Thesis (M.L.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Includes special report study entitled: Moving water in urban city: a study on the contemporary fountains design.

Thesis (M.A.)--Georgia State University, 2006. / Title from title screen. Dona J. Stewart, committee chair; Elaine J. Hallisey, Jeremy Crampton, committee members. Electronic text (135 p. : maps (some col.)) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed June 18, 2006. Includes bibliographical references (p. 130-134).

Thesis (Masters Diploma (Town and Regional Planning- Environmental Management))--Cape Technikon, Cape Town,1990 / This report proposes a strategy for the development Port Alfred situated on the south east coast of the Province, South Africa. of cape The proposed development strategy takes cognisance of the importance of integrating development harmoniously with the environment. The study is not related to any particular development proposal but is rather a guide to future development and the identification of potential environmental hazards. Moreover, it could serve as a set of guidelines for land use planning and management at the urban scale anywhere in South Africa. The evaluation methods used are adapted from widely acceptable analysis techniques and include a combination of both the matrix and the overlay or "sieve" method which graphically analyses physical attributes. The study eminates from the Port Alfred Municipality's concern that demand for development could destroy the town's environmental quality and historical character which are seen as major tourist attractions. The report is divided into two sections, the first being to acquaint the reader with the area, it's constraints and potential. section 1 critically evaluates the existing physical, socio-economic and cultural environments of the town. The second part of the report (Section 2), combines the analysis of the physical and socio-economic environments into an Urban structure Plan and management proposals which provide a basis for the spatial management and control of future land use development proposals. The management proposals are based on the Integrated Environmental Management procedure advocated by the council for the Environment which is adapted to suit local conditions and includes the use of a three stage "proposal call" system which is seen to ensure an equitable balance between the demand for development, public participation and conservation of the town's biotic and abiotic environments. The "proposal call" system has been successfully employed in the United states of America for some years and was adopted by the cape Town city council in 1985 for disposing of council-owned land in a manner most acceptable to itself and the community. By combining both the principle of Integrated Environmental Management and the "proposal call" system Port Alfred should be assured of a future planning strategy which will both enhance development and promote environmental conservation thereby assuring the maintenance of environmental quality.

In recent years, dissatisfaction with the quality of the urban environment has become widespread, and opposition to many development proposals has been mounted by citizens groups across Canada. Yet all attempts to improve the environment so far have proved relatively ineffectual. The thesis argues that the environment will continue to deteriorate unless massive changes are made in the structure of decision making which surrounds the urban development process; the major change required being meaningful participation by citizens in making the decisions that affect their lives. A first step towards this goal is the attainment of a clear and comprehensive understanding of how urban development occurs at present. Citizens must be informed before they can be involved. The thesis presents an initial description of the urban development process and outlines the conceptual basis for the construction of a simulation model of the process. It is argued that because of the complexities of urban development, a simulation technique seems appropriate. Given an operating model, it would be possible to test proposals for change on the model before implementing them in reality. Using Metropolitan Vancouver - a typical Canadian urban region - as a data base, the thesis examines the types of public dissatisfactions with the urban environment. These are then translated into the more general categories of urban problems, such as soaring housing costs, transportation congestion, urban sprawl, poverty, pollution and so on. Through a literature survey a number of processes suspected as being related to these urban problems were identified. Two kinds of processes emerged: those which lead to population and economic growth (the ones usually considered in urban models), but also those processes which constrain policy formulation and implementation, such as fragmented authority, inadequate research and development, uncoordinated planning, the pressure of developers. Both types need inclusion in the model. These processes were investigated through a number of case studies of the system in action: downtown redevelopment schemes, Vancouver transportation proposals, a public urban renewal project, a shopping centre proposal, etc. Basic chronologies of events were prepared for each case; the events were then abstracted into a set of actions with the (organizational and individual) actors who engaged in them and the criteria (goals or constraints) upon which the actions were based. These actions were then grouped into related processes. A preliminary conceptual mock-up of the model was made, and a program of research outlined which involves the analysis of factors affecting major processes and the development of values suitable for computer manipulation. At this stage of the work it appears that the building of the model is indeed feasible and that such a simulation will prove most useful in understanding the urban development process. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA), School of / Graduate

