During the 1990s, in many cities in Europe district management became an instrument of direct neighborhood intervention, in an effort to foster sustainable cities. District management involves multisectoral, purposeful coordination of public and private resources, as well as local grassroots organizations and citizens, to improve the conditions of life, housing, and environmental quality in segregated and conflictive neighborhoods. The aim is to reintegrate neighborhoods into the urban fabric and achieve social and environmental sustainability. Can such a participatory strategy based on local orchestration of conflicting interests be successful in so-called geological and social high-risk districts in a Latin American metropolis like Medellín? Between 1993 and 2003, 46,418 people were killed in Medellín, most of them inhabitants of segregated neighborhoods. Some answers might be sought in considering the lessons learned from the Integral Program of Subnormal District Improvement in Medellín (PRIMED), co-funded by a German development organization (Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau, KfW), and implemented by the municipality of Medellín between 1993 and 2002.

Environmental degradation caused by urbanization of the Andean piedmonts and related pre-mountain systems can be observed along both Chilean and Argentinean slopes, with a consequent decrease in vegetation productivity, biomass and soil moisture, and generation of heat islands. This leads to degradation of Andean environmental services such as water infiltration and flood control. Fragmentation of vegetation patches and corridors are among the other main impacts on the natural environment. These land cover and land use changes have in turn increased the frequency and magnitude of natural hazards, and the concentration of air, water and soil pollution. Unfortunately, this makes large Latin American cities examples of unsustainable development.

Urban sprawl seems to be directly related to the increase in total imperviousness areas, runoff coefficients, and the interruption of the ecological integrity of the Andean watershed. Significant impacts can also be observed on the social environment, as the recent urbanization process has substantially increased social segregation and socioecological fragmentation in cities. Urban planning and regulations have not explicitly taken account of the environmental effects of urbanization on mountains in Chile. Urban development urgently needs to be strategically assessed in social and environmental terms, and not only as a relevant component of economic growth. The introduction of ecological planning and consideration of environmentally sensitive areas as a relevant form of regulation are proposed here.

Central America harbors some of the most important remnants of tropical vegetation at a global level. Its rainforests, among the most representative tropical ecosystems, cover only 5% of the Earth's surface but are home to half of the world's biological diversity. Costa Rica, the second smallest country on the Central American isthmus, has been able to establish a national network of protected areas safeguarding tropical biodiversity on more than 25% of its territory. These areas serve educational purposes and attract scientists and tourists, with important implications for the development of the surrounding rural communities. The creation in 1972 of the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve brought important socioeconomic and environmental changes to adjacent communities. These changes were both positive (eg introduction of new rural production methods) and problematic (sudden urban development without prior land use planning).

Rapid economic development has induced urbanization in China. Urbanization and de-urbanization strategies co-exist in most of China's mountain regions. Urbanization typically occurs in famous scenic spots and in the vicinity of macro engineering works, while de-urbanization is implemented in large areas by the government to protect the natural environment. Over-urbanization has considerable impacts on the esthetic qualities of many mountain tourist resorts and sometimes even destroys the natural state of landscapes and ecosystems. Administrative gaps and omissions of the central government in managing the development of mountain parks and world heritage sites are responsible for over-urbanization in mountains. The search by local governments for short-term economic benefits is also a driving force of over-urbanization. The present article recommends that regulations and laws be developed to effectively assess and monitor the state of parks and world heritage sites in mountains. Institutions with sufficient authority must be set up to legally supervise and protect the natural state of parks and heritage sites in mountains, for the benefit of the Chinese people and the entire world.

The town of Nakuru—Kenya's fourth largest town—lies in a unique setting in the Great Rift Valley (Figure 1). Recent developments on the Menengai Crater, the Mau Escarpment, and the Bahati Highlands exemplify the impacts of poorly planned urban growth on mountain ecosystems. The Nakuru Local Urban Observatory (LUO) project was initiated by the Municipal Council of Nakuru in January 2003, in collaboration with the Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) of the University of Berne and the Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG), and with funding from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). The project aims to provide a framework for sustainable urban development practices by building technical skills and improving participation by local stakeholders in decision-making processes. The potentials of information technology (IT) are being tapped to provide up-to-date information to decision-makers and democratize access to information, in order to improve public participation. The overall objective is to find ways of achieving better urban management in order to mitigate non-sustainable development trends in the town and its surroundings.

