This dissertation shows the way in which movies, as a form of popular culture and contemporary medium, can be used as a tool for facilitating an alternatively impressionable approach in understanding social history in context, which can be complementary to the purely historical approach in conducting research in the field of heritage conservation. 6 representative post-war Hong Kong movies from the 1950’s to 2000’s are selected for discussion through textual analysis of key cinematic frames based on 5 specific criteria. The ‘cinematic reality’ of each is discussed against the ‘historical reality’ of the year of its release, so as to facilitate a contextual understanding of the social-economic, architectural-geographical and ideological-political conditions of Hong Kong for the past 5 decades. / published_or_final_version / Conservation / Master / Master of Science in Conservation

- The Conservation Plan for Ladder Street is prepared based on the research findings by going through the early history about the development of the streets in Hong Kong and particularly the driving forces about how the Ladder Street was developed. - Based on site survey to record about the significant value culturally and architecturally of the Ladder Street in this study. - Being part of the urban heritage of Hong Kong, the ever changing in nature of the street will be discussed. Taking the street’s basic function, statutory requirements and together with the significance values into consideration to develop a Conservation Guidelines for conservation and maintenance usage. - The importance of sustainability in conservation for the future generation will also be considered / published_or_final_version / Conservation / Master / Master of Science in Conservation

“If you ask people what they think about cities they are more likely to talk about buildings and cars than streets and squares. If you ask them about city life they are more likely to talk about alienation, isolation, fear of crime or congestion and pollution than about community, participation, animation, beauty and pleasure.” (Rogers, 1997) The picturesque quoted here, illustrates the void that most of the modern cities are facing; unable to meet the demand of socio-cultural, ecological and communal characters of humankind for dwelling. The economic and political competency in the practice of urbanism makes an astonishing indifference towards vitality of urban spaces, which otherwise should have addressed the dynamics of urban life, people and community. To some extent, historic cities still express sense of place and identity of community at this juncture, though such elements in a few only remain authentic. Even though these cities went across century’s long political, socio-economic transformation, they have retained the legacy of sustained urban life and environment. And of course, the same is the socio-cultural manifesto and charm into cityscape and built forms. For such occurrence, reconciliation of conservation and current trends of development and changes need to prove one of the substantial means of transiting from traditional city planning approaches. In this aspect, urban conservation added new hopes, bringing even the ruins of such historic cities for preservation and made them an agendum for further researches in city planning and development. However, most of the conservation efforts in historic cities are focused on individual public monuments as a piecemeal trade to enhance international tourism and market forces. Consequently, as a dark side remnant of overall city planning and conservation practices, the image of city and its identity remained overshadowed. As one of such instances; Bhaktapur, the city known to be “Cultural Capital of Nepal” stands right into this dilemma of urban development and conservation. The living heritage of this city resembles the bonds of urban spaces, built environment, and life endowed with cultural activities enthralled entirely. This paradise perhaps will no longer remain if its urban development trends at the edge are freed. Urban growth however, inevitable currently as globalization; in no longer should influence the urban tranquility of this historical city. The outdated planning traditions are responsible for such hiatus to long for ages. Due to this fragility, it concurrently faces vigorous peripheral development at Kamalvinayak, Libali and Tumacho and a rapid transformation in historic fabrics demising traditional values. An approach of integration in historic city especially, cultural heritage area with emerging new development is believed to arrest the problem when it is unripe. Further investigation on amorphous relationships between the two urban typologies and development contexts is crucial to explore potentialities for integration. The synergy between urban conservation and urban development in order to retain the historic image of a cultural city is explored through an integrated approach. This study explores to seek integrity aspects of historic urban landscape of the traditional town with planning interventions to meet the demands of urban development at the edge. The study area is mainly focused on clusters of neighbourhood in cultural heritage area of this town incorporating new development area at the edge and an urban design research approach with random household survey is adopted in comparing the neighbourhoods for integrity aspects. Finally with thorough review on related concerns in conservation and development in Bhaktapur this study identified the need of integrated urban conservation taking into consideration of integrity aspects idealized during analysis. Integrated urban conservation is one that reconciles development aspects with overall structure of conservation process and this study finalizes the need of strategies of broadening heritage context, strategies for conservation oriented development, urban spatial continuity and strategies for capacity building with participatory mechanism. / published_or_final_version / Urban Planning and Design / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

While historic sites have been used and operated as educational tools in the form of museums and public spaces since the emergence of the field of preservation, educational outreach frequently fails to include preservation concepts within these efforts. This thesis attempts to answer the question of “Why is preservation education lacking or absent at historic sites, and how can it be an integral part of a historic site’s programming, presentation, and interpretation?” To investigate this question, scholarly research was combined with first hand experiences of sites and interviews with stewarding organization staff members. Through this investigation, emerged a contextualization of historic sites within the fields of preservation and museum studies, a relation of the current state of preservation education to the opportunities available by means of physical sites, and a connection of preservation concepts to museum education theory. Multiple means of educational implementation and execution were explored, as were target audiences and organizational management structure. The result is a collection of examples in practice, explanations of missed opportunities, and recommendation for effective implementation. Collectively, these results reinforce the importance of using physical sites available to the public for educational purposes not limited to historic significance, but including preservation in all facets, as a means of introducing the field along with its impact and importance to the general public as a means of generating an interest that will be redirected into their communities. / text

This dissertation is a study of the values and meanings people attach to places and why exploring those values is important in trails and historic preservation planning. From a foundation in critical humanistic geography and values based preservation literatures, the dissertation examines three rails to trails projects as case studies. Primary research questions include: how does a landscape become valued, devalued, and/or revalued through time? In what ways do different values of different people or groups intersect in rails to trails landscapes and how do they shape the landscape? How do historic values intersect with economic, social, political, and other values as these relate to landscape preservation? A subset of questions deals with the interactions between trails, historic preservation, and geography. What common ground do these three areas already share and what is the potential for further connections between and through them? The project contributes to the geographical tradition of interpreting ordinary landscapes but also works towards bringing together the common ground of three disparate endeavors: cultural geography, historic preservation, and trails planning around the theme of “values in place.”

Thesis (M.S.)--Texas State University-San Marcos, 2008. / Vita. Appendices: leaves 48-51. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 52-54). Also available on microfilm.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Sydney, 2007. / Title from title screen (viewed 25 March 2008). Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the Dept. of Archaeology, Faculty of Arts. Degree awarded 2007; thesis originally submitted 2006, corrected version submitted 2007. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print form.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--George Mason University, 2008. / Vita: p. 163. Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Anthropology. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed July 18, 2008). Thesis director: Rebecca Bryant. Includes bibliographical references (p. 157-162). Also issued in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.