Future narratives can be a useful way of conceptualising environmental problems and constructing solutions. Existing ecological future narratives such as sustainable futures and global warming have been effective at relaying the seriousness and scale of ecological problems but they can also be ambiguous, overwhelming and lead to stasis. In this research, I explore backcasting as a useful mechanism for creating detailed preferred futures and mapping out how those future states can be realised. During my exploration of backasting processes, I identify the possibility for backcasting to move beyond a simple outcome-driven process and instead become a process that creates a space for reflection, formulating and reformulating solutions. I examine four case studies: Cradle-to-Cradle, Transition Towns, Melbourne 2032 and case study 4 which involves 5 workshops in 3 secondary schools. These illustrations present how the creation of alternative futures can be used to address ecological problems. I developed, tested and participated in a variation of backcasting, called future reflective backcasting, in a workshop format. The workshop was enabled by my involvement in an activist group called Culture Jammers. My involvement with Culture Jammers not only reflected and encouraged my growing concern about environmental issues but it also motivated my interest in how small groups respond to such issues. In the workshop, participants generated preferred future states that shaped conversational exchanges which helped them to critically reflect on existing circumstances and identify actions to take in the present. Based on the case studies and participant feedback, I produced a set of recommendations detailing how the future reflective backcasting workshop model should be conducted as well as how to set up and manage the future reflective conversational exchanges. This thesis contributes new knowledge to academic research by identifying a form of backcasting that has not been acknowledged in futures literature or design practice.

This thesis asks the question of whether country towns and villages are sustainable environments for older people, through three case studies in the rural North East of England. The Introduction lays out the theoretical approaches of the study, in particular the 'critical human ecology‘ approach, within which is slotted the study‘s own proposed theory of ageing as a distinctive stage in the life-course characterised by strong temporal dynamics. The third chapter reviews research on rural ageing. The fourth chapter reviews the various national policies that impact on ageing in rural places. These introductory chapters result in three sub-questions about the physical, social and policy impacts on older people in rural places. The Methodology chapter describes the qualitative approach to data gathering that includes unstructured interviews, observational place audit and policy content analysis. Within findings that broadly confirm the literature on rural ageing in identifying a range of physical barriers and mixed social impacts, the study proposes understanding rural ageing in line with its own elaboration of 'critical human ecology‘. A series of interwoven environmental layers are posited that interact with people in later life, centring around two dynamics: a cohort/period dynamic and a transition/duration dynamic. As a study that is part central government-funded, the policy layer is of particular importance to this study‘s analysis. At this level several important trends are identified: grant revenue focused on urban places; spatial policy focused on 'city-regions‘ with notions of the rural economy centred on tourism and attracting and retaining younger age groups; while problems raised by spatial remoteness are to be solved largely through interventions such as broadband internet and 'assistive technology‘. The study concludes by counterposing such trends with rural elders‘ considerable community contributions and proposes a perspective within which greater recognition is accorded, and support provided, to elders‘ rural stewardship.

