Travel patterns in Canadian urban areas changed during the twentieth century. No longer is urban travel downtown oriented. In all but the smallest Canadian urban areas, travel has evolved into a polycentric pattern. Despite this Canadian public transit networks remain oriented to the older travel patterns because of shortages in planning capacity. The transit literature on performance monitoring focuses on “system” variables rather than “network” variables like how well transit networks match travel patterns. This research develops a method by which transit planners can monitor the performance of transit networks in their communities. Applying this methodology provides recommendations to planners on how to improve transit network structures to better facilitate polycentric urban travel. Future research should compare the network performance of Canadian transit systems.

Travel patterns in Canadian urban areas changed during the twentieth century. No longer is urban travel downtown oriented. In all but the smallest Canadian urban areas, travel has evolved into a polycentric pattern. Despite this Canadian public transit networks remain oriented to the older travel patterns because of shortages in planning capacity. The transit literature on performance monitoring focuses on “system” variables rather than “network” variables like how well transit networks match travel patterns. This research develops a method by which transit planners can monitor the performance of transit networks in their communities. Applying this methodology provides recommendations to planners on how to improve transit network structures to better facilitate polycentric urban travel. Future research should compare the network performance of Canadian transit systems.

Loss of mobility and independence directly affects the quality of life of many vulnerable individuals. To address this, researchers have developed wearable walking assist exoskeletons to aid users with their daily activities. While this technology has advanced tremendously in the past decade, current exoskeletons cause discomfort and injuries to the user, leading to device rejection. This research intends to develop a kinematically compatible knee joint suitable for exoskeletons. The proposed knee design can be adapted to accommodate an offset and optimize force delivery. This is achieved by ensuring that the mechanical and biological joint rotation axes are aligned and that the moment arm varies throughout flexion. Model simulations and mechanical testing of fabricated prototypes were achieved to analyze and validate the design. The results confirm the kinematic compatibility of the design and that the moment arm could be varied throughout flexion to achieve optimal and effective moment transfer.

China’s mega-regions, in addition to cities and metropolitan areas, have become the engines for economic development, and the target areas for regional and national policies. Reflecting upon China’s current path of regional urbanization, the proposed research examines a fundamental issue for China’s megaregional development: the impact of transport network development on the spatial pattern of China’s megaregions. Using the multiple national Censuses (1982, 1990, 2000, 2010) and the transport network GIS data in the corresponding years, this research 1) constructs measures of megaregional spatial patterns, 2) assesses the spatial trajectory of megaregional growth based on the differentiated growth rates of metropolitan cities, 3) computes indicators of megaregional transport network connectivity and accessibility, 4) examines the impacts of transportation infrastructure on megaregional growth trajectory. This research helps understand the spatial structure of China’s megaregions with newly constructed quantitative measures of polycentric spatial development, as well as the intra-megaregion and inter-megaregion variation of transport network in China. It also clarifies the link between transport infrastructure and megaregional spatial structure in China’s unique context by providing quantitative evaluation of the implications of transport investment for the spatial pattern in Chinese megaregions. Finally it enriches the megaregional solutions to China’s vision of economic, social and environmental sustainability.

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Natural disasters are on the rise in the Caribbean due to climate change that affects several OECS member states in the Eastern Caribbean region. However, OECS governments have developed structures for reducing vulnerability and building resilience. Climate change and disaster resilience projects were implemented, and regional, national, and local support is provided. A prominent voice in climate governance debate is late Elinor Ostrom, who argues that global climate agreements should be decentralized and taken place locally rather than centrally. According to Ostrom, a bottom-up approach creates a more multilevel governing system. This approach is described as a "polycentric approach" by Ostrom. A polycentric governance is argued to provide several benefits and is effective in combating climate change. Our study examines whether the existing regional and local climate projects and programmes of the OECS member states follow a polycentric approach to climate governance. In this study, the data were analysed by employing two frameworks that are related to the theory of polycentric approaches to climate governance, that have been used in previous studies. With this we aim to capture the multifaceted nature of polycentric climate governance.

