Each year millions of Canadian and Americans return to their country from visits abroad praising the varied character, the sense of distinctiveness, the historic charm and the rich atmosphere of the cities they have visited. Simultaneously, North America each year demolishes more vestiges of its historical heritage as it proceeds to pave more streets and parking lots and erect bigger and taller buildings. In this urgent process of building and rebuilding, irreplaceable remnants of our urban past which can give North American cities some of the highly-praised charm and atmosphere found in Europe are frequently obliterated as the 'unavoidable' price for growth and progress. Throughout the last century many individuals and private societies have, nevertheless, attempted to save and preserve some of the most noteworthy relics of our cities past for the enjoyment of present and future generations. Since about 1950 this embryonic preservation movement has redirected its emphasis from the saving of individual buildings to the preservation of entire historic districts within North American cities. Traditionally, the impetus for and the costs incurred in historic district preservation have been solely the responsibility of the private sector. The last few years, however, have seen a rising involvement of all levels of government in district preservation. Urban government, throughout the continent, is taking a serious look at the viability of restoring and rehabilitating declining but potentially rich neighbourhoods. Historic district preservation has at this point in time truly entered the ambit of city planning and it is vitally important that the planning profession appreciate the techniques and procedures now available to guide and facilitate success in this activity. This study was directed at discovering what is currently being done by planners to maximize success in historic district preservation. A broad survey of some 68 different historic district projects in North America served as the vehicle for this examination and an examination of goal formulation achievement was used as the most appropriate single dimension through which the overall problem can be approached. The central hypothesis formulated in this thesis is: Recurrent planning targets of Historic District preservation projects in North America in the 1960's can be classified under 15 broad goals. These are: (1) To encourage the restoration and preservation of buildings on a private basis where possible to such an extent that they will be desirable as private homes or places of business. (2) To improve the architectural merit of the rehabilitation-restoration work in the district. (3) To attract 'new development' to the district in order to instill new life, to broaden its tax base, or for other reasons. (4) To ensure that new construction is compatible with the existing historical context and architectural setting. (5) To acquire and preserve with public monies those buildings in the district that are worthy of preservation and cannot be saved through private means. (6) To relocate within the district historic buildings from outside the historic area that would otherwise face destruction. (7) To ensure the district's continuing existence as a living, functioning community - not a 'museum complex'. (8) To make the district a focus for cultural activity and a centre for the arts and crafts. (9) To develop and conserve those attributes of the streets, grounds, public squares or parks that contribute to the district's overall character. (10) To recognize the requirements of the automobile while also subordinating these requirements to the need for preserving the quality of the historic environment. (11) To improve the quality of the district's environment by systematically eliminating incompatible and undesirable uses and structures. (12) To carry out a relocation program for low income population which is being displaced. (13) To offset the pressures of land speculation within the district. (14) To enact and generally improve legislative measures designed to protect the quality of the district's environment. (15) To promote and advertise the district in order to develop local interest and to create a definite tourist attraction. The survey revealed that of these 15 hypothetical goals eight are generally considered highly relevant to virtually all projects irregardless of any variable (goal 1, 2, 4, 7, 9, 10, 11, 14). Five of these goals (goal 7, 2, 1, 9, 4) are, on the whole, being achieved with a high degree of success. Lastly, the study brought to light a great number of 'tools and techniques' which are currently being used to aid in the attainment of the planning goals. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

This study examined the issues of culture, measurement and development involved in field-dependent-independent cognitive style research with Native Indian and Non-Indian students. Two cultural groups were tested, and each group consisted of 75 students from ages 8 to 12. One of the cultural groups was composed of Tsimshian Indians living in villages outside of Prince Rupert, and the other was composed of non-Natives living in Prince Rupert. Four measures of field-dependent-independent cognitive style were individually administered to students. One test (Embedded Figures Test) was established as the criterion measure of cognitive style, and the potential of the other three tests as measures of cognitive style was investigated. Five ages were included so that differences in developmental trends could be determined. Results showed that the non-Natives scored significantly closer to the field-independent end of the continuum than the Natives on two of the four measures of cognitive style. These results indicated that cultural differences do exist between the two cultural groups for two of the measures. The four cognitive style measures were found to inter-correlate highly, which indicated that they form a reasonable battery to use for measuring field-dependence-independence. Results also showed no interaction between age and culture, thereby indicating that no significant differences in development existed between the two cultural groups. In both groups, cognitive style developed in the same linear sequence, and reached the same level of development by age 12. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

This thesis is a study of contemporary urban design in North America. The physical aspects of the architecture of the city are examined in the light of the history of ideas and of urban design. While most studies show the development of modern architectural and urban design as a chronology of ever new trends and discoveries in a continuous line of progress, this work shows that many essential features of design are not new and have not been changing. On the contrary, ideas developed in the eighteenth century can be regarded as the essential source of inspiration of many aspects of contemporary design. The central theme of the thesis is that the body of thought developed in the late eighteenth century - defined as romantic thought - is still at the origin of the motivation of contemporary urban design. The study identifies the essential traits of the prevailing style of urban and architectural design and relates them to the main themes of the romantic tradition. The point made is that this tradition has become a very uncritical one and that the establishment of alternative and new traditions is thus made very difficult, if not impossible. The method followed in the thesis is to make hypotheses of influences between eighteenth century thought and contemporary notions affecting the physical design of cities. The hypotheses are supported by the evidence of the thoughts and projects of representative thinkers quoted and by the attitudes, the laws and the patterns of physical design found in our days. Among the sources used in this thesis the reader will find passages ranging from Edmund Burke and Immanuel Kant to Jane Jacobs, Frank Lloyd Wright and Arthur Erickson. A large body of thoughts from famous and less famous people who spoke and worked in a representative way is used throughout the thesis. Illustrations of "prophetic" designs from the age of Boullee and Ledoux and of many existing projects are introduced to clarify the arguments. Many examples were chosen from Vancouver, British Columbia, but typical examples from the entire North American continent are included. Most of the aspects influencing design are considered. The reader will find an examination of established patterns of existing urban design in North America, an analysis of the attitudes toward the city and architecture observations on the by-laws and the economic system influencing design decisions. This material is used to show that there is a great inertia of old styles and ideals which prevent the establishment of alternative life styles and of truly new canons of design, despite a general consensus about the need for some truly new approach in the physical design of our cities. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA), School of / Graduate

The North American summer monsoon is documented, using precipitation data together with gridded data for outgoing long-wave radiation (OLR), geopotential height and wind at various levels. The upper level divergence field is diagnosed and compared with the precipitation field. A simple wet-dry precipitation index is used to date the monsoon onset at stations with daily precipitation data. The analysis shows that the monsoon rains advance northward rapidly from late June to early July. The monsoon onset is accompanied by the development of a pronounced anticyclone at the jet stream level, by sea-level pressure rises over the southwestern United States, and by decreases in climatological mean rainfall over adjacent regions of the United States, Mexico and the Caribbean. This coherent pattern of rainfall changes, that covers much of North and Central America, is shown to be dynamically consistent with the circulation changes aloft. Hence, the monsoon onset is embedded within a planetary-scale pattern of circulation changes. The demise of the monsoon and the associated upper level anticyclone, which takes place around September of the year, is more gradual than the onset, and it is accompanied by an increase in rainfall throughout much of the surrounding region. The monsoon exhibits substantial interannual variability with regard to intensity and onset date. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

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