A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Architecture, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg for the degree of Master of Urban Design. JOHANNESBURG 1992 / This dissertation studies the residential environment o f suburbia. As urbanisation continues to increase, renewed questions on the costs ot sprawl, its environmental impact and the livability of suburbia are being asked. The major aim or purpose is therefore to suggest new ideas which w ill be capable of transforming neighbourhoods into places exh biting the many qualities of urbanism that have been eroded away as standardised planning techniques and automobile domination, slowly but surely break down the fabric of urban areas. The research method traces the historical beginning of suburbia up to the present day in order to clearly understand the factors fundamental in determining its structure and form. The results show a need to compact and integrate res'dential areas so that densities may be increased and sprawl curtailed. Livability is, however, an essential prerequisite as without it a return to the slum conditions of the pre-war years is possible, due to the ever increasing population growth and rural depopulation.

Thesis (M.Law. (Development and Management)) --University of Limpopo, 2009 / This research investigates the relationship between the right to development and the right to the environment. An overview of the legislative framework aimed at facilitating development and environmental protection is discussed. The right to development is aimed at improving the quality of life and living conditions of ordinary people. On the other hand, the right to the environment has as its purpose the conservation and prudent utilisation of natural resources. Theoretically, the two rights are at loggerheads. However, at the centre of these rights is the concept of sustainable development. Sustainable development harmonises the implementation of developmental activities and environmental protection, by compelling government authorities and developers to consider environmental issues when implementing development projects. Public participation is vital in environmental law as it ensures that the public is well informed about development projects that may have adverse effects on the environment. Public participation in development projects is part of the Environmental Impact Assessment process (EIA). A case study of a local township was conducted to illustrate the importance of public participation and the acceptance of the right to development and the right to the environment as justiciable human rights in South Africa. The study revealed that local government officials lack the necessary knowledge and skills to implement development and environmental laws at local community level. This results in non- compliance with the existing environmental laws by developers. It is concluded that right to development and the right to the environment co-exist and are mutual reinforcing. Therefore, failure to ensure proper implementation of the two rights may result in short- lived and unsustainable development, projects and programs. It is concluded further that non-compliance with the EIA procedure defeats the concept of public participation as embodied in environmental law and international environmental instruments. It is recommended that the government should equip its officials and citizens with skills and knowledge on how environmental laws operate and should be implemented.

Bibliography: p. 421-443. / xxiii, 452 p. : ill., maps ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Geographical and Environmental Studies, 2003

Suburban growth in the U.S. urban regions has been defined by large subdivisions of single-family detached units. This growth is made possible by the mobility supported by automobiles and an extensive highway network. These dispersed and highly automobile-dependent developments have generated a large body of work examining the socioeconomic and environmental impacts of suburban growth on cities. The particular debate that this study addresses is whether suburban residents are more energy intensive in their travel behavior than central city residents. If indeed suburban residents have needs that are not satisfied by the amenities around them, they may be traveling farther to access such services. However, if suburbs are becoming like cities with a wide range of services and amenities, travel might be contained and no different from the travel behavior of residents in central areas. This paper will compare the effects of long term suburban growth on travel behavior, energy consumption, and GHG emissions through a case study of neighborhoods in central Phoenix and the city of Gilbert, both in the Phoenix metropolitan region. Motorized travel patterns in these study areas will be generated using 2001 and 2009 National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) data by developing a four-step transportation demand model in TransCAD. Energy consumption and GHG emissions, including both Carbon Dioxide (CO₂) and Nitrous Oxide (N₂O) for each study area will be estimated based on the corresponding trip distribution results. The final normalized outcomes will not only be compared spatially between Phoenix and Gilbert within the same year, but also temporally between years 2001 and 2009 to determine how the differential land use changes in those places influenced travel. The results from this study reveal that suburban growth does have an impact on people's travel behaviors. As suburbs grew and diversified, the difference in travel behavior between people living in suburban and urban areas became smaller. In the case of shopping trips the average length of trips for suburban residents in 2009 was slightly shorter than that for central city residents. This convergence was substantially due to the faster growth in trip lengths for central city compared to suburban residents in the 8-year period. However, suburban residents continue to be more energy intensive in their travel behavior, as the effect of reduction in trip length is likely to be offset by the more intensive growth in trip frequency. Additionally, overall energy consumption has grown significantly in both study areas over the period of study.

