In England, parks and gardens are an acknowledged part of the historic environment, for which the principal protection mechanism is the planning system. Since 2010, that protection has relied primarily on the application of a policy predicated on the identification and conservation of a historic asset’s ‘significance’, or special interest. This research evaluates the concept of significance as a basis for protecting historic parks and gardens in England, and assesses the effectiveness of the planning system in sustaining that significance. It adopts a case study approach to investigate the handling of a planning application for a development proposal in each of three registered parks and gardens, involving site assessments, documentary review, and semi-structured interviews. This is supplemented by a nationwide questionnaire survey of local planning authorities, interviews with high-level stakeholders, and analysis of relevant policy and legislation. The research finds that significance-based policy is not well understood, and that its potential is unfulfilled in practice. Parks and gardens themselves are found to be relatively neglected as heritage assets in both conservation and research. The research concludes that the planning system could be effective in sustaining the significance of historic parks and gardens, but currently is not. The contributions to knowledge made by the research include the review of planning practice in respect of parks and gardens (the first since 1992), the development of a typology of interests to inform the definition of significance, and a model to guide the process of definition. A further contribution – with the potential for wider application – is a theoretical model of the influences on the construction of significance in the decision-making process on planning applications. Recommendations arising from the research include a call for improved use of existing protection mechanisms, and for the production of guidance for practitioners to support this.

Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is a systematic process for assessing and evaluating the potential environmental effects of proposed policies, plans and programmes (PPPs) and their alternatives, in order to identify and address such issues at the early (pre-project) stages of strategic planning and decision-making. Although SEA is a key aspect of current and evolving environmental assessment theory and practice, the primary focus thus far has been on its statutory application to public-sector planning initiatives. Despite previous comments that SEA should also be applicable and of interest to corporations, there has been very little evidence or investigation of its potential voluntary adoption and application in this context. Important questions therefore remain about what might motivate or deter a corporation from deciding to use SEA, and if so, the particular timing or stage of planning at which it is to be applied, the environmental issues upon which it would focus, and the SEA approach and methods to be used. This study has therefore been designed and conducted to investigate corporate decision-making about whether, why, when and how to voluntarily adopt and apply SEA. Due to a lack of previous research on this topic, and the overall inapplicability and inadequacy of other existing theory and knowledge to it, the study has adopted a qualitative and inductive (exploratory) approach. The research methods involved a series of semi-structured interviews and subsequent focus group sessions with strategic planning personnel within electricity utilities in Canada, in order to identify and seek to understand their views and decisions about the possible voluntarily adoption and application of SEA. The results of the study indicate that a variety of factors are considered by corporations in decision-making about the potential use of SEA. This includes issues related to: 1) The type and level of environmental uncertainty and risk that is perceived to be associated with the company’s overall strategic planning initiatives (PPPs); 2) The particular reasons for it perceiving a need to proactively address environmental risks at the strategic level as opposed to at later stages of planning or during PPP implementation; 3) The specific rationale for, and objectives and desired outcomes of, any such SEA use by the corporation; and 4) the perceived applicability of SEA to the corporation’s planning and business activities, and its likely effectiveness in achieving the above referenced objectives and outcomes. A number of internal and external contextual factors were also found to be influential in corporate views about whether SEA is considered to be necessary, possible, applicable and likely effective, including the perceived benefits, costs, risks and challenges associated with its use. As a key outcome of the study, these research findings are used in the development and discussion of a conceptual framework that identifies the occurrence, influence and interrelationships of these factors and the manner and order in which they are recognized and considered in corporate decisions about SEA and its use. A summary of the main results of the study, including the resulting conceptual framework, was subsequently provided to all interviewees and focus group participants and is included as an appendix to the thesis. In addition to providing an opportunity to generate new knowledge in relation to this previously uninvestigated subject, this research has also provided an interesting and unique context through which to investigate and evaluate longstanding and more recent and evolving theoretical perspectives about SEA, as reflected in the current literature. The study’s results highlight a number of new and important dimensions of how SEA is viewed and potentially used in certain contexts, including issues related to its perceived purpose and objectives, approaches, and potential and desired outcomes, which are presented and evaluated herein in order to contribute to the further advancement of SEA theory.

