City Argentina Research Articles

From the Instituting to the Managerial Model. The Participatory Budget Cycle in Rosario, Argentina (2002 -2022)

ABSTRACT In 1995, the city of Rosario began its process of decentralization and modernization with a strong commitment to citizen participation. In 2002, Rosario was the first city in Argentina to implement a Participatory Budget (PB 1 ). PB has had, throughout its 20-year cycle of existence, critical moments. In its lethargy, in 2016, it started working in what nowadays is called Neighborhood Councils (NC 2 ). In 2019, the PB was paused. Meanwhile, the NCs are getting stronger. The objective of this article is to review the 20 years of existence of the PB in Rosario and its continuities and ruptures regarding NC and the digitalization of participation. This is diachronic and qualitative research based on interviews with municipal officials and nonparticipant observation of the NCs. It is held as an assumption that participation in the city of Rosario went from an instituting model to a managerial model.

Hepatitis A virus monitoring in wastewater: A complementary tool to clinical surveillance

Monitoring wastewater is an effective tool for tracking information on trends of enteric viral dissemination. This study aimed to perform molecular detection and genetic characterization of HAV in wastewater and to correlate the results with those obtained from clinical surveillance.Wastewater samples (n=811) of the second most populous city in Argentina were collected from the main wastewater treatment plant (BG-WWTP, n=261), and at 7 local neighborhood collector sewers (LNCS, n=550) during 2017–2022. Clinical samples of acute hepatitis A cases (HA, n=54) were also analyzed. HAV molecular detection was performed by real time RT-PCR, and genetic characterization by RT-Nested PCR, sequencing and phylogenetic analysis.RNA-HAV was detected in sewage samples throughout the entire period studied, and detection frequencies varied according to the location and year (2.9% - 56.5%). In BG-WWTP, 23% of the samples were RNA-HAV+. The highest detection rates were in 2017 (30.0%), 2018 (41.7%) and 2022 (56.5%), which coincides with the highest number of HA cases reported. Twenty-eight (28) sequences were obtained (from clinical and sewage samples), and all were genotype IA. Two monophyletic clusters were identified: one that grouped clinical and wastewater samples from 2017–2018, and another with specimens from 2022, evidencing that environmental surveillance might constitute a replica of viral circulation in the population.These findings evidence that WBE, in a centralized and decentralized sewage monitoring, might be an effective strategy to track HAV circulation trends over time, contributing to the knowledge of HAV in the new post-vaccination epidemiological scenarios in Argentina and in Latin America.

Socioeconomic Urban Environment in Latin America: Towards a Typology of Cities

This paper aims to identify typologies of Latin American cities based on socioeconomic urban environment patterns. We used census data from 371 urban agglomerations in 11 countries included in the SALURBAL project to identify socioeconomic typologies of cities in Latin America. Exploratory factor analysis was used to select a set of variables, and finite mixture modelling (FMM) was applied to identify clusters to define the typology of cities. Despite the heterogeneities among the Latin American cities, we also found similarities. By exploring intersections and contrasts among these clusters, it was possible to define five socioeconomic regional typology patterns. The main features of each one are low-education cities in Northeast Brazil; low-unemployment cities in Peru and Panama; high-education cities in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Mexico; high female labor participation, with high primary education in Argentina and low primary education in Brazil; and low female labor participation and low education in Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico. Identifying clusters of cities with similar features underscores understanding of the urban social and economic development dynamics and assists in studying how urban features affect health, the environment, and sustainability.

Post-pandemic urban mobility in a medium-sized Latin American city. Is sustainable micro-mobility gaining ground?

ABSTRACT This work analyses changes in traffic flow and vehicle fleet segmentation from Jul-2020 to Dec-2021 in Bahía Blanca, a medium-sized Argentinian city. We obtained the data by manual counting watching videos provided by the city’s security cameras. During the different stages and restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic, fluctuations appeared in the traffic flow. The motorized vehicle flow was gradually increasing during pandemic, reaching in Nov-2021 levels close to those reported in Mar-2020 (pre-pandemic). Moreover, an increase in sustainable micro-mobility (bicycles and e-scooters) was detected, as well as changes in the city’s peak hours. This study provides relevant information on how urban mobility is changing. In consequence, new policies that could lead us to a people-centred and more sustainable city could be created.

