It is estimated that the population of the City of Nanaimo will almost double in the next 25 years. In the past, Nanaimo's urban growth has been absorbed using a typical pattern of development - stripmalls, supported by ever-expanding low-density suburban sprawl. This development seems to have occurred with little or no forethought to its environmental or social consequences. Urban sprawl is consuming our land and endangering the natural ecosystems in our region. In response to the ecological and social problems of urban sprawl the City of Nanaimo, in coordination with the Regional District of Nanaimo, has developed a Growth Management Plan. The Plan focuses on creating compact communities within the city boundary, thereby alleviating sprawl and mamtaining the ecological integrity of the hinterlands. We must now seek ways of designing neighbourhoods that not only accommodate our growing population but also enhance both the human and environmental "functioning" of the site. This project examines a sustainable growth strategy for one of Nanaimo's designated urban growth areas. The Southgate Town Centre Concept Plan is the product of an integrated planning process and is based on principles of sustainable and complete communities. The Plan addresses the basic functional elements of a community (habitat and watershed integrity, pedestrian and traffic circulation, and residential and commercial development) and explores how the application of sustainability principles can result in a functional community. The result is a comprehensive design of an urban growth area that has accommodated density while also improving the ecological, social and experiential fimctioning of the site. The design addresses the relationship of the site to its watershed context and its surrounding community. As a comprehensive document it also serves as a model for similar urban development areas. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA), School of / Graduate

Bibliography: leaves 166-174. / There is a lack of information suitable for planners and architects to determine the distribution and intensity of solar radiation in urban spaces. New, tall buildings often reduce the quality of their immediate environment by intercepting sunlight before it reaches street level. While planners and the local authority recognise the necessity to rehumanise the city centre and to protect spaces with human appeal, certain squares are under threat of being overshadowed by the redevelopment of old buildings on their perimeter. This study explores an alternative to existing methods for evaluating the distribution and intensity of solar radiation. Greenmarket Square in central Cape Town was selected as a study area where radiometer readings at fifty-four points were made at one minute intervals from sunrise to sunset in midwinter. Several examples of graphical methods of depicting the readings are critically discussed and results of the field work are analysed in depth using one of the methods. An attempt is made to relate observations of solar radiation levels to human use of the Square. In addition to providing specific information necessary for a full understanding of the new procedures suggested, broadly-based background material on the subject of sun and shade in urban spaces is provided.

Urbanization has posed great challenges for environmental sustainability, human health, and wellbeing. One of these challenges is stormwater management stemming from widespread imperviousness in urban areas. For many cities, including New York City, stormwater management issues are being exacerbated by the impacts of climate change, which is increasing the frequency and intensity of wet weather flows in multiple regions of the world. In New York City, stormwater runoff is collected with wastewater sewage in a combined sewer system (CSS) that dates back to over a century ago. At the time the system was put in place, it was designed to transport a combination of storm and wastewater to local treatment plants with a capacity of about twice the dry-weather flow. With the expansion of urbanization and population growth, this outdated system is now easily overwhelmed during wet weather flow. In some areas of the City, rainfall of less than a few millimeters can cause untreated combined storm and waste water in excess of the system’s capacity (Schlanger, 2014), to be discharged directly into a nearby surface water. The combination of storm and wastewater is referred to as combined sewerage, and overflow events are referred to as combined sewer overflows (CSOs). CSOs are a leading source of local water body pollution in NYC, as well as countless other older cities in the US and abroad that operate with combined sewer systems. To solve the CSO problem, many cities, including NYC, have adopted green infrastructure (GI) plans that aim to capture stormwater locally before it can make its way into a CSS. In New York City, right-of-way bioswales (ROWBs) are composed of about 60% of the GI that has been implemented to date (The New York City Department of Environmental Protection, 2020) for stormwater management and CSO reduction. However, despite the popularity of ROWBs as a GI intervention, few research studies have focused on quantifying their hydrological performance. This can be attributed, in part, to the greater complexity of ROWB behavior in comparison to other GI interventions, such as green roofs, which have attracted wider research interest. In addition, because ROWBs are located in the public right-of-way, monitoring and measurement of the behavior of these systems also poses additional challenges. The first study in this dissertation presents three new field methods for quantifying the stormwater retention capacity of individual ROWBs. By applying the field methods at a ROWB site located in the Bronx, NYC, the influence of rainfall characteristics and the monitored soil moisture content of the ROWB on the ROWB’s hydrological performance was explored. A definition of a so-called ‘rain peaky event’ (RPE) was introduced to divide an individual storm into several sub-events. A RPE event-based empirical model for predicting the stormwater retention behavior of the ROWB was then developed based on the monitored soil moisture content of the ROWB and the rain depth recorded every 15 minutes during a storm event. This study found that the predicted stormwater retention volume per rain depth per unit drainage area of the studied ROWB, is not significantly different from that of several NYC based extensive green roofs. However, compared to the drainage area of the green roofs, which is the same as the roof’s surface area, the drainage area of the studied ROWB was about 84 times its surface area. Thus, per unit area, the ROWB was found to have significantly higher (almost two orders of magnitude) total stormwater capacity than the extensive green roofs. The second study in this dissertation assessed the applicability of the physics-based one-dimensional finite element model HYDRUS-1D, for simulating the infiltration process of a ROWB during storm events using long-term monitored soil moisture content as an input. The simulation results from the HYDRUS-1D was validated by field measurement results taken at the ROWB site located in the Bronx, NYC, and compared with the RPE event-based empirical model presented in the first study. The HYDRUS-1D model was found capable of predicting the ROWB’s cumulative stormwater retention at intervals of one minute, as well as the total retention volume of stormwater inflows into the ROWB per rain peaky event, except for events with an average stormwater inflow intensity high than 20 cm/hr. The study revealed that HYDRUS-1D has a tendency to under-predict the retention capacity of the studied ROWB for a storm with an inflow intensity high than 20 cm/hr, thus providing a lower bound on ROWB stormwater retention. The current published version of the HYDRUS-1D was also found to be erroneous when simulating the ROWB stormwater infiltration process in cases where the ROWB’s soil moisture content was close to saturation. The third study investigated the effectiveness of increased perviousness on CSO reduction and water quality improvement in NYC, toward an aim of understanding how GI implementation can improve city-wide stormwater management issues. By using the enterococci (ENT) concentration as an indicator of water quality and the runoff coefficient to represent land perviousness over an area, a random forest classification model was developed for predicting whether a water body is swimmable or not at 50 shore sites along the main waterways of NYC. The model revealed the significant contribution of land perviousness, and hence GI interventions and green space, to CSO pollution reduction for CSO-shed areas located adjacent to slower-moving waterways. For CSO-shed areas located adjacent to faster moving waterways, the influence of land perviousness was found to be negligible. The random forest classification model developed in this third study can be used as a tool for city planners and agencies as part of plans for GI implementation that focus on the optimization of local water quality, among other objectives. Overall, the research presented in this dissertation aimed to provide a deeper insight into the factors governing the hydrological performance of the most prevalent GI in NYC – namely right-of-way bioswales. In addition, the research aimed to provide insight into linkages between land perviousness and CSO pollution levels in NYC local waterways, which can be used to inform the implementation and overall performance of the entire NYC GI system.

