The purpose of this thesis was to explore the effectiveness of community kitchens as an empowerment tool. This thesis observes the ways in which community kitchens empower their participants, how they are being used to foster community development, and the opportunities and constraints in using community kitchens as an empowerment tool. The research questions are addressed in a variety of ways. First, a comprehensive literature review was undertaken to define the meaning of empowerment and community development as used by this thesis. Secondly, a multiple case study approach involving participant observation, key informant interviews and a survey was conducted to examine these questions. A total of seven community kitchens were involved in the case studies. The research suggests that community kitchens do empower participants but at an individual level. Participants learn skills such as cooperation, cooking and socialisation, and are empowered through self-help and by gaining confidence and self-esteem. At a community level, efforts have been made to empower the community and contribute to community building processes but with limited output. In some community kitchens, community development initiatives (such as volunteering to cook for a larger community) are in place but community kitchens as a whole has a minimal effect in creating community. Community kitchens, however, are effective at empowering individuals which is considered the first step to community empowerment. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

This study, comprised of three major sections, reviews the concept of industrialization and its present application and future potential for the production of housing in the industrialized parts of the world, with a focus on the Province of British Columbia. The discussion presented in the first two sections is based largely on the study of the available literature on the subject. The discussion in the third section is based on visits to selected factories, interviews and available references. The first section describes the basic characteristics of industrialization, that is, (a) mass production, (b) assembly line arid centralized work and (c) organization and planning of production. It is noted that standardization, co-ordination of work and dynamic approach to marketing are essential elements of industrialization. The second section examines the relationship between the basic characteristics of industrialization and those of housing. The characteristics of housing, (such as demand for individualization, its complexity and bulkiness, cost of its production and purchase and its fluctuating market) make organization and comprehensive planning imperative for its mass production and efficient distribution. In addition to the characteristics of housing, local factors such as geography, market distribution and capital availability need to be considered in a comprehensive planning for industrialized housing. Housing, being a complex, a bulky and an expensive product, the efficiency of its factory production (off-site production) must be extended to its on-site assembly through a co-ordinated approach to both off-site and on-site works. The third section is a review of industrialized housing in British Columbia. The local geography, market distribution, availability of capital and government's role in housing are examined. The production method and the organizational approach of the "modular" and "package" housing industry are analysed. Four manufacturing firms are chosen for the analysis. It is concluded that at present the industry of factory-produced housing does not compare favourably with the site-built housing industry. The current trends of industrialization of housing are likely to remain unchanged unless an initiative is taken for a comprehensive planning of industrialized housing. This planning must consider: the need for standardization and co-ordinated off-site and on-site works; the unevenly distributed and fluctuating market; the economics of large-distance transportation on a mountainous terrain; the task of providing environmentally appropriate housing; and the characteristics of housing. Individual manufacturers are less likely to take such an initiative because of their commercial motives. Therefore, the initiative should come from the government through their housing policies, guidelines and, perhaps, financial incentives. In the absence of this initiative, the desirable development of industrialized housing benefitting the ultimate users of these housing—the dwellers, would continue to be a difficult task. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA), School of / Graduate

It is the purpose of this study to explore regional variation in the source, allocation, and characteristics of residential mortgage financing in British Columbia. In order to do so, the study compares and contrasts mortgage funds from two groups of communities. The two groups of communities are representative of the Greater Vancouver area and the outlying, 'smaller' or non-metropolitan communities. While the outlying municipalities are generally referred to as 'smaller' than the Vancouver municipalities, this is not necessarily the relevant characteristic. What is perhaps more important is that the Vancouver municipalities fall within a metropolitan region and the others do not. This study finds that significant regional variation in mortgage financing characteristics does not exist in all cases. Nonetheless, there does exist some variation which seems to be the result of two factors: (1) the variation in lender-type from the metropolitan area to the non-metropolitan community and (2) the relative price of housing in Greater Vancouver versus the non-metropolitan communities / Business, Sauder School of / Real Estate Division / Graduate

