Thesis (M.Phil.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 179-188). Also available in electronic version.

Thesis (M.S.P.D.(Prof.)) - University of Queensland, 2005. / Includes bibliography.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Delaware, 2005 . / Principal faculty advisor: Swasey, James E., Dept. of Plant & Soil Science. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Idaho, 2006. / Abstract. "August 2006." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 222-227). Also available online in PDF format.

There is persistence of rural poverty in African countries despite efforts by governments to implement community development projects to curb poverty in impoverished rural communities. Zimbabwe adopted the Poverty Alleviation Action Plan (PAAP) under which community development programme was initiated. Community development projects by NGOs and government did not manage to meet the needs of the impoverished communities in Mvuma rural communities. More so, the incremental approach to policy making adopted by the government of Zimbabwe failed to embrace the principles of community development, for example, participation of community projects beneficiaries on everything that impact to their way of living. Despite all the efforts to alleviate rural poverty in Mvuma rural district there is still persistence of rural poverty, characterized by poor roads and struggling of most families to meeting basic needs. Mvuma rural communities are rich in mineral resources and water sources that can be utilized instead of relying on external resources through NGOs. This therefore, calls on the government and NGOs to collaborate towards capacitating Mvuma rural dwellers in order to help alleviate poverty. This study employed qualitative approach to research as it was aimed at describing and understanding rather than explaining human behaviour. Purposive or judgmental sampling was applied. This technique was used as the researcher wanted to get hold of the people who are directly or indirectly linked to implementation of community development projects. However, quantitative method was used to gather demographic information. The PAAP policy relevance to poverty reduction in Mvuma rural district and in Zimbabwe in general was the heart of this study.

The issue of human settlements has recently gained much momentum particularly in cities across the world due to rapid rates of urbanization. The housing crisis is manifesting mostly in the cities of the developing countries; the urban poor population is left with no option, they are continuously living in substandard and unsustainable housing conditions due to the desperate housing need. There is a growing trend of migration into urban centers in the developing countries as well as natural population increase in the cities. The inevitable development is the rapid growth of urbanization. The theories on urbanization suggest that the responsible government and local council authorities must be prepared to address socio-economic issues such as the provision of formal housing, infrastructure development and employment creation. The governments in developing countries are struggling to balance economic development and the provision of social services. As a result, the human settlement sector is suffering lack of prioritization when it comes to budget and resource allocation. The resultant factors are the overcrowding of the urban population, high housing backlogs and dilapidation of infrastructure visible mostly in the major cities of the developing countries.

Harvest Hope Park is a brownfield redevelopment project for the University Area Community Development Corporation (University Area CDC), a nonprofit organization dedicated to the sustainable redevelopment of north Tampa neighborhoods. While the project is still in progress, the University Area CDC has noted a lack of community engagement by local residents. The neighborhood, sometimes referred to as “suitcase city” because of the presumed transient nature of the population, has been plagued with poverty, blight, decay, high crime rates, and a lack of basic resources for decades (32 percent of the population in this area lives below the 2016 national poverty line). This project examines the importance of community engagement and capacity building through the environmental redevelopment of brownfield sites while enhancing human-environmental health. The methods used in this research consist of participant observation during University Area CDC events, semi-structured interviews with residents and University Area CDC staff, and analysis of available University Area CDC documents and data. This research identifies the environmental, health, and social impacts of the redevelopment of Harvest Hope Park. Results of the research support the hypothesis that engagement of residents in brownfield redevelopment projects supports building the foundation for the skills, abilities, and resources to advocate for change in their community.

Thesis (MTech (Construction Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2005 / There is a realisation that new emphasis and added responsibilities are heing placed on professional consultants to involve local communities in the development process. The traditional hierarchical 'top-down" approach which characterised the way projects were initiated and managed by construction professionals in the past has lost favour with the Department of Public Works (DPW). It is therefore necessary for professionals to change their thinking, react and adapt to change. This will require a major paradigm shift on the part of the construction professional consultants. The World Bank advocates three measures to reform the provision of infrastructure services, namely wider application of commercial principles to service providers, broader use of competition, and increased involvement of users where commercial and competitive behaviour is constrained. The need for people involved in development to be placed in the centre also suggests the implementation of specific and intruding shifts in emphasis. Policies and strategies directed mainly at the control of natural settings, technological considerations, economic structures and demographic conditions have to be replaced by policies that take full cognisance of concomitant values, customs, social structures and political participation. The study examined the lack of community participation in current community development projects in South Africa which resulted in their diminished usefulness to beneficiary communities. The study had five main objectives namely (a) To highlight the importance of community participation in development projects through a theoretical study; (b) With the use of surveys establish whether community development projects involve the participation of the beneficiary community in all the stages of a project; (c) To show the Current project delivery systems enhance community participation; (d) To highlight the effect that community dynamics has on the process of delivering development projects and (e) Show through a survey that beneficiary communities do not accept ownership of projects unless they participate in these projects.

