Freight transport is the output of an economic market, which converts commodity flows into vehicle flows. Interactions in this market influence vehicle flows and since freight market characteristics (product differentiation and economies of scale/scope) violate perfect competition conditions, the output of this market cannot be predicted directly, unless these interactions are represented in the forecasting models. Traditional freight modelling frameworks do not consider these interactions and consequently they may provide inaccurate freight flow forecasts. In this dissertation, a freight modelling framework is proposed using simulation of freight agent interactions in the economic market to forecast freight flows. The framework is named FREMIS (FREight Market Interactions Simulation). The FREMIS framework consists of two demand models to represent shipper decisions (bundling of shipments and carrier selection) in the market and functions based on profit maximizing behaviour to simulate carrier proposals for contracts. Besides that, learning models are proposed to simulate agent learning processes based on their interactions. The framework was developed aiming to create a realistic representation of freight markets using feasible data collection methods. To illustrate the feasibility of the data collection, a customized web survey was implemented with shippers and carriers in a freight market. Two probabilistic models were developed using the data. The first model, a shipment bundling model was proposed combining a probabilistic model and a vehicle routing algorithm. The results of the probabilistic model are presented in this dissertation, where the locations of shipments (origin and destination) influence the probability of bundling them. Second, three carrier selection models were developed aiming to analyse the nonresponse bias and non-attendance problem in the survey. All of these models assumed heteroskedasticity (different scale or variance) in shipper behaviour. In all models, the hypothesis of agents’ heteroskedasticity cannot be rejected. Besides that, nonresponse bias and non-attendance problem were identified in the survey. In conclusion, the models obtained from the survey were consistent with their behavioural assumptions and therefore they can be adopted during FREMIS implementation.

This research examines a contemporary planning case in Toronto where tensions between policy visions and planning practices contribute to our understanding of neoliberal urbanism. Media, policy and interview discourses contribute to developing the nexus between neoliberal urbanism, creative class theory and gentrification in the case of 629 Eastern Avenue. The amalgamation of Toronto’s municipalities in 1998 resulting from the “Common Sense Revolution”, and the ‘creative turn’ in the 2000s are identified as two key evolutionary stages in Toronto’s neoliberal urbanism. The City’s contradictory positions as “grassroots” organizers, market actors and market regulators reveals their interventionist role in this case. The analytical imperative presented by this case study to expose the contradictory and contingent nature of ‘actually existing neoliberalism’ (Brenner & Theodore, 2002) leads to challenging our very understanding of neoliberalism in the context of contemporary urban planning practices.

This research examines a contemporary planning case in Toronto where tensions between policy visions and planning practices contribute to our understanding of neoliberal urbanism. Media, policy and interview discourses contribute to developing the nexus between neoliberal urbanism, creative class theory and gentrification in the case of 629 Eastern Avenue. The amalgamation of Toronto’s municipalities in 1998 resulting from the “Common Sense Revolution”, and the ‘creative turn’ in the 2000s are identified as two key evolutionary stages in Toronto’s neoliberal urbanism. The City’s contradictory positions as “grassroots” organizers, market actors and market regulators reveals their interventionist role in this case. The analytical imperative presented by this case study to expose the contradictory and contingent nature of ‘actually existing neoliberalism’ (Brenner & Theodore, 2002) leads to challenging our very understanding of neoliberalism in the context of contemporary urban planning practices.

This cross-disciplinary study extends existing theoretical and normative arguments regarding participatory democracy and adult informal learning by identifying the ways in which participation in community-based governance structures provides learning opportunities and builds individuals’ civic capacity. It also determines the functional characteristics of such schemes by analyzing the case of the Toronto Community Housing Corporation’s Tenant Participation System (TPS), a state-sponsored program to integrate principles of participatory democracy into the norms of public service delivery. As has been noted in the literature, people are motivated to participate for a variety of reasons, the most common being that they see a real need or potential for change in their community. However, in contrast to past research, tenants also got engaged out of a desire to learn – to learn more about local political procedures. Three conditions were noted as both sufficient and necessary to make participation happen. One was the desire to influence authority over decisions affecting tenants’ housing conditions. Second was the idea that participation has important benefits for the participants. Third was a sense of qualification, that those tenants who participate feel that they are qualified, more than others, thus they choose to step forward to represent their communities. Informal learning through the TPS had several key effects. Increased self-confidence and overcoming fear of authority helped to radically transform the traditional tenant-management relationship into a collaborative endeavour in which tenants get the opportunity to be part of the change they would like to see. In addition, the skills learned through the participatory process resulted in increased managerial efficiency – a self-reinforcing process whereby the participatory project improves through time and through the very act of participation. Learning, however, occurred through cooperation, competition and struggle as well. This study reveals two major challenges. First, the lack of discussion amongst stakeholders regarding the purpose of participation has, in some instances, resulted in confusing practices that complicate the process and eventually hinder the growth of a participatory culture within the organization. Second, conceiving community participation through competitive elections tends to move the collaborative approach to community governance closer to the hierarchical paradigm of property management.

