efforts to initiate and sustain broad-based development activity. The study showed that though a variety of studies were conducted, they were initiated by and conducted with the intimate involvement of Pictou County residents who had been and would continue to be affected by the decisions arrived at. The study further showed that Pictou County residents were fast learning through their involvement that so much of what would likely happen in Pictou County depended on the initiatives they would take. What was happening in Pictou County by virtue of the Development Opportunities Project was found to embrace quite closely the concepts which form the theory of social learning. The study concluded by saying that while great care was necessary to rule out cause and effect relationships that may be spurious, the previous federal and provincial regional development planning efforts seemed to have had marginal influence on the economic well-being of residents in Nova Scotia regions and may have even hindered social and political development. On the other hand, evidence appeared to exist to suggest that social and political development was taking place as a result of the Development Opportunities Project. No hard data existed on the economic effects of the Project. Generally, however, this study suggested that regional development planning that strengthens the process of social learning within the region will have more fundamental and worthwhile effects than the more traditional approaches. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

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This thesis proposes a network of small-scale architectural interventions to address a growing issue of youth substance abuse in rural Nova Scotia, Canada. Thorburn, a hub of a larger region of dispersed communities, acts as a testing ground for this proposal. An extensive system of trails and cabins currently provides both a means of transportation and informal, unsupervised gathering space for youth. Four test sites were chosen to represent a wide range of possible sites. Each exists at an intersection between these trails and the public realm. Each of these sites could not, on its own, sustain an active year-round program. On-site interventions are partnered with a mobile youth centre whose presence at each site is influenced by seasonal use and special events. Each site is modified to create flexible spaces whose function adapts to, but is not limited by, the presence of the youth centre.