Anisotropic Au@SiO(2) core-shell nanostructures have been fabricated from CTABr-stabilized Au nanoparticles with a facile synthesis involving a single growth solution. This procedure circumvents tedious surface modification steps and allows for the SiO(2) shell thickness to be tuned from 5 to 20 nm by modulating the nanoparticle number density and concentration of silica precursor.

Resumo AbstractAmong the contemporary metropolis' spatial phenomena, this work highlights the socalled "Implosion" and "Explosion", derived from Henri Lefebvre's work. The implosion is interpreted as a trend to agglomeration in the central areas of metropolis, which means a reoccupying of these areas as privileged spaces. The explosion informs a process of extended urbanization, which indicates the occupation of areas distant from the main centralities. These two trends are related to the called Exopolis, a metropolis interpretation provided by Edward Soja. In the empirical exercise to Belo Horizonte and its metropolitan region, housing market's data were used, and the Fuzzy Clustering Analysis was employed. The results about the implosion hypothesis stresses the heterogeneity of the city's central area, and to explosion, this market provided evidences that it is actually extending itself through the region, either in clusters of housing of workers in the urban fabric, whether in condos for elites. Keywords urbanization; housing market; Belo Horizonte; methods of regional and urban analysis.JEL Codes R00; R2; R3; O18. Implosão e explosão na Exópolis: evidências a partir do mercado imobiliário da RMBH Implosion and explosion in the Exopolis: evidences from the MRBH's real estate market

The objective of this paper is to develop arguments that compare the dynamics of financial capital and urban space. It is first argued that financial services follow a concentration-centralization logic, with highly specialized services being offered at central places in urban space, and less complex services with a more dispersed pattern. This characteristic simultaneously promotes a centralized-deconcentration effect on the urban structure: the dispersal of services and urban amenities reduces transport costs and improves urban balance in a few places, while complex services are usually highly centralized, therefore promoting unbalanced (centre-periphery) urban development. In order to understand the balance between these two effects, this paper proposes a preliminary investigation that examines the localization of banks, income and other socioeconomic features in the metropolitan area of Belo Horizonte, in Brazil.

Large‐scale urban projects (LSUPs) are capable of changing cities' structures and, consequently, have a potential deep impact on land values. However, to assume that the LSUP always uplift land values may dismiss too quickly some key aspects of these investments. This work uses a difference‐in‐differences model to assess the impacts of LSUPs on land values, implemented in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Results indicate that the impacts of LSUPs vary according to the kind of project (transit, iconic building and retail) and property (residential, commercial and vacant land). Macroeconomic cycles, negative externalities, and projects location within the local urban structure are key to understand the impacts' dynamics.

This paper aims to bridge universality – as gentrification stands as a global threat to vulnerable communities – and local circumstances and geographies, by investigating structural factors, such as deindustrialisation and land rent gaps, as well as local political economies and socio-spatial structures, which are all common in the Global South. We conducted research in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, to investigate whether a neoliberal economic development policy acted as a trigger for gentrification, relying on mixed methods research to analyse evidence of economic restructuring, land rent creation, changes in resident profiles and major urban development trends in the region. Findings indicate evidence of economic restructuring and that the policy triggered higher land values. However, we did not observe evidence of gentrification in the area and attribute this to a still-relevant manufacturing sector, the extensive presence of large informal settlements, the growing numbers of suburban gated communities, the low proportion of renters, and the fact that local elites are moving southwards while the policy took place in the northern peripheries of the metropolis. Federal policies such as minimum wage increases and housing programs partially contradicted neoliberal state policies. This case study offers a lens to investigate gentrification in different latitudes and illustrates how social policies may prevent gentrification processes.

renda da terra e o espaço urbano capitalista contemporâneo Land rent and the urban space in contemporary capitalismrenan Pereira almeida roBerTo luÍS de melo monTe-mór* RESuMO: Este trabalho visa expor e discutir quais correntes do pensamento econômico são capazes de apresentar formulações que dialoguem com a conformação espacial das cidades no capitalismo contemporâneo. Para isso, parte-se de uma apresentação dos pressupostos de um modelo neoclássico tradicional de Economia urbana, seguido da apreciação crítica desse modelo. A partir dessa crítica, expõem-se as diversas visões das escolas de pensamento econômico em relação ao conceito de renda da terra, o qual é entendido como uma categoria de análise ainda útil para se entender tal estrutura espacial, bem como são fundamentais as considerações sobre as particularidades do urbano. PAlAVRAS-CHAVE: Renda da terra; Espaço urbano; Economia urbana; História do Pensamento Econômico; Economia Política.ABSTRACT: This paper aims to expose and discuss which schools of economic thought are able of presenting formulations that dialogue with the spatial conformation of cities in contemporary capitalism. For this, it is based on a presentation of the assumptions of a traditional Neoclassical model of urban Economics, followed by a critical appreciation of this model. From this critique, different views of the schools of economic thought are exposed in relation to the concept of land rent, which is understood as a category of analysis still useful to understand such a spatial structure, as well as the considerations about the particularities of the urban.

Resumo Diante da crescente urbanização e expansão da fronteira urbano-imobiliária sobre o território das metrópoles, este trabalho analisa o mercado informal de moradia na Colônia Juliano Moreira, bairro localizado na região de Jacarepaguá, zona oeste do Rio de Janeiro. Investigam-se as características desse mercado quanto à sua estrutura, aos bens transacionados, às instituições atuantes e aos agentes participantes. Essa análise utiliza dados de anúncios de imóveis e entrevistas semiestruturadas com agentes-chave locais. A partir das entrevistas realizadas, nota-se que a falta de segurança nos contratos firmados é uma característica fundamental do mercado analisado. Há uma estrutura oligopólica e alta demanda pelos imóveis ofertados, conferindo enorme poder de mercado aos ofertantes. A população vulnerável que demanda moradia nessa área depende sobremaneira de laços de lealdade e confiança, que surgem como instituições importantes para o funcionamento da dinâmica imobiliária local. Três instituições mostram-se particularmente relevantes: a associação dos moradores, a milícia e a relação de confiança e lealdade presente nos acordos mercantis.

Real estate markets reveal aspects regarding the urban-regional network of a country and the possibilities for the development of this network in a polycentric manner. Using an unprecedented database, this article investigates the real estate markets in second-, third- and fourth-tier metropolises in Brazil. It explores the variability and creates typologies of real estate markets in a group of selected metropolises – Brasília, Belo Horizonte, Salvador, Florianópolis and Vitória – using multivariate analysis methods. The results indicate high levels of market segmentation, shed light on the suburbanization processes versus the presence of strong city centers, and raise concerns regarding the affordability of housing in some municipalities. Within each agglomeration, real estate markets vary substantially, indicating a high level of social segregation; among them, there are intriguing similarities, indicating how the residential and commercial locations are (re) produced in a relatively generic manner in Brazil.