Search

The disparity between total population values and how that population is spread across an area can generate issues of perception, as though choropleth maps are usually used to represent population, its density may not be equally spread across the territory. A prime example of this situation is Galicia in NW Spain, as it has the highest number of population settlements of the country with almost 50% of the total, and yet at the same time it has only around 4% of municipalities, which means that each local authority has on average dozens of borderless settlements within its limits. However, population maps of the region are normally produced at the municipal level, providing a poor representation of the demographic complexity of the area. Consequently, this paper provides an alternative way of displaying population density by using three sub-municipal division levels obtained from official sources: census tracts, parishes and settlements. While census tracts and parishes have defined limits, settlements do not, so they are normally mapped by using punctual symbology. It is therefore necessary to generate some borders for those population entities which do not have them, as it can help understand how the population is distributed in more detail. In order to provide a suitable means of comparison with the other administrative divisions this paper presents a method to convert settlement data into polygons that includes the use of Voronoi tessellation, producing for the first time the most detailed population density choropleth map of the region at settlement level. Furthermore, the method can be applied anywhere in Spain and with non-census data.

This paper delves into the issue of recent access to social housing in Portugal, given the escalating challenges in securing adequate housing. The unprecedented public investment within housing raises important considerations. It leads us to question the effectiveness of current housing policies and basic laws in guaranteeing adequate housing and exploring if there an urban attempt to relate the house to the habitat in recent developments on social housing. To address these initial inquiries, we focuses on three specific aspects within the realm of recent social housing programmes: i) housing policies; ii) basic laws; and iii) preliminary programmes for design contests and specifications for rehabilitation contracts. The methodology involves selecting case studies of housing estates in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, while analysing parameters such: i) location; ii) intervention type iii) number of dwellings and their typologies; iv) dimension of the housing gross construction; and v) relation between the house and the habitat. Preliminary findings underscore advancements in social housing, emphasizing the importance and need not only for the articulation between current housing programmes, policies and basic laws, in order to guarantee adequate housing and habitat, but also the irreplaceable role of the State and the Central Government to define these policies and approach municipalities to execute them.

In this article, I seek to unpack the multiple spatiotemporalities in older migrants’ ideas about return, shedding light on the complex set of motivations and imaginaries that precede return migration. The paper springs from a space-time approach based on the assertion that return aspirations are permanently shaped and negotiated both in and out of place. The discussion is framed around 36 in-depth life narrative interviews with later-life labour migrants living in the Azores, and a seven-month period of ethnographic fieldwork. The role of spatial dimensions such as the place of settlement and the country of origin, and temporal features such as age, length of stay in the host country or stage of life at the time of migration, is discussed in detailed. The paper identifies a ‘family-work matrix’ and a ‘home-host country dialectic’ as central forces shaping migrants’ thoughts and possibilities of return. The multi-stranded, time-fluid, space-induced, context-dependent nature of (return) migration decisions is highlighted and it is shown that an apparent satisfactory social integration in the place of settlement does not, by itself, prevent migrants’ desire to return.

CHANGES IN THE ETHNIC RETAIL TRADE IN THE SUBURBS OF BARCELONA (2004-2011). A DEBATE ABOUT PROCESSES OF ETHNOGENTRIFICATION. This paper aims to explore an early process of ethnogentrification, previously reported by the local media, in a working-class suburban district of Barcelona. Following a brief description of the research carried out in 2004 (published in 2006) on the urban and social changes in this study area, this paper presents a comparative analysis between the continuities and changes on ‘retailscape’ in the period of 2004 to 2011, by updating its ethnic-retail cartography. Comparative results will allow to opening up a debate about some lexical abuses on the use of the term ‘ethno-gentrification’ in the specific context of Mediterranean cities.

Natural resources and physical cultural resources, referred to in this paper as “Environmental Resources”, can be important assets for regional competitiveness and innovation. In recent years, these types of assets have been increasingly taken into consideration in the design and implementation of regional development strategies, as a consequence of their potential role as a source of differentiation and of new competitive advantages. However, in contrast to environmental policies, which usually focus on the protection of the environment, innovation policies and their instruments are largely shaped by, and geared towards, knowledge-based innovation.In this paper, we discuss the role played by environmental resources in the context of regional innovation policies. We begin by discussing the relationship between environmental resources and regional development, and by emphasizing some contrasting views with regard to the function of environmental resources in regional development. Then, we address the relationship between regional competitive advantages and innovation strategies. The specific issues and problems that arise whenever the aim is to attain competitive advantages through the valorisation of environmental resources constitute the core of section III. In that section, we highlight the specific characteristics of environmental resources and we discuss the applicability of the “natural resource curse” argument to the dynamics based on the valorisation of environmental resources. The reasons that justify public interventionas well as the difficulties concerning the adequate level of intervention (local / regional / national) are also examined. The paper ends with some conclusions and policy implications.

Regional innovation propensity in Portugal: an analysis based on patent data. This paper analyses the regional distribution of patents in Portugal in the period 1980-2008 using information that was recently made available. Lisbon leads the national ranking by far. However, towards the end of the period under analysis, a few regions around Oporto have increased their share in the total numberof patents. This has taken place alongside an increase in the total number of patent applications from 2000 onwards, after two decades in which that number remained basically stagnant in Portugal. The main protagonists of this recent increase have been universities and other academic institutions. The paper concludes by stressing that the lack of growth in patent applications by the business sector is a cause for concern, given the gap that still separates Portugal from the countries that top the international patent rankings.

