Thesis: M.C.P., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, 2017. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 107-109). / This client-based thesis analyzes Participatory Budgeting processes in two cities to help guide the institutional design of Boston Ujima Project's participatory allocation process. Grassroots-led organization Boston Ujima Project is developing a democratically-governed Capital Fund by integrating community participation in deliberation and decision-making at various stages of the investment process. Broadly speaking, the three democratic dimensions of the Fund are those that ensure meaningful participation by low-income communities of color most impacted by the investments, safeguard accountability to those communities, and integrate relevant forms of expertise, including residents' expertise, throughout the decision-making process. Drawing from case studies of Participatory Budgeting in Porto Alegre and New York City, this paper provides conceptual frameworks and recommendations for the institutional design of Ujima's participatory allocation process. / by Libbie D. Cohn. / M.C.P.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 99-103). / With the fast urbanization in contemporary China, "spontaneous" civic spaces rooted in the rural area-the spaces in which local people of different origins and paths of life can commingle without overt control by government, commercial or other private interests have been excluded from numerous newly planned and rebuilt villages/small towns. Current physical planning system is playing an important role in pushing this "modernization" process, called by the government. Through using the term "public space" rather than "civic space" in the national planning standards, which in Chinese context implies public ownership or direct management by the state, the development of civic spaces in the rural China is purposely or unintentionally adjusted away from its original direction in the west and away from the actual requirement of a healthy civil society. Through implementing physical plans based on these standards, the governments are actually assisting the process of intensifying surveillance and controls over "public spaces", and diminishing certain types of "spontaneous" civic spaces. To explore this emerging issue in the local-state context during modem time, the discussion begins by exploring the concept of civic space in China's natural growth settlements and its relationship to civil society, the state and economy. / (cont.) An effort to sum up the western definitions of civil society is made in order to figure out whether any Chinese definitions diverged from western definitions and whether China has ever had a "civil society." Despite most of scholars believed that civil society in China is a rather new phenomenon, both as a concept and as a reality, the author argues that for a long time, everyday forms of civil society and related civic spaces have existed in China's natural growth villages, in relation to state and economy. Given these clarifications, the author is trying to make a general summary on how the rise of civil society in the local community intersecting with China's modernization process can be observed in the local civic spaces. Different types of civic spaces in the natural growth villages will be identified as a means to contrast with "public space" in current national standards and its implementation. The author proposed the changing of language from "public space" to "civic space" to be the first step for providing "spontaneous" civic spaces toward a healthier civil society. Thus, incorporating the social development planning and planning review process as an extension and integral part into current physical planning system will ensure that the physical plan will take account of the "spontaneous" civic spaces and relevant social factors important to the local people. / (cont.) A participatory planning approach is stressed as a means of both improving the quality and implementability of the physical plans and giving local people more control over their own lives. / by Ming Guo. / M.C.P.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 375-391). / by Lucy Steson Gorham. / Ph.D.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning. Thesis. 1973. M.C.P. / Unnumbered leaf inserted between leaves 2 and 3. / Bibliography: leaves 217-230. / M.C.P.

Thesis: M.C.P., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, 2017. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 60-63). / This thesis explores the way that experiences of citizenship are specifically shaped at the city level in urbanized environments. The way that people navigate the city is often contingent upon varying degrees of access and justice in different areas of life activity. I argue that access to citizenship is as much an economic endeavor as it is a civic endeavor. With public space as the realm of social interaction and exchange, this research illustrates how citizenship, belonging, and identification is formed in the city space and is reflected in employment outcomes for Afro-Brazilian women. / by Obiamaka O. Ude. / M.C.P.