The implications of urban expansion as a dynamic, evolutionary process are far from self evident. Such problems as the ecologically sound allocation of land resources and the orderly provision of essential services in urban fringe areas, are not being solved. The importance of the rural-urban land conversion process, in long range planning for metropolitan regions, requires that a method be found for describing the likelihood of the rate, extent and location of urban expansion. Within this context the study is concerned with firstly, the shortcomings of present methods for examining and forecasting urban expansion. It is pointed out that the regional planner needs to understand the dynamics of land assignment, in the urban expansion process, if he is to know in advance the probable consequences of his actions and be able to fulfil planning objectives. That this elementary point is frequently ignored or misunderstood can be seen in the attempts to prescribe how a process should behave, instead of first trying to discover how it does behave. This is most noticeable where techniques are used which entail optimization or conditional prediction, based on generalized and unrealistic assumptions of human values and behaviour. As a result, the dynamics of change, including the influence of chance events, are usually left unaccounted for in actions subsequently taken. Restrictive zoning is an example, which more often than not seeks to force rather than fit or guide urban development. Secondly, a simulation model of rural-urban land conversion is developed for the Vancouver Regional Simulation Project, to demonstrate the advantages of experimental strategies and synthetic models in regional planning. The viewpoint is taken that urban expansion can be represented as a spatial diffusion process. When formulated stochastically, spatial diffusion processes account for uncertainty in land assignment practices. The model is organized in a regional systems framework, with structural properties (i.e., thresholds, boundaries, and lags), and feedback interactions, represented, to reflect the complex and dynamic nature of urban expansion. It is emphasized that the future cannot be forecast, on the basis of past and present conditions, with sufficient reliability for long range planning purposes. While it is implicit in the model formulated that emerging patterns of rural and urban land use bear some functional relationships to historical patterns, they are not constrained from evolving into new and different forms. Special attention is paid to change and chance mechanisms to avoid indiscriminate extrapolation of present trends. The experimental nature of the model is considered its greatest strength. Because it facilitates experimental monitoring and regulation of process behaviour, we are made more aware of critical thresholds and capacity limits within metropolitan regional systems. Consequently, planning policies, compatible with the dynamic urban expansion process, can be devised with greater assurance of their success, and regional planning goals can be achieved more readily. Thus the approach is submitted as a progressive step beyond the traditional reliance on specific predictions, as a primary basis for regional planning. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

Public participation in the planning process is a well established concept and an important one to municipal planners as they deal with the question of how to most effectively involve citizens in planning. The purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of techniques and processes used to involve the public in a specific planning process: the preparation of official community plans in British Columbia. Two principal methods are used to achieve this purpose: a literature review and a comparative analysis of the experiences of four municipalities located in the greater Vancouver region which have recently completed of official community plans. Data for this analysis came from municipal documents, interviews with planners and field observation. Six process-oriented objectives based on democratic principles are established as criteria of effective public participation. The six criteria are: (1) Accessibility - All citizens have the opportunity and are encouraged to participate; (2) Timing - The public is provided with information and opportunities to participate at crucial decision making points in the planning process. (3) Impartiality - No individual or group is permitted to dominate the participation process at the expense of others; (4) Comprehensibility - Important information is provided and is presented in such a way that it is understood by those whom it affects; (5) Alternatives - The public is presented with a range of alternatives; (6) Efficacy - Participators' views are considered in products of the planning process. The suitability of each participation technique and combination of techniques used in the four municipalities is assessed by these six objectives. Nine summary observations derived from the analysis are presented as suggestions to help planners effectively involve the public in future official community plan processes. It is found that effort to involve citizens in the preparation of an official community plan must go beyond the techniques required or suggested by legislation. A public hearing and an advisory planning commission are not sufficient to provide effective participation. It is not possible to state an ideal public participation program with a set of specific techniques that would be useful in all communities preparing an official community plan. However, by designing and implementing a participation program that strives to satisfy the process-oriented objectives, planners can obtain meaningful response from the public. Achieving these objectives depends foremost on administrative commitment. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

