Malmö strives to become an attractive and sustainable city by 2030. Continued population growth is a major reason for the need to densify within the existing urban structures. But more inhabitants will also increase pressure on usage and demand for green spaces in the city. Green space is of importance for human well-being and health, especially in urban environments. However the importance of green space is being marginalised in current debate and urban planning, due to the intensive focus on densification. The relevance of green space as an environmental quality has neither been recognised sufficiently in discussions on environmental justice. Previous policy and research has not integrated the socioeconomic dimension when assessing green space distribution. Hence this case study aimed to investigate the socio-spatial distribution of green areas in Malmö. A theoretical framework was compiled including concepts on environmental justice, i.e. the equal distribution of environmental qualities among different social groups. Moreover concepts regarding access (public/private), distance (walkability) and size (utilisation) of green areas were considered. A quantitative analysis was conducted with secondary data. As no comprehensive data set covered more recent years, census data and spatial data from 2005 was used for further analysis. The data was processed and analysed with the help of a geographic information system (GIS). With this approach green space and green areas could be identified. Green areas were categorised according to the level of public access, the size and the respective recommended distances to homes. In addition several socioeconomic factors were extracted from the census data and visualised in GIS. Thus the least advantaged neighbourhoods that lacked various public green areas could be located. On the city level it could be identified that only 13% of the total land area were covered with public green areas, resulting in 46 sq m per inhabitant in 2005. In April 2011 the population of Malmö passed the threshold of 300 000. Assuming that the amount of green areas had not changed since 2005 (unlikely), every inhabitant would have had 38 sq m of public green area in 2011. Considering these numbers in a Swedish context reveals that Malmö is on the bottom line of green area provision. On the neighbourhood level the greatest deficit was found in the eastern parts of central Malmö (e.g. Ostervärn), covering a network of neighbourhoods further south (Norra Sofielund, Södra Sofielund, Almhög, Gullviksborg). In total 32 neighbourhoods were characterised by above average percentage of children, elderly, foreign born or population density. Moreover almost all neighbourhoods lacking green areas were characterised by below average income. The results showed evidence for inequalities in the distribution of green areas between different social groups. This poses an incentive for further investigations in the field of environmental justice and sustainable urban development. Issues like actual walking distance, barriers and safety, qualities of green spaces and user experiences should be investigated in future research. Noting that the data used in this study was from 2005, it is crucial to update and determine shifts in socio-spatial distribution of green areas in the city today. Whilst the population is still increasing, it is likely that even more green space has vanished in the 7 years since 2005. All these issues are essential for a good knowledge based planning of the green and just future of Malmö.

In this thesis, the public green space provision in Hamburg, Germany is critically examined and put into context by social indicators relating to social class and ethnic background.  Urban green spaces offer a variety of benefits for citizens, ranging from recreation, improving physical and mental health, contribution to urban cooling and climate adaptation as well as providing spaces for biodiversity. Yet, provision and access to public green space is not always equal. This is reflected in the concept of urban environmental justice, which acknowledges that not all societal groups equally benefit from environmental services nor are equally affected by the burdens of environmental pollution. Urban environmental justice is used in this thesis to holistically assess public green space provision, from a distributive, procedural and corrective justice dimension. These dimensions relate to how public green space is distributed in the city, how policies surrounding green space incorporate urban environmental justice concerns, and lastly what measures are in place for correcting potential injustices. The thesis employs a mixed method approach. Critical mapping through QGIS was applied to showcase the distribution and proximity to public green space in the various neighbourhoods in Hamburg. Following this, a policy analysis was performed to investigate the procedural justice dimension. Lastly, semi-structured interviews with five planners and two activists were conducted to illuminate measures for correcting urban environmental injustices related to green space provision. The findings suggest that public green space is not evenly distributed, and issues of access exist in Hamburg. Procedural justice is not fully achieved as a legal framework for urban environmental justice is lacking and the existing policies do not consider the concept adequately. Simultaneously, both supporting and hindering measures for correcting urban environmental injustices exist and corrective justice is not fully achieved either. Overall, the discourse surrounding urban environmental justice should be advanced in Germany and more awareness needs to be raised.

