Thesis (M.S.W.)--University of Hong Kong, 1987.

Primary health care (PHC) is a term used to refer to the parts of the health system that people interact with most of the time when health care is needed. It is considered the first point of contact for health services in Canada. Access to PHC services is an important issue regarding health care delivery in Canada today. There is a need to advance current understanding of access to PHC providers at local scales such as neighbourhoods. The primary objective of this study is to examine the variation in geographic (spatial) accessibility to permanently located primary care services in the Canadian urban environment. Furthermore, the analysis of spatial patterns of accessibility, both visually and statistically using GIS, is to provide a better understanding of among and between neighbourhood variations. This research took place in the 14 urban areas across Canada: Victoria and Vancouver, British Columbia; Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta; Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; Winnipeg, Manitoba; Hamilton, and Toronto, Ontario; Montréal and Québec, Quebec; Halifax, Nova Scotia; St. John’s, Newfoundland; Saint John, New Brunswick; and Ottawa–Gatineau, Ontario and Quebec. A GIS based method, the Three-Step Floating Catchment Area (3SFCA), was applied to determine the spatial accessibility to PHC services (accessibility score). First, for increasing geocoding match rates with reduced positional uncertainty, an integrated geocoding technique was developed after an empirical comparison of the geocoding results based on manually built and online geocoding services and subsequently applied to generate geographic coordinates of PHC practices which are an essential element for measuring potential access to health care. Next, the results of the Three-Step Floating Catchment Area (3SFCA) method was compared with simpler approachs to calculate the City level physician-to-population ratios and this research highlights the benefit of using the 3SFCA method over simpler approaches in urban areas by providing similar or comparable results of City level physician-to-population ratios with the advantage of intra-urban measurements. Further, the results point out that considerable spatial variation in geographical accessibility to PHC services exists within and across Canadian urban areas and indicate the existence of clusters of poorly served neighbourhoods in all urban areas. In order to investigate the low accessibility scores in relation to population health care needs, spatial statistical modeling techniques were applied that revealed variations in geographical accessibility to PHC services by comparing the accessibility scores to different socio-demographic characteristics across Canadian urban settings. In order to analyse how these relationships between accessibility and predictors vary at a local scale within an urban area, a local spatial regression technique (i.e., geographically weighted regression or GWR) was applied in two urban areas. The results of GWR modelling demonstrates intra-urban variations in the relationships between socio-demographic variables and the geographic accessibility to PHC services. In addition, the influences of “unit of analysis” on accessibility score were analyzed using spatial statistical modeling that emphasize the use of units of analysis that are pertinent to policy and planning purposes such as city defined neighbourhoods. Overall, this research shows the importance of measuring geographic accessibility of PHC services at local levels for decision makers, planners, researchers, and policy makers in the field of public health and health geography. This dissertation will advance current understanding of access to primary care in Canadian urban settings from the perspective of the neighbourhood.

Through a case study analysis of the Central Park placemaking initiative in Winnipeg, this Major Degree Project explores the process of collaborative planning with new immigrant communities. While existing research examines the potential of placemaking to promote physical improvements through collaborative planning, we know less about whether placemaking initiatives achieve the long-term social outcomes associated with collaborative planning theory. Located in downtown Winnipeg, Central Park is surrounded by a diverse multi-cultural community, consisting of many new immigrants. In 2008, the CentreVenture Development Corporation launched a placemaking initiative to revitalize Central Park. The community was a key collaborator in the planning and design process. This thesis examines the long-term social outcomes of this initiative. The main research methods for this project include key informant interviews, and archival and secondary source analysis of existing data. The research finds that collaborative planning processes offer the potential to promote sustainable inner city neighbourhood revitalization. Placemaking through collaborative planning can develop new institutional capacity for participants. By developing and harnessing relational, intellectual and political resources communities can mobilize co-ordinated action toward future initiatives. The findings of this research advance the literature and understanding of collaborative planning processes, particularly within the context of placemaking with new immigrant communities. This thesis adds to the literature of inner city neighbourhood revitalization and collaborative planning theory. / October 2015

With increased enrolment in post-secondary education in Canada, communities hosting universities or colleges have witnessed a higher number of students residing in their near-campus neighbourhoods. The concentration of students has negative impacts on these once low-density, family-oriented neighbourhoods. Near-campus neighbourhoods are often associated with images of run-down properties, garbage-strewn front yards, and alcohol fuelled parties. Some Ontario municipalities have responded to these problems with student accommodation strategies and planning initiatives. However, the problems in near-campus neighbourhoods and the effectiveness of the planning strategies have not been well understood due to the novelty of the issue and the scarcity of related research in the Canadian context. This study aims to answer two research questions: 1) what are the impacts of student populations on near-campus neighbourhoods in Ontario? 2) how, and how effectively, have planning authorities responded to the challenges of near-campus neighbourhoods? To answer these research questions, surveys and interviews were conducted among planners and post-secondary institution housing officers in Ontario university/college communities. Evidence was also sought from other resources including other academic studies, planning documents and media output. The study results showed that at least 23 Ontario municipalities faced challenges associated with the concentration of student population in near-campus neighbourhoods. The challenges relate to demographic imbalance, decreased rates of homeownership, a deteriorating neighbourhood environment, and student behavioural issues. However, only around half of the affected communities have developed planning strategies to respond to the challenges. Eleven planning approaches are identified, analyzed, and evaluated in the study. In general, planning policies to encourage high-density development to accommodate students are common approaches and considered effective: purpose-built student housing has significantly increased its market share in some university communities. This type of development relieves housing pressure, but it is not clear if it helps to stabilize low-density neighbourhoods near campus; the attempt to regulate the student private rental market by zoning and licensing regimes has several drawbacks. The study also reveals diverse interests of different stakeholders in near-campus neighbourhoods, and the lack of effective collaboration and partnerships among them in addressing challenges in their neighbourhoods in general.