Thesis: M.C.P., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, 1976 / M.C.P. / M.C.P. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Planning

Includes bibliographical references (p. 575-607) Pt. A. Ecological cityscapes: theory & practice -- pt. B. Urban ecology Australia &ecopolis: ecocity projects in South Australia -- pt. C. Towards a theoretical synthesis of ecopolis About creating and maintaining 'ecological cities' and the necessary conditions for making ecocities. Sets the creation of human settlement in an ecological context and demonstrates through case study analyses that practical approaches to urbanism can be made within a theory of city-making grounded in principles of direct democracy and cooperative community processes.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Sustainable development has gained great interest at global, national and local community levels. For instance, governments, civil societies, the commercial sector as well as local communities have responded to the agreed framework of UNCED known as Agenda 21, developed at the „Earth Summit‟ held at Rio de Janeiro in 1992, inter alia through the development of indicators aimed at monitoring and evaluating the achievement of sustainable development. As a result, different tools to measure the level of sustainability have been developed and applied in many cities globally. These include different types of indicators, namely environmental, social, and economic performance monitoring indicators, as well as combined indices. Since cities are dynamic complex open systems with interrelated social, economic and environmental systems, and sustainable development cannot be absolutely achieved, integrated sustainable development indicators that concurrently address social, economic and environmental dimensions are crucial to aid in monitoring sustainable development particularly in any given urban system. This study gives an overview of these indicators and indices. The South Africa government has acknowledged in both its National Framework for Sustainable Development of September 2006 and the Draft National Strategy for Sustainable Development and Action Plan of May 2010 that like other cities globally, cities in this country face similar challenges particularly due to urbanisation. In this study, the focus is on evaluating the sustainability challenges of the City of Cape Town and the role sustainability indicators could play in helping to achieve sustainable development objectives. This is supported by a review of the so called „sustainable cities‟ and in particular how the Cities of Seattle (USA), Santa Monica (USA) and Curitiba (Brazil) have tried to address urban challenges. To meet the study objective of recommending the type and a process of developing indicators that will aid in improving sustainability in the City of Cape Town, selected indicators and indexes developed globally, nationally and for other cities are critically reviewed. Selected policies, plans and indicators developed by the South African national government, the Western Cape provincial government, and the City of Cape Town are reviewed. The review aims at investigating whether the existing policies and indicators were useful in addressing sustainability challenges particularly in the City of Cape Town. The review focuses on the policy objectives to assess whether the policies contradicted or were supportive of each other, the existence or lack thereof of gaps in the policies, and whether local communities and other stakeholders were involved in decision making processes. The findings suggests that although sustainable development is addressed in the policy documents of all three spheres of government in South Africa, the implementation has not yet been effective – and the City of Cape Town is no exception based on published reports such as the State of Cape Town Report. On the basis of the lessons derived from the success stories of cities like Seattle, Santa Monica, and Curitiba towards achieving sustainability, several recommendations are suggested to assist the City of Cape Town in developing, implementing, and reporting on sustainability indicators. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Op internasionale, nasionale asook plaaslike gemeenskapsvlakke het volhoubare ontwikkeling groot belangstelling gelok. In reaksie op die ooreengekome raamwerk van UNCED, Agenda 21, ontwikkel by die “Earth Summit” (Rio de Janeiro, 1992), is aanwysers gemik op die monitering en implementering van volhoubare ontwikkeling deur regerings, burgerlike samelewings, die kommersiële sektor asook plaaslike gemeenskappe ontwikkel. Dit het gelei tot die ontwikkeling en implementering van verskillende instrumente vir die meet van volhoubaarheid in verskeie stede wêreldwyd. Hierdie instrumente sluit in verskillende aanwysers, ondermeer omgewings-, sosiale-, ekonomiese- en prestasie aanwysers asook gekombineerde indekse. Omdat stede dinamies komplekse ope sisteme met interafhanklike sosiale, ekonomiese en omgewingssisteme is, en volhoubare ontwikkeling nie absoluut bereikbaar is nie, is geintegreerde