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Planning design in a 'top down' and technocratic way has not always been relevant to agricultural development. Decision-making on land use in Mexico is a complex process involving environmental, socio-economic and cultural issues. Land use at 'local level’ is associated with access by individuals or groups to diverse resource bases. Fundamental issues for planning land use in these complex environments revolve around diversity of land resource, access to resources, social organisation, institutions for management of resources and the perceptions of the people about the resources and the associated decision-making process at grassroots. In this context, understandings of the complex set of resources available and the opportunities of land users to make a living in agriculture and its associated decision-making process by individuals or groups is essential. This study has undertaken the task of analysing information produced in a municipality and ejidos in central Mexico using participatory methods for collection of information relevant for planning and the production of maps of resources at municipality and ejido level using participatory GIS. Participatory mapping of resources at municipality and ejido level not only allowed the mapping of resources according to the perceptions of the people, but also made the GIS accessible to people on the ground; they were able to make their own maps for understanding land use change and as a base for land use planning. This information was compared with maps produced either by official government agencies or from official statistics. In the former case the approach taken for map production was to use as a basis standard technical procedures for resources eg soil/land use classifications. This contrasted with the 'practical' approach adopted by the ejidatarios. In both cases the accuracy and reliability of the official maps and 'statistics' was open to question. Decision-making for land use based on information from the 'ground' emerges as an adaptive process, depending on government policies

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My enquiry starts from a practical perspective: that of the intractable problems of our inner cities; inadequate service delivery, absent infrastructure, poverty, unemployment. Themes unquiet and persistent. I offer a critique of approaches to policy and argue that post-structural theoretical shifts offer new practical perspectives and the potential for imaginative understandings, which remain largely unexplored. I focus on the built space and the emotions in an attempt to alter the perspective from which questions are asked, and to problematise the questioning process itself. Questions of method are integral to this thesis. The story told is that of the barrio of La Cienaga. It is at once a particular story; that of one of the oldest barrios of Santo Domingo, the capital city of the Dominican Republic, and of the individuals who live there. It is also a typical story of a deprived inner city area that can be found the world over. Residents of La Cienaga discuss the public spaces of the barrio, the private spaces of their homes and their links and visions of the wider city which surrounds them. Stones tell of what it feels like to live in such a place, how the built environment affects social relations, the possibility of community, aspirations and a sense of self. In the second half of the thesis I look at the story telling process: the purpose of stories: their ability to reveal and heal. I return to my practical concerns and examine the implications of both my method and the findings uncovered in the first half of the thesis, for the concrete recurring problem of the barrio: waste and absent infrastructure. The result is a solution that neither I, nor the barrio residents, could have imagined at the outset.

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This thesis examines the controversial policy of road pricing, using a qualitative approach based on a series of case studies. Two related issues are explored; first the barriers to implementation, which help account for the lack ofroad pricing schemes to date, and second how businesses are likely to respond to a road pricing scheme. As the effects of road pricing are not fully understood, policy makers are often reluctant to implement schemes. This amplifies the problem that theJe are a lack of operational schemes to learn from, and in turn means the impacts of road pricing remain poorly understood. The first part of the analysis explores the institutional, attitudinal, practical and technological factors that influence the success and failure ofroad pricing policy, through case studies of Singapore and the Netherlands. In particular, the dominance of the automobile in society, and the history of policy controls on its ownership and use are shown to playa key role in affecting both the acceptance, and the ultimate success, of road pricing. A series of potential barriers to implementation are outlined, key lessons are identified, and recommendations are made for future road pricing proposals, both in Southampton and beyond. The second part ofthis thesis moves on to consider the potential economic impacts of road pricing, focusing on how busitlesses in Southampton would respond to a hypothetical road pricing scheme. A wide range of ways that businesses could respond to road pricing are identified, which are categorised as locational, organisational, transport and financial. This thesis shows that a number of businesses in Southampton are locally embedded, both through territorial embeddedness, high sunk costs and ties to Southampton because of its unique characteristics as a deep water port and cruising centre. This embeddedness means many firms are less likely to relocate in response to road pricing than policy makers often fear. Firms' non-Iocational responses are affected by a number of factors, including their level of behavioural and cognitive 'lock in' to their working and transport practices, and their willingness and ability to pass on any extra costs that they may incur ifroad pricing is introduced. Although Southampton is in many ways unique, this research has focused on understanding and explaining the reasons for particular responses, rather than simply identifying them; and as such the results can be applied to other cities considering implementing road pricing.