Responses of Urban Bird Assemblages to Land-Sparing and Land-Sharing Development Styles in Two Argentinian Cities

Urbanization negatively affects biodiversity worldwide. Consequently, alternative urban development styles are required for an eco-friendlier urbanization process. Thus, two development styles have been suggested: land-sharing (buildings mixed with dispersed green space) and land-sparing (buildings interspersed with large green patches). We assessed differences in species diversity and composition of bird assemblages between both development styles in two Argentinian cities: Santa Fe and Buenos Aires. We surveyed birds in land-sharing and land-sparing areas during the breeding and non-breeding seasons. As a control, we also surveyed birds in areas dominated by impervious surfaces. At a local scale, we also measured the environmental noise and pedestrian traffic. At a landscape scale, we measured the percent vegetation cover surrounding development styles and their distance to the main river. In Buenos Aires, species richness was higher in land-sparing than in land-sharing. However, the Shannon diversity and Simpson diversity were higher in land-sharing. In Santa Fe, both urban development styles supported similar species richness and diversity. Species composition varied between land-sharing and land-sparing in both cities during the breeding season. The pedestrian traffic was negatively associated with species diversity. Therefore, both development styles and strategies to reduce pedestrian traffic should be taken into account to enhance different components of species diversity and composition within the urban matrix.

ANÁLISIS DE BRECHAS EN LA CALIDAD DE DIETA DE LA POBLACIÓN ARGENTINA DE 1 A 69 AÑOS. ESTUDIO ABCDIETA

Introduction: Diet Quality Index represents one way to study food patterns. Some of them are based on the nutritional density of foods. The concept summarizes the relationship between energy and nutrients to promote and limit, making visible nutrient adequacy in line with energy balance. The objective is to study the quality of the diet and its gaps in a sample of the urban population of Argentina and to describe the food pattern according to levels of nutritional quality using the nutritional density approach. Methods: Data from a self-registration dietary survey on 1030 subjects from 11 cities in Argentina were analyzed. It was determined the nutritional density of the reported consumptions through an index (IDN) based on energy, 9 nutrients to promote and 4 to limit. The IDN of the total diet, 5 moments of intake and food groups was analyzed. Results: The average diet quality was half the standard of a healthy pattern (10.6 out of 20 points). The best results were concentrated in children under 3 years of age (17% presented a good quality diet). Compared to the standard, the quality of lunches and dinners exceeded breakfasts and snacks. Legumes, vegetables, fruits and dairy products were the groups with the largest quality gaps. Occasional and starchy foods in general –also meats– reflected excesses. Preparations and fast meals reached up to 21% of the total nutritional density. Conclusions: The nutritional density approach complements the understanding of food gaps in the Argentine population, providing arguments in favor of interventions aimed at a better balance, particularly in protective foods, which are deficient in the conformation of the food pattern. Keywords: diet quality; nutrient density; consumes; consumption; food gaps.

A comparative analysis of public transport accessibility to hospitals in Córdoba (2019–2023): Where are we now?

Abstract The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the mobility restrictions governments imposed to prevent its spread changed the cities’ ways of living. Transport systems suffered the consequences of the falling travel demand, and readjustments were made in many cities to prevent the complete shutdown of services. In Córdoba, the second largest city in Argentina, the Municipality dictated route cuts and reduced frequencies to sustain the buses and trolleys system. In 2022, Martinazzo and Falavigna assessed potential accessibility to hospitals before (2019) and during the pandemic (2021). Overall, the study indicated that average travel times increased by 20% and that the gap between less vulnerable and more vulnerable population quintiles reached almost 8 points. In this paper, potential accessibility to public hospitals in 2022 and 2023 is calculated using Martinazzo and Falavigna’s (2022) work as a baseline to compare, considering that neither cutting the services during the pandemic nor recovering the service after the pandemic the Municipality performed an accessibility assessment. The main results showed that, despite the system having almost recovered its extension by 2023, it maintained the regressive tendency between less vulnerable and more vulnerable population quintiles, as the difference in average travel time between these two groups reached up to 14 min, while the cumulative opportunities measure for the high-income groups was up to 68% higher than the most vulnerable households.

Link between Urban Forests and Poverty: a Case of Study in a City of Argentina

A silvicultura urbana é considerada um indicador positivo do meio ambiente de uma cidade, pois fornece muitos serviços positivos para as comunidades locais. Porém, nem todos os moradores podem se beneficiar, principalmente em áreas onde as árvores não são de vegetação nativa, como é o caso de Mar del Plata (Argentina). Nesta pesquisa, uma abordagem integrada combinando dados do censo e imagens de satélite mostra que os residentes de uma área residencial arborizada em Mar del Plata com boas condições socioeconômicas se beneficiam com um Índice de Vegetação por Diferença Normalizada (NDVI) mais alto e temperatura mais baixa do que a maioria das partes da cidade.

