This research develops eight recommendations for amendments to key Ontario legislation affecting Brownfield redevelopment that, if implemented, will reduce the liability and risk associated with the development of contaminated land and benefit stakeholders, such as, municipalities and developers. Utilizing the methodology of law and economics, this research examines the legal landscape in Ontario and expands the dialogue regarding the risks of developing contaminated land. Through this examination, this research uncovers the origins of the risks of Brownfield redevelopment and extrapolates recommendations for amendments to legislation and policy that balance the liability of Brownfield redevelopment with the protection of the environment. Recent developments in environmental law appear to increase environmental protection, but actually limit Brownfield redevelopment in Ontario by increasing liability and costs. The polluter pays principle that has been entrenched in Canadian law has governed the law in respect of contaminated lands for decades. However, as society evolves, the common law is forced to re-evaluate environmental protection in the face of contaminated lands. This evolution of the law is an attempt to intervene to correct a market failure that exists with respect to contaminated lands. The increased liability associated with Brownfield redevelopment translates into heightened costs to redevelop the land, which also severely threatens environmental justice in Ontario. The recommendations in this research will benefit stakeholders, the public, and the environment. With respect to stakeholders, it will be of assistance to municipalities, cities, developers, corporations, secured lenders, mortgage insurers and the government. The risks associated with Brownfield redevelopment can be offset by the recommended corrections to legislation regarding liability and stronger policies that create accessible programs and incentives to promote just, innovative, and sustainable redevelopment.

Magister Legum - LLM / Planning administration in the Western Cape is at a critical juncture. It is faced with having to address planning issues and housing needs whilst at the same time demonstrating through its practices the promotion of environmentally sustainable development. This paper will discuss planning and environmental legislation and the impact that the application of the legislation has on development proposals. Current legislation addresses issues of spacial development in developed areas and new development proposals but lacks the ability to address issues within informal settlements. Although socio-economic factors are not currently considered when assessing the viability of applications, the courts seem to consider these factors. Since new housing settlements are often developed for the poor and industrial developments in close proximity to these areas have direct impact on these individuals, planning could only gain if these factors are taken into consideration.If planning administration in the Western Cape is to continue successfully and without endless litigation against the Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning administrators will have to find a balance between promoting development and protecting the environment. To promote environmentally sustainable developments will require closer cooperation between the land use planning and environmental management components. The loopholes, which permit incremental development in the present legislation, have to be identified and addressed. Guidelines, which will standardize the conditions under which applications can be approved or refused, will have to be drafted to ensure decision-making that is consistent and defensible. If having a liquor store within an affluent environment is not considered desirable such applications should not be considered within lower income areas. The same should apply when dealing with applications to establish factories or industry which will have an impact on the living conditions of communities in close proximity. The MEC will have to ensure that all decision taken are within the legal framework and that such decisions benefit entire communities and protect the rights of the poorest communities as well as that of the wealthy and influential. Environmental legislation and the growing importance of environmental protection is also having an impact on the way in which new settlements are planned and on the rights of property owners. Although, we are responsible for the preservation of the environment for the next generation, socio-economic conditions, HIV and a myriad of other considerations may have to take precedence over environmental concerns. / South Africa

The Metropolitan Vancouver Region is expected to have a population of over 3.3 million within the next 25 years. As a designated growth concentration area, the City of Vancouver is expected to absorb 160,000 people by 2021. While existing plans will allow for future high density developments, 70% of the City's residential areas remain zoned explicitly for single-family use. The intensification of these single-family neighbourhoods is viewed as a way of using the existing housing stock and the existing residential land more efficiently. The intensification techniques that are appropriate for single-family neighbourhoods include: conversion, infill and redevelopment. Planners think that intensification efforts will not only alleviate some of the detrimental impacts of sprawl, but will also provide a more diversified housing stock that will be more appropriate for the needs of an increasingly complex society. Unfortunately, some existing residents have been extremely vocal in opposition to any intensification efforts in their neighbourhoods. The residents claim that any intensification will disrupt the character of their existing single-family neighbourhoods. While the arguments for retaining exclusive single-family neighbourhoods are specious at best, the NIMBY mentality of residents has often proved to be an effective form of opposition to intensification efforts. An approach for overcoming the NIMBY syndrome is a successful program of community outreach. Community outreach attempts to minimize community opposition and to rally support for the development within the community. Attention is focused on the residents who have not already become opponents of the development. A successful community outreach program will limit residents' factual misunderstandings and their exaggerated fears about the project's potential impacts. Negotiations should be undertaken with residents who are willing to compromise; residents who refuse to talk cooperatively should not be brought into the problem-solving process. Future plans for intensification must establish a sense of certainty in the way a neighbourhood will change. The exaggerated sense of fear that residents have about the potential changes in their neighbourhood is the biggest obstacle to overcome if the Metropolitan Vancouver Region is to successfully implement an intensification program into existing single-family neighbourhoods. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

The subject of the diploma thesis is to design a redevelopment of railway station Horni Cerekev, in order to meet current traffic and legislation on access of persons with reduced mobility. Two platforms with the platform edge height of 550 mm above the top of the rail have been designed. The amount of five running tracks through the station remains unchanged. Furthermore, the railway superstructure, railway substructure and conceptual design of space in front of the station.

