Environmental quality in the municipal districts of the center-south region of Minas Gerais

Abstract

Abstract The main objective of this study was to analyze the level of environmental quality in the cities of the Center-South region of Minas Gerais. Factor Analysis, Cluster Analysis and the construction of an Index of Environmental Quality (IQA) were employed. It was found that most of the region is in good conditions of environmental quality. The agricultural pressure indicator and the basic sanitation indicator were the factors that contributed more to determination of IQA. Trough cluster analysis it was possible to aggregate the municipalities of the region in four different groups. It was concluded that the cluster of cities with better economic conditions showed the worse environmental quality. Key words: environmental quality, Factor Analysis, Cluster Analysis Classificação JEL: Q50 Artigo recebido em ago. 2010 e aceito para publicação em out. 2012.