Land development patterns have long been a reflection of not only consumer preferences but of public policy. To the extent that such policy has supported scattered, low-density and automobile-dependent development patterns, it has been found to be deficient. It is not only the private land developers who have created sprawl. Government agencies at all levels have also contributed to the problem in the ways they invest in public infrastructure devoid of a coordinated strategy. Schools, public recreational facilities, and branch libraries often are isolated from one another. Two case studies were used to demonstrate the manner in which planned, congregated public facilities came first and succeeded in providing the impetus to sustainable private sector response loosely following a master plan. The first case study examines the urban neighborhood of City Heights in San Diego, California, where a blighted, crime-ridden neighborhood was redeveloped with the construction of several public assets, all within a small, nine-block area. The result was the participation of the private sector in this neighborhood where ten years prior, there was private sector abandonment. The second case study examines the Town Center project located in Suwanee, Georgia. In this example, a city municipality took the helm as master developer, initiated 'place' in the form of an urban-style park, and thereby created the impetus for the subsequent investment by the private sector.

The growth of mega-cities within the developing world has presented extreme challenges to ensuring the fundamental well-being of the general population and providing basic access to social services for all, especially adequate housing. Urban change in the mega-city has been particularly rapid and has involved a complex interaction between multiple actors at multiple levels. Tracing the patterns of urban development within this context is complex and involves incorporating the interactions between civil society, markets, and the state, operating at both micro and macro levels. Of key importance is the manner and degree to which the interaction or isolation between different agents shapes development patterns. This dissertation examines how residential segregation in Latin American cities in general, and Santiago, Chile in particular, is influenced by shifts in policy and planning and how advanced research methods can expose the linkages between social segregation, urban planning structures, and housing production. The primary goal of the research is to examine the nature of socio-spatial segregation in Metropolitan Santiago and the role that urban planning and formal housing provision plays in (re)producing or reducing the separation of different social groups. Santiago presents an ideal case for analyzing complex urban systems as it has developed under a strongly centralized state with formal housing provision processes and mature urban planning programs. While the physical patterns of socio-spatial segregation are broadly similar to many other Latin American cities, unique differences have emerged. Using a mixed-methods approach, the dissertation relates the policy and planning of housing programs, analytic evaluation of segregation patterns, and the simulation of segregation processes over time. The patterns and processes of socio-spatial segregation in Santiago are analyzed in detail via the macro- and micro-level structures of housing provision and urban planning. The central methodological contribution of the research is the employment of exploratory and simulation approaches, whereby formal methods that reinforce or reduce segregation are examined within a multi-level cellular automata model. The results of the dissertation suggest that patterns of segregation in Santiago are spatially and temporally heterogeneous, pointing to a complex relationship between the processes of urban governance, planning, and housing production. / text

This study, with its research question ‘To what extent is housing mix related to social sustainable development of new towns and what is the influence of housing mix on social sustainability in new towns?’ sets out to develop a critical understanding of and examine the relevance and desirability of incorporating customary housing mix practice in developing Hong Kong new towns to social sustainability through providing a detailed account of relationships between social mix concept and social sustainability concept as well as the influence of housing mix to new town development in social sustainability aspect. Both qualitative and quantitative methodological approaches were taken, including a questionnaire survey in a cluster sampling survey approach and a semi-structured interview, to collect data from 100 local public housing residents each at two study areas, Shatin and Tin Shui Wai, which were selected based on the assumption that one has better social sustainable development derived from a balanced housing mix, while one has lower level of social sustainability due to an imbalanced housing mix respectively. Data tabulation and content analysis were used to analyze data collected. Findings and analysis of this study suggest that the assumption of social interpersonal process brought by social mix in the same community is questionable and even not justifiable in the context of two study areas. From this perspective, there is no expectation that social mix would contribute to middle class role modeling and individual upward mobility. The interrelationship of level of mixing and the anticipated social outcomes of social mix in both towns are argued to be impractical. Thus, it further argues that social mix, in the context of both towns, does not promote social sustainability of new towns, from the fact that social cohesion is a vital aspect of social sustainability. Arising from these findings, implications are also drawn from the study that planners may have a relative weak role to plan for social development and the uncritically adoption of housing mix may shrink the production of public housings in future new town developments in view of a current huge public demand in Hong Kong. Although there are limitations in the research design and study scope and a tentative conclusion can only be reached with a selected angle of observation in this study, a more comprehensive and detailed exploration on interrelationship between social mix and sustainable development in new towns can be carried out in future is still recommended. It also proposes that forced heterogeneity should not be uncritically adopted by planners, who can study other planning tools to enhance other aspects of social sustainability of a new town. / published_or_final_version / Urban Planning and Design / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

published_or_final_version / Urban Studies / Master / Master of Social Sciences

published_or_final_version / Urban Design / Master / Master of Urban Design

published_or_final_version / Comparative Asian Studies / Master / Master of Arts