Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2013. / CD contains files with numerous source codes. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 159-170). / The input-output model, a framework for national accounting and economic modeling, has been popular among regional economists for studying energy and emissions due to its focus on interindustry linkages. In a series of three papers, we apply the input-output model to three different aspects of fossil-fuel energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions, using two temporally extensive datasets. In the first paper, we construct detailed energy and emissions accounts of the United States from 1972 to 2002, and analyze the resulting time series from perspectives of household consumption and industrial production. The resulting accounts suggest that despite an overall decrease in energy intensity over the study period, the decrease was uneven across industry sectors and consumption goods, especially between manufacturing and services. In the second paper, we perform a structural decomposition of CO² emissions growth in 36 countries over the years 1995-2009, using a newly published dataset. We compare the relative contributions to emissions growth from industrial efficiency improvements, interindustry linkage structure, and final demand levels and composition. We find that industrial efficiency and final demand predictably work against each other, but which effect dominates depends on geographic region. Analysis of specific energy-intensive industries sheds more light on the reasons for the geographic variation in emissions growth. In the third paper, we focus on embodied CO² emissions in trade, using the same dataset as the second paper. Predictably, countries in the European Union tend to import more embodied emissions than they export, while large developing countries such as China, Russia, and India export more than they import. However, we find more nuanced trends in resource-rich developed countries including the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Australia. In particular, the United States became a net exporter of embodied CO² emissions only recently, which may mean that the relevance of the topic of emissions abatement responsibility to the United States has shifted in recent years. / by Sonya Huang. / Ph.D.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning. Thesis. 1969. M.C.P. / Bibliography: leaves 88-91. / M.C.P.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1992. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 177-181). / by Avigail Shimshoni. / M.C.P.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 59-60). / by Timothy J. Treviño. / M.C.P.

Thesis (Ph. D. in Building Economics)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, February 1993. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 144-153). / A central concept in strategic management is that congruence between organizational resources and environmental conditions is critical to performance. There are three basic types of organizational resources: human, monetary, and physical. How well a fIrm allocates these resources in pursuit of its product-market opportunities determines the level of congruence with its environment. Rapid technological change and shifting patterns of competition have put an intense strain on the ability of organizations to maintain such congruence. In spite of these pressures, limited attention has been given in both management theory and practice to the resource that is perhaps most apt to impair the adaptability of organizations, namely real estate. The objective of this study is to determine how the strategic orientation or profIle of a corporate real estate unit (i.e., its approach to problem solving, its risk propensity, its level of proactiveness, etc.) relates to performance. A six dimensional model of corporate real estate strategic orientation (labeled CRESO) is developed from various literatures and practitioner experiences. This model is validated based on key measurement criteria (e.g., theoretical and observational meaningfulness of concepts, internal consistency of operationalizations, convergent and discriminant validity, nomological validity) and then used to explore important relationships with two dimensions of corporate real estate performance, service and internal operations, and two dimensions of business performance, profItability and growth. This study contributes to the fIeld of corporate real estate by developing "valid" measures of corporate real estate strategic orientation along multiple theoretical dimensions, and by providing insight into the performance implications of different strategic orientations. Directions for future research in corporate real estate are also proposed. / by Steven L. Duckworth. / Ph.D.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 62-67). / I explore the mechanisms through which technological capabilities have been built in the market for photovoltaic (PV) module and balance of system (BOS) manufacture in South Africa. Drawing on the literature on technology transfer and economic development, my aim is to identify the relative influence of three types of learning mechanisms - enterprise specific, supplier driven, and government induced - on the acquisition of technological capabilities in firms. Qualitative case studies provide the context through which the influence of each learning mechanism is assessed. My research suggests that South African firms rely far more heavily on learning relationships associated with their suppliers, than learning derived from human resources internal to the firm or the policy and regulatory framework promoted by the national government. South Africa's approach differs greatly from latecomer countries with more advanced module manufacturing industries: in India, for example, local firms have relied heavily on government policy and regulation to facilitate their entrance into more technologically complex areas of operation. The implications of this finding are discussed, and recommendations put forth for how the national government can bolster industrial learning activities. / by Janelle N. Wright. / M.C.P.