Real Estate Industry is a strategic element in urban competitiveness, economic growth and development, as it facilitates the articulation between economic activities, local assets and flows of capital. Furthermore, even tough the perception is that it is a local business, with the globalization many of the largest developers and consumers of corporate real estate have become global (Bardhan & Kroll 2007). The foregoing has made the industry acquire a cross-border dynamic and makes the attraction of foreign investment into real estate development a key approach for improving the position of countries and cities in the global economic network. This work aims to explore the geographical structure and trends of the international Real Estate cluster, and then recognize the correlation of the Foreign Real Estate Investments –FREI– inward flows with competitiveness and real estate market factors of host countries and cities. The analysis shows that despite the globalization influence, FREI holds the concept of real estate as “local” business in a broader scale: 62% of the links happen within countries of the same region, evidencing that there are opportunities of complement with the surrounding economies. Likewise, the research demonstrates that the cluster involves primarily economies in second and third stage of development, exposing that the market is still reliant on low-risk assets in a stable environment and that there has not been established an active industry in developing countries. Additionally, the instability experienced over the last seven years in the sector is evidenced. The 2007 international financial crisis had a deep impact on Foreign Real Estate Investments, corroborating the interdependence between financial market and real estate.  This study demonstrates that location factors related to market size, labor market, financial market and connectivity are essential for attracting inward investments. The results of the model show that a variety of forces rule FREI, evidencing the need of having a comprehensive approach that surpasses the notion of real estate as property and involves other clusters. To conclude, the country and city analyses showed the diverse drivers for MNC at different territorial scales. Without neglecting the usual national purview of the policy framework for attracting FDI, it is important to acknowledge the relevance of local and urban scale in the broader picture of globalization. Beyond the macroeconomic and institutional determinants, the position of the urban nodes in the global networks matters for captivating FREI.

Biological parameters and spatial variation of H. arguinensis were estimated inside the Ria Formosa, Portugal. Data collected during visual census (November 2012 to March 2014) and random samplings (February to March 2014) were analyzed. The average sizes were estimated in six localities with a total range between 4 and 48 cm. Three sites showed significant diferences in the average size: Armona, showing the highest mean and Barinha and PFE with the smallest mean (27.4, 17.5 and 21.7 cm respectively, p < 2.2e-16)  Asymptotic population length L?=70 cm and growth coeficient k=0.87 were estimated. The growth pattern showed seasonality using Hoenig’s function. The coverage of mud and sea grass (Z. Noltii, and C. nodosa) were the variables explaining better the diferences in abundance of H. arguinensis among sampled sites, demonstrating the importance of these sea grass species in the persistence of the species in the Ria Formosa.

This investigation seeks to compare the legal frameworks developed in the 1990-2010 period in Colombia, Peru and Mexico to prevent and tackle informal artisanal/small scale mining. It does so by assessing the impact on the levels of informality of: (i) the incentives provided to miners to operate within legality; and (ii) the mechanisms devised to compensate such miners’ disadvantageous position vis-à-vis large scale mining companies. For such assessment a thorough examination of the countries’ mining codes is carried out. Concurrently, information extracted from semi-structured interviews with experts and triangulated with secondary sources is used to evaluate the codes’ impact on informality. The analysis supports the hypothesis that simple inexpensive mine title acquisition procedures, granting long lasting property rights, as well as guaranteeing technical and financial assistance, are key drivers of formalization. The impact of such incentives is, however, more complex: firstly, as the Mexican case illustrates, the absence of incentives combined with strong police persecution, can reduce informal mining by rendering it an unattractive activity with no prospective of future formalization. Secondly, the Colombian and Peruvian case exemplify how entry barriers also encourage miners to create associations which, in turn, are able to better access information, can comply with formal requirements more easily and can play an important role in influencing policy design. Furthermore, considering the incentives of large scale companies also proved crucial to reduce informality, given that a significant share of mining areas are already under concession. This means that the number of mine titles informal miners could potentially obtain is limited. Therefore, as the Colombian and Peruvian case exemplify, formalizing is to a large degree dependent on the willingness of these companies to voluntarily engage in associative contracts with informal miners. However, so far none of the observed countries has managed to prompt strong alliances between small and large scale miners to fruitfully implement such collaborative models. With regard to the compensation mechanisms, this study supports the hypothesis that granting political voice to small scale miners is of utmost importance to guarantee that differentiated costs, procedures and requirements are contemplated in the law. All in all, such policies have been innocuous and even counterproductive when not accompanied by measures that enhance access to information as well as local bureaucratic competences. In a context of scarce local bureaucratic resources, promissory formalization schemes generate a demand for mine titles that surpasses mining authorities’ capacity and, thereby, potentially incites more informality and social unrest. As observed in Peru, in such cases formalization processes can, paradoxically, induce higher levels of informal mining. In light of these findings, the study recommends the partner institution -Transparency International- to: (i) support the implementation of informational campaigns that explain the benefits of operating in formality and of doing so by means of associating; (ii) encourage policy dialogue spaces in order to prompt mutual monitoring and align the different stakeholders’ incentives; (iii) support capacity building programs targeting local mining authorities; (iv) support monitoring mechanisms in the mine title distribution and contracting processes.

