Urban racial segregation has been a problem to many U.S. cities. Many researchers have interested on the urban segregation issues since long time ago. To understand and plan a better community, urban planners needs to know how to measure the segregation and interpret the results. However, over the past several decades, many scientists have proposed many types of urban segregation measures. Although a few of them are commonly used nowadays, this doesn?t mean the other measures are not appropriate. Disregarding the fact that some of the measures are mostly used or easily calculated this paper attempts to gather many of the proposed and the most discussed measures for comparison. The results of the comparison were categorized in one group measure, two group measure, and multi group measure. They are also divided in to the five dimensions of segregation such as the evenness, exposure, concentration, clustering, and centralization. Two U.S. metropolitan cities that are different in racial proportion, Houston, TX and Philadelphia, PA, were selected for the comparison. All the selected measures are evaluated in several criteria such as the scale, level of measures, data required, level of complexity, and tendencies of using different census data.

This research focuses on the reconstruction of war-damaged villages in Lebanon destroyed during the recent civil war (1975-1991). Its main aim is to understand the complexity of reconstruction through a detailed case study of one village namely; al-Burjain. In contrast to top down approaches to reconstruction, this study presents an approach which extends beyond looking at physical aspects to socio-economic, cultural and political issues. It also attempts to gain insights into the conditions of the community prior to disaster, as well as the new situation which emerged after the destruction of the village. It develops an understanding of the conditions of the people, and their needs and perceptions about reconstruction. The research takes a qualitative approach because of its flexibility and appropriateness to the inquiry and practical conditions in the field. It is based on dynamic and interactive discussions with the community under study. Three methods are employed: discussion with key figures, detailed family case histories and a survey using semi-structured interviews of households. They reflect different degrees of focus on complexity of reconstruction and the conditions of the people. The village case study (micro) is discussed and evaluated in three contexts (macro). Firstly, it deals with the context of reconstruction after disaster in theoretical and conceptual terms and with reference to practical experiences (Algeria and Iran). Secondly, it is located within the conditions of the country in which there are increased channels of contacts and communications between rural and urban areas. Thirdly, it discusses the development of rural areas in Lebanon from traditional times to the beginning of the war in order to draw lessons and to identify problems, possibilities and obstacles which could be helpful in planning for meaningful reconstruction. The findings of the research cover two main part. The first part establishes principles and recommendations for the reconstruction of the vifiage studied. In this sense, it translates the insights gained into practical solutions. It proposes a way of capitalising on people's initiatives, maximizing the use of available resources, to solve existing problems and improve conditions. It is a developmental process. The second part draws an analytical framework which can be used to study similar cases. This framework is a generalised basis upon which the issues related to the complexity of post-disaster reconstruction can be examined and dealt with. Finally, this research formulates theoretical perspectives which will inform professional intervention and decision making in reconstruction after disaster.

The thesis develops a framework and system for integrating Strategic Environmental Assessment [SEA] into Malaysian land use planning, for the purposes of achieving sustainable development. The emphasis is upon procedural and resource aspects of SEA rather than on methodologies. The research includes review and analysis of international and Malaysian published literature, government documents, case study analyses, a postal questionnaire survey and interviews. The development of the proposals is based on the identification of philosophies, principles and links between three main concepts, namely sustainable development, land use planning and Strategic Environmental Assessment. Examples of approaches and experiences of SEA from the United Kingdom, United States of America, Canada and elsewhere are analysed and evaluated. These are assessed against Malaysian national planning and land use planning systems and frameworks, and current Malaysian practices in environmental impact assessment. An evaluation of the strengths and shortcomings of the Malaysian systems, procedures, processes and resources is used to justify and form the basis for the proposals. The thesis describes the research framework and methodologies; the basic concepts of sustainable development, land use planning and SEA/ElA; and the Malaysian political, legislative, institutional and planning frameworks. The proposals include an idealised SEA framework within a proposed national integrated planning system for Malaysia; the functions of Malaysian SEA; a proposed structure plan process with SEA; an outline strategy for actions; and subjects for further research.