O metabolismo entre homem e natureza tem sido diretamente impactado em nossa sociedade para fomentar o desenvolvimento capitalista e a racionalidade econômica atual. Nesse contexto, as áreas verdes no meio urbano, cada vez mais, têm dado lugar a novas paisagens que refletem a lógica acumulativa do sistema, sem que se leve em conta o impacto que tais mudanças podem causar no ambiente. Além de muitos benefícios para a saúde humana, tais áreas promovem melhoria da qualidade de vida para a população no que diz respeito ao lazer, ao embelezamento paisagístico e ao microclima. No município de São Paulo, a desvalorização do verde pode ser notada pelo decréscimo das áreas remanescentes, em especial da arborização urbana, e pela manutenção realizada pela gestão pública de forma ineficiente. Dadas a dimensão ainda expressiva da arborização e a falta de recursos (entre outros problemas), a gestão participativa, por meio da população e de tecnologias sociais como agentes de apoio ao Estado para a gestão dessas áreas, pode ser uma saída e uma ferramenta de apoio à proposta de Novo Metabolismo. Esta baseia-se no conceito de saber ambiental, proveniente da Educação Ambiental, para a preparação dos munícipes / Metabolism between Man and Nature has been directly impacted in our society to foster capitalist development and current economic rationality. In this context, the green areas surrounded by urban environment, more and more, has been given rise to new landscapes that reflect a cumulative logic of the system, without thinking about the impact that such changes can cause to the environment. In addition to many benefits to human health, such areas promote improvement of the quality of life for a population in terms of leisure, landscape beautification and microclimate. In the municipality of São Paulo, the devaluation of the green can be noticed by the decrease of the remaining areas, especially urban afforestation, and by the inefficient maintenance management carried out by the public administration. Given the still significant size of afforestation and the lack of resources (among other problems), the participative management, through population and social technologies as agents of State support for the management of these areas, it can be a way out and a support tool to the New Metabolism proposal. This is based on the concept of environmental wisdom, coming from the environmental education, for preparation of citizens

Por suas dinâmicas sociais e territoriais complexas, as metrópoles estão sujeitas aos graves impactos causados por eventos climáticos extremos, reais ou esperados. Organismos internacionais multilaterais e extensa literatura acadêmica avalizam a importância do papel dos ecossistemas para a redução dos riscos e na mitigação das consequências dos desastres ambientais, tanto em áreas rurais como urbanas. Propõe-se a valoração das áreas verdes livres e dos parques urbanos como recurso que integre estratégias para o desenvolvimento da qualidade ambiental das cidades através dos serviços ecossistêmicos derivados da cobertura arbórea local, divisando-se a manutenção da saúde pública em um meio ambientalmente equilibrado. Foi aplicada ferramenta tecnológica representada pelo software i-Tree como método empregado para a identificação, quantificação e estimativas de valoração econômica dos serviços ecossistêmicos prestados pelas árvores contidas no Parque Ibirapuera, em São Paulo, que serviu como referência. É discutida a significância da inserção dos princípios e objetivos do instrumento do Pagamento por Serviços Ecossistêmicos no planejamento, ordenamento e gestão urbanos, integrando-o a políticas de melhoria da saúde ambiental nas cidades. / For their complex social and territorial dynamics, the cities are subject to the severe impacts of extreme weather events, actual or expected. Multilateral international organizations and extensive academic literature endorse the important role of ecosystems to reduce risks and mitigate the consequences of environmental disasters, both rural and urban areas. It is proposed to valuation the green