Developing a balanced approach, dealing appropriately with the historic environment. has always been a challenging problem in many countries. There has been a tension between the old and the new and struggle over continuity and change. The historic city centres in Iran have also been the subject of such controversy. The historic cores, which form a very small part of the cities in recent times, have been undermined in the various waves of redevelopment. There has been an underlying emphasis on physical-led regeneration and delivery of flagship projects. This dominant approach, mainly employed by the central government, has failed to solve the problems of the areas; indeed, the interventions carried out within the framework of this approach have exacerbated the existing problems. During the last decade, however, efforts to revitalize Iranian historic cities have gained a new momentum. Several interrelated factors contributed to the changing role or structure of the state in urban regeneration process, which provided a basis for the development of a new approach to the regeneration of historic environment in Iran. Due to the lack of sufficient research on these approaches and the absence of comparing and assessing their results, this study aims to provide a deeper insight and develop a better understanding of these approaches to revitalize the historic urban centre. This is realized by identifying the employed approaches and addressing their deficiencies, exploring factors that shaped the approaches, examining and interpreting the features that characterize the approaches, and assessing their outcomes and impacts. Given the qualitative and exploratory nature of the investigation, this study has employed an in-depth case study methodology. According to the conceptual framework of this research, the emphasis of the study is on mechanisms and interrelationships that affect the process and product of urban regeneration. Accordingly, this study has concentrated on the identification of the agencies involved, the role they play, and their strategies and interests within the economic, political and cultural contexts in which they operated. These roles, strategies and interests are related to the rules, resources and ideas that governed the process. The developed conceptual framework is applied in the study of two cases, each representing a different approach employed by the urban authorities during the last decade. The cases are parts of the historic core of Mashhad and Shiraz the second and sixth largest cities in the country (metropolitan cities). The case of Mashhad exemplifies a physical-led, redevelopment oriented approach employed by the central government and the case of Shiraz represents an integrated, more sensitive, conservation-led approach adopted by the local authorities. The findings of this study provide insights into the issues that policy-makers and practitioners should consider in designing regeneration policies and developing programs and efforts dealing with the problems of historic environments. The primary implications of the study are summarized in five elements including 'a greater balance between local and central'; 'developing innovative local partnerships, multi-agency regeneration partnership'; 'empowering local authorities' (locally-based regeneration); 'adopting and developing an integrated approach' (conservation-led regeneration), and finally involving local people (community-based regeneration).

Green infrastructure offers a contemporary approach to the conceptualisation and management of landscape resources. It has developed rapidly in the UK, Europe and North America as a result of the opportunities it has provided in meeting the ecological, economic and social challenges of spatial planning. The attention given to growth in green infrastructure has been supported by the development of a number of overarching principles – principles that provide green infrastructure research with a multilayered understanding of the changing nature of landscape resources. This thesis outlines the complex nature of green infrastructure development, its meanings, its perception and use as an approach to landscape planning. Three key themes are identified. Firstly, by exploring variations in the meanings of green infrastructure this thesis presents an examination of its conceptual development to date. The second explores the role of perceptions in the value and use of green infrastructure resources. It examines the role of ecological, psychological and social constructions of green infrastructure and assesses how these affect personal and communal landscape interpretations. The final theme discusses current green infrastructure use by practitioners. The varied nuances of green infrastructure are outlined and an assessment is given of how the principles of green infrastructure have been translated into appropriate landscape management. Each of these themes explores the relationships between green infrastructure principles, its perceptions (by users), and its use in practice (spatial planning). The themes developed in this thesis identify a number of conceptual and implementation principles for green infrastructure. The roles of integrated planning policy, strategic thinking, multi-functionality, connectivity, and access are discussed in order to highlight the different forms that green infrastructure research has taken. Based on these discussions, this thesis proposes that a green infrastructure approach to planning can be used to meet the complex challenges of current landscape planning. With continued development of green infrastructure, some of the most pressing issues in planning, such as green space planning or sustainable urban development, can be discussed. These issues are discussed throughout the thesis and clear links are made between this exploratory green infrastructure research and planning practice.

Public open space on the urban waterfront is a unique part of the urban setting of many waterside cities. Since the 1960s, more of these spaces are being provided in an attempt to bring more people to waterside areas. While some cities have been successful in striking a balance between their economic needs and the public‘s demand for access to the water, others have failed. During this process, the urban waterfront has become synonymous with the idea of public open space. In Bahrain, since the late 1920s, ‗decline‘ has become the predominant character of the relationship between urban centres and the water. Hasty urban, demographic and economic growth alongside extensive land reclamation and privatization processes has progressively changed the nature of the waterfront. Until the mid 1990s this process took place without sufficient consideration for the cultural and social values of the waterfronts of the Islands. The new millennium saw an even faster depletion of those spaces, which triggered public outcry. Currently, open spaces providing formal or authorized access to the water represent 3 to 8% of the Islands‘ shoreline. In reflection of this situation, this research investigates the physical and social nature of the urban waterfront in Bahrain in the context of the current urban growth and land reclamation processes. Theoretically, it uses a multilayered approach in exploring public open space on the urban waterfront. The empirical aspect is case specific, focusing on the Northern and Eastern waterfronts of Manama. This investigation, which is the first of its type in Bahrain, employs a case study method based on an overall qualitative approach. This enables the utilization of many tools, such as archival research, site survey, observation, and interviews, in investigating the physical and functional attributes of Manama‘s waterfront and the selected public open spaces. The study of this waterfront is able to answer questions related to its accessibility, ownership, water-dependent nature of its uses, and the availability of public open space on it. It also focuses on formal and informal types of waterfronts to answer questions related to how those spaces are publicly perceived and consumed and the processes that shape them.

