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Addressing the need for curbing private motorization and car dependency while reducing inequalities associated with transport requires an in-depth understanding of the individual and collective practices, attitudes, and experiences of urban accessibility and mobility of populations across diverse socio-economic backgrounds. This paper builds on qualitative research methods and a framework of transitions to sustainable mobility to examine the links between travel needs, preferences, attitudes, and structural factors such as urban form, poverty, and informality at different scales. It proposes qualitative methods and evidence for accessibility-centred analysis to enrich policy and practice in cities across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), using Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown, as a case study. While the volume of literature on urban mobility, accessibility, and land-use in SSA is increasing, scholarship on cities in Western Africa remains limited. The study examines four neighborhoods with different levels of access and motorization. It interrogates participants' perceived accessibility, how they shape differentiated everyday mobility and land-use practices at the individual and collective level, and its implications for urban accessibility and sustainable mobility in the medium to long-term future. We found that perceived accessibility influences everyday mobility and land-use practices and the attitudes of individuals in diverse communities toward sustainable mobility by driving them to trade off immediate needs with long-term risks and exposures, imaginaries of motorized futures, as well as collectively transform the functional and physical configurations of the built environment to address their most critical needs in the absence of suitable top-down transport and land-use interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities are critical to a sustainable future for our planet; still, the construction and operation of cities rely on intensive resource and energy use and transformation, leading to the generation of waste, effluents, and pollution, representing negative externalities outside and inside the city. Within every process, transformation implies the use of energy and the increase of entropy. In an urban system, the transformation of energy and materials will trigger the creation of entropic landscapes, mainly in the informal city and in unguarded natural landscapes, even hundreds of kilometers away, which generates substantial economic, social, and environmental impacts. In this sense, cities are significant contributors to the environmental crisis. Upstream, degradation of landscapes and ecosystems is frequent. Cities' externalities and exogenous consumptions are directly linked with entropy and entropic landscapes, which are recognized as pollution (in the air, water, and land) or waste and in the degradation of natural ecosystems and communities. Through a systematic review of existing literature, this paper first outlines briefly how entropy has been applied in different disciplines and then focuses on presenting recent developments of how entropy has been defined, used, and characterized in urban studies concerning sustainability in cities and architecture, and presents a definition of the concept in relation to urban systems and key aspects to consider. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examines the impact, added value and relevance of accreditation as a way of assuring quality at an institution of higher learning in the field of architecture. The qualitative impact of accreditation was examined through a survey presented to students, teachers and employers. A quantitative assessment was carried out by reviewing academic indicators, such as pass rate or weighted average per year, before and after the accreditation processes. The study examined a private institution of higher education in Peru; however, the methodology and results may be relevant to future studies of schools in developing countries with similar characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban areas encompass essential social functions that are fundamental for the development and quality of life. This research explores why the concept of the 15-minute city, while commendable in its aspirations, might fall short in effectively mitigating urban inequalities, especially within densely populated and segregated developing cities. Using Bogotá (Colombia) as a case study, this paper advocates and develops a standardized index based on the availability of essential urban functions within a 15-minute walking distance. This index also integrates individual preferences, geographical attributes, and the quality of pedestrian infrastructure. Doing so provides a more comprehensive understanding of the factors influencing proximity, accommodating the diverse needs of various social identities. Considering individual preferences towards proximity is critical to comprehend the determinants of accessibility, encompassing the relevance of sociodemographic characteristics. Although several urban areas worldwide may meet the broad interpretation of the 15-minute city concept, our research reveals significant disparities among population segments regarding access to urban services and their prioritization. Our case study found that grocery stores and healthcare facilities hold paramount importance across all population segments. Furthermore, wealthy segments exhibit a heightened preference for retail shops and commercial services. In contrast, the low-income population has a considerably greater preference for healthcare facilities. This study aims to cast light upon structural disparities inherent in urban areas, thereby unveiling inequalities in the 15-minute city concept's capacity to diagnose and mitigate urban inequalities. The promotion of a more all-encompassing and inclusive measurement approach is posited as a contribution to the advancement of our comprehension and the effective implementation of the 15-minute city concept across heterogeneous urban landscapes. • This paper advocates for the development of a standardized index based on urban functions within a 15-minute walking distance. • The 15-minute city concept must include, besides proximity to opportunities, the quality of pedestrian infrastructure. • The index integrates individual preferences to understand the determinants of proximity, including sociodemographic attributes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the impact of infrastructure and residents' water usage patterns (internal factors) and climate (external factor) on household water consumption. Through quantitative information from the service provider and qualitative data from 900 surveys in three areas with different socio-economic levels (high, middle and low) in the Lima