published_or_final_version / Urban Studies / Master / Master of Social Sciences

The application of Sustainability Assessment (SA) within Canadian municipalities is a recent notion, but is quickly becoming widespread. The Government of Saskatchewan alone has already released two SA checklists. However, such tools are normally aimed at communities of all sizes, ranging from rural municipalities to big cities, without considering differences in the capacity base, needs, and conditions among those types of communities. Additionally, practical implementation of SA often does not reflect the scope of scientifically established criteria for SA tools. This paper will present the analysis of the 2009 Saskatchewan Sustainability Checklist for Municipalities (comparing it to one of the most prominent frameworks for SA and other similar checklists developed in Canada and internationally) in order to identify possible areas for improvement so that the Checklist reflects established SA principles and is sensitive to a small town context. Based on the results of interviews with 16 small town administrators in Saskatchewan, this thesis demonstrates that, from a theoretical perspective, both of the existing SA tools are deficient in a number of important ways. The tools mainly focus on evaluating the municipal and service provision, rather than evaluating the sustainability of a community as a whole, including such areas as environmental conditions; social equity; livelihood sufficiency; resource maintenance; and intragenerational and intergenerational equity. However, the research reveals even if all of the above-mentioned criteria are integrated within the existing tools, it will be challenging for municipalities to perform a full sustainability assessment, since small towns’ administrations often have limited financial and human capacity to perform such exercises. Additionally, there is a lack of understanding on how to integrate the results of an assessment into decision-making, and a perceived inability to change some of the existing economic or social conditions in a town, due to the limited scope of influence that local municipalities have. There is a need for an alternative approach to sustainability assessment in the case of small towns; one that is sensitive to their unique pressures, circumstances, and capacities to enact change.

La Tesi Doctoral L’evolució urbana de Tortosa (1939-1979): planejament i actuacions urbanístiques té com a finalitat estudiar el creixement urbà de la ciutat a través del planejament i de les actuacions urbanes. Iniciatives portades a terme tant per part de la iniciativa pública com de la privada. El treball parteix d’una hipòtesi general on es considera que la ciutat no va comptar amb un model de planificació urbana, malgrat l’aplicació del planejament urbanístic. Les principals fonts de recerca han estat els PGOU de 1964 i 1986, els Expedients d’Obres Públiques, els Llibres d’Actes de la Comissió Permanent de l’Ajuntament de Tortosa, les publicacions i la premsa local del període estudiat. Les conclusions s’han dividit en dues parts. A la primera es constata la hipòstesi central del treball, mentre la segona fa èmfasi en la necessitat de disenyar un nou model de ciutat més integrador.

This thesis presents hypothetical return plans for hurricane evacuees who have previously evacuated their residence in southern Rhode Island. Using Geographic Information Systems software, appropriate time tables for evacuees to return to their homes are generated. Two case scenarios based on Category 3 and 4 intensity hurricanes making landfall in Westerly, Rhode Island were simulated. Over the last century, population and especially home values in coastal Rhode Island have increased leaving great risk to those in the area. Statistically, hurricanes are less likely to strike Rhode Island than the Gulf Coast or the Southeastern United States. However, within the last century dangerous and damaging hurricanes have affected Rhode Island. This lower frequency of hurricanes decreases awareness and emphasizes the need for further research. Reentry zones for each scenario are defined and ranked by severity of damage using debris, building damage, potential economic loss and population displacements with HAZUS software. Results from both Category 3 and Category 4 test cases show that the downtown census tract experiences the greatest amount of damage and longest return times for evacuees. / Department of Geography

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 112-114).

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1992. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 90-92).

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1993. / "Workshop report." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 129-135).

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1994. / "Individual workshop report." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 82-84).

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1993. / "Individual workshop report." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 118-121).

Thesis (doctoral)--University of Hong Kong, 1988.