Fluoride concentration in dentifrices marketed In Argentina.

The objective of this study was to determine the different forms of fluoride available in dentifrices commercialized in Argentina. Thirty three different brands of fluoridated dentifrices were purchased in different cities of Argentina. The total fluoride (TF), total soluble fluoride (TSF) and ionic fluoride (IF) of two samples of each brand were analysed (μg F/ml) by ion-specific fluorine electrodes. A total of 67% of dentifrices showed fluoride content that compromises anti-caries activity. A total of 54.5% was formulated with sodium fluoride (NaF), 36.3% formulated with sodium monofluorophosphate (MFP), 3% NaF associated with MFP and 9% formulated with stannous fluoride (SnF2). The TF found was less than the amount declared by the manufacturer in all the brands analysed. The concentration of TF found in the fluoride dentifrices ranged from 590.3 to 1381.4μg/ml F, TSF ranged from 343.1 to 1258.3μg/ml F, and IF ranged from 13.1 to 913μg/ml F. The concentrations of TF were below the reported values. TSF and IF were lower than the total fluoride concentration. Most of the samples studied have TSF concentration that compromises anti-caries effect. Additional studies with a larger number of samples are suggested to obtain more data.

Provisión y disposición de agua en 243 ciudades argentinas: Servicios ecosistémicos en el continuo territorio-ecosistema acuático-centro urbano

Cities depend on different ecosystems that provide them with services. In the case of water supply and effluent disposal in Argentine cities, its recognition is still incomplete and fragmented. Here is presented a first database that maps and classifies the water supply sources and effluent destinations of all Argentine cities >20000 inhabitants (in 2010). Utilizing existing reports, journalistic news and satellite information, water intake and discharge points were recorded, along with other associated infrastructure in 243 cities. It was found that 30.5, 17.5 and 12.6% of the population is exclusively supplied by large transboundary rivers, groundwater and internal rivers and streams, respectively, with 25.2% supplied by mixed sources. The cities that are connected to the public sanitation networks resort mainly to internal rivers and streams (26.6%) for their disposal; however, of the urban population that is not connected to the sewage network, a high proportion discharges into free aquifers. Most Argentine cities do not return sewage water to the same system that supplies it, predominantly transfers from underground sources to internal rivers and streams. The database evidences the contrasting ‘effluent pressure’ (population/flow rate of the receiving system) between cities linked to large rivers (e.g., Paraná basin, 273 inhabitants.m-3.s-1) and internal basins (e.g., Mar Chiquita, 16141 inhabitants.m-3.s-1). This database, open for consultation and updating, makes visible the spatial and hydrological connection between cities and the hydrographic network, helping to improve water security and prioritize efforts to protect aquatic ecosystems that guarantee it from all levels of management.

The Use of 2 e-Learning Modalities for Diabetes Education Using Facebook in 2 Cities of Argentina During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Qualitative Study.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the confinement that was implemented in Argentina generated a need to implement innovative tools for the strengthening of diabetes care. Diabetes self-management education (DSME) is a core element of diabetes care; however, because of COVID-19 restrictions, in-person diabetes educational activities were suspended. Social networks have played an instrumental role in this context to provide DSME in 2 cities of Argentina and help persons with diabetes in their daily self-management. The aim of this study is to evaluate 2 diabetes education modalities (synchronous and asynchronous) using the social media platform Facebook through the content of posts on diabetes educational sessions in 2 cities of Argentina during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this qualitative study, we explored 2 modalities of e-learning (synchronous and asynchronous) for diabetes education that used the Facebook pages of public health institutions in Chaco and La Rioja, Argentina, in the context of confinement. Social media metrics and the content of the messages posted by users were analyzed. A total of 332 messages were analyzed. We found that in the asynchronous modality, there was a higher number of visualizations, while in the synchronous modality, there were more posts and interactions between educators and users. We also observed that the number of views increased when primary care clinics were incorporated as disseminators, sharing educational videos from the sessions via social media. Positive aspects were observed in the posts, consisting of messages of thanks and, to a lesser extent, reaffirmations, reflections or personal experiences, and consultations related to the subject treated. Another relevant finding was that the educator/moderator role had a greater presence in the synchronous modality, where posts were based on motivation for participation, help to resolve connectivity problems, and answers to specific user queries. Our findings show positive contributions of an educational intervention for diabetes care using the social media platform Facebook in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although each modality (synchronous vs asynchronous) could have differential and particular advantages, we believe that these strategies have potential to be replicated and adapted to other contexts. However, more documented experiences are needed to explore their sustainability and long-term impact from the users' perspective.

