Thesis (M.A.)--Miami University, Dept. of Geography, 2009. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 56-59).

Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Alpa Nawre / Stephanie A. Rolley / In underprivileged communities in developing countries, water is essential for basic survival. Particularly for rural communities, water supports irrigation for agriculture and, hence, the livelihood of villagers. Based on a forecast by the Asian Development Bank, India is expected to reach a water deficit of 50% by 2030 (Dutta, 2017). Without awareness of conservation and efforts to conserve water resources and protect them from being polluted by industries and communities, rural Indian communities will continue to suffer from water mismanagement and the loss of potential long-term environmental, social, and economic benefits that water can bring to a community. Nonetheless, better water management is attainable in rural communities. Given the model Indian villages that have been transformed into sustainable communities by implementing and managing effective blue-green infrastructure through community participation, landscape architects are proven that they are capable of various roles in leading, initiating, and providing design and technical support for water infrastructure projects of different scales in rural India. Since stewardship and maintenance of these systems are critical for long-term effectiveness, the core idea of this design project is leveraging local efforts and community power to build and maintain functional water infrastructure as a better, more sustainable water management strategy. In this study, public space associated with water infrastructure is considered as a potential driver for local efforts to maintain the water management landscape when those public spaces are designed for inclusiveness and diversity. Thus, the project goal is to create or transform the public space associated with existing water infrastructure into an inclusive, productive community place that can generate environmental, social, and economic benefits, as a strategy for sustainable water management in rural India. Currently, the proposed water management landscape in this study is a diverse public space shared by community members of different ages, genders, classes, castes, and religions. The research methodology divides into three phases. The first phase addresses the general water issues and the cultural background of rural India through literature and preliminary site inventory using the GIS data provided by the Panchayat of Dhamori. The second phase presents the perceptions of villagers in Dhamori about using water and public space after collecting quantitative and qualitative data through site observation and participatory planning. By synthesizing and analyzing the knowledge generated from the participatory process on-site, the final phase interprets and addresses the emergent problems through developing a design framework for conceptual site design.

La problématique qui guide cette recherche est la suivante : quelles sont les dimensions principales de l’espace public en Iran et quelles sont les variations de cet espace public entre des quartiers de types ancien, moderne et informel à Téhéran ? Afin de comparer les caractères des espaces publics, nous avons choisi les trois types de quartiers ancien (Bazar), moderne (Shahrak-e-Gharb) et informel (Khak Sefid) présents à Téhéran. L’examen selon la méthode présentée (documents, observations personnelles, questionnaires et interviews), nous a permis de conclure que les réponses obtenues à partir de ces travaux confirment que le quartier du Bazar se caractérise par d’importantes interactions sociales du fait de son rayonnement commercial et religieux, en dépit d’une structure vétuste. Le quartier moderne de Shahrak-e-Gharb assure une fonctionnalité propice à des espaces publics programmés, mais l’omniprésence de l’automobile et l’absence de fonctions supérieures y limitent les échanges à l’échelle du quartier. Enfin, malgré l’absence d’espaces aménagés, le quartier informel de Khak Sefid n’est pas dénué d’interactions sociales. Les enjeux d’aménagement des espaces publics différent donc nécessairement en fonction de leurs caractéristiques physiques, économiques et socio-culturelles propres que nous avons tenté de mettre en évidence dans cette thèse / The problematic that guides this research is as follows: what are the main dimensions of the public space in Iran and what are the variations of this public space between old, modern and informal neighborhoods in Tehran? In order to compare the characters of the public spaces, we chose the 3 types of old neighborhood (Bazar), modern (Shahrak-e-Gharb) and informal (Khak Sefid) present in Tehran. Examination according to the method presented (documents, personal observations, questionnaires and interviews), allowed us to conclude that the answers obtained from this work confirm that the Bazar district is characterized by important interactions, because of its commercial and religious influence, despite its antiquated structure. The modern district of Shahrak-e-Gharb provides functionality for planned public spaces, but the omnipresence of the automobile and the lack of superior functions limit the exchanges on a neighborhood scale. Finally, despite the lack of developed spaces, the informal Khak Sefid neighborhood is not devoid of social interaction. The challenges of planning public spaces therefore necessarily differ according to their specific physical, economic and socio-cultural characteristics that we have tried to highlight in this thesis.

