta pesquisa foi fundamentada em uma metodologia científica que estratificou amostras de demanda de água em diferentes modalidades de moradias, assim como em diferentes classes sociais. / Potable water rationing happens in many cities in the world and it is an imminent subject for many others. Such fact is due to the gradual raise of the populations in the urban centers, which carries with them the effects of the pollution of the watershed areas, waterproofing, climate modification, among several other adverse factors of this issue that are so important, since human beings are totally dependent of water for their survival. Based on this assumption and following the line of the rational use of water to diminish its scarcity, this research had the purpose to develop a study for characterization of the urban water demand in residential sector, in order to assist, among other factors, in the establishment of the producing systems capacity, the maximum requests to the distribution systems, the investments for capacity magnification and evaluation of potential liquid benefit of measures of conservation and rational use of the water directed to the reduction of the demanded average outflows. This research was based on a scientific methodology which stratified samples of water demand in different modalities of housing, as well as in different social classes.

Using the wind speed measurements collected at the University of Victoria School-based Weather Station Network over the last several years, an assessment of the local wind power potential is presented focusing on its residential use. It is found that, while the local winds are generally characterized by relatively small mean values, their spacial and temporal variability is large. More wind power is potentially available during the winter season compared to the summer season, and during daytime compared to nighttime. The examination of wind characteristics at 32 stations in the network reveals areas with wind energy potential 1.5-2.3 times larger than that at the UVic location, which represents a site with average wind power potential. The station with the highest potential is found to be that of Lansdowne. The probability distribution of the local wind speeds can be reasonably well described by the Weibull probability distribution, although it is recommended that seasonal variability of local winds be taken into consideration when estimating the Weibull fitting parameters. Based on a theoretical and statistical analysis, wind power output and its dependence on wind power density are estimated for five different locations in Victoria, B.C. Overall, it is found that the largest amount of power can be produced from the wind at Lansdowne during winter where, among the micro and small turbines considered, the FD2.5-300 and ARE10kW, respectively, would produce the largest amounts of power.

O racionamento de água potável acontece em muitas cidades do mundo e é um assunto iminente para muitas outras. Tal fato se deve ao aumento gradativo das populações nos centros urbanos, que carrega consigo os efeitos da poluição dos mananciais, da impermeabilização, da modificação do clima, entre vários outros fatores adversos desta questão, tão séria, visto que o ser-humano é totalmente dependente da água doce para sua sobrevivência. Partindo deste pressuposto e seguindo a linha do uso racional da água para atenuar a sua escassez, esta pesquisa teve como objetivo desenvolver um estudo para caracterização da demanda urbana de água no setor residencial, de modo a auxiliar, entre outros fatores, a estabelecer a capacidade dos sistemas produtores, as solicitações máximas aos sistemas de distribuição, os investimentos para ampliação de capacidade e avaliação de benefício líquido potencial de medidas de conservação e uso racional da água voltadas à redução das vazões médias demandadas. Esta pesquisa foi fundamentada em uma metodologia científica que estratificou amostras de demanda de água em diferentes modalidades de moradias, assim como em diferentes classes sociais. / Potable water rationing happens in many cities in the world and it is an imminent subject for many others. Such fact is due to the gradual raise of the populations in the urban centers, which carries with them the effects of the pollution of the watershed areas, waterproofing, climate modification, among several other adverse factors of this issue that are so important, since human beings are totally dependent of water for their survival. Based on this assumption and following the line of the rational use of water to diminish its scarcity, this research had the purpose to develop a study for characterization of the urban water demand in residential sector, in order to assist, among other factors, in the establishment of the producing systems capacity, the maximum requests to the distribution systems, the investments for capacity magnification and evaluation of potential liquid benefit of measures of conservation and rational use of the water directed to the reduction of the demanded average outflows. This research was based on a scientific methodology which stratified samples of water demand in different modalities of housing, as well as in different social classes.

