The development of the third world has been based on economic development and the opportunity for expanded markets, the exploitation of labor and the exportation of first world values. Yet, over time, the focus of development has been challenged. A broad philosophical stroke of change has refocused development action to include market based, industrial and capitalistic ideas of prosperity as well as human and social development. Progressive development action is refocused on quality of life and opportunity enhancement. Now, economic development and capitalistic approaches to lifting the third world from poverty persist alongside development action centered in human development. This research ponders the possibility that development programs centered in land tenure formalization can have broader applications to progressive and sustainable objectives related to human development and increasing human agency. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Urban and Regional Planning in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2013. / March 21, 2013. / Developing Countries, Development, Human Capabilities, Land Formalization, Land Tenure Reform / Includes bibliographical references. / Rebecca Miles, Professor Directing Dissertation; Ralph Brower, University Representative; Petra Doan, Committee Member.

Urban containment strategies have long been a central part of Florida's growth management system but literature advocating municipal adoption of an urban containment strategy has far outweighed rigorous analysis of Florida's primary tool seeking to promote contiguous urban development and fiscally efficient service provision, the urban service area (USA). This study examines the price effects of the USA boundary in Tallahassee, Florida by examining the impact of the USA boundary on area land markets. The findings suggest the establishment of the USA strategy is statistically associated with a price suppression effect on low-density land values, though the magnitude of the effect can be characterized as mild. However, the findings also suggest that the USA strategy is not influencing land values and development trends in the manner anticipated. The primary implications of the findings suggest that Tallahassee's system of incentives and disincentives to manage the location and timing of urban development through infrastructure phasing is not a strong enough carrot to influence the location of urban development. These findings have significant land planning implications for Tallahassee and Leon County, notably that sewer provisions may not be the growth shaper envisioned by program architects. The author demonstrates that great care needs to be taken when designing research seeking to identify the price effects of growth controls on area land markets, as the results are very sensitive to how variables are measured. The primary conclusion drawn from this research is that land planning agencies need to pay particular attention to how distinct land development regulations may work at cross-purposes and thus defeat some of the aims of comprehensively managed growth. Most importantly, communities must carefully consider the trade-offs involved when implementing urban containment programs, namely the perceived short vs. long-term impacts of land management programs, as well as the trade-offs between the fiscal efficiency gains and social equity implications of a USA strategy. / A Dissertation Submitted to the Department of Urban and Regional Planning in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2003. / February 21, 2003. / Growth Management, Urban Service Area (USA) Boundary / Includes bibliographical references. / Charles Connerly, Professor Directing Dissertation; David Rasmussen, Outside Committee Member; Ivonne Audirac, Committee Member.

It has been assumed that paid work leads to greater autonomy for women. This dissertation focuses on how education and employment relate to different dimensions of autonomy. Four dimensions of autonomy are discussed. They are economic decision making, ability to take care of self when sick, freedom from violence and freedom of mobility. Secondary and higher education are associated with greater autonomy in economic decision making, ability to take care of self when sick and freedom of mobility. However, they do not automatically lead to increased freedom from violence. The relationship between work and autonomy is more complicated than that of education and autonomy. To get a clearer picture of the association between work and autonomy, this study focuses on three different dimensions of work, namely work status (work and do not work), type of remuneration (cash and non cash), and type of employment (work for someone else, family worker and selfemployed). Generally, women who work for cash display greater autonomy in all dimensions than non working women and working women who are not paid in cash. Some types of work are more strongly associated with autonomy than others. In particular, there are differences between the self-employed and family workers. The first show greater autonomy than the latter. The difference in level of employment between these two groups relates to the nature of employment. Women who are self-employed develop skills to negotiate with various parties, own capital, albeit small, and control profit. In contrast, family workers work under the supervision of family members, who often co-reside with them, hence they have no greater autonomy at work. Therefore labor force participation does not increase their autonomy at home. The finding suggests the importance of looking at the meaning of work in a more critical manner. Participation in paid work is often construed as a sign of modernity, therefore it is commendable. However, there is a wide array of reasons why women work and types of employment. Some of them generate autonomy, while some perpetuate patriarchal relations. The study also finds that some types of work are associated with lower levels of autonomy. In particular, self-employed and family workers have higher odds of ever having been beaten than non-working women. In this case, the true causal factor is likely to be poverty and male employment. / A Dissertation Submitted to the Department of Urban and Regional Planning in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2003. / March 26, 2003. / Work And Autonomy, Women's Education / Includes bibliographical references. / Rebecca Miles, Professor Directing Dissertation; Isaac Eberstein, Outside Committee Member; Petra Doan, Committee Member.

