The purpose of this study was to describe the structures of an arid urban forest. Two distinct and adjacent residential neighborhoods in Tucson, Arizona, Winterhaven and Richland Heights, were chosen as the study site. Landcover classes were identified through aerial photointerpretation and digitized using AutoCad. A field inventory gathered vegetative measures. Through an analysis, species composition, horizontal and vertical structure were described. Results were compared between each neighborhood stand and among findings of previous structural studies. Results describe Winterhaven as an uneven-aged stand with 55% available growing space, 37% canopy stocking, a pattern of strong dominance and mostly exotic species. Richland Heights is an even-aged stand with 78% available growing space, 11% canopy stocking, a pattern of codominance and mostly native species. These and other structural analyses have provided a descriptive study of two arid urban forest stands.

Arroyo Chico Wash, an important drainage for central Tucson, Arizona, runs through numerous neighborhood and industrial areas before emptying into the Santa Cruz River. Within four suburban neighborhoods along the wash, direct observations, personal interviews, survey questions, and historical documents are used to describe design and management influences on the biological and human aspects of the wash. Plants along the wash are identified by 2-meter wide belt transects run at 100-meter intervals over the 4 kilometer length of the study area. Wild animal and bird lists are based on observation and information given by residents. Relationships between design, maintenance and neighborhood attitudes toward the wash are assessed using a survey questionnaire given to people living adjacent to the wash. Results show the wash in the Colonia Solana neighborhood has the greatest biological diversity, highest neighborhood satisfaction and highest recreational use. In neighborhoods where the wash is a "backyard easement", satisfaction and use are the lowest.

Disastrous wildland-urban interface fires are an increasing problem throughout the United States. Local government is ultimately responsible for protection of property and life threatened by these fires. This study attempts to identify the factors that influence local policy-making in this arena. Information for this study was gathered from a review of the natural hazard and public policy literature as well as three case studies. The case study areas are Orange County, California; Oakland California; and Eastern Pima County, Arizona. Eight factors which influence local government policy-making were identified from the literature and confirmed through interviews. These factors include: acknowledgement; authority; participation; timing; cost; political influences; and liability. This study concluded that natural hazard research can be applied to wildland-urban interface fire. It also concluded that while there is increasing awareness of the wildland-urban interface fire problem there appears to be a need for a change of approach.

I surveyed songbirds and lizards adjacent to dry rivers throughout metropolitan Tucson and related species richness to recreational use and habitat using stepwise multiple regression. Habitat characteristics included vegetation structure and floristics in river-edge areas, adjacent land uses, and land uses of the surrounding landscape. Bank stabilization had a negative effect on species richness of all bird groups. Total vegetation cover, mesquite (Prosopis velutina) density, and natural open space had a positive effect on species richness of most bird groups. Tall vegetation was important for species richness of lizards. River corridors could function as conservation corridors for five bird species and two lizard species. However, habitat for many other species was not continuous across the metropolitan area. Recommendations include protecting mesquite bosques without bank stabilization, protecting wide areas of upland vegetation near large protected areas, and increasing structural diversity and use of native plants in river parkways.

Mass transit can play a critical role in making communities more livable. To be effective public transit must be a positive element in a community. The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) encourages design excellence, including the use of public art in public transit facilities. While public art may be a viable strategy to creating pleasant and interesting places, public opinions and attitudes towards public art--as a design element--are relatively unknown. This research documents the effectiveness of public art in public transit improvement projects. Surveys addressing transit agencies nationwide and three transit-supportive areas in metropolitan Tucson were evaluated. Four public transit facility projects in Tucson are documented for future research on the effects of public art in public transit facilities. The project resulted in significantly different approaches by transit agencies nationwide, as well as a range of opinions on the functional and aesthetic attributes of public transit facility designs.