This cross-disciplinary study extends existing theoretical and normative arguments regarding participatory democracy and adult informal learning by identifying the ways in which participation in community-based governance structures provides learning opportunities and builds individuals’ civic capacity. It also determines the functional characteristics of such schemes by analyzing the case of the Toronto Community Housing Corporation’s Tenant Participation System (TPS), a state-sponsored program to integrate principles of participatory democracy into the norms of public service delivery. As has been noted in the literature, people are motivated to participate for a variety of reasons, the most common being that they see a real need or potential for change in their community. However, in contrast to past research, tenants also got engaged out of a desire to learn – to learn more about local political procedures. Three conditions were noted as both sufficient and necessary to make participation happen. One was the desire to influence authority over decisions affecting tenants’ housing conditions. Second was the idea that participation has important benefits for the participants. Third was a sense of qualification, that those tenants who participate feel that they are qualified, more than others, thus they choose to step forward to represent their communities. Informal learning through the TPS had several key effects. Increased self-confidence and overcoming fear of authority helped to radically transform the traditional tenant-management relationship into a collaborative endeavour in which tenants get the opportunity to be part of the change they would like to see. In addition, the skills learned through the participatory process resulted in increased managerial efficiency – a self-reinforcing process whereby the participatory project improves through time and through the very act of participation. Learning, however, occurred through cooperation, competition and struggle as well. This study reveals two major challenges. First, the lack of discussion amongst stakeholders regarding the purpose of participation has, in some instances, resulted in confusing practices that complicate the process and eventually hinder the growth of a participatory culture within the organization. Second, conceiving community participation through competitive elections tends to move the collaborative approach to community governance closer to the hierarchical paradigm of property management.

In many developing countries, particularly Small Island Developing States (SIDS), coastal tourism impacts local economies and societies in significant ways, and plays an important role in transforming the environment. Rather than simply interpreting the changes that occur around coastal tourist enclaves as impacts, I argue that it is important to recognize the urban nature of spaces proliferating around these enclaves and to understand the role of the actors of coastal tourism in the production of these spaces. Utilizing a case study (Bávaro-Punta Cana, Dominican Republic), my research draws from over one year of fieldwork, including 97 semi-structured interviews with local residents, researchers, and various stakeholders. I examine the power relations between the private sector, local residents, and different levels and sectors of the State in the area’s urban development process. The context of Bávaro-Punta Cana is characterized by the following three issues. First, the newly established local government is generally impotent vis-á-vis other State actors and powerful private sector interests, and is unable to ensure the public good for its citizens. Second, many local residents live in conditions that are worse than traditional urban areas in the country. Third, the private sector has inserted itself as pivotal actor in the development and governance of the newly urbanizing area through practices of corporate social responsibility. Based on my analysis, I refer to the realities of Bávaro-Punta Cana as ‘resort urbanism.’ I utilize this term to illustrate the manifestations of tourism-related urbanization. Drawing from planning concepts, namely splintering urbanism, informality and citizenship, I analyze the physicality and spatiality of urbanization, the processes of urban development, and the rights of citizens and the relations between actors in the production of this new urban space. First, I argue that urban space in Bávaro-Punta Cana is produced as a form of ‘splintered urbanism.’ Second, this space is materially shaped by practices of informality or what is known locally as arrabalización. Last, the area lacks a local governance structure through which residents can adequately make claims to fulfill their basic needs, raising important questions regarding the rights and responsibilities of different actors in urban development.

Midsize cities face a number of sustainability challenges, particularly in terms of transportation and land use, however only a small subset of the literature has addressed these issues. Examination of the literature reveals two reasons for this: there is no consensus on a definition of midsize cities used for transportation research purposes, and there is very little empirical understanding of midsize city characteristics. This thesis addresses both of these issues. In order to establish the bigger picture, an empirical classification of Canadian cities is completed and used as a tool to analyze the travel behaviour characteristics of Canadian midsize cities. This work is followed by two detailed case studies of midsize Canadian cities – the City of Kamloops, British Columbia, and the Town of Milton, Ontario. The case studies employ both qualitative and quantitative research methods to explore the context around travel behaviour in each community.