This thesis examines how significant redevelopment of the historic centre of Sulaimaniyah in Kurdistan-Iraq has impacted on the social life of established residents. A key starting point for the thesis is concern that the city has weak frameworks for managing rapid urban change. The impacts are being felt in terms of displacement of residents, but changes to historic buildings have implications for patterns of everyday social life, belonging and identity. The thesis documents the changing character of Sulaimaniyah, exploring patterns of change and their implications for everyday life and lived experience in the city. Detailed interviews with residents are used to explore those experiential impacts, focusing particularly on individuals and groups who are negatively affected by change. Central to that experience is the embedded nature of everyday spiritual experience that is embedded in the cultural built environment. The thesis makes a distinctive contribution in a number of ways. First, it offers a rare and important example of research on Kurdish cities (and cultural built heritage in the global Middle East). Second, researching those contexts highlights forms of lived experience that are not always addressed in conceptions of cultural built heritage based on ‘western’ experience. Third, the thesis provides further evidence of the importance of cultural built heritage in protecting the living space and ontological security of vulnerable residents.

This thesis is concerned with how space is represented. Of particular interest are discursive constructions of space in the formal articulations of spatial planning and the contemporary languages of academic geography and social science. It is suggested that no understanding of the Western spatial imaginary could be complete without consideration of the constituting logic of colonisation and spatial expansion on Western ideas of space and its potentialities. Empirical illustrations are taken from the physical, formal language of the British new towns projects, Corbusian planning ideas and Victorian urban social reform agitations. There is a consideration of academic literatures that imply, suggest and promote differing versions of space. Concerns about the continued 'white eye' of the new post-colonial place geographies of contemporary Britain are outlined. Argued through a broad, interdisciplinary literature, particular focus is placed on redefining colonialism as a discursive strategy for appropriating others. The thesis concludes that there is a continued need for a decolonisation of Western spatial identities and registers.

Contemporary spatial planning policy and practice for regulating urban growth and urban space have led to fragmentation in the layout of modern residential areas in many countries. This fragmentation, together with the structural change that societies around the world have experienced in the last three to four decades, has created transitory and impersonal public spaces that not only deprive inhabitants of the socialisation associated with traditional communities but which also contribute to the breakdown of one of the mechanisms of behaviour control and crime prevention (i.e. natural surveillance combined with self-policing). As these spaces become less identified, residents’ perceptions of vulnerability to criminal and sub-criminal activities, as well as the actual level of antisocial behaviour, have increased. In addition, residents are exposed to higher levels of risk from traffic, noise, air pollution, and other urban hazards. Therefore, awareness of risk and fear of the outdoor environment are heightened and become common in the rhythms of the everyday lives of residential environments. Consequently, individuals (or at least those within certain sectors of society) have withdrawn from public life, and life in general has become more insular, inward-looking and home based. Our problem is that public spaces within modern residential areas in Jeddah have changed from being embedded in the social fabric of the city to being part of fragmented urban settings. These spaces have not only reduced socialisation for inhabitants, but have also become a public burden and a continuous drain on urban life. This research draws on an exploratory and explanatory investigation to understand how the current state of these spaces came about. For this purpose, we have dissected the different actions undertaken by the stakeholders involved in public space provision. This has the further aim of developing multi-dimensional intellectual approaches to inform urban design principles for the future provision of this amenity. Broadly speaking, the investigation –– which was carried out using a mixed method as its research strategy –– allows us to argue that the contemporary practice of public space provision does not create places that might foster community interaction and enrich socio-cultural life in this context. Moreover, the key argument of this research is that the quality of public spaces within modern residential areas can be effectively enhanced by public participation in the maintenance and management of these spaces. Some recommendations for the future provision of this amenity are offered

This thesis attempts to explore the urban development of the middle class areas of Victorian Glasgow. The developments of these estates may be similar to other contemporary suburban developments throughout the country during the 19th century. However, local conditions, such as existing urban fabric and the legal system also played an important role. To establish the development process, the main analysis was therefore based on individual studies of each estate. A brief historical survey for each estate was carried out, based on documents and historical records. This was followed by a detailed analysis of the transition from agricultural steadings to suburban estates. This analysis was made possible by studying three categories of plans of the development: the original estate plans or old surveys, the feuing design plans, and the 1913 Ordnance Survey. Particular attention was paid to the feuing design stages by analysing how would other constraints such as topography and boundaries of the estate affect the initial design as well as the development process. These studies are further augmented by relating their developments to the wider context of social exclusiveness, which was made possible by the Scottish feuing system. The result of these developments is finally discussed in an overview. This last part will attempt to draw several observations of the process that created the final cohesive urban scenario as known today.

No description available.