The major concern of this thesis is to describe and identify the main transport problems which may affect the elderly's levels of participation in activities, and also to examine the relationship between transport problems and the elderly's levels of participation. The main objectives of this thesis are: to identify the main activities in which the elderly participate; to identify the transport problems which may affect or prevent the elderly from taken part in some or all activities; to identify which activities the elderly fail to achieve and the level of participation they wish to achieve and the main reasons which underline these problems; to examine how the characteristics of individuals affect the use of transport methods; and finally to identify the main transport difficulties encountered by the elderly in using transport system. This thesis is divided into twelve chapters, which can be structured into four main parts: the first part reviews the literature on transport policy for the elderly; the second part includes background information to the research problems, the survey methodology and the case studies; the third part contains detailed discussion of the main transport problems affecting the elderly's participation in the organised activities (from the organisers' point of view), the fourth part contains discussions of achieved activities, desired level of participation in activities, transport methods used by the elderly, and finally transport difficulties encountered by the elderly; this includes fully achieved, modified, and frustrated activities, in order to explain the relationship between the transport needs and demands of the elderly people. The main survey method used in collecting the data was a postal questionnaire and SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science) was used in analysis. The thesis concludes by providing a summary of the main findings and the implications of the results obtained in the study.

At the time of conducting this study there exists several design methodolgies competing for relevance in the continually growing and evolving urban cultures found in cities around the world. Simultaneously modern cities, particularly those in the United States of America, struggle to adapt their infrastructure and sprawling natures to increasing densities and demand for more localized city centers. In this study, I develop a conceptual urban intervention plan for Houston, Texas as a case study of how cities like Houston might revitalize their downtown cores in the future by removing and redeveloping the elevated highways that surround the core. Additionally, I present a case study for the importance of carefully contextual architecture in the form of a high-desnsity mixed-use complex as a driver for the success of such an urban intervention. These interrelated design projects facilitate the testing of design principles in parametricism against more traditional design methods. The results show that there is in fact large demand for residential and retail developments in Houston’s core as well as the potential for increased value along the the area now occupied by highway in the event of more pedestrian and development friendly infrastructure. The results also show one potential example of architectural design that attempts to step down the scale of the urban core and transition more effectively between the core and the surrounding neighborhoods, thus facilitating said potentials. / text

Public transportation and other alternatives to the private automobile are receiving increased attention for their potential to decrease congestion, reduce environmental damage and support healthier lifestyles. In particular, bus transit increases mobility and provides an opportunity for increased physical activity. In light of a scarcity of research on the subject, this report investigates a common rule of thumb used in transit planning that suggests riders will only walk five minutes to access a bus stop. A review of existing research shows that many transit riders walk longer than five minutes to reach a bus and that transit-access walking behavior is far more varied than implied by the 5-minute assumption. An effort was undertaken to estimate walking distances of bus riders in Austin, Texas using data from a 2010 survey administered to riders on local buses. The analysis estimated transit walks of unreasonable distances for some respondents, suggesting that the starting location address or access mode responses were inaccurately reported. Flaws in the data collection process interfered with a clear analysis of the relationship of walking distances to rider behavior, but the data showed that many riders walked considerably farther than 1/4 mile. The Austin data and reports from others summarized in the literature review of this report indicate that the 5-minute walk is not an accurate representation of transit access behavior and that further evaluation of the 5-minute assumption should be undertaken. Moreover, innovative approaches should be developed to more accurately predict bus commuter behavior to design a more effective transit system. Analysis of the survey data suggests that implementation of improved data collection methods in future studies could provide more useful and accurate data on walking behavior associated with transit use. / text

There are many benefits to living in a walkable city, and just as many barriers to making a city truly pedestrian-friendly. In hot climates such as Austin, Texas, high temperatures are a principal challenge to walkability and also a safety concern when temperatures rise above 100°F. Although city planning came about largely to protect the streetscape from unbridled, sunlight- blocking development, too much sunshine can be just harmful and therefore shade provision merits the attention of urban planners. One useful tool for shade analysis and planning for shade provision is Geographic Information Systems (GIS). However, GIS has typically been limited to tree cover analysis, leaving out the significant contributions of the built environment for shade provision. This report examines recent applications of GIS for walkability analysis and planning efforts to enhance pedestrian comfort in Austin, and then presents an analysis of shade provision in East Sixth Street, Austin, Texas, focusing on 3D modeling of the built environment. It is the hope that this study will inform future shade research and analysis for improved walkability, particularly in cities located in hot climates. / text