Abstract Feelings of safeness in public space differs a lot between the sexes, where women more often than men feel unsafe. But how do men relate to feelings of safeness in public spaces and how does unsafeness affect the relation between men and women? This study focusses on men’s behaviour towards women and how their behaviour changes during times of unsafeness, and how this behaviour affect´s men´s relationship with their romantic partners. The study is a case study and will focus on the city district Ålidhem in Umeå city, which reputation has suffered from the current image that local medias have projected. This case is interesting when it allows us to study how men in today´s society relate to problems with safeness in public space. The study´s result is based in six qualitative semi-structured interviews. the interviews were conducted with six young men in age 20-30 who had experience living in- or had prior experience living in the city district Ålidhem or had a relationship with a woman who had a similar experience. The interviews were later analysed through a narrative analysis method. The study´s result show that the men are more open with expressing their feelings of unsafeness and to talk about what types of factors that affect their mindset than previous studies show. These men sometimes felt that they got perceived as threatening elements in public spaces by unknown women, especially at night. This perception of the men as threatening elements sometimes caused the men to change their behaviour, like slowing down or taking other paths to their destination, to dampen the woman´s feeling of anxiety. The men themselves sometimes felt anxiety towards their romantic partner when they move in public spaces and they sometimes applied certain strategies to safeguard them. These strategies however weren’t a product of the men’s anxiety, but rather more often a product of the women´s. KEYWORDS: Safety in public space, Gender normative behaviour, Security planning

In the last two-three decades, the global society have gone through major structural transformations that have affected the local city in different ways. Advanced technology, improved modes of transportation and a global economy have all contributed to an increasing mobility of people, companies and capital. Consequently, the entrepreneurial view of urban growth has led to an inter-urban competition and placemakeing as instrument in the endeavor to attract people to the city.  During the last years, the public places in the city center of Umeå have changed its structure. The aim of this thesis is to investigate whether there is a substantial difference of opinion between Umeå municipality´s representation of problems in the public space and the public opinion of the rebuilding of Rådhustorget and its function as a public space. Due to the aim, the study consists of two research subjects. One is a critical analysis of a policy document with Carol Bacchi´s “What´s the problem represented to be” – method as a tool. The second research subject is a questionnaire with the goal to investigate the opinion of the rebuilding of Rådhustorget according to 175 respondents. The result shows that there is a substantial difference of opinion between the municipality´s view of the public space of Rådhustorget and the received result from the questionnaire. Most evident is the disagreements whether the former Rådhustorget could be seen as a problematic public place or not.

Cette thèse porte sur les espaces publics à Johannesburg, capitale économique de l’Afrique du Sud. Dans le contexte contemporain, l’utilisation de la notion occidentale d’espaces publics pose problème : d’une part, du fait des ségrégations passées qui ont eu tendance à faire de ces espaces des lieux de séparation et de mise à distance des différents publics ; et d’autre part, du fait des forts taux de violence et du fort sentiment d’insécurité, qui tendent à encourager la sécurisation et la privatisation de ces mêmes espaces. L’enjeu est alors de comprendre les éventuels processus de construction de la publicité (au sens de caractère public) de ces espaces, à la fois sur le plan juridique, social et politique. Pour ce faire, l’art qui se déploie dans les espaces juridiquement publics de la métropole depuis la fin de l’apartheid, est utilisé comme une clef de lecture privilégiée de ces phénomènes, en tant qu’il permettrait, ainsi que nous entendons le montrer, de créer des espaces de rencontre et de débats ou, à l’inverse, de mieux réguler et contrôler ces espaces. Selon une approche qualitative, notre étude se base à la fois sur des observations de terrain et sur des entretiens conduits auprès des producteurs mais aussi des récepteurs de cet art qui a lieu dans les espaces publics. A la croisée de la géographie urbaine et de la géographie culturelle, nous envisageons donc de réexaminer la notion d’espaces publics au prisme de l’art à Johannesburg en vue de saisir – entre tentative de normalisation et résistance à cette normalisation – quelle ville est aujourd’hui à l’œuvre non seulement à Johannesburg, mais aussi, à travers elle, dans d’autres villes du monde. / This Ph.D. thesis deals with public spaces in Johannesburg, the economic capital of South Africa. In the current context, the issues raised by the use of the western notion of public spaces are explored. On one hand, the previous segregations tended to mark off spaces into different publics completely separated from each other. On the other hand, the high rates of violence and sense of insecurity enhance securitization and privatization of these same spaces. What is at stake is to understand how the publicness of these spaces can be legally, socially, and politically built. In that framework, art spread in legally public spaces of Johannesburg since the end of apartheid is used as a tool to understand and reveal these phenomena since it is presented, as we aim at demonstrating, as a mean to create spaces of encounter and debate or, conversely, to regulate and control better these spaces. In a qualitative approach, our study is based on field observations and interviews with both producers and receivers of this art which takes place in public spaces. At the crossroads of urban geography and cultural geography, we are therefore re-examining the concept of public spaces through the prism of art in Johannesburg to figure out – between normalization and resistance to this normalization – which city is today at work not only in Johannesburg, but also, through her, in other cities of the world.

