This research aims to understand the relation between urban conservation planning and urban design with particular reference to the public spaces of ‘World Heritage' Cities (WHC) in Portugal. It is concerned with investigating the effectiveness of national conservation policies in Portugal in their ability to conserve and enhance the public realm, whilst making use of a combination of research methods customized to each stage and objective of the research. In order to provide a solid theoretical background for the study of planning for public realm conservation in WHC in Portugal, it was necessary to look into the epistemology of conservation and the construction and development of the heritage concept by reviewing international scholarly debates on conservation, and on public spaces and urban design. This research explores the gradual development of a ‘heritage debate’ at the international level and how a succession of events, charters and recommendations feed into theoretical and public debates to guide the development of the heritage conservation framework in Portugal. To identify and assess the effectiveness of conservation planning on the public realm, it enquired into the role of urban design within the urban conservation planning framework, as space, usually public space, is the object of study of urban design (Cohen, 1999). It became clear that effective legislation, technical organization and national planning (ICOMOS, 1967) are fundamental prerequisites to any official strategy of heritage conservation – something which Portugal lacked for a long time. As in other European cities, the trend has been to focus on public spaces renewal as the 'representation of the process of urban regeneration' (Hubbard, 1996: 1442), and whether this representation reflects the quality of the public realm achieved through urban heritage conservation is a matter for the analytical evaluation undertaken in a selected number of public spaces in Évora, Porto and Guimarães, the three illustrative case study cities of this research. The normative goal of the thesis is, ultimately, to contribute to making recommendations in order to improve the local implementation of national conservation policies, in particular through urban design guidelines that could guide local authorities in planning for the public realm conservation of their historic centres.

The focus of this research deals with on-site interpretation at historic battlefields and how it contributes to the heritage values of these sites. This research comes at a time of increased debate about what values historic battlefields possess in the United Kingdom, predominantly as they are expressed through non-statutory legislation in England and Scotland. However, apart from cursory mention of their cultural value in these documents, the potential for archaeological discoveries and the military importance of these sites have been the exclusive factors given to justify their significance. This research has sought to verify if this is the case with visitors to historic battlefields, and if not, which elements they value. In contrast to more recent conflicts, historic battlefields rarely leave any physical traces in the landscape, or ‘heritagescape’. Whilst there are occasionally markers from after the event, such as memorials or plaques, the importance of their placement and meaning is not always sufficiently presented to modern visitors. Without other forms of on-site interpretation – such as interpretative panels, live interpretation or visitor centres – it is difficult, or impossible, to locate where a battle occurred, and communicate what is known about the event. Interpreting battlefields through these media allows visitors the opportunity to connect with and understand the actions which transpired within a bounded area. As this research has found, the methods in which information about battlefields have been presented, and the narrative of interpreting events, are crucial in how visitors perceive these sites; providing the performative space for negotiating heritage values. These are key themes for this thesis, and form the basis of the research aims and objectives. The data which was collected and analysed came from three battlefield case studies in the United Kingdom with distinctive, but comparable circumstances: Culloden, Bosworth and Flodden. At the heart of these sites were the issues of how interpretation narrates the known historical facts of the battles, and at Bosworth, how this is done at a distance from the actual site. In order to ascertain how visitors interact and react to the interpretation, semi-structured interviews and participant observations were employed to engage with visitors and staff in determining how interpretation influences understanding of those spaces as ‘heritagescapes’. The key theoretical basis of the data analysis was through semiotics and communication theories. These theories were essential in establishing how recognised ‘signs’, conveyed through on-site interpretation, create meaning which visitors are capable of decoding. iii Through these investigations it is concluded that the heritage values of historic battlefields are more nuanced and less tangible than has been identified previously by academics in archaeology, history and tourism, as well as by regional and national authorities. In contrast to present paradigms, it is contended in this thesis that the value of historic battlefields for visitors, and why some have been interpreted, has little to do with the event itself or remaining tangible artefacts, nor the minutiae of exact historic reality. Instead the most significant factors were what occurred in the aftermath of the event, and the political ramifications resulting from it, and their perceived importance to the individual visitor today; regardless of their historical veracity. Despite numerous previous studies into battlefield archaeology, history and tourism, what constitutes ‘battlefield heritage’ has been explicitly under-researched. The objective of this thesis has been to rectify that gap and provide a basis for further research. This intention has not only included what heritage values visitors place on these fields today, but also why certain sites have been interpreted over others. These investigations provide a unique contribution to heritage and interpretation studies on historic battlefields and analogous ‘heritagescapes’.