Os guias alimentares orientam o público quanto às práticas alimentares saudáveis. As indústrias de alimentos têm desenvolvido produtos com redução de gorduras (PRG) para atender a demanda que encontra dificuldade em seguir as orientações propostas. Este trabalho objetivou caracterizar o padrão alimentar dos domicílios consumidores de PRG. A população foi composta por 2337 domicílios que participaram da POF/FIPE/USP 1998-1999, que estudou uma amostra probabilística da área metropolitana de São Paulo. Foram considerados domicílios consumidores de PRG aqueles que apresentaram consumo de produtos desnatado, semi-desnatado e light com redução de gordura (n=445 19,1%). Foi investigado o perfil demográfico, socioeconômico e de escolaridade. O consumo alimentar domiciliar foi obtido pela média per capita/dia da unidade domiciliar, ajustada para gênero e idade, para 14 grupos de alimentos. A Análise de Componentes Principais foi utilizada para a obtenção do padrão alimentar, a Regressão Logística Múltipla e a Análise Discriminante foram utilizadas para identificar as diferenças entre os grupos. Os domicílios consumidores de PRG apresentaram escolaridade, renda familiar, idade dos integrantes da família, disponibilidade de frutas, hortaliças, produtos industrializados, lipídios de adição e açúcares superiores aos não consumidores. O padrão alimentar dos domicílios consumidores de PRG se caracterizou como \"tradicional\" e entre os não consumidores se caracterizou como \"misto\". Os resultados sugerem que os domicílios consumidores de PRG não apresentam estrutura de alimentar homogênea e o padrão alimentar adotado pode não atender as recomendações nutricionais. / The Food Guides orientate the public to healthy practices concerning food. The food industry has developed low-fat products to attend the demand from those who have difficulties to follow the proposed instructions. This work focused on describing the food standard at low-fat consumers\' domiciles. The .population was composed by 2,337 domiciles, which participated in a research - realized by POF/FIPE/USP in 1998-1999 - about a probabilistic sample from a metropolitan area in São Paulo. We considered low-fat consumers\' domiciles; those who presented skim, semi-skim and Light products consumption (#445 19.1 %). Herein, the demographical, socioecohomical and scholarity level profiles, were also investigated. The housing food consumption was obtained by the per capita/day average at the unity of domicile, tailored to gender and age, for 14 aliments groups. The Principal Components Analyze was used to obtain the food standard as the Multiple Logistical Regression and Discriminat Analyse were used to identify the differences among the groups. The housing low-fat consumers presented scholarity level, the revenue, age of the family members, availability of fruit and greens, industrial products, addition of lipids and sugars higher than those who were not consumers. The food standard at the low-fat consumers was characterized as \"traditional\" and among those who were nor consumers it was characterized as \"mix\". The results suggest that the low-fat consumers have not presented a homogeneous food structure and the food standard adopted by then may not consider nutritional recommendations.

Os guias alimentares orientam o público quanto às práticas alimentares saudáveis. As indústrias de alimentos têm desenvolvido produtos com redução de gorduras (PRG) para atender a demanda que encontra dificuldade em seguir as orientações propostas. Este trabalho objetivou caracterizar o padrão alimentar dos domicílios consumidores de PRG. A população foi composta por 2337 domicílios que participaram da POF/FIPE/USP 1998-1999, que estudou uma amostra probabilística da área metropolitana de São Paulo. Foram considerados domicílios consumidores de PRG aqueles que apresentaram consumo de produtos desnatado, semi-desnatado e light com redução de gordura (n=445 19,1%). Foi investigado o perfil demográfico, socioeconômico e de escolaridade. O consumo alimentar domiciliar foi obtido pela média per capita/dia da unidade domiciliar, ajustada para gênero e idade, para 14 grupos de alimentos. A Análise de Componentes Principais foi utilizada para a obtenção do padrão alimentar, a Regressão Logística Múltipla e a Análise Discriminante foram utilizadas para identificar as diferenças entre os grupos. Os domicílios consumidores de PRG apresentaram escolaridade, renda familiar, idade dos integrantes da família, disponibilidade de frutas, hortaliças, produtos industrializados, lipídios de adição e açúcares superiores aos não consumidores. O padrão alimentar dos domicílios consumidores de PRG se caracterizou como \"tradicional\" e entre os não consumidores se caracterizou como \"misto\". Os resultados sugerem que os domicílios consumidores de PRG não apresentam estrutura de alimentar homogênea e o padrão alimentar adotado pode não atender as recomendações nutricionais. / The Food Guides orientate the public to healthy practices concerning food. The food industry has developed low-fat products to attend the demand from those who have difficulties to follow the proposed instructions. This work focused on describing the food standard at low-fat consumers\' domiciles. The .population was composed by 2,337 domiciles, which participated in a research - realized by POF/FIPE/USP in 1998-1999 - about a probabilistic sample from a metropolitan area in São Paulo. We considered low-fat consumers\' domiciles; those who presented skim, semi-skim and Light products consumption (#445 19.1 %). Herein, the demographical, socioecohomical and scholarity level profiles, were also investigated. The housing food consumption was obtained by the per capita/day average at the unity of domicile, tailored to gender and age, for 14 aliments groups. The Principal Components Analyze was used to obtain the food standard as the Multiple Logistical Regression and Discriminat Analyse were used to identify the differences among the groups. The housing low-fat consumers presented scholarity level, the revenue, age of the family members, availability of fruit and greens, industrial products, addition of lipids and sugars higher than those who were not consumers. The food standard at the low-fat consumers was characterized as \"traditional\" and among those who were nor consumers it was characterized as \"mix\". The results suggest that the low-fat consumers have not presented a homogeneous food structure and the food standard adopted by then may not consider nutritional recommendations.