The subject of the diploma thesis is to design a redevelopment of railway station Chrudim in order to meet current legislation on access of persons with reduced mobility. Two platforms with the platform edge height of 550 millimetres above the top of the rail have been designed. The amount of four running tracks through the station remains unchanged. Furthermore, the railway superstructure, railway substructure and the new drainage system was also designed.

This paper deals the case study of the chosen sewer system in the village Starý Mateřov. The study solves passportization of sewer, what is the base for creating technical condition mainly for three selected sections. According to the results from the technical conditions of the three selected sections were suggested suitable options of redevelopment. The options are compared in financial way. The last chapter suggests two possibilities how to deal with the sewage. The first option consists of the transferring waste water to the waste water treatment plant in Pardubice - Semtín. The second option suggests building a new waste water treatment plant in Starý Mateřov. The options are compared in financial way.

The University Area (UA), a low-income, unincorporated neighborhood in Hillsborough County, Florida, is a site of sustainable redevelopment by the local government and nonprofit organizations. Throughout the past decade, the transitions in local and state political climates have significantly impacted the residents’ ability to advocate for infrastructural and environmental improvement to the site. This thesis discusses the findings of a research project dedicated to exploring resident perspectives of stormwater management, infrastructure, and the redevelopment currently occurring the University Area. Drawing from theoretical concepts in political ecology, environmental justice, and the interplay of agency and structure, this research investigates the impacts of flooding on the UA’s residents and infrastructure; specifically, the ways it affects the population’s interaction with their environment. Data were collected using a mixed methods approach including participant observation; semi structured interviews with residents, developers, and community organization employees; ground truthing the area to verify the location of the stormwater drains present in a selection of the UA; a historical review of the area’s land use; and analysis of critical environmental justice databases. Findings indicate that flooding in the University Area is related to historical oppressive housing strategies against minority and low-income populations. Results found that flooding in UA is caused by a combination of faulty infrastructure (impervious surfaces and a subpar, unmaintained stormwater system), increasing rain events (climate change), and the lack of municipality support (power dynamics). The oppressive power dynamic present in the relationship between the residents and their respective property owners and the county municipality services exacerbates problems with flooding. Redevelopment plans in the University Area must address the effects of historical marginalization and disenfranchisement of the current residents with respect to housing segregation and lack of municipality support. Without these considerations, the cycle of disenfranchisement faced by the current residents of the UA will likely continue and worsen over time.

No description available.

No description available.

The great economic forces that built American industrial cities also quickly left them abandoned. Scholars have written extensively on the social consequences of deindustrialization. Today, however, a new period of economic growth has again changed cities. A process of redevelopment, commonly referred to as gentrification, has changed the character of former industrial cities, producing an array of new civic tensions. The new people entering cities come for job opportunities in growing economic sectors (e.g., tech, finance, and creative industries) that tend to require higher levels of education. While these sectors grow, traditional working-class jobs continue to dwindle in number and pay. This creates a polarizing force inside cities. While social polarization is often discussed as an abstract macro-level phenomenon, even abstract forces must manifest in specific places. The gentrifying neighborhood is one such place. Inside gentrifying neighborhoods, residents must contend with new people amidst profound change. My research addresses this change. It seeks to better understand what holds modern communities together (or fails to) especially as the fates of residents diverge. Gentrification provides the social context for this research, but the focus is on a specific neighborhood-level institution: the local church. I use a religious institution as the primary mode for accessing the research site for several reasons. Religious institutions are uniquely positioned to directly address issues of community, identity, and morality. That is, at church, residents engage the issues I am exploring. They discuss how to treat outsiders, how to be a good neighborhood, and how to deal collectively with community problems. Moreover, few scholars have considered the role that churches play in neighborhood gentrification, despite the prominent role of churches in communities, and despite the overall attention that gentrification has received. In order to access the perspectives of both sets of residents—the long-term residents, and the gentrifying newcomers—this research examines two churches, each populated by a different neighborhood demographic. The first church is composed of younger residents who are gentrifying the neighborhood. The second church is composed of older residents who have spent most of their lives in the neighborhood. While the two churches are divided by age, the real divide is economic. That is, the younger residents belong to an educated and prosperous class that benefit from redevelopment. The older residents, in contrast, are working-class and mostly relegated to watch as their neighborhood transforms, sometimes making them feel like outsiders. The neighborhood that constitutes the research site is Fishtown, an “urban village” in Philadelphia, long known as a white working-class enclave with a reputation for insularity. This research explores how two churches, composed of separate sets of residents, sustain community and deal with conflict in a context of increasing polarization. I use thirty-two interviews, ethnographic observation, and analysis of documents (i.e., historical land use maps and newspapers) to understand the history of Fishtown, and the role of the two churches in affecting and contending with gentrification. The research shows the enduring power of race in attenuating class divisions within the neighborhood. Gentrification is often fraught with racial tension as the gentrifying class is often whiter and wealthier than the long-term residents of a neighborhood. In Fishtown, however, this dynamic is different. The long-term residents share the same predominantly white racial identity as the newcomers. I argue that the shared identity diffuses social tensions but raises difficult questions regarding the true nature of the growing cosmopolitanism of the former urban village. Ultimately, the division within the neighborhood partitions residents into two parallel communities. This partition includes the two churches, who remain divided, even as they engage their respective residents, marshal resources for the underprivileged, and participate in a shared faith tradition. I show how the laudable activities of each church are shaped by the economic currents that rapidly change the neighborhood. / Sociology