Thesis (M.U.D.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 128-130).

Includes bibliographical references (p. 65-71).

Thesis (M.U.S.)--Portland State University. Urban Studies, 2009. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Feb. 25, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 99-104).

Urban growth is one type of urban development. Many Canadian cities have dramatically evolved over the past twenty years. Along with the rapid growth of urban region, urban sprawl has become one of the most significant issues challenging most cities. Remote sensing techniques are frequently used to analyse urban growth and sprawl. In this study, three temporal satellite images, which were taken at 1990, 2000, 2010 respectively, are classified using software ENVI to determine the urban extent and growth pattern of the city of London, Ontario, Canada. Statistical models including Shannon‘s entropy and Pearson‘s chi-square are applied to calculate the degree of sprawl and degree of freedom of London. Moreover, the overall degree of goodness of the urban growth is calculated as a promotion of the former two statistic models towards the analysis of urban growth. The results shows London is sprawled in the past 20 years (from 1990 to 2010) with a decreasing degree of freedom and a moderate degree of goodness of urban growth. Apart from mathematical analysis, policies that have been implemented since 1990s to curb urban sprawl in London are reviewed. Key factors that impact the urban growth pattern of London are identified through reviewing. It is found that 1993‘s annexation, the creation of Urban Growth Boundary and changed political intentions are the main factors. By analyze these factors, it also help to explain the results derived from mathematical models. Brownfield redevelopment, residential intensification, smart moves are regarded as the most important strategies to deal with urban sprawl carried out by London‘s local government. It also witnesses a great impact of policies initiated by the province on a mid-sized municipality such as London. It is argued that municipalities gain only limited political autonomy and administrative capacity. Recommendations are addressed specifically for the related strategies for further promotions. / published_or_final_version / Urban Planning and Design / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

China has experienced unprecedented growth since the open door policy began at the end of the 1970s and is currently in position as the world’s second largest economy in terms of gross domestic product. Much of the academic community already considers China a dominant economic power and potentially the most important nation state in terms of its current and future role in the global economy. In addition, the last 50 years has produced a plethora of research on the importance of cities and on their profound economic contribution under persistent international trends of globalization. One prime example of the culmination and prominence of this research, Saskia Sassen’s The Global City: New York, London, Tokyo, delineates specific characteristics of true global cities, citing the three titled cities as the only prime examples in existence. Based on the economic prominence of China as a nation-state, this dissertation aims to view China’s prominent contemporary cities through the lens of Sassen’s global city alongside other relevant and related theories and data in order to determine whether a true global city exists today within Mainland China. It then evaluates the current status of Chinese cities with respect to the observed effects of globalization and on the hypothetical path to true global city status. A number of theories relating to Chinese cities are developed in this respect, including the ‘shared spotlight’ theory and the ‘polarity of global city functions’ theory. Finally, an attempt is made to directly associate the distinct global economic roles and developmental paths of Beijing and Shanghai to the unique political and economic policy and action demonstrated by the Chinese Communist Party. Through qualitative and quantitative analysis, the conclusion is drawn that Chinese cities, specifically Beijing and Shanghai, have taken divergent paths and play very distinct economic roles, as opposed to showing the natural agglomeration of global city functions one would expect to find in a world economic power under an increasingly globalizing world economy. Additionally, an associated conclusion is drawn that the unique developmental paths and the resulting distinct roles can be directly associated with actions and policies of the Chinese Communist Party. / published_or_final_version / China Development Studies / Master / Master of Arts in China Development Studies

No description available.

This thesis examines the deeply layered genre of crime and detective fiction together with academic texts dealing, broadly, with urban geography. These apparently separated writings are read together and against one another in order to reveal answers to important questions of how the city is organized and arranged in its texts. In particular, this thesis analyzes certain structures in place in forms of textual representation, structures which have deep implications for the writing of the city. Edgar Allan Poe's Dupin stories appear alongside Michael Dibdin's Aurelio Zen novels, and Christopher Prendergast's study of Paris in the nineteenth century. Walter Mosley's series of Los Angeles mysteries are discussed in the context of particularly prominent academic representations of L.A. Reading such a diverse collection of texts together and against one another is a deliberate tactic, intended to draw out the similar structures in place in very different forms of writing. Those structures are the critical issue here, specifically with regard to the need for examinations of the city that consider not merely which components of the city appear in texts about the city, but also how the city appears in text. How the city appears in text has a good deal to do with the demands exercised by the medium of representation, and a key concern here is to draw out the need for doing away with an often unquestioned separation between places—cities—and their texts. Instead what is studied and ultimately proposed here is a focus on the intersection between subject and textual structure, and how that intersection actively produces the city.

No description available.

Thesis (M.U.R.P.) -- University of Adelaide, Dept. of Planning, 1977.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of New South Wales, 2003. / Also available online.