This dissertation considers the case of the Mesoamerican People’s Forum (MPF), a Central American ‘cousin’ of the World Social Forum, and manifestation of the Global Justice Movement. It argues that the MPF cannot be adequately understood as a transnational social movement or as an ‘open space.’ Rather, it is best understood as a political playing field on which the leaders of locally rooted social movements contested the future of the Central American left within an uncertain and changing political context. Based on extensive ethnographic field work and grounded analysis, it argues that well-placed actors within forum spaces can best be thought of as ‘mediators’ between state and society. The emergence of de facto federated governance structures in Central America, plus weak democratic institutions, have placed new pressures on mediators. Leaders within the Central American left find that they need to build up and/or maintain power bases to shield their positions within an uncertain political environment. They mobilize people to participate in transnational forum spaces because of the legitimating benefits, but shape networked flows within these spaces to limit the potential for networking to erode established positions. Thus I conclude that openness is neither the condition nor the objective of social forums, but rather a pawn strategically deployed or retracted in the course of networked interactions. The work advances thinking about the nature of collective political subjectivity in an era of transformationalist globalization. It also argues in favor of critical realist perspectives on collectivization in a post-development, globalizing world. Specifically, scholars can best advance an ‘epistemology of the south’ by promoting and protecting cognitive justice, which in turn can be achieved through the use of realist approaches that serve to uncover the practices of power at work within networked spaces.

This dissertation considers the case of the Mesoamerican People’s Forum (MPF), a Central American ‘cousin’ of the World Social Forum, and manifestation of the Global Justice Movement. It argues that the MPF cannot be adequately understood as a transnational social movement or as an ‘open space.’ Rather, it is best understood as a political playing field on which the leaders of locally rooted social movements contested the future of the Central American left within an uncertain and changing political context. Based on extensive ethnographic field work and grounded analysis, it argues that well-placed actors within forum spaces can best be thought of as ‘mediators’ between state and society. The emergence of de facto federated governance structures in Central America, plus weak democratic institutions, have placed new pressures on mediators. Leaders within the Central American left find that they need to build up and/or maintain power bases to shield their positions within an uncertain political environment. They mobilize people to participate in transnational forum spaces because of the legitimating benefits, but shape networked flows within these spaces to limit the potential for networking to erode established positions. Thus I conclude that openness is neither the condition nor the objective of social forums, but rather a pawn strategically deployed or retracted in the course of networked interactions. The work advances thinking about the nature of collective political subjectivity in an era of transformationalist globalization. It also argues in favor of critical realist perspectives on collectivization in a post-development, globalizing world. Specifically, scholars can best advance an ‘epistemology of the south’ by promoting and protecting cognitive justice, which in turn can be achieved through the use of realist approaches that serve to uncover the practices of power at work within networked spaces.

Recent researches on campus learning environments present that there is a seeking for alternative learning spaces among students. Researches argue that more learning is taking place outside of class time than ever before. With an increased emphasis on collaboration and group projects, students are learning in small groups outside of the classrooms as they accomplish work related to their courses. Literature defines these experiences as &lsquo / informal learning&rsquo / . Therewithal, campus open spaces are one of the major areas where students prefer for their informal learning experiences. This thesis aims to search the influence of campus open space design on students&rsquo / learning experiences. Additionally, it argues that there is a strong relation between the learning and the space where learning action occurs. In doing this, it both covers a theoretical framework and a case study. Within the theoretical part, it discusses various learning theories with respect to the prominent principles for each theory. It reveals learning space design indicators which affects learning both in indoor and outdoor learning environments. In the case study, with the analysis of different sample areas from METU campus, the study both investigates the learning experiences actualized on campus open spaces and the triggering design indicators which enhance these experiences.

This thesis explores characteristics of loose space and their implications for physical activity. A space becomes loose when an individual is using it for something other than what it was intended. Individuals can pursue a range of physical activities not possible in other public spaces. To assess the compatibility between loose space and physical activity a survey of 27 users of loose space and key informant interviews from public health, municipal parks and landscape architecture disciplines were used. Interview findings suggest that unstructured forms of physical activity are more likely to be adopted and maintained while survey results show 70% of loose space users are achieving recommended physical activity levels. Multifunctional space that can accommodate appropriation and change may have design implications for improving health. Design recommendations and strategies were developed to inform the design and management of loose space for physical activity. This study suggests that the qualities and distribution of loose space could improve adoption and maintenance of physical activity.

A map is a context. This project is about contextualization. This process has helped me understand where landscape architecture currently sits as a discipline and offers hints as to where it might go in the future. The function of this mapping is as much about re-shaping an understanding of landscape architecture as it is about understanding landscape urbanism. Like architecture and city planning, landscape architecture is a discipline in constant flux, redefining its role with and relationship to parallel fields of thought and within broader disciplinary contexts. Over the last few decades it has become apparent that landscape architecture has emerged as a discipline strongly capable of reshaping urban space. Ideas regarding landscapes as active, dynamic, operational systems have paralleled the discipline’s growing relevance within an urban context. In this time landscape urbanism has emerged as a reaction to landscape architecture’s role within our changing world. For landscape urbanism to contribute anything of value to the future of urbanism, or to the design disciplines, it needs to be contextualized within the larger framework of which it is part, without this context landscape urbanism has no relevance. Where it has come from must be critically assessed as a way to understand its intentions and potential future. Landscape urbanism may expand architecture’s boundaries to include elements of landscape thinking, but it does not expand the boundaries of landscape design. Its attempt to generate a new approach for urbanism is innovative as architecture, in its effort to expand the discipline’s understanding of site, but as a design discipline, or a strategic approach to thinking, landscape urbanism is not innovative.

