Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2000. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 326-342). Also available on the Internet.

“If you ask people what they think about cities they are more likely to talk about buildings and cars than streets and squares. If you ask them about city life they are more likely to talk about alienation, isolation, fear of crime or congestion and pollution than about community, participation, animation, beauty and pleasure.” (Rogers, 1997) The picturesque quoted here, illustrates the void that most of the modern cities are facing; unable to meet the demand of socio-cultural, ecological and communal characters of humankind for dwelling. The economic and political competency in the practice of urbanism makes an astonishing indifference towards vitality of urban spaces, which otherwise should have addressed the dynamics of urban life, people and community. To some extent, historic cities still express sense of place and identity of community at this juncture, though such elements in a few only remain authentic. Even though these cities went across century’s long political, socio-economic transformation, they have retained the legacy of sustained urban life and environment. And of course, the same is the socio-cultural manifesto and charm into cityscape and built forms. For such occurrence, reconciliation of conservation and current trends of development and changes need to prove one of the substantial means of transiting from traditional city planning approaches. In this aspect, urban conservation added new hopes, bringing even the ruins of such historic cities for preservation and made them an agendum for further researches in city planning and development. However, most of the conservation efforts in historic cities are focused on individual public monuments as a piecemeal trade to enhance international tourism and market forces. Consequently, as a dark side remnant of overall city planning and conservation practices, the image of city and its identity remained overshadowed. As one of such instances; Bhaktapur, the city known to be “Cultural Capital of Nepal” stands right into this dilemma of urban development and conservation. The living heritage of this city resembles the bonds of urban spaces, built environment, and life endowed with cultural activities enthralled entirely. This paradise perhaps will no longer remain if its urban development trends at the edge are freed. Urban growth however, inevitable currently as globalization; in no longer should influence the urban tranquility of this historical city. The outdated planning traditions are responsible for such hiatus to long for ages. Due to this fragility, it concurrently faces vigorous peripheral development at Kamalvinayak, Libali and Tumacho and a rapid transformation in historic fabrics demising traditional values. An approach of integration in historic city especially, cultural heritage area with emerging new development is believed to arrest the problem when it is unripe. Further investigation on amorphous relationships between the two urban typologies and development contexts is crucial to explore potentialities for integration. The synergy between urban conservation and urban development in order to retain the historic image of a cultural city is explored through an integrated approach. This study explores to seek integrity aspects of historic urban landscape of the traditional town with planning interventions to meet the demands of urban development at the edge. The study area is mainly focused on clusters of neighbourhood in cultural heritage area of this town incorporating new development area at the edge and an urban design research approach with random household survey is adopted in comparing the neighbourhoods for integrity aspects. Finally with thorough review on related concerns in conservation and development in Bhaktapur this study identified the need of integrated urban conservation taking into consideration of integrity aspects idealized during analysis. Integrated urban conservation is one that reconciles development aspects with overall structure of conservation process and this study finalizes the need of strategies of broadening heritage context, strategies for conservation oriented development, urban spatial continuity and strategies for capacity building with participatory mechanism. / published_or_final_version / Urban Planning and Design / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

The city fabric has overlapping layers of physical, social, and experiential characteristics. The physical form created by the built structures, the social form shaped by the activities of the living beings, and the experiential form produced by the psychic implications of the interaction of living beings and the built environment. In my thesis I argue that the real understanding of the city fabric can only be obtained by observing it from all the physical, social, and experiential aspects.In this thesis, I have conducted a case study of the city fabric of Kathmandu. Its fabric comprises of a compact organic structure of chowks interconnected with alleys and streets with array of building facades. This study analyses the built structure, the social structure, and the interaction of human with the built environment in the chowks of Kathmandu city through a series of graphic illustrations. It has produced an in-depth understanding of the chowks and the city fabric as a whole. This type of study can be conducted to clarify the structure and setting of the city fabric. Urban designers can use this type of study to project potential strategies for further development of the city in the right direction and also assist in the urban design of new cities. / Department of Architecture

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1983. / Bibliography: leaves [345]-357. / Microfiche. / xv, 357 leaves, bound ill., maps 29 cm

Typescript. / Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1990. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 319-330). / Microfiche. / xiv, 330 leaves, bound ill., maps 29 cm

Errata sheet inserted on front fly-leaf. / Bibliography: leaves 326-357. / xxii, 357 leaves : ill. ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / This study investigates the causes of change in determinants of fertility regulation and behaviour among women in the city of Kathmandu, Nepal. The research uses data collected in fieldwork in Kathmandu between November 1991 and May 1992. To explore different mechanisms causing change in fertility behaviour, a conceptual framework modified from Freedman (1987) is adopted. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Geography, 1995?

Despite the fact that conservation ideology has led conservation practice over the last quarter of a century, the removal of local residents from protected areas in the name of biological preservation remains the most common strategy in developing countries. Its wide-ranging impacts on displaced societies have rarely been properly addressed, particularly in regard to the establishment of parks. This thesis is based on 15 months fieldwork carried out among a group of displaced park residents known as Rana Tharus in the country of Nepal. They have long lived in Royal Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve in the far-western part of that nation. This thesis is largely inspired by recent academic advocacy that conservation-induced dislocations on rural communities are having a serious influence on policy implementation. Such advocacy is leading to more effective and pragmatic park policies. West, Igoe and Brockington (2006) point out that park residents are an indispensable part of protected areas and their cultural and economic interactions with parks occur in diverse ways. Without a full understanding of these interrelationships, any kind of forced conservation policies will be doomed to fail and cause severe disturbances to people’s lives. Like most protected areas in developing countries, this thesis shows that the unplanned resettlement scheme of Shulkaphanta failed to mitigate the socio-economic losses that Rana Tharus experienced due to their displacement. The ethnographic data notes that when attention is paid solely to the economic losses experienced by Rana Tharus, the social costs such as social exclusion, loss of culture, and psychological depression are rarely addressed in the dislocation program. An inadequate understanding of the links between protected areas and local livelihoods is one of the major causes for the continuation of park-people conflicts including Shuklaphanta. In this thesis, I demonstrate how the displacement and other social changes have gradually diminished the social and economic livelihoods of the Rana people. I argue that many of these social impacts were unexpected because Rana Tharus actively responded to all these changes by putting new social relations into effect. As a result, significant social transformations have occurred in contemporary Rana Tharu society. The undivided household unit was no longer their first preference when the new economic realities made themselves felt, and gender and patrilineal kin relationships became more tense. The traditional labouring system (Kamaiya) that existed between wealthy and poor Rana Tharus declined due to increasing poverty. All these had erased their ability to maintain sustainable livelihoods that they had previously enjoyed. Moreover, substantial loss of landownership had made it impossible for Rana Tharus to share equal social, economic and political status with the new migrants - the twice-born Pahaaris. These accumulated and unforseen results of conservation practices can only be well understood if a holistic analytical perspective is adopted. This thesis borrows the concept of sustainable household livelihood system and the social theories of practice, power and agency to explore the dynamic relationships between conservation, local livelihoods and culture. The stories told by the Rana Tharu provide some important lessons. I argue that dislocation programs should be put aside or at least closely reviewed if their hidden social impacts are not well understood or at least lead to some form of compensation. Such action may prevent the further expansion of park-people conflicts which are shown to hinder conservation efforts of Shuklaphanta and local sustainable livelihoods. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1369652 / Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Adelaide, School of Social Sciences, 2009

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 58-67).

Zugl.: Marburg, Universiẗat, Diplomarbeit, 2008.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 58-67). Also available in print.