This thesis maintains that, far from being politically impartial bodies, as professional associations might suggest, professions as a whole are resolutely influenced in their activities by the political will of the times. At the beginning of the third millennium, this ???will??? is described as neocorporatism, an ideology based on corporate structure and third sector co-governance. The research highlights the interrelationships between professions and ideology. A case study of the Canadian Institute of Planners - CIP - demonstrates how this neocorporatist philosophy is having an impact on its power and legitimacy and, ultimately, its effect within Canadian society. An historical review demonstrates how the Canadian Institute of Planners has reacted to and reflected state ideology throughout its history. It is clear that the organisation has been in a submissive relationship with the state until recently, where we see the balance of power starting to shift. The CIP is currently reorganising itself to better integrate with the state and improve its government relations. Documentation tracks the CIP???s participation in national policy processes and shows that it is, in fact, becoming significantly more involved in policy-making through various federal government consultation and partnership initiatives. The Canadian Institute of Planners seems to rely solely on practical conjecture to inform its operational choices. My hermeneutical discourse analysis uses existing theory and empirical information to advance our understanding of the CIP and by implication, professions in general. This enlightenment can help direct the organisation???s strategy within the neocorporate state apparatus and, ultimately, enable it to gain power, legitimacy and greater influence within Canada???s policy- and decision-making spheres.

published_or_final_version / Urban Design / Master / Master of Urban Design

This thesis maintains that, far from being politically impartial bodies, as professional associations might suggest, professions as a whole are resolutely influenced in their activities by the political will of the times. At the beginning of the third millennium, this ???will??? is described as neocorporatism, an ideology based on corporate structure and third sector co-governance. The research highlights the interrelationships between professions and ideology. A case study of the Canadian Institute of Planners - CIP - demonstrates how this neocorporatist philosophy is having an impact on its power and legitimacy and, ultimately, its effect within Canadian society. An historical review demonstrates how the Canadian Institute of Planners has reacted to and reflected state ideology throughout its history. It is clear that the organisation has been in a submissive relationship with the state until recently, where we see the balance of power starting to shift. The CIP is currently reorganising itself to better integrate with the state and improve its government relations. Documentation tracks the CIP???s participation in national policy processes and shows that it is, in fact, becoming significantly more involved in policy-making through various federal government consultation and partnership initiatives. The Canadian Institute of Planners seems to rely solely on practical conjecture to inform its operational choices. My hermeneutical discourse analysis uses existing theory and empirical information to advance our understanding of the CIP and by implication, professions in general. This enlightenment can help direct the organisation???s strategy within the neocorporate state apparatus and, ultimately, enable it to gain power, legitimacy and greater influence within Canada???s policy- and decision-making spheres.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Murdoch University, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (86 p. ).

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Year of submission on cover: 1997. Includes bibliographical references (leaf 99-102).

xii, 69 p. : ill. (some col.) A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / New Urbanists promote development modeled upon neighborhoods that are highdensity and mixed-use with connected streets so that residents will drive less and have a strong sense of community. Little is known about whether New Urbanist environments provide the envisioned change in living experience for those who reside there. This study assesses changes in the living experience of residents of a suburban New Urbanist environment located in Eugene, Oregon, relative to their living experience in their previous residential environment. Findings reveal that respondents drive less for some but not all types of trips. There are no significant changes in sense of community. Changes in housing density and land-use mix are found associated with driving behavior change. Change in the enjoyment of the walking environment is found associated with changes in levels of resident interaction and feelings of sense of community. / Committee in Charge: Dr. Yizhao Yang, Chair; Dr. Robert Young; Robert Parker

Kontext, värderingar och människors personliga tyckande är något som alltid kommer vara en del av samhället. Stadsplaneringen är en komplex process där olika viljor och intressen konkurrerar och stadsplanerare som tjänstepersoner har en viktig roll. Detta arbete strävar efter att undersöka hur kontext och värderingar påverkar de val stadsplanerare gör i sin vardag. I studien presenteras tre teorier som beskriver kontext och värderingsaspekter i de mänskliga systemen. Med stöd från dessa teorier skapades ett antal experimentella intervjufrågor och tre stycken djupintervjuer genomfördes med stadsplanerare som arbetar inom Stockholms län. Resultatet från de kvalitativa intervjuerna visade att kontext och värderingar spelar roll för stadsplaneringens slutresultat och att speciellt kontext i form av arbetsorganisation har betydelse. På grund av arbetets experimentella karaktär kunde inga allmänna slutsatser kring planerarrollen att dras. En del av arbetet var att testa ifall de valda teorierna och den valda kvalitativa forskningsmetoden var användbara för att undersöka hur de olika aspekterna kring kontext och värderingar hanteras av stadsplanerare. Metoden fungerade någorlunda, men vissa av intervjufrågorna bör utvecklas något. Alternativa metoder, såsom exempelvis fokusgrupper, diskuteras i slutet av arbetet. / Context, values and people's personal opinions are something that will always be a part of society. Urban planning is a complex process where different wills and interests compete and urban planners as officials have an important role. This work strives to investigate how context and values affect the choices city planners make in their everyday lives. The study presents three theories that describe context and value aspects in the human systems. With the support of these theories, a number of experimental interview questions were created and three in-depth interviews were conducted with city planners working in Stockholm County. The results from the qualitative interviews showed that context and values play a role in the end result of urban planning and that special context in the form of work organization is important. Due to the experimental nature of the work, no general conclusions about the planner role could be drawn. Part of the work was to test whether the chosen theories and the chosen qualitative research method were useful to investigate how the various aspects of context and values are handled by city planners. The method worked reasonably well, but some of the interview questions should be developed somewhat. Alternative methods, such as focus groups, are discussed at the end of the work.