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Over recent years, and as a result of the recent global health pandemic, resilience has become increasingly central to contemporary policy discourses in urban planning and development in both the Global North and Global South. Drawing from ongoing empirical studies of community resilience and everyday practices that have been co-designed and co-produced alongside Brazilian marginalised communities which are highly vulnerable to a range of natural hazards, this paper highlights the growing importance of dialogical stakeholder engagement methodologies in designing alternative urban visions – so-called resilience imaginaries or counter-cities - across the Global South based on social diversity, equity and spatial justice. More specifically, the dialogical participatory mapping approach outlined in this paper utilises citizen science approaches to develop local resilience imaginaries, building on the pedagogical work of Brazilian educator Paulo Freire and the conceptualisation of dialogue as a comprehensive and progressively unfolding methodological approach. Practically, we adopted a range of community engagement approaches that allowed local citizens to become more aware of their own risk context and embed this tacit knowledge into the operation of civil protection programmes. Our empirical results highlight the potential of such dialogical participatory approaches to capture lay knowledge from local citizens and contribute to the development of enhanced resilience approaches. The paper concludes by reflecting on the role of formerly marginalised voices in the advancement of local urban policy and on the novelty and promise of critical pedagogical approaches to co-production within existing regimes of urban governance and the imagining of radically independent counter-cities. • Novel community engagement approaches based on dialogue allow local citizens to become more aware of their own risk context. • The process of geospatial data production can be a transformative moment capable of nurturing enhanced community resilience. • Dialogical participatory mapping is a method for re-imagining future city-visions. • Western resilience scholarship needs learn from emerging resilience building grounded practices in the Global South. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban inequality is a highly complex and multidimensional phenomenon that involves several aspects, such as education, urban mobility, environment, technological or digital exclusion, food deserts, and inequalities in the distribution of urban facilities. Due to its impact on the living conditions of populations residing in the most deprived and unhealthy areas of cities, inequality in the distribution of urban public services is a particularly relevant issue. The measurement of urban inequality to discuss possible policy implications requires the synthesis of its sub-dimensions. Therefore, this paper applies the multicriteria method called ordered weighted averaging to evaluate the distribution of public goods in census tracts of the city of São Sebastião do Paraíso in Brazil. In particular, ordered weighted averaging, which allows the calibration of different degrees of non-compensability between sub-indicators and considers the heterogeneity of the census tracts, permits the evaluation of both positive and negative aspects of the studied phenomena. Two different composite indicators are calculated: the "Tax Index," which analyses the presence of public goods and the benefits in terms of property value and well-being that their presence generates, and the "Infrastructure Index," which examines the areas with the greatest lack of infrastructure. • Two composite indicators are constructed through ordered weighted averaging • The Infrastructure Index reveals priority areas for investment in public goods • The Tax Index shows which areas of the city benefit most from public goods • The indices form a mechanism for equitable allocation of public goods in the city • Taxes from the Fiscal Index fund public goods allocated by the Infrastructure Index [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban segregation can happen in many dimensions. Its study reveals city inequalities to inform urban planning policies; access to green and leisure spaces can contribute to well-being and social mixing. Different studies underline different characteristics. However, studies in Latin America, especially north-east Brazil, explore few segregation dimensions. This paper investigates multi-dimensional socio-spatial patterns in a broader urban area of João Pessoa city, relating residential census information - as income, race/colour, literacy and types of dwellings -, space syntax street network centralities, and public leisure spaces access. Variables were correlated and characterized k-means groups for sectors and neighbourhoods. Results indicate spatial wealth patterns with more whites and literates living in more apartments in areas stemming from the city expansion to the coast beyond municipal boundaries. Impoverished areas concentrate further from the sea, with barely any access to large leisure areas, transitioned by the city centre and Bancários neighbourhoods. Income was related more to access to large leisure areas than city-scale street network centralities. K-means clustering indicated heterogeneous profiles as poorer clusters, despite lower street network centrality and little sanitation, were either the densest or sparsest. Meanwhile, areas with higher street network access exhibited intermediate-to-high rather than highest-income inhabitants. Findings indicate a need to look over municipal boundaries and distribute better city amenities. • Findings indicate a tendency of white, literate, and wealthy living in apartments • Low income, particularly very low, have barely any reach to large leisure areas • Very high-income groups have access to large leisure areas, most close to the