María Carla Rodríguez

The formation of social organizations and their attempts to consolidate settlements and neighbourhoods undergoing transition in Buenos Aires

This paper examines the formation of social organizations in the two forms of urban habitat most commonly used by low-income groups in Buenos Aires - the invasion of vacant land, mostly in peripheral areas, and the occupation of vacant buildings within the city centre. In the first, community organizations are widespread, of long standing and relatively effective. They helped develop (and negotiate for) basic infrastructrure and services and helped negotiate land tenure. Government agencies recognize them and work with them. In the second, community organizations are less evident and less effective, in part because the illegally occupied buildings are scattered between those legally owned by higher-income groups, in part because the inhabitants seek to disguise their illegal status and in part because government organizations do not recognize the legitimacy of such organizations and have made no provision to allow their tenure to be regularized.

FINE STRUCTURE OF BIFLAGELLATE ZOOSPORES OF ASTEROCOCCUS SUPERBUS (TETRASPORALES, CHLOROPHYCEAE), INCLUDING THE ABSOLUTE CONFIGURATION OF THE FLAGELLAR APPARATUS

The ultrastructure of zoospores of Asterococcus superbus (Cienk.) Scherffel was studied to provide ultrastructural data relevant to the systematic position of the genus. Our results demonstrated that the motile cells of A. superbus were similar to those of the tetrasporalean algae, such as Tetraspora sp. and Tetrasporidium javanicum Moebius. The flagellar apparatus of A. superbus had the same clock‐wise orientation of basal bodies and the V‐shaped alignment of basal bodies as Tetraspora cylindrica (Wahlb.) Ag. and T. lubrica (Roth) Ag., but differed by having rhizoplasts. The motile cells of A. superbus displayed chlamydomonadal ultrastructure, similar to Chlamydomonas reinhardtii Dangeard, including the absolute configuration of the flagellar apparatus. The pyrenoid matrix in A. superbus, however, showed a large lateral invagination occupied by chloroplast stroma, a characteristic that has never been observed in Chlorophyta.

Mujeres, inmigrantes y jóvenes: formas de acceso informal al hábitat en la ciudad

The urban settlements population in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (Argentina) grew a significant 52.3%, between 2001-2010, according to the National Population, Household and Housing Census 2010. Part of this process was manifested by the proliferation of an informal market of rental rooms offered for women, immigrants and young people in precarious situation, which provides access to a home in the lack of housing options via the formal market. Based on a survey of 5 slums and in-depth interviews with key informants (public officials, neighborhood referrals and academics), this article is a sociological approach to understand the socioeconomic profile of the tenants, the living conditions of the rented spaces and the characteristics assumed by the commercial dynamics of those involved in this informal market. We hypothesize that most of the effective demand for informal rental market in slums comes from those with most vulnerable profiles and without access to the habitat in the city — which combine class position, gender, migratory and intergenerational dynamics. This is a consequence of neoliberal urban policies that favored the deregulation of the formal land market and encouraged the informal, causing, in the latter, greater socio-spatial segregation on an intra-neighborhood scale.