This study, first, looks at the underlying causes of the housing problem in Iran, and second, examines the relationships of the number of housing co-ops in a region with the level of economic development and the need for decent and affordable housing in that region. / The census data on all 24 ostans (provinces) and 496 cities in Iran are used in this study. The results indicate that in more developed ostans, greater number of housing co-ops can be expected. However, other indicators such as the ostans' housing costs and the populations' incomes are also influential factors in explaining the variations in the number of housing co-ops. The less aggregate, city-level data also show that the presence of higher education institution in cities affects the mean number of housing co-ops in the city. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-12, Section: A, page: 4607. / Major Professor: Charles E. Connerly. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1993.

From its inception in 1967, the Kenyan national family planning program has suffered from a lack of popular support and confidence within the general population, absence of active local participation at all levels and, above all, the absence of male participation or neglect of men in the provision of family planning services in a country whose societies are predominantly patriarchal. / The present study uses a conceptual and theoretical framework based on data from the 1989 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey and measures the effects of the male role in family planning activities in Kenya. The study also provides analyses that can be used to identify the conditions under which opportunities for men to participate in family planning programs can be expanded. / The findings indicate that lack of communication between husbands and wives may be a greater obstacle to family planning than male opposition. Couples who discuss the subject of family planning are not only more likely to use contraception, but are also more likely to want to space, postpone or cease childbearing altogether and to use contraception to achieve these fertility goals. Hence, the largest gain in contraceptive use can occur if married couples openly, freely and regularly discuss the subject of family planning. Contraceptive use in Kenya is also a function of (1) residence in regions whose constituent communities adhere less to traditional patterns of reproductive behavior (Nairobi and the Central and Eastern regions), (2) higher levels of education for the husbands, (3) employment in higher status occupations, (4) higher levels of education for the wives, (5) women being in the middle of their reproductive ages, and (6) rural residence. Other factors seem to have little or no significant effect on contraception. / The study concludes that inclusion of male factors in the family planning program is not only crucial for more effective program performance, but is also an area of policy that should be among those consciously considered in the deliberative process of lowering fertility and reducing population growth. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-07, Section: A, page: 2572. / Major Professor: Bruce Stiftel. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1992.

Research indicates that mistakes in site selection in public and private facilities result in less than maximum potential effectiveness. For the public library, suboptimal location can mean reduced access and reduced user patronage. This study demonstrates a methodology for construction of location modelling for public library facilities in diverse urban environments. Six metropolitan library markets are included in the study. / The location models in this study are site-specific, practical, inexpensive, and useful planning tools for library managers facing a plethora of location-related problems that require analysis. / The study utilizes population, spatial, library use and library "attractiveness" variables to: (1) estimate the dispersion of the population and size of market areas; (2) to quantify use levels at an existing facility location based on the estimated market area; (3) to forecast use levels of other locations, i.e., for purposes of siting a new facility, or for closure or re-siting; and (4) to descriptively estimate potential use levels of targeted markets of sub-groups within the population in order to develop new services or to ascertain service levels at any given or new location. / Standard marketing planning and research methods are employed. A computerized geographic information system comprised of U.S. census data facilitated the analysis. / The research conducted and reported and reviewed in this study is meant to set a precedent regarding location analysis for public library facilities. The precedent is simply stated. Location of library facilities effects use and cannot be treated in a cursory or descriptive manner. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-12, Section: A, page: 3939. / Major Professor: Mary Alice Hunt. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.

The development of computer-based modeling systems has allowed the operationalization of cognitive science issues. Artificial intelligence, the emulation of high-level human capability on the computer, has led to incorporation of systems that model human behavior. Human cognition has become one of the most interested research areas. An approach to handle human cognition by means of personal construct systems is presented in this dissertation. / The dissertation describes a methodology well-suited for designing of a non-traditional knowledge-based system to evaluate personal cognition derived in urban planning as an application field. The research investigates how to elicit and represent cognitive knowledges obtained from individual urbanites through the application of fuzzy relational theory to personal construct theory and repertory grid techniques. / Crucial to this research is to formalize and process the psychological cognition of the urbanites who interact with an urban environment in order to offer useful advice on urban problem. What is needed is a technique to analyze cognitive structures called Hasse diagrams which are instantiations of these perceptive knowledges of human being. This requires a theory of similarity to deal with underlying problems; identification of individual cognitive structures, comparison of structures and investigation of a group of structures. Unlike standard approaches to similarity based on the statistical techniques, the method presented employs a fuzzy relational approach which centers on the fuzzy set theory and fuzzy logic, to cover issues of similarity and dissimilarity. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-08, Section: B, page: 4427. / Major Professor: Wyllis Bandler. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.