THE ROLE OF THE INFORMAL SECTOR IN THE URBAN ECONOMY OF THE SUB-SAHARIAN AFRICAN COUNTRIES’. In this paper, presented as a tribute to CARLOS ALBERTO MEDEIROS, the author begins by evoking some of the most important moments in the brilliant academic career of his former student and collaborator, as well as the feelings of mutual friendship and respect that bind the two. The subject of the importance of the informal sector in the urban economy of Sub-Saharan African countries is then addressed in two parts – 1. On the informal nature and informality of the urban economy; and 2. On the multi-segmentation of the informal sector –, which are followed by a Conclusion. The result of many years of careful reflection and analysis, based on field observation, countless literature surveys and exchanges of knowledge with other specialists from the social sciences, this paper is actually an early version of part of a book currently under preparation, and is offered as such as a gift accompanying this tribute. The first part of the paper begins with a reflection on the expression ‘informal sector’ (for long in current usage) and others still being used, as well on the validity of the formal/informal dicotomy as an analytical instrument, and proceeds by presenting examples of the differences between these two sectors (Table I), their inter-relationships, the existence of hybrid forms and some data on the importance and expansion of the informal sector, which is responsible for ensuring the livelihood of most city inhabitants. The second part focuses on the myriad activities and small-scale individual, family and even ‘firm-like’ businesses and trades that bring the streets and markets to life. Street hawkers and producers, among whom the women play a central role, predominate, many of whom are newcomers to the city that have just arrived from the countryside, or from abroad in the case of the immigrants (Table II). According to another author (Table III), it is particularly difficult to create a taxonomy of these multiple micro-activities, and to draw a clear-cut distinction between formal and informal activities. In the concluding remarks, attention is drawn to the unquestionable reality, complexity, expansion and importance of the informal sector of the urban economy. Hence the need to study it in the field while bearing in mind its wider context and to regard it as a structural feature rather than a marginal or marginalized phenomenon.

This paper examines the relatively under-researched field of healthand safety of migrant workers, with special reference to Tunisian construction workers in the city of Modena in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna. The empirical material comes from questionnaires and interviews with Tunisian migrants, plus smaller numbers of interviews with employers and trade union representatives in Modena. The paper starts by critically reviewing the scattered literature onthe health and safety of minority workers, most of which refers to the United States and the United Kingdom. The discussion then moves to a consideration of migrant health and safety questions in the contexts of racism, discrimination, social class, working conditions, labour market segmentation and (non-) regulation. Specialattention is given to the failed role of trade unions in defending the rights of minority workers, in advanced countries generally and in Italy in particular. A case study is then made of the construction sector in Italy, enriched by personal accounts of the experiences of Tunisian migrant workers in Modena. Employer and tradeunion interviews reveal a lack of concern and ability to tackle the relevant issues. Barriers to health and safety awareness training are outlined. In the conclusion, recommendations are made for policy initiatives in this area.

The focus of this paper is on the integration of immigrants andethnic minorities, with special emphasis being placed on the descendants of Angolans and Luso-Angolans that live in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area. Throughout the paper, we seek to identify the factors that influence the integration of the descendants of immigrants and to assess the degree of success of these individuals in their process of integration in the Portuguese society. Its first section is a brief theoretical discussion of the issue of the integration of immigrants and ethnic minorities. In the rest of the paper, an assessment is made of the degree of success of these individuals in their process of integration, by way of indicators such as their area of residence, school performance, professional status and the “identity/culture of opposition” binomial. Individual exceptions notwithstanding, our findings corroborate the existence of severe, widespread difficulties in the integration process of these individuals.

GIS MODEL FOR WASTE DISPOSAL SITES. Landfill is still the major method for waste disposal in the EU. The need to guarantee environmental protection and to follow a scientific and more transparent procedure of landfill site selection was the motivation to develop the GIS model presented in this paper. This work was developed under the auspices of an Interreg-funded EU project, by a team of Irish and Portuguese partners from University College Cork and the New University of Lisbon, and from local authorities in both countries, Cork County Council and Sesimbra Town Council.The theoretical GIS model consists of two steps. In the first step, data in vector structure and geo-processing techniques such as overlay and buffering are used to exclude areas unsuitable for landfill due to risk to the environment or human health. The exclusion factors considered in this step were grouped into “non-geological factors” and “geological and correlated factors”.The remaining residual areas, considered suitable for the location of landfills, may have some land parcels more suitable than others, and are thus further examined in the second step of the GIS model. This step is an automated raster-based process in which a series of parameters are used to classify each area in terms of high, moderate or low suitability for landfill. These parameters were also grouped into four different types: a) susceptibility to natural hazards; b) aquifer protection levels; c) land use; d) geo-environmental engineering. These parameters can also be weighted in order to provide different evaluation scenarios of the residual areas; extensions have been developed for ArcView GIS that will automatically calculate the weights for each category following inputs from the user. Study sites in both countries were used to test and validate the model. This paper presents the results obtained from the application of the model to Sesimbra Council in Portugal. The development of the landfill GIS model fulfils legislative and environmental obligations associated with site selection in a non-biased way, and the methodology aims at providing a clear and scientific rationale behind the choice of a site. Application of the model does not intend to substitute political decision but will provide decision makers (local authorities, waste management entities, etc.) with an important tool and a methodology that will aid their decision and enable them to conduct their own GIS landfill site selection screening process.

NEW CHALLENGES AND TENDENCIES IN CULTURAL POLICIES: TRENDS INDEVELOPED DEMOCRACIES AND PORTUGUESE SPECIFICITIES – In the last twenty years of the 20th century, a vast range of interrelated changes took place in the most developed democratic societies, and their effects were felt in the economic as well as in the societal and political areas. One of the most successful theoretical frameworks used since then to interpret and explain all these changes has been the French regulationist school theory. This paper addresses a neglected issue in recent political, sociologicaland geographical studies on the post-Fordist transition in the more developed democratic societies: changes in cultural policies. After identifying the main changes in this area, this paper examines whether the changes that have occurred in cultural policies since mid-80s agree with what could be the cultural logic of a supposedly post-Fordist state, as the French regulationist theory sustains. Lastly, Portuguese specificities in this domain are explored and interpreted in the light of the semi-peripheral condition of the country.