sea • K-means shows two poorest areas profiles: sparsest or densest, located differently • Intermediate income clusters exhibit higher street integration than higher income [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper discusses the question about the right to the city and the influences of the dispute for the city on urban mobility, using São Paulo, Brazil's largest city, as a study case. We present the concept of the human mobility transition, which relates to the idea of large shifts in human mobility dynamics that have affected the constitution and development of urban settlements, the structure of the urban form, and social networks. We then argue that the latest stage of this transition is heavily influenced by the fact that cities have become both the arena for and the object of the political struggle between unsustainable economic growth and sustainable human development. Health consequences of the dispute for the city in the context of urban mobility are discussed. Final section uses the case of São Paulo to illustrate these arguments, focusing on changes that occurred from the end of the 19th century onwards. Highlights • Human mobility dynamics influence and are influenced by urban development patterns and social networks. • The concept of human mobility transition is presented and linked to urban and nutrition transitions. • The health consequences of the dispute for the city in the context of mobility transitions are discussed. • The latest stage of the mobility transition will result from political struggles over public space and the right to the city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent technological advances have increased the importance of economic activities based on new production techniques with embedded, sophisticated services. In this sense, services offered as intermediate inputs for manufacturing firms that add value in this process constitute one of the main components of productivity gains and economic development. However, such service firms are not homogeneously distributed in space. This paper aims to investigate the spatial distribution of service firms that add value and compare it with the location of service firms that reduce cost. This is done by employing count data models (correcting for the excessive number of zeros whenever necessary) to identify the main factors associated with the location of existing and new firms in these sectors in Brazilian labor market areas. There is also an effort to control for the potential endogeneity of density measures. The main results show that despite the strong linkages with manufacturing, service firms do not necessarily pursue locations close to places that concentrate industrial employment, and they actually avoid to locate in neighboring areas of those who concentrate manufacturing activities. Higher population density, diversity and other measures of economic spatial concentration are much more relevant to determine the location of these firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building on the understanding that the representations that underpin slum policies play an important role in the management and reproduction of informality, the aim of this paper is to identify some of the representations used in the governance of slums through two case studies: the upgrading policies of Rio de Janeiro's favelas , Brazil, and the governing of Stellenbosch's informal settlements, South Africa. Slum policies are influenced by the use of technologies, defined in this paper both as accounting techniques that stabilise the representations of informality and as technological artefacts used as means of intervention. Results show that the representations of slums used in the policies analysed contribute to the reproduction of informality by (i) representing slums as places of uncertainty and uncontrollability, (ii) affirming the need of experts and technical knowledge to correct the material, legal and knowledge deficits through which slums are represented, and (iii) focusing on the individual and household level and disregarding the relational character of poverty. These representations are influenced by sociotechnical imaginaries of sustainable and smart cities, through which the social orders that produce informality and social exclusion remain unquestioned. • Representations play an important role in the definition of informality as an object of governance. • Slums are represented through uncertainty, uncontrollability and deficit representations. • Representations are embedded in broad socio-technical imaginaries of sustainable and smart cities. • Critical scholarship on slum policy needs to be critical about its own use of representations of slums. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

City governments worldwide are increasingly introducing adaptation actions and climate responses in their policies and agendas, but the speed and success of these initiatives vary widely. Understanding these interventions, barriers and opportunities for urban adaptation remains a challenge for scholars and policy-makers. In this paper, we assess climate adaptation policy in the megacity of São Paulo, Brazil, paying special attention to missed opportunities and potential synergies. We focus on climate policies and urban interventions in São Paulo, specifically on the analysis of documents related to the Municipal Climate Change Policy (launched in 2009) and New Master Plan (concluded in 2014). We describe local responses to climate change already implemented in the city and explore some of the factors that affect its adaptation. We argue that although the megacity has recently implemented innovative urban policies and a set of municipal actions that aim to overcome many of the city's challenges, São Paulo is missing an opportunity to mainstream climate change to improve its adaptive capacity. In exploring some of the local initiatives implemented in recent years, we seek to understand responses