areas and urban parks as a resource that integrates strategies for the development of environmental quality in cities through the ecosystem services derived from local tree cover, for the purpose of maintenance of public health. Was applied technological tool represented by i-Tree software as a method used to identify, quantify and estimate the economic value of ecosystem services provided by trees contained in Ibirapuera Park, in São Paulo, which served as a reference. Discussed the relevance of the integration of the principles and objectives of the instrument Payment for Ecosystem Services in urban planning and management, integrating it in policies to improve environmental health in cities.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-21T18:15:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dulcina Aquino.pdf: 3843065 bytes, checksum: 42372506ad20f20325f1f7146ca4bfde (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-01-27 / Fundação Araucária de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico do Paraná / The evaluation of vegetal coverage, open spaces and green areas play a fundamental role for the planning and development of cities like Ponta Grossa. It enables both to highlight the effectiveness and identify the weakness related to those elements on the urban space. In this sense, this thesis proposes to understand the open spaces, green areas and spatial dynamics of the vegetal coverage of the Ponta Grossa's urban area.To accomplish this, it recurs to bibliographical review, data generation and to identify both tipology and spatialization of green areas as well as to evaluate its availability to the public. The thesis classifies Ponta Grossa's vegetation and analysis its distribution along 2004. In this context, it quantifies open spaces and green areas per borough by means of geotechnologies. In the aforementioned year, Ponta Grossa had 172,59 km² of urban area and 266,683 habitants. In turn, vegetal coverage had 49% of the entire urban area and presented an index of 319,3 m²/habitant. Finally, open space had an area of 2,5% composed by 230 spaces, they are: 132 sport fields, 63 public squares, 4 parks, 6 cemeteries and 8 clubs; with an index of 16,4 m²/habitant. In summary, in spite of the fact the numeric results for each category can be classified as satisfactory, their distribution can not and might impairing their effectiveness. / A avaliação da distribuição da cobertura vegetal, espaços livres e áreas verdes em cidades médias como Ponta Grossa-PR, constitui uma parte importante a ser considerada no planejamento nas cidades em desenvolvimento. Essa avaliação permite identificar as fragilidades e apontar a eficácia das funções que eles desempenham no espaço urbano. Dentro deste contexto, a presente dissertação se propõe a compreender a dinâmica espacial da cobertura vegetal, espaços livres e áreas verdes na área urbana de Ponta Grossa por meio da identificação da tipologia das áreas verdes, espacialização das mesmas e avaliação da disponibilidade à população, a partir de revisão bibliográfica, levantamento de dados e utilização de geotecnologias. Foi analisada a distribuição da cobertura vegetal, espaços livres e áreas verdes para o ano de 2004 na área urbana de Ponta Grossa bem como, realizada a classificação dessa cobertura vegetal. Foram realizadas quantificações dos espaços livres e áreas verdes por bairro, além de apontadas as disponibilidades dos mesmos, a partir de produtos gerados pelas geotecnologias. Neste período, a área urbana correspondia a 172,59 km² e contava com 266.683 habitantes. Verificou-se que a cobertura vegetal ocupava 49% do total da área urbana, com um índice de 319,3 m²/habitante. Os espaços livres ocupavam 2,5% de área composto por 230 espaços dos quais: 132 campos de esportes, 63 praças, 4 parques, 6 cemitérios e 8 clubes de lazer, com um índice de 16,4 m²/habitante. As áreas verdes ocupavam 2% distribuídos em 102 espaços com índice de 13m²/habitante. Embora os resultados numéricos para cada categoria sejam indicadores positivos, a distribuição compromete a sua eficácia.