Adolescent participants (N=170) completed questionnaires assessing individual characteristics (gender, age, Sensation Seeking, Aggression/Oppositionality, Impulsivity) and characteristics of the neighbourhoods in which they live (Neighbourhood social cohesion/informal social control of youth). Postal codes as reported by the youth were linked to 2006 Canadian census data in order to determine area-level Socioeconomic Status (SES) for each adolescent. Data regarding adolescents’ individual traits and characteristics of the neighbourhoods in which they live were examined both as main effects and in individual by neighbourhood interactions as predictors of adolescents’ risk of injury. Individual traits predicted injury risk, however, neighbourhood social processes and SES did not predict adolescent injury risk when examined as main effects, whether included alone or together with individual characteristics. Neighbourhood social processes and Neighbourhood SES each moderated the relation between certain individual traits and injury risk. The value of examining individual-context interactions in injury risk research is discussed.

Eighty percent of the Canadian population lives in urban centres, where typical land use patterns negatively impact urban ecosystems and decrease quality of life. Current municipal Community Improvement Plans target urban vacancies for intensification efforts, which can increase fragmentation and degradation of the urban ecosystem. This project examines the urban environment: its vacancies, ecological patterns and human impacts. A strategy was derived from ecological principles aiming to design more sustainable urban landscape patterns. Applied to the Two Rivers neighbourhood in Guelph, Ontario, the strategy identified 19.5 hectares of land capable of contributing to more sustainable ecological patterns of which 12.41 hectares were brownfields. Results revealed 4.3% more high-quality land cover, in 53% more patches, 45 m closer together, but with increasing edge contrast. An area-wide strategic integration of vacant lands may provide previously unconsidered opportunities to improve urban ecological patterns and create a more sustainable urban environment.

The concept of revitalization made its début within the localized context between 1993 to 2003 and is evident in Cato Manor, Warwick Junction and iTrump initiatives in the Durban South African context. The concept and its benefactors encourage others in and around the city to utilize it as a tool promoting self sufficiency and sustainability within developing and developed neighborhoods. Sparks, as an example of a neighborhood within the jurisdiction of the Ethekwini Municipality, has played a part in the process. The difficulty of the area is that it has all the facilities and services of a functioning neighborhood but when one looks closer, a different reality exists. The study proposes to examine the blockages preventing an effective functioning of a cohesive, co-ordinated and harmonious community. The examination of revitalization taking place in Sparks is an attempt to identify factors which explain the partial revitalization observed in the neighbourhood. This study identified role players and established the characteristics of the local residents and their contribution to the revitalization process. Qualitative information was obtained through interviews with key role players including the ward Councilor, Municipality officials, residents and business owners of the area. The finding of this study revealed that Sparks as a node has all the elements to function successfully to make a good neighbourhood. The study found that the residents are not included in the revitalization decision making processes by the municipality and that there was little public participation the revitalization in the neighborhood is occurring sporadically in the form of upgrading roads, renovations on private property, installation of traffic lights and speed breakers. The revitalization in Sparks is problematic and needs to be addressed more systematically in the Municipality and by the residents of the area. The research revealed that public participation needs to be encouraged in Municipal initiated projects. The researcher concluded that revitalization needs guidance from the municipality, and that proper public participation strategies should be put in place for successful implementation. / Thesis (M.T.R.P.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2011.

A case study of Vancouver’s West End neighbourhood examines the cultural, structural, economic and political impacts of a glbtt (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and two-spirited) community and a gay urban village on its city. This work also queries the role of municipal government in the regulation and maintenance of the social composition and identity of a neighbourhood. Finally, the future of gay urban villages is discussed as their role in promoting solidarity and safety transitions toward a commercial and nodal one. This research involved three local key informant interviews and nine community residents who participated as photographers in a community visual analysis. Results unveiled a neighbourhood intrinsically well suited to serving a transient gay male community with an increasing dispersion of the identifying demographic. For the foreseeable future the significance of the Davie Village in the socio-sexual landscape of Vancouver appears secure through the nodal nature of gay retail, bars and services, reinforced by business interests. As an urban typology supporting a comparatively young glbtt culture, the gay urban village plays a unique role in the city, providing spaces of experimentation and invention — a stage for new systems of cultural (ex)change to emerge.

This thesis investigated the role that local environmental factors play in influencing perceptions of crime and safety across three neighbourhoods within the Region of Peel, Ontario. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with local experts to examine their perceptions of crime and safety, and elements of the built and social environment that may influence these perceptions and identified dimensions of social capital that serve as pathways through which broader environmental determinants of crime and safety can become embedded at the local neighbourhood level. Findings of this research revealed that the perceived relationships between the social and built environment and crime are complex and that dimensions of social capital such as informal social ties serve as a mediator between the environment and perceptions about crime and how perceived and actual crime may be reduced by modifying elements of the built and social environment in order to strengthen local dimensions of social capital.

This thesis investigated the role that local environmental factors play in influencing perceptions of crime and safety across three neighbourhoods within the Region of Peel, Ontario. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with local experts to examine their perceptions of crime and safety, and elements of the built and social environment that may influence these perceptions and identified dimensions of social capital that serve as pathways through which broader environmental determinants of crime and safety can become embedded at the local neighbourhood level. Findings of this research revealed that the perceived relationships between the social and built environment and crime are complex and that dimensions of social capital such as informal social ties serve as a mediator between the environment and perceptions about crime and how perceived and actual crime may be reduced by modifying elements of the built and social environment in order to strengthen local dimensions of social capital.