The overall objective of this study was to investigate the condominium market in British Columbia with special emphasis on the metropolitan Vancouver and Victoria areas. Specifically there were four main .goals: 1) to quantify the amounts, type, and timing of condominium developments, 2) to establish a profile of condominium occupants including their socio-demographic characteristics, motivations for purchase, and their level of satisfaction with the concepts, 3) to investigate the developers of condominiums for the purpose of defining characteristics of this sector of the market and its participants, finally 4) to examine the administration and management of completed condominium projects. Several unique situations and unusual problems pertaining to condominiums were also examined. All of the data necessary to quantify the condominium market was available in the Land Registry Offices, Included in the records were the number of strata projects, number of strata units, date of registration, location, use, structure type, and the name of the developer. Transaction data concerning condominiums was also collected at the Land Registry Offices; this formed part of the data needed to construct the resale price index. The quantitative data, described above, also served as the basis for the occupants and the developers surveys. The condominium market was found to have grown rapidly since its inception in 1968. As of November 30, 1977 a total of 2340 condominium projects involving 46,411 units had been registered in the province. Of these 94.8% of the projects and 94.0% of the units were strictly residential. This represents a significant force in the housing market as condominiums in 1976 accounted for 26.2% of all housing starts and 57.9% of all multi-unit housing starts in the province. Geographically the condominiums were concentrated in metropolitan Vancouver (65.6% of all units) and metropolitan Victoria (11.9% of all units). The largest single structural category was duplex projects (42.3% of all projects and 4.2% of all units) followed by lowrise apartments (under 4 stories) which accounted for 21.7% of all projects (36.0% of all units). Overall residential condominium prices have risen by approximately 150% between 1969 and 1977 in metropolitan Vancouver and Victoria although those units purchased from 197 4 on have shown little or no gain on resale. Condominium units have kept pace with rate of increase of single family detached house prices. One hundred and fifty-seven projects of 10 units and greater were randomly selected in metropolitan Vancouver and Victoria. Every eighth unit within these projects was distributed; an owners and a tenants survey - 895 units were thus canvased resulting in 234 completed and returned questionnaires. From these, three submarkets within the condominium market were identified: a) young, apartment condominium purchasers, generally without children. They purchased a unit primarily to establish an equity position in the housing market; b) townhouse purchasers who were predominantly in the 30-3 year old age category and had the highest average numbe of children; c) the older (over 40 years old) apartment purchasers who moved from . single family detached dwellings to escape the required upkeep. The owners survey also revealed that the two most frequently mentioned reasons for purchasing a condominium rather than a single family house were first, the economic advantage (46%) and second, the freedom of exterior upkeep (28%). Further it was found that overall there was a high level of satisfaction, with condominium living. Eighty-eight percent of the respondents reported to be moderately or very well satisfied. The condominium development industry was found to be made up of a large number of participants (1261). The majority of these (90%) produced only one or two projects each, however there were also a small number of firms that were large producers both in terms of units and projects. The largest twenty producers in terms of production of units concentrated, their activity in metropolitan Vancouver, these firms contributed one half of the units in this region. The management of strata council budgets, in terms of both operating and reserve accounts, has improved greatly in the recent past. Less than 9 percent of surveyed projects had operating budget deficiencies, compared to approximately one half of the projects surveyed in 1973. The condominium market is currently experiencing very soft market conditions. This is evidenced by the minimal price appreciation displayed recently, large vacant stocks of unoccupied units (1638 in June of 1977 in metropolitan Vancouver) and the reduction in the level of new condominium construction relative to 1976. Despite these negative aspects the broadening of the consumer market to include all age groups and the high level of satisfaction displayed in the owners survey indicates the condominium market will remain viable in the long-run. The short-run outlook must remain cloudy however until the present unsold inventory is reduced. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate

Public concern about increasing firm sizes and industrial concentration levels, particularly in the B.C. forest industry, has been mounting over the past decade. The diminished role of the independent, small-scale enterprise has been criticized, focusing interest on the available opportunities for small scale timber and lumber production. However, several hundred small sawmilling operations have been active in the B.C. Interior for many years. To explore the reasons for this diversity in firm sizes, the economies of scale influencing present plant and firm sizes, and the development of those economies, are assessed for the Interior sawmilling industry. The economies faced by the smallest firms are also examined, and compared to those of the largest firms. Small scale sawmilling is closely associated with farming operations in B.C., and is concentrated in those regions supporting a combination of farm and timber land. The detailed study of small scale, portable sawmilling in the Peace River region assesses the structure, conduct, and economic performance of that industry to determine the economic efficiency of firms and the constraints faced by the industry. The small firms competitively produce lumber for an entirely local market, and constitute a unique industry operating on the fringe of the large scale sawmilling industry. The industry contributes only a very small portion of the region's total income; however, many of the sawmilling operations supplement farm revenues, raising them to a profitable level. The only severe threat to industry survival within the next 10 to 15 years is the limited availability, to the firms, of the region's Crown owned timber resource. To allow the industry to operate competitively in the future, small volumes of Crown timber must be offered for sale. Also evident among the existing sawmill owners and interested individuals is a demand for the opportunity to practice long term, private timber production. While forested Crown land suitable to small scale tree farming is available in the region and throughout the province, further study is necessary to define the extent of the demand and to outline the property rights essential to maintaining a competitive industry. / Forestry, Faculty of / Graduate

