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- Port Structures, Maritime Transport, and TourismPublication . Lousada, Sérgio; Castanho, Rui Alexandre
- The Role of Ports in Tourism: Porto Santo HarbourPublication . Lousada, Sérgio; Castanho, Rui AlexandreThe island of Porto Santo belongs to the Madeira Archipelago and is often described as an idyllic paradise for its warm waters and its iconic sandy beach, though it faces vulnerabilities such as insularity; a small economy; geographic remoteness; and scarce population, area, and available resources. Nevertheless, these disadvantages have a silver lining because small territories can act as laboratories to test and develop models that can subsequently be implemented at a larger scale. This work provides a case study of the role of ports in tourism development It presents an analysis of air and maritime transport used by tourists to visit the Island of Porto Santo, Madeira Islands, Portugal. The climate changes and strong winds during the year can reduce tourist demand for the inter-island sea travel in the Madeira Archipelago. Porto Santo is a strategic transfer point for tourism, and improving the shipping infrastructures will enable a faster and more diversified maritime trans portation system. To capitalise on these developments, Porto Santo needs to improve its reputation as an exclusive beach destination. This will reduce tourism seasonality and improve sustainability.
- Ordenamento territorial e a sua relação com o turismo regional: o caso de estudo da Região Autónoma da Madeira (RAM).Publication . Castanho, Rui Alexandre; Camacho, Rafael; Naranjo Gómez, Jóse Manuel; Loures, Luís; Cabezas, JoséAtualmente, um desenvolvimento e crescimento sustentável são, indiscutivelmente, uma das maiores preocupações e objetivos dos territórios periféricos. De facto, esta tipologia de crescimento já não é apenas um desejo, mas sim uma necessidade territorial, a fim de melhorar a qualidade de vida das populações e ainda para garantir um futuro às gerações vindouras. Tendo em consideração esta tipologia de crescimento, em regiões com bases socioeconómicas “reféns” do turismo, estudos que analisem os processos de ordenamento e planeamento territorial e a sua relação com esta atividade são fundamentais para o desenvolvimento territorial sustentável. Através de ferramentas e metodologias exploratórias, como disso são exemplo: o método de análise de caso de estudo, a análise de impacto territorial, ou os questionários de exploração das perceções públicas; nesse sentido, foi conduzido um estudo de perceções públicas de ordenamento territorial sobre o turismo da Região Autónoma da Madeira (RAM). A investigação permite verificar a relação entre as políticas de ordenamento territorial e o seu impacto no turismo regional, assim como o crescimento insustentável da região.
- Land-Use Changes in Insular Urban Territories: A Retrospective Analysis from 1990 to 2018. The Case of Madeira Island—Ribeira BravaPublication . Lousada, Sérgio; Cabezas, José; Castanho, Rui Alexandre; Gómez, José Manuel NaranjoAs the main island of the Madeira Archipelago, Madeira is faced with a clear demand for more precise and specific planning policies, in order to respond to regional requests. Bearing in mind the urgency of this issue linked to the concept of sustainability, planning strategies must be based on and strengthened by several studies, with the most varied themes, as a way of incisively understanding the problem at hand. Based on tools such as GIS (geographic information systems), this study allows the analysis of variations and patterns of land use and occupancy in the municipality of Ribeira Brava, located on Madeira Island. In a comprehensive manner, the study allows us to highlight the stagnation of the urban fabric of the region and, on the other hand, the change in the dynamics of agricultural cultivation present in the county. In addition, this study highlights the change in the predominant native vegetation in the municipality between the years 1990 and 2018. It is still necessary to emphasize the worrying scenario with the loss of native vegetation due to human activity, which requires more emphatic monitoring by regional government actors to protect, preserve and conserve these landscapes, environments and ecosystems.
- Dynamics of the land use changes and the associated barriers and opportunities for sustainable development on peripheral and insular territories: The Madeira Island (Portugal)Publication . Castanho, Rui Alexandre; Lousada, Sérgio; Gómez, José Manuel Naranjo; Escórcio, Patrícia; Cabezas, José; Fernández-Pozo, Luis; Loures, LuísConsidering the complex dynamics, patterns, and particularities that peripheral and insular territories/regions present—e.g., as the fragility, they show to achieve a sustain able development and growth—a study that analyzes the land uses of this territories is seen as pivotal to identify barriers and opportunities for a long-term sustained devel opment. Contextually, a general analysis was carried out through case study research methods covering those territorial typologies of the insular territory of Madeira Island, Portugal. The study, which was carried out through GIS mapping tools, enabled us to identify the land use changes in the last decades over the territory—allowing to estab lish a relation and identification of the associated barriers and opportunities presented by the territories to face the emerging sustainable development challenges. The study reveals the evident limitations of “ultra-peripheral” territories not only by the physical spatial dimensions but also by the difficulty to reconvert land uses. Thus, the main actors and their policies over the territory are even more relevant and need to be conducted in a more reasonable way—considering the fragility of this regions; such actions present higher impact over the territory and over their inhabitants’ life’s quality standards and finally on the long-term sustainability.
