São Paulo, city-region: constitution and development dynamics of the São Paulo macrometropolis
This article deals with the emergence of the city-region in São Paulo (Brazil), called ‘macrometropolis’, and highlights some of the challenges facing this new territorial or spatial configuration in terms of globalisation and governance. It also stresses the productive changes that gave rise to it and sheds light on the constituent dynamics of the macrometropolis at different scales. The article affirms that metropolitan problems can no longer be interpreted without taking into account the new determinants of the macrometropolis of São Paulo, which implies considering the interaction of the metropolis with other urban centres bearing social, economic and environmental singularities.
Development as we know it? Change and continuity in the production of urban and regional space in Brazil
The real estate and finance induced crisis that so dramatically affected the US and European economies in 2008 also signalled changes in the emerging economic powers. The latter had not only done reasonably well in the midst of another round of crisis driven by restructuring of the post-Bretton Wood monetary (dis)order, but were also looking for a more prominent role in the international political scenario, as reflected in forums such as the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), IBSA (India, Brazil and South Africa), and a more proactive stance in policy platforms such as the G20, composed of the 19 largest economies in the world and the European Union. Brazil is a paradigmatic example. Eight years of charismatic leadership under former president Luis Inácio Lula da Silva have seen a remarkable activism in both national and international policy arenas. This has reflected, among others, in a renewed interest in the relationships with the Global South, an aggressive strategy to attract international events such as the World Cup 2014 and the Olympics 2016 in Rio, and a superior macroeconomic growth performance in comparison with the 1990s. This positive projected scenario has served to put the country back on the radar of national and international analysts alike. Brazil was also quick to react to the 2008 crisis through successive “packages” of anti-cyclical expansionary fiscal and monetary policies, backed up by specific measures in sectors such as consumer durables (particularly car manufacturing) and construction, and by an active role of its development banks that injected a large volume of subsidized credit into the economy. The renewed growth potential has raised a debate on the underlying drivers behind the recent Brazilian development trajectory. Is the country going through a more fundamental shift in its development regime (in the regulationist sense, meaning structural transformations in the economy and state regulatory approaches)? At first sight, the upscaling of state provided finance combined with rolled-out regulatory approaches in key areas such as industrial and technological policy, urban infrastructure, logistics, energy and housing might suggest that there is evidence for such a shift. Likewise, targeted federal poverty alleviation initiatives, such as the cash transfer programme Bolsa Familia, have lifted a significant number of families out of absolute poverty and generated positive effects on the economic base of cities and metropolitan areas. At a more fundamental level, however, this triggered another discussion regarding the significance of a Brazilian “rolled out national developmental regime 2.0”. More specifically, what would be the potential of such a regime shift in terms of generating effective transformation in the production of urban and regional space in Brazil, which has historically been moulded by a contradictory and unsustainable pattern of urbanisation? The more critical international debates, which emerged in the context of Atlantic Fordism, have problematized the nature of roll-out state restructuring, arguing that it was to be seen within a process of continuous and contradictory transformation of state spaces and strategies/projects, but nevertheless embedded within a broader trajectory of neo-liberalisation (Jessop 2000; Brenner & Theodore 2002).
Theory and nursing: A systematic approach
This fourth edition covers nursing theory from a conceptual perspective and provides a foundation for understanding the nature and development of nursing theory and its links with research and practice. Theory and theory development are presented in a manner that encourages critical thinking. In order to reflect current developments this text discusses and provides a brief synopsis of mid-range (practice-based) theories.