Magister Philosophiae - MPhil / The purpose of the study is to examine the functions of provinces in South Africa and their respective comparative advantages from 2013 to 2017, in terms of employment absorption. It is predicted or assumed that there are considerable spatial disparities in the functions and comparative advantage profiles among provinces, some of them performing highly sophisticated functions and being comparatively better in terms of labour market outcomes than others. It is also assumed that this comes as a result of spatial preferences in location of firms.

Transport and mobilities contribute majorly to our global emissions of greenhouse gas, while at the same time is necessary for citizens to travel for jobs and recreation. A shift of more sustainable development is adopted within the EU and sustainable mobilities play a key part in this. Both for societal growth but also mitigation. Regional organizations usually take care of the questions of transport within the region, but how can local circumstances and municipal planning for a shift towards a more sustainable development in a northern environment look like? And what local circumstances need to be considered? Especially when there can be organizational limitations. This descriptive study aims to answer that through a deductive document analysis of official documents and interviews with officials from different municipalities, which is coded thematically from a theoretical framework of previous studies. In this process, the term “access to mobility” is also constructed to clarify what this study aims to describe within those broad fields. Circumstances that were present were found usually concluded in prolonged distances and complexities for alternative choices of mobilities than the car. On top of this measures were focused on decreasing distances and time, while at the same time encouraging citizens to use and value more sustainable mobilities, since these are seen to contribute to all dimensions of sustainable development.

The urban population has rapidly grown in recent years, consequently creating challenges for sustainable development. To achieve sustainability, economic, ecological, and social sustainability are required to be in balance. However, social sustainability is often argued to be challenging and complex that lacks a common definition, creating a de-prioritization of social sustainability in urban development. This master’s thesis aimed to provide a higher prioritization and establish a common definition of the concept through the development of a framework for measuring social sustainability of urban space in a Swedish context. This framework aimed to benefit the spatial planning practice when developing urban spaces socially sustainable.    Through a literature review, a policy analysis, and interviews conducted with spatial planners from Stockholm and Gothenburg, a foundation of a framework was created based on a set of indicators and sub-indicators. The research resulted in one main indicator creating the foundation of Swedish social sustainability, followed by two categorizations of physical respective non-physical factors each containing several indicators and sub-indicators for social sustainability. The result indicated that Swedish social sustainability partly differed from the general approach of the concept through its emphasis within a few indicators, but generally approached similar indicators as within existing research. Further, the research redirected the stated challenge regarding the lack of a common definition of social sustainability towards the suggested main challenge regarding a lack of a common understanding. The proposed foundation of a framework was argued to meet the stated challenge through the understanding of different aspects of importance within social sustainability.    Lastly, the master’s thesis questioned the practice of measuring social sustainability and the consequences that would follow such measures. The research showed that social sustainability could be measured but the question remained whether it should. However, the research indicated that the implementation of such framework would benefit the spatial planning practice to a certain extent.

The aim of my graduation theses is the analysis of spatial planning legislation in the Czech Republic between 1945 and present. In the theoretical part I have explained basic terms and the legal regulation of spatial planning and I have presented individual concepts of spatial planning legislation since 1945. Besides the comparison of the basic concepts of spatial planning, the practical part mainly deals with the analysis of the relation of spatial and strategic plans. I have defined the main differences between these documents and compared whether it is advantageous for the municipality to start with a spatial plan or a strategic plan. Furthermore, I have focused on the creation and the content of the spatial plan of Domažlice, focusing on the compliance of legislation in the area of spatial planning, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of current legislation and the weaknesses of the spatial plan in Domažlice. Finally, I have indicated my own suggestions on how to improve the situation.

This study aims at identifying on a concrete example the possible transfer of methods from strategic spatial planning to lower scales of planning like urban programming or operational planning of construction sites. Strategic spatial planning is a participatory and open method establishing the basis for cooperation between public and private stakeholders to achieve what is defined by said stakeholders as the best evolution for the territory it is dealing with, it relies on tools and processes like territorial diagnosis, thematic workshops and roundtables; Objectives are more qualitatively than quantitatively defined to allow flexibility to adapt to internal and external changes. This paper considers the territory of Lyon conurbation, France, as its territory of focus and particularly the redevelopment project of its central business district and multimodal hub, Part-Dieu. The planning of Lyon conurbation was in the 80s at the vanguard of strategic planning in France. Driven by Lyon urban planning agency and Grand Lyon, the local authority in charge of the area, under the pressure of local economic actors, Lyon conurbation acquired and integrated new tools and methods from strategic spatial planning. The hypothesis of this study is that, from then on, strategic planning methods and processes got transferred from the field of pure strategic spatial planning to the lower notches of the decision-making chain leading to the realization of a project: the stage of the programming of a neighborhood – the Part-Dieu district – and the stage of the operational planning of a construction or redevelopment operation. This study puts forward the following reasoning to explain this transfer of methods: an acculturation process to the collaborative and qualitative methods of strategic spatial planning took place in the territory of Lyon conurbation. It happened between the corporate cultures of spatial planning and those of urban program design and construction operation management. However, more than a way to really involve all stakeholders in the decision-making process in a bottom-up approach, this study suggests that the use of these methods at the stage of construction/redevelopment operation management is more of a facade to make stakeholders better accept decisions already taken by experts and/or public authorities. One could talk about a top-down approach disguised as a bottom-up approach.

