Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1983. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 61-66).

With the modern development and urbanisation in the city of Ar Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, public gardens were introduced as the major public recreational facilities. The establishment of the public gardens commenced at the beginning of the 1980s. Since that time, the number of public gardens has reached 34. They vary in size, the smallest is about 3,000 sq. m. and the largest is about 455,000 sq. m. The rapid development of these facilities, in such a short time, did not allow for extensive assessment of the residents' needs. Rather, the design of these gardens emerged without precedent, based on foreign examples. Because of the adoption of foreign design ideas, the outcome did not respond to the socio-cultural aspects which existed in and were respected by the society. The study was an attempt to recognise and understand the relationship between the sociocultural aspects that govern and guide people's behaviour and the outdoor recreational environment. In order to investigate the relation between human behaviour and the physical environment, three research techniques were defined by which the various dimensions and details concerning the socio-cultural aspects which govern human behaviour can be identified, described and clarified. The techniques used are archive search, observing the behaviour-environment and a questionnaire survey. As a results of the analytical process, specific issues which strongly related to the socio-cultural aspects of human behaviour in the outdoors were identified as important in determining the level of compatibility between the intended behaviours and their meanings and the physical setting of the recreational environment. In order to create a coherent built environment that responds positively to the intended functions expected by certain people, knowledge and understanding of their socio-cultural values and behaviours must be acquired and applied in the design process.

Urban open spaces in Jeddah as a recreational facility fail to respond to the people's desires and needs. Factors, such as culture and climate, that influence the people behaviour and their use of the environment and these facilities are ignored in planning and designing of these places. Alien planning and design concepts gave priority to vehicular movement and maximized the public domain. Community open spaces and gardens assumed to be the primary resource for recreation for the family members. They have the accessibility advantage for everyday recreational activities. This is more important if we take into consideration the fact that children, ladies, elders and disabled have no direct access to cars. However, these open spaces often inadequately designed, maintained and managed which resulted in underutilization of valuable assets. This research investigates the relationship between leisure and recreation pattern and the use of the recreational urban open spaces in the city of Jeddah. It shows the present situation of these facilities. The thesis starts by introducing the problem and discussing some of the factors that affect leisure and recreation, such as religion, time, privacy and climate. In order to pursue the origin of the problem, the thesis discusses the development of the recreational open spaces and facilities in three periods of the city history. These are referred to as traditional, transitional and modem. It shows how the social life, the urban pattern and the recreation and leisure patterns developed from the traditional environment to the modem. It manifests the change in the social life, the environment and the emergence of new recreational facilities. The research involved carrying out survey and observations of selected open spaces in Jeddah in the spring of 1989. The questionnaire investigates the people desires, needs and use of the existing recreational open spaces and facilities. The open space observations explore intensity of use, type of activities, type of users and their behaviour in using these open spaces. Then, implications of the results are discussed and the nature of the problem is defined. The research is concluded by explaining the approach to solve these problems.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of British Columbia, 1997. / Title from title screen (viewed Dec. 18, 2006). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.L.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes special study report entitled: The use of tensile fabric in landscape architecture. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.L.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes special study report entitled: The use of tensile fabric in landscape architecture. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1991.

Honors Project--Smith College, Northampton, Mass., 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 71-73).