In recent years, knowledge has been recognised as a core organisational resource. Scholars and charters in the field of historic buildings conservation stress the development of the knowledge of staff and organisations in this field. Because of the value of HBs, their conservation work should use all the knowledge available and this work should only be undertaken by those with the appropriate knowledge and skills. This research is concerned with studying the management of knowledge in historic building (HB) conservation organisations. The research aimed to investigate the concept of knowledge management (KM), and to develop a theoretical framework for studying and understanding KM in HB conservation organisations. To achieve this aim, the following objectives were pursued: (a) investigate the concept of KM in organisations; (b) study HBs and identify the key issues involved in their conservation; (c) investigate the extent of knowledge importance and availability in the HB organisations such as Management of Historic Cities Bureau (MHCB); (d) study the factors that affect managing knowledge in the MHCB; (e) analyse the current conditions for dealing with knowledge in the MHCB; (f) draw out key findings and identify the strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and threats in managing the MHCB’s knowledge and, finally, develop a framework for studying KM in HB conservation organisations and suggest recommendations for effective KM in the MHCB and similar organisations. A mixed approach of qualitative and quantitative research for collecting and analysing data and information was adopted. Multi-methods were used for collecting data: literature reviews, interviews, questionnaires, observation and analysing organisational documents. Validation was undertaken by cross-checking the fieldwork findings against the wider literature. The findings demonstrated that the factors affected KM in organisations include: organisational structure, ICT, the culture of collaboration, regulations and policies, changes in the organisation’s accountability which lead to a change in its role and the need for different knowledge, and cultural/religious reasons regarding the separation of genders in the work place, which affects informal knowledge sharing activities. However, the main factors which differentiate KM in HB conservation organisations from other organisations are: type of knowledge, which includes the cultural value of HBs; dealing with external experts and organisations for acquiring and exchanging knowledge regarding HBs and their conservation, and the role of the proximity of the organisation’s headquarters to HBs in acquiring knowledge through monitoring HBs. Furthermore, the findings demonstrated that the balance between people-based and explicit knowledge-based KM approaches is required to effectively manage knowledge in organisations. This research presents a framework for studying and understanding KM in organisations when used in HBs conservation organisations. It considered both approaches and demonstrated several factors that influence the management of knowledge in the MHCB context. Finally, the research provides a base reference for studying and understanding KM in organisations and provides recommendations to enable decision makers in the MHCB and similar institutions to apply effective KM to improve their organisations’ performance.

The aim of my research is to determine the appropriate cost of capital of privatized and regulated price-capped utilities. The monopoly status of the utilities meant that the privatization model suffered from a market failure. The proposed remedy was regulation. Hence, the estimation of the market determined rate of return needs to incorporate the total risk faced by a regulated company. This research provides a frame-work which can be used to "operationalize" the theory of privatization and to consider the impact of regulation on firm's risk, cost of capital and value. A fundamental issue in the theory of finance is valuation of the firm and, hence what determines the risk of the firm and how its cost of capital should be estimated. Following privatization, stock prices should be used to determine the company specific rates of return. It is shown here that the traditional valuation models, the dividend growth model and the capital asset pricing model, although utilizing capital market data, ignore the effect of regulatory policy and the impact of regulation on a firm's risk and are, therefore, conceptually deficient. This research presents a stochastic consistent and deterministic model of regulation under uncertainty which captures the dynamic impact of regulation on the risk and value of the UK privatized water monopolies. A probability cash flow model of the water companies utilising risk analysis techniques is developed to consider the impact of privatization on the water industry. The models are then applied to determine the appropriate cost of capital, thereby explicitly incorporating the dynamic impact of regulation on a firm's risk and value. Under present conditions for the companies in the water industry, the dividend growth model yields an average real cost of capital of 7.71 % but the capital asset pricing model yields 12.25%. The new consistent model used in this thesis shows that under stochastic regulation the estimated implied cost of capital is 9.27% but that, under the current regulatory framework in the industry, the average implied cost of capital based on deterministic regulation is reduced to 5.34%. In other words, the cost of capital estimated using the consistent model is shown to be lower than those obtained from the standard financial models. 9