Esta pesquisa propõe uma contribuição metodológica para avaliação de impactos ambientais, produzidos na implantação de empreendimentos habitacionais sobre áreas verdes urbanas. O modelo de política habitacional brasileira, nas últimas décadas, não conseguiu evitar o crescimento das cidades sobre as áreas verdes urbanas. Essas áreas, muitas vezes, são ecossistemas frágeis que promovem benefícios ao ser humano, exercendo um papel fundamental na preservação das cidades e no bem-estar urbano. A pressão da urbanização provoca impactos sobre as áreas verdes. Nesta pesquisa, é proposta uma metodologia que utiliza, como base, a matriz de Leopold, uma das ferramentas mais usuais na avaliação de impactos. Essa matriz é uma lista bidimensional, em que um eixo é composto por ações realizadas pelo homem na implantação do projeto, e outro eixo por componentes ambientais selecionados. Na construção da matriz, são considerados aspectos ambientais, socioeconômicos e da área ambiente-comportamento. As interações resultantes dessa matriz são mensuradas com base em critérios e atributos com valores atribuídos e hierarquizados. Nesta pesquisa, o processo de avaliação proposto é detalhadamente explicado, desde o início até o resultado final. A metodologia proposta é aplicada em dois empreendimentos habitacionais, do tipo loteamento, no município de Cachoeirinha, como estudo de caso. O objetivo é propor um método de avaliação de impactos decorrentes da implantação de empreendimentos habitacionais sobre áreas verdes urbanas. A pesquisa foi dividida em três etapas: a primeira, de cunho exploratório, analisa a implementação de empreendimentos habitacionais pelo programa Minha Casa Minha Vida, na Região Metropolitana de Porto Alegre. Na segunda etapa, é descrita a metodologia proposta a partir da matriz de Leopold e, na terceira etapa, o método proposto é aplicado parcialmente aos empreendimentos do estudo de caso. Através da proposta do método de avaliação de impacto de empreendimentos habitacionais sobre as áreas verdes urbanas, a pesquisa busca contribuir para a replicação desse tipo de avaliação e, assim, incentivar a preservação ambiental. / This research proposes a methodological contribution for environmental impact evaluation of housing developments over urban green areas. The Brazilian housing public policy in the last decades did not avoid the cities growth over urban green areas. These areas are often fragile ecosystems that promote benefits for the people, playing an important role in the preservation of cities and urban wellness. The urbanization’s pressure over green areas has impacts. This research proposes a methodology based on Leopold’s matrix, one of the most used tools for impact evaluation. This matrix is a bidimensional list, with one axis composed by human actions during the implementation of the project and in the other by selected environmental components. In the matrix construction, environmental, social-economic and environmental behavior aspects are considered. The resulting interactions of this matrix are measured based in attributes and criteria with values attributed and ranked. In this research, the proposed evaluation process is explained in detail from its conception to the results. The proposed methodology is applied in two housing developments in the city of Cachoeirinha as a case study. The goal of this research is to propose an evaluation method for the impacts of housing developments over urban green areas. The research has three steps: the first was more exploratory, analyzing the implementation of housing developments by the “Minha Casa Minha Vida” program in the Metropolitan Region of Porto Alegre. The second describes the methodology, based on Leopold’s matrix, and the third partially applies the proposed method to the case study developments. Through the proposal of the impact evaluation method for the housing developments over urban green areas, this research aims to contribute to the reapplication of this kind of analysis and therefore, encourage environmental preservation.

Submitted by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2018-04-16T12:08:03Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Laira Cristina da Silva - 2018.pdf: 6909395 bytes, checksum: 83dd3376ee6e0b99d60cce938bc6b4b3 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2018-04-16T12:08:51Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Laira Cristina da Silva - 2018.pdf: 6909395 bytes, checksum: 83dd3376ee6e0b99d60cce938bc6b4b3 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-04-16T12:08:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Laira Cristina da Silva - 2018.pdf: 6909395 bytes, checksum: 83dd3376ee6e0b99d60cce938bc6b4b3 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-03-26 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The constant process of growth of cities usually happens in a disordered way. With this process, the “globalization” experienced in the last decades contributes significantly to the municipal territorial (re)ordering. In that perspective, Uberlândia city (MG) experiences a urban growth and reordering, resulting in an increased demand for public structures, such as faster road networks, enlargement and improvement of public transportation, creation of new schools and hospitals, construction of new squares and parks, amongst several other necessary structures to meet the needs of the population, enlarging, this way, welfare conditions and quality of life. Thus, through everyday observations, the existence of large discrepancies with regard to these urban infrastructures throughout Uberlândia territory, especially in urban green areas - parks and squares - the present work aimed at mapping and analysing