published_or_final_version / Geography / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning and Environmental Management / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning and Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning and Design / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

Chan Chung Shing. / Thesis submitted in: June 2005. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 99-110). / Abstracts and questionnaires in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / Acknowledgement --- p.iii / List of Tables --- p.ix / List of Figures --- p.x / List of Appendices --- p.xi / Chapter CHAPTER 1 --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Urban park management in Hong Kong --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Conceptual framework of the study --- p.3 / Chapter 1.3 --- Objectives of the study --- p.5 / Chapter 1.4 --- Scope and significance of the study --- p.6 / Chapter 1.5 --- Organization of the thesis --- p.8 / Chapter CHAPTER 2 --- LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.10 / Chapter 2.1 --- Definitions and typologies of urban parks --- p.10 / Chapter 2.2 --- Multi-dimensional functions of urban parks to livable and sustainable cities --- p.13 / Chapter 2.3 --- The need for recreation management frameworks and indicators of urban parks --- p.16 / Chapter 2.4 --- Definition and functions of indicators in recreation management --- p.18 / Chapter 2.5 --- Studies of indicators in park management and their implications --- p.20 / Chapter 2.6 --- Summary --- p.25 / Chapter CHAPTER 3 --- BACKGROUND OF STUDY AREA --- p.27 / Chapter 3.1 --- History and management of urban parks in Hong Kong --- p.27 / Chapter 3.2 --- Classifications of the major parks in Hong Kong --- p.28 / Chapter 3.3 --- Site selection of the study --- p.33 / Chapter 3.4 --- Baseline data of urban parks --- p.34 / Chapter 3.5 --- Summary --- p.36 / Chapter CHAPTER 4 --- METHODOLOGY --- p.37 / Chapter 4.1 --- Methods of data and information collection --- p.37 / Chapter 4.1.1 --- First stage (In-depth interviews and questionnaire survey) --- p.38 / Chapter 4.1.2 --- Second stage (Questionnaire surveys) --- p.40 / Chapter 4.1.3 --- Modified Delphi approach --- p.41 / Chapter 4.2 --- Methods of data analysis --- p.42 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- Matrix frameworks --- p.42 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- Importance-performance (I-P) analysis --- p.43 / Chapter 4.2.3 --- Factor analysis --- p.44 / Chapter 4.2.4 --- Driving force-State-Response (DSR) framework --- p.45 / Chapter 4.3 --- Summary --- p.46 / Chapter CHAPTER 5 --- RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS I - Indicators for Sustainable Urban Parks in Hong Kong --- p.48 / Chapter 5.1 --- Results --- p.48 / Chapter 5.1.1 --- Characteristics of park managers and park users --- p.48 / Chapter 5.1.2 --- Visitation characteristics of park users --- p.51 / Chapter 5.1.3 --- Core indicators extracted based on the perception of park users --- p.52 / Chapter 5.2 --- Discussions --- p.54 / Chapter 5.2.1 --- Characteristics of respondents and implications on park management --- p.54 / Chapter 5.2.2 --- Components of urban park management selected in studies --- p.55 / Chapter 5.2.3 --- Components extracted for frequent and non-frequent park users --- p.57 / Chapter 5.3 --- Recommendations --- p.58 / Chapter 5.3.1 --- Development and implementation of urban park indicators --- p.58 / Chapter 5.3.2 --- DSR Framework for sustainable urban park management --- p.61 / Chapter 5.4 --- Summary --- p.64 / Chapter CHAPTER 6 --- RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS II - Indicator Ratings between Park Managers and Park Users --- p.65 / Chapter 6.1 --- Results --- p.65 / Chapter 6.1.1 --- Rankings of importance of indicators by park managers and park users --- p.65 / Chapter 6.1.2 --- Rankings of performance of indicators by park managers and park users --- p.67 / Chapter 6.1.3 --- Ranking of indicators by frequent and non-frequent park users --- p.69 / Chapter 6.2 --- Discussions --- p.70 / Chapter 6.2.1 --- Discrepancies between the perceptions of park managers and park users --- p.70 / Chapter 6.2.2 --- Park management problems caused by discrepancies between stakeholders --- p.72 / Chapter 6.2.3 --- Causes of discrepancies --- p.73 / Chapter 6.2.4 --- Park users' perception of urban parks' performance --- p.73 / Chapter 6.3 --- Recommendations --- p.74 / Chapter 6.3.1 --- Public participation of urban park management issues --- p.74 / Chapter 6.3.2 --- Multi-stakeholders' approach in urban park management --- p.75 / Chapter 6.4 --- Summary --- p.76 / Chapter CHAPTER 7 --- RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS III - Importance-Performance of Indicators in Urban Parks --- p.77 / Chapter 7.1 --- Results --- p.77 / Chapter 7.1.1 --- Importance-Performance (I-P) graph based on park managers' responses --- p.79 / Chapter 7.1.2 --- Importance-Performance (I-P) graph based on park users' responses --- p.81 / Chapter 7.2 --- Discussions --- p.82 / Chapter 7.2.1 --- Importance-Performance (I-P) Analyses of urban parks in Hong Kong --- p.82 / Chapter 7.2.2 --- Comparisons between responses of park managers and park users --- p.84 / Chapter 7.3 --- Recommendations --- p.85 / Chapter 7.3.1 --- Condition of urban parks in Hong Kong --- p.85 / Chapter 7.3.2 --- Resource allocation of urban parks --- p.86 / Chapter 7.3.3 --- Marketing methodology in public recreation management --- p.87 / Chapter 7.4 --- Summary --- p.88 / Chapter CHAPTER 8 --- CONCLUSION --- p.89 / Chapter 8.1 --- Summary of findings --- p.89 / Chapter 8.2 --- Implications of the study --- p.92 / Chapter 8.2.1 --- Indicator development and implementation in urban parks --- p.92 / Chapter 8.2.2 --- Multi-stakeholder approach in urban park management --- p.93 / Chapter 8.2.3 --- Adoption of marketing research methodology in recreation studies --- p.94 / Chapter 8.3 --- Limitations of the study --- p.94 / Chapter 8.4 --- Suggestions for future study --- p.96 / Bibliography --- p.99 / Appendices --- p.111

In less than two decades since the notion of sustainable development has become firmly established in policy and academic domains, the debate within the field of sustainable development has shifted from the issue of definition to one of measurement. From the national to local levels, considerable efforts have been embarked in China to develop appropriate sustainability assessment measures (SAMs). The studies of SAM at the municipal level in China are particularly booming due to the diversity of Chinese cities both in terms of size and function. In spite of the value in generating creative thinking, the overlapping and redundancy in efforts of devising SAMs, partly because of the inapplicability of the devised SAMs, have undermined the usefulness of SAMs to guide policy-making and foster behavioral changes toward sustainable development. Many Chinese academic researchers and professionals have indicated these problems but primarily focused on methodological and technical aspects. This research attempts to address the radical issues embedded in the whole scheme of sustainability assessment with the objective of improving the applicability and effectiveness of SAMs for Chinese cities. Based on a combination of qualitative and quantitative investigations, this research identifies the major problems facing with the development and application of SAM for Chinese cities and the influential factors and proposes an implementation scheme for better appraisal of sustainability of Chinese cities. / The study has revealed a number of key findings. First, the evolvement of the SAMs for Chinese cities, typically characterized by increasing complexity and number of participants, was closely related to the evolvement of people's understanding of, and aspiration for, sustainable development. Second, of the problems identified by the sustainability assessment practitioners, the most crucial ones for SAM development and application respectively, are the unavailability of required data and incomprehensiveness of sustainable development dimensions. Third, the key factors that influence the applicability and effectiveness of SAMs for Chinese cities include difference between SAM developers and users in their understanding of the objectives and criteria of sustainability assessment; the context of the city subject to assessment, the process of decision-making in Chinese municipal governments and various methodological issues, etc. / With the above findings, this research concludes that sustainability assessment is an issue-driven, context-specified and decision-making-tailored task which demands the collaborative efforts of government users, data providers and SAM developers. The implementation scheme of sustainability assessment should preferably go through five phases: preparation for sustainability assessment, establishment of SAM, calculation of SAM results, application of SAM results and lastly the evaluation and improvement of SAM. Of the above, the first, the fourth and the last phases are of particular significances for Chinese cities. The research also highlights issues related to the evaluation of the applicability and effectiveness of SAM through an analysis of the ecological footprint and human development index of five cities in China including Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Taiyuan and Guilin. The perspectives and insights derived from these case studies have shed some light on the future development and application of similar SAMs for other Chinese cities. / Lu, Jia. / "May 2007." / Adviser: K. C. Lam. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-01, Section: A, page: 0333. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 210-229). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / School code: 1307.