Download or read book Urban Air Pollution and Forests written by Mark E. Fenn and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2002-05-02 with total page 436 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With a population of more than eighteen million people, Mexico City is a major metropolitan area where the effects of urban development on air quality are of immediate concern. Air pollution exposures and effects on forests in the Mexico City Air Basin are in many respects similar to those reported in the Los Angeles, California Air Basin. Studies of air pollution impacts on forests in these two regions may serve as models for urban areas all over the world. Although scientists have studied air pollution and its effects on forests and vegetation in the Mexico City Air Basin for years, this book reviews and synthesizes this body of work for the first time. This synthesis is particularly valuable as air pollution increases at an alarming rate along with global urbanization. A thorough discussion of regional geology, climate and hydrology, historical natural resource utilization, and sociological factors provide the context for evaluating air pollution impacts on the highly valued forests surrounding this megacity. The environmental and ecological consequences of chronic exposure to biologically important pollutants are considered in various case studies. Finally, the editors discuss the state of air pollution research in the Mexico City Air Basin and the outlook for the health and sustainability of forests within the Basin.

Download or read book The Politics of Property Rights written by Stephen Haber and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2003-05-26 with total page 420 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book addresses a puzzle in political economy: why is it that political instability does not necessarily translate into economic stagnation or collapse? In order to address this puzzle, it advances a theory about property rights systems in many less developed countries. In this theory, governments do not have to enforce property rights as a public good. Instead, they may enforce property rights selectively (as a private good), and share the resulting rents with the group of asset holders who are integrated into the government. Focusing on Mexico, this book explains how the property rights system was constructed during the Porfirio Díaz dictatorship (1876-1911) and then explores how this property rights system either survived, or was reconstructed. The result is an analytic economic history of Mexico under both stability and instability, and a generalizable framework about the interaction of political and economic institutions.

Download or read book World Terraced Landscapes History Environment Quality of Life written by Mauro Varotto and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-12-06 with total page 357 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume collects the best scientific contribution presented in the 3rd World Conference on Terraced Landscapes held in Italy from 6th to 15th October 2016, offering a deep and multifaceted insight into the remarkable heritage of terraced landscapes in Italy, in Europe and in the World (America, Asia, Australia). It consists of 2 parts: a geographical overview on some of the most important terraced systems in the world (1st part), and a multidisciplinary approach that aims to promote a multifunctional vision of terraces, underlining how these landscapes meet different needs: cultural and historical values, environmental and hydrogeological functions, quality and variety of food, community empowerment and sustainable development (2nd part). The volume offers a great overview on strengths, weaknesses, functions and strategies for terraced landscapes all over the world, summarizing in a final manifest the guidelines to provide a future for these landscapes as natural and cultural heritage.

Download or read book Air Quality in the Mexico Megacity written by L. Molina and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2002-02-28 with total page 412 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book, experts in atmospheric sciences, human health, economics, social and political sciences contribute to an integrated assessment of the complex elements needed to structure air quality policy in the 21st century. The analysis is developed through a case study of the Mexico City Metropolitan Area - one of the world's largest megacities in which air pollution grew unchecked for decades. The international research team is led by Luisa T. and Mario J. Molina, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry. Improvements in Mexico City's air quality in the last decade testifies to the power of determined and enlightened policy making, and throws into relief the tough problems that remain to be solved. The volume's first six chapters, including the contributions of over 50 distinguished scholars from Mexico and the US, outline the fundamental areas of knowledge policy makers must accommodate. The message is that only good science and well-chosen technologies can direct the way to corrective regulatory measures; but without strong commitment from government, no amount of science or technology can help.

Download or read book Shared Structures Intimate Space written by Fernanda Canales and published by Actar. This book was released on 2020-12-22 with total page 350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The geographic, social, and economic diversity of Mexico constitute a prime example of the challenges inherent to meeting individual needs in an increasingly crowded world. The drawings and essays comprise new ways of looking at theories and buildings in order to redefine the connection between housing and the city. This research is centered in drawings of 70 housing projects, creating a common language highlighting different attempts at reinventing the house not as isolated battles but as part of a strategy for reimagining how we want to live. This book showcases the pivotal voices that have shaped major cities through housing projects and explores how policies and ideas transform into built form, and how in turn buildings shape societies.

