Thesis (M.C.P. and S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 65-66). / This thesis seeks to answer how urban design in an established town can be adapted to accommodate an aging population. It uses the town of Brookline, Massachusetts, as an example of a community making active efforts to improve its design and services to meet the needs of its elderly citizens. Among the many challenges seniors face in Brookline are barriers to mobility, need for activity and company, threats to physical safety, and limited range of travel. Through careful planning and design, local governments can make physical improvements to the public environment to allow seniors easy access to all parts of the town or city, and these improvements benefit people of all ages as well. However, institutions like the Senior Center in Brookline are essential for providing a high quality of life, by hosting recreational and educational activities, organizing services and outreach to isolated seniors, lobbying for appropriate representation in local policymaking, and increasing awareness of elderly issues. A combination of infrastructure improvements, services, and long-range planning can overcome the obstacles of cost, ignorance, and poor design to make the public environment accessible to all ages and abilities. / by David Lee. / M.C.P.and S.B.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 52-55). / In July of 2002, the California State Legislature passed the "California Clean Cars Bill," the first law in the United States to regulate carbon dioxide as a vehicular pollutant. California's vehicular standards have implications across the country; at least eight other states have committed to adopt them. The passage of the legislation was as controversial as it was groundbreaking. Over the course of the year and a half that the bill was in the state legislature, environmentalists and the auto industry fought for the public's support of their positions. Although the auto industry had the benefit of a multi-million dollar advertising budget, environmentalists adopted tactics that proved more effective in the battle for Californians' support. This thesis describes the environmentalists' coalition-building and problem-definition tactics and how they enabled the environmentalists to gain public support. / by Carli Paine. / M.C.P.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1985. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Bibliography: leaves 123-125. / by Anne Baron Wilson. / M.C.P.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 95-99). / This thesis explores the growth of subnational debt ("SND") and the different regulatory responses to this debt. It focuses on the recent emergence of credit rating agencies (e.g. Standard & Poor's, Moody's and Fitch) as an alternative regulatory mechanism, which has the potential to stabilize these markets, improve risk pricing, and alter traditional conceptions of local governance. The first chapter traces SND's long legacy of debt defaults, federal bailouts, and improperly priced risk; as well as the profound benefits that SND can provide to local governments, particularly as a means of resisting the siren song of privatization. Unfortunately, it finds that conventional strategies for regulating SND - including federal oversight, financial rules and market discipline - have not properly balanced these trade offs and have left lingering moral hazards, overly restricted debt markets, and a legacy of mispricing. The second chapter examines the emergence of debt rating agencies in Mexico as a possible alternative. It traces their growth, particularly the role of domestic and international agreements, their methodology, and their historic accuracy. It finds that they should improve debt pricing and obviate moral hazards when compared to existing regulatory interventions. / (cont.) However, these significant benefits come with profound implications on local governance and decentralization. The third chapter investigates rating agencies infringement on traditional local autonomy as well as the more subtle ways in which these bodies can actually improve local deliberation by enhancing transparency and formality. The thesis argues further that any restrictions are outweighed by the benefits from stabilizing SND markets and replacing more onerous regimes. The thesis also suggests that the agencies' view of governance actually fits in with broader international approaches and is part of a broader movement towards international local government law. The paper concludes by considering potential regulation to improve agencies' performance further. / by Ommeed S. Sathe. / M.C.P.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 61-62). / This thesis investigation explores the relationship between city design and social exclusion, and more specifically, how modernist principles of urban design and development policy have contributed to social exclusion in Abuja - the capital city of Nigeria. This study is facilitated through reading the city and its unique and common characteristics. Based on my experiences in the city over a three month period, I use my understanding of urban development, and relevant documents to examine the nature of exclusion in the Abuja plan and process of development. Front the results of this analysis the presence of exclusion in Abuja is enhanced by the use of colonial policies and selective use of modernist planning/processes of development. Furthermore, the relationship between social exclusion and city design in Abuja is the continuation of a legacy of colonial urban development and divisive urban form in traditional Nigerian cities. / by Ifeoma N. Ebo. / M.C.P.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1992. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 92-106). / by Jeffrey B. Litwak. / M.C.P.