This research explores the challenges the Namibian government faces in the planning process when implementing policies for strategic spatial planning (SSP). The study considers the entire Namibian planning process which primarily is governed top-down but has since independence adopted policies to decentralize power. Thus, this process has been slow and resulted in constant changes in governance settings and responsibilities. The aim of the research is, therefore, to assess the evolving nature of the governance structure in Namibia’s SSP system, and to enhance its impact on postcolonial planning strategies against urban sprawl. The rapid development of urban sprawl has been selected because it is one of the major contemporary issues for SSP practices, extending across multiple jurisdictions and demanding stakeholder coordination. The support question focuses on the nature of Namibia's governance structure in SSP and how it has evolved from the colonial to postcolonial eras. The following research questions explore the effectiveness of spatial strategies for urban sprawl and the communication links within the governance system, as well as the impact of statutory plans for SSP. Together they aim to answer if Namibia is facing challenges in the implementation of SSP, and if so, what can be done to improve the situation.  The methods for data collection consist of semi-structured interviews and a document study. The data enables a comprehensive understanding of the Namibian planning system related to the research questions. The results are analyzed through a theoretical framework with three main themes: land use intentions, governance processes, and external conditions. Identifying relevant planning strategies, hierarchies, and power relations. The empirical material consists of 11 interviews. Six of these are made with officials from all planning levels; the national, regional, and local, and the others by key informants. Key informants are experts on Namibia’s planning system and political climate. This is complemented by an analysis of public planning documents used for spatial planning, referred to by the respondents.  The result shows that decentralization from the national to subnational planning levels has taken place to a certain extent, although the autonomy among local and regional planning authorities is limited. This is because of the national government's reluctance to surrender control over the economy as well as due to a local lack of knowledge about strategy-making for land use. Furthermore, the main issues are the lack of strategic plans that coordinates and guides SSP, weak communication links between government levels, and the gap between political initiatives for decentralization and the subnational demand. The lack of communication links affects the governance process between planning levels as well as the coordination inside each government. This prolongs decision-making and connects to the gap between the national intentions for decentralization and the weak local demand for it. Moreover, the partial decentralization has confused stakeholders by delegating responsibility without the actual mandate to act, leading to limited strategies and poor execution of actions against urban sprawl. External pressures from international agencies influencing the governance process also add to the challenges for postcolonial planning. The thesis suggests several improvement opportunities to increase the implementation rate of spatial strategies. These include strengthened support systems from the national to the subnational level, alignment among strategic plans, and stronger communication links to improve governance processes. External pressures could become a more rewarding asset if international involvement began to support local knowledge instead of channeling Western ideals. These understandings matter because they provide theories of the urban with a global south narrative instead of the dominant Western perspective of governance, decentralization, and SSP.

Denna studie handlar om hur kommuner med olika förutsättningar arbetar med medborgardeltagande. Studien grundas på antagandet att en mindre kommun med svaga resurser kan få svårigheter i arbetet med medborgardeltagande. Detta antagande utreds i en jämförelse mellan en kommun som arbetar med ett enskilt plankontor och två kommuner av liknande storlek som samarbetar med en gemensam stadsbyggnadsförvaltning. Forskningen har fokuserat på hur planarkitekterna själva upplever att arbetet med medborgardeltagandet har fungerat i deras kommun. För att komplettera planerarnas åsikter behandlas också kommunala dokument i studien. Arbetet är en del av kandidatprogrammet Fysisk Planering och handlar om medborgardeltagande som är en viktig del av den fysiska planeringen. I uppsatsen går det att läsa om de kommuner som har valts ut, deras bakgrund, hur de arbetar med medborgardialoger samt vilka skillnader som finns mellan de två fallen. Då det ena fallet innefattar två kommuner som samarbetar inom planeringsområdet finns det också i uppsatsen utredningar kring hur kommuner kan samverka, hur samarbetet ser ut i det här fallet samt hur en sådan samverkan kan påverka arbetet med medborgardeltagandet. / This study is about how municipalities with different qualifications are working with citizen participation. The study is based on the assumption that a small sized municipality with weak resources may have difficulties in the work of civic participation. This assumption is further investigated with a comparison between a municipality working with an individual planning office and two municipalities of similar size that collaborate with a mutual office for urban management. The research is focusing on how the planners themselves feel that the civic participation has worked in their municipality. Municipal documents are also used in this study next to the planners’ opinions to complete what might be missing. The study is part of the bachelor program Fysisk Planering (Spatial planning) and therefore the study includes civic participation which is a very important part of spatial planning. In the paper you can read about the municipalities that have been selected, their background, how they work with civic participation and what differences there are between the cases. Because of the fact that one of the cases includes two municipalities that cooperate in the planning field there is also a focus in the study on how this cooperation could look like, how it works in this case and at last how a cooperation like this can affect the work of the citizen participation in the municipalities.