the green areas in the urban perimeter of Uberlândia (MG), seeking the understanding of the distribution/concentration of these territorial plots so important for keeping the urban quality of life, as well as the evaluation of the different investment/treatment scales of the public power in green areas of certain locations when compared to others. To reach the main goal, the methodology used was bibliographic research, in which were approached the topics related to green areas, urban planning and geoprocessing, as well as digital data processing and fieldwork resulting from the urban green areas analysis to get to the final analysis of the distribution of the green areas and the concentration of public investments. As a result, maps of population distribution, concentration of tree vegetation, distribution of possible green areas, field stop point, indices of vegetation by neighborhood, indices of vegetation by inhabitants, area of influence of green areas and area of influence of urban green areas with population distribution of Uberlândia were generated. From the maps and analyzes, it was possible then to diagnose that considering squares and parks, 11 of the 74 integrated neighborhoods in Uberlândia do not have a green area and when calculating the Green Area Percentage (PAV) per neighborhood, it was observed that in 35 of them the percentage is less than 1% and in only 2 it exceeds 10%. Also calculating the Index of Green Areas per Inhabitants (IAVHab), taking into account the total of inhabitants and the total of urban perimeter's green areas, the index is 7,41 m²/inhabitants, and still calculating, this same index per neighborhood was verified that out of the 74 neighborhoods, 14 obtained no results, 51 results between 0.01 to 10.85 m²/inhabitants and only 9 neighborhoods reached results above the percentage considered by the United Nations (UN), which considers that there should be at least 12 m² of green area per inhabitant. It was also carried out the individual analysis of fifteen selected green areas where it was noted that only two of them could really be considered as green areas taking into consideration the theoretical review used. Finally, the concentration of public investments destined to this so important element for the quality of life of the population was evaluated. / Resumo: O constante processo de crescimentos das cidades acontece, muitas vezes, de forma desordenada. Junto a este processo, a “globalização”, vivida nas últimas décadas, contribui de forma significativa para o (re)ordenamento territorial municipal. Em meio a isto, a cidade de Uberlândia (MG) experimenta um crescimento e reordenamento urbano, resultando em um aumento na demanda de infraestruturas públicas, como malhas viárias mais rápidas, ampliação e melhoramento do transporte coletivo, criação de novas escolas e hospitais, construção de novas praças e parques, dentre diversas outras estruturas necessárias para se atender a população, ampliando, desta maneira, as condições de “bem estar” e qualidade de vida. Assim, através de observações cotidianas onde chamou a atenção a existência de grandes discrepâncias no que diz respeito a essas infraestruturas urbanas ao longo do território uberlandense, com destaque para as áreas verdes urbanas – parques e praças - o presente trabalho teve como objetivo mapear e analisar as áreas verdes do perímetro urbano de Uberlândia (MG), buscando, assim, o entendimento da distribuição/concentração destas parcelas territoriais importantes para a manutenção qualidade de vida urbana, bem como a avaliação das diferentes escalas de investimento/tratamento do poder público em áreas verdes de determinadas localidades quando comparadas a outras. Para atingir ao objetivo geral, a metodologia utilizada constituiu-se em pesquisa bibliográfica, onde tratou-se dos assuntos relacionados a áreas verdes, planejamento urbano e geoprocessamento, bem como processamento digital de dados e trabalhos de campo, resultantes na análise das áreas verdes urbanas para, então, chegar-se a análise final da distribuição das áreas verdes urbanas e da concentração de investimentos públicos. Como resultado, foram gerados mapas em relação ao município de Uberlândia sobre a distribuição da população, concentração da vegetação arbórea, a distribuição das possíveis áreas verdes, ponto de parada de campo, índices de vegetação por bairro, índice de vegetação por habitantes, áreas de influências das áreas verdes e área de influência das áreas verdes urbanas junto a distribuição da população. A partir dos mapas e das análises foi possível então diagnosticar que considerando praças e parques, 11 dos 74 bairros integrados em Uberlândia não possuem sequer uma área verde e ao calcular o Percentual de Área Verdes (PAV) por bairro, em 35 bairros dos existentes o percentual é menor que 1% e em apenas 2 ele ultrapassa 10%. Calculando também o Índice de Áreas Verdes por Habitantes (IAVHab) levando em consideração o total de habitantes e o total de áreas verdes do perímetro urbano o índice é de 7,41 m²/habitantes e, ainda calculado o IAVHab por bairro foi constatado que dos 74 bairros, 14 obtiveram resultados nulos, 51 resultados entre 0,01 a 10,85 m²/hab. e apenas 9 bairros obtiveram resultados acima do percentual considerado pelas Organização das Nações Unidas (ONU), a qual considera que haja 12 m² de área verde por habitante. Foi realizado também a análise individual de quinze áreas verdes selecionadas onde constatou-se que apenas 2 delas poderiam realmente ser consideradas como áreas verdes levando em consideração a revisão teórica utilizada. Por fim, avaliou-se a concentração de investimentos públicos destinados a esse bem tão importante para a qualidade de vida da população.

