Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Latin America citie'

The aim of the thesis Development of Smart Cities in the region of Latin America applied on the case of Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro stands on their comparison provided according to application of six axes smart city concept. Both cities provide their individual approach in their formulation and implementation of smart city initiative. According to this comparison this paper will prove that even though that there is not yet a uniform smart city definition there are indicators according to which it is possible to form a general a framework to identify smart cities. This framework will be important to prove several things about smart cities. They will be necessary for the future growth of humanity as cities become more and more important. This will happen by allowing for better functioning of cities and better use of existing resources. These cities will start to operate for their citizens in ways that lessen the impact of the environment while allowing cities to grow across multiple sectors while improving quality of life among a city s residents. This implementation of ITC technologies will prove a rising tide that will lift the city s poor by empowering their economic lives by improving quality of life and giving better access to resources. The comparison of the two cities will also prove that Rio de Janeiro through its many smart initiatives is further along in its path to becoming a smart city than Mexico City. The difference between the two will also prove just how important smart cities are to the region s future. Mexico City s projects have not been as holistic as those taken in Brazil s largest city. Rio de Janeiro s implementation of projects like COR have transformed the city allowing it to become one of the smartest cities in the region and the world. The COR has implemented ITC technologies and initiatives that have transformed every sector of the six-axes approach model.

Globalization has affected decentralization and greater centralized control and management within governments traditionally unconstrained by international change, city governments. City governments must be increasingly active internationally to survive in a politically decentralized global environment, especially in international trade. Trade is important to cities because it affects growth, jobs and standard of living among other contributors to local economies. The effects of globalization at the local level are manifested in three Southern U.S. cities with business-generating ports linked to Latin American and world markets: New Orleans, Houston, and Miami. This comparative case study considers the competition among New Orleans, Houston and Miami to capitalize on their complex transportation networks and increase trade with Latin America. Several variables contribute to increased trade and investment between the cities and Latin America, including local autonomy from state governments, business influence on local government policy, size of firms, and international trade policy and investment.

The high rates of urban growth in Latin America during the 1960s and 1970s produced rapid urbanisation and housing problems. Planning policies as well as the research community have approached urban growth as a static problem rather than as a spatial form that emerges from the urban development process and that is part of a constant dynamic process. This thesis focuses on a specific kind of urban growth that happens in Latin American cities, called 'peripherisation'. This is characterised by the formation of low-income residential areas in the peripheral ring of the city and a perpetuation of a dynamic core-periphery spatial pattern. The dynamics of growth and change in Latin American cities are explored using agent-based simulation. The objective is to increase the understanding of urban spatial phenomena in Latin American cities, which is essential to providing a basis for future planning actions and policies. The thesis consists of two parts. The first part presents an overview of urban growth and dynamics in Latin American cities, drawing on previous work on urbanisation in Latin American cities, spontaneous settlements and inner city dynamic processes. The second part focuses on the development of a simulation model based on the theoretical framework established in the first part. A brief review of the literature of automata models is presented, with particular reference to agent-based simulation for land-use dynamics. The Peripherisation Model is introduced, its computer implementation described, and sensitivity analysis tests reported. Simulation exercises were used to revisit assumptions about urbanisation issues in Latin American cities and investigate important aspects of growth and change in these cities. These exercises allowed the problem of urban growth in Latin American cities to be unfolded through their dynamics, relating these dynamics to urban morphology, and thus presenting a new and important perspective on the phenomenon.