volhoubare ontwikkelings aanwysers wat sosiale, ekonomiese en omgewings dimensies gelyktydig aanspreek van kritieke belang in die monitering van volhoubare ontwikkeling, spesifiek in enige gegewe stedelike sisteem. In beide sy nasionale raamwerk vir volhoubare ontwikkeling (Julie 2008) en nasionale strategie vir volhoubare ontwikkeling en Aksie plan (weergawe van 20 Mei 2010) het die Suid Afrikaanse regering erken dat plaaslike stede, soos ander wêreldwyd, dieselfde uitdagings in die gesig staar veral as gevolg van verstedeliking. Die fokus van hierdie studie was die evaluering van die volhoubaarheids-uitdagings van die Stad Kaapstad en die moontlike rol wat volhoubaarheids-aanwysers kan speel in ʼn poging om volhoubare ontwikkelings doelwitte te bereik. Hierdie word ondersteun deur ʼn oorsig van die sogenaamde “volhoubare stede” en spesifiek hoe stede soos Seattle (VSA), Santa Monica (VSA), en Curitiba (Brasilië) stedelike uitdagings probeer aanspreek het. Ten einde die studie doelwit aangaande die aanbeveling van die ontwikkelingsproses van aanwysers en indekse vir die verbetering van volhoubaarheid in die Stad Kaapstad te bereik, is verskeie internasionale, nasionale sowel as stedelike volhoubare ontwikkelings indekse krities geëvalueer. Geselekteerde beleid, planne en aanwysers wat deur die Suid Afrikaanse Nasionale regering, die Wes Kaapse provinsiale regering en die Stad Kaapstad ontwikkel is, is ondersoek. Die doel van hierdie evaluasie was om vas te stel of bestaande beleid en aanwysers nuttig is, in die aanspreek van volhoubaarheids-uitdagings spesifiek in die Stad Kaapstad. Die fokus van die evaluasie was op beleidsdoelwitte ten einde te bepaal of: verskeie beleid teenstrydigheid toon of andersins ondersteunend is, die bestaan of gebrek aan leemtes in beleid en of plaaslike gemeenskappe en of ander belange groepe in die besluitnemingsproses betrokke is. Die bevindinge dui daarop dat alhoewel volhoubare ontwikkeling in beleidsdokumente van al drie sfere van die Suid Afrikaanse regering aangespreek word, die implementering daarvan nog nie so doeltreffend is nie - en gebaseer op gepubliseerde verslae soos die stand van Kaapstad, is die Stad van Kaapstad nie ʼn uitsondering nie. Na aanleiding van lesse geleer uit die sukses verhale van stede soos Seattle, Santa Monica en Curitiba in die bereiking van volhoubare ontwikkeling is verskeie aanbevelings gemaak om die Stad Kaapstad by te staan in die ontwikkeling, implementering, en rapportering van volhoubaarheids-aanwysers.

The overall goal of this thesis project was to explore principles of sustainable development through planning and design. A 60-hectare site was chosen in Surrey, where two different community plans were designed based on the proposed Clayton general land use plan. The first community plan was based on typical or status quo development principles. The second community plan was based on alternative or sustainable principles of development as described in the East Clayton Neighbourhood Concept Plan. These two plans were then compared using nine different economic, ecological and social parameters. Further detailed design was then done for two areas on the alternative community plan; Stormwater Park, an integrated park and school site, and the Community Garden. Typical residential and commercial streets were also illustrated in detail.

The growing urban population in South Africa has challenged the government's ability to provide adequate housing for the urban poor. In order to respond to the challenges, the government embarked on the initiative of providing Low - Income Housing (L1H). There is, however, a growing concern that these L1H developments may not be sustainable due to a number of reasons, including issues relating to land use and sub- standard construction of houses. There is need to make these L1H areas more sustainable. This can be done by employing the concept of the sustainable city. The concept in recent times has been considered by many people as an ideal to which cities should aspire. The main thrust of this study is to evaluate the concept of the sustainable city in the context of L1H in Ambleton, a settlement constructed by the government to relocate people from illegal, informal settlements within the inner city especially those found adjacent to the industrial areas. The study focuses on the issues of land use in L1H. This focus on land use is underpinned by the fundamental views that land use contributes to urban sustainability. As a result, it is necessary to examine ways in which land is being used in L1H areas and see if the current land use in Ambleton contributes to sustainability. The study shows that some people are satisfied with the amount of open spaces around their houses. Many others, however, are not satisfied because they considered open spaces in .their yard inadequate. Furthermore, public open spaces are not properly managed because there are no services to manage it. In the same vein, people have to travel long distances to get to their places of work and town for economic and leisure activities. Similarly, the provision of waste services and medical services in the study area is grossly inadequate. The study argues on that basis that the above scenario is not in accordance with the concept of sustainable city and can not therefore contribute to, the sustainability of the area of study. / Thesis (M.Env.Dev.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