A significant number of studies have identified clear links between chronic health issues, including asthma, obesity, and diabetes, and the design of the built environment. As shapers of the built environment, urban planners can play a central role in ameliorating these current health epidemics. Indeed, during the early history of the planning profession the fields of planning and public health were closely connected, and improved public health was seen as a key mission of the planning profession. Today, however, public health issues are not a central concern in planning, neither as a normative value of the field nor as a core element of daily planning practice. Instead, health is a value-based cause taken up by concerned practicing planners, who face numerous challenges in incorporating a health focus into their daily work. This research argues that there is a need for a focus on health outcomes within the planning field, based on the initial mission of planning discipline and current research showing the impact of the built environment on public health. Through a nationwide survey of planners and interviews with planning and health professionals in five cities, findings show that collaboration between health and planning departments is key to instilling a health focus within the practice of planning. Planners who seek to promote a health focus in planning are pursuing this value-based imperative through a variety of ad-hoc strategies, since existing regulations and professional guidelines are inadequate in terms of facilitating collaboration between public health and planning in order to systematically address health issues related to land use and the built environment. Research also shows that collaboration between planning and public health departments, when this does occur, is often initiated and driven by processionals in the public health discipline. Though planners and health professionals who have sought to collaborate have faced institutional, political, and awareness challenges, there are opportunities that can be leveraged to overcome these obstacles. These opportunities include the professional expertise available in the public health field, the availability of health data in order to reframe planning issues, and the potential of individual champions of health to drive health considerations in planning projects, and promote health as a normative value. Ultimately, individual planners who see the creation of healthier communities as central to their professional practice pursue collaborative strategies with health professionals despite the challenges they face. From the perspective of collaborative planning theory and theories of institutional change, this individual engagement and initiative by planners through their everyday practice has the potential to effect institutional change by forging a focus on health as a normative value central to the planning discipline. / text

This study sets out to investigate the factors that have determined the progress and development of the Common EU Maritime Transport Policy (CMTP) in the 1990s, using two case-studies which examine the progress of common policies on safe seas and shortsea shipping respectively. Drawing on the theoretical strands examining European integration, in particular suggestions that an analytical emphasis on the involved policy actors is a helpful way to understand the progress of the EU policies, the research concentrates on both the economic environment of maritime transport and the interaction of policy makers and organised interests during the policy making process. Employing insights from the neoinstitutional account of comparative politics the thesis sets out to test the validity of accounts of EU policy-making that put particular stress on the critical role of the EU institutions within this process and, consequently, the advancement and content of EU level policies. The research findings suggest an explanatory model of the progress of the CMTP which focuses on the distinctive institutional dynamism of the EU, without being reductionist insofar as the other policy actors or the economic context are concerned. It takes into account, first, the vital role of the EU decision-making institutions and, second, the mediation of the extant institutional framework on the activities of all the involved policy actors. While the contextual economic internationalisation and the ineffectual policy responses of the non-EU policy making levels have provided the stimulus for discussing EU policy developments, the progress of the CMTP is found to be the outcome of a dialectic relationship between national governments, interest groups, the EU institutions, and their ideas. Within this relationship the EU institutions play a decisive role. These results challenge previous conceptions of the CMTP as the outcome of intergovernmental bargaining, or the product of an arena dominated by the variable powers of private actors. Reflecting on the theoretical debate on European integration, the thesis concludes that an internal EU policy arena with its own characteristics and complexity has grown considerably and commends the neoinstitutionalist perspective as a useful analytical tool in conceptualising EU policy developments.

This study evaluates the distributional effects of an improvement policy introduced in the 1974 Housing Act. It examines the role of Housing Action Areas, as an area-based policy for positive discrimination, in altering access to housing for people 1n 'greatest need'. The reasons for the existence of housing need 1n the inner city are elucidated in a discussion of changing urban housing markets. Research problems are identified following a review of the background to HAA policy and prev10us research on area-based intervention. Three key processes which have a bearing on distributional effects are identified: HAA declaration; implementation of improvement powers; and changes in housing function. The impact of declaration on individual households is examined, at a series of spatial scales. It is revealed that few of those in need have been affected. Cluster analyses are used to identify areas comprising concentrations of need for which HAA treatment is suitable. It is found that declaration falls far short of the spatially-defined potential for it. Thus, failure to reach target households cannot be entirely attributed to use of an area-based approach. Analyses of impact demonstrate that HAA declarations have not unequivocally been concentrated in the most needy areas. An examination of implementation of improvement powers suggests that relatively few households have been affected, though acquisition by councils and housing associations has been significant. Implementation is least efficacious in large HAAs, those in London, and those where housing need 1S relatively greatest. A micro-level study of council acquisition 1n HAAs in Islington, reveals that in the short term, substantial gains have been made by individual households in need. However, in the longer term, intervention reduces the opportunities for those most in need. It is concluded that the distributional effects of HAAs have been both limited and regressive, but the apparent outcome depends on the scale of analysis, and varies geographically. Paradoxically, relatively least has been achieved in London, to which the legislation was primarily orientated. This can be attributed to the structural and institutional framework in which HAAs have been conceived and implemented.