Midsize cities face a number of sustainability challenges, particularly in terms of transportation and land use, however only a small subset of the literature has addressed these issues. Examination of the literature reveals two reasons for this: there is no consensus on a definition of midsize cities used for transportation research purposes, and there is very little empirical understanding of midsize city characteristics. This thesis addresses both of these issues. In order to establish the bigger picture, an empirical classification of Canadian cities is completed and used as a tool to analyze the travel behaviour characteristics of Canadian midsize cities. This work is followed by two detailed case studies of midsize Canadian cities – the City of Kamloops, British Columbia, and the Town of Milton, Ontario. The case studies employ both qualitative and quantitative research methods to explore the context around travel behaviour in each community.

Freight transport is the output of an economic market, which converts commodity flows into vehicle flows. Interactions in this market influence vehicle flows and since freight market characteristics (product differentiation and economies of scale/scope) violate perfect competition conditions, the output of this market cannot be predicted directly, unless these interactions are represented in the forecasting models. Traditional freight modelling frameworks do not consider these interactions and consequently they may provide inaccurate freight flow forecasts. In this dissertation, a freight modelling framework is proposed using simulation of freight agent interactions in the economic market to forecast freight flows. The framework is named FREMIS (FREight Market Interactions Simulation). The FREMIS framework consists of two demand models to represent shipper decisions (bundling of shipments and carrier selection) in the market and functions based on profit maximizing behaviour to simulate carrier proposals for contracts. Besides that, learning models are proposed to simulate agent learning processes based on their interactions. The framework was developed aiming to create a realistic representation of freight markets using feasible data collection methods. To illustrate the feasibility of the data collection, a customized web survey was implemented with shippers and carriers in a freight market. Two probabilistic models were developed using the data. The first model, a shipment bundling model was proposed combining a probabilistic model and a vehicle routing algorithm. The results of the probabilistic model are presented in this dissertation, where the locations of shipments (origin and destination) influence the probability of bundling them. Second, three carrier selection models were developed aiming to analyse the nonresponse bias and non-attendance problem in the survey. All of these models assumed heteroskedasticity (different scale or variance) in shipper behaviour. In all models, the hypothesis of agents’ heteroskedasticity cannot be rejected. Besides that, nonresponse bias and non-attendance problem were identified in the survey. In conclusion, the models obtained from the survey were consistent with their behavioural assumptions and therefore they can be adopted during FREMIS implementation.

Master of Regional and Community Planning / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Sheri L. Smith / In 1998, the City of Manhattan, Kansas and Kansas State University jointly developed a City of Manhattan Bicycle Master Plan. This plan created a vision for bicycling in the community, established goals and designated streets to be improved with bicycle facilities. The Master Plan also developed recommendations to incorporate bicycle facility planning into the growth of Manhattan. This plan created a solid political foundation that showed that bicycling matters in Manhattan, Kansas. However, the 1998 Bicycle Master Plan lacked specifics on how to incorporate these recommendations and routes into the existing and future street system. The 2008 Bicycle Master Plan Update attempts to address the shortcomings of the 1998 Master Plan and incorporate the growth and expansion of the City since 1998. The initial step of the Bicycle Master Plan Update was to calculate a Bicycle Safety Index. The Bicycle Safety Index was modeled after previous research conducted on the City of Manhattan, where street and land use attributes, such as road surface materials, street width, traffic volume, presence of angled-parking and traffic speeds were weighted and calculated in a spatial environment using GIS software. The result was a rating of all streets in Manhattan based on their suitability for safe bicycle travels. Using the results of the Bicycle Safety Index, specific routes were developed based on their proximity to bicycle destinations, such as commercial areas, schools and parks. Routes were created by using ESRI's Network Analyst software. Routes proposed by the software were evaluated by a windshield and handlebar survey to ultimately determine the appropriateness of each route. Following the determination of the proposed routes, specific facility recommendations for each street segment were proposed based on the traffic volume, vehicle speeds, street widths and the geometry of the segment. General recommendations and funding options were created to assist in the advancement of the goals and objectives originally initiated in the 1998 Master Plan. The result is a Master Plan that can be used by City Planners to incorporate bicycle transportation into the City and a map for bicyclist to travel from one place to another in the City safely.