Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Alberta, 2010. / Title from pdf file main screen (viewed on July 7, 2010). A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Transportation Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of North Texas, Aug., 2007. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.

Access to safe and sufficient drinking water and adequate sanitation are now recognized as basic human rights. One Millennium Development Goal is to reduce by half the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation by 2015. However, ensuring sustainability of existing and new services is considered to be one of the major challenges for the water sector in the years to come. In India, in addition to service expansion, existing water service quality has been observed to be deteriorating over recent years. There is therefore an equally urgent need to address sustainability and improvement of service quality to the presently served population. In this low-income country, where water utilities are unable to recover even the service costs of operations and minor maintenance through user charges, there is a need to determine ways and means to be able to maintain a cost-effective service to consumers. For such a capital intensive service these ways have to include not only the introduction of efficiency measures but also the long-term planning of capital maintenance, that is the maintenance of the fixed assets upon which services depend. Water utilities in high-income countries have been using various fixed asset management techniques to improve asset operational efficiency, to plan capital maintenance and to demonstrate their ability to maintain and improve service to their customers. This study explores the viability of the application of asset management techniques and their potential contribution towards improving water service provision in urban centres in India. Following a literature review, a generic asset management model for a low-income country water utility was developed and then applied in the water utility serving Jaipur, Rajasthan to assess the viability of this adaptation. Having identified strengths and weaknesses during this fieldwork a revised model was proposed, including distinct phases of asset management/data intensity, which could be used as a generic approach in large urban centres in India. Following consultations with prospective users in six States, the study showed that it is feasible to take a first step towards asset management at low cost but this will require a change in the management approach. The study identified lack of relevant data as a key factor influencing an effective and comprehensive application of a generic asset management model. The study concludes that the proposed phased asset management models can contribute to improving serviceability for customers; however the concern that remains is the willingness of the organisation to adapt to the necessary changes.

A arborização nos espaços urbanos, mesmo que ainda pouco valorizada, veio como uma tentativa de reaproximar o homem da natureza e atenuar os efeitos da urbanização. Entretanto, a má gestão destas árvores, além de não cumprir o objetivo principal, pode oferecer riscos à população. Pouco se sabe sobre a situação geral da arborização de cidades brasileiras e o diagnóstico é o primeiro passo para o direcionamento de esforços financeiros e de políticas públicas nos pontos mais deficitários. O objetivo desta pesquisa foi explorar o cenário atual da gestão da arborização dos municípios paulistas, verificando possíveis relações de dependência com fatores socioeconômicos. Os dados foram coletados por meio de questionário eletrônico quali-quantitativo elaborado no Google Docs e enviado aos representantes (Interlocutores do Programa Município VerdeAzul - PMVA) dos municípios paulistas, com o apoio da Secretaria do Meio Ambiente do Estado de São Paulo. Os mapas temáticos foram elaborados por meio da ferramenta livre Quantum GIS versão 2.4 e da malha geométrica dos municípios do Estado de São Paulo, obtida no sítio do IBGE. Utilizou-se o Teste Exato de Fisher para verificar relações de dependência entre os dados obtidos nos questionários e os fatores socioeconômicos municipais adotados nesta pesquisa (IDH, classe populacional, renda per capita, notas gerais do PMVA, notas específicas da Diretiva de Arborização Urbana dentro do PMVA e mesorregiões). O questionário obteve um retorno de 375 municípios (64% dos inscritos no PMVA em 2013, do total de 645 municípios). O diagnóstico da gestão de árvores acusou deficiências, tanto em questões políticas, relativas a instrumentos legislativos, estruturais