The thesis entitled “This is Africa giving form to the informal” arose from a concern with the growing levels of poverty and unemployment in South Africa and the recognition that small scale, self-generated economic activity provides an important means of survival for the very poor. It acknowledges the positive contributions that informal street trading makes to the urban environment. The dissertation draws upon a study of recently initiated projects that aimed to legitimise informal trading, by integrating it in the built environment. It is also driven by a study of the way in which traders organise, claim and define space in the urban environment. This process can be seen as the way in which traders themselves seek legitimacy. Collectively, case studies revealed a number of key elements necessary for the legitimisation of informal trade. Although the area of the proposed intervention is the Pretoria Station precinct, the study acknowledges that there are universal elements contained in informal trading. These elements establish a set of principles that define the minimal intervention necessary in order to allow opportunities for trade to as many people as possible whilst giving the traders themselves the maximum possible room to manoeuvre. In essence, the approach does not argue for the formalisation or ‘neatening’ of informal activity, but aims to give form to activities frequently regarded as illegal, and to provide street market spaces that can function as essential forms of urban infrastructure (Dewar 1990:xi). / Mini Dissertation (MInt(Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Architecture / unrestricted

Doctor Legum - LLD / Lack of universal access to water is one of the fundamental failures of development in the 21st century. Women not only disproportionately bear the burden of lack of safe water but also have the least opportunity to take part in decisions regarding water services. This is a manifestation of the global water crisis caused by unequal relations of power, poverty and inequality related to gender, geographical location, class and race. Those who lack power find themselves at the peripheral of advantage from governance of water services. This thesis thus argues that the iconic slogan 'water is life' must be understood in both a biological and social sense. The social sense entails participatory living of citizens as equals in a community with others. The human right to water guarantees such living by recognising people as agents who must have power to affect outcomes through genuine participation. Participation is not a new thing especially in development approaches such as market-centred approaches of 1980s were different forms of participation in projects and programmes by states and development partners were advanced. These approaches resulted in participation as a tyranny, a mechanism of co-optation and legitimising the exercise of unjust power that perpetrates inequalities by sidelining the majority. The thesis identifies capability approach and the human right based approach to development as offering the best conception of participation away from concentration of power and pursuit of profit in the hands of a few elite. Capabilities and human rights treat people as human beings with the dignity and respect owed to every human being as a moral being and understand development as the development of certain human abilities or capabilities. This development of people and communities, as opposed to goods and services, is only possible if people participate effectively in the governance of development processes. Their emphasis is to go beyond ensuring the benefit of 'having' for instance water to also embrace the benefit of 'being' an equal citizen, sharing the benefits of 'participatory living' in a community of equals. The advantage of the human right based approach is that it has a strong foundation in law that compels states to act in a certain way to ensure legally recognised claims. The thesis establishes that there is a legally protected claim to water under the human right to water which is binding on states although the human right to water is unenumerated in the mainstream human rights treaties except for specified groups and situations. The claim to water under this human right is both in terms of a substantive normative standard and a procedural normative standard that guarantees beyond the human mode of 'having' into 'being' i.e. being a full member of society. These claims are legally binding and therefore enforceable against states. The human right to water requires states to adopt legislative and other non legislative measures that result in adequate and accessible water of good quality for all. States must take immediate, deliberate and concrete steps that include the formulation and implementation of national water policies and strategies in a transparent and nondiscriminatory manner to realise the human right to water. The formulation and implementation of national policies and strategies must ensure participation, human agency and dignity of all those affected by such decisions. The recognition of the human right to water in Malawi will provide an effective way of overcoming the lack of power and the 'tyranny of participation' which characterise water services in rural and peri-urban areas. / Norwegian Research Council

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Union Station is a unique historic building in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. The station, which first opened in 1853, has connected the history of the evolution of travel and the city of Indianapolis and, in the late twentieth century, became deeply embedded in local conversations about national issues at the intersection of race, historic preservation, and urban renewal. The station was a place of Black exclusion from public spaces throughout its existence, first as a train station, and later when it was repurposed as a Festival Marketplace. In preparation for the opening of the Festival Marketplace in the 1980s—complete with shops, restaurants, and a hotel—the developers invited people to write to them to preserve personal memories of experiences at the station from the era of train travel. Indiana residents, both white and Black, as well as Indianapolis city officials, and redevelopers of the station showed nostalgia for earlier eras when the station was active. This nostalgia, I argue, played an active and productive role in the process of saving Union Station. Importantly, those who contributed a letter to the “Remember Union Station” project were overwhelmingly white. Out of eighty-six letters, the race of seventy-three of them can be confirmed. Of those eighty-six, only two have been identified as Black. The two Black letter writers used the opportunity to contribute to the “Remember Union Station” campaign as a means to remember and claim the right to belong in Union Station for themselves, their families, and Black communities. As this project shows, the Indianapolis Union Station has always been more than just a building. It is a space that captures a part of the complex history of the city of Indianapolis and can hopefully provide more links to the past, present, and future for Hoosiers and visitors alike.

