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This thesis examines gentrification in the historic centre of the Syrian capital Damascus prior to the civil war beginning in spring 2011 and to what extent the authoritarian regime facilitated and benefited from gentrification and urban heritage as means of regime maintenance. In so doing it critically engages with and brings into dialogue bodies of literature that, on first sight, have not much in common: first, gentrification, the production of urban space for the better-off, a process which can now be observed globally; second, urban heritage (i.e. its use for economic, political or identity-related purposes); and third, authoritarian resilience, with a focus on the Middle East, a region where authoritarian regimes remained resilient to internal and external pressures for economic and political liberalization. The thesis identifies the advance of neoliberalism and alterations in Syria’s elite composition as the contexts in which the literatures as well as the processes under scrutiny overlap. Qualitative interviews with private and official stakeholders in gentrification and heritage preservation in Old Damascus form the empirical foundation of this study, complemented by the analysis of newspaper articles, internet sources and works of fiction. Until 2011, gentrification emerged mainly in the form of commercialized historic property, a trend mainly driven by members of the upper and upper-middle classes, who were both producers and consumers of a gentrified Old Damascus. Beside the sheer interest in capital accumulation, stakeholders “used” the old city as a source of identity and an element of a Damascene heritage discourse. In addition to upper-class Damascenes’ economic and identity-related interests this thesis argues that authoritarian resilience, and thus the interests of the authoritarian state, developed into an additional aspect of gentrification and heritage promotion in Old Damascus, as the regime benefited from and facilitated both processes. Providing affluent parts of the population with a commodified landscape of consumption enabled the regime to domestically gain the support of consumers and those co-opted by privileged access to lucrative business opportunities in the old city (i.e. regime cronies and loyal entrepreneurs). Additionally, the promotion of a gentrified Old Damascus and its heritage as a tourist attraction functioned as an opportunity to upgrade the country’s negative image abroad. In conclusion, approaching authoritarian resilience through the analytical lenses of gentrification and heritage contributes to a broader understanding of urban transformations in authoritarian states. However, in the face of coercion through urban warfare, destruction and ethnic cleansing, it is unclear to what extent gentrification and heritage are still of importance for regime maintenance in Syria’s cities.

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Land Use Land Cover Change (LULCC) is a major component of global environmental change, which could result in huge impacts on biodiversity, water yield and quality, climate, soil condition, food security and human welfare. Of all the LULCC types, urbanization is considered to be the most impactful one. Monitoring past and current urbanization processes could provide valuable information for ecosystem services evaluation and policy-making. The National Land Cover Database (NLCD) provides land use land cover data covering the entire United States, and it is widely used as land use land cover data input in numerous environmental models. One major drawback of NLCD is that it is updated every five years, which makes it unsatisfactory for some models requiring land use land cover data with a higher temporal resolution. This dissertation integrated a rich time series of Landsat imagery and NLCD to achieve annual urban change mapping in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area by using time series data change point detection methods. Three different time series change point detection methods were tested and compared to find out the optimal one. One major limitation of using the above time series change point detection method for annual urban mapping is that it relies heavily on NLCD, thus the method is not applicable to near-real time monitoring of urban change. To achieve the near real-time urban change identification, this research applied machine learning-based classification models, including random forest and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN), to automatically detect urban changes by using a rich time series of Landsat imagery as inputs. Urban growth could result in a higher probability of flooding by reducing infiltration and evapotranspiration (ET). ET plays an important role in stormwater mitigation and flood reduction, thus assessing the changes of ET under different urban growth scenarios could yield valuable information for urban planners and policy makers. In this study, spatial-explicit annual ET data at 30-m resolution was generated for Virginia Beach by integrating daily ET data derived from METRIC model and Landsat imagery. Annual ET rates across different major land cover types were compared, and the results indicated that converting forests to urban could result in a huge deduction in ET, thus increasing flood probability. Furthermore, we developed statistical models to explain spatial ET variation using high resolution (1m) land cover data. The results showed that annual ET will increase with the increase of the canopy cover, and it would decrease with the increase of impervious cover and water table depth. / Doctor of Philosophy / Motoring past and current urbanization processes is of importance in terms of ecosystem services evaluation and policy-making because urban growth has huge impacts on the environment. First, this dissertation designed and compared three different methods for annual urban change mapping in Washington D.C. metropolitan area by using a rich time series of Landsat imagery and National Land Cover Database (NLCD). Then, machine-learning based classification models were implemented to achieve near real-time urban change identification. Finally, spatially-explicit evapotranspiration (ET) data for Virginia Beach, a case study location, were generated and annual ET rates for major land cover types were compared to assess the urbanization's impacts on ET.

Processes of studentification encompass socio-economic, cultural and physical changes which are tied to seasonal population movements of university students. To date, most empirical investigations of studentification have tended to take place in Anglophone contexts. This thesis extends the lens of study to China, and shows the salience of the concept for understanding urban transformations which have unfolded since the introduction of a new state policy in 1999 for the expansion of higher education. Using the case study of Haidian District (Beijing), and focussing on Peking University students, the thesis makes original contributions to academic knowledge. First, it argued that the concept of studentification can be transposed to the Chinese context, and that social, cultural, economic and physical signifiers of studentification are evident in Beijing. Second, four main geographies of studentification are revealed, which concur with Smith and Hubbard s (2014) discussion of the co-existence of diverse geographies of studentification in the UK. These include: on-campus, university-managed dormitories (Yanyuan and Shaoyuan by Peking University); off-campus, university-managed dormitories (Wanliu, Changchunyuan/Changchunxinyuan, and Global Village); off-campus, Housing in Multiple Occupation (Haidianlu), and; off-campus, Purpose-built student accommodation (Wudaokou). By contrast to the UK, it is shown that all geographies of studentification are gated . Yet, differential residential and socio-cultural experiences are highlighted, in part, influenced by state regulations for Chinese students to reside within university-managed dormitories, or acquire permission to live off-campus; contrary to less-regulated accommodation patterns of International students. This division marks a conceptual difference between studentification in China and UK, with international students more aligned to stereotypical cultural/lifestyle traits of UK students (e.g. noise, partying), as opposed to Chinese counterparts residing in regulated (study-oriented) spaces on-campus. The thesis presents a redefined conceptualisation of studentification for pining down the diverse geographies of student housing in Beijing, to meet the differential demands of Chinese and international students in an expanded system of higher education.