The purpose of this thesis is to introduce the competitive advantage strategy into heritage management within tourism and general development on the basis of differentiation. It is suggested that, if heritage is perceived as the competitive advantage in the development process of a region or nation, sustainable conservation can be achieved, as tourism and general development will depend on the existence and maintenance of heritage. Heritage is not treated as an attraction by nature but as the main resource/input on the basis of which a product might be created, called destination. Furthermore, operational management of heritage is integrated into strategic management introduced in this thesis. The differentiation of a destination lies primarily in the uniqueness of heritage itself. However, it is advocated that differentiation can be further developed through the localisation of the process, which means the incorporation within it of cultural and other differences or values. To incorporate these within the strategic management procedure, participatory methods are needed. Consequently, it is suggested that the competitive advantage strategy be applied, based on differentiation through the values and significance assessment system. Lastly, it will be argued that in a long term managerial policy, such as the one proposed in this thesis, achieving sustainable conservation through development has a higher probability of success by shifting responsibilities to the public. The lack of a precedent managed in this way has necessitated the creation of a case-study, a strategic management model for a region in southern Greece, called Mani. This region is rich in cultural heritage but has been largely abandoned by its inhabitants. The different aspects to be taken into consideration and the urgent need to save Mani's heritage have been the reasons for its selection. The result is a strategic management and development plan for Mani and a paradigmatic strategic model for further cases internationally.

Groundwater in the Alwahat region of Libya is a non-renewable resource, and is the only source of water for agricultural land in the region. The aim of this research is to explore the contemporary performance of the groundwater sector in Libya and to develop a strategy for providing a sustainable groundwater resource to achieve a social, economic and environmentally-sustainable water future. Perceptions about groundwater sustainability are elicited from 769 local stakeholders. This analysis is conducted using a triangulated mixed-methods design, to interpret the collected information. Conflicts of opinion among the stakeholders are exposed, highlighting controversies concerning their levels of satisfaction with water supplies, their awareness of water sustainability issues, their understanding of recent changes in groundwater quality and the environmental impact of water use, and future solutions to prevent water misuse. In addition to this, there is an examination of what officials report as the extensive misuse of water due to the installation of pumps, and some of the farmers abstracting drinking water from the network for irrigations well as digging deeper into the ground and sinking more wells, which abstracts excessive amounts of water and lowers the groundwater level. The known reasons of groundwater contamination discussed in this study include oil operations, increased salinity in water soil infiltration, and crop fertilization which is established by reliable sources; however no contemporary quantitative or qualitative monitoring data is available. The majority of the farmers, domestic users, and officials agree that the environment around Alwahat is adversely affected by oil company activities. Education, training, and guidance are encouraged by all the stakeholders as a solution to prevent water misuse. In effect, farmers resort to changing their crop types and the metering of wells to conserve water; but, the government officials disagree. The hydrologist’s solution is to stop the expansion of the farms. Penalties for excessive water were introduced, but increasing the price of water was not popular among domestic consumers. The findings make the following recommendations: (a) Stakeholders should adopt the principles of the Dublin statement, recognizing a holistic approach to sustainable water, linking local, social and economic issues with ecosystem protection; (b) The Libyan Government should develop a sustainable water strategy with long-term ambitions; (c) Further efforts from water legislators to clarify regulations and their implementation; (d) Long-term quantitative and qualitative monitoring of local groundwater resources, and the formulation and use of integrated models to support future water management. (e) A pricing structure to be implemented, using a water tariff system for domestic, agricultural, and industrial users.

