“Public participation” takes on various forms in the realm of local government planning. Many planners stand behind the ideal of involving community, but participation in practice often fails to achieve this objective. The primary vehicle for local government participation is the public hearing, which is a formalized process that often elicits one-way communication from planner to public. The nature of a hearing is to inform the public about development applications or policy changes, expose governing body decisions to the public, and elicit reactions from interested members of the public. Significant effort is taken daily by local planning departments to promote this transparent form of decision-making. The public can stay informed by reading legal ads in the newspaper, checking municipal websites, paying attention to public notice signs, attending hearings or simply receiving a hearing notice in their mailbox. However, staying informed and being involved are two completely different concepts. True involvement is two-way communication between public and planner. This study reports that the public hearing does not provide this necessary involvement. Alternative methods, such as workshops, are explored that break the formal mold of local government participation. Findings indicate that participation is more genuine in a loosely structured setting where face-to-face communication can occur between public and planner and among members of the public themselves. However, findings also suggest that genuine participation is not always appropriate given the intent of a public meeting. Many hearings are held at the end of the planning process for development applications requiring quasi-judicial decisions based on standards. The key is getting public input on earlier legislative decisions about policies that define the standards themselves. This study concludes with a toolkit of techniques practitioners can use to enhance public participation in planning, and observations about appropriate stages to implement those techniques in the planning process.

Transit agencies at all levels of government monitor trends in services, operations, and ridership using performance indicators. Federal and state agencies use these performance indicators in the appropriation of funds to transit agencies. Public transportation is subsidized through federal, state and local programs while only a portion of the operating expenses are covered through rider fares. In order to gather information on riders and travel patterns, transit agencies primarily focus on current transit riders, many of which are transit dependent populations. By definition, these populations use public transit services as the primary or only means of transportation. As a result, this offers limited opportunity for ridership growth among transit dependent populations. One segment of a population that offers high opportunity for ridership growth is commuters. A commuter is considered a worker that travels from home to work on a regular basis. However, in the case of commuter oriented transit services, it is important to survey non-riders so that any new services will have the greatest potential of increasing ridership among commuters. This report explores the potential commuter demand for additional or express bus services provided by San Luis Obispo Regional Transit Authority (RTA). RTA operates countywide fixed-route bus services and para-transit services for San Luis Obispo County. This report focuses on RTA’s Route 9, which operates between the North County and the Central County. In order to collect data from non-riders, electronics survey instruments were created and distributed using employer e-mail addresses. The survey instruments were sent to three major employers in San Luis Obispo County: California State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly), the City of San Luis Obispo, and the County of San Luis Obispo. A link to one of the surveys instruments was also included on San Luis Obispo Council of Government’s (SLOCOG) Rideshare’s March 2013 e-newsletter as a way to reach additional non-riders. Analysis of the survey responses resulted in the recommendations to RTA. Recommendations are separated into two categories: (1) Expansion of RTA Route 9 services and (2) Future RTA non-rider outreach.

This project is an assessment of social vulnerability to sea-level rise in the unincorporated coastal area of the County of San Luis Obispo (County) using geospatial and statistical analysis. The intention of this assessment is to inform local climate adaptation efforts now required by state legislation. A social vulnerability index was generated at the Census block group level using 32 variables positively correlated with social vulnerability. The social vulnerability score for each block group is the sum of scores generated for the following principle components: (1) race/ethnicity and disability status, (2) social isolation and age, (3) income, and (4) housing quality and dependence on social services. This study uses Geographic Information Systems software to map social vulnerability scores and building footprints attributed each block group in the coastal planning area. To provide a preliminary assessment of exposure to sea-level rise hazards, social vulnerability and buildings are overlaid with existing spatial datasets for inundation, bluff erosion, dune erosion, and wetland migration induced by sea-level rise in the year 2100. Implications for existing plans and further research include the incorporation of sea-level rise vulnerability into the general plan (safety, land use, and environmental justice elements in particular), local hazard mitigation plan, and local coastal programs.