The question of the relationship between society and environment was addressed through the study of a remote fishing village of seven hundred and fifty people. An interdisciplinary approach was adopted in which the demographic, economic and social aspects of the community were investigated. . The integration of the disciplinary perspectives was facilitated by simulation modeling. The population of the village had grown gradually in size since its inception, but a decline occurred in the 1960*s. The migration rate was correlated with declining fish harvests and was concomitant with the expansion of communications with urban centers. A turn-around in migration had recently developed supported by an influx of people from the southern cities. Fishing provided the majority of economic opportunity, followed in importance by logging. A survey was conducted to investigate the costs and revenues of the fishermen of the village. Diversification was found to characterize the local fleet and analysis showed that the rates of return on investment in the current year were egualized between vessel types. Social and cultural features were found to be closely linked to environmental variables. Seasonality in birth rates was related to the pattern of work, loads. Attitudes toward locality among high school youth were studied through a regional survey. The analysis confirmed the hypothesis that there was a greater preference among youth of the village for staying than was indicated in other resource towns of the north Vancouver Island district. A diversity of formal and informal organizations facilitated social integration, though factional divisions and attitude differences toward future development were present. In response to developmental pressures, a realignment of the traditional organizations to focus on regional issues concerned with land and marine resources was taking place. The variable levels and rate parameters of the demographic, economic and social components of the model were specified using static and time series data. Sensitivity analysis to assess the effects of uncertainty, and validation tests against known historical changes were conducted. Forecast scenarios identified the development options under several levels of fish abundance and investment. The weight given to ecological versus economic resource management registered disproportionate effects due to the interaction between investment and migration rates and resource stochasticity. This finding argued against a "golden mean" rule for evaluating policy trade-offs and sugggested the importance of using a dynamic, socio-ecological perspective in designing policies for rural communities. / Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies / Graduate

This study was undertaken to investigate detailed land classification in forested mountainous terrain. Two small watersheds in south-eastern British Columbia, each of approximately 3500 ha in area, were selected for classification and mapping of terrain and soil features (a simultaneous study completed vegetation classification and mapping). The results of the study include maps of terrain and soil features presented on photo-maps at scales of approximately 1:8,000 and planimetric maps at scales of 1:15,840; written descriptions of the terrain and soil features; cross-sectional diagrams depicting the relationships between various landscape features; and soil interpretations for erosion and forest capability. The terrain features are classified primarily on the basis of genesis and secondary characteristics of surface expression, texture, slope, and modifying processes. The soils were classified as phases of soil families according to the Canadian System of Soil Classification. The Templeton River study area, located in the Purcell Mountains and the adjacent Rocky Mountain Trench, has a complex array of terrain features derived from sedimentary rocks. These include a variety of morainal materials ranging from rubbly materials associated with presently active ice to compact fine textured non-calcareous and moderately textured calcareous materials. Steep slopes have created abundant colluvial features including aprons and fans which grade to shallow colluvial veneers over bedrock or morainal materials. The valley mouth has abundant glaciofluvial and glaciolacustrine features, with minor areas of fluvial materials adjacent to Templeton River. The soils of the area are highly variable, reflecting complex variation in parent materials, climate, and vegetation. At the lower elevations the soils are dominantly Luvisols, which grade to Brunisols and Podzols in the cooler and moister environments. The Grassy Creek study area, located in the Selkirk Mountains, is dominated by morainal materials of relatively uniform composition. These materials are moderately coarse textured and derived from granitic bedrock. There are fluvial and glaciofluvial materials in the valley bottom and limited colluvial materials at the upper elevations, primarily on southern aspects. The soils are acidic Podzols, with Ferro-Humic Podzols in the poorly drained areas, Humo-Ferric Podzols in better drained areas, and some Brunisols on rapidly drained sites. A systematic sampling study in the Templeton River study area demonstrated that mapping reliability for the terrain units was about 80%, and for the soil units about 65%. Morainal mapping units were more homogeneous and had higher mapping reliability than glaciofluvial mapping units. A comparison between the more detailed mapping completed in this study and reconnaissance terrain and soil mapping completed previously in the study areas identified a number of problems inherent in inventories which rely on interpretation of aerial photographs with limited ground checking. The complex interactions between terrain types, relief, and vegetation patterns of Templeton River limited the utility of reconnaissance aerial photographic interpretation. In contrast, Grassy Creek, with subdued and more uniform terrain features showed good agreement between detailed and reconnaissance mapping. / Land and Food Systems, Faculty of / Graduate