Download or read book Mexico s Indigenous Communities written by Ethelia Ruiz Medrano and published by University Press of Colorado. This book was released on 2011-11-15 with total page 357 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A rich and detailed account of indigenous history in central and southern Mexico from the sixteenth to the twenty-first centuries, Mexico's Indigenous Communities is an expansive work that destroys the notion that Indians were victims of forces beyond their control and today have little connection with their ancient past. Indian communities continue to remember and tell their own local histories, recovering and rewriting versions of their past in light of their lived present. Ethelia Ruiz Medrano focuses on a series of individual cases, falling within successive historical epochs, that illustrate how the practice of drawing up and preserving historical documents-in particular, maps, oral accounts, and painted manuscripts-has been a determining factor in the history of Mexico's Indian communities for a variety of purposes, including the significant issue of land and its rightful ownership. Since the sixteenth century, numerous Indian pueblos have presented colonial and national courts with historical evidence that defends their landholdings. Because of its sweeping scope, groundbreaking research, and the author's intimate knowledge of specific communities, Mexico's Indigenous Communities is a unique and exceptional contribution to Mexican history. It will appeal to students and specialists of history, indigenous studies, ethnohistory, and anthropology of Latin America and Mexico

Download or read book Geographies of Urban Governance written by Joyeeta Gupta and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-08-08 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With a current population inflow into cities of 200,000 people per day, UN Habitat expects that up to 75% of the global population will live in cities by 2050. Influenced by forces of globalization and global change, cities and urban life are transforming rapidly, impacting human welfare, economic development and urban-regional landscapes. This poses new challenges to urban governance, while emerging city networks, advancing geo-technologies and increasing production of continuous data streams require governance actors to re-think and re-work conventional work processes and practices. This book has been written to enhance our understanding of how governance can contribute to the development of just and resilient cities in a context of rapid urban transformations. It examines current governance patterns from a geographical and inclusive development perspective, emphasizing the importance of place, space, scale and human-environment interactions, and paying attention to contemporary processes of participation, networking, and spatialized digitization. The challenge we are facing is to turn future cities into inclusive cities that are diverse but just and within their ecological limits. We believe that the state-of-the-art overview of topical discussions on governance theories, instruments, methods and practices presented in this book provides a basis for understanding and analyzing these challenges.

Download or read book Achieving Sustainable Development written by Hans T. Bressers and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2003-12-30 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bressers, Rosenbaum, and their contributors analyze what, until recently, has been among the least examined issues implicit in the growing global discourse about sustainable development: the creation of institutions and processes for effective governance of sustainability policies. The creation and endurance of governance institutions capable of implementing sustainability policies is, in fact, fundamental for any viable conception of sustainable development. The analyses focus not only on how societies can organize, but on how they do organize to overcome such daunting obstacles in the Netherlands, the Northwest United States, Costa Rica, Madagascar, Senegal, and the European Union. The writers focus particularly upon the special problem embedded in the sustainability paradigm, that of organizing governance across scales—that is to say, across and between geographic, political, ecological, or other social levels in a sustainable regime. In recent years the scale problem has emerged as a major and enlarging concern, as international efforts proliferate to implement various sorts of sustainability policies. The analyses focus not only on how societies can organize, but on how they do organize to overcome such daunting obstacles. The analyses place considerable emphasis upon the history and lessons to be learned from ongoing efforts to achieve such governance in several diverse international settings including the Netherlands, the Northwest United States, Costa Rica, Madagascar, Senegal, and the European Union.

Download or read book Handbook of Rural Studies written by Paul Cloke and published by SAGE. This book was released on 2006-01-26 with total page 538 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'This is a unique interpretation of rural issues that will become essential reference for students, scholars, politicians, developers and rural activists...' - Imre Kovach, President, European Society for Rural Sociology, Research director, Institute for Political Sciences, Budapest

Download or read book Don t Call It Sprawl written by William T. Bogart and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2006-09-25 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Don't Call It Sprawl, the current policy debate over urban sprawl is put into a broader analytical and historical context. The book informs people about the causes and implications of the changing metropolitan structure rather than trying to persuade them to adopt a panacea to all perceived problems. Bogart explains modern economic ideas about the structure of metropolitan areas to people interested in understanding and influencing the pattern of growth in their city. Much of the debate about sprawl has been driven by a fundamental lack of understanding of the structure, functioning, and evolution of modern metropolitan areas. The book analyzes ways in which suburbs and cities (trading places) trade goods and services with each other. This approach helps us better understand commuting decisions, housing location, business location, and the impact of public policy in such areas as downtown redevelopment and public school reform.

Download or read book Successes in African Agriculture written by Haggblade, Steven and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2010-01-01 with total page 464 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sub—Saharan Africa is one of the poorest regions of the world. Because most Africans work in agriculture, escaping such dire poverty depends on increased agricultural productivity to raise rural incomes, lower food prices, and stimulate growth in other economic sectors. Per capita agricultural production in sub—Saharan Africa has fallen, however, for much of the past half—century. Successes in African Agriculture investigates how to reverse this decline. Instead of cataloging failures, as many past studies have done, this book identifies episodes of successful agricultural growth in Africa and identifies processes, practices, and policies for accelerated growth in the future. The individual studies follow developments in, among other areas, the farming of maize in East and Southern Africa, cassava across the middle belt of Africa, cotton in West Africa, horticulture in Kenya, and dairying in East Africa. Drawing on these case studies and on consultations with agricultural specialists and politicians from across sub—Saharan Africa -- undertaken in collaboration with the African Union's New Partnership for Africa's Development -- the contributors identify two key determinants of positive agricultural performance: agricultural research to provide more productive and sustainable technologies to farmers and a policy framework that fosters market incentives for increasing production. The contributors discuss how the public and private sectors can best coordinate the convergence of both factors. Given current concerns about global food security, this book provides timely and important resources to policymakers and development specialists concerned with reversing the negative trends in food insecurity and poverty in Africa.