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning. Thesis. 1973. M.C.P. / Bibliography: leaves 122-125. / M.C.P.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, February 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (v. 2, leaves 312-317). / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / Set in the context of labor market restructuring, public policy reform, and blurring government/nonprofit boundaries, this study examines the functions, adaptation, and performance of Boston's three One-Stop Career Centers between 1996 and 2002-a time period encompassing distinct eras of changing policy and labor market conditions. Along with other types of labor market intermediaries (LMIs), One-Stop Career Centers have arisen as sites of organizational and institutional innovation in mediating the labor matching process. However, compared to other LMIs, much less is known about career centers' employment brokering operations. This study helps address this research gap by providing a detailed analysis of three career centers. This investigation answers three research questions related to the 1) functions; 2) adaptation; and 3) performance of career centers with differing organizational sponsorships. In doing so, the study develops a conceptual framework based on three strategic orientations-community, bureaucratic, and entrepreneurial-that helps to clarify and categorize organizational processes, change, and outcomes. / (cont.) The study finds that different strategic orientations are related to variation in organizational planning, practice, networks, and performance. Strategic orientation is also found to influence organizational adaptability during both a tight labor market and an economic recession, as well as during implementation of major federal policy changes related to welfare reform and workforce development reform. The study contributes to scholarship on employment brokering and labor market institutional change by offering an empirical analysis and theoretical framework that highlights the emergent role of One-Stop Career Centers as publicly-funded labor market intermediaries. The study is also immediately relevant to policymakers and practitioners involved in the more than 1,900 career centers across the country. For them, this study provides a better understanding of the programmatic trade-offs associated with career center operations and therefore may help them improve the labor matching process for both employers and job-seekers--especially those with barriers to employment. / by Joaquín Herranz, Jr. / Ph.D.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 216-227). / The Indian pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical sectors have been characterised by three features considered analogous to technological stagnation: low R&D investments, "copying" on-patent drugs (legal in India if a novel process is found) and manufacturing off-patent, generic drugs. Yet, some firms are innovating in drug discovery and development and the total number of firms is among the most numerous and export-oriented in the developing world. This dissertation looks at patterns of technological capabilities using sector-wide indicators and firm-level cases in synthetic and biological pharmaceuticals. Common explanations for the sectoral capabilities are the country's process patent regime. However, a more detailed analysis shows this cannot be the sole cause. Although the patent regime was critical in helping firms develop skills early on, their process capabilities were honed by a variety of selection environments, of which the patent regime was one type. There were at least three distinct selection environments and at least three broad types of associated learning. The findings of external environmental influence and selection do not weaken the importance of national policy, far from it. However, studies that assign explanatory power for the sectors' advance entirely to national patent policies or rational firms miss the significance of the Indian story to date. The research also shows that there is scope for broadening debates on public health medicines to address technological learning opportunities in developing countries. / by Smita Srinivas. / Ph.D.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 217-230). / There is growing recognition that transportation or infrastructure improvements can have longer-term catalytic impacts economic productivity, which are in addition to the direct, indirect, or induced household spending impacts. These economic catalytic effects are fundamentally different from traditional measures of the impacts from spending in the air transport sector. In contrast to the generally positive regional economic benefits of aviation, however, aircraft noise has emerged as a major negative externality of the air transportation system and continues to be a controversial issue in communities around airports. In this analysis, I develop a methodology to highlight interrelationships between airport flight operations and noise impacts on surrounding communities, and between air transport industry and regional economic growth. I calculate the noise-damage costs under different airport growth scenarios at London Heathrow and the East Midlands airport, and then apply an econometric input-output model to estimate the regional catalytic economic impacts associated with the growth of the air transport industry under these same scenarios. I find that the local airport noise damages are very small compared to the regional economic impacts from aviation. Furthermore, I find that the wider catalytic economic impacts due to increased productivity and accessibility are greater than the economic impacts from aviation sector itself at the regional level. / by Ryan Aung Min Tam. / Ph.D.