In this master thesis were characterized two highly porous media and a conduit in sandstone with special focus in the transition region between the laminar and turbulent states. As porous media were used glass beads and coarse sand of similar size, 2 and 1.9 mm respectively; for the laboratory work was used a setup where was possible to control the discharge and was measured the hydraulic head. Laminar flow ceases at Reynolds number of 0.25 in glass beads and 0.21 in coarse sand. The flow follows the same pathway between laminar and transitional, without regard if the velocity was increasing or decreasing. A conduit of 5 mm diameter was drilled in a fragment of sandstone for the experiments. The discharge and head losses through the conduit were measured. It was possible to establish two critical Reynolds values, 365 and 3060, for the state change between laminar to transitional and transitional to turbulent. A hysteretic behavior was observed when the flow switches between laminar and transitional. All the results were modeled using the Conduit Flow Process Mode 2 and compared with the experimental data. For porous media there is not a good agreement between the outputs of the model and the measured data.

Although it has been in the center of political debates for years, the growing Social Housing deficit in Colombia, particularly Bogotá, has not yet found a permanent and sustainable long term solution. The internal conflict has forced millions of people to migrate into larger cities and, while the center of Bogotá presents a low population density, the less accessible and less service-supplied outskirts are overcrowding with newcomers. This research strives to understand the dynamics that have shaped the city profile allocating low income households on the peripheries while lowering the population in the city center. It will propose architectural tools to be applied within the Bogota’s current Mayor’s plan for the city center re-densification trough social housing. The research will be supported on the description of urban phenomena such as the city growth towards the periphery, internal forced migrations and social housing allocations dynamics. It will also explore case studies for contemporary Social Housing in urban centralities,as well as the social principles described in the Mayor’s Plan.The research identifies key tools to propose affordable and sustainable quality Social Housing that would become a platform for social interaction and sets the bases to invert a negative process and reduce the gap of housing inequality in Bogotá.

This study is about the experiences of teachers and students in the production of memory about past violence, and how they struggle to articulate these memories with present concerns and their expectations about the future. In doing this, they rely on some social discourses such as learning lessons from the past which has the potential to offer a better future free from violence and other social problems, an idea commonly attributed to the philosopher George Santayana (1095). To find information about this I conducted research where the voices of the participants are highlighted, and their ‘framings’ of the past related to dominant ideas and a range of literature about collective remembering. The goal is both to explore experiences, and to reflect on theorizing about the role of the past and of memory construction in the lives of educative actors. One of the key findings is that when they refer to aspects of the past, these actors do so to relate this to their present politics of everyday life. In consequence, it is shown that memory interrelates with the past, the present and the future and can be described as walking a thin line between these three temporal dimensions. Those interviewed also considered that their work could contribute to sustainable peace, but also insisted that structural violence required reforms beyond a peace agreement, to tackle root causes of social injustice, by reducing poverty and exclusion. The contribution of this research brings the voices of these relevant social actors to the forefront with the understanding of the contradictions, which impose an unusual context where the production of memory has to coexist with different forms of mutually reinforced violence.

Este estudio comparativo explica como en Colombia se desarrollan actividades culturales, específicamente en relación con la guitarra clásica, al seno de instituciones como el banco central (Banco de la República de Colombia) y una caja de compensación familiar (Compensar). En Francia estas instituciones similares no tienen relación directa con la formulación de estas actividades, mientras que en Colombia son asumidas directamente por la institución. Este trabajo muestra los modelos de gestión utilizados por cada una de estas instituciones para el desarrollo de los encuentros, concursos y festivales de guitarra clásica partiendo desde el contexto socio político Colombiano. Utiliza para la descripción comparativa elementos como, el modelo de gestión utilizado, las características de la programación, el impacto, el modelo de financiamiento, las estrategias de comunicación y los públicos.

