Análisis de la evolución de pequeñas áreas urbanas utilizando análisis cluster y regresiones logísticas: un estudio de caso en Ribadeo (NO de España)

La necesidad de encontrar soluciones a los problemas derivados del crecimiento urbano ha llevado al desarrollo de metodologías para el análisis de los procesos que lo regulan. Estos procesos son complejos y operan a varias escalas, de manera que en un área pequeña se pueden encontrar varias dinámicas que originan patrones de crecimiento diferentes. El estudio de estos patrones a escala local y las dinámicas que los producen es especialmente importante en pequeñas áreas urbanas, donde los procesos de crecimiento son menos claros y evidentes. Esto se debe a que el crecimiento urbano en estas zonas es más lento y por lo tanto las dinámicas son más difíciles de identificar. En el presente trabajo se han utilizado técnicas de análisis clúster y métricas espaciales para delimitar las zonas con patrones de crecimiento urbano uniformes en el municipio de Ribadeo. Posteriormente se han identificado los factores que regulan las dinámicas de los usos urbanos en cada una de estas zonas mediante un análisis de regresión logística.Peer Reviewe

A evolução da lei do solo nos núcleos rurais da Galiza, Espanha: critérios de identificação e delimitação de núcleos rurais com base na lei do solo

Peer Reviewe

Female entrepreneurship and SMEs: Changes in access to credit and business results?

The research on women entrepreneurship has mainly studied these topics: i) the characteristics and motivations (Brush and Hisrich, 1991; Pablo-Martí et al., 2014), ii) the strategic choice (Verheul et al., 2008), iii) the role of leadership (Schwartz, 1976; Justo et al. 2006)), iv) the entry barriers (Brush and Gatewood, 2008), mainly access to funding (Klapper and Parker, 2010), and v) the performance and achieved results (Coleman and Robb, 2009; Díaz and Jiménez, 2010; Crespo-Espert et al., 2012). These topics have been well studied. However, further research on this field is required. The long period of crisis from 2007 on has changed some of the findings related to these issues. This is especially significant in the most affected economies such as those of the southern countries of the EU. In these countries the severity of the crisis has had significant consequences for the productive sector (destruction of companies, high unemployment, credit restrictions) and on public finances under severe uncertainty (sovereign debt crisis, banking crisis). This is generating major changes in productive activity and business competitiveness, which is associated with the deleveraging of companies, as well as the varying prevalence of smaller companies (SMEs) in the economies. In this context, it may be hypothesized that the progress and results of activities led by women entrepreneurs had significant changes between the period before the crisis and the current stage of uncertain recovery. In this paper we analysed the dynamics and evolution of entrepreneurial activity of women in Spain in the period 2003-2013. It includes a stage of strong expansion and other recessive. Also, the research focuses on the differences found in two of the topics listed above: a) the obstacles in accessing to funding and b) the results of businesses women-owned compared to those of male-owned businesses. We made use of the SABI database. It includes information from the commercial registers. It has over one million companies with employees that represent most of the Spanish companies. The samples for this study differentiate whether the company is owned by a man or a woman. These samples are representative for company sizes, sectors and regions. Thus the results that adopt a regional approach can be segmented for a better understanding of the different types of women's businesses. The variables of the study are some financial indicators: credit ratio, debt ratio, productivity, EBITDA over assets, EBITDA over turnover, economic profitability and financial profitability. We employ various dummies to control for differences in size, sector and location of firms. The results allow understanding the different behaviour of women entrepreneurs and its reasons. They can also serve to develop new entrepreneurship policies related to gender in economic recovery

A generalized nonlinear mixed-effects height-diameter model for Eucalyptus globulus L. in northwestern Spain

A generalized height–diameter model was developed for Eucalyptus globulus Labill. stands in Galicia (northwestern Spain). The study involved a variety of pure stands ranging from even-aged to unevenaged. Data were obtained from permanent circular sample plots in which trees were sampled within different radii according to their diameter at breast height. A combination ofweighted regression, to take into account the unequal selection probabilities of such an inventory design, and mixed model techniques, to accommodate local random fluctuations in the height–diameter relationship, were applied to estimate fixed and random parameters for several models reported in the relevant literature. The models that provided the best results included dominant height and dominant diameter as fixed effects. These models explained more than 83% of the observed variability, with mean errors of less than 2.5 m. Random parameters for particular plots were estimated with different tree selection options. Height–diameter relationships tailored to individual plots can be obtained by calibration of the height measurements of the three smallest trees in a plot. An independent dataset was used to test the performance of themodel with data not used in the fitting process, and to demonstrate the advantages of calibrating the mixed-effects model

Structure and architectural project: two examples with masonry walls.