to climate change that emerge in Brazilian cities, particularly considering that cities learn from each other to adapt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More than one billion people live in slums and informal settlements worldwide. This urban condition poses an urgent need to look more closely into the spatial complexities of these areas. Informal settlements are still commonly seen as segregated places of poverty. Due to the usual scales of analyses, the social and spatial complexity of informal settlements may be easily overlooked. Although previous qualitative studies have suggested that poor areas are internally differentiated, there is little systematic study to date identifying patterns of segregation within poor areas through rigorous analysis. This paper explores a spatial statistical method to challenge the common-sense notion of informal settlements as socially homogeneous places. We do so by analysing segregation within areas that are themselves already segregated — a multiscalar property that may pervade smaller, seemingly homogeneous areas. We apply Moran's index to analyse residential segregation based on income within 42 largest informal settlements and nine Brazilian cities. Our results show that 37 % of the informal settlements analysed are composed of a complex residential mix featuring internal inequality patterns akin to those found in cities. Our approach also identifies racial inequalities and uneven access to urban infrastructures within favelas. • Measurement of segregation varies according to the scale on which data are explored. • Residential segregation may be found within areas that are themselves already segregated. • Many informal settlements in Brazil show internal income and racial inequality patterns akin to those found in their cities. • The size of favelas matters in the emergence of segregated pockets within already segregated areas. • Segregation shows a fractal property that pervades different scales and may be found even in seemingly homogeneous areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various slum upgrading interventions have been implemented by numerous institutions to improve conditions of slum residents. It however remains unclear the extent to which the social diversity of slum residents is integrated in slum interventions. This paper thus assesses different slum upgrading approaches and methodologies to ascertain the extent to which they consider residents' diversity. Undertaking comprehensive desk review of relevant literature and adapting Fraser's 'tripartite' approach to social justice, the paper analyses three slum upgrading interventions in Kenya, Brazil and Thailand. The paper revealed that interventions in Kenya and Brazil implicitly aimed at ensuring spatial order and hence, focused majorly on physical projects with minimal focus on identifying and incorporating the diverse needs of residents. This resulted in the non- or minimal use of delivered projects. Contrary to this, the diverse needs of residents were considered and adequately reflected in the case of Thailand. The consideration of diversity in the slum upgrading interventions was observed to fundamentally stem from project objectives set by the implementing institutions. The paper concludes that policy interventions to improve conditions of slums should acknowledge the diverse needs of residents and the intersectional nature of the different social identities. • Various slum upgrading interventions have been implemented by various institutions. • Slum upgrading interventions are aimed at promoting wellbeing and societal development. • Interventions however largely fail to integrate social diversity of dwellers. • Consideration of diversity in the slum upgrading interventions is key to promoting overall development and wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the following research question: "How is the social space in Heliópolis' favela organized?, this paper has the reflexive objective of thinking the space of the favela beyond its stereotypes as a space that should be treated as singular, heterogeneous, and not as a problem to be solved. Using grounded theory by ethnographic approach by field notes during 18-month participant observation, 13 semistructured interviews, 8 open interviews, 26 testimonials on the project "Memória de Heliópolis", and 2 WhatsApp groups, all empirical data were collected. By all these methods, it was possible to perform a deep immersion in the daily life of Heliópolis (the largest favela in São Paulo - Brazil, with 45 years of existence and more than 200,000 inhabitants living in one million square meters). The results showed how the favela is a social space that has been in transit since its beginning. The favela is a continuous urban process of construction, deconstruction, and reconstruction of itself and of the city. It is organized around its sociospatial deficiencies and around its potentialities. The favela can be called communities, neighborhoods, or cities. Therefore, by this study, it is possible to say that Heliópolis is a multipliCity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper criticizes the progress of the Brazilian government in preventing greenhouse gas emissions originating in urban areas. In 2009, Brazil approved its “National Policy on Climate Change”, complementing the 2008s National Plan on Climate Change (NPCC). In these documents, the federal government established measures to be undertaken in order to reduce greenhouse gases emissions, focusing on deforestation. However, the federal government should have regulated urban emissions, since the present Brazilian urbanization context, with big metropolises and the gradual migration of the population to the suburbs, represents a burden on climate change. With this new reality, transport and electricity use tend to grow, with the consequent increase in emissions. On the other hand, the municipalities are responsible for most city planning