Download or read book The Agricultural Crisis written by League of Nations. Economic Committee and published by . This book was released on 1931 with total page 452 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Variational Pragmatics written by Klaus Peter Schneider and published by John Benjamins Publishing. This book was released on 2008 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection of papers is designed to establish variational pragmatics. This new field is situated at the interface of pragmatics and dialectology and aims at systematically investigating the effect of macro-social pragmatic variation on language in action. As such, it challenges the widespread assumption in the area of pragmatics that language communities are homogeneous and also addresses the current research gap in sociolinguistics for variation on the pragmatic level. The introductory chapter establishes the rationale for studying variational pragmatics as a separate field of inquiry, systematically sketches the broader theoretical framework and presents a framework for further analysis. The papers which follow are located within this framework. They present empirical variational pragmatic research focusing on regional varieties of pluricentric languages. Speech acts and other discourse phenomena are addressed and analysed in a number of regional varieties of Dutch, English, French, German and Spanish. The seminal nature of this volume, its empirical orientation and the extensive bibliography make this book of interest to both researchers and students in pragmatics and sociolinguistics.

Download or read book Potato Ecology And modelling of crops under conditions limiting growth written by A.J. Haverkort and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 1995-06-30 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Proceedings of the 2nd International Potato Modeling Conference, held in Wageningen, 17--19 May, 1994

Download or read book Foundations of Intelligent Systems written by Ning Zhong and published by Springer. This book was released on 2003-10-22 with total page 721 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume contains the papers selected for presentation at the 14th International Symposium on Methodologies for Intelligent Systems, ISMIS 2003, held in Maebashi City, Japan, 28–31 October, 2003. The symposium was organized by the Maebashi Institute of Technology in co-operation with the Japanese Society for Artificial Intelligence. It was sponsored by the Maebashi Institute of Technology, Maebashi Convention Bureau, Maebashi City Government, Gunma Prefecture Government, US AFOSR/AOARD, the Web Intelligence Consortium (Japan), Gunma Information Service Industry Association, and Ryomo Systems Co., Ltd. ISMIS is a conference series that was started in 1986 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Since then it has been held in Charlotte (North Carolina), Knoxville (Tennessee), Turin (Italy), Trondheim (Norway), Warsaw (Poland), Zakopane (Poland), and Lyon (France). The program committee selected the following major areas for ISMIS 2003: active media human-computer interaction, autonomic and evolutionary computation, intelligent agent technology, intelligent information retrieval, intelligent information systems, knowledge representation and integration, knowledge discovery and data mining, logic for artificial intelligence, soft computing, and Web intelligence.

Download or read book Rediscovering Public Law and Public Administration in Comparative Policy Analysis written by Stéphane Nahrath and published by EPFL Press. This book was released on 2009-01-01 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Publié à l'occasion du 60e anniversaire du Prof. Peter Knoepfel, Professeur à l'Institut de hautes études en administration publique (IDHEAP).

Download or read book How to Study Public Life written by Jan Gehl and published by Island Press. This book was released on 2013-10-15 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How do we accommodate a growing urban population in a way that is sustainable, equitable, and inviting? This question is becoming increasingly urgent to answer as we face diminishing fossil-fuel resources and the effects of a changing climate while global cities continue to compete to be the most vibrant centers of culture, knowledge, and finance. Jan Gehl has been examining this question since the 1960s, when few urban designers or planners were thinking about designing cities for people. But given the unpredictable, complex and ephemeral nature of life in cities, how can we best design public infrastructure—vital to cities for getting from place to place, or staying in place—for human use? Studying city life and understanding the factors that encourage or discourage use is the key to designing inviting public space. In How to Study Public Life Jan Gehl and Birgitte Svarre draw from their combined experience of over 50 years to provide a history of public-life study as well as methods and tools necessary to recapture city life as an important planning dimension. This type of systematic study began in earnest in the 1960s, when several researchers and journalists on different continents criticized urban planning for having forgotten life in the city. City life studies provide knowledge about human behavior in the built environment in an attempt to put it on an equal footing with knowledge about urban elements such as buildings and transport systems. Studies can be used as input in the decision-making process, as part of overall planning, or in designing individual projects such as streets, squares or parks. The original goal is still the goal today: to recapture city life as an important planning dimension. Anyone interested in improving city life will find inspiration, tools, and examples in this invaluable guide.