COVID-19 in working-class neighborhoods of two Argentine cities.

This paper presents a synchronic analysis of the diseases during the emergence of COVID-19, the management and impact of the lockdown, and how the media narrated these events in working-class neighborhoods of the metropolitan areas of Buenos Aires and Gran Resistencia from March to November 2020. We resorted to quantitative methods on secondary sources to describe poverty and syndemics and conducted week-by-week ethnographic and media research on 38 neighborhoods with water shortages and critical overcrowding. As a result, COVID-19 syndemically emerged with dengue, measles, and tuberculosis, and the preventive measures exacerbated institutional and gender violence, the Werther effect, and the neglect of other illnesses. Ethnography revealed syndemics with noncommunicable diseases and the influence of structural violence on health. The media analysis shows interest in the districts associated with the fear of contagion, but they disappear from the media agenda once dispelled.

Intergenerational transmission of ancestry information in a mid-size city in Argentina

ABSTRACT We examined the self-reported family trees of 288 adult Argentines from a mid-size city near Buenos Aires to evaluate how intergenerational transmission of ancestry information matched (or not) anonymized estimates of continental-level genetic ancestry. Intergenerational transmission of ancestry information was inferred from the content of the anonymized family trees, and continental-level ancestries were inferred from genomic information collected from the participants. We found a high degree of concordance between genetic ancestry estimates and the transmission of ancestry information in ancestors born in Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. We found the reverse in ancestors who were Indigenous American, sub-Saharan African, or their descendants. Yet, the existence of those ancestors was evident in the genetic ancestry estimates. We extrapolated the presence of such ancestries in family trees post hoc by deducing that some ancestors identified as ‘Argentine’ in family trees were likely of mixed Indigenous- and non-Indigenous-descent, and possibly also sub-Saharan African descent. We describe these findings as products of a process of attrition, in which some ancestries, but not others, have been forgotten (knowingly or unknowingly) over the course of generations, to the point that participants were unaware that ethno-racial mixing occurred within their own families.

Experientially grounded praxis of social justice language education: pre-service teachers of English engage in field work in an Argentine NGO

ABSTRACT Framed within the theory and practice of social justice in English language teacher education (ELTE), the aim of this study was to foster pre-service teachers’ awareness of social justice principles, issues and practices by taking part in a service learning experience during their higher education studies in a non-governmental organisation located on the outskirts of La Plata city in Argentina. In collaboration with their university tutors, three pre-service teachers taught workshops using intercultural literature in English during 2017–2018 for underserved children in the NGO. Data comprise four reflection logs written by each teacher candidate during 2017–2020, analysed using content analysis. Findings show the significance of providing an experientially grounded sense of social justice education. The study illustrates pre-service teachers’ journeys toward social justice grounded in field work beyond the level of rhetoric. It also tests current perspectives on social justice in a South American setting, as work done on this basis has focused almost exclusively on Africa. Implications for ELTE and education in general are discussed.

A multi-period fuzzy optimization strategy for managing a centralized blood supply chain

Blood supply chains (BSCs) are highly complex systems that present many challenges in their optimal management, such as different collection methods, demand and supply uncertainty, blood perishability, blood group distinction, and compatible substitutions. This article presents the study of the critical problem of sizing and managing a centralized version of such BSCs in a developing country. The problem is initially formulated as a multi-period mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model simultaneously addressing strategic, tactical, and operational decisions over a given time horizon. The formers are related to selecting the technology for blood collection and processing, the tactical ones determine not only where and when donation campaigns are made but also the periodic delivery of surplus plasma for further fractionation, while the operational ones specify the amounts of blood collected, donor allocation to each collection method, and quantities of blood components produced, distributed, and kept in stock daily. The problem aims to minimize three conflictive objective functions: the shortage, the total costs, and the number of substitutions. To appropriately address the multiple goals, their imprecise target values, and the fuzziness in some parameters, the model is reformulated as a fuzzy mixed-integer goal programming (FMIGP) one, which is then solved using a crisp strategy to find a compromise solution. A real-life case study from the public sector of Bahía Blanca city in Argentina shows the advantages of the presented approach. Numerical results demonstrate the integrated model can significatively increase demand satisfaction while reducing costs, less favorable substitutions, and wastes.