e orçamentários, quanto em questões técnicas, referentes a padrões de seleção de espécies, coleta de sementes, podas, remoções e outros. De maneira geral, os fatores IDH, renda per capita e notas gerais do PMVA e da Diretiva de Arborização Urbana (AU) interferem positivamente na gestão de árvores no município. Além disso, quanto maior o número de habitantes, melhor a gestão. As notas da Diretiva de AU não foram sensíveis a alguns itens importantes, como a existência de Lei e de viveiros, e muitas vezes os itens de gestão apresentaram relação de dependência com as notas do PMVA, mas não apresentaram relação com as notas da Diretiva de AU, sugerindo que tais itens não estejam sendo bem abordados nos critérios da Diretiva. A Arborização Urbana é uma das Diretivas com o menor peso no PMVA desde 2013, portanto, sugere-se que esta Diretiva tenha maior representatividade e que os critérios mais deficientes tenham mais peso dentro da Diretiva. A mesorregião de São José do Rio Preto foi a que mais apresentou relações de dependência, tanto positivas quanto negativas. As mesorregiões que necessitam de maior atenção são a do Vale do Paraíba Paulista e a de Presidente Prudente. As mesorregiões de Ribeirão Preto e Macro Metropolitana Paulista aparentam dispor de gestão de maior qualidade. Ainda que com alguns pontos a serem melhorados, o Programa Município VerdeAzul se mostrou fundamental por estimular o envolvimento dos municípios na implementação de políticas públicas e ações de gestão de arborização urbana. / The afforestation in the urban areas, although still undervalued, came as an attempt to reconnect mankind and nature and mitigate the urbanization effects. Meanwhile, poor management of these trees, besides not even serving its role, can offer risks to the population. It is known very little about the general situation of afforestation in Brazilian cities and the diagnosis is the first step to focus financial efforts as well as public politics in the most deficit points. The objective of this research was to explore the current scenario of the afforestation management of São Paulo cities, checking possible dependency relationships with socioeconomic factors. The data was gathered through a qualitative and quantitative electronic survey developed in Google Docs and sent to the representatives (Interlocutors from Município VerdeAzul Program - MVAP) of São Paulo cities, with the full support of the Secretariat for the Environment of the State of São Paulo. Thematic maps were elaborated using the free tool Quantum GIS version 4.2 and the geometric grid of the cities of São Paulo obtained in the IBGE site. It was used the Fisher\'s Exact Test to verify dependency relationships between the information gathered from survey and city socioeconomic factors adopted in this research (HDI, population class, per capita income, general grades from MVAP, specific grades from Urban Forestry Policy inside MVAP and mesoregions. The survey had a returned answer from 375 cities (64% of the total subscribed cities on MVAP in 2013, out of 645 cities). The diagnosis of trees management accused deficiencies in political issues related to legislative, structural and budgetary instruments, as in technical issues referring to species selection standards, seed collection, pruning, removals and others. In general, the HDI, per capita income and general grades from MVAP and specific grades from Urban Forestry Policy (UFP) showed a positive interference in the management of trees in the city. Furthermore, the greater the number of inhabitants, the better tree management. The UFP grades were not sensitive to some important items such as existence of law or nurseries, and often the management items showed a dependent relationship with the MVAP grades but did not show any dependent relationship with the UFP grades, suggesting that such items are not being well covered in the criteria of the Policy. Urban Forestry is one of the Policies with the lowest weight inside MVAP since 2013, so it is suggested that this Policy has greater representation and that the weakest criteria have more weight within the UFP. The mesoregion of São José do Rio Preto was the one that most presented dependency relationships, either positive or negative. The mesoregions that need more attention are the Vale do Paraíba Paulista and Presidente Prudente. The mesoregions of Ribeirão Preto and Macro Metropolitana Paulista appeared to have a higher quality management. Although with some points to be improved, the Municipio VerdeAzul Program shows itself crucial to stimulate the involvement of cities in the implementation of public polices and urban forestry management actions.