In recent years the composition of urban vegetation has become far more complex than that of the surrounding natural vegetation. This is mainly due to the influence that humans have on the creation of new plant communities and the management of urban green spaces. Green spaces are fundamental to the restoration and maintenance of biodiversity in areas that have been severely impacted by urban development. Green spaces provide various ecosystem services and benefits for the health and well-being of urban residents, and can help to reduce the effects of global climate change. The most understudied green space in the entire urban green infrastructure is homegardens. Homegardens contribute greatly to the species composition of urban and rural settlements and are important in situ conservation sites that help to protect rare and endemic species. They are essential agricultural systems, especially in rural settlements, that provide both sources of additional income generation and food supply. In developing countries such as South Africa, very few studies have been done on homegardens and the benefits they provide to homeowners and to urban ecosystems in general. However, since South Africa become committed to the United Nations Millennium Development Goals in 2000, more research has been done on the potential of homegardens for poverty alleviation. The aim of this study was to determine the patterns of plant diversity in a rural settlement and to determine to what extent the socioeconomic status of the inhabitants influences the plant species composition of the settlement. The settlement of Ganyesa, situated in the Bophirima district in the North-West Province, was chosen for the study. Using GIS techniques, a grid was placed over the settlement and plant surveys were done every 500 m. Different land-use types were identified during the completion of the survey, namely natural areas, fragmented natural areas, fallow fields, road verges, wetlands, home gardens and institutional gardens. The national South African census data from 2001 proved to be too unreliable to accurately determine the SES of the residents in Ganyesa. Consequently, a social survey was completed by means of a questionnaire to determine the socioeconomic status of the owners of the homegardens under study. Clear differences could be observed between the land-use types and the indigenous and alien species composition, which were indicated in kriging maps. In comparison with the natural areas, homegardens contained more alien species than the surrounding natural areas. The vegetation composition for all the homegardens were correlated with the residents socioeconomic status along a socioeconomic gradient, ranging from low, to medium to high. ANCOVA, multiple regressions and basic statistical analyses were performed using all the vegetation and socioeconomic data. Meaningful correlations occur between the socioeconomic status of the homeowners and the plant diversity of their gardens. / Thesis (M. Environmental Science)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

In recent years the composition of urban vegetation has become far more complex than that of the surrounding natural vegetation. This is mainly due to the influence that humans have on the creation of new plant communities and the management of urban green spaces. Green spaces are fundamental to the restoration and maintenance of biodiversity in areas that have been severely impacted by urban development. Green spaces provide various ecosystem services and benefits for the health and well-being of urban residents, and can help to reduce the effects of global climate change. The most understudied green space in the entire urban green infrastructure is homegardens. Homegardens contribute greatly to the species composition of urban and rural settlements and are important in situ conservation sites that help to protect rare and endemic species. They are essential agricultural systems, especially in rural settlements, that provide both sources of additional income generation and food supply. In developing countries such as South Africa, very few studies have been done on homegardens and the benefits they provide to homeowners and to urban ecosystems in general. However, since South Africa become committed to the United Nations Millennium Development Goals in 2000, more research has been done on the potential of homegardens for poverty alleviation. The aim of this study was to determine the patterns of plant diversity in a rural settlement and to determine to what extent the socioeconomic status of the inhabitants influences the plant species composition of the settlement. The settlement of Ganyesa, situated in the Bophirima district in the North-West Province, was chosen for the study. Using GIS techniques, a grid was placed over the settlement and plant surveys were done every 500 m. Different land-use types were identified during the completion of the survey, namely natural areas, fragmented natural areas, fallow fields, road verges, wetlands, home gardens and institutional gardens. The national South