This thesis, located in Edmonton, Alberta, aims to magnify the differences between urban development and nature. It proposes a vision of future Edmonton in which the River Valley Park system is restored as an intensive greenway through the heart of the city, acting as a necessary counterpoint to urbanization. Contrasting elements such as natural vs artificial, celestial vs the clock, recreation and relaxation vs work and stress are the basis for treating the river valley an anti-city rather than as an extension of it. This does not mean that the park system is isolated from the city, but that development in the River Valley is concerned in opposition to the city. Architectural interventions in the River Valley take advantage of landscape and environmental processes to enhance the experience of being in this natural “wilderness”.

This project defines the potential benefits of bicycling in major Canadian cities; determines the role of cycling within sustainable urban development; and suggests recommendations for maximizing the benefits of cycling in Canadian cities. The first phase of the project involved a review of academic literature and analysis of documents for four city case studies: Vancouver, British Columbia; Calgary, Alberta; Ottawa, Ontario; and Toronto, Ontario. Information was analyzed and themed to develop recommendations to maximize bicycling in these cities. The research suggests Vancouver and Ottawa are two of Canada’s leading cities in cycling innovation. Analysis of city documents found that most cities create in-depth cycling master plans which are difficult to successfully complete. Phase two of the project involved a 5400 kilometer bicycling tour in the summer of 2010 from Vancouver to Toronto. During the tour, each of the four cities were visited for a period of five to seven days and observations were made on cyclist infrastructure, safety, promotional and educational initiatives, planning, policy and law, and unique features. Photography and semi-structured interviews with urban planners, government officials, and cycling advocates were utilized to gain a unique perspective of the major cycling issues and innovations within each city. The research and observation indicated that a focus on creation of complete cycling networks; enforcement of cyclist rights; promotion and education; incentives and disincentives to the use of motorized vehicles; efficient use of funds for cycling infrastructure; the examination of municipal level cycling master plan policy; recognition of economic benefits of cycling; and knowledge and experience sharing between Canadian municipalities can increase overall rates of cycling within a city. / Thesis (Master, Environmental Studies) -- Queen's University, 2012-08-30 13:57:01.281

This thesis explores the relationship between colonialism and planning in a contemporary urban context in Canada. This project is important because colonialism continues to have impacts on the way that cities and city spaces are constructed. Using The Forks, Winnipeg, as an example, it reviews planning documents using a critical, postcolonial, interpretive and reflexive textual analysis. The intent is to gain more understanding of the ways in which colonialism is implicated in contemporary planning practices in settler societies. The analysis shows three main themes: the identity of The Forks is created in opposition to that of the downtown; heritage at The Forks is presented in ways that ignore colonialism and its past and present impacts on the city; and decision-making at The Forks does not reflect Indigenous priorities. The thesis concludes with some implications for planning practice.

In developing a set of guidelines for development in Chongqing this paper has first contextualized the city in terms of Chinese urban design history. This urban history is argued to have been shaped by three distinct eras of authoritarian rule: Imperial rule, from the 8th century B.C. to the 19th century; Maoist rule, from 1949-1978; and post-Mao communist rule, from 1978 to the present. It is further argued that the corresponding central authority in each of these eras has relied on a strategy of directing urban development as a means to propagate ideology. This characterization is then linked to many of the current problems with the direction of development in Chongqing. The urban environment of Chongqing is then analyzed from various scales and perspectives through history. From this analysis, a set of design guidelines is produced. These guidelines address educational structures, theoretical principles, governmental and legal instruments, and environmental strategies.

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Comprehensive and accurate information plays a key role in urban planning process. Recent developments in Information Communications Technologies (ICT) have provided considerable challenges and opportunities to improve the management of planning processes and make better use of planning information. However, data sharing and integration are always problematic for urban planning tasks because urban datasets are heterogeneous and scattered in different domains and organisations. It is stated that planners spend about 80 percent of their time to coordinate various datasets and analysis information (Singh 2004). The aim of this research is to develop a technical solution to providing information support for urban planning. The research will focus on planning data representation and integration in order to produce semantically rich urban models.