The purpose of this essey is to investigate whether and if so how women's separatist music rooms can create an extended acting space for female musicians. To do this, I have conducted an interview study of organizers and former music participants at the organizations Popkollo and Femtastic. The analytical discussions is held with the theoretical approach of Judith Butler's "heterosexual matrix" and Cecilia Björck's interpretation of Michel Foucault's "The gender disciplinary gaze". The results show that the main reason to choose women's separatist music room has been a longing to ”take place” and to ”get to the be yourself". Furthermore, the results show that the room enabled a liberation from outsiders ideal images of the "mild" and "fragile" female musician, whereupon more expressive positions was made possible. The study also reveald a dilemma in a balance to be liberated, but at the same time adapt to popular music gender-coded ideals. Furthermore the results show that in this context it is sometimes perceived as disfavouring to be coded as both a female artist and a feminist. This is because of the tendency to be seen and treated as a homogenous group with a common political agenda. Finally, I note, however, that women's separatist music room at least can create possibilities for an extended acting space as the informants has expressed a development both personally and musically.

The thesis aims to analyze customer satisfaction in the airlines Travel Service in claiming damages. The theoretical part provides the basic concepts of air transport, legislation on civil aviation, the importance of the position of airlines in Czech and foreign aviation market and the introduction of airline Travel Service. The practical part deals with the definition of fundamental rights of air passengers in claiming damages, especially when claiming baggage and delayed or canceled flights. The practical part has been prepared based on the survey of customers Airlines Travel Service In the final part of this thesis compares Travel Service with selected airlines. This thesis uses descriptive method especially in its theoretical part, analysis and comparison method in the practical part.

Öffentlich Private Partnerschaften (PPP) werden als Mittel zur Mobilisierung brach liegender Grundstücke thematisiert. Eine zentrale Rolle spielt der Begriff der „Initialbrachfläche“. Erfährt die Initialbrache einen öffentlichen Nutzungszweck mit Hilfe einer PPP, hat dies positive Auswirkungen auf benachbarte Brachen in einem definierten Umfeld. Am Beispiel des Chemnitztales mit seinem hohen Brachenbestand wurde ein PPP Projekt konzipiert. Es wird weiterhin eingegangen auf Aspekte privaten und privatwirtschaftlichen Engagements für Altstandorte und Brachen, z.B. unter dem Schlagwort Corporate Social Responsibility. Darüber hinaus wird die naturschutzrechtliche Eingriffsregelung angesprochen: Ausgleich für Flächeninanspruchnahme soll künftig verstärkt zugunsten der Renaturierung von Altstandorten erfolgen. Schließlich wird die technische Neuentwicklung eines Geokunststoff Gabions vorgestellt, bei dem Bauschutt aus Flächenrecyclingprojekten als Füllmaterial eingesetzt wird. Als Einsatzbereich des transportablen Geokunststoff Gabions wird ein mobiles Hochwasserschutzsystem skizziert.

Öffentlich Private Partnerschaften (PPP) werden als Mittel zur Mobilisierung brach liegender Grundstücke thematisiert. Eine zentrale Rolle spielt der Begriff der „Initialbrachfläche“. Erfährt die Initialbrache einen öffentlichen Nutzungszweck mit Hilfe einer PPP, hat dies positive Auswirkungen auf benachbarte Brachen in einem definierten Umfeld. Am Beispiel des Chemnitztales mit seinem hohen Brachenbestand wurde ein PPP Projekt konzipiert. Es wird weiterhin eingegangen auf Aspekte privaten und privatwirtschaftlichen Engagements für Altstandorte und Brachen, z.B. unter dem Schlagwort Corporate Social Responsibility. Darüber hinaus wird die naturschutzrechtliche Eingriffsregelung angesprochen: Ausgleich für Flächeninanspruchnahme soll künftig verstärkt zugunsten der Renaturierung von Altstandorten erfolgen. Schließlich wird die technische Neuentwicklung eines Geokunststoff Gabions vorgestellt, bei dem Bauschutt aus Flächenrecyclingprojekten als Füllmaterial eingesetzt wird. Als Einsatzbereich des transportablen Geokunststoff Gabions wird ein mobiles Hochwasserschutzsystem skizziert.