The general paucity of evaluation of development initiatives, particularly in the African context, demands that the role of evaluation in the development process is promoted. In essence, this follows when a sound understanding of development issues and the dynamics of evaluation have been acquired. After setting out the general parameters of development and evaluation and giving a brief description of the wider church's involvement in development, three church-related development projects are evaluated. A Rapid Rural Appraisal of the development proposals for the farms, Springvale and Modderspruit, belonging to the Anglican Diocese of Natal, highlights issues inhibiting the intended development process. A summative evaluation of basic human needs illustrates the impact that Africa Cooperative Action Trust (ACAT) has had on the Emzumbe district and recommends necessary extensions to its present programme. These three evaluations serve to accentuate the role evaluation ought to have in the development process. / Development Studies / M.A. (Development Administration)

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

No description available.

No description available.

MSc, School of Architecture and Planning, Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, 2002

Thesis (M.A.)--Ohio University, June, 2006. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references (p. 96-100)

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 1999. / Chairperson: Kam Wing Chan. Includes bibliographical references.

This thesis evaluates the comparison between China¡¦s Township and Village Enterprises (TVEs) and Philippines¡¦ Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). TVEs and SMEs are considered ¡§economic equity¡¨ programs of the two countries that serve both as a fiscalizer of the adverse effects of rapid urbanization and as poverty alleviation industry, more specifically in the rural areas. Both economic equities play an important role in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contribution and employment rate. Although the two countries differ in some aspects, the author compared two regions from each country, namely Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in China and SOCSKSARGEN Region in the Philippines, to situate the shared commonalities and differences that may affect their economic performance. From the data gathered, the research proceeded to evaluate the reasons for the slow growth of SMEs in the Philippines as compared with the TVEs in Mainland China. The rural industrialization was viewed from the perspective of three important factors: societal, economic, and government policy support. After examining these three factors, China¡¦s TVEs proved to be successful because all the three factors have been favorable to them. On the Philippines¡¦ side, despite all the government support and economic opportunities attendant to it such as its richness in natural resources and good trade access to major foreign markets, there seemed to be sluggish economic growth brought about by societal factors like massive poverty in the rural areas, lack of skills and entrepreneurial capabilities, and other factors such as the prevalence of armed conflicts between the government and the various threat groups in some regions. Furthermore, this paper has driven home the point as exhaustively shown in the discussions in Chapter 4 that - ¡§the more successful China¡¦s TVEs and Philippines¡¦ SMEs are, the better for the rural development of the country¡¨. China has proven this after the 1978 reforms when in 1990 TVEs dramatically rose 13 times more from its 1979 level - that is from 1.4 million to 18.5million. This included other factors of growth like output value, employment and taxes remitted. While the features of the 1978 reforms - open door policy, decollectivization and decentralization, among others, were macro policies which fertiled the soil for rural industrialization in China, its TVEs growth was in a SULNAM (Spontaneous, Unorganized, Leaderless, Non-ideological, Apolitical Movement) phenomenon. Thus, it was more of societal and economic factors with the local government providing the policy support. Undeniably, it is one of the strong pillars of China¡¦s economic growth and social-equity considering that 800 million of the 1.3 billion population of China is in the countryside.

This thesis analyzed the process of rural urbanization in Mainland China about the driven forces behind it, powerful player within it and impacts from it and seeks to conclude the emergent issues of environment, society and economy regarding the enormously growth of rural urbanization. Based on the research, the thesis concluded that the rural urbanization pattern is leading to a chaotic urbanized future of condensed urban fabric and urban villages and suggests that by creating a new approach of rural urbanization combining ecological concern and economic reformation, the negative impact of rural urbanization can be reduced and terminated. Then the thesis selected case studies in the North China Plain in Beijing Municipality to further examine the impacts of rural urbanization on local communities and ecology and to test the new approach proposed based on the site situations on rural urbanization that is controlled and regulated by landscape facility. The landscape facility is the core idea of new rural urbanization pattern that combines economic reformation and ecological compensation together as well as brings opportunities for different powerful players in the process of rural urbanization to negotiation through spatial design. / published_or_final_version / Architecture / Master / Master of Landscape Architecture

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Social Sciences