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The study of Quality of Life, Poverty and Human Development shares several elements. Nonetheless, while poverty is a measure of “lack” based on a set of basic need variables (unsatisfied basic needs—UBN), human development index (HDI) is derived from the notion of human capabilities. Quality of Life, however, is a measure of achievement. Our goal is to analyze the degree of spatial correspondence between a life quality index (LQI) and the other indices by using bivariate spatial autocorrelation with its global and local values. The comparison of these three indicators at a municipal level in the province of Buenos Aires and in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (the Federal Capital of Argentina) reveals a medium spatial correspondence which leaves room for discussion about the scope and limitations of the indicators. HDI and UBN have a similar spatial configuration while the LQI yields a more fragmented distribution associated to the complexity of its variables, dimension and weights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The neighborhoods adjacent to the Yuquerí Grande creek in the city of Concordia (Entre Ríos) face particular environmental problems associated with the proximity to this watercourse that have an impact on the living conditions of the population of the area. This paper shows the existing environmental problems and the initiatives destined to mitigate them. At the same time census information and cartography are used to show some social characteristics of the residents of the place. The study indicates that after many years of abandonment there are recent proposals from different social actors and from the municipal and national governments that, although they do not overcome all the environmental problems, at least they face them and try to provide solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The notions of quality of life and environment are the result of the dominant political, technological and economic institutions found within each society in a particular historical moment. Both notions are treated by different disciplines, encouraging a broad theoretical debate that does not have enough empirical correlation. Geography is associated with both notions and can analyze them from an empirical perspective, thus contributing to the solution of urgent and emerging issues resulting from the interaction society-nature that bear a negative impact on population. Its usefulness is exemplified applying a cluster analysis to twenty social, economic and educational variables in the city of Mar del Plata, thus emphasizing the spatial and territorial basis of Geography that differentiates it from other disciplines involved in the study of both quality of life and the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development and use of indicators and indices is increasingly necessary to understand and adequately measure the living conditions of the population at different scales. In Argentina, however, there has been a delay in the production of environmental indices in relation to others associated with social and economic variables. To fill this gap this paper proposes the development of an environmental quality index for the Province of Buenos Aires and the Federal Capital of Argentina. For its implementation twenty-three variables are grouped into two broad dimensions called a) scenic, recreational or amenity resources, and b) environmental problems. The spatial configuration shows that municipalities located in attractive natural areas and with a medium population component have the best scores in contrast to large urbanizations that share various environmental problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent Web technologies such as HTML5, JavaScript, and WebGL have enabled powerful and highly dynamic Web mapping applications executing on standard Web browsers. Despite the complexity for developing such applications has been greatly reduced by Web mapping libraries, developers face many choices to achieve optimal performance and network usage. This scenario is even more complex when considering different representations of geographical data (raster, raw data or vector) and variety of devices (tablets, smartphones, and personal computers). This paper compares the performance and network usage of three popular JavaScript Web mapping libraries for implementing a Web map using different representations for geodata, and executing on different devices. In the experiments, Mapbox GL JS achieved the best overall performance on mid and high end devices for displaying raster or vector maps, while OpenLayers was the best for raster maps on all devices. Vector-based maps are a safe bet for new Web maps, since performance is on par with raster maps on mid-end smartphones, with significant less network bandwidth requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]