<p>Following Bryceson&rsquo / s article, &lsquo / De-agrarianisation in Sub-Saharan Africa: Acknowledging the Inevitable&rsquo / , and other related writings in the volume Farewell to Farms, rural development has become a contested academic and policy domain. One side of the debate is characterized by &lsquo / agrarian optimism&rsquo / , mirrored in various state policies and advice from the World Bank / the other side is typified by the de-agrarianisation thesis, which is sceptical regarding the agrarian path to rural development, because it doesn&rsquo / t accord with dominant trends. The main reasons given for the trend of de-agrarianisation are: unfavourable climatic trends, economic adjustments, and population growth. While the de-agrarianisation thesis seems to be a sensible proposition, it has failed to attract many disciples, evidenced by the continuation of current policy directions towards the agrarian optimistic path. The purpose of this study was to assess the applicability of the de-agrarianisation thesis in the Gokwe-Kabiyuni area of Zimbabwe, during a time when the nation went through climatic, economic and political crises. The idea was to assess the influence of such an environment to smallholder farmers in terms of livelihood strategies by observing trends in climate, education, occupation, and crop yields over the period. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to establish whether the de-agrarianisation process can be noted in two villages over the period 1990-2008. A comparative analysis of the experiences of smallholder farmers in these two villages revealed the existence of a cultivation culture and differential agrarian resilience depending on natural resource endowment and levels of infrastructural development, notwithstanding the involvement of the villagers in non-farm activities to diversify their livelihood portfolios.</p>

<p>There is a realisation that urbanisation has overstretched the ability and efforts of central governments to serve from the centre, thus, giving rise to the search for a robust decentralisation policy that vests urban local governments with some level of autonomy.1 It is in this context that decentralisation has become critical in order to sufficiently respond to the varied service delivery challenges brought about by increasing urbanisation. However, all efforts to capacitate urban councils through the process of decentralisation are futile if the urban local governments lack the necessary financial means to fulfil their responsibilities.</p>

This three-paper dissertation explores how broader (and often unchallenged) changes to political economy at multiple geographic and economic scales impact long-standing ‘informal’ practices of waste recovery and recycling in Hanoi, Vietnam. This research is based on a survey of 575 informal waste collectors and 264 waste intermediaries as well as 73 in-depth interviews. Paper I engages in a critique of methodological disclosure in current academic writings on informal waste-recovery activities and discusses the methodological difficulties of researching informal populations. My aim in this paper is to highlight that the lack of methodological disclosure in waste-recovery literature is problematic because it compromises the academic rigour of this field and impedes the reliability of researchers’ policy recommendations as well as to initiate a dialogue with the aim of improving methodological rigour in waste-recovery literature. Paper II examines urbanization processes in contemporary Vietnam and how these changing spaces accommodate labour, and in turn support livelihoods. I argue that Vietnam’s globalizing economy and urban transition have been a catalyst for the growth of the informal waste collector population in Hanoi, as well as a partial player in the gendering of the industry. Paper III explores how one particular segment of the informal waste-recovery trade, waste intermediaries, is impacted by Hanoi’s rapid urban change. I demonstrate in this paper that 1) waste intermediaries simultaneously gain and lose as a result of Hanoi’s urban transition; and 2) the underlying forces of urban spatial change in different areas of the city are quite distinct, which will have an impact on the future of waste-recovery in Hanoi. The key findings of this dissertation are: 1)A more thorough engagement with methods and a broader approach to understanding waste-recovery actors (through an engagement with political economy at multiple geographic and economic scales) will produce a more context-appropriate and compassionate understanding of this group of urban actors. 2)The livelihoods of informal waste-recovery workers are both directly and indirectly impacted by shifts in political economy, albeit in Hanoi these impacts (both positive and negative) vary by sex and sub-occupation (with respect to waste collectors), and scale of business and location in the city (with respect to waste intermediaries).

This three-paper dissertation explores how broader (and often unchallenged) changes to political economy at multiple geographic and economic scales impact long-standing ‘informal’ practices of waste recovery and recycling in Hanoi, Vietnam. This research is based on a survey of 575 informal waste collectors and 264 waste intermediaries as well as 73 in-depth interviews. Paper I engages in a critique of methodological disclosure in current academic writings on informal waste-recovery activities and discusses the methodological difficulties of researching informal populations. My aim in this paper is to highlight that the lack of methodological disclosure in waste-recovery literature is problematic because it compromises the academic rigour of this field and impedes the reliability of researchers’ policy recommendations as well as to initiate a dialogue with the aim of improving methodological rigour in waste-recovery literature. Paper II examines urbanization processes in contemporary Vietnam and how these changing spaces accommodate labour, and in turn support livelihoods. I argue that Vietnam’s globalizing economy and urban transition have been a catalyst for the growth of the informal waste collector population in Hanoi, as well as a partial player in the gendering of the industry. Paper III explores how one particular segment of the informal waste-recovery trade, waste intermediaries, is impacted by Hanoi’s rapid urban change. I demonstrate in this paper that 1) waste intermediaries simultaneously gain and lose as a result of Hanoi’s urban transition; and 2) the underlying forces of urban spatial change in different areas of the city are quite distinct, which will have an impact on the future of waste-recovery in Hanoi. The key findings of this dissertation are: 1)A more thorough engagement with methods and a broader approach to understanding waste-recovery actors (through an engagement with political economy at multiple geographic and economic scales) will produce a more context-appropriate and compassionate understanding of this group of urban actors. 2)The livelihoods of informal waste-recovery workers are both directly and indirectly impacted by shifts in political economy, albeit in Hanoi these impacts (both positive and negative) vary by sex and sub-occupation (with respect to waste collectors), and scale of business and location in the city (with respect to waste intermediaries).

