The severity and frequency of flooding-related catastrophes are increasing, and lands adjacent to rivers that were formerly the hub for city growth and commerce now face constant threats of flooding. As flood risks have become more at the forefront of legislative consciousness, with governments increasing flood-protection and mitigation measures for flood-prone areas, landowners within such areas are left with little support and direction for their lands. In exploring the issues facing landowners within flood-prone lands, this practicum focuses on whether governments should be directly involved in finding solutions for landowners to ensure a situation where both private landowners and governments benefit. The research concludes that development within flood-prone areas should be avoided, and that municipalities should, given adequate capacity and ability, relocate existing residents from flood-prone areas to repurpose the area for flood-mitigation measures. The research recommends that the City of Brandon become a member, and participate in the Red River Basin Commission, while also exploring opportunities to play a leadership role in the implementation of a similar commission for the Assiniboine River Basin. / February 2017

<p> The Village Market is a nonprofit Healthy Corner Store that has been open since May of 2011 in the mixed-use, mixed-income New Columbia housing development in Portland, Oregon&rsquo;s Portsmouth neighborhood. The venture began as a &ldquo;community-led&rdquo; effort in partnership with Janus Youth Programs and Home Forward. The project was conceived after a private enterprise in the small grocery space designed into the development failed, leaving the neighborhood without easy access to healthy foods. This dissertation is a case study of the development process, the operation of the market, and the degree to which it addresses food justice and health equity concerns, among others, of residents. It is a case study of the Healthy Corner Store movement that uses food regime theory and political economy perspectives to critically examine the translation of Healthy Corner Store movement theory into practice, highlighting the perspectives of New Columbia residents on the endeavor. It explores the transition of the store from a community-led project to a management-led social enterprise, and the impacts of that approach on local autonomy, food justice, health equity as well as its successes and shortcomings. The store&rsquo;s situation in a mixed-income community meant that it had a particularly diverse set of expectations to navigate, and the changes to the store over time reflect Village Market&rsquo;s growing understanding of the implications of that situation but also a limited capacity to accommodate residents&rsquo; differing tastes and the price sensitivity that many of them exhibit in their shopping habits.</p>

During the 1970s, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) developed into an important tool for integrating environmental information into decision making for project developments. Its use at the policy and plan level has not proceeded with such rapidity although its desirability at these higher levels of decision-making has been widely acknowledged. In the UK, EIA has been used in project assessment but little consideration has been given to its application to forward planning for land use. This research examines the hypothesis that environmental consequences (biophysical and socio economic) are not explored adequately in UK land use policy and plan-making and that EIA can be integrated into the existing system to ameliorate this deficiency. The essential substantive and procedural components of EIA are identified and practical developments at the policy and plan level in the US, Canada and the Netherlands are examined to enable comparison with UK achievements in integrating environmental information in land use policy-making. Statutory requirements for UK structure and local plans already necessitate the collection of a wide range of environmental data and the plan-making procedure does not prevent the identification of impacts. However, traditional formal planning evaluation methods use ad hoc inputs of- environmental information and do not take an exploratory approach to impact identification. A range of EIA methods is available dealing with impact identification, that would appear to be complementary to traditional plan evaluation methods. In practice formal evaluation methods have not been extensively used in UK structure and local plan-making so case studies of plans developed using informal evaluation are examined. A checklist based on the Battelle Environmental Evaluation System is used to compare the environmental content of four plans. In two of these plans the planners have no experience of EIA (normative examples), while in the other two cases, planners involved in their preparation have knowledge of the use of EIA in local projects. An attempt is made to use an EIA method in one of the cases. In procedural terms the case studies reveal that prediction of policy impacts are not usually undertaken at a discrete stage of plan preparation. Instead, policies are formulated as the optimum answer to problems, given constraints, which renders the production of alternatives redundant. Comparison of policy output from the two types of cases reveals similarities in landscape and built environment conservation policies but heightened awareness to risk, hazard and pollution aspects in the EIA influenced plans. Two models of the integration of EIA into multi-dimensional land use plan-making are presented. However, EIA would appear to have a more appropriate role in policy/plan review which is of increasing importance in the evolving UK planning system.

In the late nineteenth century, and the first seventy years of the twentieth, municipal enterprise in utilities was one of the major functions of local authorities. The process by which Aberdeen took its tramways into municipal ownership is examined, and contrasted with experience in Glasgow Management and direction of the Transport Department by professional managers and politicans was an issue throughout its history. After the First World War, the Department had to deal with pressures of competition and renewal of assets when Aberdeen was undergoing rapid change in population distribution as central areas were cleared and new housing was constructed in outlying areas. The influence of central government became more marked through the financing and planning of these housing estates, and the local government structures in Aberdeen were placed under increasing strain. The failure to co-ordinate planning, housing and transport resulted in fragmented decision-making, and the lack of a transport strategy in particular led to serious mistakes in transport planning and investment. The direction of transport policy was also affected by external factors, including concerns about road safety and traffic congestion. The decision to abandon the tramways is examined in some depth, and it is concluded that their abandonment should have been undertaken earlier, avoiding needless fleet renewal. In the post-tramway period the difficulties facing the Transport Department, of dealing with falling demand and the need to reduce costs, are examined. Throughout the study, the influence of local politicians on decision-making, and the influence of local critics of their policies, are considered.

