Simone R. Freitas

Integration of urban and environmental policies in the metropolitan area of São Paulo and in Greater London: the value of establishing and protecting green open spaces

Whilst major metropolitan areas across the globe share some issues in attempting to improve quality of life for their citizens, other issues are specific to their particular situations of geography and governance. There are some approaches, nevertheless, which may have value in rather different contexts, and in this article the establishment and protection of green open spaces is discussed as a measure to help integrate urban and environmental policies and also to address some climate change impacts. The circumstances and policies of two contrasting metropolitan areas – São Paulo and London – are reviewed to demonstrate both the diversity of challenges that may exist and some of the measures that may be taken; the potential for cross-fertilization of ideas and policies in different urban contexts is then explored. São Paulo has experienced great increases in population and extent since the middle of the twentieth century, with illegal settlements in vulnerable areas and risks including flooding and landslides, as well as inadequate infrastructure systems. London faces risks of overheating, flooding and sea level rise as a result of climate change. Spatial planning policies to maintain and improve environmental functioning and ecosystem services delivery in São Paulo and London are reviewed, considering the relevant hierarchical levels and indicating some specific targets. Protection and expansion of green open spaces in many forms are seen in both cities as important and is incorporated into strategic planning. Barriers to achieving progress on green spaces as part of urban policy are explored and some ways forward are highlighted.

Habitat or matrix: which is more relevant to predict road-kill of vertebrates?

We believe that in tropics we need a community approach to evaluate road impacts on wildlife, and thus, suggest mitigation measures for groups of species instead a focal-species approach. Understanding which landscape characteristics indicate road-kill events may also provide models that can be applied in other regions. We intend to evaluate if habitat or matrix is more relevant to predict road-kill events for a group of species. Our hypothesis is: more permeable matrix is the most relevant factor to explain road-kill events. To test this hypothesis, we chose vertebrates as the studied assemblage and a highway crossing in an Atlantic Forest region in southeastern Brazil as the study site. Logistic regression models were designed using presence/absence of road-kill events as dependent variables and landscape characteristics as independent variables, which were selected by Akaikes Information Criterion. We considered a set of candidate models containing four types of simple regression models: Habitat effect model; Matrix types effect models; Highway effect model; and, Reference models (intercept and buffer distance). Almost three hundred road-kills and 70 species were recorded. River proximity and herbaceous vegetation cover, both matrix effect models, were associated to most road-killed vertebrate groups. Matrix was more relevant than habitat to predict road-kill of vertebrates. The association between river proximity and road-kill indicates that rivers may be a preferential route for most species. We discuss multi-species mitigation measures and implications to movement ecology and conservation strategies.

A dimensão simbólica da vegetação na cidade: o caso de Santo André (SP)

The vegetation is essential for city and it represents an opportunity to interaction of population with the elements of nature in urban areas. This paper investigates the meanings attached by population to urban parks. Using a qualitative approach, the research was carried out in three urban parks in the city of Santo Andre, SP. The interview was employed to identification, description and analysis of the meanings that users of urban parks ascribe to vegetation. The findings suggest that symbolic meanings are attached to vegetation in urban parks of Santo Andre city. The study shows that the vegetation in urban parks has the potential to engender a sense of well-being. The symbolic dimension must be recognized and incorporated into the planning and management of cities.