This thesis explores how the relationship between urban space and dissident sexualities has been represented in recent Latin American cinema. More specifically, it considers how this representation disturbs, remaps and relocates broader (hegemonic) imagined geographies of sexuality and the problematic sets of binaries around which they have been constructed. The study argues that the films in question are characterised by overtly queer urban geographies, in which sexual identity, transgression and liberation appear as highly contingent phenomena that can never wholly assume a position of exteriority in relation to hegemonic power structures. The General Introduction begins by outlining the broad conceptual framework in which my discussion is situated, tracing the relationship between cities, cinema and dissident sexuality. It then outlines the scope of the thesis as a specifically critical intervention, proposing a queer methodology with regards to the analysis of the films which follows. The chapters comprising Part One examine metropolitan spaces of dissident sexuality pertaining to the cities of Buenos Aires and Medellin as they are imagined in Un ano sin amor (Anahi Berneri, 2005) and La virgen de los sicarios (Barbet Schroder, 2000) respectively. It explores how these cities are (de)constructed as centres of (de )regulation with regards to dissident sexualities, bodies and desires. In this respect, Chapter One argues SIM as it appears in Berneri' s film to be both antithetical to and yet also highly reliant on local/global economic structures. Chapter Two, in turn, suggests that the economy of violence envisaged in Schroeder's film is both conducive and detrimental to the construction of gay identity and political consciousness. The chapters comprising Part Two progress to focus on the representation of marginal sexualised spaces in filmic depictions of Recife and Rio de Janeiro in Claudio Assis's Amarelo Manga (2002) and Karim Alnouz's Madame Sata (2002), respectively, investigating how they appear both as peripheral to and yet also highly integrated into the wider urban/global fabric. Chapter Three, in this respect, proposes the misogyny and homophobia present amongst the male characters of Assis's film to be products of 'modern' Brazil as opposed to a 'sexual hinterland' still steeped in tradition. Chapter Four, takes this discussion forward in relation to Alnouz's rendering of 1920s/30s Lapa, considering how the queer discourse I associate with the protagonist disrupts understandings of sexual emancipation as an entirely contemporary and 'foreign' phenomenon issuing solely from North Atlantic domains. Diverse in approach, the films selected, unlike the frequently polarised debates occurring in the academe, do not assume inflexible subjective positions or seek to provide coherent, fully-legible accounts of highly complex issues which defy totalising explanations. In this respect, by offering a specifically queer perspective on the way in which urban space and dissident sexualities (re )produce each other in these films, this thesis seeks to decentre current debates occurring within the domain of film studies, cultural geography, sexuality politics and urban studies, and relocate them into a Latin American context.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of California, San Diego, 2009.
Title from first page of PDF file (viewed July 2, 2009). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Includes bibliographical references (p. 92-96).

This ethnographic study examines the roles digital technologies (sequencers, drum machines, synthesizers, samplers, and computers) play in the musical practices of nine Latin American musicians participating in the local live music scenes of Ottawa and Montreal in the 1990s. Music has historically played a fundamental role in the construction of collective identities for Latin American musicians in the diaspora. A declining local musical economy combined with prevalent aesthetic value systems have made the use of automation in live performance an attractive and/or necessary alternative for some local Latin American musicians. The use of digital technologies, and in particular the use of automation, has particular implications for established notions of musical competence, creativity and ultimately of musical and cultural authenticity. This study looks at the notion of musical authenticity and its indelible connection with cultural, political, social and economic issues. It investigates the effects technology has on the ability of Latin American musicians to assert individual and collective identities in two of Canada's highly multicultural urban environments. As a site of social, economic and cultural struggle, exchange and interaction, the live performances of Latin American musicians are historically situated within the global/local cultural economic nexus of Canada's late twentieth-century.

