Mining brings about positive and negative changes for the residents of regions that are heavily dependent on such economic activity. In Brazil, the so-called Iron Quadrangle fits within a complex regional arrangement that results in various conflicts of interest between different stakeholders, which complicates decision-making processes regarding mining activities. In this article, we introduce geodesign as a methodological approach that could efficiently contribute to mediating these challenges and conflicts. We present an educational experience in geodesign conducted within the framework of a minicourse offered in 2019 to undergraduate students at a Brazilian university. The experience illustrates how students were able to use the framework of geodesign to propose projects and policies to be included in a sustainable development master plan for the Iron Quadrangle region. Specifically, to examine the social dimensions at play in an iron mining region, students applied Steinitz’s geodesign framework, premised on six main questions and six corresponding models. This case study contributes to the emerging literature on geodesign pedagogy by demonstrating the benefits of this process and proposing recommendations that are applicable not only in academia but also in real-world situations that would truly benefit from such an approach.

“One [way] is to put into place arranged ideas, the other is to deal with a country of people, of flesh and blood, of thousand-and-many miseries… With luck, you won’t have to choose between the two” (João Guimarães Rosa, Grande sertão: veredas). This quote captures the essence of Advancing Equity Planning Now, a book edited by Norman Krumholz and Kathryn Wertheim Hexter. The book contains chapters about equity planning from local, regional, and national perspectives in the U.S., with a view to the future. In Krumholz and Hexter’s words “equity planning tries to provide more choices for those who have few and to redistribute resources, political power, and participation toward lower-income, disadvantaged residents of their cities” (263). Equity planners choose to work with people, and this book, which is organized in three main parts, illustrates some of the challenges and rewards that planners may face by making this choice.

This paper examines how beneficiaries of Brazil’s Bolsa Família (BFP) conditional cash transfer program find employment in a Brazilian municipality, and assesses their participation in decent work. Using Belo Horizonte as a case study, researchers conducted a survey of BFP recipients. The paper compares responses of informally and formally employed workers to assess how their employment meets the criteria of the decent work agenda. Results indicate no significant difference between perceptions of formal and informal employees concerning discrimination and poor working conditions. Findings lead to recommendations about formalization of employment, coordination with existing job training programs, childcare, and transportation.

Micropolitan areas (between 10,000 and 50,000 people) are not immune to economic shocks that threaten their vitality. Factors related to economic shocks can range from local companies leaving a town or national economic crises affecting local economies. Using the perspective of local micropolitan area stakeholders, this research seeks to identify why certain micropolitan areas recover from an economic shock while others do not. The research included the case study of two micropolitan areas in the U.S. Midwest (one resilient and one vulnerable), based on 22 interviews with key stakeholders representing diverse for-profit and government organizations. Our results reveal differences in the collective capacity and its underlying practices in the two micropolitan areas. We found that stakeholders built collective capacity by aligning effort, interacting face-to-face, supporting participation, sharing identity and building organizational capacity. Collective capacity ultimately enhanced the resilient micropolitan area’s ability to adopt place-based, or localized, strategies at a higher rate and larger scale than the vulnerable micropolitan area. The results contribute to theory of constitutive collaboration and help policy makers and stakeholders make informed decisions regarding practices to promote economic resilience.

Concerns about global climate change, energy security, and unstable fuel prices have motivated decision makers worldwide to explore sustainable options for transportation (Schäfer 2009). One strategy supported by transportation planners is bike-sharing programs (BSP), which ease both traffic volume and provide sustainable and green options for urban environments (García-Palomares, Gutiérrez, and Latorre 2012). Users of BSPs can take advantage of biking without the responsibilities of bike purchases, maintenance, and obligations related to parking and storage. Moreover, BSPs incorporate cycling into the public transportation system (Shaheen, Guzman, and Zhang 2010), providing transit users an option that offers mobility and flexibility at a lower cost (Metro Vancouver TransLink 2008). In the U.S., there are several implemented examples of BSPs, such as Hubway in Boston, MA; Smartbike in Washington DC; and NiceRide in Minneapolis, MN (US DOT 2012). However, according to DeMaio and Gifford (2004), BSPs are not suitable for all American cities. BSPs are more appropriate for “urban areas with more compact downtowns, university campuses, and dense neighborhood with a concentration of younger people" (DeMaio and Gifford 2004, 11).

This study evaluates the use of virtual, human-interpreted, field observations using Google Street View (GSV) to examine the presence of conditions that may be used to analyze green gentrification in the Global South. We propose that green gentrification is characterized by the introduction or improvement of green amenities (such as parks) as well as corresponding changes to the urban context (such as facade materials). While virtual field observations have been used to examine neighborhood context for other applications, this method has not yet been applied to the study of green gentrification, nor in the Global South. Using one urban park located in Talca, Chile, and in three urban parks located in Santiago, Chile, we sought to address the following research questions: (1) How do in situ and virtual field observations compare as methods of evaluating green amenities and urban context? (2) What characteristics of green amenities and urban context must be addressed to investigate green gentrification in the Global South? (3) How do indicators of green amenities and urban context observed via virtual field observations indicate the potential for green gentrification? In order to observe the streetside conditions of the neighborhoods surrounding established, improved, and new parks, we utilize the ground-level 360° imagery through GSV as an alternative to in situ studies, which can be time-consuming, expensive, and logistically challenging. Features related to the land use composition, building materials used, and the presence of aesthetic improvements and pedestrian amenities were noted as potential indicators of gentrification, and the correspondence between the two methods of observation were evaluated. Results indicate that virtual field observations can provide a promising method that may facilitate the identification and investigation of the effects of green gentrification in the Global South, broadening the scope and application of this research. This comparison offers insight into the use and comparison of virtual and in situ observations for identifying green gentrification in the Global South and for the applicability of the virtual observation method in this heterogeneous urban landscape, especially in cases with unreliable or unavailable data.

Numerous urban dwellers worldwide still live under residential segregation, which can act “as a poverty trap with job restrictions” (UN-Habitat, 2016, p. 79). Residential segregation occurs in a geographic space where individuals with similar socio-economic characteristics, such as income, are living close to each other and cut off from individuals of different socio-economic features. A clear understanding of the consequences that residential segregation has on poor people’s urban economic mobility is imperative to ensure that they move out of poverty. This is a pressing challenge for cities around the world, urging policy makers to deliver alternative solutions about planning-related topics such as housing, and transportation.

A majority of cities across the globe are confronting threats to their natural environment because of worrying trends in indicators such as urban population, PM2.5 air pollution, and CO2 emissions (World Bank 2016). Consequently, several strategies are being used in urban areas to minimise the negative impact of urbanisation on the natural environment. Examples of such strategies are increasing provision of open space and preserving areas that are characterised by high environmental importance. These issues may be less of a problem in public sector practice in the Global North compared to the Global South, because its public institutions generally have more human capital, information and resources to deal with them. For instance, public employees in the Global North have better access to accurate and timely data (Musakwa and van Niekerk 2015; Arsanjani et al. 2016), which produces more effective policies.