metropolitan area, an average user profile is determined for each area. The results are further assessed and compared to establish the impact of internal and external factors on water consumption. These results help in establishing water handling policies and developing residential infrastructure design for efficient and sustainable use of water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-centrifugal cane sugar (NCS) is a high carbohydrate-content food obtained by boil evaporation of the sugarcane juice. In the manufacturing process, the by-product of NCS called bagasse is used as foul for the boilers, underestimating its potential as a lignocellulosic source for second-generation bioethanol. In order to assess the bioethanol potential of the by-product resulting from the NCS production, pretreatments were applied to breakdown the lignocellulosic structure for the study in hand. Therefore, this study carried out a comparison of two pretreatment methods steam explosion (SE) and acid hydrolysis (AH) applied to the sugarcane bagasse to produce second-generation bioethanol. It was evidenced that both pretreatments redistribute lignin and hemicelluloses and enhances the accessible surface area of the biomass which further benefitted the subsequent fermentation process as the reducing sugars were available enough to foster the production of bioethanol. The study found that the SE pretreatment was likely to obtain more bioethanol as the reducing sugars (glucose) production outperformed other pretreatments under different residence times and concentrations. Considering the necessity to develop second-generation biofuel production, this study presented the sugarcane bagasse as a promising and abundance lignocellulosic substrate to be investigated more in depth in the Colombian context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public transport has claimed a preferential position in recent urban development agendas internationally. Rising interest on inclusive development of cities at different levels of urban policy involves new opportunities and challenges for increasingly urban societies. In cities of the Global South, in addition to institutional and physical challenges for the development of efficient and inclusive public transport, local governments face the challenge of making public transport affordable for a large share of the population in conditions of poverty. In order to meet these challenges, several public transport systems throughout have implemented targeted subsidies for specific social groups such as students, the elderly and people with reduced mobility, and more recently for the poor. The government of Bogotá has implemented a pro-poor public transport subsidy scheme that aims at alleviating the financial burden of poor households for accessing the city's public transport system. This research develops an analysis of the effects of such subsidy from an accessibility perspective using potential accessibility measures to employment opportunities and assess its impact on equity. The research builds on the hypothesis that accessibility is a multi-dimensional construct that can benefit from the decrease in economic as much as gains in time costs. Results from the analysis show that both the current structure of the pro-poor subsidies in Bogotá and alternative scenarios for increasing its coverage are progressive, improving accessibility and equity for those with access to the subsidy. The paper provides valuable insights for the analysis of similar policies in other urban contexts in the Global South. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper confronts the current policy landscape and lived experiences of walking in African cities through the lens of policies, plans, institutional, and residents’ narratives. The paper builds on qualitative evidence drawn from content analysis and semi-structured interviews with local-level stakeholders across policy sectors concerned directly or indirectly with walking and walkability in the city. Perspectives from local government institutions are first reviewed to ascertain considerations for accessibility, safety, and pleasurability dimensions of walking and, second, contrasted with the lived walking experiences of residents of low-income settlements in Accra. Results indicate limited attention to pleasurability dimensions in both policy and municipal plans and significant incongruities with residents’ lived realities of walking. This parallel between the frameworks and plans underpinning the construction of the walking environment and the lived experiences of those affected by such decisions seeks to nuance debates about policy-reality (dis)junctures in African urbanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bogotá's urban and regional planning has focused on pressing demographic, economic, and urban development needs that can no longer be administered without a comprehensive understanding of its surrounding region. Population growth in municipalities in the vicinity of Bogotá is twice that of the city, which in some cases has led to a functional integration and conurbation as part of the same territory, despite having different governments and uncoordinated urban development plans. This paper revisits the evolution of the governance and regulatory framework of Bogotá and its surrounding region, as contrasted with the spatial and socioeconomic aspects at the larger metropolitan scale, and analyses its effects on the current configuration of the city-region that we identify as the Bogotá Metropolitan Area. The paper draws conclusions from primary and secondary information, providing insights into the recent and future development of the city and its metropolitan area that is yet to be officially constituted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research was aimed at exploring levels of equity in accessibility to employment and education in the city-region of Bogotá, Colombia's capital city. Building on consolidated methodologies for the assessment of potential accessibility, we estimate accessibility indicators at the zone level, evaluate how potential accessibility varies among income groups, and present evidence related to transport mode, in order to analyze social and spatial inequalities produced by the distribution of accessibility to employment and education activities. The research incorporates a method to evaluate how accessibility varies among zones according to average income and mode of transport in order to produce evidence-based arguments that can inform transport policy in the city-region of Bogotá, and other similar contexts in the Global South. Our results show strong distributional effects of the socio-spatial and economic structure of the city-region, its transport infrastructure and services, and the effect of current transport and land-use policies for citizens of different income groups. The tools and