Nearly two-thirds of the population in the European Alps (which totals 14.2 million) lives in towns or periurban municipalities. We state that strong towns in the Alps are necessary to prevent outmigration. But these towns must be internally integrated with their hinterlands and externally integrated in supraregional networks to maintain the quality of life and contribute to regional economic growth.

This appears to be possible despite the differences that typify Alpine agglomerations, since both large and small towns have an internal and an external function; what differentiates them is the proportion between the two functions. Although these differences imply that possibilities for future development vary, some strategies may be generally valid for towns in the Alps.

The present article is based on a study of the rural-to-urban migration of nomadic pastoralists in the western Himalayan region of Ladakh. The particular case study is examined in relation to the rapid urbanization currently under way in Leh District. The evidence from 3 nomadic pastoral groups reveals some of the complexity within the process of urbanization. It is argued that policy to address urban growth in Ladakh must be informed by the empirical evidence of micro-level studies. The paper draws on secondary and aggregate sources of population data, in addition to quantitative and qualitative primary data collected among migrant and non-migrant households from 3 nomadic pastoral communities in Ladakh.

This study focuses on the impacts of urbanization and resettlement on employment of rural inhabitants, based on a tracking investigation of migrants and host inhabitants in Lishu Village, and local inhabitants in other villages of Changling Town in the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) area. Urbanization in its initial stage, driven by non-conventional forces and resettlement, has triggered a shift of rural labor from agriculture to industry. This has worsened the labor surplus situation for both migrants and host inhabitants, especially women.

The popularity of operating chairlifts at alpine ski areas in the summer to accommodate activities such as hiking and mountain biking is growing, especially in North America. Research has been conducted on environmental impacts of summer use at ski areas, but the social aspects have received little empirical attention. This paper describes summer visitors' (1) demographics; (2) activities and other trip characteristics; (3) motivations; and (4) experiences and satisfaction with lift ticket fees, management strategies, conflicting activities, and other on-site conditions. Data were obtained from visitor surveys (n = 548) conducted from July to September 2000 at 5 separate sites at the Whistler Mountain ski area in Canada. Hikers, sightseers, and mountain bikers were the main activity groups. Overall satisfaction was high, but visitors were not satisfied with every aspect of their experience. Many were displeased with crowding, environmental impacts, lift ticket fees, lack of educational/interpretive information provided, and overflights by helicopter tours. Responses, however, differed among the sites, suggesting the need for managing each site separately. Explanations for these findings and implications for managers and researchers are discussed.

In the Andean Cordillera, natural grasslands above 2500 m are used for livestock grazing. Few studies on the effects of foraging natural vegetation have been conducted in the northern Argentinean Andes, although this activity is frequently considered to be involved in the dragging of large amounts of sediment and in soil erosion after summer rainfall. The present study aims to identify and describe floristic composition in main vegetation units, and the potential and susceptibility of these units to foraging within a small catchment in the Andes of northwestern Argentina. Vegetation was sampled for total cover, cover per species, altitude, exposure, slope, and foraging pressure. Data are classified and ordered through multivariate analysis. Species are also classified according to life form (shrubby, gramineous/graminoids, and herbaceous) and palatability. Variance Analysis was applied to detect significant differences among vegetation units. In the study area, differences in the floristic composition of vegetation units are associated with grazing, altitude and slope. Our results allow us to propose different uses of vegetation: sectors fit for foraging, sites severely degraded and in need of strict protection, and sites fit solely for moderate firewood extraction are identified.

The study of the climate in the last 2700 years reflected in the palaeo record is obscured by the strong influence of human destruction of forest cover during this period. In this study 2 sites in the Queixa Sierra (northwestern Iberian Peninsula, Europe), Castelo Cerveira (1380 m) and As Aguilladas (1580 m), provide insights into high montane forest dynamics in this area since 2700 years BP. The palynological record shows regional development of vegetation associated with forest clearance. Around 2700 BP a montane Quercus–Betula forest was destroyed, followed by an abrupt increase in grass and heather vegetation. Human impacts reached their maximum in the last 1000 years. Abundant microcharcoal particles, along with an increase in Cerealia pollen, indicate frequent fires and generally intense human impacts on the environment. Despite this deforestation, some temporary phases of Betula vegetation occur before the total disappearance of the natural forest and its replacement by plantations of (regional) pine forest.