This thesis work addresses two research questions regarding sustainability that may be of interest to the planning profession, namely, is it useful and meaningful to measure the sustainability of residential neighborhoods in terms of their long-term viability? And if it is, is it then feasible to design an instrument for measuring neighborhood sustainability that can be used to inform neighborhood-scale planning and decision making? Interpreting from a review of planning literature regarding sustainability at the neighborhood scale that efforts to measure neighborhood sustainability provide insight and knowledge to planners about neighborhood conditions, I followed a step wise process to construct an instrument. This process involved defining sustainability as is relevant at neighborhood scale, identifying forces that influence it, defining the unit of analysis for the measurement instrument, and operationalizing the instrument. It is my conclusion that while it is feasible to construct an instrument for measuring sustainability, it is through additional research work outside of the graduate thesis that such an instrument can successfully be constructed. Due to time and resource constraints, I have only been able to develop an instrument of measurement that may be useful to planners chiefly as a heuristic tool rather than a policy making analytic tool. / Thesis / Master

Dans l'histoire contemporaine de la France, on désigne couramment par ‘Les trente glorieuses' la période qui, courant de 1945 à 1975 environ, fut marquée par un développement économique intense et une évolution sociale et politique rapide et profonde. Cette période fut aussi celle d'une forte urbanisation.De nombreuses politiques relevant de l'aménagement du territoire ont alors été mises en œuvre, ayant généralement pour objectif ‘l'équilibre' du territoire français. De manière comparable, la Chine est entrée dans une phase d'urbanisation rapide depuis les années 1990. Simultanément, une série de planifications régionales ayant pour l'objet de ‘l'équilibre' ont commencé à émerger. Dans cette perspective, les expériences françaises en matière d'aménagement du territoire sont importantes et utiles pour éclairer une recherche approfondie sur la Chine d'aujourd'hui et de demain. C'est l'objectif principal de la thèse.Afin d'atteindre cet objectif, la thèse est divisée en deux parties. Premièrement, résumer le processus d'évolution de l'aménagement du territoire français au cours des ‘trente glorieuses', et en apprécier a posteriori les effets sur le développement du pays. Deuxièmement, faire un bilan du processus de développement lancé en Chine après 1978 (le début de la réforme faisant suite à de nombreuses années d'agitation politique), identifiant les planifications régionales et les problèmes qu'elles traitent, pour enfin tirer quelques enseignements pour la Chine de l'expérience française.Au terme de la synthèse, de l'analyse et de l'évaluation de l'aménagement du territoire français pendant ‘les trente glorieuses', nous trouvons que leurs contenus et leurs effets sont complexes, et qu'ils ont changé au fil des ans avec l'évolution du contexte économie, social et politique. Les politiques d'aménagement du territoire ont exercé un effet positif éminent sur le processus de développement et ses suites. A cette fin, la planification régionale a du identifier les facteurs décisifs et résoudre les problèmes majeurs au cours des différentes phases de développement.Afin de désigner et de mieux résoudre les problèmes de la Chine pendant la période actuelle de développement rapide qui est aussi une phase d'urbanisation rapide, nous proposons quelques propositions à la fin de la thèse. Elles touchent : 1. le choix de l'objectif majeur de l'aménagement du territoire ; 2. l'offre de services publics aux migrants par le gouvernement ; 3. le maintien de la position compétitive des grandes villes ; 4. la recherche de l'équilibre des agglomérations urbaines ; 5. le développement de l'espace rural ; 6. la création de pôles de croissance ; 7. les choix de localisation et d'aménagement du logement social. / The '30 glorious years' is a period of great development (i.e. economy, society, and politics), when France went through and completed the phase of rapid urbanization. During the period, a considerable number of regional planning with the aim of ‘balance' was established and implemented in France. In similar, after a long period of development, China met the period of rapid urbanization in the late 1990s and a series of regional planning with the ‘balance' feature begin to emerge almost at the same time. The experiences regarding regional planning in France are quite meaningful to do some further research, in order to draw some useful lessons for China nowadays and in the future, which is the main purpose of the thesis. For reaching the goal, the whole thesis could mainly be divided into two parts: 1. Summarize the evolution process of French regional planning during the '30 glorious years', and analyze the effect and development after implementation of regional planning during and after the important period; 2. Conclude the development of China after the open-up policy, the existing regional planning and certain related problems, and present several implication for China finally, based on the experiences of France. After summarizing, analyzing and evaluating French regional planning during the '30 glorious years', we find that the content of regional planning changed with the evolution of background (i.e. economy, society, and politics). And the regional planning with obvious, positive effect all belonged to these which follow and predict the process and the inherent law of development. Therefore, regional planning should catch and foresee the decisive factor and solve the major problems during different phases of development. In order to make China avoid of or solve some important problems during the period of rapid development (also a period of rapid urbanization), we propose some implications for China's regional planning in the end. It includes: 1. the major objective of regional planning; 2. the provision by government for migrants; 3. the method for big cities to keep their vitality; 4. the ‘balance' development of urban agglomeration; 5. the healthy development of rural area; 6. the creation of growth pole; 7. the choice of location for public housing

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1982. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH / Includes bibliographical references. / by Craig Scott Barnes. / M.C.P.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1980. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Bibliography: leaves 389-415. / by Zmarak M. Shalizi. / Ph.D.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1980. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Bibliography: leaves 156-163. / by Kit Fong Teoh. / M.C.P.