empirical evidence in this research seek to contribute to informed policy development in Latin America and other developing contexts, and feeding current debates on the role of accessibility in addressing social and spatial inequalities stemming from urban mobility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of still-low-but-rising levels of motorization and economic growth, increasing social and spatial inequalities, and growing concerns about air pollution and climate change, the formulation and implementation of policies, practices and partnerships that can support an accelerated implementation of sustainable mobility policies is an urgent concern for rapidly developing cities. This paper seeks to contribute to reframing some of the knowledge and methodologies produced in and about cities of Sub-Saharan Africa, through a comprehensive assessment of mobility patterns and accessibility needs within a larger debate about mobility transitions and sustainable development. By deploying a mixed-methods approach that builds upon case-study focus groups and city-wide accessibility and mobility analysis in the city of Freetown, Sierra Leone's capital, the paper maps travel patterns and their links with structural factors such as urban form, poverty, informality and social identities at the macro, meso and micro levels. The paper also presents evidence from a variety of methods that illustrate the significance of accessibility-centred information and analysis for establishing policy priorities for improving urban mobility and accessibility in the local, African and global contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a clean, accessible and healthy transport alternative, the benefits of cycling have been well-documented and suggest positive health, environmental and affordability outcomes. Despite a favourable rhetoric for cycling, in many cities in Latin America, its uptake has gained more traction among younger and carless populations than frequent users of private motorised vehicles. Recognising this reality, our article poses arguments for cycling beyond its classic benefits via direct comparisons of its performance against that of private cars. Our paper compares cycling and car-based trips, presenting evidence in cycling for policy and decision-making targeting a demand segment that has historically been more resistant to modal shifts to sustainable mobility. We contrast performance of both modes in relation to coverage and accessibility, testing different modal shift scenarios in the context of Bogotá, Colombia's capital city. As a city that has been recognised in the international literature for both its successes in urban transport policy and its persisting mobility and access inequalities, Bogotá's contrasts are an ideal setting for this research. We build on a geo-coded household travel survey for 2015 and API-sourced datasets to develop spatial coverage and potential accessibility metrics for cycling and car-based trips. Findings suggest Bogotá's large potential for further increases in cycling, particularly from car-users, which can lead to overall societal gains in terms of sustainable accessibility and present a fertile ground for bike-sharing systems. The paper builds on spatially and socially distributed findings to identify areas with the highest potential for bike-sharing in Bogotá. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is the development of an accessibility estimation method as a transport policy assessment tool based on the state of the art of the accessibility concept and measurement techniques, and available information directly related to socioeconomic data, transport demand and supply characteristics for specific areas of Bogotá. Study areas and indicators are defined in order to determine relevant relationships between transport and access to opportunities for individuals with specific socioeconomic characteristics and present mobility conditions. In addition, evaluation of restricted travel budgets scenarios defined both by the standard transport theory and individuals is performed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Identifies injustices related to space distribution and modal share. • Street space distribution is a crucial factor in improving transport justice. • The fairness of street space distribution should be the first element to include in the transport justice analysis. • Transport justice should include fair distribution of street space. In dense cities, the smaller the consumption of land per inhabitant, the more disruptive the use of individual transport as a sustainable transport mode. The impact of private vehicles on transport justice in the spatial dimension is worse there. The unbalanced distribution of street space in dense cities implies considerable challenges for sustainable transport. This paper explores the relationships between mode share, street space distribution, and those spaces' construction costs. Based on justice principles, the paper discusses a fair distribution of street space in Bogotá, where injustices are apparent. We find imbalances in the prioritization of space for specific street users, with an accent on space for private motorization despite a visible change in investment in other spaces for urban mobility in recent years. Findings provide empirical evidence for informing policy and decision-making related to public investment in urban space and its distribution in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During microspore embryogenesis, microspores are induced to develop into haploid embryos. In Brassica napus, microspore embryogenesis is induced by a heat shock (HS), which initially produces embryogenic structures with different cell wall architectures and compositions, and with different potentials to develop into embryos. The B. napus DH4079 and DH12075 genotypes have high and very low embryo yields, respectively. In DH12075, embryo yield is greatly increased by combining HS and the histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor trichostatin A (TSA). However, we show that HS + TSA inhibits embryogenesis in the highly embryogenic DH4079 line. To ascertain why TSA has such different effects in these lines, we treated DH4079 and DH12075 microspore cultures with TSA and compared the cell wall structure and composition of the different embryogenic structures in both lines, specifically the in situ levels and distribution of callose, cellulose, arabinogalactan proteins and high and low methyl‐esterified pectin. For both lines, HS + TSA led to the formation of cell walls unfavorable for embryogenesis progression, with reduced levels of arabinogalactan proteins, reduced cell adhesion of inner walls and altered pectin composition. Thus, TSA effects on cell walls cannot explain their different embryogenic response to TSA. We also applied TSA to DH4079 cultures at different times and concentrations