Metropolitan Governance

The concept of metropolitan governance embraces the whole set of institutions and actions that rule or determine conditions for metropolitan territorial policy. It extends beyond the city or municipal jurisdictional boundaries, bypassing preexisting agreements and institutions, and demanding bigger geographical units and access to financial and human resources to deal with broader metropolitan issues. It enhances metropolitan economic productivity and competitiveness, social cohesion, and fis...

Wetting and Drying Kinetics of Building Materials

Moisture is one of the most deteriorating factors of buildings. The moisture content depends on hygroscopic equilibrium between buildings materials and environment, which is determined by the drying and wetting rate of masonry. So, the moisture content is not only determined by the water that is absorbed by the material, but also by the amount of water that is evaporated under favourable conditions, which is described by the drying process. This work presents the results of an experimental ev...

How knowledge on land values influences rural-urban development processes

This paper stresses how important knowledge of land and real estate values, their underlying variables and valuation processes, as well as control over surplus-values generation and distribution, are for successful regional and urban planning. It discusses relations between rural and urban land, makes an analysis of the different components that underlie land value, interdependencies between land and real estate (real or potential) values, temporal perspectives of land use change, and behavio...

Proposal for a Data-Driven Model for Occupational Safety

Everything that surrounds us is made up of numbers and data. Thus, data-driven safety management is an increasingly relevant topic worldwide, as there is a growing increase in the number of tools created and policies on safety and health at work. Data must be properly organized, as it is easier for companies to use it properly, thus promoting the organizations growth and development. It was found, through reading several scientific articles, that none of the methodologies meet the needs of th...