A rapid urbanization process facilitated an enormous expansion of the cities and stimulated the development of the urban housing markets in China. The primary purpose of this thesis is to find factors influencing the urban housing prices. Based on the supply and demand theory, I examine housing prices in 95 cities in 2010 related to population growth, wages, manufacturing employment, human capital, pollution, and housing investment using a cross section data analysis. The empirical results indicate that all those factors are significantly related to the housing prices. I focus on population growth, a proxy for the urbanization process, as the core determinant to analyze housing prices in China. In addition, the results also find that cities located in the eastern area have averagely a higher productivity than the ones located in the mid-west, and the higher housing prices in the eastern area are explained by the higher level of population growth and wages.

Sales of Texas fishing licenses have declined since 1988. Several authors have suggested that this decline is related to changes in the demographic characteristics of the Texas population, including increasing urbanization. As urban residents have been shown to participate in fishing less frequently than rural residents, the population of Texas residents most likely to engage in angling has declined accordingly. Based on these population trends, urban resident anglers (urban anglers) may represent the future of fishing. Information on urban anglers‟ demographic characteristics, motivations for fishing and consumptive orientation may be used to tailor and modify programs and policies targeting urban anglers. The purpose of this thesis was to identify differences between urban and rural anglers and to determine if the two groups were distinct from so-called average anglers. The thesis utilized data from the 2002 Statewide Survey of Texas Anglers. The independent variable, residency, was determined on the basis of United States Census Bureau criteria. Dependent variables included demographic variables (e.g., gender, age, race/ethnicity, and income), motivations for fishing, and consumptive orientation. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to compare mean ii scores among the three groups. The study found differences among urban anglers, rural anglers, and anglers in general in terms of their demographic variables, motivations for fishing, and consumptive orientation. The thesis also shows that by managing resources for average anglers, agencies may be ignoring important (and growing) constituencies.

<p>Urbanization is an ongoing process all over the globe. People moving from rural to urban areas are the primary cause of urbanization, and history indicates that this movement of people is very hard to influence. The inflow of new residents to urban areas results in the need for more buildings and infrasystems, new institutions and often, new ways of life. How does this relate to the sustainability challenge? Given the ways in which most cities are currently developing, urbanization does not contribute to the achievement of sustainable development goals.</p><p>This thesis explores a new research strategy for studying the process of urbanization and how it may hold opportunities for addressing the long-term objectives of environmentally sustainable urban development. The research strategy: MAMMUT – Managing the Metabolism of Urbanization, is a methodological and conceptual framework, it is a dynamic and cross-disciplinary approach towards understanding urban sustainability.</p><p>The main novelty in this research strategy is to explore the use of <i>situations of opportunity</i> – instants when stakeholders have a possibility greater than average to guide and influence the urbanization process so as to contribute to more of environmental sustainability – as units of analysis. Political scientists have used concepts similar to this, however none is as wide in scope and time. Four aspects are analysed in a <i>situation of opportunity</i>: urban structure, institutional framework, new ways of life and environmental impacts – enhancing the cross-disciplinary approach of the framework. Also, in terms of time frame, the pre-history, the formative moment and the outcome of each situation are studied.</p><p>A cover essay and three papers compose this thesis. The papers apply and test the above-mentioned methodology in pilot studies about historical <i>situations of opportunity</i> created by the development of public transport systems in Stockholm, Dar es Salaam and Curitiba. The cover essay discusses the lessons learned with the pilot studies and aims at: (a) discussing and further developing the MAMMUT methodological and conceptual framework; (b) analysing the relations and synergies between the four aspects of urbanization (as proposed by MAMMUT’s framework).</p><p>The main conclusion of the thesis is that the MAMMUT research strategy can be a useful tool for analysing the urbanization process and its relations to sustainable development. Suggestions for improvements in the framework are made. Also, the four aspects of urbanization suggested for the analysis of a given <i>situation</i> are confirmed relevant, however the analysis of the relations and synergies between these aspects is revealed to be as important as studying the four aspects<i> per se.</i></p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 338-369). Also available online.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 254-287). Also available in print.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 254-287). Also available online.