This thesis work addresses two research questions regarding sustainability that may be of interest to the planning profession, namely, is it useful and meaningful to measure the sustainability of residential neighborhoods in terms of their long-term viability? And if it is, is it then feasible to design an instrument for measuring neighborhood sustainability that can be used to inform neighborhood-scale planning and decision making? Interpreting from a review of planning literature regarding sustainability at the neighborhood scale that efforts to measure neighborhood sustainability provide insight and knowledge to planners about neighborhood conditions, I followed a step wise process to construct an instrument. This process involved defining sustainability as is relevant at neighborhood scale, identifying forces that influence it, defining the unit of analysis for the measurement instrument, and operationalizing the instrument. It is my conclusion that while it is feasible to construct an instrument for measuring sustainability, it is through additional research work outside of the graduate thesis that such an instrument can successfully be constructed. Due to time and resource constraints, I have only been able to develop an instrument of measurement that may be useful to planners chiefly as a heuristic tool rather than a policy making analytic tool. / A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Interior Design in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science. / Spring Semester, 2006. / March 24, 2006. / Social, Sustainability, Index, Environmental, Economic, Neighborhoods / Includes bibliographical references. / Ricardo Navarro, Professor Directing Thesis; Lisa Waxman, Committee Member; Eric Wiedegreen, Committee Member; Eric Ohlsson, Committee Member.

There has been no such study to date to investigate the residential origin of the varying categories of homeless. This study investigates the spatial distribution of residential origins of the varying categories of homeless and the factors that contribute to the vulnerability of individuals to become homeless. The study categorizes homeless people based on gender, family status, the occurrence of alcohol, drug and mental health (ADM) problem, chronicity and veteran status. Data for this study was obtained through the 2005 point-in-time homelessness survey in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The use of hot spot analyses reveal the differences in the spatial distribution of the prior addresses of varying categories of the homeless including by gender, family status, the occurrence of ADM problem and chronicity. The spatial distribution statistics indicate that the differences are statistically significant. This study suggests that the various factors associated with the causes of varying categories of the homeless did correspond to the spatial distribution of residential origins of the homeless. The spatial distribution of the prior addresses can be a new characteristic that distinguishes between one type of the homeless and other type of the homeless. This study also shows similar pattern of the spatial distribution of prior addresses of homeless women to those of homeless women-dominated categories including homeless family, homeless without ADM problem and non-chronic homeless. The prior addresses of these homeless categories are less tied to neighborhoods of high poverty than those of homeless men and homeless men-dominated categories including homeless individuals, homeless with ADM problem and chronic homeless. This finding suggest the possibility that domestic violence as well as other gender-based variables that are not confined strictly to neighborhoods of high poverty are variables that explains the differential distribution of prior addresses of homeless women and homeless women-dominated categories from homeless men and homeless men-dominated categories. This study also reveals that areas that characterized by deprivation and high rate of unemployment, proportion of Blacks and female-headed households with young children are strongly and positively significant in producing more homeless of varying categories. / A Dissertation Submitted to the Department of Urban and Regional Planning in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2006. / March 20, 2006. / Prior Addresses of the Homeless, Spatial Analysis, Homelessness / Includes bibliographical references. / Charles E. Connerly, Professor Directing Dissertation; Wendy Crook, Outside Committee Member; Rebecca Miles, Committee Member.