Local area planning is an approach to city planning which has developed in Vancouver over the past five years, and a major unit in the administrative structure of the Vancouver City Planning Department. This thesis is concerned with the purposes of this approach as they have evolved, particularly with the interplay between the purposes actually served and the structure of the civic bureaucracy, and with the choices made by planners among conflicting demands. The methodology used has two elements, an historical analysis based chiefly on contemporary documents, and a sociological analysis of the role relationships of planners working in Area Planning based on interview data. The conclusions suggest that the original purposes for doing Area Planning are no longer being served by the existing organizational structure, and that there is an opportunity and a need for restructuring of the organization and restatement of the purposes if the objectives of Area Planning are to be attained. The Area Planning Division of the City Planning Department was established in 1974, in response to the public demand for participation in the planning process among other reasons. It has grown rapidly, to become the largest division in the Planning Department. A 1973 report suggested three basic reasons for introducing this new approach to planning in Vancouver. Planning is more effective if a strong centralized planning effort is coordinated with neighbourhood oriented planning at the local level. Local area planning brings the planning process closer to the people. Local area planning promotes planning with citizens on a cooperative basis, rather than confrontation responses to plans and proposals. The planner is seen as the central figure in the process. In addition to responding to policy directives and the informal support and guidance of others in the same situation, the position taken by a planner is shaped by compromises among the conflicting expectations and demands placed on the person in this position by those in a variety of related roles. Guidance, or the lack of it, through policy directives is researched through study of documents. The literature is also the basis for specifying three different models of the structure of the work situation in which the local area planner is the central element. These models identify by organizational position and interest the significant others in the planner's environment, but they do not indicate how the planner chooses among the inconsistent expectations and demands made by those involved in these role relationships. To develop the models further interviews were conducted with all of the planners in the Area Planning Division, their superiors to whom they are administratively responsible, representatives of other civic departments who are in frequent contact with Area Planning, some aldermen, and some citizens active in local area planning programmes in their own neighbourhoods. It is clear from the data that the rapid expansion of the Area Planning Division has not corresponded to a parallel expansion of area planning services. The major factor contributing to an increase in staff size is administration of two federal programs, NIP (Neighbourhood Improvement Program) and RRAP (Residential Rehabilitation Assistance Program). RRAP is clearly an implementation program rather than planning, and NIP differs in significant ways from the local area planning ideal. The second major factor in the growth of the Area Planning Division is the development of an "in-house" group of planners working within City Hall using a planning approach which has little in common with the Area Planning concept. The growth of the division and diffusion of its activities seem to have negated the spirit which characterized the intent and early implementation of Area Planning. In addition to the loss of its initial motivation, Area Planning is now at a critical point in time because of the cancellation of future NIP programs and changes in the RRAP approach by the federal government. A restructuring or replacement of the Area Planning Division will be required to establish again a local planning approach as a part of more effective and democratic governance of the city. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

No description available.

LD2668 .T4 1947 R6 / Master of Science

With the modern development and urbanisation in the city of Ar Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, public gardens were introduced as the major public recreational facilities. The establishment of the public gardens commenced at the beginning of the 1980s. Since that time, the number of public gardens has reached 34. They vary in size, the smallest is about 3,000 sq. m. and the largest is about 455,000 sq. m. The rapid development of these facilities, in such a short time, did not allow for extensive assessment of the residents' needs. Rather, the design of these gardens emerged without precedent, based on foreign examples. Because of the adoption of foreign design ideas, the outcome did not respond to the socio-cultural aspects which existed in and were respected by the society. The study was an attempt to recognise and understand the relationship between the sociocultural aspects that govern and guide people's behaviour and the outdoor recreational environment. In order to investigate the relation between human behaviour and the physical environment, three research techniques were defined by which the various dimensions and details concerning the socio-cultural aspects which govern human behaviour can be identified, described and clarified. The techniques used are archive search, observing the behaviour-environment and a questionnaire survey. As a results of the analytical process, specific issues which strongly related to the socio-cultural aspects of human behaviour in the outdoors were identified as important in determining the level of compatibility between the intended behaviours and their meanings and the physical setting of the recreational environment. In order to create a coherent built environment that responds positively to the intended functions expected by certain people, knowledge and understanding of their socio-cultural values and behaviours must be acquired and applied in the design process.