Increasing resettlement in and around Austin, decrease in water discharge rates and loss of endangered species habitat led to the creation of the City of Austin wildlands. The study consisted of a mail survey of 1,000 residents living near the City of Austin’s Water Quality Protection Lands and Balcones Canyonland Preserve for the purpose of identifying residents’ perceptions and knowledge about the wildlands in order to provide direction for the City of Austin Wildland Division’s environmental education program. The two specific objectives were to (1) Understand factors that influence residents’ knowledge, determine if previous participation in an environmental programs increases their level of knowledge, and to ascertain the effectiveness of different information outlets for increasing residents knowledge about environmental issues pertaining to the Edwards Aquifer and City of Austin’s wildlands and (2) Identify factors that influence residents’ approval or disapproval of land management actions and the alternative recreation activities on the City of Austin’s wildlands. For objective one, it was expected that socio-demographic variables (eg: older, educated, males that live within Austin for a longer period of time) and behavioral variables (eg: previous involvement in environmental organizations), and acquisition of prior information about the wildlands would be positively associated with wildland knowledge. For objective two, it was expected that residents’ management support would be positively associated with the perception that one of the purposes of the wildlands is to protect endangered species, respondents’ positive experiences with the wildlands, pro-environmental behavior, and perceptions that the wildlands increase their property value. It was also expected that approval of wildland management actions would be positively associated with the extent to which residents have been negatively affected by wildlife and their level of concern about wildlife impacts on their property. Also, it was expected that respondents’ approval of vegetation management actions, such as the use of fire, would be negatively associated with the extent to which residents have seen smoke on the wildlands and their level of concern about wildfire. The regression analyses conducted to test the first objective showed positive associations between local newspaper readership and residents’ knowledge about environmental issues and the City of Austin’s wildlands. Previous pro-environmental behavior by residents positively related to their knowledge about environmental issues pertaining to the wildlands. Furthermore, survey respondents who were older, male, and had lived in the City of Austin for a longer time were positively associated with environmental and City of Austin’s wildland knowledge levels. Some strategies for information dissemination about the wildlands include the use of local newspapers and homeowner association newsletters. New City of Austin residents who are younger and live in close proximity to the wildlands are the suggested target audience for initiating a proposed environmental education program. The results of regression analyses conducted to address objective two showed that approval of wildland management actions were positively associated with knowledge about rangelands and negatively associated with the level of concern about being negatively impacted by management actions used by the City of Austin. Results suggest that knowledge about specific environmental benefits associated with the management actions can improve respondents’ support for management actions such as the use of prescribed fire and harvesting overpopulation of deer and hogs. The results of this study should help the City of Austin by providing (1) information about factors that influence residents’ knowledge and suggested information dissemination channels (2) descriptive information about respondents’ environmental knowledge levels, and (3) aid to improve an existing education program for the purpose of increasing support for management actions that are critical for attaining the objectives of the WQPL and BCP.

Over three decades of rapid economic growth in China, beginning in 1978, has been accompanied by ever-enlarging urban-rural inequalities in terms of the various aspects of income, welfare, infrastructure, medical treatment, and education (amongst others). These two parts – the urban and the rural - have long been treated separately, without much consideration being given to their mutual linkages (relations). Urban and rural development can, essentially, be interpreted as the deployment of key factors (terms of trade for agricultural products, land requisition, and labor transfer), and the supply of public goods and services (infrastructure, education, insurance, and medical care). Thus, the urban-rural inequalities experienced by China at present can be understood as the consequence of the factor flows (labor, capital, goods, information, and technology, etc.) and agglomeration between these two parts. This thesis aims to investigate urban-rural relations in China in the post-reform era, and their influences on the economic, social, and environmental development in both the urban and the rural areas. The thesis consists of five papers and the cover essay. The first two papers provide a detailed picture of urban-rural relations in China, while the other papers examine the impact of urban-rural relations in terms of population mobility, arable and built land use change, and regional economic inequality in the study area. The findings of the thesis reveal that urban-rural relations in China became gradually intensified in the post-reform era, especially when the central government initiated a shift from a situation of urban bias to comprehensive support for the rural areas. However, the mutual resource flows in the study area still tend to agglomerate in the urban districts, while only reaching the rural peripheries to a limited extent. This is demonstrated in the way in which the urban districts experienced fast and large scale demographic growth and land use change, while slow and small-scale demographic and land use change took place in the peripheries. The urban-rural interface, which is situated between the urban and rural areas, evidences medium-level resource agglomeration. This thesis, through the discussion which it sets out, emphasizes the necessity of exercising both political and market forces in order to achieve balanced urban-rural resource flows in China. Another implication for policy making is to develop more sub-centers at the peri-urban or periphery, making these areas the interface for urban-rural resource linkages. / QC 20110909

abstract: City governments are increasingly incorporating urban and peri-urban agriculture into their policies and programs, a trend seen as advancing sustainability, development, and food security. Urban governance can provide new opportunities for farmers, but it also creates structures to control their activities, lands, and purposes. This study focused on Mexico City, which is celebrated for its agricultural traditions and policies. The study examined: 1) the functions of urban and peri-urban agriculture that the Government of Mexico City (GMC) manages and prioritizes; 2) how the GMC’s policies have framed farmers, and how that framing affects farmers’ identity and purpose; and 3) how the inclusion of agrarian activities and lands in the city’s climate-change adaptation plan has created opportunities and obstacles for farmers. Data was collected through participant observation of agricultural and conservation events, informal and semi-structured interviews with government and agrarian actors, and analysis of government documents and budgets. Analysis of policy documents revealed that the GMC manages agriculture as an instrument for achieving urban objectives largely unrelated to food: to conserve the city’s watershed and provide environmental services. Current policies negatively frame peri-urban agriculture as unproductive and a source of environmental contamination, but associate urban agriculture with positive outcomes for development and sustainability. Peri-urban farmers have resisted this framing, asserting that the GMC inadequately supports farmers’ watershed conservation efforts, and lacks understanding of and concern for farmers’ needs and interests. The city’s climate plan implicitly considers farmers to be private providers of public adaptation benefits, but the plan’s programs do not sufficiently address the socioeconomic changes responsible for agriculture’s decline, and therefore may undermine the government’s climate adaptation objectives. The findings illuminate the challenges for urban governance of agriculture. Farms do not become instruments for urban sustainability, development, and food security simply because the government creates policies for them. Urban governments will be more likely to achieve their goals for agriculture by being transparent about their objectives, honestly evaluating how well those objectives fit with farmers’ needs and interests, cultivating genuine partnerships with farmers, and appropriately compensating farmers for the public benefits they provide. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Sustainability 2017