Analyzing public transit accessibility to marginalized communities is critical to exploring the link between transportation inclusion and wellbeing in automobile-centered cultures. This study is an attempt to examine public transit accessibility to Indigenous residents in Winnipeg's North End. Apart from analyzing the current level of transit accessibility, the study explores barriers that hinder the use of public transit in the North End and examines strategies to improving transit accessibility to its residents. This study adopts a holistic approach to understanding 'accessibility' and recognizes the importance of socio-economic, perceptional, and demographic factors in shaping the demand for transit facilities in an area. Findings of the study illustrate the need to include transportation inclusion as an essential component of the urban Indigenous welfare policies in the country. The lessons learned will also provide an initial framework to understand the link between community wellbeing and transportation inclusion of other socio-economically vulnerable communities. / February 2017

A city walkable is about re-imagining spatial justice through access and public space in North End, East London, South Africa. The research questioned the state of East London's public space, its inner-city decay, and its vehicular dependency. East London lacks good quality public space that is walkable and accessible. A city walkable has streets that are comfortable, safe, interesting and offer choice. The urban environment must foster walkability. Before Apartheid, North End was a mixed-race community that was spatially integrated with the city because of its proximity to the CBD and its urban fabric. North Enders never needed to own a vehicle to access amenities. People could access their everyday amenities on foot and felt safe walking day or night. North End was a walkable, mixed-use neighbourhood. However, due to the Group Areas Act of 1950, people were forcibly removed from the city and relocated to what is now known as townships. Due to this removal people are forced to rely on public transport or private vehicle for mobility. Townships are not mixed-use, and streets do not foster walkability. By removing people from the city, Apartheid removed walkability. The fundamentals of living in a city are access to the convenience of amenities and work. Denying access to the city is a spatial injustice. This denial has resulted in a lack of walkable streets, unsafe public spaces, and car dependency. Since the forced removals of 1950' North End has been rezoned as a light industrial area. The research aimed to unlock the potential for walkability in East London. North End is re-imagined not only a walkable neighbourhood, but as a neighbourhood that is integrated with both township areas and the CBD. The links used to create linkages are a series of urban mixed-use corridors. Thus, creating a city that is spatially just. This makes North End a strategic place in the city which has the potential to become East London's 'knuckle'. Through various interventions, spatial strategies, and framework a more just, walkable city is envisioned.

Social planning has remained a longstanding element of urban planning practice and continues to be pursued through different institutional structures in Canada. While the City of Winnipeg currently features no municipal social planning department, the City of Vancouver attempts to support its most disadvantaged neighbourhoods through its municipal sector. As these are two cities with high concentrations of Indigenous populations, this research uncovers the degree to which these two social planning models have worked to support the particular needs and interests of residents living in Winnipeg’s North End and Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Through the comparative case study of these two research sites, comprehensive document analysis and semi-structured interviews with key informants from planning agencies in each city, it is evident both models promote socially just and socially sustainable planning processes and outcomes within their respective neighbourhoods. However, neither is without fault. As a government body Vancouver is able to create and track progress in a more systemic way, setting targets and metrics for other government agencies, while information sharing and relationship building are where non-profit organizations in Winnipeg truly excel. This research explains how most non-profit organizations are unable to successfully sustain themselves, while municipal departments lack the rapport grassroots organizations more easily attain. Therefore, an integration of both models could begin to better support Canada’s most disadvantaged neighbourhoods with growing urban Indigenous populations. / May 2016

The $15+ Billion "Big Dig", replaced Boston's deteriorating six-lane elevated Central Artery, known as the Green monster, with a widened highway tunnel running underground through Downtown Boston and crossing the Charles River, creating more than 27 acres of new land area for reuse in Downtown Boston. Today, a significant portion of the land has been turned into a system of parks known as the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway. Since its completion in 2008, five civic and recreational developments planned for the Greenway have been abandoned due to poor funding, rising construction estimates, and a general lack of support. Disconnected, under-programmed and ill-maintained, the Greenway is in danger of becoming a no-man's land. There have been many visions, but no solutions. This thesis will provide a solution that will reconnect the North End and the Waterfront with downtown Boston, improve the continuity of the park system, provide a structural approach to construction above highway tunnel exit ramps, and most importantly promote widespread use of the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway.

The North End is one of the most colourful areas in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Plagued by urban decay, the North End is a melting pot of cultures and catch basin for many marginalized people. In the face of adversity, people unite under similar ideals and principles to work towards common goals. This unity is exemplified in co-operatives, which has been in the North End for decades. Co-ops exhibited outstanding camaraderie with the goal of alleviating adverse social conditions. Today, the co-op sector, exemplified by Pollock’s Hardware and Urban Eatin’ Landscapes, continue to operate in the area like conventional business, while practicing social and environmental responsibility under a common set of principles. Due to their ideologies and principles, their impact on neighbourhood and community revitalization is more profound than expected. Through case studies, this research found that co-ops offer urban planners and government officials a complimentary method to conventional urban revitalization methods. Co-operative Urban Revitalization starts by uniting marginalized people and empowering them to devise solutions to social and economic problems. / February 2017