Governance is defined here as the process of decision-making and implementation. Public participation which leads on from good governance is a process leading to a joint effort by stakeholders, technical specialists, the authorities and the developing agent who work together to produce better decisions than if they had acted independently. Environmental decision-making and environmental partnerships go hand in hand in the sense that good environmental decision-making can only take place if sustainable environmental partnerships are formed. This thesis focuses on the case study of the Warwick Junction Urban Renewal Programme as an example of an area based management development project in the eThekwini Municipality. Warwick Junction is a vibrant trading and transport node in the heart of the city. The area is complex in terms of its biophysical, societal, economic and political structures. The purpose of the implementation of an Urban Renewal Program in July 1996 in Warwick Junction was to uplift and upgrade this inner city area so as to provide an improved trading and residential environment. A large number of projects that fall under this renewal programme have been completed. Community involvement in these projects has been implemented via community representation on a steering committee. It is proposed that a process of good governance is necessary to integrate sustainability into all spheres of development. The aim of this research therefore is to assess the decision-making processes for a number of environmental projects in Warwick Junction. The following projects that have already been completed will be the focus of this study: The Warwick Triangle Playground, Herb Traders Market, Bovine Head Cookers facility, Mealie Cookers Facility and the Badsha Peer Project. Theories of urban governance, public participation, environmental decision-making and environmental partnerships under the broader framework of sustainability, form the conceptual framework for this study. A qualitative approach has been employed in this research. Primary data has been derived from focus groups and open-ended interviews. A set of social sustainability indicators that was derived from the theoretical framework was used to determine the most successful project. Results show that the Mealie Cookers Project displayed all the characteristics of good urban governance. It is also considered to be a sustainable project because as part of its commitment to the urban renewal programme it has balanced the social, economic and environmental needs of present and future generations in Warwick Junction. This was the most successful project out of the five projects as it ranked very high on the social sustainability indicator table followed by the Muthi Traders market, the Badsha Peer Shelter, the Playground Facility and lastly the Bovine Head Cookers facility. The Muthi Market ranked as high as the Mealie Cookers Project on the social sustainability indicator table. This is due to adequate participation with affected communities which allowed them to contribute towards the decision-making process. The strength of the Badsha Peer Shelter Project lies in the good governance and good environmental decisions being taken, win-win partnerships and overall empowerment of stakeholders. The Playground Facility brought with it many political tensions as there were two civic associations that were at loggerheads with each other surrounding the whole project. The strength of this project lies in its transformative participation as the affected communities ideas were used to decide on the location of the park. There were also many political tensions among the Bovine Head Cookers. As a result of the cookers belonging to different political parties, an issue of territory was brought to the surface. Due to serious conflict between cookers and the renewal team, this project has taken three years to implement. It is thus considered to be the most unsuccessful project out of the five projects researched. It is therefore evident that three out of the five projects have been successful, displaying appropriate environmental governance. The results indicate that the environmental decision-making mechanisms that have been employed by the urban renewal team have been transformative in the sense that they not only give a voice to the communities, but also have empowered them in the process. Adequate public participation has also contributed to the success of the programme along with win-win types of partnerships that have formed. It is therefore concluded that the urban renewal decision-making mechanisms implemented in the Warwick Junction have contributed to the sustainability of the development programme. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2004.