International Conference on Structures and Architecture(1ª.2010.Guimarães, Portugal)[Abstract] The paper presents two buildings solved with masonry walls: a family house in Betanzos and a multi-storey apartment building located at Lugo. The structure of the first one is solved by load-bearing walls of precast concrete blocks that arise from an elevated floor slab. The concrete block, though hidden, provides housing modulating, simplifying the tasks of construction, the wholeness of the building as well as guarantees other physical properties (fire resistance, thermal inertia, sound insulation). The second building is a residential building, which has four floors (the fourth one under the roof) built on a small site. There is a real ‘tour de force’ in this building project whose load-bearing walls of brickwork (perforated klinker) solve both structural requirement and thermal insulation of the façade with a reduced thickness. Through these examples, we offer an overview of various aspects relating to the materialization of the architectur

A population-based iterated greedy algorithm for the delimitation and zoning of rural settlements

[Abstract] In this paper we present a Population-Based Iterated Greedy (PBIG) algorithm for delimiting and zoning rural settlements. Each cadastral plots is allocated to a category (traditional–historical, common or none) considering restrictions such as the characteristics of the existing edifications and the building density. Since the problem has multiple solutions, heuristic search algorithms, as PBIG, are a good strategy to solve it. Besides the resolution of the problem according to the requirements of the laws, our work explores also new methods of delimitation. The comparison between both types of solutions can help to improve the current methodology. The algorithm, implemented using the Java programming language and integrated into an open-source GIS software, has been tested in rural settlements with different morphological characteristics, providing adjustable solutions to the specific needs of each rural settlement.Xunta de Galicia; 2010/06Xunta de Galicia; CN2012/323Xunta de Galicia; CN2012/211Xunta de Galicia; 08SIN011291P

Was Easy Access to Credit an Obstacle to the Competitiveness of Spanish Smes?

In the expansionary phase of the economy (1995-2007) and, particularly after the Euro introduction, credit to the business sector increased significantly in Europe. According to surveys of the EC-Flash Eurobarometer (2005), over 77% of SMEs claimed to have appropriate funding levels. A number of EU Member States (inside and outside the Eurozone) even showed values near 90%: Finland, Ireland, Denmark and the UK. 85% of Spanish companies had a sufficient funding level in that year. Others, such as Sweden and Germany, were 77% and 73% respectively. These data suggest that at this stage of the business cycle the traditional credit constraint faced by SMEs (Vohrl and Adams, 1997; EU 2011; Callejón and Segarra, 2012), would have been at least partially overcome, since most of these companies had access to abundant and cheap credit. The conditions of bank credit changed due to the lasting decline in interest rates, economic growth and low inflation. Moreover, it is well known that since 2009 these companies are suffering financial constraints more significant in a set of countries than in others (ECB-Survey on the access to finance of SMEs in the euro area, 2011). The question this paper raises is whether this easy access to credit has led to improved productivity and competitiveness through an increase in long-term productive investment. Or, on the contrary, it was not used to increase the size of enterprises and the technological effort and therefore to internationalize their business investment. The work, which takes a regional approach to capture territorial differences, focuses on the Spanish economy, examining the evolution and behaviour of SMEs from the perspective of international / export commitment in the decade from 2003 to 2012. Outcomes and evidence on the origin and depth of the crisis are extracted from a panel data of companies (Amadeus-SABI data base) and making use of financial indicators and econometric techniques. This provides guidance on the Spanish production model and the importance of focusing policies and incentives on business credit

Sistema de información catastral adaptado a la realidad del gobierno local en Ecuador. El caso de la parroquia Vilcabamba (Loja)

El catastro constituye un elemento básico para administrar el territorio. Actualmente, las municipalidades de Ecuador empiezan a incursionar en este tema, pero a menudo la falta de experiencia produce el estancamiento de procesos y agotamiento de recursos. Para aportar en el fortalecimiento de estas iniciativas, el presente proyecto de cooperación interuniversitaria tuvo una doble finalidad: capacitar a técnicos locales en la creación e implementación de Sistemas de Información Geográfica Catastral (SIGC) y aplicar los conocimientos adquiridos mediante la puesta en marcha de un proyecto piloto a nivel local. Una vez analizada la realidad catastral y realizada la capacitación, se realizó e implantó el SIGC para la parroquia Vilcabamba (Ecuador). Se pudo concluir que es posible establecer SIGC eficientes en municipios con pocos recursos, si bien la sostenibilidad en el tiempo no queda garantizada.Peer Reviewe

High performance genetic algorithm for land use planning

[Abstract] This study uses genetic algorithms to formulate and develop land use plans. The restrictions to be imposed and the variables to be optimized are selected based on current local and national legal rules and experts’ criteria. Other considerations can easily be incorporated in this approach. Two optimization criteria are applied: land suitability and the shape-regularity of the resulting land use patches. We consider the existing plots as the minimum units for land use allocation. As the number of affected plots can be large, the algorithm execution time is potentially high. The work thus focuses on implementing and analyzing different parallel paradigms: multi-core parallelism, cluster parallelism and the combination of both. Some tests were performed that show the suitability of genetic algorithms to land use planning problems.Xunta de Galicia; 2010/06Xunta de Galicia; 2010/28Xunta de Galicia; 08SIN011291P