A personal social learning experience in itself, the thesis articulates the territory/function dialectic as an alternative, social learning paradigm of regional development planning. The current crisis affecting this activity is firstly diagnosed, the underlying problem is then traced to the prevailing orthodoxy, and, in its place, a new paradigm is offered. The story behind the thesis is told via a characterisation of the overall study process as a transition from objective empiricism to empirical subjectivism. The story features highlights of the main case study experiences as well as those insights gained during the actual creation, that is, in the writing, of the ultimate thesis. After identifying the desirable qualities in a contending paradigm, and elaborating the basic elements of the territory/function dialectic, particular attention is given to the significance of territory. This is complemented by a discussion of the fundamental change in the thinking of John Friedmann, who must be credited with originating the subject dialectic. A literature review is presented featuring a consideration of competing paradigms. A detailed contrast of the centre-periphery and territory/function conceptualisations is also presented before concluding with some critical revelations and key insights. The territory/function dialectic is seen to possess the attributes of both a substantive and methodological paradigm. The special paradigm status is bolstered by a consideration of geography's role in relation to the key concept of territory. The paradigm as a whole is seen to underpin an alternative epistemology combining critical science and social learning. The lessons from a social learning experience are elaborated in a revisitation of the original objectives-cum-working hypotheses. These lessons feature: the pursuit of more real theory; the social value of underdevelopment theory; the explicit role of the state as manifest in official practice; and the significance of learning through collective action. The territory/function dialectic is seen to provide the necessary link between theory and practice in an all encompassing manner. The thesis concludes with a review of certain basic, dialectical, dualities. There is also specific consideration of planning and social learning, entailing further distinctions between not only theory and practice, but also between scientific practice and social practice.

No description available.

<p> The transportation sector is currently experiencing a disruption with the introduction and evolution of technology and transportation services such as bikesharing, carsharing, on-demand ridesourcing (e.g. Lyft, Uber), and microtransit (e.g. Bridj, Chariot). As these new layers of technology-based transportation options begin to flourish, it is important to understand how they affect our transportation systems and society. This doctoral dissertation analyzes the impacts of ridesourcing on several areas of transportation including: efficiency in terms of distance &ndash; Vehicles Miles Traveled (VMT) versus Passenger Miles Traveled (PMT) &ndash; and travel times, mode replacement, VMT increase, parking, transportation equity, and travel behavior. Realizing the difficulty in obtaining data directly from Lyft and Uber, this research employs an innovative approach by the author becoming an independent contractor to drive for both companies; this allowed the author to gain access to exclusive data and real-time passenger feedback. The datasets include actual travel attributes &ndash; such as times, distances, and earnings &ndash; from 416 rides (Lyft, UberX, LyftLine, and UberPool), and travel behavior and socio-demographics from 311 passenger interviews. This dissertation estimates a low ridesourcing efficiency rate compared to other modes, mix of modes replacement, overall increase in VMT, decrease in parking demand, low wages (i.e. net earnings) for drivers, travel behavior changes for users, as well as relationships between modality style, trip purpose, and stated reasons for mode replacement. These results give us insights into the impacts of ridesourcing on several key aspects of transportation. This, in turn, will help cities and transportation organizations better account for ridesourcing in their planning and engineering processes (e.g. travel demand models) as well as policy decisions.</p>

<p> The work described is aimed at developing a unique and modifiable model for analyzing transit system improvements, with specific emphasis on the concept of Transit-Oriented Development (TOD). In particular, the use of multiple variables that have been developed over the years as a result of a number of transit analyses, in a novel manner is described. The area of study was the light rail transit system (LRT) known as Lynx in Mecklenburg County, NC and over a period of development between 2001 and 2012 which included the actual construction phase from 2005 to 2007. An index model was developed to combine and magnify the potential impacts of each of the identified variables as they related to one another and the surrounding urban environment. These variables included land value, housing unit density, and others that are often been associated with TOD. The results of this combined and comprehensive analysis served to identify areas that are likely associated with the transit system, primarily proximity to the LRT system, i.e., areas where changes in the TOD-related variables were consistent with a positive relation to recognized TOD principles. Some areas within the service area showed especially high positive attributes of TOD, for example, Uptown Charlotte, a major hub of a current phase of LRT development, as well areas of other future enhancements. An extension of the work described should include the evaluation of additional variables as applicable data sets are made available, including, but not limited to, employment change, property vacancy statistics, and crime.</p>

No description available.

No description available.