African census data from 2001 proved to be too unreliable to accurately determine the SES of the residents in Ganyesa. Consequently, a social survey was completed by means of a questionnaire to determine the socioeconomic status of the owners of the homegardens under study. Clear differences could be observed between the land-use types and the indigenous and alien species composition, which were indicated in kriging maps. In comparison with the natural areas, homegardens contained more alien species than the surrounding natural areas. The vegetation composition for all the homegardens were correlated with the residents socioeconomic status along a socioeconomic gradient, ranging from low, to medium to high. ANCOVA, multiple regressions and basic statistical analyses were performed using all the vegetation and socioeconomic data. Meaningful correlations occur between the socioeconomic status of the homeowners and the plant diversity of their gardens. / Thesis (M. Environmental Science)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

Esta pesquisa propõe uma contribuição metodológica para avaliação de impactos ambientais, produzidos na implantação de empreendimentos habitacionais sobre áreas verdes urbanas. O modelo de política habitacional brasileira, nas últimas décadas, não conseguiu evitar o crescimento das cidades sobre as áreas verdes urbanas. Essas áreas, muitas vezes, são ecossistemas frágeis que promovem benefícios ao ser humano, exercendo um papel fundamental na preservação das cidades e no bem-estar urbano. A pressão da urbanização provoca impactos sobre as áreas verdes. Nesta pesquisa, é proposta uma metodologia que utiliza, como base, a matriz de Leopold, uma das ferramentas mais usuais na avaliação de impactos. Essa matriz é uma lista bidimensional, em que um eixo é composto por ações realizadas pelo homem na implantação do projeto, e outro eixo por componentes ambientais selecionados. Na construção da matriz, são considerados aspectos ambientais, socioeconômicos e da área ambiente-comportamento. As interações resultantes dessa matriz são mensuradas com base em critérios e atributos com valores atribuídos e hierarquizados. Nesta pesquisa, o processo de avaliação proposto é detalhadamente explicado, desde o início até o resultado final. A metodologia proposta é aplicada em dois empreendimentos habitacionais, do tipo loteamento, no município de Cachoeirinha, como estudo de caso. O objetivo é propor um método de avaliação de impactos decorrentes da implantação de empreendimentos habitacionais sobre áreas verdes urbanas. A pesquisa foi dividida em três etapas: a primeira, de cunho exploratório, analisa a implementação de empreendimentos habitacionais pelo programa Minha Casa Minha Vida, na Região Metropolitana de Porto Alegre. Na segunda etapa, é descrita a metodologia proposta a partir da matriz de Leopold e, na terceira etapa, o método proposto é aplicado parcialmente aos empreendimentos do estudo de caso. Através da proposta do método de avaliação de impacto de empreendimentos habitacionais sobre as áreas verdes urbanas, a pesquisa busca contribuir para a replicação desse tipo de avaliação e, assim, incentivar a preservação ambiental. / This research proposes a methodological contribution for environmental impact evaluation of housing developments over urban green areas. The Brazilian housing public policy in the last decades did not avoid the cities growth over urban green areas. These areas are often fragile ecosystems that promote benefits for the people, playing an important role in the preservation of cities and urban wellness. The urbanization’s pressure over green areas has impacts. This research proposes a methodology based on Leopold’s matrix, one of the most used tools for impact evaluation. This matrix is a bidimensional list, with one axis composed by human actions during the implementation of the project and in the other by selected environmental components. In the matrix construction, environmental, social-economic and environmental behavior aspects are considered. The resulting interactions of this matrix are measured based in attributes and criteria with values attributed and ranked. In this research, the proposed evaluation process is explained in detail from its conception to the results. The proposed methodology is applied in two housing developments in the city of Cachoeirinha as a case study. The goal of this research is to propose an evaluation method for the impacts of housing developments over urban green areas. The research has three steps: the first was more exploratory, analyzing the implementation of housing developments by the “Minha Casa Minha Vida” program in the Metropolitan Region of Porto Alegre. The second describes the methodology, based on Leopold’s matrix, and the third partially applies the proposed method to the case study developments. Through the proposal of the impact evaluation method for the housing developments over urban green areas, this research aims to contribute to the reapplication of this kind of analysis and therefore, encourage environmental preservation.