La thèse constitue une révision du concept d'imaginaire urbain à partir des idées de Cornelius Castoriadis, en les déplaçant du champ de l'action politique à celui des études urbaines, en les enrichissant grâce aux études postcoloniales produites au cours des dernières décennies. Cela nous permet de revoir le rôle de l'imaginaire urbain dans la construction des idées sur la ville dans l'hémisphère sud. Une deuxième tâche consistera à essayer de redéfinir les outils d'intervention dans la ville, à partir d'outils tels que le plan d'urbanisme, le projet urbain, l'urbanisme tactique, l'architecture, entre autres, pour les adapter à la réalité et aux besoins des capitales postcoloniales.L'hypothèse principale de la recherche présume que les problèmes des villes qui ont traversé des processus de colonisation ne sont pas une conséquence de l'absence de projets, du manque de ressources techniques, économiques ou professionnelles. Le problème réside dans l'inconscient collectif, construit et structuré à partir du processus de colonisation, où un ordre symbolique a été sédimenté construisant une mentalité postcoloniale.Etant donné que, depuis le XVème siècle, la ville a été un dispositif essentiel pour la consolidation du processus de colonisation et aussi le moyen de préserver le colonial après les processus d'indépendance, il est nécessaire de construire une notion d'imaginaire urbain qui affirme le projet d'autonomie et donne à la ville l'opportunité de pousser le processus de décolonisation.Pour développer cette hypothèse, elle est divisée en trois, sur la base de la proposition d'Albert Memmi, qui souligne comment tout processus de colonisation implique de détacher le sujet colonisé de son fil temporel. A ce postulat s'ajoute l'usurpation qui génère l'aliénation sur son propre territoire, et, enfin, de l'interaction avec le colonisateur, le sujet finit par passer à côté de lui-même. Ces trois conséquences du colonialisme nécessitent des processus de réappropriation de l'urbain, ainsi, la thèse tente dans chacune de ses parties de décrypter les relations entre l'imaginaire urbain institué dans les sociétés postcoloniales et la temporalité dans la première partie, la territorialité dans la deuxième partie et, enfin, la rencontre avec soi-même dans la dernière.Face à la dislocation, à la distanciation et à l'éloignement, il est nécessaire d'opposer divers processus d'appropriation, allant de la réécriture, du recentrage, de la restructuration, de la réidentification ou de la resymbolisation de l'imaginaire urbain, capables de modifier les symbolisations déjà instituées, dans le but de mettre en évidence les possibilités de surmonter les problèmes existants, sur la base d'une révision épistémologique de certains concepts urbains et de la restructuration des outils et des dispositifs d'intervention dans la ville, en particulier le plan urbain, le projet urbain, l'espace public et l'architecture
The thesis constitutes a revision of the concept of urban imaginary based on the ideas of Cornelius Castoriadis, moving them from the field of political action to urban studies, enriching it through postcolonial studies produced in recent decades. This allows us to review the role of the urban imaginary in the construction of ideas about the city in the southern hemisphere. A second task will be to try a redefinition of the intervention tools in the city, from tools such as the urban plan, the urban project, tactical urbanism, architecture, among others, to adapt them to the reality and needs of post-colonial capitals.The main hypothesis of the research assumes that the problems of the cities that have undergone colonization processes are not a consequence of the absence of projects, the lack of technical, economic ir professional resources. The problem lies in the collective unconscious, built and structured from the colonization process, where a symbolic order has settled that builds a postcolonial mentality.Since 15th century, the city has been an essential device for the consolidation process and also the means of preserving the colonial after the independence processes, it is necessary to build a notion of urban imaginary that affirms the project autonomy and gies the city the opportunity to push the decolonization process.To develop this hypothesis, it is divided into three, based on the proposition of Albert Memmi, who highlights how any colonization process involves detaching the colonized subject from its temporal thread. To this postulate is added the usurpation generated by alienation over their own territory, and, finally, from the interaction with the colonizer, the subject ends up astonished from himself. These three consequences of the colonial require processes of reappropriation of the urban, thus, the thesis tries in each of its parts to decipher the relationships between the urban imaginary instituted in postcolonial societies and temporality in the first part, territoriality in the second part and, finally, the encounter with oneself in the last.FAced with dislocation, distancing and estrangement, it is necessary to oppose various appropriation processes, from rewriting, re-centering, restructuring, re-identifying or resymbolization the urban imagination, capable of altering the already instituted symbolizations, with the aim of demonstrate the possibilities of overcoming existing problems, based on an epistemological review of certain urban concepts and the restructuring of the tools and devices of intervention in the city, in particular the urban plan, the urban project, the public space and the architecture

