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Taiwan became the 144th member of the WTO on Jan. 1, 2002 and as a result, the customs on agricultural products were reduced year by year, the agricultural market was open to the world and subsidies to local farmers were cancelled. A wild development in Taiwanese agriculture was anticipated. The study aims to understand the relation between rural villages and agriculture in the development process as well as the current transformation problems by analyzing data and a case study. It tries to determine the orientation and direction of the agricultural policy in the related development process. The target and strategy of the agricultural policy in various developing stages were compared and it is hoped that the available proposals for the trend in free trade will be used as a references for companies and governmental authorities. The present agricultural problems are classified into three factors: agriculture, rural villages, and farmers. Its influence on land, labor, capital, and management are implicative of each other. The population in rural villages has dropped largely due to migration and farmers¡¦ incomes are low and many are aging. Rural and urban development in regions cannot be balanced. A breakthrough in development has to be made. However, agricultural specialties have to be planned based on the regional features; products that possess high economic value have to be promoted; farm management techniques must move from functional to strategic. Products can be made based on the needs of consumers. Agricultural management has to be professionalized. Supply and demand can be adjusted by market access mechanisms. Sustainability management can help achieve long term profits. Managing efficiency and product image are both key to successful marketing. By analyzing the success of kiwis imported from New Zealand, we know that the agriculture problem in Taiwan is not due to production technique but marketing. A national managing organization was established by the government of New Zealand for promoting their agricultural products to the world. It integrates the industry and culture and lifts product quality to a refined level. The marketing not only emphasizes brand, but also research and development of new products as well as its accessory products so that more business opportunities can be made. Increased innovative value-added products are linked with the international competitiveness of Taiwanese agricultural products. The crises can only be a transition and it is the time that we should bring agriculture management into a new age.

As the climate change and global warming getting worse, the sustainable development has become the most important issue around the world. There are multiple and interrelated aspects of the sustainable development, including society, economy, and environment. The development of Kaohsiung¡¦s economy was based on heavy industry. However, the high economic growth has severely degraded the environment, such as the environmental capacities have been over the limits due to human pollution. Fortunately, Kaohsiung city government has strived hard to make progress toward sustainable development. For example, the environmental quality has been improved by conducting river renovations and air pollution monitoring. In order to achieve the goal of sustainability in Kaohsiung, the current study has developed the goal programming model which is based on the performances of some key indicators. Such indicator set was carefully selected by referring many domestic and foreign literatures. Meanwhile, the unique natural environment and society of Kaohsiung and statistic data were also considered when selecting the indicator set. Once the indicator set was ready, the regression analysis has been conducted to describe the future trends of each aspect in relation to the indicators. Finally the goal programming model was formulated and the scenario analyses were performed to explore the outcomes under various policies. The results echo the spirit of sustainable development, that is, the administrative policies have to take into account of all aspects, such that the sustainability is achievable.

<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 (M. Arch.)--University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 2009. / Title from title page screen (viewed on Oct. 23, 2009). Thesis advisor: R. Mark DeKay. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Terminal Project (M.L.A.)--University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2008. / Appendix ([8] leaves) bound in. A Living Routes Student Project. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 93-95). Electronic version available online.

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2009. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains vii, 67 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 60-67).

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 138-142).

Bachelor's thesis. / Format: PDF. Bibl.