In this thesis, in which urban and regional planning in South Africa was treated as a complex language game with a past of over one and a half century, it was argued that radical changes in the context in which this game is played, necessitate in-depth inquiries into its future. In addition to this, it was premised that a thorough understanding of the past is imperative for any probe into the future. Consequently the first part of the thesis was devoted to a cognitive mapping of the game's past, mainly by using the printed discourse of its players. The result of this endeavour was a composite map indicating where, how, by whom and according to which and whose rules the game had been played and how and why each of these had changed over time. In the second part of the thesis, in which three maps were produced, the focus shifted to the game's future. In the first of these three maps the context in which the game is played, the impact of this particular context on the game and vice versa, as well as the trends and tendencies impacting on this context, were mapped. By extrapolating these trends and tendencies it was possible to construct a range of possible and probable futures, which was done in the second map. Together with the composite map of the game's past, these two maps were then used to determine whether the game has a future, and if so, how this future could become a reality. In this inquiry it was concluded that there is a definite future for the game, the realisation of which, it was argued, requires the following from the players, viz (1) dislodging the game from its roots which are grounded in a form of modernism which treats modernity as a routine and giving it a critical modernist persuasion in which modernity is seen as an adventure, (2) regaining the fervour for the game which drove the pioneers of the game at its birth and (3) ensuring that there is a need and use for the niches/fields in which the game is played, that new niches/fields are created and that existing niches/fields created by others, are filled/entered by players of the planning game. While the study was primarily intended to make a contribution to the debate on the future of the language game of South African urban and regional planning, the maps of the game's past also contribute to the sparse literature on the history of the game, especially its founding years, which have to date, been virtually uncharted. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 1977. / gm2014 / Town and Regional Planning / unrestricted

Nothing can exist, live, survive or thrive without water. Water is the basis of life for all living organisms and the centre of life for all societies. The global attitude around water has become territorial as it encompasses an intricate link to the development of nations. Centralising main water supplies beyond urban boundaries may have improved the utilisation of water but has also resulted in the separation of society and water. Water is what gave rise to the city of Cape Town, as there was an abundance of rivers and springs located on and around Table Mountain. This water was first used by the Khoi people and became the reason for colonial settlers residing in the Cape. The City is currently experiencing the worst water crisis in over a century due to increased temperatures and decreased rainfall. Amid the water crisis there appears to be underused, freshwater below Cape Town's CBD, flowing to the Atlantic Ocean via the stormwater reticulation system. This water originates from Table Mountain's rivers, streams and, to an extent, springs. Naturally, the drought has sparked widespread concern for, and attention given to, water and its sustainable usage. This dissertation explores the ways in which the City's water, environmental and spatial planning policies could spark a new and improved water-culture within Cape Town to ensure sustainable, long-term water availability. This is done through investigating the potential of Oranjezicht in becoming a catalytic area for water sustainability due to the locations of the Field of Springs and the Platteklip Stream. This dissertation proposes using water sensitive urban design as well as integrated, collaborative partnerships and management mechanisms to encourage an improved urban water culture.

Many factors have prompted the adoption of partial-market exit strategies in retail as a means of reducing cost and minimizing risk. These mass closures have become more frequent in recent years. Marketers and economists have offered explanations for these closures linked to the rise of e-commerce, the real estate cycle and general changes in consumer taste. The research here marks an attempt to apply geospatial and econometric methods to better understand what factors explain the spatial variation of these closures across the United States. Specifically, the analysis examines the store networks of Sears, J.C. Penney and Macy's- large, established department stores that, collectively, announced over 100 closures at the beginning of 2017. By treating each store as a unit of observation, and a closure as a limited dependent variable, this analysis will attempt to quantify the relationship between place-specific factors and retail closures using Probit modeling. This application of modeling marks a deviation from traditional analyses in retail geography which, up until the early 2000s, have focused almost entirely on store development and growth. The results reveal patterns of spatial clustering of closures in and around the Rust Belt and demonstrate the strong negative effect of competitive agglomeration on the probability of closure.

Planning and managing outdoor recreational resources at larger spatial scales, conceptualized as a regional approach to recreation planning and management, is studied. Considering and understanding the role of spatial scale has been beneficial to the field of ecology; however, the importance of spatial scale has rarely been considered in the recreation resource management literature. A regional approach to planning and management is differentiated from a site-specific approach as managers and planners must consider the implications of management actions or policies at a larger spatial scale than a single park, recreation area, lake, or reservoir. For this study, the provision of boating opportunities at Utah lakes and reservoirs is considered. Multiple data collection techniques, both quantitative and qualitative, were applied in this study. Additionally, two distinct groups of respondents participated: (1) park managers and their staff; and (2) boaters (individuals who own boats registered in Utah). Data were collected at three different spatial scales: (1) lake or reservoir level (site); regional level; and (3) state level. Multiple analytical approaches were used to ascertain both groups' perspectives towards a variety of topics important to recreation management including content analysis and cluster analysis, as well as considering experience use history. The results suggest implementing a regional approach is more complicated and inclusive than providing a wide range of recreational opportunities. The organizational capacity of the managing agencies, along with their ability to cooperate with other governmental and private organizations, is also important. Also, considering larger spatial scales increases an agency's options to address various challenges such as conflict, displacement, recreation succession, and homogenization and sub-optimization. As such, when prescriptive decisions about where various recreational opportunities ought to be provided, management problems and issues and agency capacity should also be considered. This dissertation also provides a model for conducting regional analyses.