CULTURAL INDUSTRIES IN THE LISBON METROPOLITAN AREA: LOCATION FEATURES AND IMPLICATIONS ON URBAN POLICIES - This paper aims to examine the current situation and the recent development of cultural industries in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area in view of the increasing international interest in this area.Two main conclusions emerged from the analysis. Firstly, we concluded that cultural industries are steadily increasing, showing rates above the Lisbon Metropolitan Area avarage in other industries. Secondly, a high degree of concentration of activities and jobs could also be observed mainly within the city of Lisbon. However one of the most important trends of the sector in recent years has been the deconcentration of activities with the development of different specialisations in the peripheral areas. The implications of this on urban policies are analysed in the last section of this paper.

WOMEN'S TRAVEL NARRATIVES. A CRITICAL GAZE ON COLONIALISM? iSABELLE EBERHARDT (1877-1904) - The aim of this paper is to analyse the life and works of a woman travel writer, Isabelle Eberhardt and to set it within the context of the recent scholarship related to travel narrative, orientalism and gender. In effect, in his important work on orientalism, Said argued that the Orient is an European construct serving an image of the Other that not only defines the Other but also identifies the self as Western. Nevertheless, Said's contribution neglects the heterogenity of colonial discourse and conceals the roles played by women in the colonization process as well as in its representation. On the contrary, recent feminist scholarship focus on the role of European women as cultural agents in the formation of imperial relations and explores women's complicity with colonialism as well as their resistance to it. But most of the research on women travellers has been carried out by English-speaking authors on english-speaking women travellers. This paper, then, tries to contribute to this field by recovering a marginal voice coming from a different place:Isabelle Eberhardt was born in Geneva (although she was of Russian origin), travelled to Tunisia and Algeria and wrote in french. The complex dynamics of complicity and resistance in Western women is very clear in the case of Isabelle. On one hand, she has the reputation of being "an enemy of France" but, on the other, she is central to the colonial encounter. Isabelle transgresses European norms of gender and civilization by dressing as an Arab and embracing Islam, but her self-exploration was made possible by French colonial power, and in the end, she became a player in French imperial politics. The ambivalence towards colonialism that we can observe in Isabelle's life and works (as in many other women travellers) openly questions the notion of simple Otherness as presented in Said's work. The intersection of colonial and gender discourses involves a shifting subject positioning, whereby Western women can simultaneously constitute center and periphery, identity and alterity. Therefore, this paper hopefully shows that for the study of colonialism it is important to focus on narratives coming from the margins as they provide new perspectives which can destabilize established conceptions on the colonial relationship.

The present paper tries to look at the culture-innovation nexus in periphery. Starting with a theoretical discussion on this issue, in which the role of culture in current capitalism is analysed, we raise the question whether the increasing imporance of culture in the present economic context has been creating new opportunities for peripheral regions to innovate, namely by the valorization of tradition.The paper will highlight the results of four case studies from the handicraft pottery sector. These achievements will then be confronted with an exemple of cultural political promotion in an urban area - Lisbon'94, European Cultural Capital, in order to unravel the political logic of cultural and innovation in the periphery. The final section provides a brief conclusion, placing emphasis on the ambivalences which characterise peripherical modernisation processes and their cultural dimension. We argue that the ability of periphery to sustain development strategies based on the valorization of tradition depends primarily upon a successful management of these ambivalences.

Natural resources and physical cultural resources, referred to in this paper as “Environmental Resources”, can be important assets for regional competitiveness and innovation. In recent years, these types of assets have been increasingly taken into consideration in the design and implementation of regional development strategies, as a consequence of their potential role as a source of differentiation and of new competitive advantages. However, in contrast to environmental policies, which usually focus on the protection of the environment, innovation policies and their instruments are largely shaped by, and geared towards, knowledge-based innovation.In this paper, we discuss the role played by environmental resources in the context of regional innovation policies. We begin by discussing the relationship between environmental resources and regional development, and by emphasizing some contrasting views with regard to the function of environmental resources in regional development. Then, we address the relationship between regional competitive advantages and innovation strategies. The specific issues and problems that arise whenever the aim is to attain competitive advantages through the valorisation of environmental resources constitute the core of section III. In that section, we highlight the specific characteristics of environmental resources and we discuss the applicability of the “natural resource curse” argument to the dynamics based on the valorisation of environmental resources. The reasons that justify public intervention as well as the difficulties concerning the adequate level of intervention (local / regional / national) are also examined. The paper ends with some conclusions and policy implications.

In this paper, presented as a tribute to CARLOS ALBERTO MEDEIROS, the author begins by evoking some of the most important moments in the brilliant academic career of his former student and collaborator, as well as the feelings of mutual friendship and respect that bind the two. The subject of the importance of the informal sector in the urban economy of Sub-Saharan African countries is then addressed in two parts – 1. On the informal nature and informality of the urban economy; and 2. On the multi-segmentation of the informal sector –, which are followed by a Conclusion. The result of many years of careful reflection and analysis, based on field observation, countless literature surveys and exchanges of knowledge with other specialists from the social sciences, this paper is actually an early version of part of a book currently under preparation, and is offered as such as a gift accompanying this tribute. The first part of the paper begins with a reflection on the expression ‘informal sector’ (for long in current usage) and others still being used, as well on the validity of the formal/informal dicotomy as an analytical instrument, and proceeds by presenting examples of the differences between these two sectors (Table I), their inter-relationships, the existence of hybrid forms and some data on the importance and expansion of the informal sector, which is responsible for ensuring the livelihood of most city inhabitants. The second part focuses on the myriad activities and small-scale individual, family and even ‘firm-like’ businesses and trades that bring the streets and markets to life. Street hawkers and producers, among whom the women play a central role, predominate, many of whom are newcomers to the city that have just arrived from the countryside, or from abroad in the case of the immigrants (Table II). According to another author (Table III), it is particularly difficult to create a taxonomy of these multiple micro-activities, and to draw a clear-cut distinction between formal and informal activities. In the concluding remarks, attention is drawn to the unquestionable reality, complexity, expansion and importance of the informal sector of the urban economy. Hence the need to study it in the field while bearing in mind its wider context and to regard it as a structural feature rather than a marginal or marginalized phenomenon.