This thesis investigates the potential of express bus to serve travel demand in a polycentric region, using the Atlanta metropolitan area as a case study. Express bus, which serves as the primary mode of line-haul transit commuting for most suburbs in the Atlanta region, is primarily focused on serving traditional suburb-to-city commutes. However, more than half of the commutes in the Atlanta metro are to suburban locations. This thesis investigates the potential of an author-devised plan to enhance the transit commute to suburban employment centers, using express bus as the primary technology. Working mostly with existing routes, the plan incorporates ideas found in the literature, such as intermediate stops, transfer hubs, and local bus serving first and last mile connections. The thesis also tested existing plans, off of which the author's plan was devised. Tests were performed using the trip-based model of the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC). Dramatic gains were seen as a result of the author-devised plan, such that 8,000 daily transit trips are added, and express bus ridership increases by 50%. Performance improved especially for routes in which intermediate stops were added. The results have implications for how transit can better serve travel demand in a polycentric region.

Abstract Last century witnessed the increase of metropolitan regions and much attention has been paid on them. The concept of megacity appeared during the development process of metropolitan regions. Due to the rapid urbanisation and the population explosion in China, there are three main megacities which have great influence on the national economy. In this thesis, we choose one of the main megacities - Beijing megacity, as our case and the research question is how to strengthen the polycentricity of Beijing megacity to achieve more balanced development. In order to find out the answers to the research question, the concepts of metropolitan region, megacity and polycentric megacity are discussed in the conceptual section of this thesis. The empirical section analyses the Tokyo megacity and Los Angeles megacity on purpose of finding the lessons and experiences that could be learned and applied to strengthen the polycentric characters of Beijing megacity. In the case study chapters, firstly we analyses the problems of monocentric Beijing municipality, then we suggest the approaches of being polycentric Beijing megacity where Beijing, Tianjin and Tangshan participate actively.

Continued water scarcity, flooding, pollution and urbanisation, especially in developing countries, have signified the necessity of renewed exploration of the most appropriate approach to water management. This approach should aim to meet the water requirements in the changing world in a sustainable way. Reviewing the different water approaches that have emerged in the developed countries during the last decades suggests that Adaptive Water Management (AWM) could provide a sustainable route to address the existing complex problems of urban water management through the future. The purpose of this study was to determine whether AWM could be applied to Greater Tehran in order to maximise sustainability and deal with the future uncertainties. The AWM characteristics of polycentric governance, institutional flexibility, and public participation were used to assess the adaptability of the existing water management. The research findings showed that, despite the lack of adaptability in the current Greater Tehran water management, there are positive attitudes towards adaptability among water professionals and the public. The research findings emphasised that the AWM application could be promoted by more participation in various levels of institutional structure. This thesis suggests that if the concept of AWM is applied to Iran, it has the potential to have a significant influence in the current/future water management by promoting technical and institutional performances simultaneously.

Sanitation provision can in many low-income countries be regarded as a complex collective action problem, and is often managed through complex actor constellations. The theory of ‘polycentric order’ has been proposed for the governance of such constellations, describing ordered systems of interacting but autonomous actors. However, empirical data is largely lacking on how this concept can be applied to contribute to governance analysis in low-economy contexts. This paper uses polycentric systems theory to combine a broad assessment of system order with an evaluation of functional aspects associated with polycentricity. The theories are tested against a case study of the sanitation planning and implementation system of Kampala, Uganda, where responsibilities are split between multi-level authorities, NGOs, private sector actors and local landlords. Interviews with sector representatives indicate a system which is largely polycentric, but also to some extent lacks the essential aspect of common and enforced rules. While the diverse set of actors do show adaptive capacity, the analysis exemplifies how this capacity may give sub-optimal or even counteractive solutions if not matched by relevant incentive mechanisms at each level. Furthermore, the actor diversity is found to give enhanced capacity and sometimes function as a flexible ‘safety net’ in service provision, but also risk giving adverse effects in terms of equity and distribution. While some of these outlined problems may be alleviated by well-designed institutions, others are expected to come at a trade-off between flexibility and stability in actor roles. Conclusively, this study gives an empirical illustration of how a polycentric perspective can allow for a wider analysis of systemic problems in a decentralized, low-income governance context.