Website Reviews

Websites 2011

This third edition of the JLAG websites section profiles locations that may prove helpful to scholars seeking resources for teaching and research. Descriptions of the profiled sites are drawn directly from the website home pages or provided by individual contributors. Subscribers to JLAG are encouraged to submit suggestions for inclusion in this section to the websites editor.

(1) http://www.ganarlacalle.org/

Editor and designer Andrés Borthagary and the Instituto para la Ciudad en Movimiento have created into a wonderful resource with this interactive literary and place-interpretation project. The website combines the collective talents of architects, planners and other 'locals' in the know about Latin American/Caribbean cities. Beautifully illustrated with photographs of selected cities (La Habana; Mexico, D.F.; Bogotá; Lima; Quito; Santiago de Chile; Buenos Aires; Rio de Janeiro; Curitiba; and Sao Paulo), the interactive maps and pull-down menus allow the reader to learn about the historical geographies and salient points of interest. The texts --ranging from about 500 to 2000 words per selection-- mostly read as if one were walking from one end to the other, but it is decidedly not a travel-guide approach to these magnificent places. Instead, the reader gains insight into prominent transects (La Alameda in Santiago de Chile, or the Malecón in La Habana) as well as lesser known ones. Thematic issues include the use of technology, public administration (gobernabilidad), and the local economy. Available in Spanish and Portuguese, the scale of the website zooms from the Western Hemisphere down to one of the ten cities selected, and from there a shaded area shows the cities' current footprints. Users may then select a handful of streets that are highlighted (and thus featured), as well as boulevards, promenades, neighborhoods, and plazas. Both the serious traveler and the novice student of the Latin American city will welcome this website about the forces that have shaped these built environments. One can only hope that editor Andrés Borthagary will provide an English version soon. Ganar la calle! (I think "winning back the street" is an appropriate English translation) refreshingly ratchets the focus of these metropoli down to the street-level, to be sure, and it is a humanistic and interdisciplinary approach to understanding these myriad geographies. A hard copy book of the project is also available. [Submitted by Joe Scarpaci]

(2) http://www.hic-al.org/

This website for the Habitat International Coalition (Latin America) (HIC-AL) focuses on land, housing, and urban issues. It provides links to more than a hundred Habitat organizations in 19 countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, México, Nicaragua, Panamá, Paraguay, Perú, Dominican Republic, Uruguay, and Venezuela. The website also provides information about ongoing projects, programs, campaigns, and events, with links to various publications and issues of interest related to land tenure, free trade, and globalization. [Submitted by Jill Wigle]

(3) http://www.visaogeografica.com/

This site is in Portuguese and provides interested students, researchers and the general public information about geography and its various areas of application in Brazil and beyond. There are links to blogs, interactive chat, interviews with geographers, cartographic practices, recent publications, and geography courses. Links to recent articles of interest to those studying Brazil are also provided. For example, a recent article addressed Brazilian viticulture, globalization, and the legacy of Santos Neto. There is also an image bank with detailed location descriptions. The site is a project of the Federal University of Mato Grosso.

(4) http://www.petrobras.com.br/biomapas/en

Established by the Brazilian oil company, Petrobras, this website provides an interactive webmap of animal and plant species in Amazonia and marine environments. Its overall goal is to promote Petrobras' commitment to biodiversity and to demonstrate though interactive maps the types of projects undertaken to minimize the environmental impacts of oil exploration and recovery, and to promote sustainability.

(5) http://www.iberomunicipios.org/

The Latin American Network of Digital Cities offers a collaborative space for the exchange of information, proposals, and experiences, with the aim of creating a digital network of knowledge about cities in Ibero-America. In each of the digital communities...