Visualization could be defined as the graphical presentation of information, in which the main aim is to improve the user&rsquo / s perception. In all phases of the disaster management, decision makers come across huge data sets with spatio-temporal content. It is hard to deal with these sets in order to find answers to the main question of &ldquo / How can we decrease the losses due to disasters?&rdquo / , which is at the core of the disaster management concept. To furnish this aim, disaster risk information has to be transparent and clearly stated to the public, decision makers and disaster managers. This might be more sophisticated than the calculation of the risk. Taking precautions before a disaster to reduce the causalities and lossess engendered by natural disasters is relatively cheaper, and more importantly, better than cure. To achieve enhanced preparations for all kinds of disasters, visualization is quite an important tool for decision support and risk communication. The basic aim of this research is to propose a conceptual framework, with the consideration of all stakeholders related to the disaster management issue to have a better risk communication, and to guide the design, implementation and integration of the 3D urban modeling tools into disaster risk visualization. Moreover, an empirical methodology is also developed for the generation of visualization solutions through the design, and employment of the tool for disaster management framework. The proposed framework has three main phases .These are the definition of visualization components, object representation, and needs assessment. A new LoD hierarchy with indoor is proposed to visualize all the possible 3D urban disaster situations in the first phase. Then, a decision rule with eight attributes is proposed in the second phase to establish a link between the hazard type and the LoD needed in a 3D urban model for visualization. This decision rule is applied in a proposed three-level hierarchycal structure. The assessed objects of these three levels are urban, sub-urban zone and building. Moreover, a method to define the needed sub-urban zone is proposed. Finally, different 3D urban modelling methods are analyzed to define the data and process needs of possible 3D urban disaster visualization situations. Two natural hazard cases are studied within the scope of this dissertation to assess the operability of the proposed framework. These implementations involve one earthquake and one tsunami case. Special attention is paid to finding one specific sample for two modelling viewpoints, namely static and dynamic. The first applications of the proposed framework with all the related features prove quite promising.

Thesis (M.M.A.)--University of Washington, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 26-28). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.M.A.)--University of Washington, 2009. / Title from Web page (viewed on Feb. 3, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 26-28).

As urban areas continue to expand into rural areas the world is experiencing a loss of productive agricultural land and diminishing natural habitats and associated ecosystems. The space where urban meets rural is known as the rural-urban fringe and what happens in these areas ultimately determines urban development patterns. Despite being such an important area, the rural-urban fringe is poorly understood and is often described as a “blurry” space – blurry in land patterns because it is where multiple uses collide and in how individuals interact in this space (since actors with often diverse opinions on how land should be used coexist there). Furthermore, there is no single body of scholarly literature that explains why and how decisions get made in rural-urban fringe areas. This thesis contributes to filling this gap in literature by helping to (i) understand and explain decision-making processes at the rural-urban fringe; (ii) create an analytical framework for understanding decision-making dynamics at the rural-urban fringe within two UNESCO Biosphere Reserves: the Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve, South Africa and the Niagara Escarpment Biosphere Reserve, Canada; and (iii) construct a theory of decision-making for better outcomes at the rural-urban fringe. The analytical framework is divided into two parts with components drawn from problem-solving (including governance and management) and critical (critical political economy and resilience) theories. The premise is that each part contributes to a holistic understanding that they cannot accomplish on their own. The analytical framework is used as the analytical platform for consideration of the research data and is the basis on which the thesis’ theoretical contribution is built. Specifically, each case study is first examined within the context of existing governance and management processes. This reveals the character of key issues and dynamics and the resulting policy responses. The cases are then located within the broader analytical contexts of critical political economy and resilience. This reveals the historical and structural dynamics often overlooked or neglected in problem-solving approaches. The thesis reveals that in both case studies, government policy notwithstanding, decision-making within the rural-urban fringe is primarily determined by neoliberal ideologies of economic development and ‘return on investment’. What emerges from the application of the analytical framework to the two case studies is a theory of decision-making for better outcomes at the rural-urban fringe wherein "better" means a process for achieving outcomes in line with the stated goals of policies and plans, generally framed by the idea of sustainable development. The theory asserts that effective decision-making for environmentally sustainable and socially equitable outcomes at the rural-urban fringe requires six conditions to be in place: (1) sufficient economic resources; (2) adequate knowledge; (3) forgiving time scale; (4) capable state; (5) robust legal structure; (6) favorable global context. All six are important though at this stage it cannot be said with absolute certainty whether better-for-all decisions may emerge in the absence of one or more of these conditions. This theory makes a meaningful contribution to the scholarship on the rural-urban fringe and advances knowledge by articulating a new integrated approach to better decision-making that addresses the explanatory weaknesses identified by this thesis for each of the five bodies of literature considered.