Thesis (MSc)--Stellenbosch University, 2001. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The abolishment of Apartheid and the transition to a democratic political dispensation has ushered in a new era for urban development in South Africa. This change implies a range of challenges for managing urban areas which also includes the urban environment. Urban environmental creation (defined as activity to green the urban environment) holds the potential to mitigate the consequences caused by Apartheid to South Africans and in addition, if planned properly and applied sensibly, can contribute significantly towards social and economic prosperity in this country. Relatively few attempts to date have been made to research urban greening within the so-called new South African context. Currently a lack of vision exists regarding strategy development for future urban greening and dissension regarding the objectives of urban greening has been identified as a key problem area. This makes it particularly difficult to take decisions at project execution level. From the outset, the aims of this research were two-fold, namely to measure progress at project co-ordination level and further to conceptualise a theoretical framework for future decision making. The literature review documents the agendas for urban greening, both past and present. An, analysis of various urban planning and design strategies, together with South African central government policies which refer to urban environmental management, has shown that a paradigm shift is occurring within the urban greening discipline. This shift is characterised by a movement away from urban greening which focuses on secondary social needs of people, and a shift towards urban greening which is more sensitive to the primary social and economic needs of cities' inhabitants. This research uses a case study approach to measure progress gained in urban greening practise and to determine the current state of affairs. A sample of projects for analysis was obtained from four organisations. Information gathered was then analysed in terms of selected characteristics. In addition, the execution processes (planning, implementation, construction and maintenance) of four urban greening development projects, which were selected randomly from the sample, are described. The research is concluded with a synthesis of findings and recommendations into a conceptual framework for future decision making. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die beëindiging van Apartheid en die oorgang na 'n demokratiese politieke bestel het 'n nuwe era vir stedelike ontwikkeling in Suid Afrika ingelui. Hierdie verandering hou 'n reeks nuwe uitdagings vir stedelike bestuur in, wat onder andere ook die bestuur van die stedelike omgewing insluit. Stedelike omgewingsskepping, wat gedefinieer kan word as aktiwiteit om die stedelike omgewing te vergroen, besit die potensiaal om skade wat Apartheid aan Suid Afrikaners berokken het te temper en kan voorts, indien dit deurdag beplan en aangewend word, bydra tot sosiale en ekonomiese welvaart in Suid Afrika. Tot hede, is daar nog betreklik min navorsing oor stedelike vergroening binne die sogenaamde Nuwe Suid Afrika konteks onderneem. Daar bestaan tans groot leemtes aangaande die gedaante wat stedelike vergroening binne 'n post-Apartheid konteks behoort te verbeeld, weens twee-spalt wat heers met betrekking tot doelwitte. Gepaardgaande hiermee, bestaan daar ook geen aanvaarbare strategie vir die toekoms nie. Al hierdie probleme tesame bemoeilik sinvolle besluitneming op grondvlak. Hierdie navorsing stel dit dus breedweg as mikpunt om die konteks van stedelike vergroening in Suid-Afrika te bepaal, vordering wat sedert demokratisering in die veld bereik is te meet en verder om 'n raamwerk vir die toekoms daar te stel. Die agendas vir stedelike vergroening (soos wat dit in die verlede was en hoe dit tans uitsien), word in die literatuuroorsig gepeil. 'n Ontleding van 'n verskeidenheid van stadsbeplannings en - ontwerp strategieë tesame met 'n ontleding van Suid Afrikaanse sentrale owerheidsbeleid wat betrekking het op stedelike omgewingsbestuur, bevestig meegaande 'n hipotese wat gestel is, naamlik dat 'n paradigma verskuiwing besig is om plaas te vind in die stedelike vergroenings veld. Hierdie paradigma verskuiwing word gekenmerk deur 'n beweging weg vanaf stedelike vergroening wat gefokus is op die sekondêre sosiale behoeftes van mense en 'n beweging na stedelike vergroening wat fokus op die primêre sosiale en ekonomiese behoeftes van stedelinge. 'n Navorsingsprojek is onderneem ten einde die huidige stand van gekoordineerde stedelike vergroenings ontwikkeling, aldus stedelike vergroening wat spesifiek gemik is op die ontwikkeling van gemeenskappe wat deur die vorige politieke stelsel in Suid Afrika benadeel is, te meet. 'n Steekproef vir analise is verkry, deur 'n vraelys ondersoek te loods onder vier organisasies wat as gevallestudies deel neem. Stedelike vergroenings ontwikkelingsprojekte wat deur hierdie organisasies gelys is (die steekproef elemente) is dan aan die hand van geselekteerdekenmerke en eienskappe vergelyk en ontleed. Gepaardgaande hiermee volg daar ook 'n prosesbeskrywing van vier stedelike vergroenings ontwikkelings projekte wat subjektief uit die vier gevallestudies geselekteer is. Die doel hiervan is om gedetailleerde insae te verskaf tot die wyse hoe stedelike vergroenings ontwikkelings projekte tans tot uitvoering gebring word. Die navorsing word saamgevat deur 'n sintese van bevindings en aanbevelings in 'n teoretiese raamwerk vir toekomstige besluitneming.