No description available.

No description available.

This thesis investigates the problems involved in determining the appropriate use of agricultural land in its relation to regional planning. For the purpose of this investigation, the West Pasaman Development Plan has been chosen as a case study. The Development Plan for West Pasaman was drawn up by the Institute for Development Research--IDR, a consulting firm from West Germany, in 1975. The study team proposed five crucial projects to be developed within a ten year period (1975-1985). Two of these five projects, i.e., a new main road and an oil palm smallholder scheme were given priority. The priority for the oil palm smallholder project was based upon conventional economic criteria. Two important aspects were ignored. First, the physical characteristics of the site, including water resources, were not assessed, and secondly the needs of the existing population were not considered. In this thesis, three factors, the physical characteristics of the site, the social aspects of the population and economic feasibility were chosen as the criteria to determine the appropriate use of the agricultural land. The area of investigation is made up of two parts. The first part of 13,000 hectares is government land which, at present, is underutilized. The second part, consisting of 11,000 hectares, is private and communal land run by smallholders. The study team's report failed to account for the existing land use of this 11,000 hectares and therefore it is on this area, of land that the investigation has concentrated. It is found that the land being studied is physically suitable for rice cultivation. Oil palm cultivation does not appeal to the farmers in the study area because they are unwilling to move into new cultivation practices as they feel safer growing rice and other crops with which they are familiar. It seems an irrigation project is the most desirable government project for the study area. This would appear to confirm Indonesian national goals, which emphasize self-sufficiency in food production. If the available water resources of the study area (the Batang Tongar River) could be fully utilized, it is found by using economic data on returns per hectare per year, that double cropping rice with new high yielding varieties would yield a higher return to the farmers than oil palm. Thus, it is concluded that wet rice agriculture (double cropping) would be a more effective use of the 11,000 hectare area than oil palm. The thesis emphasizes that the physical characteristics of the site and the social aspects must be considered in determining the appropriate use of agricultural land in addition to the economic criteria. The thesis concludes with the discussion of the methodological limitations of the study and makes a plea for regional planners to utilize some of the new ideas of "development from below" and integrated regional development / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

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This thesis studies municipal museums in Canada, defined as museums owned and operated under a bylaw or directive of a municipal corporation. The objectives are to examine ideas about these museums, to document their development, to identify their operation within the local government structure, and to analyze their contemporary state. The first part identifies a tradition in which municipal museums have evolved in response to gradual increases in community support. Their organization has been related to local government structures. The middle part documents a national review which identified municipal museums and collected information on their establishment, management and operation. A survey and case studies provide statistical and documentary evidence which is presented on a national and regional basis. From these findings it has been possible to define the municipal museum population of some three hundred institutions representing approximately one quarter of all museums, identify their characteristics, explain management arrangements, outline the role of local government, describe operations, and document the status of policy development. In the final section implications of the findings are examined. Influences on museums in the areas of their role in society, the emergence of standards and patterns of support are outlined. Current developments indicate that these museums are adopting planning as a museum activity. The established identity of municipal museums is a factor which will contribute to their continuing evolution. In some regions municipal museum services may be improved and expanded through formal cooperative efforts. By identifying, documenting and analyzing the municipal museum phenomenon in Canada this work clearly establishes that these institutions are a significant and potentially unified group of museums. Supporting appendices list municipal museums by date of foundation, province, survey response and planning studies. Questionnaires, research guidelines and a select bibliography are provided.

No description available.

No description available.

