In this report I analyze both historical and contemporary urban planning policies enacted by the City of Austin, TX, through which I establish patterns of structural inequality affecting working class communities of color residing in East Austin. I examine early 20th-century urban beautification initiatives, along with the Progressive era segregationist project of the modern city. Austin city planners solidified segregation along racial lines with the 1928 Master Plan, which mandated the systematic displacement and relocation of African American and Mexican American communities to Austin’s Eastside, along with all “objectionable industries.” Today, East Austin working class communities of color continue to experience unequal burdens of environmentally hazardous industry in their neighborhoods. I examine initiatives implemented by the local grassroots environmental justice organization PODER and their fight for the health and safety of East Austin residents of color in combination with their protest against gentrifying urban planning policies and practices. Through an analysis of the PODER Young Scholars for Justice documentary, Gentrification: An Eastside Story, I look at the ways in which gentrification has changed the East Austin urban cultural landscape. This report aims to shed light upon spatial and racial social geographies that have contributed to the nearly century long battle East Austin residents have waged against discriminatory urban planning policies resulting in educational segregation, environmentally racist industrial zoning, and contemporary displacement of working class communities of color for city profit. / text

Thesis (Ph.D.); Submitted to the Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (US); 24 Nov 2004. / Published through the Information Bridge: DOE Scientific and Technical Information. "UCRL-TH-208645" Allen, M. 11/24/2004. Report is also available in paper and microfiche from NTIS.

This thesis seeks to address a research gap concerning the relationship between the Localism Act 2011 and planning’s central purpose of achieving sustainable development. In addition it uses a physical example in urban space to illustrate the main arguments, and in doing so adds to the growing literature on the various outcomes since the Localism Act was enforced across England in 2011. The thesis asks four inter-related questions: Firstly, regarding the theoretical bases of sustainability and localism from the various ontologies of ‘scale’ and ‘the natural’; secondly, regarding the general conflicting assumptions within localism and sustainable development; thirdly, regarding the ways in which sustainable development is inherently multi-scalar; and lastly how our case study example highlights the need for policy-makers to examine the often overlooked trade-offs which exist in normative sustainable development models. The thesis also demonstrates the role that site-specific research can play in grounding theoretical and policy discussions. The research is situated in the rapidly changing sub-region of East London, particularly in the shadow of the 2012 Olympic regeneration of Stratford and the Borough of Newham. We take the example of a failed upgrade due the Localism Act, of a multi-scalar and multi-functional ‘Greenway’ to consider the relationship between localism and sustainable urbanism in the context neo-liberalism. Methods comprise site-based analysis in the form of walking, photography and note-taking, the analysis of national, metropolitan and local planning documents, as well as interviews with officials related to policy and design in the area and local residents. The research finds that national and metropolitan conceptions of sustainable development are weighted differently to those at local scales. In addition the Localism Act exacerbates planning capacities between Local Authorities and the communities they serve. There are some opportunities for neighbourhood planning but these are dependent on local capacities, widening already-existing socio-spatial inequalities. The thesis concludes by destabilising the widely used idea of sustainable development as a ‘balance’ between social, economic and environmental needs. Viewing sustainability through a scalar lens, in our case using a physical site and the policy of Localism, we are able to reveal the material differences between sustainable development agendas which have been criticised for masking over conflict in a post-political manner for the continuation of ‘status quo’ economic development trajectories.

This thesis covers the development of pension schemes in the People's Republic of China from 1949 until now. The goal is to explain what is the structure of chinese pension schemes, why are the pension schemes divided between rural and urban areas and how are the migrant workers' pension schemes incorporated into the social security system. Furthermore the reforms and challenges of the current pension system are analysed as well as the linkage to the hukou reform and family planning reform.

Rapporter från fackorganisationer och vetenskapliga studier visar att bibliotekarier är en stressad yrkesgrupp. Denna studie undersöker hur folkbibliotekarier beskriver sina upplevelser av stress främst i möten med användare och hur denna stress hanteras av folkbibliotekarierna. Åtta semistrukturerade intervjuer med folkbibliotekarier genomfördes, varpå det empiriska resultatet analyserades utifrån rollstressteorin som myntat sav Kahn et al. (1964). Syftet med studien är att bidra till en djupare förståelse för folkbibliotekariers stress, och hur dessa upplevelser och hantering av stress kan förstås utifrån rollstressteorin. De mest framträdande stressfaktorerna i användarmöten är kommunikationssvårigheter, gränssättning i service och när många användare efterfrågar hjälp samtidigt. Studiens resultat visar även att arbetsuppgifter utanför användarmöten såsom arbete med bibliotekens uppdrag, planering av aktiviteter och program, beståndsarbete pekas av över hälften av folkbibliotekarierna ut som mer stressande än användarmöten. Resultatet visar även att folkbibliotekarierna har flera metoder för att hantera stress. Analysen av det empiriska resultatet visar på indikationer av rollstress i form av rollkonflikt, rolloklarhet och rollöverbelastning. / Reports from trade unions and scientific studies show that librarians are a stressed professional group. This study examines how public librarians describe their experiences of stress when meeting patrons and how this stress is managed by the public librarians. Eight semi-structured interviews with public librarians were conducted, after which the results was analyzed based on the role stress theory coined by Kahn et al. (1964). The purpose of the study is to contribute to a deeper understanding of public librarians' experiences of stress, and how this can be understood by using role stress theory. The results of the study show that the most prominent stress factors in relation to patrons are communication difficulties, setting boundaries in service and when many patrons request help at the same time. The results of the study also show that, for example, work regarding planning and the library's missions is experienced by many of the public librarians as more stressful than working with patrons.The results also show that the public librarians use several methods to manage stress. The analysis of the empirical material also shows indications of role stress in terms of role conflict, role ambiguity and role overload.

Apart from rapid economic growth, China has also experienced significant demographic changes over the past few decades. The People's Republic of China's family planning policies led to a sharp drop in the fertility rate. This MS Thesis aims to assess the possible consequences of the family planning policies on future growth of Chinese economy. The theoretical part defines population policy, assess the connections between population growth and economic growth and deals with the development of population theory over the years. The analytical part describes the family planning policy in China, its principles and instruments. Next it identifies the possible consequences of the demographic changes caused by the drop in fertility rate. The last part of the thesis focuses on two economically most severe consequences - population ageing and shrinking working age population - and evaluates its implications on future growth of Chinese economy.