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Roots: They take hold; they grow, expand and change, creating networks and sub-networks as they start to break above the earth's surface and stretch up higher towards the sky day by day. Roots can be taken out (the stock, stem or trunk removed), but both the memory and the evidence of the roots' existence will continue to remain for a while to come. The idea of "roots" applies to so much: from artists taking inspiration from previous artists, even at times to mirror the change in the world which one artist had previously documented; from the places we establish our families and create our memories, to a good deal more.

Obtaining up-to-date information concernmg the environment at reasonable costs is a challenge faced by many institutions today. Satellite images meet both demands and thus present a very attractive source of information. The following thesis deals with the comparison of satellite images and a vector based land use data base of the City of Vienna. The satellite data is transformed using the spectral mixture analysis, which allows an investigation at a sub-pixel level. The results of the transformation are used to determine how suitable this spectral mixture analysis is to distinguish different land use classes in an urban area. In a next step the results of the spectral mixture analysis of two different images (recorded in 1986 and 1991) are used to undertake a change detection. The aim is to show those areas, where building activities have taken place. This information may aid the update of data bases, by limiting a detailed examination of an area to those areas, which show up as changes in the change detection. The proposed method is a fast and inexpensive way of analysing large areas and highlighting those areas where changes have taken place. lt is not limited to urban areas but may easily be adapted for different environments. (author's abstract) / Series: Research Reports of the Institute for Economic Geography and GIScience

The purpose of this ethnographic case study was to explore the construction and alteration of Roanoke Virginia's cultural imaginary, as well as the engagement of marginal groups and their concerns in those processes. This research examined these issues through the experiences of key actors involved with the creation of Roanoke's first city-wide arts and cultural plan and the creation and growth of the Roanoke-based Marginal Arts Festival (MAF). Cities around the globe are increasingly engaged in transnational projects of place identification, reconfiguration, and attraction: attracting capital, residents, workers, tourists and attention (Cronin & Hetherington, 2008; Hague, 2005; Jensen, 2005, 2007; Pine & Gilmore, 1999; Zukin 1995). Moreover, cities undertake various kinds of identity projects: on-going, dynamic processes through which spaces are produced and reproduced by conscious strategies of place making and identity building (Nyseth & Viken, 2009). Such initiatives are concerted efforts to establish or extend a particular idea, or imaginary, of a city. This study focused on one kind of urban identity endeavor that has become widespread during the past two decades: the effort to shape and market a creative, culture-rich place, to project a specific urban cultural imaginary. This analysis also responded to a straightforward problem, that of the manner through which people, in places pursuing arts and culture as a primary focus for development, come to terms with differing understandings of art and its role in development. This study identified four principal future paths for the analysis of cultural imaginaries and the practice of cultural development: studying and supporting civic tinkering activities, recognizing the relevance of localized imaginaries and urban identity projects, valuing full participation in the project of the city, and conducting place-specific and critical analyses. / Ph. D.

Local opposition to town planning applications creates time delays for developers, town planners, and municipal authorities, while also increasing financial costs associated with development. For local communities, opposition means considerable time and financial investment to protect the place they live in from unwanted development. Place attachment, which develops as a result of experiences with or in a place, is one of the reasons why local communities oppose land development – this reaction towards proposed land changes is often considered NIMBYist. Although disciplines such as natural resource management already trained its focus on the influence of place attachment as a motivating factor in participatory planning intentions internationally, it is not clear whether there exists a relationship between place attachment and public participation in South African town planning processes. As such, the aim of this research is to explore the relationship between place attachment and public participation in a South African town planning process. This research focuses on the lived experience of place attachment of residents of the Bult area of the Tlokwe Local Municipality in the North West Province of South Africa, and the role that place attachment experiences played in their participation in a town planning process. The research design is qualitative, using archival data, located participant interviews, and supportive photographic data to explore the lived experiences of 18 participants from three case studies. The data was analysed thematically. The data indicated the link between actual or potential incremental changes through town planning actions in an urban environment and the impact these changes had on the well-being of the residents of that place. The effect of incremental urban changes, actual or potential, motivated participants to participate in the public participation process of rezoning applications in order to oppose the environmental changes. These potential and/or actual environmental changes also led to place protective actions outside the formal participation process. This research indicates that due consideration should be given to opposition to town planning applications, as it can in fact be driven by deeper emotional reasons that cannot be expressed in the legal and technical language associated with the town planning discipline. These reactions should not be considered in a negative light by developers, town planners, and municipal authorities, as they can provide insight on what types of land use changes can implemented successfully in a place. To this effect, a life cycle relationship between place attachment and public participation in a town planning process (as it happened in the three case studies) is proposed as a point of departure for future research. A suggestion is made to incorporate place attachment in urban planning practice. / PhD (Urban and Regional Planning), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015