The urban woodlands in Redditch are integral elements of greenspace that are highly valued as an informal recreational resource, and for the physical and spiritual benefits that the community derives from visual and physical contact with them, on a daily basis. However, that they are cherished community assets, rather than places to be avoided, depends on contextually specific requirements being met, in regard to their siting and design. The thesis discusses these key criteria from the perspective of the Redditch urban community. It is identified that a choice of woods should be located within 300 and 700 metres of the home, to enable access by people, including those with restricted home range, mobility or with limited time to visit, and to provide a moderate walk to woods more distant, as an integral part of the 'recreational experience'. Convenient access to, and familiarity of these urban woodlands increases people's confidence to use woods more frequently and more distant from the home. Woodland size, preferably between 2 to 7 hectares and a good network of well lit, hard surfaced paths are also important factors influencing the attractiveness of woodland. Otherwise, visitors' demands regarding woodland type and facilities are modest. Plantations are as much valued and enjoyed as ancient semi-natural woodland. However even where the physical requirements for woodland are met, social and cultural factors limit many people's access to, and uses of the urban woodland. By exploring the personal, social and cultural values, and interpretations of these woods, the thesis analyses how the community reacts to change to the woodlands introduced by woodland management works, and identifies that it ascribes them a plurality of meanings and contextual relationships; as a woodland garden, a doorstep recreational area, a symbol of the pastoral idyll, a wildlife sanctuary and a gateway to the natural world. The theoretical framework of the thesis draws on multi-disciplinary perspectives including; landscape deslqn, town planning and the social and cultural perspectives of cultural geography. The evolution of the urban woodlands as elements of urban greenspace, people's recreational uses, and their attitudes and feelings towards them are explored by diverse methodological procedures, which include a longitudinal study and use of both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods. The research both builds on and adds to the existing body of knowledge by addressing the value and significance of providing urban woodlands within the urban fabric, and the key criteria which need to be observed to provide such areas close to where people live, and close to what they need.

The city of Cairo, like many other historic cities, experienced a break in the continuum of its traditional urban pattern due to the modernisation project. The break was not only limited to the physical pattern but to social and economic activities. The swing of emphasis from the historic area to the modern quarters left the city peripheral to administrative and economic activities, augmenting urban and sociocultural decay. This study analyses these changes and forwards an argument that there is a strong need to conserve the human scale, individuality, richness and diversity of the historic city of Cairo and integrate it into the modern metropolis as a living and vigorous entity. The objective is to reconcile the old with the new through the perpetuation of culture. In this study, culture is considered as a vehicle to generate the need for conservation and regeneration of the old area, while at the same time maintaining a context for both continuity and diversity in the traditional urban fabric. In doing so, the study examines the historical and cultural urban processes that shaped the traditional city, focusing on the complex interaction between social and physical entities. The study then considers the current dimension, where tourism and small-scale manufacturing have enabled the historic city to reposition itself as the most powerful secondary economic base in the metropolis, drawing on the legacy of its urban heritage. The study argues that by learning from the past that created unity in the built environment, the future of the city could be shaped: balancing the conservation of its cultural heritage and the promotion of sustainable development to suit contemporary needs.

This thesis examines the diffusion of infonnation and communication technologies (lCTs) in Wales, the Republic of Ireland and the South East of England in the computer service and electronics sectors. The study is significant as it contributes to academic and policy debates concerning the role of leTs in regional development. The European Community has invested considerable resources in the early introduction of advanced telecommunication services in the peripheral regions through the STAR (Special Telecommunications Action for Regional Development) and Telematique programmes. leTs are emphasised in the academic literature either as elements of infrastructure provision or, more significantly, as being integral to radical changes in organisations and regions. The research examines diffusion of ICTs in the three regions in order to assess the role of ICT in the regional development processes in the electronics and computer service sectors and to investigate the types of organisational and regional changes that are occurring through the applications of ICTs. The Republic of Ireland, Wales and the South East of England were chosen for study as they offered a basis for comparison of the use of ICTs by finns in core, peripheral and semi-peripheral regions. Research methods included a large scale survey in the three regions and in-depth interviews with a number of selected finns. The research focused on both indigenous finns and inward investing finns The survey results provide an indication of the degree of diffusion of particular components of ICTs in the three regions. The analysis also examines the types of finns in the electronics and computer service sector and demonstrates differences in the use of leTs between inward investing, multi-site finns and indigenous firms. The in-depth interviews provides further basis for exploration of the results from the survey but concentrate mainly on the assessment of the organisational and regional implications of the diffusion of ICTs. The main conclusions of the thesis are that leTs, in general, are of less importance in the process of organisational change and regional development than has been claimed by theories which argue that the diffusion of ICTs creates a basis for radical change in these areas. The results show that the diffusion of ICTs is unbalanced across regions and finn sizes. Furthennore, the use of computer networks by SMEs does not appear to be a central factor for their economic viability and the provision of infrastructure and services is not of central importance in Iocational decisions of large firms. The results suggest that other factors apart from the use of ICTs should be given more importance in explanations of patterns of regional development and regional policy-makers should give more weight to these matters. These factors include research on the impacts and extent of take-overs in different regions, and factors which encourage the emergence and sustained growth of indigenous firms and the increased embeddedness of inward investing finns.