and transportation policies in Brazil. Pressed by their daily needs, they show little concern towards climate change and do not include the regulation of major sources of emissions among their priorities. Consequently, the municipalities are inefficient in preventing climate change. There are two main explanations for that: they do not have the know-how to prevent emissions; and they do not share this political agenda, since the impact of climate change is seldom acknowledged in the city where the emissions occur. Therefore, the central government has a role to play in regulating urban emissions. The study concludes that the National Plan and the National Policy, being federal documents, should have addressed urban emissions throughout the nation. Ultimately, they should be revised to guide city planners into planning greener cities. In order to succeed in this task, this legislation should not only require the reduction of emissions, but it should also indicate to the municipalities how they might achieve the reduction. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The academic literature on Brazilian cities focuses overwhelmingly upon the metropolises of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. While fruitful in its own right, this research confronts scholars of Latin American cities elsewhere with two ongoing limitations: (1) Despite estimates that nearly one quarter of Brazil’s urban population inhabits the conurbation of Rio and São Paulo, at least 75% of urban space in Brazil, an area populated by roughly 120 million people, is consistently overlooked; and (2) the findings from these two megacities are often (and unfairly) extrapolated across other urban contexts in Brazil, perpetuating lingering misgivings about the overall ‘nature’ of Brazilian cities. In this paper, I consider the Northeast of Brazil, drawing upon my own research from the favela (slum) community of Pirambu, located in the city of Fortaleza, to help understand urban development outside of the Rio/São Paulo corridor. By considering historical circumstances, geographic specificity, theoretical implications, and the course of Brazilian development, I highlight informal urban growth in an oft-overlooked region of Latin America while, at the same time, revealing many of the geographic attributes that give Rio and São Paulo their truly exceptional character. My goal in this work is not to refute the work of others, but rather to underscore the importance of geographic context to socio-spatial processes of urban development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Recent advances in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Web 2.0 technologies provide new ways of creating sophisticated Web applications that strengthen social interactions based on comments on online maps, which have the potential to improve Public Participation GIS (PPGIS) practices. In this paper, we address this promising approach to analyze the impact of collaborative Web 2.0 tools applied to PPGIS applications in urban planning actions. We develop a Web 2.0 PPGIS application through free, easy-to-use tools, which consist of a Web mapping service, with eligible geospatial data layers, where users explore and comment. A database stores the contributions in a format supported by GIS. We also set up a prototype version in Canela (Brazil), to test its usability. The results showed that it is a valuable approach for engaging the public. It could promote communication among users and decision makers in a more interactive and straightforward way. Besides, it is easy to set up and understandable by non-experts. The Web 2.0 PPGIS may serve as a social tool for any spatially-related issue involving community members in any context. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Municipalities in developing countries can contribute to mitigating climate change and thereby benefit from reductions in the emissions of conventional pollutants and traffic jams or from improvements in waste management systems, amongst other local benefits. These benefits result from measures taken to reduce greenhouse gases emissions (or carbon sequestration) by two means: either measures taken to mitigate greenhouse gases emissions themselves and/or from the income obtained in the international carbon market. The evaluation of the current status of emissions and the potential for mitigation measures are based on various planning techniques, such as inventories and scenario building, as suggested in the paper. A brief report of the experience in making an inventory from secondary data and building up scenarios that has been undertaken in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is presented as a case study. Mitigation measures that are beneficial to the quality of city environments and suited to municipal administrations are also presented. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper refers to a study of the problem of traffic noise on roads which have been transformed into big avenues in the city of Curitiba. Noise levels are measured and the impacts suffered by the community documented. Around the main roads inside the urban perimeter of Curitiba, simultaneous measurements were done regarding noise levels, vehicle flow and traffic composition and thus some mathematical models have been developed in order to estimate those sound pressure levels. The measured levels have been compared with the calculated ones obtained from the mathematical model and the German Standard RLS-90 as well. The validity of the mathematical models were confirmed, as well as the applicability of the calculation method adopted by the German Standard RLS-90. Finally, the mean traffic noise levels around those roads and the noise limits of the municipal law 8583/1995 were examined and it was confirmed that people living or working in these areas are exposed to noise levels beyond the legislated norms. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]