An evaluation of a hot spot policing programme in four Argentinian cities

In 2017, hot spot policing interventions were implemented in four cities in Argentina: La Plata, Morón, Santa Fe and Tres de Febrero. Each intervention was similarly designed, organized and implemented. Results differed between cities. La Plata experienced the largest decreases, including a significant 31% decrease in robbery (while controlling for geographic displacement), whereas in other cities, a mix of non-significant decreases and increases in robbery and theft were observed. No displacement was observed to assaults or vehicle crime. The differences in impact between cities were likely to be associated with differences in the project management of each intervention.

Ocupación de tierras y administración estatal de disputas: Un estudio antropológico en una ciudad bonaerense

This paper is interested in the way in which a dispute over access to the right to decent housing is built and managed in a Buenos Aires city in Argentina. Starting with the reconstruction of a land occupation event, the various legal readings and criteria of legitimacy mobilized by the actors involved will be investigated. On the other hand, the state administration of the conflict will be explored, paying attention to the actions, languages and temporalities that operated in its processing. The registration of the event in a greater context of significance will make it possible to note that it was not an exception, but a recurring problem that, in this case, escalated to the level of a collective claim.

International Collaborative Experiences to Design Areas Prone to Flood: Intervention in the Southern part of Resistencia (Argentina)

The Brian A. Thomson Institute of Urban and Regional Planning of the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of the UNNE (Argentina) and the Jurusan Arsitektur Fakultas Teknik, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Muhammadiyah Jakarta (Indonesia), have been developing joint activities within approved projects since 2015, as part of a framework of International Cooperation Agreement. Faced with the global context situation due to the Covid19 pandemic, where virtual activities flourished, it was considered an opportunity to bring together teams from both institutions in a joint activity. Therefore, an "International Workshop on Landscape 2020" was formulated to find better design schemes to mitigate the flood in the Southern area of Resistencia city in Argentina by implementing sustainable strategies to design flooding parks for recreational and absorbent purposes. With highly satisfactory outcomes prepared jointly by groups of students from both geographies, with the follow-up of coordinating Lecturers (Facilitators) and the participation of Keynote Speakers, a compendium was made for the formal transfer to the Local authorities, fostering the link between the academic spheres and society through a university extension mechanism. This article aimed to describe the collaborative work process, analyze the implemented methodologies, and lecturers and students' perceptions of this experience.

A metaheuristic for crew scheduling in a pickup‐and‐delivery problem with time windows

AbstractA simultaneous vehicle routing and crew scheduling problem (SVRCSP) consists of planning routes for a fleet of vehicles and scheduling their crews, with the particularity that the vehicle–crew correspondence is not fixed through time. This allows a greater planning flexibility and a more efficient use of the fleet, but in counterpart it requires high synchronization. In this work, an SVRCSP is presented, where long‐distance pickup‐and‐delivery requests must be fulfilled over a multiday planning horizon, subject to several constraints such as multiple time windows, hour of services regulation, among others. Crews can be composed of one or two drivers and any of them can be relieved in a given set of locations. Also, they are allowed to travel between locations with noncompany shuttles. The objective is to minimize the cost of travel in company and noncompany vehicles, which depends on the distance, and the penalization for completing requests with delay. A two‐stage sequential approach is applied: a set of truck routes is computed in the first stage and a set of driver routes consistent with the previous routes is obtained in the second stage. An algorithm based on the GRASP × ILS metaheuristic, embedded with a repair heuristic to facilitate the construction of initial solutions, is proposed and evaluated for the latter stage. High‐quality solutions were found for instances generated with up to 3000 requests and a planning horizon of one to four weeks spread over 15 Argentine cities in less than an hour. Additionally, the possibility of carrying an additional driver reduced the cost of external shuttles by 2.25 times on average compared to individual crews and, in some cases, removed this cost completely.

Propuesta de un índice de ciudad inteligente para municipios de Argentina

The development of smart cities has yielded into a desirable objective among many cities around the world. International indexes of smart cities focus on large urban cities without interest on intermediate cities of developing countries. This paper pretends to fill this gap by proposing a smart city index for the capital cities in Argentina, together with Buenos Aires City and Bahia Blanca. The index is compound of four dimensions: Environment, Governance, Society and ICT, and Mobility and Transport which are based on a set of indicators. Data emerges from official websites and national statistics. In the case of Bahia Blanca, a wider smart city index with subjective indicators from an online survey is built. Alternative versions of the index, weighted (according to the vision of citizens, enterprises and politicians) and non-weighted are provided. Results show that the cities of Bahia Blanca, Ciudad Autonoma de Buenos Aires and Cordoba are the third smartest cities in Argentina.