Thesis (M. Arch.)--Carleton University, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 85-86). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina Wilmington, 2008. / Title from PDF title page (viewed May 27, 2009) Includes bibliographical references (p. 107-115)

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf [143-150]).

Thesis (Honors)--College of William and Mary, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 101-105). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Santa Cruz, 1998. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 446-467).

Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 42-45).

Thesis (M.P.A. )--Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, 2006. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, page: 2933. Typescript. Abstract precedes thesis as 1 leaf (3). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 67-69).

Thesis (M. Arch.)--Montana State University--Bozeman, 2007. / Typescript. Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Ralph Johnson. Includes bibliographical references.

Rather than aging gracefully, the majority of the cities of North America have been assailed by a chronic disease which has produced deterioration, decay, and obsolescence of portions of their central core. In most cases, the centre of this decay has been the oldest, historic sections of the city. Many of these cities have reacted to the premature death of these areas with harsh and disruptive methods --the offending buildings have been torn down to be replaced by dismal public housing developments, or impersonal glass and steel skyscrapers. However, a counter-reaction has gained force in recent years, and has succeeded in some cities in slowing and even completely halting the spread of "bulldozer renewal." This new philosophy maintains that the charm and uniqueness of the old sections of the city must be preserved in order to maintain the diversity and vitality of the downtown. The most successful method of saving these districts and individual structures has been to renovate and revitalize them so that they are again economically and structurally sound. This process is known as commercial rehabilitation. Vancouver, British Columbia, has felt the influence of both of these forces—decay of its oldest districts and commercial rehabilitation. Gastown (the Old Townsite), the birth place of the city and the site of its oldest structures, has been neglected and allowed to decay to such an extent that, by 1940, it had become the centre of the city's skid road. However, since 1968 various groups have undertaken the rehabilitation of the area and have turned it into a rapidly expanding commercial district. The basic objective of the thesis is to examine in detail the economic situation in Gastown in order to isolate the trends and forces which have shaped its development, particularly as related to commercial and real estate investment in the district. Based upon these findings, implications for the future of the Old Townsite are then suggested. The assumption upon which the investigation is based is that Gastown will be able to expand and prosper as a commercial district in which customer appeal is based upon historic charm. In order to test this, two hypotheses are formulated: 1. The area defined herein as "Gastown will be economically viable as a retail-entertainment-restaurant district in which customer attraction is based upon the unique appeal created by historic and commercial rehabilitation activities; and 2. Gastown, as a retail-entertainment-restaurant district,will not be merely a short-term phenomena, but rather, the functional changes presently taking place will survive and prosper over the long run. . Three major research techniques are employed. First, an extensive literature search is used to determine the theory and practice of commercial rehabilitation and to obtain a limited amount of data about the economic situation in Gastown. Second, a questionnaire study is conducted to produce information about the operating results of those retail firms located in the study area that are considered to be compatible with the character of an historic district. This data is evaluated in relation to comparable industry standards in order to determine the economic health of these firms and is also employed as a basis for prediction of future trends in Gastown. Finally, an unstructured personal interview technique is employed to obtain economic data from persons generally recognized as leaders of the business community in the Old Townsite. With one exception, the research findings are found to be supportive of the hypotheses. It is determined that pronounced changes in land use have occurred over the past give years but that the major functional changes related to rehabilitation activities have taken place only since October 1969. Total sales volume for all businesses adjudged to be compatible with the character of a rejuvenated Gastown is estimated to be $5.5 million in 1970 and $11.6 million in 1971. However, there is a disportionate number of very small merchants operating in the Old Townsite with, the result that 12 percent of the businesses account for 80 percent of total sales volume in the area. In general, only the large-scale, experienced operators are attaining a reasonable return on investment. The prediction is made that a high proportion of business failures will occur among the small retailers and that future additions to the Gastown business-mix will consist almost entirely of large-scale firms. The analysis suggests that the opportunity exists for a reasonable rate of return on both speculative and long term investment in Gastown real estate. Even though one of the supporting criteria to the retail-entertainment-restaurant definition is found to be unsound, the hypotheses are considered to be valid. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate

Bibliography: pages 226-229. / The first part of the thesis covers the background to the research, namely (a) a selective review of previous work in the field of office development and location studies and the subsequent identification of the objectives of the present research, (b) a summary of the historical development of the central area of the City of Cape Town, (c) the definition of the study area, this being the Central Business District of the city of Cape Town and (d) a discussion of the collection of land use and gross floor area data, the identification and resolution of problems in the data and the administering of a postal Questionnaire to 1,400 office establishments in the CBD. This section also covers the problem of identifying and delimiting land use clusters. The technique selected for use in such delimitation was that developed by D. H. Davies (1965) augmented by the development of three 'indices of clustering '. The second part of the thesis presents, by means of thirty-three detailed maps, a comprehensive analysis of office land use patterns in the Cape Town CBD in 1983. Clusters are indicated according to the Davies technique. It was found that many office functions exhibited clustering in distinct parts of the CBD and, moreover, certain functions appeared to show close similarities in their respective location patterns. A factor analysis identified six groups of similarly located land uses, on which basis a model of the spatial organization of the CED was proposed. Data, derived from the postal questionnaire, on the characteristics and requirements of individual office functions was used to explain the location patterns. Previous studies have usually considered linkages as being the primary locational determinant for the office sector, but in this case it was found that clustering and the existence of similar location patterns between office functions usually arose from a combination of common locational requirements. The major locational determinants were found to be the rent paying ability of establishments, the relative importance of the accessibility of the establishment to either general public or commercial clients, the existence of strong linkages with other functions (especially where such functions were eccentrically located with respect to the CBD, such as the Docks) and in some cases the importance of occupying prestige premises. The comparatively minor role of linkages with other functions was considered to be a reflection of the relatively small size of the CBD. The thesis concludes with a study of past trends and future projections of the development of the CBD. The growing dominance of the office sector is clearly revealed, as is the effect of the Foreshore Reclamation Scheme in promoting a northward migration of the Office Core while leaving the Retail Core largely unchanged from its 1957 location. On the basis of current development projects it was projected that there would be considerable short-term vacancy in the office sector by late 1986. In the longer term, though, gross floor area requirements for all uses are predicted to rise by almost 50% to 3.475 million square metres by the year 2000. Such development of all of the space currently permitted by the Town Planning Scheme raises the possibility of space shortages and the loss of remaining historic buildings.