Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2003. / Advisor: Dr. Charles Connerly, Florida State University, College of Social Sciences, Dept. of Urban and Regional Planning. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Oct. 2, 2003). Includes bibliographical references.

The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is Canada's largest metropolitan area and principal destination for international migration and investment. Over the next 25 years, the GTA is anticipated to grow by approximately 2. 5 million people to a population of almost 8 million. While many view this growth as a symbol of economic prosperity, others see it as a threat to Toronto's economic, environmental and social well-being due to the dispersed, automobile-oriented way in which the city has accommodated its growth since the 1950s. <br /><br /> Over the last two decades, planners have focused much energy on ameliorating the shortcomings of post World War II urbanization by developing policy measures such as Smart Growth, Growth Management, and New Urbanism that aim to alter the way in which cities are built and thereby effect change in the lifestyles that have precipitated from this landscape. In Ontario, the Provincial Government recently launched a Growth Management campaign for the Toronto area called <em>Places to Grow</em>. Although many have attempted to define this relationship between environment and behaviour, little attention has been given to attitudes, preferences, and behavioural tendencies of those who will be most directly affected by such policies: the general public. <br /><br /> This study surveys residents from six GTA neighbourhoods in order to understand their attitudes and preferences toward urban living and accommodating urban growth and thereby shed light on where support may be found for implementing <em>Places to Grow</em>. Academic literature suggests that residents generally oppose changes to the physical landscape that do not conform to prevailing cultural values and attitudes. The results of this work indicate that people generally support development that is in keeping with the landscape to which they are habituated. Given that most Torontonians live a suburban lifestyle and that most of Toronto's growth occurs in the suburbs, municipalities may be challenged to implement <em>Places to Grow</em> which stands to impact the suburban landscape more than other areas of the region. If <em>Places to Grow</em> is to be successful, planners must have a better understanding of residents' preferences and motivations in order to attract and maintain their interest in community development throughout the entire planning process.

As Canada’s capital, the City of Ottawa has benefited from several comprehensive land use planning exercises since the early 1900s. Early plans carried out by the federal government were led by Prime Ministers who, in wanting to beautify the region, initiated long range plans that spanned both sides of the Ottawa River, providing land use goals and guidance for what are today the cities of Ottawa and Gatineau. The planning context changed through the 1970s, however. The federal government played a lesser role in land use planning as regional and area municipal governments grew and an expanding technically trained staff developed local plans. It was in the absence of a strong regional plan aimed at controlling outward expansion that there was rapid growth of low density suburban communities outside of the National Capital Commission greenbelt. Today, planning policy in Ottawa recognizes the environmental, social, and economic benefits of compact development and encourages by, in part, directing growth to the existing built-up area. Unfortunately, residential intensification efforts in the City have been disappointing. While the City has developed a variety of policies and programs to encourage and support residential intensification, it appears site level constraints have prohibited it to occur in a significant way. This research is concerned with identifying weaknesses in the City of Ottawa’s current growth management strategy. The purpose of this research is to provide recommendations that can be used to strengthen Ottawa’s growth management policies and programs to more effectively achieve the compact urban form desired by the municipality. The findings demonstrate that there is some level of disconnect between what recent literature and key informant interviews identify as the barriers to residential intensification at the site level and the motherhood principles for compact development at the municipal level. More specifically, barriers can be summarized as community and political resistance, regulatory challenges, and policy vs. market realities. It is recommended that the City of Ottawa adopt a strengthened strategy that establishes achievable growth and intensification targets; encourages community support for compact development; considers growth over the longer term and with a regional perspective; and is advocated by strong leaders. Only in this way can the City create an improved strategy that will, like earlier plans, make Ottawa once again a proud leader in urban planning efforts in Canada.

The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is Canada's largest metropolitan area and principal destination for international migration and investment. Over the next 25 years, the GTA is anticipated to grow by approximately 2. 5 million people to a population of almost 8 million. While many view this growth as a symbol of economic prosperity, others see it as a threat to Toronto's economic, environmental and social well-being due to the dispersed, automobile-oriented way in which the city has accommodated its growth since the 1950s. <br /><br /> Over the last two decades, planners have focused much energy on ameliorating the shortcomings of post World War II urbanization by developing policy measures such as Smart Growth, Growth Management, and New Urbanism that aim to alter the way in which cities are built and thereby effect change in the lifestyles that have precipitated from this landscape. In Ontario, the Provincial Government recently launched a Growth Management campaign for the Toronto area called <em>Places to Grow</em>. Although many have attempted to define this relationship between environment and behaviour, little attention has been given to attitudes, preferences, and behavioural tendencies of those who will be most directly affected by such policies: the general public. <br /><br /> This study surveys residents from six GTA neighbourhoods in order to understand their attitudes and preferences toward urban living and accommodating urban growth and thereby shed light on where support may be found for implementing <em>Places to Grow</em>. Academic literature suggests that residents generally oppose changes to the physical landscape that do not conform to prevailing cultural values and attitudes. The results of this work indicate that people generally support development that is in keeping with the landscape to which they are habituated. Given that most Torontonians live a suburban lifestyle and that most of Toronto's growth occurs in the suburbs, municipalities may be challenged to implement <em>Places to Grow</em> which stands to impact the suburban landscape more than other areas of the region. If <em>Places to Grow</em> is to be successful, planners must have a better understanding of residents' preferences and motivations in order to attract and maintain their interest in community development throughout the entire planning process.