This research contributes to the field of land use planning by examining the effects of demographic trends--also known as demographic futures--on growth and development projections for seven communities in the Mojave Desert region of San Bernardino County, California. Demographic trends based on California Department of Finance projections and land development data supplied by the Southern California Association of Governments were obtained for each of the communities for the period between 1990 and 2001. By using a spatially explicit urban growth model, these trends and data were then used to allocate community-specific future growth for Adelanto, Apple Valley, Barstow, Hesperia, Twentynine Palms, Victorville, and Yucca Valley. The research compared three projected settlement densities for each community. These three densities were based on settlement trends between 1990 and 2001, on existing densities as of 2001, and on densities that had been derived from prior research in the Mojave Desert region as a whole. The overall effect of using demographic trends to estimate settlement densities results in less development of open space and undeveloped lands than under existing densities or densities derived from prior research. Indeed, using demographic trend-derived densities in place of existing densities resulted in nearly 3,900 more acres of vacant land in the seven communities remaining undeveloped by the year 2020. Similarly, using demographic trend-derived densities in place of densities developed by prior research resulted in nearly 22,000 more acres of vacant land in the seven communities remaining undeveloped by the year 2020. Differences in projected land use patterns based on demographic trends are a key point for land use planners to consider when determining future development in each of the communities. Accounting for these demographic trends provides a way of "fine tuning" projections to ensure that they are more representative of the needs and expectations of future populations.

Land-use planning takes into consideration geologic hazards in order to protect both life and property. One type of geologic hazard is mass movement. Mass movement is a collective term for the downslope movement of mass units of debris e.g., bedrock, soil, and subsurface material, resulting from the influence of gravity and involving transporting media such as ice, snow, water, and air. As population increases, further pressures are placed on existing land use. Many areas once considered unsuitable for development due to steep slope or other physical characteristics are now experiencing problems. These areas, due to their physical characteristics, can be susceptible to mass movement. The problem is, information related to the areal distribution of susceptibility is most often not available for input to the land-use planning process. This thesis is proposing a methodology to provide general-level mass movement susceptibility maps. The methodology is a computer application utilizing the Harvard I. M. G. R. l. D. (IMGRID) System. IMGRID is a system using grid cells as the basic units of data storage, analysis, retrieval, and display. Basically, the methodology consists of three major components or phases: (1) providing the computer with data acceptable to the machine and computer programs (input); (2) manipulation of the data and storage of map results within the machine's memory (processing); and (3) the retrieval and display of results (output). The processing of the data is organized around susceptibility models which generate computer maps identifying areas susceptible to mass movements. Areas susceptible to moss movements are defined as portions of the landscape characterized by a set of natural characteristics existing in a stable state which will yield a failure of the material if acted upon by an external or internal triggering event either natural or man-induced. The methodology was applied to a small area in Southwest Washington as a demonstration of how one mechanically follows it from beginning to end. Nine mass movement models were constructed based on the Varnes’ classification system and applied to a data bank containing eleven data variables. The susceptibility mops generated were analyzed to determine the significant mapping classes using the statistical output from IMGRID.

Urban containment programs may be evaluated in terms of a theory unifying contributions from the economic, geographic and political science disciplines. The unified theory shows that successful programs will segment the urban-rural land market, remove speculative use value of rural land, and result in the urban land market valuing greenbelt proximity as an amenity. A general model to test urban containment programs against the unified theory is developed and then modified for application to Salem, Oregon. Results are fourfold. First, a gap in the locus of urban and rural land values at the UGB indicates that segmentation of the urban-rural land market is associated with urban containment policies. Second, the simultaneous effect of imposing a UGB proximate to urban development and subjecting rural land to conservancy zoning is to remove the speculative value component of rural land and reveal Sinclair's (1967) underlying convex quadratic agricultural use land value gradient. This finding is important in two respects: (a) it confirms the possibility of Sinclair's gradient, which has not been supported empirically hitherto, and (b) it suggests that a program's success in preserving greenbelt land solely for agricultural uses can be evidenced if Sinclair's gradient is revealed. Third, the conditions under which a program may fail to preserve rural land from speculative behavior will be evidenced by the traditional negatively sloping land value gradient. Fourth, where urban development is proximate to a UGB delineating greenbelts, the urban land market will value its proximity as an amenity. This finding is important in two respects: (a) it suggests that proximity to privately owned greenbelts may be valued as an amenity in the urban land market, a finding which has not been reported empirically hitherto, and (b) if an urban land market has confidence in the ability of an urban containment program to prevent sprawl into greenbelts, then it will treat greenbelt proximity as an amenity. The unified theory and methodology developed by this dissertation are generalizable to the evaluation of other urban containment programs.