La colonisation et l’immigration créent des espaces dits de l’entre-deux, des « espaces in-between », où les limites et les frontières entre identités et cultures sont remises en question, où sont générés de multiples métissages. Dans le cadre de notre recherche nous nous sommes intéressé plus particulièrement à deux quartiers situés en Tunisie, dans la ville de Sousse, dont les noms sont Gabadgi El Foukani et Gabadgi Loutani , ou en sicilien « Capaci Supra e Capaci Jusu ». Ces deux quartiers portent le nom d’une localité sicilienne, Capaci. Le plus intéressant des faits est que ces lieux ont été construits et occupés par des populations mélangées, majoritairement siciliennes issues de l’immigration. Mais il y avait aussi d’autres communautés bien diversifiées du point de vue des nationalités et des croyances. Ces quartiers ont ensuite été progressivement réinvestis par une population exclusivement tunisienne.Le contexte historique et social de ces quartiers, nous a conduit à porter notre attention sur la relation entre les ambiances, l'espace public urbain et la notion de métissage. La vérification de l'hypothèse d'une persistance de caractéristiques ambiantales spécifiques constitue un réel enjeu scientifique pour cette recherche. Nous avons choisi la notion de métissage plus qu’une autre forme de mélange étant donné qu’elle se présente comme une pensée temporelle. Nous avons par conséquent été mené à interroger les ambiances des quartiers en appréhendant le métissage comme devenir, comme processus de transformation né de la rencontre de l’autre, mais aussi comme une expérience intériorisée vécue dans la durée.Notre méthodologie de travail s’est déployée selon trois mouvements, qui se sont croisés et enrichis mutuellement : observer et raconter, décrire, expérimenter. Les deux premières phases se sont plus concentrées sur le terrain, la troisième s’est présentée sous la forme d’une expérimentation développée sous l’égide d’une installation-projection. / Colonization and immigration create areas called “in-between spaces”. Limits betweencultures and identities in these “in-between spaces” are coming under some question.As a result, multiple cultural mixings are generating. As part of our research, wefocused specifically on two districts located in the city of Sousse, in the central-east of Tunisia, known as Gabadgi El Foukani and Gabadgi Loutani, or in Sicilian « Capaci Supra e Capaci Jusu3».These two districts take on Sicilian locality name, Capaci. The most interesting fact is that these places, not only, were built and occupied by mixed populations, mostly Sicilian immigrant, but also there were other communities well diversified in terms of nationalities and beliefs. These districts were then gradually reinvested by an exclusively Tunisian population.The historical and social context of these districts has led us to focus our attention on the relationship between ambiances, urban public space and the notion of cultural mixing. Verification of the hypothesis of persistent specific ambient characteristics is a real scientific challenge for this search. We have chosen the notion of cultural mixing more than another form of mixing since it presents itself as a temporal thought. We were therefore led to question the ambiences of the districts by apprehending the cultural mixing as becoming, as born transformation process of meeting others, and as an internalized experience over time.Our work methodology is deployed in three movements that have crossed and enrichedeach other: Observe & tell, describe, and experiment. The first two phases were moreconcentrated on working on the site. The third phase was presented in the form of anexperiment developed under the aegis of an installation-projection.