Urban containment policies have gained importance over the past decades in the American land-use policy landscape. Urban containment programs aim at containing urban growth and at protecting farmlands, open spaces and environmentally sensitive areas, by geographically shaping growth patterns. However, their effectiveness, defined as the ability of such programs to reach their intended outcomes and change the existing patterns of development, still remain a source of debate. In many cases, it appears that local governments are likely to be influenced by the local political demand in the way land-use policies are adopted and implemented. Often they are reluctant to counter the prevailing patterns of development and frustrate local interest groups or coalitions. Following a regime theory approach, this research argues that the effectiveness of urban containment programs is influenced both directly and indirectly by local coalition politics. Previous studies do not clearly demonstrate the influence of local coalitions on the implementation of such programs, although the literature emphasizes the existence of such links, at least theoretically. Effectiveness is measured through questions concerning the effectiveness of the land-use management system in reaching fourteen goals associated with urban containment, further reduced to three main effectiveness components: accommodating, containing and restricting growth. Effectiveness is influenced by the extent to which local planning and local decision-making is dominated by coalitions that impose their views about growth and support or not the adoption and implementation of specific policies, based on the goals these coalitions seek to achieve. Three main hypotheses are derived from the conceptual framework regarding coalition politics. The first hypothesis states that the regime in place will directly influence the adoption of urban containment programs. The second hypothesis states that policies will be most effective in reaching urban containment goals when the local coalition reflects a broad-based consensus in favor of growth management. The third hypothesis refers to the regime in place having an indirect influence on the effectiveness of policies in reaching containment goals through the adoption of urban containment policies The hypotheses and other causal relationships are examined through a path analysis employing original survey data and secondary data, including views of planning directors from 242 local jurisdictions in six states. The analysis attempts to isolate the effects of coalition politics on the adoption and implementation of containment policies, controlling for the intergovernmental context, the mobilization potential and the multi-facets of the containment programs. The results of the path analysis support the expectation that local coalitions directly and indirectly influence the effectiveness of containment goals. Adoption of urban containment programs is positively influenced by the existence of a local coalition reflecting broad-based consensus in favor of growth management. As coalitions move toward a pro-growth management stance, and become more broad-based, the adoption of policies aiming at containing growth, preserving environmentally sensitive areas and managing rural growth is increased. The effectiveness of urban containment goals is positively influenced by the local coalition reflects a broad-based consensus in favor of growth management. The jurisdictions where the dominant coalition is a broad-based coalition in favor of growth management therefore experience a greater success in containing urban growth and reducing urban sprawl, in protecting agricultural and open spaces, and in protecting environmentally sensitive areas. The findings also support the expectation that the effectiveness of containment goals is indirectly affected by the local coalition in place through its influence on containment policies. The findings support this expectation for the effectiveness of accommodating and containing urban growth. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Urban and Regional Planning in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2007. / October 20, 2006. / Coalition Politics, Politics Of Growth Management, Regime Theory, Urban Containment, Growth Management / Includes bibliographical references. / Bruce Stiftel, Professor Directing Dissertation; Ivonne Audirac, Committee Member; Timothy Chapin, Committee Member; Richard Feiock, Outside Committee Member.

Existing research continues to debate the existence and strength of the land use-transportation relationship. Research efforts have tested this relationship in numerous residential settings; however, non-residential venues like workplaces, shopping centers etc. have received less attention. This study examines this relationship at an under-researched setting--the workplace. It sheds light on the effect that certain components of the built environment at the workplace, namely density, diversity and design, have on travel behavior in a three-county region of Southeast Florida. The study is cross-sectional in nature and uses logistic regression to evaluate the probability of driving alone (DA) to work as a function of the built environment of the workplace while controlling for (a) regional accessibility; (b) density at the home setting; (c) employee's household and personal characteristics; and (d) job characteristics. The study did not find the built environment at the workplace to significantly influence commute mode choice. Although it found that directions of association for density, diversity and design were as expected, none were significant. Only one design dimension measuring the proportion of high speed roads within a one-mile radial area from the workplace was significant. Control variables related to employees' household, personal and job characteristics such as age, income, being a government employee and using a vehicle as part of the job also had a significant influence on driving alone to work. The results of this analysis do not match results of previous studies that found the built environment to be influential on commute mode choice. This may be partly due to differences in history, geography and urban form and structure between this study's region and those of previous studies. With an intensely autocentric regional fabric, a culture of fast urbanism seems to prevail in Southeast Florida. Hence, any change in travel behavior away from solo driving toward more environmentally friendly commute modes such as carpooling, transit riding, walking or cycling would require sizable changes in the existing built environment. Since these changes may be difficult to achieve in the near future, in order to influence commute mode choice in this region, policy makers may have to strongly rely on travel demand management strategies that complement smart-growth and transit oriented policies designed to alter the built environment, particularly in and around employment centers. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Urban and Regional Planning in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2009. / October 9, 2009. / Built Environment, Commute Mode Choice, Drive Alone, Land Use, Travel Behavior, Southeast Florida / Includes bibliographical references. / Jeffrey Brown, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Ivonne Audirac, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Mark Horner, University Representative; Gregory Thompson, Committee Member.