Managing natural and cultural resources on a department of Defense (DoD) facility presents a difficult challenge. Many DoD facilities contain sensitive resources that are protected by a myriad of state and federal laws. Resource protection is complicated further since, while an important endeavor, it often is subjugated to the fulfillment of the military mission. The ability for resource managers to compare, analyze, and integrate complex resource data determines the speed and efficiency in which planning decisions are made. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can help resource managers make informed accurate resource management decisions in an expedient manner. This project expanded a GIS database for San Nicolas Island (SNI), part of the Point Mugu Naval Air Weapons Station CA, and created prototype computer application to assist in resource management. This application, the Point Mugu Computerized Activity Planning System (PM-CAPS), assists managers in selecting locations on SNI for military activities to occur while minimizing the negative impacts on sensitive cultural and natural resources.

There are some issues that have to be addressed for further understanding and improving scenic beauty management. First, the conventional model, preference rating based on fixed scene and direction, may not sufficiently reflect the reality of visual experience. Rather, visual and scenic preference is construed of a spatial experience. Second, the predictors are chosen based on measuring the composition of landscape features shown in the image. The measurement may not necessarily represent the contents of the physical environment. Third, judgements of scenic preference are complicated tasks. Simple linear regression analysis, with limited degree of freedom and some statistical constraints, may not represent the complexity of human judgments. An integrated model was developed by integrating the Scenic Beauty Estimation (SBE) model (Terry, 1976), the geographic information system (GIS) and, the artificial neural network (ANN). The results suggested the integrated model might be utilized as an automatic scenic preference mechanism for policy making. Implications for future research are also suggested.

This study examines landscape regulations and their potential to improve the urban environments of developing countries. The literature on environmental problems of developing countries suggests that landscape solutions must be both economic and environmentally sound. Religion and cultural ethics are the basis for landscape values in the Muslim society. Religion governs Muslims. The religious landscape values would be readily acceptable by Islamic society when used as an implementation strategy. Model landscape guidelines are presented for Karachi, Pakistan which should be helpful in preparing actual landscape regulations. Karachi's economic constraints pose unavoidable restrictions. Setting up design standards requires a careful and realistic approach. Suggestions are made to build up a conceptual policy umbrella at the national, and provincial level, providing a basis for developing landscape regulations by local governments.

This study, first, looks at the underlying causes of the housing problem in Iran, and second, examines the relationships of the number of housing co-ops in a region with the level of economic development and the need for decent and affordable housing in that region. / The census data on all 24 ostans (provinces) and 496 cities in Iran are used in this study. The results indicate that in more developed ostans, greater number of housing co-ops can be expected. However, other indicators such as the ostans' housing costs and the populations' incomes are also influential factors in explaining the variations in the number of housing co-ops. The less aggregate, city-level data also show that the presence of higher education institution in cities affects the mean number of housing co-ops in the city. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-12, Section: A, page: 4607. / Major Professor: Charles E. Connerly. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1993.

From its inception in 1967, the Kenyan national family planning program has suffered from a lack of popular support and confidence within the general population, absence of active local participation at all levels and, above all, the absence of male participation or neglect of men in the provision of family planning services in a country whose societies are predominantly patriarchal. / The present study uses a conceptual and theoretical framework based on data from the 1989 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey and measures the effects of the male role in family planning activities in Kenya. The study also provides analyses that can be used to identify the conditions under which opportunities for men to participate in family planning programs can be expanded. / The findings indicate that lack of communication between husbands and wives may be a greater obstacle to family planning than male opposition. Couples who discuss the subject of family planning are not only more likely to use contraception, but are also more likely to want to space, postpone or cease childbearing altogether and to use contraception to achieve these fertility goals. Hence, the largest gain in contraceptive use can occur if married couples openly, freely and regularly discuss the subject of family planning. Contraceptive use in Kenya is also a function of (1) residence in regions whose constituent communities adhere less to traditional patterns of reproductive behavior (Nairobi and the Central and Eastern regions), (2) higher levels of education for the husbands, (3) employment in higher status occupations, (4) higher levels of education for the wives, (5) women being in the middle of their reproductive ages, and (6) rural residence. Other factors seem to have little or no significant effect on contraception. / The study concludes that inclusion of male factors in the family planning program is not only crucial for more effective program performance, but is also an area of policy that should be among those consciously considered in the deliberative process of lowering fertility and reducing population growth. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-07, Section: A, page: 2572. / Major Professor: Bruce Stiftel. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1992.