Supply of safe drinking water is well-recognised as a catalyst for improving public health and social welfare as well as spurring economic growth. For this to be achieved, the water used should be both adequate and safe for human consumption. However, it has been noted that in Malawi the quality and quantity of water used by the consumers deteriorates and decreases respectively as time passes after commissioning of the water supply systems. For the quality and quantity of drinking water (drinking water supply services) to be sustainable, there is a need to manage all the factors that affect them. However, not all the factors are currently managed. With only some of the factors being managed, not all the aspects required for sustainability of the quality and quantity of drinking water are maintained. It is also noted that the factors that are managed are selected based on their popularity and perceived order of importance. As such, the factors that are managed are not necessarily the root causes of the deterioration of the quality and quantity of the supplied drinking water. While this is the case, it is known that for a problem to be solved completely, there is a need to deal with its root causes. In addition, addressing of the root causes, which are fewer than the total number of the factors that affect sustainability of drinking water supply (DWS) services, is a simple way of managing all the factors. Therefore, the aim of this research was to identify the root causes of sustainability failure of DWS services in Malawi, evaluate the outcomes of managing the root causes on sustainability of DWS services, and develop a framework for managing the identified root causes to improve sustainability of DWS services. Root cause analysis, survey and multiple case studies were employed as the research strategies for this study. Five DWS experts took part in the root cause analysis, ten water supply systems were studied as cases while 40 respondents participated in the survey. All the participants and the case water supply systems were from Malawi. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected and analysed in the study. The findings of this research include the identification of 7 combined effects through which various factors affect sustainability of DWS services in Malawi. The research has also established that interaction of the factors that affect sustainability of DWS services in Malawi is kick-started by 26 root causes. Comprehensive sets of strategies and tactics have been developed to address the 7 combined effects and the 26 root causes respectively. Six critical requirements necessary for effective implementation of the strategies and tactics have also been identified. Accordingly, an overarching framework, with step-by-step instructions on how to improve sustainability of DWS services in Malawi, has been developed. The theoretical contribution of this research is that there will be increased understanding of the issues that affect sustainability of DWS services in Malawi and other countries with similar contexts. As regards practical contribution, the framework developed in this research - when used by the DWS practitioners, managers and policy makers - is expected to lead to improved sustainability of DWS services in Malawi and other countries with similar contexts.

The European Union (EU) has openly solicited advice on the development of EU bathing water quality policy and made calls for the development of remotely sensed operational real world solutions. This research demonstrates a new approach to estimating water quality using remote sensing and specifically to monitoring bathing water quality by using remote sensing to "flag" failing areas for manual survey. This method meets the environmental demands of the EU, the tourist industry, the water industry and environmental monitoring agencies throughout the world. The results show the genuine potential for a remotely sensed monitoring system that could, with further research, lead to an efficient and effective method of monitoring bathing water quality. These findings are particularly important given the imminent changes in EU Bathing Water policy, an expected increase in monitoring costs (currently estimated by the EU to be 15 million euros for 2001 (EU, 2002)) and the widespread availability of airborne sensors and satellites. Simultaneous water quality and spectral data were collected at Southend-on-Sea pier with a Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) loaned spectroradiometer and water sampling equipment. Simultaneous data enabled the accurate analysis of the relationship between water quality and reflectance, avoiding the normal delays experienced with flown or satellite data. The thesis successfully proposes and investigates a remotely sensed flagging system for bathing water quality monitoring using both statistical and visual analysis to identify optimum wavelengths which identify threshold levels of E.coli, suspended sediments, low pH, nitrates, chlorophyll, faecal coliform and temperature. The findings demonstrate that remote sensing could be used to monitor several of the water quality parameters that are relevant to the EU Bathing Water Directives and, in particular, the monitoring of effluent in bathing waters through the successful identification of high E.coli counts. Through the creation and integration of a localised water quality model, it demonstrates that it is possible to predict when water quality parameters exceed a threshold level through direct remote sensing or through the use of remotely sensed indirect water quality parameters. The success rate of remotely sensed "flagging" of samples above a threshold level was tested and used to yield a "predictor" rating for each parameter. Finally, a spectral physical model was constructed that identifies the parameters, wavelengths and secondary parameters that could be used to flag failing water quality areas. This model could be used to improve monitoring coverage and reduce overall costs. The application of the model, which was based on Case 2 coastal water, to other types of coastal area is suggested as needing further research before it could be widely exploited. Remote sensing information could lead to a greater understanding of the coastal environment and offers potential near real time monitoring, allowing for the first time reactive management of coastal water quality in failing water quality areas. This would provide a solution to many of the issues raised by the EU regarding the current bathing water quality directives and provides the remote sensing community with a practical solution to a real world problem.

