The thesis sets out to examine the utility of remote sensing techniques in helping to define recommendation domains relatively homogeneous agricultural areas - to act as foci for agricultural development planning in lower Meru, Kenya. Recommendation domains are used in farming systems research (FSR) for agricultural research and development initiatives enabling greater participation from rural producers within the development process. Recommendation domains are defined by agricultural potential (agro-ecological zones) and farming systems (agro-economic groupings). A multilevel approach incorporating Landsat MSS data, 1:50,000 stereo panchromatic air photography, large scale aerial colour slide photography and ground surveys is used to collect data on the farming systems of the study area. Relatively homogeneous farming patterns are identified and mapped using a number of different computer software packages. These patterns are related to previously identified zones of agricultural potential (agro-ecological zones) to define recommendation domains for new agricultural development initiatives in the area. Several domains are identified for specific attention. Recommendations are made which are relevant to both national and district level agricultural planning in Kenya. It is suggested that future development programmes should focus on areas undergoing population movement and cultivation change since without careful planning these changes are likely to detrimentally affect the local farming systems and natural environment.

The t t es i s explores the structure and process of proje c t manage ment in two Passenger Transport Executives(G .M. P . T. E . and S. Y . ~ . T.E ) In view of thedearth of practical advice on· proj ect management , the research i s con c erned n ot only wi th the wider i mp li cat io~s of pro j ec t management but a l s o to provide valid counsel to practisi ng managers . Issues raised in the litera ture sugg es t ed that successful project management was a com plex, shifting amal gam of four " id eE l~ ty pes , whose boundarie s were delineated by two structural d i mens ion s (Un structured- Structur ed and Proj ect orienta ti on- Functional orientation) . Al th ough the concept of power was c ommon to both dim ens i ons , each wa~ felt to constitute a sepa r ate ~~ pect of proj ect ma ~ agement and it was h ypothes i sed that successful pr oj ect management came about from the management of a II dynamic balance " a cross b ot h dime ns i ons - maintaining a crude trade off which at any poi n t in time would be gov erned by the characteristics of the task , environment and the culture of the incumbent or gani sati on . Exhaustive analysis of 6 pro j ect g r oups added to the working ~ypo theses suggested by the literature . In the empirica l melting pot , observations, analysis and working hypotheses were coalesc ed to g i ve a normative three- dimensional contingency model of proj e c t nan6gement and retros pe ctively , the relative success or fa ilure of proj ect ma nagement i n both organisa tions is explained with reference t o this model. The results underline the i mportance of training and of past experience in group problem- solving te chn i ques . But the experience of project manage~e nt in G. K. T. and S . Y. T. sug gests that admini s trators contemnlating project ma" ageme n~ shoul d consi der the culture of their organi sa ti on and pay due re ga rd to the likely strength of cult ural and historice.l opposi ti on . The research a lso pOi nts to the need fo r careful "hand s-on" manage ment to ensure the mai ntenance of a dynami c balan c e over the life of the proje ct- exe rcising a crude trade~~ff between t he vertical and l ateral dimensions of proj e ct management . In a wider philosophical and theoretical s ense the research shows the folly of exercising simple structural expedients to solve complex problems of organisation and concludes t hat there are no simple solutions to the problem of incre asi ng organisational s i ze and complexity , and no short c uts to organi sational f l exibility .

This thesis attempted to provide a detailed theoretical understanding of the effects of task-induced fatigue on simulated driving performance. Previous research has shown that duration of driving has only a weak effect on driving performance. A series of studies were conducted to examine how fatigue effects interact with task demands, and to explore the psychological changes associated with fatigue. The research also explored links between fatigue and stress in terms of their affective reactions and the coping mechanisms which are central to them. The first phase of the research consisted of a series of simulated studies of fatigue. The first study developed an experimental paradigm to examine both task-specific and aftereffects of fatigue on driving performance. The findings showed that fatigue effects interacted with task demands such that drivers' lateral control of the vehicle and trajectory were impaired during low demand rather than in high demand driving episodes. The study also showed that the fatigue state is a multidimensional state which is principally characterised by a reduction in motivation. The second and third studies attempted to explore the role of motivational mechanisms in fatigue-related impairments. This phase of the research showed that impairments in low demand driving conditions may be reduced by enhancing the driver's motivational state. The fourth study explored the development of subjective fatigue in two types of task-induced fatigue. The study showed that there is a dissociation between subjective and objective fatigue. The second phase of the research examined the links between stress and fatigue in simulated and real-life driving environments. The studies showed that stress and fatigue are similar states but there are particular features which make them distinct states. The results from simulated and real-life driving environments showed a high degree of consistency.