The focus of this paper is on the integration of immigrants andethnic minorities, with special emphasis being placed on the descendants of Angolans and Luso-Angolans that live in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area. Throughout the paper, we seek to identify the factors that influence the integration of the descendants of immigrants and to assess the degree of success of these individuals in their process of integration in the Portuguese society. Its first section is a brief theoretical discussion of the issue of the integration of immigrants and ethnic minorities. In the rest of the paper, an assessment is made of the degree of success of these individuals in their process of integration, by way of indicators such as their area of residence, school performance, professional status and the “identity/culture of opposition” binomial. Individual exceptions notwithstanding, our findings corroborate the existence of severe, widespread difficulties in the integration process of these individuals.

This paper examines the relatively under-researched field of healthand safety of migrant workers, with special reference to Tunisian construction workers in the city of Modena in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna. The empirical material comes from questionnaires and interviews with Tunisian migrants, plus smaller numbers of interviews with employers and trade union representatives in Modena. The paper starts by critically reviewing the scattered literature onthe health and safety of minority workers, most of which refers to the United States and the United Kingdom. The discussion then moves to a consideration of migrant health and safety questions in the contexts of racism, discrimination, social class, working conditions, labour market segmentation and (non-) regulation. Specialattention is given to the failed role of trade unions in defending the rights of minority workers, in advanced countries generally and in Italy in particular. A case study is then made of the construction sector in Italy, enriched by personal accounts of the experiences of Tunisian migrant workers in Modena. Employer and tradeunion interviews reveal a lack of concern and ability to tackle the relevant issues. Barriers to health and safety awareness training are outlined. In the conclusion, recommendations are made for policy initiatives in this area.

GIS MODEL FOR WASTE DISPOSAL SITES. Landfill is still the major method for waste disposal in the EU. The need to guarantee environmental protection and to follow a scientific and more transparent procedure of landfill site selection was the motivation to develop the GIS model presented in this paper. This work was developed under the auspices of an Interreg-funded EU project, by a team of Irish and Portuguese partners from University College Cork and the New University of Lisbon, and from local authorities in both countries, Cork County Council and Sesimbra Town Council.The theoretical GIS model consists of two steps. In the first step, data in vector structure and geo-processing techniques such as overlay and buffering are used to exclude areas unsuitable for landfill due to risk to the environment or human health. The exclusion factors considered in this step were grouped into “non-geological factors” and “geological and correlated factors”.The remaining residual areas, considered suitable for the location of landfills, may have some land parcels more suitable than others, and are thus further examined in the second step of the GIS model. This step is an automated raster-based process in which a series of parameters are used to classify each area in terms of high, moderate or low suitability for landfill. These parameters were also grouped into four different types: a) susceptibility to natural hazards; b) aquifer protection levels; c) land use; d) geo-environmental engineering. These parameters can also be weighted in order to provide different evaluation scenarios of the residual areas; extensions have been developed for ArcView GIS that will automatically calculate the weights for each category following inputs from the user. Study sites in both countries were used to test and validate the model. This paper presents the results obtained from the application of the model to Sesimbra Council in Portugal. The development of the landfill GIS model fulfils legislative and environmental obligations associated with site selection in a non-biased way, and the methodology aims at providing a clear and scientific rationale behind the choice of a site. Application of the model does not intend to substitute political decision but will provide decision makers (local authorities, waste management entities, etc.) with an important tool and a methodology that will aid their decision and enable them to conduct their own GIS landfill site selection screening process.

NEW CHALLENGES AND TENDENCIES IN CULTURAL POLICIES: TRENDS INDEVELOPED DEMOCRACIES AND PORTUGUESE SPECIFICITIES – In the last twenty years of the 20th century, a vast range of interrelated changes took place in the most developed democratic societies, and their effects were felt in the economic as well as in the societal and political areas. One of the most successful theoretical frameworks used since then to interpret and explain all these changes has been the French regulationist school theory. This paper addresses a neglected issue in recent political, sociologicaland geographical studies on the post-Fordist transition in the more developed democratic societies: changes in cultural policies. After identifying the main changes in this area, this paper examines whether the changes that have occurred in cultural policies since mid-80s agree with what could be the cultural logic of a supposedly post-Fordist state, as the French regulationist theory sustains. Lastly, Portuguese specificities in this domain are explored and interpreted in the light of the semi-peripheral condition of the country.

CULTURAL INDUSTRIES IN THE LISBON METROPOLITAN AREA: LOCATION FEATURES AND IMPLICATIONS ON URBAN POLICIES - This paper aims to examine the current situation and the recent development of cultural industries in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area in view of the increasing international interest in this area.Two main conclusions emerged from the analysis. Firstly, we concluded that cultural industries are steadily increasing, showing rates above the Lisbon Metropolitan Area avarage in other industries. Secondly, a high degree of concentration of activities and jobs could also be observed mainly within the city of Lisbon. However one of the most important trends of the sector in recent years has been the deconcentration of activities with the development of different specialisations in the peripheral areas. The implications of this on urban policies are analysed in the last section of this paper.