This paper looks at the impact of railroads on Bogota, Colombia, between 1880 and 1920. I use the journals of foreign travellers that visited the city at different moments during those 40 years to document the economic transformation that the city underwent, and to relate that transformation to the completion of a railroad network that linked the city to its hinterland and to the international markets. The main conclusion is that the railroads transformed the city economically and socially by allowing its residents to import large and heavy capital goods, thereby making modern industries possible. The railroads also had a role in the city’s physical expansion and in the development of its public transportation system.

This thesis analyzes the possible influence of social capital on the levels of fear of crime perceived by residents of Bogotá. The thesis focuses on the potential role of social networks and the individual perception of collective efficacy of neighborhoods in the metropolitan area of the Colombian capital. According to current theoretical developments, people who belong to social networks and actively participate in them expect reciprocity from their peers in case of a criminal event. Thus, they will benefit from an inhibiting effect on their individual levels of fear of crime. Following the statistics, the security situation in the city of Bogotá has improved during the last years. For example, the homicide rates have ostensibly dropped in the last 20 years and other crimes, such as robberies and burglaries, have stabilized within normal occurrence rates compared to the historical average. Nevertheless, citizens of Bogotá feel more insecure and perceive higher risks of being a victim of crime than 10 years ago. This seemingly paradoxical situation suggests a gap between the subjective feelings of citizens and objective criminal rates registered by different authorities. As most of the theoretical and empirical research has focused on the study of facilitators of fear of crime, using quantitative methodologies, this thesis will focus on the study of inhibitors of fear. To understand levels of fear of crime in neighborhoods of Bogotá it adopts a qualitative methodology. In addition, it inquires for the most relevant factors that produce fear of crime and suggests policy recommendations to make people feel safer in the city. The results show that the role of social networks in inhibiting individual levels of fear of crime depends on the quantity and quality of pooled resources that a community has. Neighborhoods with more social, economic and institutional resources provide environments and milieus where people feel safer. This perception of collective efficacy to advance communal goals plays a pivotal role in the inhibition of fear of crime and is stronger in more cohesive and organized neighborhoods. Finally, high levels of fear of crime lead to less participation in neighborhoods where illegal armed groups exert de facto control of the territory, hampering the already low levels of social capital in these communities.

Energy Union (En Un) is a program released by the European Commission intended to create a single energy market between the European Union in order to have secure, affordable and sustainable energy. This way the imports will be reduced and the final price should be lower (theoretically) increasing the energy security for all the countries. The first communication was in February 2015 and is a very new topic for all the energy stakeholders in the EU. This is why a dissertation for the implications of this policy in UK was developed as part of the Master in Energy, Environmental Technology & Technology from City University London. UK is currently catalogued as an Energy Island (less than 10% of cross-border interconnection), with 30% of the generation based in coal, 30% in gas and 20% renewable, a liberalised market that varies with changes in gas or wind availability and the third highest kWh price from the EU. More than 20 energy policies and Conservative government with a constraint view against renewables’ subsidies. The implication for the UK and the En Un are divided into three: Infrastructural, Political and Economical. In the middle a map of the new cross-border grids proposed by this policy some of the findings are. The Energy Union in the UK will happen even if there’s no political wiliness or if they decide to not be part of the EU, mainly because the new infrastructure is already being developed (UK-Belgium) additional to the four current cross-border interconnectors. The wholesale market in UK is already liberalized and some cross border trades are being done with clean and cheap electricity from France and Holland; the key development is UK-Ireland, because UK, instead of being a 100% exporter to Ireland, will flip the coin with an import-export relationship with 8 interconnectors, electricity generated in Euros and close distance. Now it will not really matter if you generate electricity from Fossil Fuels, Nuclear or Renewable; the country will purchase from where is cheapest and available, independently from the source. Shale Gas, Nuclear, Gas and coal with CCS will be the important investment in the next years, not only in PPP (private public partnership) schemes but with R&D. New Universities courses will be develop (energy traders / brokers, cross border trade supervisors, etc) and more women should get involved. The £/ kWh for domestic and small companies will not be significantly reduced (albeit the low cost of it), those companies more engaged with the market will have very good deals and low £/ kWh.