before HS application, with no negative effects on embryogenic induction. These results indicate that DH4079 microspores are hypersensitive to combined TSA and HS treatments, and open up new hypotheses about the causes of such hypersensitivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is now a long tradition of accessibility research, with an increasingly rich set of frameworks and methods from a distributional perspective. Despite such a positive outlook, many accessibility metrics deployed in research and practice do not consider (dis)utility, which may resonate more clearly with mainstream transport decision-making and planning. This paper seeks to contribute to debates about using utility-based measures as inputs for accessibility assessment of transport infrastructure investments in the Global South using discrete choice modeling and its potential as a bridging language between socially nuanced and economics-driven transport planning practices. This paper uses mixed revealed preferences and stated preferences data collected in Bogotá, Colombia. Then, it uses a logsum accessibility metric to estimate the differentiated impact of a set of infrastructure interventions on the accessibility of residents with different income levels and other socioeconomic conditions. Particularly, the logsum accessibility metric analyses future and structural additions to Bogotá public transport networks, reflecting their effect on the accessibility and consumer surplus in the next 20 years. The proposed approach captures the benefits derived from the transport infrastructure improvements, which has relevance for debates about transport policy and practice in this and similar urban contexts in the Global South. These accessibility gains could be assigned a monetary value to include in project cost-benefit assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies on travel and life satisfaction in vulnerable Global South contexts are scarce. This paper contributes by addressing how travel satisfaction, neighborhood satisfaction, and social capital relate to life satisfaction among a low-income community in Bogotá (Colombia) as a case study. Building on the available literature, we propose six hypotheses to understand such relationships before and after a cable car implementation, considering control and treatment groups. We defined seven latent variables and three objective indicators. We tested the hypotheses using a multiple-cause multiple-indicator modeling approach, which allowed us to identify how the comprehensive cable car intervention impacts perceptions and life satisfaction. Results showed that the principal factors associated with life satisfaction were neighborhood satisfaction as well as leisure activity participation, while travel time and transport affordability had negative effects. Positive changes in satisfaction regarding the travel experience can trigger significant improvements in life satisfaction in low-income communities in Latin America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Cyclists were clustered based on socioeconomic strata, gender, education and vehicle access. • Potential accessibility distance decay functions are used to assess equality indices. • 90% of women who cycle have access to 30% of the opportunities in a monocentric city. • In cities from the Global South the bicycle is positioned as a potential vehicle to redress social inequalities. • Understanding the concept of accessibility applied to the bicycle is a powerful resource for decision-makers. In a context of rising awareness for environmental concerns and promotion policies targeting non-motorized travel as a sustainable mobility solution, the bicycle has increasingly become an attractive transport mode in cities. However, accessibility to opportunities for people who cycle is not necessarily the same across socioeconomically different population segments, and it tends to be further constrained by high costs associated with the travel distance through the road network. This research examines equality in the accessibility to employment and education among cycle-user adults in Bogotá. Using 968 reported bicycle trips with these travel purposes in the 2015 Bogotá Household Travel Survey, we estimate a potential accessibility indicator and horizontal and vertical equality indicators. First, we identify three clusters through the K-prototypes method to classify bicycle commuters based on trip and socioeconomic characteristics, and second, we calculate potential accessibility using GIS-based trip distance decay functions, which is later assessed through equality indices such as Lorenz Curves, Gini index and Palma Ratio. Results show marked differences in potential accessibility to work and study opportunities between and within clusters, where up to 90% of the analyzed population of a cyclists' cluster has access to 30% of the job and study opportunities, indicating social and spatial inequalities produced by the urban structure and individual and household characteristics of regular cyclists. Results can guide in the implementation of accurate transport policies towards more equitable and sustainable transport in cities that are experiencing increases in bicycle ridership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Metrocable in Medellín, Colombia, is an innovative system to improve access to deprived areas located in hilly zones. The idea to use cable cars as feeders to the metro was integrated into an ambitious urban project that, to date, has improved accessibility dramatically for some low-income residents. Using data before and after the project’s implementation, we evaluate the impact on social equity for the population in the zone of influence, considering changes in accessibility to employment and in housing-related costs. The access provided by the project to the main high-employment centres has doubled the number of opportunities that can be reached by the “target population,” even though travel-time savings and costs have seen only small changes. In fact, prior access to the CBD was poor and expensive, but time and costs were reduced with the Metrocable, although this reduction was not equal for all locations in the metropolitan area. In general, we argue that the main benefits, in terms of accessibility that differentiates the areas analysed from those used for comparison, are related to a localised ease of access to specific centres of activity according to the centralised development of the city’s job market along the mass transit lines. In terms of housing costs, we developed a set of difference-in-difference models that considered rent, transport, and public utilities costs; however, none of them have allowed us to conclude that there was a statistically valid relationship between the Metrocable and the changes in costs between the two analysed populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]