As Canada’s capital, the City of Ottawa has benefited from several comprehensive land use planning exercises since the early 1900s. Early plans carried out by the federal government were led by Prime Ministers who, in wanting to beautify the region, initiated long range plans that spanned both sides of the Ottawa River, providing land use goals and guidance for what are today the cities of Ottawa and Gatineau. The planning context changed through the 1970s, however. The federal government played a lesser role in land use planning as regional and area municipal governments grew and an expanding technically trained staff developed local plans. It was in the absence of a strong regional plan aimed at controlling outward expansion that there was rapid growth of low density suburban communities outside of the National Capital Commission greenbelt. Today, planning policy in Ottawa recognizes the environmental, social, and economic benefits of compact development and encourages by, in part, directing growth to the existing built-up area. Unfortunately, residential intensification efforts in the City have been disappointing. While the City has developed a variety of policies and programs to encourage and support residential intensification, it appears site level constraints have prohibited it to occur in a significant way. This research is concerned with identifying weaknesses in the City of Ottawa’s current growth management strategy. The purpose of this research is to provide recommendations that can be used to strengthen Ottawa’s growth management policies and programs to more effectively achieve the compact urban form desired by the municipality. The findings demonstrate that there is some level of disconnect between what recent literature and key informant interviews identify as the barriers to residential intensification at the site level and the motherhood principles for compact development at the municipal level. More specifically, barriers can be summarized as community and political resistance, regulatory challenges, and policy vs. market realities. It is recommended that the City of Ottawa adopt a strengthened strategy that establishes achievable growth and intensification targets; encourages community support for compact development; considers growth over the longer term and with a regional perspective; and is advocated by strong leaders. Only in this way can the City create an improved strategy that will, like earlier plans, make Ottawa once again a proud leader in urban planning efforts in Canada.

The population of central Texas is increasing rapidly, and urbanization and suburban development continue amid projections of unprecedented growth to come. How is this affecting the expanses of rich agricultural land and remaining scraps of Blackland Prairie upon which the agricultural industry of east central Texas was built? State Highway 130 is partially complete – providing an urban-area bypass intended to alleviate traffic on I35 between San Marcos and Georgetown. In view of the building of this new transit and development corridor to the east of I35, on the eastern edge of Austin, what can be done to preserve agriculture and native prairie on Austin’s urban fringe? In this PR, I examine this question in terms of two essential components: growth management and land conservation. There are numerous studies on the structures and efficacies of growth management tools and of land conservation strategies, but there is little discussion of the role of growth management in relation specifically to urban and urban-fringe agriculture. I begin with a literature review, surveying the current state of study and practice with regard to growth management and open space & agricultural land conservation. This is followed by a case study of state-level open space conservation policy in Georgia, from which I draw lessons relevant to my case. The next step is to frame the potential management and conservation policies presented win the literature review and case study within the context of local practices, thus narrowing the focus of analysis to the confines of my study area: an approximately 20-mile wide, 58-mile long corridor along a portion of SH130. To gauge the possibilities for management and conservation within the study area, I have produced a matrix of jurisdictions and policy options, and an inventory of vacant land. Using the matrix I analyze, on the one hand, the relevant legal codes available to each jurisdiction, and on the other hand, local attitudes toward growth and agriculture. The land inventory is a graphic presentation – through GIS mapping – of factors critical to the potential preservation of open space. The final operation is to sketch a larger proposal within which this study would fit as a preliminary step. Here I suggest an implementation plan, based on the Envision Central Texas model, and recommend directions for future research. / text

Lic.-avh. Stockholm : Tekniska högskolan, 2004.

The issue of urban sprawl has been discussed extensively in planning circles over the past two decades. The result of sprawled cities is far-reaching. Some see it is a major contributor to air pollution and traffic congestion and it encourages development on prime agricultural land and floodplains. Others discuss the monetary implications of sprawl calculating costs of infrastructure, fuel and the time spent traveling. In South Africa, major urban areas have one important feature in common with this North American, Australian and British phenomenon- that urban growth has taken the form of dispersed residential accretion at the city edge, however, the reasons for sprawling urban areas in South Africa can be attributed to an intricate and complicated cultural and political history. Following a unique situation in South African urban areas, the Gauteng Provincial Government recognised the growing pressure to rectify the situation in order to achieve a more equitable urban environment to all its citizens. One of the initiatives proposed was the containment of urban growth inside the Province. The idea of a more compact urban environment held the promise of increased accessibility to urban opportunities, greater viability of public transport, as well as environmental advantages. Together with its three metropolitan municipalities, Gauteng province proved to be pioneer in initiating and implementing an “Urban Growth Management” approach (The Gauteng Urban Edge) in its urban areas, however, this approach remains widely debated and controversial throughout planning circles in South Africa. The study explores the reasons and rationales underpinning the implementation of a growth management approach as gathered from international literature, and whether these reasons were in fact informing the Gauteng Provincial government’s reasons for initiating an urban edge. It also considers the different tools and mechanisms available for urban growth management and how these tools and mechanisms and their respective objectives informed the idea behind an urban edge specifically. The study further reviews the opinions and ideas of role-players who were involved in delineating and implementing the urban edge and based on these factors, attempts to draw some conclusions on what could possibly have improved the process of initiating and implementing the Gauteng Urban Edge. Copyright / Dissertation (MT&RP)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Town and Regional Planning / unrestricted

Affordable housing is recognized as a problem in many localities throughout the United States. Local governments have the power to influence housing affordability through land use policies. Land use tools exist to address affordable housing.. However, these tools are primarily used to address other environmental, economic, and social issues. When implemented to serve other land use objectives, these tools can have a negative impact on affordable housing. This paper will describe the link between land use regulations and affordable housing, suggest the land use tools necessary to encourage affordable housing from a state growth management perspective, and examine how California, Oregon, and the Portland Metropolitan Region have utilized the tools in their affordable housing policies. Finally, this paper applies the lessons learned from the cases to recommend further action to assist in the integration of land use tools as a means of advancing affordable housing goals. / Master of Urban and Regional Planning

No description available.