WOMEN'S TRAVEL NARRATIVES. A CRITICAL GAZE ON COLONIALISM? iSABELLE EBERHARDT (1877-1904) - The aim of this paper is to analyse the life and works of a woman travel writer, Isabelle Eberhardt and to set it within the context of the recent scholarship related to travel narrative, orientalism and gender. In effect, in his important work on orientalism, Said argued that the Orient is an European construct serving an image of the Other that not only defines the Other but also identifies the self as Western. Nevertheless, Said's contribution neglects the heterogenity of colonial discourse and conceals the roles played by women in the colonization process as well as in its representation. On the contrary, recent feminist scholarship focus on the role of European women as cultural agents in the formation of imperial relations and explores women's complicity with colonialism as well as their resistance to it. But most of the research on women travellers has been carried out by English-speaking authors on english-speaking women travellers. This paper, then, tries to contribute to this field by recovering a marginal voice coming from a different place:Isabelle Eberhardt was born in Geneva (although she was of Russian origin), travelled to Tunisia and Algeria and wrote in french. The complex dynamics of complicity and resistance in Western women is very clear in the case of Isabelle. On one hand, she has the reputation of being "an enemy of France" but, on the other, she is central to the colonial encounter. Isabelle transgresses European norms of gender and civilization by dressing as an Arab and embracing Islam, but her self-exploration was made possible by French colonial power, and in the end, she became a player in French imperial politics. The ambivalence towards colonialism that we can observe in Isabelle's life and works (as in many other women travellers) openly questions the notion of simple Otherness as presented in Said's work. The intersection of colonial and gender discourses involves a shifting subject positioning, whereby Western women can simultaneously constitute center and periphery, identity and alterity. Therefore, this paper hopefully shows that for the study of colonialism it is important to focus on narratives coming from the margins as they provide new perspectives which can destabilize established conceptions on the colonial relationship.

The present paper tries to look at the culture-innovation nexus in periphery. Starting with a theoretical discussion on this issue, in which the role of culture in current capitalism is analysed, we raise the question whether the increasing imporance of culture in the present economic context has been creating new opportunities for peripheral regions to innovate, namely by the valorization of tradition.The paper will highlight the results of four case studies from the handicraft pottery sector. These achievements will then be confronted with an exemple of cultural political promotion in an urban area - Lisbon'94, European Cultural Capital, in order to unravel the political logic of cultural and innovation in the periphery. The final section provides a brief conclusion, placing emphasis on the ambivalences which characterise peripherical modernisation processes and their cultural dimension. We argue that the ability of periphery to sustain development strategies based on the valorization of tradition depends primarily upon a successful management of these ambivalences.

This paper explores the Ukrainian diaspora mobilisation in the UK and Poland in the aftermath of the Euromaidan and the Russian aggression from the end of 2013. It examines the two referred case studies of the Ukrainian diaspora and focusses specifically on the interaction between the mobilisations of old and new diasporas, the formation of new Ukrainian “diasporic communities”, and the diaspora contribution to homeland development. The literature on social movements shows that transnational diasporic mobilisations in the UK and Poland may be seen as “extensions” of the Euromaidan social movement in Ukraine. The empirical data shows that the Ukrainian diasporic communities in both countries have united and grown stronger due to the events in Ukraine. The communities have been engaged in development activities of different forms contributing with their resources and skills to bring about social, economic, and political support in their homeland. Moreover, diasporic communities in both countries claim to be recognised by the national government as important actors. The article concludes that the Ukrainian diaspora has the desire, motive, opportunity and means to engage in transnational activities, at least for the time being, which makes it an active diaspora.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought an unparalleled opportunity for spatial analysis. More people than ever are creating maps to document the space-time diffusion of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, despite recent technical and computational improvements, spatial analysis of epidemiological surveillance data is still affected by a number of challenges, especially when dealing with near-real-time data of an emergent disease. This paper summarizes the key challenges for the spatial analysis of the COVID-19 pandemic and possible solutions.

As the pandemic progresses towards all corners of the globe, it becomes more noticeable how this crisis is undermining some of the central aspects that give meaning to urban life. In this scenario, future urban planning must learn to implement city models capable of responding to this kind of challenge. The constant reflections that appear regularly coincide in pointing out that COVID-19 has disrupted the dynamics of the contemporary city unveiling significant weaknesses in terms of management, social cohesion, and planning. From this evidence, scholars argue that a new model of the city will emerge once we overcome this crisis. But what kind of city? Through a literature review this paper identifies four central areas that underpin the construction of the new Post-COVID city, urging for a global and multidisciplinary debate and joint reflection on the opportunities that open in this context of global crisis.

From the 1990s until the pre-COVID-19 outbreak, commercial nightlife has become central to the urban branding, and tourism marketing strategies of many European cities. However, the night-time leisure industry has stalled in Europe as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the unprecedented lock-down and physical distancing measures imposed by several national governments. This short paper aims to picture the uncertain scenario that the nightlife industry of Europe, and Portugal, might have to face in post-pandemic times.

In the quest to develop cities for the long run, the debate is whether to retain elements of culture or to reinvent such spaces for new uses. Cultural heritage preservation thus becomes an issue in urban planning. Heritage sites and buildings are currently facing a great threat from new urban development particularly in developing countries including Malaysia. Nonetheless, there are those who argue for the preservation of local identity in the face of urban development. They claim that within the Kuala Lumpur City Centre, there are areas rich in diversity of identity, and these should be made more visible. This paper uses the case study of Chan See Shu Yuen, a historically significant Cantonese ancestral clan association building which houses both tangible and intangible cultural heritage in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. Through a mixed-method approach, combining interviews, surveys, content analysis, photography, and videography, I outline how this clan association increases social cohesion through its continued functions of providing aesthetic value and being a tourist attraction. This makes the case for the continued retention of historical buildings and practices, despite overarching social changes such as super-diversity.