This thesis addresses a problem affecting places of heritage throughout the world as represented by the case of al-Balad, the historical centre of Amman in Jordan: despite the increasing efforts expended on the conservation of built heritage, most social groups appear to be uninterested; this contradiction results in problems of neglect, dilapidation and lack of participation in its construction and representation. The research explores three possible sources of contradictions that cause this problem: the process of meaning construction in capitalist societies, the global conceptualisation and institutionalisation of heritage, and the role of dissonance of identities in creating dissonance in the construction of heritage. In order to explore such a subjective topic in a manner that would produce generalisable findings instrumental for purposes of urban planning and development, the chosen methodology is structural and positivistic and relies on frameworks of semiotics, mapping, media topic analysis, and most importantly on the findings of an extensive questionnaire survey that was made possible by the gradual opening up of public expression in Jordan. The first source of contradictions explored manifests through the construction of meaning. In an investigation of frameworks that explain the process, the semiotic framework of the myth developed by Barthes is synthesised with the ideas of Baudrillard and Lefebvre who also explored the process of production and consumption of meaning in bourgeois societies that is of particular relevance to the neo-liberal economic framework in Jordan, which caused a focus on cultural tourism and revitalisation of heritage as drivers of economic development. An application of the semiotic framework to the attributes of al-Balad showed that although al-Balad is becoming known as a place of heritage (a place of the past), for the majority of the Ammanis it is still conceptualised as a market (a place of the present). The second source of contradictions emerges from the global conceptualisation and institutionalisation of heritage. An analysis of the plethora of definitions of heritage in literature leads to re-instating its historical role as a legitimiser of social identities, and the significance of this role for the newly emergent nations that accompanied the advent of the age of Enlightenment and modernity and espoused its ethos and latent contradictions. The major contradiction in this process is conceptualising an interruption between the present and the past, which renders the past frozen and dead. The third source of contradictions is the dissonance of identities in Jordan. An exploration into the society of Jordan reveals several hybrid identity groups: Islamist, Arab, Jordanian nationalist, tribal and Palestinian; it also reveals that the construction of heritage in Jordan is dominated by an exclusivist Hashemite narrative constructed by the Royal family for purposes of self-legitimization, and by an attempt to create a historically unique Jordanian identity rooted in pre-Islamic history to counter the threat of Israel. Despite the dominance of these two narratives in the Jordanian historical discourse, in reality heritage narrative is strongly shaped by US funded tourism industry, resulting in an emphasis on Jordan’s Christian past. The resulting manipulation of narrative in the construction of heritage for purposes of political empowerment or economical revenue excludes most identity groups from the process, and thus they find the resulting urban heritage of little meaning or relevance; it becomes “abstract space” in Lefebvre’s terms. The conclusions of the exploration of the three sources of contradictions are discussed against the results of statistical analyses performed on the findings from the questionnaire survey revealing that despite al-Balad’s deteriorating status in the urban dynamics of the city, the Ammanis still find it significant, however they perceive it primarily a place of function, and do not fulfil its potential as a place of heritage by using it to legitimise their identities. Understanding the complex socio-cultural processes that accompany the construction of heritage in Amman reveals numerous aspects of urban practices in Arab Muslim cities at a point in time directly preceding the Arab Spring.

Historic buildings promote continuity of a place and represents nation’s cultural values and identity. Despite their wide acknowledged contribution to the tourism and leisure industry, several historic buildings are left abandoned, misused or demolished by neglect. The aim of this research was to examine regeneration policies for historic buildings on the Maltese Islands and their impact on the tourism and leisure industry. This research, based on a pragmatic philosophical stance, employed a mixedmethods sequential explanatory design, whereby a quantitative survey study was followed by qualitative interviews and focus groups for triangulation purposes. A pre-piloted questionnaire comprising of open, closed and 5-point Likert scales was developed from existing policies and distributed amongst all mayors from each of the 68 local councils within Malta and Gozo. Interviews followed with architects, investors, community representatives and decision making stakeholders representing national authorities. The final data collection phase included focus groups that convened all stakeholders that participated in the research. Thematic analysis was conducted from transcribed audio recorded interviews and focus groups. Response rate of questionnaire was 65% (44/68). Less than half of respondents (45%) strongly agreed/agreed that they were aware of the existing national legislation. Only 16% claimed that there is no conflict between planning policies as set out by the policy makers of national authorities and government. Key themes generated from all phases of this study were ‘regeneration potential for tourism and leisure industry, ‘governance for regeneration’ and ‘societal aspirations by regeneration’. This research highlighted the importance of encouraging a culture-led, “bottom-up” approach for regeneration rather than “top-down”. Research is original contribution to knowledge as it identified gaps in policies, and developed insights for niche markets in tourism and leisure industry. The setting up of a single entity responsible for regeneration is recommended to lead regeneration supported by evidence based policies and community participation to ensuring that a sustainable contemporary layer will eventually form part of heritage of future generations.