Thesis (MTech (Public Management)) --Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2009 / There is mounting dissatisfaction among South African communities concerning the state of housing and safety and security in South Africa. This, coupled with intentions of government, which have not always been as successful as anticipated, has led to situations where communities that were promised development, embark on uprisings against poor service delivery, which they receive. This study investigates involvement of all stakeholders, specifically the community, in community development projects, in order to determine what effect this has on the end result of community development projects. The main focus of this study comprises involvement of the community and the impact that it could have on the initiation and planning steps of the project management process. The study uses both a qualitative and quantitative approach. The quantitative survey was administered through use of two closed ended questionnaires; one was directed at residents of the N2 Gateway, as the beneficiaries of the N2 Gateway Housing Project, and the other at residents of Langa on four subdivisions of Langa, namely northern, southern, eastern and western Langa. The qualitative survey was administered in the form of interviews that were held with managers in the Provincial Government of the Western Cape who are responsible for implementation of the Bambanani Against Crime Project and the N2 Gateway Housing Project. The study reveals that both projects made little use of community engagement during the initiation and implementation stages, which had a visible effect on results of the project, as confirmed by results of the survey. However, the project had a different approach owing to the nature of the project. The Bambanani Against Crime Project solely relied on volunteers from the community for implementation and this aspect had a big impact on the end result of the project. The N2 Gateway Housing Project did not accommodate community involvement at any stage of the project, which ultimately led to dissatisfactory results in respect of views of the community, and the department that implemented the project.

Thesis (DTech (Public Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2008 / The research explores an evaluation of cross-border electricity trading among countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Understanding this trading achieve through an analysis of various global electricity markets. The research disclose that in the electricity markets in Europe, North America, South America and Asia analysed in this thesis, none managed to successful eliminate power shortages. Their situation, however, is different from that of the Southern Africa Power Pool (SAPP). The apparent poor design of the SAPP as a regional power pool impacts negatively on power trading within its region. A strategic public management model was used to analyse the organisational dynamics of the electricity companies of the three countries selected for this research (Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa and Zimbabwe). A Strength Weakness Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis carried out on these markets indicated that there are problems among different electricity companies, each requiring a solution. Each country's evaluation highlighted a need for an accountable government to implement a goal-directed policy to militate against any dysfunctional operations by the electricity companies. The quantitative and qualitative data analyses of the fieldwork results showed the SAPP had struggled hard to increase the capacity of members' power trading. The study indicated internal problems in terms of increasing trading volumes. The time series analysis showed power trading in the short-term electricity market had decreased annually. Linear regression analysis also indicated a decline in the capacity of the SAPP. A number of factors could explain the reduction of capacity in the SAPP, but the research results suggested a strong probability that electricity capacity would decrease further, as the countries, trading in the power pool have experienced decreased electricity volume annually because of internal demand. In addition to a number of. recommendations, the research proposes a normative model that could be used by nations to manage and assess the electricity market. An understanding of the input as adapted from Easton inpuUoutput normative 11 transformational systems model, in terms of different governments, should assist policy-makers to transform the power trading generating distribution industry. Global experience shows the need to establish a normative transformation of the electricity industry in the SADC region. It is clear from the results of this study that the SADC electricity markets have been poorly transformed in terms of a particular normative guideline. The situation has also disadvantaged the SAPP, which, in recent times, had less electricity capacity with which to trade. Implementation of the normative model in the context of this study sought to analyse all aspects that might influence the transformation of the electricity sector, and to grow a currently dysfunctional state to that of functionality and reliability. While each country faced its own reality in terms of the transformation of its public enterprises, the study recommends the normative model be implemented in the same way in each selected country.