This paper presents a microsimulation model of the rental sector in the Greater Toronto (GTA). The main contributions of this research are that it develops a conceptual framework for modeling housing issues and policies, and implements a rental model within the Integrated Land Use, Transport, and Environment (ILUTE) framework developed at the University of Toronto. The key components of the rental model include: (1) the production of rental units; (2) a tenure choice model; (3) a rent setting model; and (4) a rental market model. The rental model is simulated yearly from 1986 till 2006. The preliminary results are presented for the number of households renting, the average rent per census tract, and the number of renter households facing affordability issues. Two areas of future research are proposed that seek: (1) to improve the current model’s accuracy; and (2) to develop a more dynamic model.

Thesis (B.A.(Hons.))--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Geography, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 186-190).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 111-114).

Proefschrift -- Technische Universiteit Delft. / Includes bibliographical references.

0 / SPK / specialcollections@tulane.edu

This research designs a purchasing decision support system (PDSS) to assist real-world decision makings on whether to purchase or to sub-hire for equipment shortfalls problem, and to avoid shortage loss for rental business. Research methodology includes an extensive literature review on decision support systems, rental industry, and forecasting methods. A case study was conducted in a rental company to learn the real world problem and to develop the research topics. A data converter is developed to recover the missing data and transform data sets to the accumulative usage data for the forecasting model. Simulations on a number of forecasting methods was carried out to select the best method for the research data based on the lowest forecasting errors. A hybrid forecasting approach is proposed by adding company revenue data as a parameter, in addition to the selected regression model to further reduce the forecasting error. Using the forecasted equipment usage, a two stage PDSS model was constructed and integrated to the forecasting model and data converter. This research fills the gap between decision support system and rental industry. The PDSS now assists the rental company on equipments buy or hire decisions. A hybrid forecasting method has been introduced to improve the forecasting accuracy significantly. A dada converter is designed to efficiently resolve data missing and data format problems, which is very common in real world.

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

This thesis deals with reconstruction of a specific apartment building in Brno-Zidenice. The aim of this thesis is to find out if the investment into reconstruction of the building in this specific area has paid off. To be able to look into this issue, the following method was used: All the reconstruction phases as well as the decision making process are described step by step. After analyzing the reconstruction itself, the cost and revenue valuation is done for both cases - for the building before and after the reconstruction. Having both values, the evaluation of the investment was performed. The results show that the value of the building increased substantially, the investment is profitable and the owner is achieving the expected revenue. Therefore it can be assumed that similar investments into similar building in this area will be profitable.

Shui, Chi Wai. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 60-61). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.ii / 摘要 --- p.iii / Acknowledgements --- p.iv / Chapter Section 1: --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter Section 2: --- Data --- p.4 / Chapter Section 3: --- Models and Methodology --- p.7 / Chapter 3.1 --- Specific Model --- p.7 / Chapter 3.2 --- Comparative Model --- p.10 / Chapter 3.3 --- Estimation of the Household Time Value and Household Shadow Wage --- p.11 / Chapter Section 4: --- Results --- p.15 / Chapter 4.1 --- Results of the Specific Model --- p.15 / Chapter 4.2 --- Results of the Comparative Model --- p.18 / Chapter Section 5: --- Conclusion --- p.23 / Appendix: --- p.24 / References: --- p.60

A persistent gap exists between established federal, state, and local standards for housing habitability and the condition of rental housing. The condition persists despite local code enforcement mechanisms, leaving significant potential to improve housing. Such housing can have adverse impacts on people's physical and mental health, economic stability, education, crime, community development, and municipal budgets. The purpose of this case study was to identify factors that create and perpetuate the problem, make it difficult to resolve, and to identify policy actions with the potential to help mitigate it. Rational choice theory and public choice theory formed the framework to analyze motivations and behaviors of policy makers, policy enforcers, policy influencers, and renters who are affected by policy. Data were collected through 23 semi-structured interviews with city officials, property owners, local housing advocates, low-income renters, investigative reporters, and legal aid attorneys. Interview data were open coded and subjected to a thematic analysis. Themes emerging from the study include lack of accountability for owners and renters, barriers to adequate local code enforcement, financial and investment practices that place properties into the hands of owners who fail to maintain them, historical influences related to construction practices and changing ownership patterns, broader costs to families and the community, and external influences related to economic and demographic trends. The positive social change implications stemming from this study include recommendations for policy makers to address factors that create and perpetuate this type of housing, strengthen code enforcement, and ensure habitable housing for all citizens regardless of their income.