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This paper is on territorial management in the frontier zone of Peru, Brazil and Bolivia, and its relation to the construction of the transoceanic highway. Its main objective is to discuss the processes of urban growth in the settlements of Iflapari (Madre de Dios, Peru), Assis Brasil (Acre, Brazil), and Bolpebra (Pando, Bolivia), and their connection to the wider process of international South American integration. Another objective is to bring a new comprehension to the planning and management process of the Amazon territory from a decentralized viewpoint, taking care of the environmental conservation and the protection of the Rio Acre basin. The discussion departs from the view that the construction of the road will stimulate an organized urban growth that may dramatically enforce the problems in relation to the social and environmental degradation, to finally propose a new strategy for territorial and urban management through the building of an international city that includes the three urban settlements already mentioned above. Finally, this paper shows that the best development possibilities for the region are in the integral management of the urban services, infrastructure and equipment. It is hoped that the perspective of an international city will ameliorate and even control the appearance of problems typical of frontier urban settlements, such as delinquency, prostitution, drugs traffic and consumption, smuggling, unemployment, lack of cultural identity, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The abandonment of indigenous and traditional ways of relating to the landscape and making use of the environment are historically tied, since the epoch of conquest, to the imposition of development models that respond to foreign demands. Social scientists have variously integrated the concept of development as an analytical tool, with differing foci and applications, despite a broader and persistent tendency to relate the idea chiefly to economic growth and eschew social progress. This paper critically addresses the theoretical implications of an ecological approach to the recovery of indigenous technologies in the Andean area, on the basis of experiences in bolivia, Ecuador and Peru. Its objective is to learn from past mistakes and recast the recovery of indigenous technologies as an effective strategy to articulate viable alternatives for local communities in the fields of agriculture, herding and agroforestry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]