Imagine a Florida without fresh Florida oranges or fresh Florida orange juice. Now imagine that same Florida with even more massive cities spreading up the southeast coast into central Florida, across to the west coast up into the Big Bend, and along the Panhandle hugging the Gulf. And worse, imagine thousands of Florida's agricultural farmers and workers unemployed, the leftovers of an industry that cannot compete with a global oligopoly. A reduction in an import tariff of Brazilian citrus could produce this horrendous scenario. Land use planning would be crucial under a very dramatic shift in the production of citrus within the state. This paper seeks to inform the research community of a highly possible threat to Florida's citrus industry, and eventually to land planning. This paper will discuss the current goal of the Free Trade Area of the America's trade union between the countries of the Western Hemisphere. The paper describes how that agreement could adversely impact land values. By inferring the effect that trade liberalization would have on land values, a scenario of land use change is depicted. By representing the citrus industry spatially as it is today, utilizing Geographic Information Systems (GIS) combined with observed data, a description of how citrus might look in the future is discussed. This analysis is completed for the thirty-two citrus producing counties. The analysis uses data from 1992 and 2002 to construct a temporal analysis of the citrus industry. Land use planning in the State of Florida is a powerful tool for growth management Land planning for a local government is often solely based on characteristics of a community and its neighboring communities. There is generally little discourse on international economics/politics when local land planning occurs. This paper pushes land-use planners to dig deeper when assembling information about the characteristics of a community and to explore, holistically, possible factors that could produce sweeping changes to the entire state. / A Thesis submitted to the Program in International Affairs, Department of Urban and Regional Planning in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Science. / Summer Semester, 2005. / April 29, 2005. / GIS, Citriculture, FTAA, Land-use, Florida / Includes bibliographical references. / Tim Chapin, Professor Directing Thesis; John Thomas, Committee Member; Burton Atkins, Committee Member.

This research examines the Villagisation Policy in the extreme post-conflict circumstances of Rwanda. The goal of this research is to investigate the implementation of the policy and to evaluate its effects on poverty reduction. The latter is estimated by comparing actual to extrapolated trend data for four indicators of poverty: GDP per capita, infant mortality rates, illiteracy rates and total household consumption. The third component of this research entailed an investigation into the potential of the current Land Law to reduce poverty; the latter contains the same fundamental goals and objectives as the Villagisation Policy. This study finds that the implementation of the Villagisation policy varied significantly across regions. The emphasis of local authorities on the implementation of the policy varied and local populations interpreted and received the policy differently across regions. Furthermore, different problems arose across regions where the policy was implemented. The findings of the analysis suggest that the Villagisation policy has not had a measurable effect on reducing poverty levels in Rwanda and that the Land Law has a greater potential to lower poverty levels because it addresses obstacles to poverty that were not addressed by the Villagisation Policy. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Urban and Regional Planning in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Planning and Masster of Arts. / Fall Semester, 2007. / October 26, 2007. / Land Reform, Imidugudu, Villagisation, Post-Conflict Reconstruction, Rwanda, Poverty Reduction / Includes bibliographical references. / Rebecca Miles, Professor Directing Thesis; Ivonne Audirac, Committee Member; Peter Garretson, Outside Committee Member.

This dissertation highlights the results of an investigation of the effects of uncertainty on siting decisions involving Locally Unwanted Land Uses (LULUs). Focusing specifically on the siting of natural gas-powered energy facilities in California, the analysis of data gathered from a survey of participants illustrates the effects of participants' uncertainties on siting processes and outcomes. The research focuses on four specific types of uncertainties: environmental risk uncertainty; solution uncertainty; interaction uncertainty; and commitment uncertainty. Environmental risk uncertainty is associated with perceived impacts on the environment. Solution uncertainty is tied to the process of evaluating and selecting proposed solutions or alternatives. Interaction uncertainty relates to the difficulty in determining the perceptions of others, the information that they hold, their preferences for solutions, and their likely actions. Commitment uncertainty influences participants' assessments of the credibility of commitments made by other parties in the siting process. The findings point to the presence of each of the four types of uncertainty among siting process participants. In addition, the research suggests that participants exhibited certain actions as a result of their uncertainties including questioning experts, exhibiting reduced trust, focusing on a narrow set of issues, and manipulating analyses of alternatives. Further, the findings provide insights into the influence of uncertainty on siting process outcomes such as decision optimality and conflict among participants. Overall, the research suggests the importance of understanding the underlying basis of LULU responses and the need to craft siting processes that mitigate or at least account for participants' uncertainties. / A Dissertation Submitted to the Department of Urban and Regional Planning in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2004. / February 27, 2004. / Public Participation, Risk Perception, Uncertainty, LULU, Energy / Includes bibliographical references. / Bruce Stiftel, Professor Directing Dissertation; Evan Ringquist, Outside Committee Member; Robert E. Deyle, Committee Member.