abstract: This research is about urban homeless people's vulnerability to extreme temperatures and the related socio-spatial dynamics. Specifically, this research investigates heat related coping strategies homeless people use and how the urban environment setting impacts those coping strategies. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with homeless people in Phoenix, Arizona during the summer of 2010. The findings demonstrate that homeless people have a variety of coping strategies and the urban environment setting unjustly impacts those strategies. The results suggest a need for further studies that focus spatial environmental effects on homeless people and other vulnerable populations. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Justice Studies 2011

L‘existence d‘une société civile et d‘un espace public en dehors d‘un contexte précis et d‘un espace géopolitique précis est un sujet de discussion. Notre recherche envisage de rechercher ces concepts dans le contexte ottoman – turc afin de contribuer modestement à cette discussion et surtout afin de définir les spécificités des structures existant sur cet espace géopolitique. Après avoir discuté la société civile et l‘espace public, nous prenons le mouvement lesbien, gay, bisexuel et trans (LGBT) comme exemple représentatif des nouveaux mouvements sociaux émergés en Turquie et on l‘examiné sous le perspectif de l‘espace public sociétal. En cherchant à éclaircir sa place dans la société, ses relations avec d‘autres mouvements sociaux, nous examinons de près la construction d‘un éventuel espace public autour des sujets spécifiques et l‘interaction entre mouvement et les médias afin d‘établir l‘évolution de cette relation. / The existence of a civil society and a public space outside a specific context and a specific geography is a matter of discussion. Our research intends to investigate these concepts in the ottoman-turkish context to modestly contribute to this discussion and especially to define the characteristics of the existing structures on that geography. After discussing civil society and the public sphere, we take the movement of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans persons (LGBT) as a representative example of the new social movements emerged in Turkey and we are working on that in the perspective of societal public space. In seeking to clarify its role in society, its relations with other social movements, we examine closely the possible construction of a public space around specific topics and the interaction between the movement and the media in order to establish the evolution of this relationship.

Analisa as funções do arquivo como esfera pública informacional, tendo como fundamento teórico a Teoria da Ação Comunicativa, de Jurgen Habermas. Destaca a importância do direito à informação e acesso às informações arquivísticas na construção da cidadania. Reflete sobre a função social dos arquivos na gestão da informação, e seu papel de mediador das informações públicas, garantindo a transparência das ações do Estado, na consolidação da democracia. A partir do estudo das correspondências remetidas pelos cidadãos, para o Prefeito de Porto Alegre, Olívio Dutra, entre os anos de 1988 e 1990, analisa os conteúdos informacionais e as estratégias de comunicação utilizadas pelos cidadãos como forma de participação e de controle sobre ações governamentais. As cartas são tratadas como narrativas dos cidadãos, pois elas são uma forma de comunicação com o governo municipal, além de darem visibilidade aos problemas do cotidiano da cidade e outros temas de interesse coletivo. Conclui que os arquivos públicos como fontes de informações são elementos essenciais para garantir o acesso às informações públicas e auxiliar na ampliação da cidadania, pois subsidiam os cidadãos para a participação no debate público sobre os temas de interesse da sociedade. / This work examines the role played by archives as an informational public sphere, based on Jurgen Habermas’s concept of Public Sphere. It stresses the importance of the right to information and access to archivistic information on construction of citizenship. It reflects upon the social role played by archives on information management and as mediator of public information, guaranteeing the transparency of the actions taken by the State in consolidating democracy. Based on the study of letters sent by citizens to Porto Alegre Mayor Olívio Dutra in 1988, 1989 and 1990, the work examines the informational content and communication strategies they use as a way of participation and control government actions. Letters are seen as citizen’s narratives, since they are a way to communicate with the Municipal Government, besides pointing out everyday problems in the city as well as other issues of collective interest. It concludes that public archives as sources of information are essential elements to guarantee access to public information and help to broaden citizenship, since they assist citizens in their participation in the public debate on issues of interest for society, configuring an informational public sphere.