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Following the 1947 Town and Country Planning Act, a persistent policy of urban containment has been pursued throughout rural areas of the United Kingdom. In spite of growing evidence that the effects of containment are incompatible with key aspects of public policy towards housing, agriculture and the environment, there is little sign that government agencies are considering the possibility of a serious policy re-think. This thesis represents the first attempt to analyse the continued commitment to this core of the British land use planning system from the perspective of public choice theory. The thesis begins with an outline of the institutional focus of public choice analysis, considering the fundamental questions of 'market failure', 'government failure' and the theoretical case for state intervention in the market for land. Having examined the evolving context of urban containment in the post-war period, the thesis proceeds to apply key elements of public choice to decision-making incentives in the planning system. The empirical analysis commences with an account of interest group behaviour on the 'demand side' of the political system. A subsequent section turns to the 'supply side', examining bureaucratic incentive structures and the role of regulatory agencies in the management of land use change. A still further section considers the role of legislative incentives on the 'supply side'. Finally, the empirical analysis concludes with a case study of a major planning dispute. The evidence presented suggests that a combination of institutional incentives on both the 'demand' and 'supply' sides of the 'political market' has led to the continual growth of restrictive land use regulation at the expense of a diffuse and unorganized mass of urban taxpayers and consumers. The thesis concludes by outlining a possible institutional alternative based on private property rights, which might help to avoid these undesirable elements of the British planning system.

For over three hundred years, including its most recent, "Fordist" phase, industrial capitalism has been shaping the organisation of territory, fostering urbanisation and the emergence of the great cities and industrial regions. Recently, many observers have suggested that Fordism is in crisis and a period of transition is underway to a "post-Fordist" economy, the characteristics of which are antithetical to those of Fordism. Though territorial aspects are in many ways at the core of the post-Fordist school, particularly the so-called "rise" of the industrial district, regional and especially urban factors are not systematically dealt with in the literature. There is scant empirical evidence of the territorial organisation of the post- Fordist productive systems, nor a clear delineation of the logic behind this particular structure of territorial organisation. Drawing on evidence of three case studies of industrial districts in the Third Italy, the central thesis put forward is that the pattern of cities and regions that has been evolving relatively smoothly since the beginning of the industrial era is currently undergoing a dramatic reorganisation, as a result of a new logic of post-Fordist capital accumulation. New patterns of uneven development are being forged, that are in many ways a reversal of previous and long-standing urban and regional evolutionary trends. The role of spatial and territorial factors in the evolution of certain forms of post-Fordist organisation of production are also explored. In basic outline, the thesis: o argues that we are entering a post-Fordist era and industrial districts can be marshalled as evidence of this; o offers explanations as to why these particular territorial systems of production emerged in the Third Italy, and how they relate to the logic of post-Fordist accumulation; and o concludes that post-Fordism is associated with a reorganisation of urban and regional territory at all geographical scales: regions, urban systems and the urban hierarchy, intra-urban and intra-district space.

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No description available.

The thesis proposes a theoretical perspective for the analysis of public institutions. The key element is the incorporation into such institutions of conflicting and conflict-generating epistemological positions. The presence of certain epistemologies, particularly empiricism and critical theory, is taken to account for failures within the institution to conduct rational, critical debate on certain policy proposals. Empirically, the thesis considers examples of the failure of Strathclyde Regional Council to conduct effectively its policy of 'setting its own house in order', i.e. improving its own service delivery, this being intended as the main component of its policy for tackling urban deprivation. The background to this policy is established in chapters reviewing national policy initiatives on deprivation; the rise of corporate planning in British local government; the documents which influenced Strathclydes' own management structures; and the development of policy on deprivation in the first years of the authority's existence. Philosophically, the thesis examines critical rationalism (Karl Popper), critical theory (the Frankfurt School) and empiricism, in so far as these positions each suggest different answers to the question 'how should criticism of society proceed in society?'. It concludes that both critical theory and empiricism tend in practice to produce a dogmatism which aborts open debate. Against this background policy documents from Strathclyde are re-examined alongside texts of interviews conducted with senior officers and members. Philosophical positions are identified in the texts which are substantially in agreement with those examined philosophically. Exposition focuses in particular on the vocabulary of the texts, using the philosophical texts' own identification of key elements of vocabulary (e.g. 'all the facts', for empiricism, 'reality' for critical theory, 'learning from mistakes' for critical rationalism).

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