In modern society, more and more people have experienced the challenge of communicating and maintaining long distance relationships due to business, marriage, military deployment, working or studying. The development of Information and Communications Technologies in the past decades has contributed to facilitate the communication with colleagues, clients, family and friends. This research focuses on maintaining long distance family relationship through narrative in social space. In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in sharing baby stories in social spaces especially among the mothers. A host of new sites, including Totspot, Odadeo, Lil'Grams and Kidmondo, now offer parents a chance to, instead of sending multiple emails messages with their baby stories, invite friends and family to join and contribute to a network geared to connecting them to their babies. In addition there are also websites specifically for documenting baby lives; among them BabyJellyBeans, OurBabyHomepage or TotSites. In spite of their lack of specificity, other generic media-sharing web sites such as Fotopages, Blogger, YouTube or Flickr are also likely to be used to create baby narratives with text, photos or videos. It is apparent that people can and like to create narratives as a form of expression. Yet we still need to consolidate a clear understanding of the role played by different media and tools on the creation of those narratives, as well as about the nature of storytelling around family life. In this study researcher study three types of media for creating narrative: text-based (Blogger), photo-based (Flickr) and video-based (YouTube). Researcher used a case study of sixteen Malaysian young mothers from the Malaysian community in Manchester in creating their baby or child narrative in social space to share with their family. At the same time family member in Malaysia were asked to view or read the story and give comments about their feeling and opinion about the narrative. At the end of the study, research comes out with the requirements for facilitating the family long distance relationship through narrative. 10

Revolutionary advances in transportation and novel communication services challenge traditional notions of acculturation and integration of immigrants into receiving societies. In many cases, migrants' connections to the homeland can be explained using psycho-social theories as well as political and economic incentivebased frameworks. This process is facilitated by the plethora of communication services and technological devices that help migrants to keep up with close and intimate ties as well as keep abreast of occurrences in their homeland. Through interpersonal interactions, social networks seem to be fundamental to maintaining migrants' awareness of events in their home communities. In addition, there is an emerging phenomenon of websites created with the aim of reconnecting migrants to daily life in their places of origin: heimat websites. This thesis presents a set of studies aimed at presenting the dynamics that characterise the use of heimat websites. Through a combination of qualitative and quantitative techniques, a good understanding was derived of the way heimat websites are used for the maintenance of cross-border micro-connections. Due to the public, transnational nature of heimat websites, they allow migrants to engage in online behaviours that would otherwise not be possible. This investigation argues that heimat websites can be potentially used for civic participation and collective action from abroad. Also, heimat websites seem to be used by some migrants to reproduce their social status in their communities of origin through the online display of images of modernism and material culture. Furthennore, heimat websites seem to be instrumental in administering the social reality of the community to migrants as it unfolds. This investigation also unravels online processes used by migrants to maintain their social identity through images of the homeland and local infonnation. Simultaneously, heimat websites appear to work as a conduit through which social remittances travel to the homeland in the fonn of images, ideas, and social practices. In this way, heimat websites are places where the sending and receiving communities merge together to varying degrees. Finally, amongst the findings, lurking on the website and experiencing homesickness are correlated. This thesis contributes to existing theory in diasporic websites by extending the current classification of diaspora-homeland websites by presenting heimat websites and their dynamics. Findings from this work can be used for the better design of communication services for transnational communities. Likewise, implications for design can be derived to improve interaction on heimat websites. This set of implications could help to improve the way heimat websites are conceived in tenns of interactions, news reports, and organisation of infonnation.

This thesis focuses on the electronic network and its transformation in relation to women's organizations and their social context. Despite the fact that an expansion of electronic networking among women's organizations has been occurring for the last decade, there is little evidence to indicate how in practice information and communication technologies (ICTs) may be contributing to the advancement of women. The thesis investigates this issue by examining the transformation in a women's electronic network. It asks whether, how and to what extent the use of the computer-mediated communication (CMC) has transformed the goals, activities and members of the electronic network of women's organizations. The study investigates the potential that new ICTs offer to women who would otherwise be excluded from aspects of decision-making and global governance processes. The main focus of the theoretical development is derived from social constructivism. However, in view of the absence of a well-established theoretical framework that embraces ICTs, gender and development, the conceptual framework for this thesis is supplemented by several theoretical constructs. These are theoretical reflections on a technology-context framework as proposed by Houston and Jackson, a communication perspective drawn from collective action theory, and a perspective on gender and technology derived from Wajcman's technofeminism construct. A case study of an electronic network of women's organizations called the Asian Women's Resource Exchange serves as the focus for the empirical research which is principally based on a qualitative interview-based method. The results of the study indicate that the transformation of a women's electronic network is not a straightforward process and does not necessarily generate the expected results. Rather, the transformations that occur are the result of complex interactions between technology and the social context whereby women change their practices and norms by working collectively through the electronic network which, in turn, leads to often unexpected changes in their activities and their membership. Highlighting the electronic network as defined in this thesis as an agent of change yields insight into the dynamic nature of the network and offers a more comprehensive understanding of the reciprocal interactions between actors and their activities that are enabled by CMC.