This Thesis starts with a conceptual exploration of broad disciplines related to the emerging field of Knowledge-Based Urban Development (KBUD) , upon which it developed understanding of the holistic meaning of KBUD. It argues that the need for knowledge for KBUD should include all types of knowledge - the wisdom - and that KBUD, in particular knowledge city, is to enhance urban social, economic, cultural, and environmental sustainability in a balanced manner. The fundamental of knowledge city lies on its justice and inclusion, which is developed equally for all. Building upon the theoretical arguments it made, this research developed an analytical framework for analysing knowledge city. By applying the framework to both international KBUD initiatives and the Chinese case studies, it found that although there seems to be a general trend that suggests that the cities in developed countries have comparative advantages in transforming into knowledge city, the state of development is by no means the determining condition for a city to develop towards KBUD. Rather, the making of knowledge city relies on the ability to engage people of the whole community to establish an efficient institutional mechanism and develop an appropriate policy framework, which encourages and facilitates the creation of a cohesive knowledge environment, especially upgrading the city's knowledge base and fostering a cohering knowledge culture, to mobilise and apply all types of knowledge to serve and rule urban development behaviour so that it corresponds fully to the needs of enhancing the city's social, economic, cultural, and environmental sustainability. The empirical evidence from the Chinese case studies also suggests that the very recent change of China's development ideology, which calls for the development of a "harmonious society" following the "scientific development concept" approach, is meaningful, from the KBUD perspective, only if they are conducive to making connection with and adopted for coordinating localised knowledge creation, transmission and utilisation, which are regulated for the great collective interests, in other words, for people of the whole community, for social equity and inclusion. This thesis ends with offering some recommendations both for China's urban development policy and directions of future research.

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This research has addressed gaps in knowledge relating to environmental experiences of Malaysian adolescents in two neighbourhoods in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. This thesis discusses how the adolescents' experiences may differ from adults' assumptions and planning. The study begins by highlighting current issues relating to adolescents and urban open space planning and design in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Survey questionnaires were used as a research tool to reveal adolescents' time use and environmental experiences of their housing area, neighbourhood and the city. The time use not only revealed their activities but also places they liked or valued and their ideal housing neighbourhood environment. Time use data diaries and interviews were used to verify the data from the questionnaire and to seek more specific data of what they wanted from their outdoor environment. The findings of the research elucidate that there were both similarities and differences in Malaysian adolescents' use of their outdoor environment across different ethnic backgrounds, genders and ages. It is concluded that inadequacies existed in current Johor Bahru urban planning in addressing the needs of the adolescents. Furthermore, from this study, the Malaysian adolescents assigned attributes or specific criteria to the facilities and spaces they wanted within their housing area, neighbourhood and the city. The facilities and spaces they wanted were linked to their physical and social activities which they would like to do. The attributes assigned by the Malaysian adolescents are elements of play, variety, ambience, size, safety, fun and excitement, challenge, walkable, aesthetic and green, sociability, accessibility, intelligent and possessing affordances for sports activities. Based on the research findings, this study outlines recommendations for Malaysian housing and neighbourhood landscape in relation to adolescents' needs. Early consideration of adolescents' needs should be incorporated in the planning and design process. One of the recommendations should include providing opportunities for Malaysian adolescents' participation to determine their needs for facilities and spaces in housing area and the city during the planning and design stage.

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