The Decree-Law no. 115/2010, of October 22 where the Directive 2007/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2007 on the assessment and management of flood risks is transposed into Portuguese national law, establish a framework for the assessment and management of flood risks. Flash floods and debris events have a long history in Madeira Island resulting in several adverse impacts on human health, environment, cultural heritage and economic activity. For this reason and since the catastrophic debris event of 20 February 2010 the establishment of flood risk management plan in Autonomous Region of Madeira assumes a double importance. The aim of the paper is to present flood risk analysis methods and technical options adopted in the elaboration of flood hazard and flood risk maps as well the flood risk management plan strategy. For showing the principles and stages of Flood Risk Directive implementation in the Autonomous Region of Madeira, Socorridos watershed is used as case study. Nevertheless some limitations associated with the volcanic mountain island characteristics and the debris events specificities, the flood risk analysis methods used are in harmony with the requirements of the Flood Risk Directive. Another important issue is the flood risk management plan strategy that addresses all aspects of flood risk management.

The process of extension and growth of medium-sized cities towards their surrounding municipalities in recent years has not occurred in a linear or fully defined manner. Instead, in most of these intermediate nuclei, urban growth has been diffuse and irregular, generating processes of discontinuous extension. By virtue of the types of uses implemented in recent urbanization, different spatial impacts have occurred and, moreover, each dynamic has been affected in a specific way by the economic crisis, which has slowed down and / or paralyzed many of these developments initiated in the final years of the 20th century. This paper reflects on how these urbanization processes have taken place in medium-sized cities in the region of Castile and León, proposes an analysis of recent trends which, since 2000, have configured complex and diverse urban areas around the central nuclei of these cities.

This paper presents a spatial and quantitative approach to identify patterns of access to food retail and its association with urban marginalization in Mexico City. The spatial distribution of food establishments was identified using the moving windows method, in a scale of analysis of 100 m2, to delimitate areas with differentiated access to healthy and unhealthy outlets. This method revealed the spatial patterns of access to retail food outlets that are manifested with large areas of downtown, north, and east of the city exposed to an unhealthy retail food environment, while the peripheral areas of the south and southeast are under the influence of food deserts. It was revealed that 21.9% of the urban territory of the city is a healthy food environment and is distributed in the south and west of the city. It was also found that the population with the highest levels of marginalization and with medium levels are those who are exposed to unhealthy retail food environments. Chi-square test and a bivariate regression were used to determine associations between marginalization levels of the population, types of retail food environments, schooling and population density. The results indicate an association between high levels of marginalization and limited or limited access to healthy food environments, as well as a negative relationship between low levels of schooling and the density of unhealthy foods in the territory. Keywords: Food access; retail food environment; food spatial disparities.

A safe and accessible pedestrian network is essential to an equitable and sustainable urban mobility system. The importance and benefits of pedestrian-friendly urban environments has been widely addressed in transport research, yet most studies focusing in pedestrian accessibility use available street network datasets that do not represent effectively the pedestrian environment. In some cases the use of street centrelines can provide a rather good approximation to pedestrian accessibility measures. However, in the context of transportation planning and policy, the use of street centrelines fails to address critical pedestrian concerns, such as road crossing opportunities and accessible infrastructure for all. The variety of street environments and their impact on pedestrian behaviour raises some issues related with network typologies and their representation. In this paper we present and discuss issues arisen from the manual digitization of areas of a case study in Lisbon, Portugal, demonstrating significant differences in the layout of the pedestrian network when addressing different urban contexts. A detailed pedestrian network dataset was built, covering 6 different urban settings, comprising data on formal and informal pedestrian crossings and traversable/inaccessible pathways. Results show that “regular” street layouts are plain in their structure and therefore likely suitable for automated digitization, whilst less conventional street and crossing arrangements or areas with ample public spaces show a network complexity level that still requires human interpretation. The aim of this study is to encourage the discussion on the harmonization of digitization specifications for geographic datasets that can enable realistic analysis of pedestrian accessibility.

This paper explores the relationship between immigration and health status variation among Moroccan immigrants from a gender perspective, using data from a cross-sectional ethnographic survey conducted in the Spanish region of Navarre. Results show, against the literature, that women have a better health status variation than men, probably because men have a higher age profile and a longer stay in Spain. The binary logistic regression reveals important differences in social determinants by gender. Paid employment is the most positive, significant factor for health among women. Close social ties with compatriots, living in an inexpensive old house and, to a lesser extent, having a secondary level of educational achievement are the key factors for men. The economic implications of daily life have an impact on the health of Moroccan immigrants of both sexes.

Baixa Pombalina is the historical downtown area of Lisbon city, close to the Tagus estuary, sheltering many economic activities with tourism at first. This paper assesses and maps the vulnerability of the area, at the neighbourhood scale, to floods episodes and sea level rise. The methodology outlines how the different components of vulnerability are tackled, while taking the importance of the local context to the definition of composite indexes. Twenty two vulnerability hotspots were found, for which six adaptation options are proposed to be embedded into Plano de Pormenor currently in place.

