<p> The Medina of Tripoli, Libya, is a very ancient walled city that has a history of change, development, deterioration, conservation, and preservation to its fabric. Influenced by various foreign groups (Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Muslims, Spanish, Ottomans, Karamanlis), its architectural styles include ancient and traditional structures, as well as modern Western style or acculturation architecture. The purpose of the Medina as a place of habitation has changed over the years because of many factors including residents moving out of the Medina, fluctuating preservation, the changes in government policy when each new ruling entity had its particular laws and regulations, and some distortion of the economy due to the oil revenues. The place has no long-term plan or vision applied to it&mdash;either from within or from without. This study, the first of its kind in North Africa to collect information by using surveys and mental maps, convert the information into geographic information system (GIS) data, and come to definite conclusions about the Medina's situation. The entire research focused on four areas (the Islamic buildings, common routes of transportation, areas of deterioration, and population densities within Tripoli's Medina), but this document focused on the deterioration in the city while analyzing its urban informality, the residents' rights to live in the city, and property categories. This study helped to clarify the current situation and provide input to planners in post-uprising Libya. </p><p> Key words: Medina, geographic information system (GIS), urban informality, conservation, urban planning.</p>

<p> This thesis examines the significance of a micro-level approach to the Israeli-Palestinian water conflict. By rethinking scale of analysis and examining local insecurities, Palestinian experiences reveal how water conflict plays out in latent and discursive ways. In a step-by-step method, I detail the processes and outcomes of the water struggle in the West Bank. First, I show how technical challenges ((i) poor water supply, (ii) antiquated water infrastructure, (iii) failed institutions) are shaped by political imperatives. Second, I show how Palestinians have responded to local water sector challenges: (iv) nonpayment to the Palestinian Water Authority for their water supply, (v) increasing rural to urban migration by Palestinian farmers. As a result, Palestinian society is stuck in cycles of crisis that make the conditions increasingly ungovernable. While Palestinians are stuck in a mode of ungovernability, their position in the peace process with Israel is undermined.</p>