Thesis (S.M. and M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2005. / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 113-116). / The Boston Metropolitan Area is one of the most expensive places to live in the United States. In recent years studies have speculated that middle-income workers have had to endure increased commute times as they have moved farther away from their jobs in order to live in adequate housing that is affordable. These long commutes may signal shortage and demand for more housing that the area's workforce can afford in the Boston metro area. This thesis intends to substantiate or debunk some of the above claims using Eastern Massachusetts' teacher, nurse, firefighter, and policeman "key workers" as a proxy for middle-income workforce households, and to better understand where demand may be greatest for middle-income housing. Key workers provide essential education, heath, and community safety services fundamental to the long-term vitality of our cities and towns. Key workers would therefore likely be at the forefront of any new middle-income housing policy either at the town or state level. The analysis integrates both 2000 Census micro-level individual and micro-level household data by job location to provide a more accurate picture of affordability and demand on the household level for 165 communities in Eastern Massachusetts. / (cont.) Incorporating a spatial multi-dimensional approach beyond simplistic median incomes and median house price comparisons, this thesis layers additional pieces of critical individual and household data such as number of jobs by location, homeownership and rental rates, marriage rates, commute times, and housing types. Once mapped by 35 discrete areas to show distinctive area differences, this rigorous multi-dimensional analysis offers a more realistic and more accurate state of localized key worker housing demographics and demand. Particular attention is paid to 30-44 key worker rental households who are the most likely candidates for first time home purchases and Boston's estimated 8,720 key workers who both work and live in Boston. The City of Boston is an important focal point due to its 24% share of all full-time key worker jobs and residency requirements for many city employees. It is the recommendation of this thesis that the cities and towns whose key workers travel the longest commute times should investigate their current housing options vis-à-vis key worker household incomes and consider key worker housing programs and supply incentives in order to preserve quality cost effective key public services. / (cont.) Boston should also strongly weigh a key worker housing program if it hopes to strengthen its residency requirement and retain community stabilizing key worker and middle-income workforce households. / by Sean D. Sacks. / S.M.and M.C.P.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 97-106). / In June 1996, the US and Mexican press announced a unique partnership that sought to address the dramatic housing shortage in Ciudad JuAirez, Mexico. This public-private partnership involved construction companies, a major US multinational corporation, and the national Mexican housing agency. General Motors and its subsidiary, Delphi Automotive, formed a partnership with INFONAVIT, the Mexican worker-housing agency, that would provide 7000 housing credits to Delphi employees in 7 Mexican cities. Grupo Condak, a Mexican construction company, would build the homes with the financial backing of Pulte Mortgage Company, the largest US homebuilder at the time. The Mexican government has attracted foreign direct investment through the maquiladora program because of low labor costs due not only to low wages, but also because of low levels of employee benefits. Why then, would a foreign company voluntarily choose to increase employee benefits, implicitly as a substitute for increasing wages? This thesis will analyze the underlying incentive structure that brought about this unique housing partnership, and ultimately examine if this program is a desirable way of mitigating worker housing shortages in Mexico. Analyzing how the benefits of the program accrue to different actors sheds some light on the motives for starting the program. Although an evaluation of the program is not the main purpose of this thesis, this study will examine the benefits of housing program from the perspective of all participants. In particular, this research examines the incentives that prompted General Motors to offer housing benefits. If Employer-assisted housing is to be replicable, and if there is a future for other public-private partnerships in social interest housing, then understanding the firm's motives for participating in such a program is of critical importance. There are two mainstream hypotheses of why a private firm like Delphi might offer housing benefits. The reduction of employee turnover and associated training costs are the main reasons that Delphi Automotive cites as its incentives for starting the program. Additionally, the desire to generate a positive corporate image and the importance of public relations is a second prominent theory. This research will also examine more closely two alternative hypotheses on the motives of General Motors and Delphi Automotive in offering employer-assisted housing benefits in Mexico: 1) to discourage labor organizing in Mexico and to counteract the US labor force's anti-Mexico propaganda and 2) external pressure from the construction industry and US sources of capital interested in using Mexican government subsidies to create housing markets in Mexico. / by Rossana Dudziak. / M.C.P.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2011. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 217-224). / Do business transactions between individuals of different ethnicities lead to social spillovers, in terms of building trust, friendship, and reducing prejudice? In this dissertation I interrogate that research question through a study of business transactions in four industries in Trinidad-print & packaging, food & beverages, construction, and consumer retail. I employ a mixed methods research design, which places emphasis on qualitative analysis of interview data, supplemented with quantitative analysis of that data-obtained from approximately 200 interviews plus 180 surveys. I find that business transactions do build trust and friendship between individuals, but tend not to lead to changes in individuals' wider social attitudes, particularly in terms of ethnic prejudices and opposition to intermarriage. / by Austin Kilroy. / Ph.D.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1988. / Bibliography: v.2, leaves 406-420. / by Paul Joseph Smoke. / Ph.D.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture and City Planning, 1947. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 201-204). / by Robert Douglas Carpenter. / M.C.P.