This research addresses the relationship between cities and climate change, specifically how urban projects can help to mitigate climate change in the context of Latin American cities. It is argued that some urban projects can be transformed into a new generation of projects aimed at mitigating climate change by avoiding GHG emissions into the atmosphere with mobility and urban regeneration projects, and mitigation projects to diminish the risk of natural events, with reforestation, creation of parks, green corridors, and banks and shores of rivers and lakes. In order to be successful, these urban projects must comply with several requirements, such as being incorporated into long-term urban planning, having a governance model that facilitates the necessary changes with a strong leadership of the mayors, an institute of urbanism or similar to build the projects, and top down and bottom up citizen participation at all levels. The cities of Curitiba in Brazil and Medellin in Colombia are taken as case studies. The research concludes that several projects on an urban scale have been implemented in recent years and are enabling to mitigate climate change. These projects were born with other objectives, responding to social, environmental and economic problems, but over time they have been integrated into the new challenges for cities in the face of climate change. Although these projects are unique, they have been developed in particular historical contexts where the figure of the mayors has been fundamental for the achievement of the objectives. Therefore, the cases cannot be replicated exactly in other cities, but lessons can be extracted from the experiences to be able to implement similar actions and projects, considering the particularity of the geographical, cultural and social context of each city.

acase@tulane.edu
The arrival of World War II triggered significant disturbances in global trade, forcing U.S. importers and exporters to find alternative sources of business to make up for lost markets in Europe and Asia. This study traces the efforts of business and civic leaders in Houston, New Orleans, and Miami to increase trade, transportation, and tourism income from Latin America and the Caribbean by adopting Pan Americanism as a business strategy. Businessmen and local civic officials believed they could combine new trade promotion institutions with a carefully cultivated Pan American civic identity to establish their cities as “gateways” to the Americas. This framework became a key component of the regional competition between Houston, New Orleans, and Miami in the late 1940s and 1950s. The implications for these Pan American business strategies stretched far beyond the Gulf South, however. Business and civic leaders often described their activities within the context of U.S.-Latin American diplomacy, connecting trade promotion and international relationship-building with broader national objectives of hemispheric cooperation and anticommunism. This connection attracted the interest of the Truman and Eisenhower administrations, whose officials hoped to leverage the influence of private enterprise to achieve Latin American economic development and discourage anti-foreign investment policies without significant government funding. Both local business communities and federal agencies used this harmony of vision to their advantage. Washington found ways to co-opt the Pan American business strategies of the Gulf South while local civic and business leaders drew legitimacy and sometimes even financial support for their programs from the federal government. Ultimately, for a variety of reasons, Pan Americanism eventually became unprofitable as a business strategy, and most of the institutions Houston, New Orleans, and Miami had established either failed or changed considerably by the 1970s. The lasting legacy of this phenomenon, however, lies in the frameworks these cities helped establish for reimagining the port city as a diplomatic space and business communities as diplomatic agents.
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Joshua Goodman

The foundation of Belo Horizonte in the state of Minas Gerais in 1897 represents a pivotal moment in urban planning and the search for modernity in Brazil. This thesis argues that the decision to move the capital of Minas Gerais at the outset of the First Republic and the designing of the new city encompassed an evolving vision of modernity that helped establish the planned city as a means to transport Brazil into the future. It also situates the effort to build Belo Horizonte within the wider theoretical discourse on modernity and the development of urban spaces in Brazil. The politicians in favor of the move, mudancistas, responded to the unique geo-political situation of Minas Gerais to craft a vision of the city that embraced railroads and industry and rejected Ouro Preto for its association with the colonial past. They envisioned a white space with little room for Brazil’s majority population of color that would embody the republicanism of Brazil’s future. After the decision to move the capital, Chief Engineer Aarão Reis added significant elements of Positivist thought to the vision of modernity surrounding the creation of the new capital city, Belo Horizonte. Reis sought to build a city based on mathematic rationality that would bring order to society. He echoed politicians’ rejection of Ouro Preto in his emphasis on sanitation and the prevention of unregulated development. Moreover, he intended for Belo Horizonte to be a performance of modernity that would be studied around the world.