Conflict occurs when the parties involved have divergent interests. Spatial planning involves a high number of agents who have conflicting characteristics (public/private, central/local government, the economy/environment) and divergent objectives or interests, and therefore, face the challenge of managing conflicts that are particularly difficult to resolve. A conflict management process that seeks to promote joint and constructive action amongst the stakeholders, and arrive at mutually beneficial solutions, requires a collaborative approach. In such an approach, leadership takes on a fundamental role. In this context, proceeding from a review of the literature on collaborative leadership, the aim of this paper is to answer the following question: what are the main leadership characteristics and functions that are necessary to carry out a collaborative conflict management process? In order to arrive to a conclusion, a tourism vs. territory conflict study was carried out, in which 26 public and private stakeholders were interviewed. These people are responsible for policies and interventions that have an impact on a territory that is subject to a high tourist development pressure and, at the same time, retains a high degree of natural value, in which the existence of intractable conflicts is a constant, namely the Troia‑Melides coastal region in Portugal. The results of this empirical research confirm the idea that implementing a collaborative process in Portugal is only possible if there is a leadership that has authority, legitimacy, impartiality, neutrality and the necessary communication and mobilization skills to involve the stakeholders in the process.

Environmental Mediation allows, besides formal participation, true collaborative decision making as well as prevention and resolution of conflicts. This paper analyses the advantages of mediation applied in environmental and territorial planning conflicts (Mediação Ambiental e Sócio‑Territorial– MAST ) following the requirements of the Portuguese Mediation Law Nº29/2013, of April 19th. It aims to understand if this legal basis prevents or encourages a more intense and efficient use of Environmental Mediation in land use planning as a means within public policy.

People’s daily mobility and commuting patterns are differentiated by sociodemographic features. It relates to place as structure (spatial organization) and to public policy (spatial planning). Between urban structure and people’s traveling behaviours, spatial public policy should be called to reduce social inequality and to promote more just territories. This concerns the process of planning as well as its outcomes. Accessibility and conflict are important questions to be approached in both. The paper examines the importance of social issues in the design of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area’s (LMA) policies on mobility and spatial planning. It continues to be a peripheral matter, despite some change at the discursive level. We begin by discussing how spatial justice and social inequalities can be central to mobility and spatial planning. Secondly, the general European and national policy background is presented. Finally, some fundamental trends of LMA mobility statistics are outlined followed by a critical reading of municipal and supramunicipal mobility related policies.

INDUSTRIAL AND BUSINESS PARKS IN BRAZIL. THE AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY AND NEW PRODUCTIVITY SPACES IN THE REGION OF CAMPINAS (STATE OF SÃO PAULO). The production system has been globalized with dynamic or competitive comparative advantages, generating new working and production relationships. Industrial parks with technical, logistical and service capabilities have enabled, in fairly creative ways, the integration between different companies or economic activity sectors, which used to be geographically dispersed. The new productivity space is increasingly connected, articulated and integrated, and it currently plays an essential role for the operation of industries and creative activities. This paper aims to show the importance of the industrial and business parks in Brazil, their types and how the general conditions for the production and reproduction of capital occur notably in the metropolitan region of Campinas (a city of São Paulo State - Brazil), which has been a pioneer in the deployment and concentration of economic activities in such productive spaces.

ACCESSIBILITY AND USE OF URBAN GREEN SPACES IN THE CITIES OF COIMBRA (PORTUGAL) AND SALAMANCA (SPAIN). In a society that values more and more wellbeing, health and free time, the introduction of urban green spaces (UGS) next to residential areas has become a citizen’s right and requirement. This paper analyses the distribution and accessibility of UGS in the cities of Coimbra and Salamanca and evaluates their influence on the needs of the resident populations, in terms of users’ age, frequency of usage, as well as of motivation and ways to enjoy the facilities. In Coimbra there is a concentration of UGS, whereas in Salamanca there is a dispersion of such spaces, which has resulted in the different usage that people make of them. In fact, although Coimbra offers more urban green space (per inhabitant), their usage is reduced as people go there mainly by car, contrary to what happens in Salamanca. Consequently, Coimbra’s inhabitants choose these green spaces because of the activities they can be used for, whereas Salamanca’s inhabitants choose them for their proximity.

This paper examines the role and importance of the territorial dimension of EU Cohesion Policy, during its five programming phases (1989‑2020), by relating this implementation process with several territorial elements, and by assessing their constant changes, namely in three main components and related elements: (i) the ‘policy strategy’ designed to include an integrated territorial perspective; (ii) the ‘policy impacts’ in territorial development and territorial cohesion, together with the use of territorial impact assessment procedures; and (iii) the focus on one or several ‘territorial scales’, specifically through the support to multilevel‑governance, territorial cooperation, and place‑based strategies. Paradoxically, despite the continuous attempts to detach EU Cohesion Policy from its initial goals of promoting a more cohesive Europe into a more neoliberalist paradigm type of ‘investment Policy’, our analysis showed that the territorial dimension is still very much anchored with this Policy, and even gaining importance in several territorial related elements, such as the support to territorial cooperation and governance processes, and the use of territorial impact assessment procedures.

The role of urban neighbourhoods in social cohesion has been extensively debated in recent times, both in academic and political circles. This paper explores different modes of coexistence and neighbourhood embeddedness in three multi-ethnic neighbourhoods in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area. Using factor and cluster analysis, with data collected in a survey of the native and immigrant population and drawing upon complementary qualitative data from focus groups with key actors in each neighbourhood, five modes of neighbourhood embeddedness are identified. These modes serve to enhance our understanding of the nature of social interactions and social networks between and within groups. A geographical perspective is adopted incorporating possible effects relating to the characteristics of the neighbourhood as well as the socio-ethnic and demographic profiles of the respondents.

Simultaneous trends for ethnicization and gentrification are contributing to the fragmentation of contemporary urban spaces. This is characterised by the emergence of new social and urban units that break the homogeneity of the modern city and lead to the development of new networks, territorially discontinuous, less neighbourhood centred and with a limited intersection. With Mouraria (Lisbon, Portugal) and San Francisco (Bilbao, Spain), two traditional and multiethnic neighbourhoods, as case-studies this paper aims to critically discuss the nature of gentrification, its coexistence with ethnicization and its contribution for socio-urban fragmentation. The empirical analysis of the residents’ social networks will be used to test levels and types of interaction and the spatial formats they assume.

