Spatial and temporal dynamics of the urban heat island effect in a small Brazilian city

This study examined the spatial and temporal patterns of the canopy layer urban heat islands (UHI_UCL) in a small city in southeastern Brazil using the local climate zone (LCZ) system. We analysed the influence of weather conditions, LCZs characteristics, and local surface relief on the UHI_UCL magnitudes. Mobile traverses were used to measure air temperatures during representative nights of wet and dry seasons. Daily maximum magnitudes were observed in compact classes (LCZs 3 and 7) under ideal weather conditions (dry, clear skies, and calm) and higher anthropogenic heat release (weekdays). Seasonal effects on LCZ thermal differences were negligible. The peripheral landscapes were warmer than the city centre in both seasons. Among the warmer areas in the city, magnitudes in compact LCZs 3 and 7 were consistently higher than in LCZ 6. In general, representative sites of the main ‘built’ LCZs in the study area exhibit similar inter-zone temperature patterns to those reported for cities of different sizes from tropical and midlatitude regions. Thermal contrasts of ΔT_{LCZ 3 − D} in the study area reveal significant evidence that small cities can have as strong heat islands as bigger cities. These findings highlight the importance of the LCZ system to identify the main controlling factors driving such thermal differences and the need to extend the application of this approach in other South American cities to yield systematic data of UHI_UCL for urban planning given the coming challenges of climate change over the region.     

Entrepreneurship dynamics and economic cycles: an analysis for local systems and industrial districts

ABSTRACT

We propose a research framework that expressly takes into account the moderating and differentiated influence that can be exerted on the dynamics of entrepreneurship capital by both the type of local system and the economic situation. Moreover, we investigate whether industrial districts are a more favourable context for the evolution of the entrepreneurship capital. We apply this framework to data of municipalities, grouped in local labour systems, of three Spanish regions and in two sub-periods of, respectively, crisis (2007–2011) and incipient recovery (2011–2014). Results are consistent with a set of sensible relations that can be extracted from the background literature.     

Revisiting the Natural Resource Curse: Backward Linkages for Export Diversification and Structural Economic Transformation

This article revisits and empirically tests the conjecture that specialization in natural resource industries (NRI) might not necessarily be a ‘curse’ for developing countries if it generates opportunities for export diversification in backward-linked sectors à la Hirschman. The article systematizes the evolution of the debate around the NRI ‘curse’. Then it empirically tests whether NRI might represent a sufficient ‘domestic representative demand’ à la Linder to favour diversification into backward-linked sectors such as knowledge-intensive business services and high-tech manufacturing. It focuses on the former and discusses the new opportunities for export diversification led by virtuous pathways of domestic structural change. It finds novel, quantitative empirical support for this conjecture, which complements extant qualitative literature and discusses implications that revisit the NRI curse debate.