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2006. / "September 2006." / Includes bibliographical references (p. 97-102). / Form-based zoning is a relatively recent innovation in zoning reform. Many cities in the U.S. have adopted form-based codes in lieu of or as a supplement to conventional zoning and many more are in the process of studying and legislating this alternative. Form-based codes focus on the physical form of the built environment by prescribing parameters for physical form representing a specific intent for the public realm. Typically, form-based codes consist of regulating plan(s), urban standards (building envelope standards and streetscape/thoroughfare standards), and architectural standards. This thesis questions if the 'product' of form-based codes, i.e. the place imagined as a consequence of form-based codes, is differentiable based on place character. Place character refers to certain physical qualities based on location (loci) as well as certain perceptual qualities based on the life in these spaces (genius). This thesis hypothesizes that form-based could certainly result in quality urban spaces but the essential character of these spaces could be singular and indistinguishable from place to place. In order to examine this proposition, this thesis follows the terrain of a representative sample of form-based codes, which are studied as a proxy for the places that are intended as a consequence of implementation. / (cont.) The narrative for each code, which could be described as a specific interaction between the conceptual framework of the code and the contextual framework of a place, is dissected along specific cross-sections, such as geography, chronology, scale/structure, intent, typology, and fit. In addition, qualitative correlations across cross-sections were used to explain patterns observed in the cross-sections.A secondary question posed by this thesis examines the impact of factors peripheral to the code, such as the place itself, the process, the people involved, and the policy framework, on this lack of differentiation based on place character. This thesis concludes that form-based codes, as a conceptual framework, possess the structure and flexibility to be responsive to a place-based contextual framework. The lack of place character is a consequence of the limited narratives that define the intent of the code with respect to place and classify the code typologically.This is partially influenced by the current association of form-based codes with New Urbanism. In addition, this lack of differentiation based on place character is not necessarily endemic to the code itself but a consequence of factors peripheral to the code, i.e. processes that precede the code and/or processes that follow the code. / by Shilpa Mehta. / 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 91-97). / My thesis looks at the relationship between development, displacement, and dissent in Greater Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Barring a brief four year period, independent Malaysia has continuously operated under a near-permanent state of constitutionally imposed emergencies. I look at the operation of one of the emergency regulations, the Essential Clearance of Squatters Regulations (ESCR, promulgated initially in 1969 and used until 2013) for the purposes of displacement and urban planning. Relying on archival research, interviews, and an in-depth case study, I seek to characterize the nature of urban development, particularly the operation of the law, in Kuala Lumpur. I make three broad arguments: 1. The use of squatter regulations for the purposes of urban planning started with the colonial emergency of 1948, when urbanization and development were used as primary elements of a military strategy to combat the Communist emergency. 2. Post-independence, however, the Malaysian state has increasingly used laws meant initially for counter-insurgency operations for the purposes of development. I argue that the urban planning in Kuala Lumpur must be seen as a form of urban law-fare (the use of techniques of war for political or economic ends; Comaroff, 2001) and that the creation of a "state of exception" (Agamben 2005), through the declaration of emergencies, has enabled the use of military ends as a normal technique of government. 3. Lastly, I look at the case of Kampung Berembang, perhaps the only successful case of resistance against the use of ESCR. I argue that the residents' re-positioning of themselves as peneroka bandar or urban pioneers (as opposed to squatters), using claims originating in Malay Customary law, were critical to reclaiming their rights as citizens. / by Vishnu Prasad. / M.C.P.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 97-110). / In the late 1980s and early 1990s, advocates for forest conservation thought that climate change could provide a lever to motivate developing countries to reduce deforestation. Fifteen years after the first climate change convention, however, global emissions from deforestation have increased. This thesis uses Costa Rica as a case study to examine how international climate policies and carbon markets have addressed greenhouse gas emissions from tropical deforestation. I argue that, to date, the international climate regime has failed to provide effective incentives to Costa Rica to finance its forestry reforms because of political decisions that favor forest protection in developed over developing countries. To be effective, the international climate regime needs to generate a substantial financial investment for avoided deforestation in developing countries and develop flexible policies that build capacity, promote sustainable forestry practices, and reward early reformers. / by Marisa Arpels. / M.C.P.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning. Thesis. 1974. B.S. / Bibliography: leaves 69-71. / B.S.