- Implementation and challenges of the passive house concept in Portugal: lessons learnt from successful experiencePublication . Figueiredo, António; Rebelo, Filipe; Castanho, Rui Alexandre; Oliveira, Rui; Lousada, Sérgio; Vicente, Romeu; Ferreira, Victor M.The European Green Deal defined by the European Commission on December 2019 presents an ambitious set of measures for the European Union and its citizens to accomplish the challenge of climate change, making Europe until 2050 the first neutral continent, where there are no net emissions of greenhouse gases. The Passive House (PH) concept has the same ambitious goal, targeting the reduction of the carbon footprint while promoting a construction design that gives primacy to the optimum energy balance, assuring comfort and quality with a minimum impact on the final building cost and operation. However, the PH concept is still not an easy process to implement in the traditional construction sector, especially in South European territory, as is the case of Portugal. Contextually, the present study through the discussion of a case study research method applied to European PH successful experience, has defined guidelines for the implementation of this concept within sustainable development principles. The methodology strategy starts with the information collection from Hanover, Brussels, and Tyrol case studies. Then, a statement regarding the current situation of Portugal in respect of the PH numbers and policies was performed. Moreover, the information gathered, as well as the experience of learnt lessons, were compared to the Portuguese reality. As a final procedure, barriers and obstacles for the Portuguese case have been identified through the analysis and understanding of the country’s social dynamics, and also with the crossing of sustainable development principles. Thus, the present research enables us to propose guidelines to increase the PH implementation in Portugal.
- Interactions between surrounding landscape biodiversity and intermittent rivers in mediterranean environments – case study of the Caia RiverPublication . Kaletová, Tatiana; Raposo, Mauro; Pinto-Gomes, Carlos; Castanho, Rui Alexandre; Martin Gallardo, Jose; Loures, Luís; Castanho, Hermenegildo; Cabezas, José; Fernándes-Pozo, Luis; Naranjo Gómez, José Manuel; Lousada, Sérgio; Escórcio, PatríciaLandscape is a dynamic mosaic of various structures interacting together. Neglecting or overusing one part of this mosaic may boost up or damage the development of others. For instance, overgrazing may increase soil erosion process which may clog a river/stream. In this regard land use changes, climate change and landscape management may lead to increase the intermittency of the surface watercourses, as well as in the ecosystem services provided by riverscapes for humans. Therefore, the present research focus on the existing interactions between the Caia River, an intermittent river located in the Mediterranean region, and its surrounding agricultural and natural landscapes. The performed analyses considered the identification of the existing interaction between natural and agricultural landscapes with the Caia River defining the predictable ecosystem services provided by each element of the landscape and assessing the potential decrease of the ecosystem services provided in case of landscape changes, which according to the performed research might enclose significant impacts both in ecologic and socioeconomic terms.
- Return migration and tourism sustainability in Portugal: extracting opportunities for sustainable common planning in southern EuropePublication . Santos, Rossana; Castanho, Rui Alexandre; Lousada, SérgioThis study contributes to the knowledge of decision-makers on how tourism, small and medium-sized enterprises, return migration, and cooperation strategies can contribute to growth and sustainable development in rural areas. More specifically, it uses the Portuguese case to answer the following question: can the expectations and perceptions of emigrants provide directions for sustainabletourismdevelopmentandcommonplanninginordertocontributetoruraldevelopment? The results obtained in a study developed in Portugal, through the application of a questionnaire survey of 5157 Portuguese emigrants, confirm the validity of this question. It is concluded that there are the emigrants at an active age (29–39 years old) and with a house in a rural area that have a greater propensity of returning, investing, and gaining employment in the area of tourism in Portugal, and they also have more training and professional experience in this area. Similarly, considering the experiences and migratory characteristics of these emigrants, it is argued that there is a strong probability that the return of emigrants from Southern European countries will contribute to the development of tourism in the rural areas of these countries. Besides, the study enablestheidentificationofrecommendationsanddirectionsforsustainablecommonplanninginthe political–strategic, financial–economic, resource sustainability, and sociocultural fields.
- Hydraulic planning in insular urban territories: the case of Madeira Island—Ribeira BravaPublication . Lousada, Sérgio; Cabezas, José; Castanho, Rui Alexandre; Gómez, José Manuel NaranjoThe main objective of this study was to analyze the flood propensity of the main water course of Ribeira Brava drainage basin and, if necessary, to suggest two methodologies to mitigate the impacts, i.e., detention basin sizing and riverbed roughness coefficient adjustment. For the flood propensity assessment, geomorphological data obtained from the watershed characterization process was used through the SIG ArcGIS software and then used for the calculation of the expected peak flow rate for a return period of 100 years using the Gumbel Distribution. Finally, the drainage capacity of the river mouth was verified via the Manning-Strickler equation, with the purpose of establishing whether the river mouth of the watershed has the capacity to drain the entire volume of rainwater in an extreme flood event. In summary, the results indicate that the river mouth of the Ribeira Brava watershed does not have the capacity to drain the rain flow for the pre-established return period; therefore, the detention basin was sized using the Dutch Method and the Simplified Triangular Hydrograph Method, and the roughness coefficient was adjusted in order to ensure the increase in the river mouth’s drainage capacity.
- Hydraulic studies and their influence for regional urban planning: a pratical approach to Fynchal’s riversPublication . Miranda, Dénio Gouveia; Camacho, Rafael Freitas; Lousada, Sérgio; Castanho, Rui AlexandreFlood phenomena in urban territories are a reality all over the globe.However, both urban planning processes and hydraulic studies are mostly not well-developed, considering the multidisciplinarity and complexity of the theme, resulting in urban agglomerations - with a tendency to occur in this typology of events – showing several gaps, regarding a well developed and articulated urban planning, not being able to deal with this type of natural phenomenon.In this regard, the combining of multivariate studies, such as urban planning and hydraulic studies, are seen as critical to achieve a sustained territorial success of the regions affected by this typology of phenomena. Thus, by exploratory tools and analysis methods: i.e. calculation of roughness coefficients in artificial runoff channels, analysis of surface runoff, computer models, evaluation and analysis of design and spatial planning policies in urban areas, and its application to a case study - the case of the Funchal´s Rivers, Madeira, Portugal - are just a few examples of analysis that the study carries out, from a multidisciplinary perspective, in order to define bases and measures, enabling to prevent and minimize the negative impacts of such events, as well as increasing the safety of resident populations.