In recent decades, the role of port cities has changed dramatically. In many cases, the port function has been removed from the urban waterfront altogether. For this practicum, the subject is not the post-industrial, but rather an investigation into the role of landscape architecture in a place where industry persists on the shoreline. Halifax, Nova Scotia is the principle location for this exploration wherein the existing port-city interface is re-evaluated. This study includes an examination of the course of worldwide port development and the resulting impacts on port-city interrelationships and a historical comparison of the Port of Halifax to the general evolution. Mapping is the core of the analysis and is the primary means of assessing current conditions and future considerations. The work concludes with a final design proposal. Design drawings demonstrate the conceivability of the working port environment as a place to reconnect citizens with their harbour and the activities that occur within.

A map is a context. This project is about contextualization. This process has helped me understand where landscape architecture currently sits as a discipline and offers hints as to where it might go in the future. The function of this mapping is as much about re-shaping an understanding of landscape architecture as it is about understanding landscape urbanism. Like architecture and city planning, landscape architecture is a discipline in constant flux, redefining its role with and relationship to parallel fields of thought and within broader disciplinary contexts. Over the last few decades it has become apparent that landscape architecture has emerged as a discipline strongly capable of reshaping urban space. Ideas regarding landscapes as active, dynamic, operational systems have paralleled the discipline’s growing relevance within an urban context. In this time landscape urbanism has emerged as a reaction to landscape architecture’s role within our changing world. For landscape urbanism to contribute anything of value to the future of urbanism, or to the design disciplines, it needs to be contextualized within the larger framework of which it is part, without this context landscape urbanism has no relevance. Where it has come from must be critically assessed as a way to understand its intentions and potential future. Landscape urbanism may expand architecture’s boundaries to include elements of landscape thinking, but it does not expand the boundaries of landscape design. Its attempt to generate a new approach for urbanism is innovative as architecture, in its effort to expand the discipline’s understanding of site, but as a design discipline, or a strategic approach to thinking, landscape urbanism is not innovative.

In recent decades, the role of port cities has changed dramatically. In many cases, the port function has been removed from the urban waterfront altogether. For this practicum, the subject is not the post-industrial, but rather an investigation into the role of landscape architecture in a place where industry persists on the shoreline. Halifax, Nova Scotia is the principle location for this exploration wherein the existing port-city interface is re-evaluated. This study includes an examination of the course of worldwide port development and the resulting impacts on port-city interrelationships and a historical comparison of the Port of Halifax to the general evolution. Mapping is the core of the analysis and is the primary means of assessing current conditions and future considerations. The work concludes with a final design proposal. Design drawings demonstrate the conceivability of the working port environment as a place to reconnect citizens with their harbour and the activities that occur within.

This research is an investigation into the phrase 'intermediate landscape' and tests this concept in the re-development of the Sanya waterfront, China. The phrase is based on the 'missing link' in the current disconnection between the landscape and urban development in Sanya city. If the landscape is considered as a connection across scales and urban systems rather than an isolated system, then how can landscape affect the structure and function of urban development? The 'intermediate landscape' considers the impact of understanding landscape not as an additional layer, but as a structure that can connect the urban context at different scales while at the same time addressing its function. This project attempts to formulate strategies of 'intermediate landscape' to coordinate the transformation of developing cities.

A democracia e as decisões oriundas das instituições públicas se realizam de forma legítima se os cidadãos conseguem participar e interagir, trocando argumentos dos prós e contras sobre determinada questão que envolve o bem comum da sociedade e da cidade. O modo de vida nas cidades, influenciados inclusive por variáveis relacionadas ao urbanismo e ao desenho urbano, acabam por transferir o momento deste encontro para os espaços públicos abertos – aí incluídos as vias públicas - por onde as pessoas inevitavelmente entram em contato. A preocupação com os espaços públicos abertos é tema recorrente na história da cidade de Porto Alegre há pelo menos quatro décadas, o que pode ser verificado pela análise do tratamento institucional dado ao tema. No entanto, mesmo com o passar do tempo, os problemas de mobilidade urbana persistem, e inclusive se acentuam, fruto das decisões do Poder Executivo local que acabam por inverter a prioridade, consolidando e incentivando a utilização do automóvel como modal de transporte preferencial, resultando no afastamento das pessoas e na dificuldade de interação. Movimentos sociais surgem em oposição a estas políticas, e a bicicleta se torna instrumento e símbolo para a retomada da escala humana da cidade como lugar do encontro, da interação, e da democracia. / Decisions taken by public institutions – as democracy itself – can be considered legitimate and function as such, when citizens are able to participate and interact, exchanging arguments of the pros and cons on an issue that involves the common good of society and the city. The urban way of life – influenced by Urbanism and urban design related factors – end up transferring that meeting point to the public spaces – including public thoroughfares – where people, inevitably, come in contact with each other. Dealing with open public spaces is a recurring subject and often reason for concern in Porto Alegre; it has been so for about four decades at least; this can de verified by analysing how public institutions have dealt with this issue. As a matter of fact, urban mobility related problems persist, and get even worse, as a consequence of decisions taken by the local government, which end up reverting priorities: the use of the automobile as a preferred mode of transportation is further encouraged and consolidated. People get more isolated, interaction is more difficult. Social movements arise, opposing such policies; the bicycle becomes a tool and a symbol for regaining the human scale of the city as a place of meeting, of interacting, and of democracy.