I denna uppsats har det utretts hur Stockholm, Göteborg och Malmö har betonat cyklism och tagit fram riktlinjer för framtida utveckling. För att möjliggöra en utvärdering av deras arbeten sattes i forsknings- och kunskapsöversikten upp riktlinjer som berör cykelns fördelar, vad som påverkar trafikvalet samt cykeln ur ett planeringsperspektiv där det bland annat utreds hur internationellt framgångsrika cykelstäder förhåller sig till cyklism. Med översikten som grund blev det därmed möjligt att analysera hur väl och på vilket sätt de tre svenska städerna planerar för cyklar. Examensarbetet har bedrivits som en flerfallsstudie där de undersökta fallen har analyserats och satts i relation till varandra för att därmed möjliggöra en identifiering av likheter och skillnader. Den applicerade metoden har varit innehållsanalys, empirin har därmed djupgranskas.I fallstudien identifierades att alla städerna planerar för en ökad cykeltrafik med flera av de strategier som applicerats i cykelframgångsrika länder. Malmö som har en längre cykeltradition har kommit längre i arbetet än Stockholm och Göteborg. Alla städerna har dock som mål att en större andel av resorna i framtiden ska ske med cykel. För att uppnå detta mål ska både hårda och mjuka åtgärder vidtas i form av fysisk planering samt beteendeförändringar. Inte förrän detta sker kommer resmönstren att förändras.

Det är viktigt att alla kan känna sig fria att använda den fysiska miljön. För det krävs bl.a. en god tillgänglighet. År 2001 antog riksdagen en nationell handlingsplan för handikappolitiken som ger riktlinjer om ökad tillgänglighet bl.a. ska enkelt avhjälpta hinder åtgärdas senast år 2010. Rent konkret ledde planen bl.a. till Boverkets föreskrifter och allmänna råd som anger att enkelt avhjälpta hinder ska vara åtgärdade senast år 2010. I examensarbetet har jag undersökt om tillgängligheten gäller hela vägen, d.v.s. mellan samt vid olika målpunkter. Genom att granska några viktiga service- och rekreationsmålpunkter i Båstad tätort har det på flera ställen visat sig flaskhalsar som hindrar hela vägens framkomlighet eller orienterbarhet. En viktig slutsats av arbetet är att nyckeln till god tillgänglig miljö är att hitta de svaga punkterna. / Samtliga kartor i dokumentet har givits publiceringstillstånd.

This thesis applies concepts and techniques in geography in order to contribute to our understanding of the opportunities and challenges associated with the transition toward renewable energy. The work is best understood as the sum of two parts. In the first part, the methodological and philosophical underpinnings of the field of energy geography are explored in order to situate the research in the broader constellation of geographical practices surrounding energy. I make the case that energy transitions are not merely shifts in energy supply but are also simultaneously fundamental shifts in prevailing spatial relations, so that energy transition management is best conceived as a spatial strategy with emphasis on regional level land-energy planning. In the second part of the thesis, I aim to provide decision support in favour of this spatial strategy. This begins in Chapter 4 with a comprehensive critical review of how GIScience and remote sensing has been applied in RE assessments and spatial planning. The next three chapters engage key gaps in this literature and are the analytical contributions of the thesis. The focus of the research is on biomass and solar energy in (eastern) Ontario. In Chapter 5 I develop geographically explicit supply-cost curves for forestry and agricultural biomass and assess the relative merits of a mixed biomass feedstock stream. In Chapter 6 I recognize and address the issue that developers of dedicated bioenergy crops and ground-mount solar PV systems prefer the same type of land. Land-energy trade-offs are modeled and their implications in the context of incentivizing RE development are discussed. In Chapter 7 I explore ways in which targeted facility siting can capture ancillary benefits related to RE production. I argue that focusing on the benefits as well as the costs of system siting is critical to linking developer and public interests. Ontario’s feed-in tariff program is evaluated in the light of this claim. Chapter 8 concludes with a summary of key findings and describes the ways in which this thesis can be used as a platform upon which a broader research program can be raised. / Thesis (Ph.D, Geography) -- Queen's University, 2013-07-03 00:36:53.142