published_or_final_version / Geography / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning and Environmental Management / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Chinese cities have experienced dramatic growth and transformation since the initiation of economic reforms in 1978. One of the main characteristics of contemporary urban development in China has been the massive expansion of urban land, which has become one of the most important means to generate fiscal revenue and promote local economic growth. The existing literature on urban China has addressed issues such as China’s urbanization, changing urban land use and changing public finance. What is missing from the existing literature is the interrelationship among these three processes. The links between urban socioeconomic development and land use change remain poorly understood, and the discussion of the relationship between institutional changes and urban land development has been rather limited. This thesis takes a political economy perspective to investigate the relationship among institutional changes, urban land development and urban socio-economic changes in Chinese cities, using Beijing as a case. The main argument made in this study is that urban land development has worked as an important medium to channel the effects of institutional changes toward shaping the pattern of urban economic and social development. During the period of 1996 -2008, Beijing experienced large-scale urban expansion. The area of agricultural land and unused land dropped by 1.1% and 2.9% respectively while the land used for construction increased by 5.6%, and the urban built-up area in 2008 was 2.75 times of the area in 1996. My research has found that the peak of Beijing’s urban land development occurred in the period of 2001 to 2004 when both the growth of urban construction land and the transaction volume of land conveyance reached their climax. Much of the newly increased construction land was converted from agriculture for industrial use. Over space, urban land development in Beijing was concentrated in the northwestern and eastern regions. My detailed analysis of the sources and dynamics of urban land development in Beijing has identified profound institutional changes made in the central-municipal fiscal relations as the most important driving forces responsible for the temporal, structural, and spatial characteristics of land development demonstrated in Beijing. My further assessment of the effects of urban land development in Beijing has revealed a mixed picture of improved economic efficiency and persistent social and spatial disparity. The efficiency of Beijing’s economic growth has improved significantly when compared with its past and with other cities in the region. However, the internal variations in urban socioeconomic development in the Beijing city-region has been worsen. By establishing the relationship among the three elements, namely urban land development, institutional changes and urban socio-economic development, this research challenges the conventional wisdom that sees land development as simply the passive outcome of economic growth and suggests that land should better be seen as the “medium” to connect and materialize the effects of changes in the political and institutional arena upon urban social and economic transformation. / published_or_final_version / Geography / Master / Master of Philosophy

Public-private partnership (PPP) has been an important issue in recent decades. PPP is seen by some as a cure for inefficient and over-burdensome modern government. Yet, by observing practices in China, this research aims to answer the simple questions: why has there been a decline in PPPs? How does government decide whether or not to establish partnership with private enterprises? By investigating the case of Primary Land Development (PLD) in China especially in Beijing, this research has attempted to provide explanations mainly in relation to coordination effectiveness involving a resource interdependence theory. Logic of institutionalism is followed. External environment, key institutions and attributes of PLD field are also carefully examined to further explain the change of resources and coordination effectiveness. This research conducts longitudinal comparison of cases within one case city: Beijing. The focal level is Beijing municipal level. Three time horizons are examined, which are 2002—2004, 2005—2008, and 2009-2010. The First-hand data in this study have two main sources: in-depth interviews with key policy participants and archives acquired through fieldwork. Secondary data including statistical yearbooks, laws and policies, news, and research carried out by previous students are also employed by the research. This research examines the changes of external political and economic environment in each time horizon. It compares the coordination effectiveness between PLD policy-makers and PLD implementers and between PLD implementers and other stakeholders in PLD process within each time period. Through examining the three stages of PLD in Beijing, this research develops the following findings. First, fiscal decentralization and cadre management are two important elements shaping the incentives of policy-makers in China. Second, coordination effectiveness in two dimensions influence policy-makers in decisions related to PPP. Third, the degree and the extent of resource interdependence influences whether coordinator can employ the most suitable and effective mechanisms to coordinate. Fourth, changes to the external economic and political environment will change the incentives and policy choices of policy-makers, and also change the resources held by different actors. Fifth, coordination matters. When traditional mechanisms such as hierarchy and the market do not work well in many cases, the ability to employ new coordination mechanisms such as networks is particularly important in achieving the desired goals of coordinators. Finally, in countries like China which is dominated by political logic, the more politically significant a field is, the less likely it is that PPPs will exist. / published_or_final_version / Politics and Public Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Urban Design / Master / Master of Urban Design

published_or_final_version / Urban Design / Master / Master of Urban Design

published_or_final_version / Urban Design / Master / Master of Urban Design

No description available.

