Thesis (Ph. D.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 51-56). Also available in electronic version. Access restricted to campus users.

Ägarlägenheten är den senaste lagstiftade upplåtelseformen i Sverige. En ägarlägenhet är en tredimensionell fastighet som är avgränsad både horisontellt och vertikalt. Ägarlägenheten medför enskilt ägande av en lägenhet i ett flerbostadshus i liknelse med ägande av ett småhus. Syftet med examensarbetet är att undersöka vilka preferenser som ligger till grund för köpet av ägarlägenheter i Sverige. I studien kommer även lägenhetsformen bostadsrätt att studeras och analyseras. Detta för att belysa och förtydliga skillnader och likheterna mellan bostadsformerna. Studien grundar sig främst på en kvantitativ enkätundersökning. Där ägarlägenhetsregistret har används som grund för enkätundersökningen. Det har bildats 944 ägarlägenheter i 40 olika kommuner i Sverige sedan lagstiftningen trädde ikraft i maj 2009. Utifrån registret har sedan lagfarna ägare identifierats och till dem har 111 frågeenkäter beträffande preferenser vid köpet av ägarlägenheter postats ut. Totalt inkom 93 svar på enkäten, vilket innebär en svarsfrekvens på 84 %. Valet av ägarlägenhet beror främst på rätten att äga, den så kallade äganderätten, vilket även är den största skillnaden mellan ägarlägenhet och bostadsrätt. Det goda geografiska läget där många ägarlägenheter har byggts var också en viktig faktor vid köpet. Ägare av ägarlägenheter är till största delen äldre än 35 år. Majoriteten är gifta och har inga hemmavarande barn. Det flesta har bott i ett småhus tidigare i livet. Vilket gjorde valet av ägarlägenhet enkelt då de ville ha ett liknande boende. / Condominiums are the latest legislated form for the right to own and use apartments in the Swedish property market. A condominium is a three-dimensional property, which is limited both horizontally and vertically. The condominiums entails an individual ownership of an apartment in an apartment building, which can be compared to any other ownership of a private house. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the preferences that form the basis for the purchase of condominiums in Sweden. In this thesis the tenant ownership will also be studied and analyzed. This to clarify the differences between the different forms of ownership. This study is primarily based on a quantitative survey. The condominium registry has been used as the basis for this survey. It has been formed 944 condominiums in 40 different municipalities in Sweden since the law came into force in May 2009. Based on the registry, legally owners has been identified. 111 questionnaires have been posted to condominium owners, with questions regarding which preferences triggers the purchase of a condominium. Totally 93 answers of the questionnaire were received, which representing a response frequency of 84 %. The thesis shows that the major reason of preference for the condominiums are primarily based on the ownership that occurs, which also is the main difference between condominiums and tenant ownership. Many condominiums have been built in excellent geographical locations, which is a major factor for the purchase. Owners of condominiums are mostly older than 35 years. The majority are married and have no children at home. Most of the owners have lived in a small private house earlier in life, which made the purchase of the condominiums easy because they wanted a similar housing.

Transportation sector has been a major contributing factor to the overall emissions of most pollutants and thus their impacts on the environment. Among all transportation activities, on-road travel accounts for most part of the Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and fuel use. It also has a very un-desirable impact on the transportation network conditions increasing the traffic congestion levels. The main aim of transportation planning agencies is to implement the policy changes that will reduce automobile dependency and increase transit and non-motorized modes usage. However, planning agencies can come up with proactive economic, land-use and transportation policies provided they have a model which is sensitive to all the above mentioned factors to predict the vehicle fleet composition and usage of households. Moreover, the type of vehicle that a household gets (vehicle type choice) and the annual mileage (usage) associated with that vehicle is very closely related to the person in the household who uses that vehicle the most (allocation to primary driver). So, it is no longer possible to view all these decisions separately. Instead, we need to model all these decisions- vehicle type choice, usage, and allocation to primary driver simultaneously at a household level. In this study, we estimate and apply a joint household-level model of the number of vehicles owned by the household, the vehicle type choice of each vehicle, the annual mileage on each vehicle, as well as the individual assigned as the primary driver for each vehicle. A version of the proposed model system currently serves as the engine for a household vehicle composition and evolution simulator, which itself has been embedded within the larger SimAGENT (for Simulator of Activities, Greenhouse emissions, Networks, and Travel) activity-based travel and emissions forecasting system for the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) planning region. / text

It is imperative the public be made aware of major media policy decisions to help take part in and shape the industry that they rely on to be an informed citizenry in a democracy. However, in an increasingly concentrated media landscape where fewer owners control our channels of information and reign over a vast array of holdings, the system is firmly positioned to conceal or marginalize policy stories that negatively affect its business interests. This study explores mainstream TV news coverage of the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act or SOPA– legislation proposed to reduce counterfeit purchases online that came under fire from critics for potentially threatening the fabric of free expression on the Internet. By asking, “How much attention did major television news networks whose parent companies supported SOPA devote to the bill during their nightly broadcasts?” and “How much attention did major television news networks whose parent companies supported SOPA devote to the bill during their nightly broadcasts after the Internet Blackout protesting the Act?” it finds those networks whose parent companies sought to benefit from the Act’s passage failed to report on the legislation at crucial times before and after the SOPA debate. The results largely fall in line with the mainstream media– namely the broadcast industry’s– historical self-censorship of significant media policy stories. / text

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

published_or_final_version / Politics and Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

Home ownership has been recognised by most of the literatures as the preferable tenure compared with the renters. It has been the housing policy of the Hong Kong Government to promote home ownership to increase the sense of belonging of the Hong Kong people. This paper attempted to explore if home-owning would have impact on one’s sense of belonging in the low-income group by making comparison of the sense of belonging between the PRH tenants and the HOS owners. The results of the survey revealed that the HOS owners did have a higher sense of belonging than the PRH tenants. Nevertheless, home ownership is not the main contribution. There are other factors affecting one’s sense of belonging. In the unique political situation of Hong Kong, the analysis shows that ‘family’ is the most significant element in anchoring the sense of belonging of the low-income group. However, the findings also confirmed that home ownership would bring societal benefits in fostering a sense of belonging among the public as well as to bring neighbourhood stability through homeowners’ social participation and attachment to the local community. Both the PRH tenants and HOS owners indicated home-owing being their preferred housing tenure. Despite that there are many respondents viewed that the societal benefits from home ownership may also be achieved in the public rental housing estates, they agreed that the Government should offer subsidies to the Hong Kong people to assist them in acquiring home ownership in the form of HOS. It is justified that the Hong Kong Government will re-launch the HOS in the near future to realise the aspiration of home ownership of the low-income people and the young generation in view of the incredibly high housing prices which are far beyond their housing affordability. It is also observed that the public rental housing estates did offer a stable community to the PRH tenants who rated an admirable score of sense of belonging to Hong Kong. To promote sense of belonging, provision of more housing rental flats to low-income people is strongly recommended. / published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management