A arborização nos espaços urbanos, mesmo que ainda pouco valorizada, veio como uma tentativa de reaproximar o homem da natureza e atenuar os efeitos da urbanização. Entretanto, a má gestão destas árvores, além de não cumprir o objetivo principal, pode oferecer riscos à população. Pouco se sabe sobre a situação geral da arborização de cidades brasileiras e o diagnóstico é o primeiro passo para o direcionamento de esforços financeiros e de políticas públicas nos pontos mais deficitários. O objetivo desta pesquisa foi explorar o cenário atual da gestão da arborização dos municípios paulistas, verificando possíveis relações de dependência com fatores socioeconômicos. Os dados foram coletados por meio de questionário eletrônico quali-quantitativo elaborado no Google Docs e enviado aos representantes (Interlocutores do Programa Município VerdeAzul - PMVA) dos municípios paulistas, com o apoio da Secretaria do Meio Ambiente do Estado de São Paulo. Os mapas temáticos foram elaborados por meio da ferramenta livre Quantum GIS versão 2.4 e da malha geométrica dos municípios do Estado de São Paulo, obtida no sítio do IBGE. Utilizou-se o Teste Exato de Fisher para verificar relações de dependência entre os dados obtidos nos questionários e os fatores socioeconômicos municipais adotados nesta pesquisa (IDH, classe populacional, renda per capita, notas gerais do PMVA, notas específicas da Diretiva de Arborização Urbana dentro do PMVA e mesorregiões). O questionário obteve um retorno de 375 municípios (64% dos inscritos no PMVA em 2013, do total de 645 municípios). O diagnóstico da gestão de árvores acusou deficiências, tanto em questões políticas, relativas a instrumentos legislativos, estruturais e orçamentários, quanto em questões técnicas, referentes a padrões de seleção de espécies, coleta de sementes, podas, remoções e outros. De maneira geral, os fatores IDH, renda per capita e notas gerais do PMVA e da Diretiva de Arborização Urbana (AU) interferem positivamente na gestão de árvores no município. Além disso, quanto maior o número de habitantes, melhor a gestão. As notas da Diretiva de AU não foram sensíveis a alguns itens importantes, como a existência de Lei e de viveiros, e muitas vezes os itens de gestão apresentaram relação de dependência com as notas do PMVA, mas não apresentaram relação com as notas da Diretiva de AU, sugerindo que tais itens não estejam sendo bem abordados nos critérios da Diretiva. A Arborização Urbana é uma das Diretivas com o menor peso no PMVA desde 2013, portanto, sugere-se que esta Diretiva tenha maior representatividade e que os critérios mais deficientes tenham mais peso dentro da Diretiva. A mesorregião de São José do Rio Preto foi a que mais apresentou relações de dependência, tanto positivas quanto negativas. As mesorregiões que necessitam de maior atenção são a do Vale do Paraíba Paulista e a de Presidente Prudente. As mesorregiões de Ribeirão Preto e Macro Metropolitana Paulista aparentam dispor de gestão de maior qualidade. Ainda que com alguns pontos a serem melhorados, o Programa Município VerdeAzul se mostrou fundamental por estimular o envolvimento dos municípios na implementação de políticas públicas e ações de gestão de arborização urbana. / The afforestation in the urban areas, although still undervalued, came as an attempt to reconnect mankind and nature and mitigate the urbanization effects. Meanwhile, poor management of these trees, besides not even serving its role, can offer risks to the population. It is known very little about the general situation of afforestation in Brazilian cities and the diagnosis is the first step to focus financial efforts as well as public politics in the most deficit points. The objective of this research was to explore the current scenario of the afforestation management of São Paulo cities, checking possible dependency relationships with socioeconomic factors. The data was gathered through a qualitative and quantitative electronic survey developed in Google Docs and sent to the representatives (Interlocutors from Município VerdeAzul Program - MVAP) of São Paulo cities, with the full support of the Secretariat for the Environment of the State of São Paulo. Thematic maps were elaborated using the free tool Quantum GIS version 4.2 and the geometric grid of the cities of São Paulo obtained in the IBGE site. It was used the Fisher\'s Exact Test to verify dependency relationships between the information gathered from survey and city socioeconomic factors adopted in this research (HDI, population class, per capita income, general grades from MVAP, specific grades from Urban Forestry Policy inside MVAP and mesoregions. The survey had a returned answer from 375 cities (64% of the total subscribed cities on MVAP in 2013, out of 645 cities). The diagnosis of trees management accused deficiencies in political issues