The author developed a statistical procedure to analyze irregular, unbalanced inventory data by the least squares principle. The method is found useful in forestry where data collected are often unbalanced in nature. It provides a unique means to incorporate qualitative as well as quantitative variables in forest yield analyses. Inventory data for three major species — Douglas-fir, spruce, and lodgepole pine were analyzed in connection with the study of growth and yield of pure (81% or more of the overstory is of a single species) and mixed stands in up to 12 B.C. forest inventory zones in which they occurred. More than 50% of Douglas-fir, spruce, and lodgepole pine stands occur naturally in pure stands. If there are any adverse effects on the establishment of pure stands, these should have been well reflected quantitatively in the data provided by the B.C. Forest Service. Estimates of site index from the inventory data might support that pure stands deteriorate soil conditions; however, the higher site indices in mixed stands may be attributed to the better site conditions when the stands were originally established. Mixed conifer stands tend to grow more trees per acre than pure or hardwood mixed type stands. Among the three species investigated, Douglas-fir required more growing space than the others. The relative stand density based on basal area per acre also indicates that stand density is higher in conifer mixed stands than in pure or hardwood mixed type stands. The mean annual increment is higher in hardwood mixed stands than in pure or conifer mixed ones. But stand age in hardwood mixed types is much less. The mean annual basal area increment of conifer mixed stands is consistently higher than that of the other two types. Zonal variations in the mean annual basal area growth are apparent. The mean annual volume increment follows a trend similar to that of the mean annual basal area increment. Douglas-fir stands growing on the Coast and in the Interior were compared. Mean annual volume growth is 84.00 cubic feet per acre for the Coast stands and 25.53 cubic feet for the Interior stands. The effect of species composition on net volume yield is significant in Interior Douglas-fir stands, but non-significant in Coast Douglas-fir, Interior spruce, and Interior lodgepole pine stands. That the effect of forest inventory zones is highly significant in the Interior Douglas-fir, spruce, and lodgepole pine stands justifies the zonation unless adjustments are made for stand density. Interactions for types and zones are significant in the Coast Douglas-fir, the Interior spruce, and the Interior lodgepole pine stands but are nonsignificant in the Interior Douglas-fir stands. The difference in yield in the Interior Douglas-fir stands is attributable to species composition types and forest inventory zones alone. The establishment of Douglas-fir conifer mixed type stands in the Interior effectively increases forest productivity by 21%. Interpretations of the interactions lead to the conclusion that the advantages of monocultural or multicultural practices cannot be over-generalized. Pure type stands are more productive in some zones but less in the others. The same is true for multicultural practices. Growth of forest trees is essentially site-dependent. Before a decision is reached on what species composition type to establish,, foresters should carefully investigate the local site quality and past yield history of various forest types to ensure that the maximum potential productivity of a particular site can be realized. Further analyses to test the hypothesis that no differences in volume yield exist among three species composition types for stands growing on same site conditions reveal that the effects for species types and inventory zones as well as interactions thereof are not significant for Coast Douglas-fir, however, for Interior Douglas-fir stands, the effect of species composition is significant. It is shown that on similar site conditions, Douglas-fir conifer mixed stands yield substantially more than pure or hardwood mixed stands in the Interior. The species composition effect is not significant in Interior spruce stands while zonal effects and interactions for types and zones are significant. In Interior lodgepole pine stands, effects of composition types, zones, and interactions thereof differ significantly. In all three species groups investigated, that the effects of hardwood mixed type consistently shows negative 'values implies that hardwood mixed type stands are the least desirable stand composition structure for these species in the Interior. Differences in volume between pure and mixed type stands result primarily from the inequality in basal area per acre. The variables, height x basal area and basal area are most important in yield table analyses. In addition, stand age, relative basal area, and forest inventory zone are all highly significant in contributing to the variations in volume yield of the Coast Douglas-fir stands. For Interior Douglas-fir, the most significant variables are, in addition to the above two variables, stand age, and relative stand density. Effects of species composition type and forest inventory zones are non-significant. For Interior spruce, the prominent variables in yield table analysis are height x basal area, basal area, species composition, stand age, height, and relative stand density. All variables being equal, pure spruce stands outyield stands of mixed spruce-hardwood and mixed spruce-conifer. The results provide good evidence that establishment of pure spruce stands is more desirable than of spruce and conifers or hardwood mixed stands. For lodgepole pine, the most significant variables in yield tables analysis are height x basal area, species composition types, and forest inventory zones. The high significance of zonal effects suggests that a separate yield table for lodgepole pine in each zone is warranted, unless appropriate adjustments are made for site index and stand density. Yield of pure lodgepole pine stands exceeds those of lodgepole pine conifer mixed type and lodgepole pine hardwood mixed types. Therefore, for high yields the establishment of pure lodgepole pine type stands is preferred. Application of these methods to the temporary sample plot data has clearly demonstrated the widespread distribution of pure stands and lack of substantial effects of monocultures on yield. Nevertheless, the fact that higher yields may result from some multicultures should encourage establishment of long term studies of spacing and mixtures of species. / Forestry, Faculty of / Graduate