Lakes in Canada's rapidly growing urban areas have reached a critical state, and decisions about the best way to protect, manage, and rehabilitate urban lakes are a planning priority. Lakes are important parts of the urban landscape that have provided local communities with a wide variety of recreational opportunities. Deer Lake is an eighty-six acre lake located in the central portion of the City of Burnaby, British Columbia. The relatively small shallow lake has provided swimming and fishing opportunities for local residents since the 1950s. For the past forty years, the aesthetic qualities of Deer Lake have progressively deteriorated to the point where aquatic, and terrestrial recreational activities are being compromised. Burnaby's urban planners have been asked to maintain the aesthetic and biological integrity of Deer Lake. At the same time, the planners are asked to accommodate the recreational needs of a growing urban population. The Deer Lake Restoration and Management Committee have relied on scientists and engineers to find the best technological alternative to restore the lake's water quality to some pre-urban condition. Despite numerous scientific reports, city planners, and politicians are undecided on a preferred technological water treatment alternative for Deer Lake. Controversial and complex environmental issues, high costs, technological uncertainty, and differences in stakeholder values have stalemated the decision making process. The current Deer Lake planning process lacks an organizational structure that can incorporate different stakeholder values and represent complex information in a clear and understandable way. Value-focused thinking and multiple account analysis offers urban lake planners an integrated planning framework that can accommodate many of the complexities involved in planning for the restoration and management of urban lakes. Multiple account analysis assumes that economic, social and environmental objectives should be explicitly considered in the decision making process. The crucial first step in a multiple account evaluation is to develop and articulate a set of objectives that can then be used to create a set of plausible alternatives. The purpose of this thesis is to conduct a policy analysis for Deer Lake restoration alternatives. The thesis employs the principles of "Value Focused Thinking" to identify, and structure the objectives of the Deer Lake Restoration Committee. Value-based objectives are used to develop a set of alternatives. The impacts of the selected lake restoration and management alternatives are assessed using a multiple account analysis. First, the problem is described, and structured with all aspects of the decision that merit consideration. Next the process assesses the impacts of the alternatives being considered by combining the best scientific, technical, environmental, and financial information that is available. This information is used to assess how well the selected alternatives achieve the desired objectives. The Deer Lake case study illustrates the benefits of using value-focused thinking and multiple account analysis as a comprehensive decision making framework for urban lake restoration projects. One new alternative has been created as a result of this process, and the impacts of all the proposed alternatives have been measured with respect to the stated objectives. On the basis of available information, this analysis predicts the probability of achieving the desired water quality standards over the short term and long term. Perhaps the greatest analytical strength of applying this combined approach to the Deer Lake issue is the ability to simplify complex information, and at the same time retain enough detail to support the decision making process. Intangible social and environmental aspects of the decision are explicitly incorporated. In the end, a compact, complete statement of objectives and alternatives is derived from this information, which in turn provides a platform for good communication and constructive stakeholder negotiation.

The practice of providing urban parks as an integral part of community development no longer creates public debate about the function or legal authority of local governments to make such purchases. However, the debate continues on the ethics of local government's parkland acquisition practices. These practices have the capability and motivation to influence the land value of sites they wish to acquire. Local governments are responsible for determining land use, which in turn affects land value. The limited financial means of local government to acquire parks makes influencing land value one way of stretching the scarce resources of the community. The ethics practiced in the negotiations to acquire urban parkland where the land has development potential are unique because: 1. Parkland is a public good and not a market commodity; 2. The potential for other higher land uses exists; and 3. Local government plays a dual role: one of a regulator and approving authority for determining land use and providing community stewardship, and the other as the corporate cost controlling agency seeking to acquire land. These qualities create the strong possibility for ethical conflict to occur in the negotiating process. Building upon the Interest-Based approach to negotiations, this paper uses a set of Prescriptive, Intuitive and Evaluative (P.I.E.) criteria that define ethical conduct, and the dimensions of Fact, Social Consensus and Experience that defines the dimensions of interests, to develop a General Model for Ethical Negotiations (GMEN). Conceptually, the GMEN model is a three-sided pyramid within a sphere of negotiations. Negotiations that adhere to the principles defining the parameters of the pyramid would be considered ethical. Negotiations outside the pyramid are considered unethical. Six parkland acquisition cases are discussed using the GMEN model. In this study, the parameters establishing the criteria for passing ethical judgment are the functions of the political economy, the policy statements of the local government, and the legislation that delegates power and authority to local government. The study finds that ethical conflict is inherent in parkland negotiations where the land has development potential because of the multiple roles and dual character of local government. This conflict is not necessarily illegal since prescriptive criteria are only one means of judging ethics. Nor is the outcome necessarily negative to the vendor, since the public may end up with a less attractive park agreement. However, the parameters that would require parkland acquisition negotiations to be ethical sometimes conflict with some of the multiple roles held by local government. Several recommendations are made that would help to reduce ethical conflict and the imbalance in parkland negotiations.