related to legislative, structural and budgetary instruments, as in technical issues referring to species selection standards, seed collection, pruning, removals and others. In general, the HDI, per capita income and general grades from MVAP and specific grades from Urban Forestry Policy (UFP) showed a positive interference in the management of trees in the city. Furthermore, the greater the number of inhabitants, the better tree management. The UFP grades were not sensitive to some important items such as existence of law or nurseries, and often the management items showed a dependent relationship with the MVAP grades but did not show any dependent relationship with the UFP grades, suggesting that such items are not being well covered in the criteria of the Policy. Urban Forestry is one of the Policies with the lowest weight inside MVAP since 2013, so it is suggested that this Policy has greater representation and that the weakest criteria have more weight within the UFP. The mesoregion of São José do Rio Preto was the one that most presented dependency relationships, either positive or negative. The mesoregions that need more attention are the Vale do Paraíba Paulista and Presidente Prudente. The mesoregions of Ribeirão Preto and Macro Metropolitana Paulista appeared to have a higher quality management. Although with some points to be improved, the Municipio VerdeAzul Program shows itself crucial to stimulate the involvement of cities in the implementation of public polices and urban forestry management actions.

In recent times urban flooding has become more frequent and more complex due to the effects of increasing urban areas and climate change. In some established urban areas the existing drainage infrastructure is unable to cope with the volume of surface runoff and flooding events are more frequent, therefore new approaches to create more space for water within developments are required. This research was conceived in that context. It aims to investigate the potential for integrating green space planning with water planning and to develop a framework for the same in order to reduce the risk of flooding. An extensive literature review was carried out in the areas of urban planning, water planning, planning legislations, and issues related to integrating green space and water planning. The review identified the need for an inclusive framework which could integrate aspects of green space and storm water planning more holistically to achieve greater spatial planning efficiency. To satisfy this need, a conceptual framework was developed which took into consideration the opinions of various stakeholders. The conceptual framework included green spaced planning for SUDS, recreational and storm water indicators and a mechanism for integrated evaluation of SUDS for recreation and storm water management. The conceptual framework provided a joint approach where both engineers and planners will need to work together for the development of integrated storm water and green space plans. The framework showed processes for both disciplines and also indicates how spatial planning and water planning interfaced so that there was clarity of roles. In order to evaluate integrated plans, an ‘integrated evaluation tool’ was developed which uses indicators from both the areas of green space planning and water planning. The evaluation tool also contained a scoring system which can be used to select storm water management options with more recreational potential. The tool provides a mechanism to balance the requirements of recreation and storm water management so that more holistic solutions can be developed by teams of engineers and planners. The conceptual framework and the integrated evaluation tool were applied to two case study catchments. Results from the case studies showed the relationship of spatial planning and flooding. It further tested whether recreational aspects could be integrated into storm water planning. A number of drainage options were tested to show the application of the evaluation tool under various scenarios. This results of the research showed that the conceptual framework was appropriate in both case study areas even though the areas had different patterns of development. It is therefore proposed that the approach has potential for wider application in other geographical areas. Results from the two areas also showed that the integrated approach established in this research could enhance the recreational aspects associated with urban storm water management. The framework presented in this thesis will potentially be of use to a wide range of stakeholders such policy makers, local authorities, water companies, consultants and researchers. It could also be useful in informing the evolution of planning policies and technical guidance associated with water and green space planning.