A study was carried out to ascertain the biogeochemical role of understory vegetation in three representative sites characteristic of the Mountain Hemlock Biogeoclimatic Zone. The three sites were selected to represent a typical topographic sequence of plant associations and were classified as members of the Vaccinio (membranacei) -Tsugetum mertensianae, Abieto (amabilis) - Tsugetum mertensianae and Streptopo (rosei) - Abietetum amabilis plant associations (xeric, mesic, and hygric site types, respectively). The overstory layer was found to be typical of old growth, high elevation forests of southwestern coastal British Columbia. Overstory biomass on the three sites was estimated to be 60.88, 55.68, and 34.05 kg•m⁻² for the hygric, mesic, and xeric site types, respectively. Understory aboveground biomass was found to be less than one percent of the aboveground overstory biomass. Average values for the three sites were: 44.1, 66.1, and 399.3 g•m⁻² for the hygric, mesic, and xeric site types, respectively. Understory aboveground production (UAP) was found to represent a greater proportion of overstory aboveground production, as indicated by the mean annual increment (MAI), than the biomass figures might suggest. UAP values of 25.95, 14.19, and 63.12 g•m⁻²•yr⁻¹ for the hygric, mesic, and xeric site types, respectively, were equivalent to 11.28 percent, 6.06 percent, and 48.55 percent of the estimated aboveground overstory production. Only a small percentage of the total aboveground nutrient standing crop was found in the understory. This is in agreement with comparable published values for old growth forest ecosystems. However, the understory was found to cycle a much greater proportion of its total standing crop annually compared to overstory. Approximately 80 percent of the macronutrients present in the understory standing crop are found in the understory annual production on the Streptopo - Abietetum amabilis site (hygric site type). Estimates of 17.6, 8.3, and 20.6 g•m⁻²•yr⁻¹ of understory aboveground litterfall (exclusive of the moss layer) were obtained for the hygric, mesic, and xeric sites, respectively. These values are substantially less than for overstory litterfall, but the biomass of different litterfall components (e.g. understory or overstory) was shown to be a poor indicator of the proportional contribution of the components to the quantity of nutrients in aboveground litterfall. Understory was shown to return a significant proportion of the litterfall nutrients on a yearly basis, the bulk of which was returned as a single pulse during the first autumn snowfall. Understory vegetation above the moss layer was shown to have a significant effect on the quantity of nutrients present in throughfall precipitation reaching the ground. The effect was seasonal in nature with PO₄-P, N0₃-N, and NH₄-N being removed in the spring and Ca, Mg, and K being added to overstory throughfall in the autumn. It was concluded that modifications of water chemistry previously attributed to the forest floor may in some cases reflect unmeasured influences of understory vegetation. The understory aboveground nutrient cycles follow two basic patterns. The first pattern, a conservative cycle, is exemplified by nitrogen and phosphorus and has the following characteristics: (1) removal of nitrogen and phosphorus from overstory throughfall by the non-bryophyte understory, (2) estimated annual nitrogen and phosphorus uptake up bryophyte production in excess of the remaining throughfall nitrogen and phosphorus content and (3) a large proportion of the annual requirement was accounted for by internal redistribution within the understory plants. The second cycling pattern, an open cycle, is characteristic of calcium and magnesium and displays characteristics opposite to those of the "conservative cycle". The potassium, manganese, zinc, and copper cycles are intermediate between the "conservative" and "open" nutrient cycles. The results are discussed with respect to a proposed model of ecosystem function and it is hypothesized that understory plays a major role in maintaining ecosystem stability by promoting nutrient cycling. / Forestry, Faculty of / Graduate

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