Planning procedural theories articulate how planning agencies should deal with uncertainty. This thesis evaluates the appropriateness of three such theories--Rational Comprehensive (RC), Disjointed Incrementalism (DI), and Social Learning (SL)--in a context of resource region uncertainty. The thesis first proposes guidelines from Northeast British Columbia (NEBC) planning experience; the guidelines are informed by the successes, failures, and issues evident from agency responses to uncertainty and together propose that agencies should be centrally concerned with understanding the conditions--or the generic nature--of uncertainty. The thesis then uses these guidelines as standards by which- the three planning theories are evaluated. The evaluation reveals that the three theories generally ignore factors governing how agencies formulate and apply knowledge in the face of uncertainty. Future theory-building should elaborate how planning procedures can adduce the incisive understanding of uncertainty needed for policy design. 1. Export Market Uncertainty. The first condition identified in NEBC is that export market uncertainty varies by depth; that is, some events form and frequency are more readily predictable than others. Classifying depths of uncertainty enables agencies to decide whether so-called risk strategies-- which presume knowledge of probabilities--should be employed. If used' in NEBC, RC and DI styles would, befitting their namesakes, produce distinct descriptions of export market uncertainties; both, however, fail to provide the analytical knowledge needed for policy design. More meaningful information results from SL’s focus on understanding the predictability of events; this strength, however, is limited as SL does not explain how its decentralized planning structures would integrate the diverse views needed to properly classify the depths of export market uncertainties. A second condition is that uncertain events vary by location. In NEBC, some unpredictable export market forces could be stabilized by planning policies whereas others were truly ‘external’. Agencies should identify those export market forces which could be treated by policy and then estimate the costs and benefits of such assertive policy. This task can minimize costly and unpredictable boom-bust cycles. None of the three theories suggest the need for such an assessment, apparently assuming that an agency has little discretion or little to gain in dealing with export market forces. 2. Natural Systems Uncertainty. Natural systems uncertainties should also be classified by depth. As for export market uncertainty, RC and DI do not envision such a process; SL, in contrast, recognizes the need to classify depths, but it is unclear how a wide-based review required in NEBC could be achieved by a SL ‘decentralized’ planning hierarchy. Non-scientific factors determine how scientists select and apply scientific theories in the resolution of natural systems uncertainty. That economic, social, and cultural factors can distort predictability is a condition recognized in the philosophy of science, but unfortunately it attracts little attention in the three subject theories. 3. Uncertainty over Planning Agency Intentions. Many agencies participate in NEBC regional planning, raising the spectre of costly policy contradictions and duplications. Agencies, however, face financial and intelligence limitations, and therefore need to explicitly consider the need for and costs and benefits of consultation. All three theories hail the need to consult but naively assume that analysts will somehow define an appropriate level of consultation. 4. Public Value Uncertainty. In NEBC, social and economic factors dictate that agencies will obtain a necessarily limited view of public values. Planning agencies need to carefully assess the potentially high costs and benefits of public participation (or non-participation). All theories stress the need to survey public values, but SL’s mutual learning would best clarify policy alternatives attuned to local values. Mutual learning, however, is not a panacea, as it overlooks political reluctance to use it and ignores how non-participating societal groups should be engaged in the process. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

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Kansas State University master's non-thesis project. / Digitized by Kansas State University Libraries

The globalisation processes changed in a short period of time the framework of the world economy competitiveness and bring new opportunities and challenges. In this new scenario, the European enterprises can only compete by taking full advantages of the new opportunity offered by knowledge-based economy. In fact, Europe cannot compete on the base of reducing labour costs, polluting environment or overexploiting raw materials. Indeed European economy productivity and growth should be based on use of frontier technology and ability to produce high-tech goods, manufactures and services (Lisbon Strategy, 2000). In this perspective, innovation is considered to vital importance, to have in Europe enterprises able to compete on a global scale and to take fully advantages of new market opportunities offered by ICT exploitation. EU expect such a transition will boost fast economic growth, creates better jobs, while at same time maintains and improve the European welfare model and the environment protection (Lisbon Strategy, 2000). The thesis wants to compare innovation policy programs in two Italian regions: Emilia-Romagna and Friuli-Venezia- Giulia. The proposal of the work is to analyse how the Regional Innovation Strategy of the two chosen cases were implemented in the last program period 2000-2006. Which structures have been created? How the money was allocated? What can we learn from the past? Which opportunities were missed and what can be done? Are they really innovative? The last part of the thesis is dedicated to compare the Regional Innovation Strategy of the chosen regions. Which differences we can detect? What are the similarities between the two cases? In order to understand this, I will study what characterize an innovative region and which forces drives innovation in a particular region. The thesis will be based on Lisbon Strategy (political perspective) as point of departure to explain the role of innovation and innovation policies as peculiar importance to European social, economic and environmental development. Furthermore, regional innovation strategies (policy perspective) will be discussed to explain how the two chosen European regions have implemented their strategies to boost their development trough innovation. In particular the Regional Innovation System theory (theoretical perspective) will be assessed. The method used is to analyse economic data in the two regions, analysis of documents from EU, national and regional level, comparative analysis of innovation policies in EU, national and regional policy documents. Tables and figures will be presented and used as an element in the work thesis. The expected results of the work are: understanding how the two chosen European regions have implemented their innovation strategies and compare regional innovation strategies of two selected regions (existent similarities and differences). / 0039-3296499184

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Puerto Penasco is a small Mexican town (pop. 26,141) located on the Sonora coast 65 miles from the U.S. border at Lukeville, Arizona. In recent years, over-fishing in the Gulf of California has resulted in a sharp decline in Puerto Penasco's fishing industry. Tourism is an economic alternative which holds potential for revitalizing the local economy, if planning and design for tourism is carefully conceived and executed. Review of international tourism and examination of economic, socio-cultural, and environmental impacts of tourism indicate that traditional forms of large-scale mass tourism may not be appropriate for Puerto Penasco. An alternative, integrated form of tourism is proposed for Puerto Penasco that respects local landscapes as well as local culture and heritage. Revitalization of the historic Old Town and the Harbor areas is proposed to attract tourists to existing urban areas while preserving natural open space along the coast.

The public has a legislated right to access government data. Unfortunately, government data is often hard to acquire and difficult to analyze. Many governmental institutions have implemented geographic information systems (GIS) to solve these problems. Neighborhood associations serve as a conduit between local residents and public decision makers and are a primary public user of government data. These groups can benefit from access to spatial and tabular data maintained within publicly funded government GISs. Unfortunately, little direct public access to data maintained in these GISs is available and virtually no neighborhood association has the financial or technical capabilities to purchase GIS software and acquire the data themselves. This study analyzed the spatial data needs of four neighborhood associations in the Tucson community (Balboa Heights, Corbett, Flecha Caida, and Keeling), developed a public access system prototype, and tested it with members of the neighborhood associations.

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