This research project considers the causes and negative impact of inadequate construction standards and planning policies upon the Lebanese Coastal Zone (LCZ) environment, particularly in the area of Zouk Mosbeh (ZM) , wherein commercial, residential, industrial and tourist developments and amenities intersect so haphazardly, and where a failure to raise standards and correct abuses lead to the degradatiol) of the area. , Drawing upon previous built environment research, particularly sustainable rehabilitation, urban planning, as well as urban development in Lebanon, and focusing on the LCZ particularly on ZM, was helpful in identifying the complex relations between the various environmental problems of water, air, biodiversity, soil, and land erosion, on one hand, and the various socioeconomic development sectors relating to population, agriculture, industry, and construction, on the other. The adopted methodology approached the problem of the built environment and its impact on the biophysical environment holistically, taking into account environmental, economic and socio-cultural justice, as main dimensions of sustainable development. This was undertaken in the form of a case study on the coastal area of ZM, along the LCZ. Recommendations in the form of guidelines for the sustainable rehabilitation of the built environment in the area of ZM were developed. These included the roles of all stakeholders in the decision-making process regarding urban development, the municipality, inhabitants, and finally built environment professionals. The literature is very robust, especially regarding the need for bottom-up participatory process where all stakeholders are involved in the policy and implementation process. In contrast, important gaps were found, / ... and this relates to the lack of interaction among stakeholders, especially between the municipality authority and the community on the one hand, and between built environment professionals and the rest of the community on the other. This has obvious negative implications for sustainable urban planning and development. Additionally, this study has demonstrated the need for all built environment stakeholders in ZM and, for that matter, in all of Lebanon to commit to sustainable development principles. This commitment is imperative, as it is the , .. only viable strategy for meeting 'the needs of the present generation without compromising the needs of future generations. It is hoped that this research will contribute significantly to current debates on environmental sustainability in Lebanon, especially during this period of unprecedented physical reconstruction and development, so that the principles of sustainable development will be integrated into national plans, especially urban plans to avoid huge and future correctional expenditure.

Sustainable management of the existing built environment is becoming increasingly important in the construction industry. Consequently, more emphasis has emerged to consider issues of refurbishment and renovation. The aesthetic values of buildings are recognised as critical guiding attributes both in terms of the potential long-term aspects of sustainability and as basic reasoning for the continued maintenance and management of existing buildings. A process is required that will allow different aspects of a potential refurbishment project to be assessed objectively and weighted equally when deciding whether an existing building should be preserved, adapted or demolished. The thesis attempts to provide a useful understanding in terms of the aesthetic appreciation when considering future sustainable management of the existing built environment. Two parallel research activities were initiated to examine important aspects of human aesthetic perception regarding buildings in the built environment. The first addressed the potentially universal and culturally derived aspects of human responses in perceiving the aesthetic qualities of houses from 3 counties through the agency of colour photographs. A three language semantic differential scale was developed to be linguistically equivalent so that an inter-cultural research tool could be derived to ascertain an understanding of people’s aesthetic appreciation through the use of descriptive adjectives. The second activity was initiated to develop and test the concept of building endurance regarding the general public’s aesthetic appreciation of existing buildings. A methodological framework was developed to facilitate investigation of changes of human aesthetic response related to changes in the built environment. Cross-cultural variables and respondent’s age parameter were found to be influential in conditioning people’s aesthetic responses to photographs of houses and urban streetscapes. Few differences were observed between male and female aesthetic responses both in their descriptions of visual quality and their ideal house profile. A cross-cultural, universal profile of ideal house qualities was obtained by utilizing responses from the cross-language semantic differential scale. However differences in people’s aesthetic preference selections were observed. Additionally, respondents’ preference rankings demonstrated that the general public supports the desire of preserving the existing urban condition. Appropriate refurbishment strategies were suggested to guide decision making when assessing changes to be made to an existing building and its surrounding environment while at the same time maintaining people’s aesthetic appreciation. The research activities presented in this thesis provide a contribution to current knowledge of the general public’s aesthetic appreciation of the existing buildings and built environments which may be used to aid future sustainable development of the built environment.

No description available.