Following the rise of climate and environmental challenges during thelast decade or so, the growing awareness among various actors of sustainability issues at the local and global levels has resulted in a change in public policies as in industrial and financial strategic moves. This change has been rapidly translated into substantial investments both in public and private environmental sectors. Indeed, many “green” technologies and innovations are now reaching the market and more radical ones are being developed through significant Research and Developing (R&D) investments. However, the deve-lopment of this emergent “Green Economy” is rather concentrated in certain leading countries or regions. Building on some national examples, the paper explains this phenomenon by the key role played both by the integration and inter-temporal coherence of public policies and by territorial specific settings and permissive conditions.

Heritage and urban territory; the 20th ce ntury main patrimonialletters. There is currently an extreme visibility of the world’scultural and natural heritage; a time in which ancient cities around the planet are given new roles on behalf of local economic development, the so called cultural tourism. However, it is necessary to consider the historical process that led to the current conception of cultural heritage in its universal aspect anddistinguish the dialectic between culture and commodity, which impacts on the comprehension of urban territory in all its aspects.This paper summarizes a wider research and analyses the consecration of the cultural heritage to the invaluable notion of world heritage. We search to understand the effective urban territorial approach through the 20th century main patrimonial letters: Letter of Athens(1931), Letter of Venice (1964), Convention for the Protection of the Cultural and Natural Heritage (1972) and the Amsterdam Declaration (1975).

Nightlife - a tourism product to be included in urba n planning.Artificial light and important social and economic changes offered night new uses and new landscapes that had influenced territorial planning and the urban form. Cities are where the space-time night has suffered major transformations, due to its population density and economic and cultural production. The challenges of the night-time period have been approached from different points of view: crime issues, insecurity, alcohol disorderly behaviours, and others associated with leisure and artistic activities at night. These two last perspectives are the ones that are going to be analyzed, in order reinforce the growing relation between night and tourism. The main goal of this paper focuses the study of the nighttime leisure activities relevance and its role in the touristic attraction. Therefore, we intend to evaluate the attractiveness of events and leisure activities that occur at night, as a crucial ingredient to promote cities image and contribute to its development.

Forms, processes and pa tterns in gully erosion: toward a coherenttheoretical framework. In spite of a vast body of literature, gully erosion does not yet possess a coherent theoretical framework. Its variability, both in terms of process and morphology, is incompatible both with the current definitions of gully, and with the prevalent notion of these forms as a product of concentrated flow whose boundaries are arbitrarily defined between smaller and larger channels. This contrast inevitably constrains methodological approaches to the phenomenon, as well as their results. The present paper draws on an extensive review of the literature with the purposes of establishing a critical comparison between the forms, processes and development patterns described and the prevailing conceptual framework, as well as on the definitions of relevant research questions. Additionally, a review is made of gully erosion studies in Portugal to this date.

The spa tial profiles of the alga rve: a sociodemograp hical reading. The paper draws upon sociodemographical changes of the last two decades in the Algarve region. Two main purposes are: to describe and interpret the meaning of these changes and to confront this analysis with recent studies and with the classical definitions of sub‑regional areas. Using the classical perspectives as a starting point we then present the cluster analysis for 1991 and for 2001. Four territorial profiles are presented which reflect two main trends: urbanization and marginalization. Lastly, we focus on a specific municipality – São Brás de Alportel – where strong sociodemographical dynamics have been identified despite its inland localization, enabling a more in‑depth analysis and a discussion of the presented trends.

FMI 5000. A project on the environmental changes during the holocene.This paper presents the aims, the proposed methodology and the cases to be studied within the FMI 5000 – Environmental Changes: Fluvio‑marine interactions over the last 5000 years (Project FCT nº: PTDC/CTE‑GIX/104035/2008). The estuarine environments are sensitive areas in the climate change and sea level rise framework, as they are in the interface between fluvial and marine dynamics. They are also strategic areas because of their great biodiversity and the various economic activities they support. These environments record the sea level changes as well as the changes in their drainage basin, whether they are natural or man induced. The goal of the project is to evaluate the balance between marine and fluvial influences, the answers to climatic events and the land use changes impacts, in a 5000 years’ time window. The estuaries of Rio Neiva, of Rio Alcabrichel and of Ribeira de Bensafrim were chosen to develop this research; the first two are located on the western coast and the third one in the Algarve southern coast.

The application of an environmental quality index to the Pampa s region in the Republic of Argentina (2010). In this paper, we apply an Environmental Quality Index for Argentina´s Pampas Region at the department scale ‑219 spatial units‑systematizing our field work and using the latest available information. The index consists of a combination of 23 indicators which include: a) nature‑based recreational resources, b) socially constructed resources, and c) environmental problems. Its application shows a high degree of diversity in the study area thus emphasizing territorial contrasts present in a country locaated in Latin America. The proper sizing of the environmental inequity provides useful elements for policy intervention that can mitigate socio‑territorial asymmetries, which significantly affect the living conditions of the population.

Image creation, visibility and tourism. Growth strategies for the future? The aim of this paper is to analyse how Barcelona’s economic growth since the 1990s has been based on the production of advanced services, in which image creation and tourism have played a key role. In this context, we emphasise the role played by macro-events, such as the 1992 Olympic Games, which have brought about important changes to Barcelona’s economic model, and we highlight the importance of public-private partnerships and strategic planning. Additionally, we analyse the economic impact of tourism upon the city in the period 1990-2010, and we conclude with some reflections on the implications upon public space entailed by this growth strategy.