In this Master of Interior Design practicum project I apply the choreographic principles of Stephanie Ballard’s “Landscape Dancing” projects to the design of a secular event space within the James Avenue Pumping Station site in Winnipeg, Manitoba. A landscape dancer’s relationship with their surroundings allows them to create meaning and event in quotidian environments; therefore the application of Ballard’s dance methodology to design can create interior design that affects the human spirit. The process of cultural analysis in conjunction with relevant theories related to the moving body and performance were studied to understand how landscape dancers transform the emotional qualities of an environment through gesture and positioning. This theoretical framework informs the adaptive reuse of an existing structure that reacts to the industrial interior and builds upon its inherent aesthetic to breathe new life into the environment.

The amount of cycling infrastructure in Winnipeg has drastically increased in recent years, yet network fragmentation and winter weather prevent many from considering cycling as a year round transportation option. This project explores what design characteristics exist in safe, efficient, accessible and resilient cycling networks in winter cities. This study conducted comparative analysis between Winnipeg and Minneapolis, Minnesota; another cold weather city, which has been recognized as one of the most bike friendly cities in the United States. Through key informant interviews, ethnography and visual analysis, recommendations have been developed which emphasize the importance of quality, connected infrastructure and consistent political support in improving the cycling network in Winnipeg. The research concludes successful cycling networks require context specific approaches to the physical, political and social landscapes in which they exist. Further, the research suggests engagement with network users is an effective way to improve cycling infrastructure design.

Becoming an ally to Indigenous peoples, as a planner, depends on understanding the oppressive dynamics of colonialism and neoliberalism that invisibilize their everyday realities. Resisting these dynamics as an ally, and as a planner, also depends on becoming liberated from them, and to create spaces for collectivization, since only the collective has the power to resist the oppressive systems and discourses that characterize these ideologies. In Winnipeg, a coalition of Indigenous inner city community development practitioners (CLOUT) is effectively resisting these hegemonies. Contrasting this everyday resistance praxis is the practice of non-Indigenous city planners who are placated in their own everyday by the problems of difference and separation these hegemonies produce; effectively being thwarted in their ability to resist. Alliance building will remain a challenge between these two groups, that is unless the planners learn from CLOUT: become allies to each other, unlearn their euro-western way of thinking and learn the value of practices oriented towards integration, that in themselves counter the divisive nature colonialism and neoliberalism.

The sharing of needles among injection drug users (IDUs) is a common route of Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Hepatitis C Virus transmission. Through the increased utilization of social network analysis, researchers have been able to examine how the interpersonal relationships of IDUs affect injection risk behaviour. This study involves a secondary analysis of data from a cross-sectional study of 156 IDUs from Winnipeg, Manitoba titled “Social Network Analysis of Injection Drug Users”. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to assess the individual and the social network characteristics associated with needle sharing among the IDUs. Generalized Estimating Equations analysis was used to determine the injecting dyad characteristics which influence needle sharing behaviour between the IDUs and their injection drug using network members. The results revealed five key thematic findings that were significantly associated with needle sharing: (1) types of drug use, (2) socio-demographic status, (3) injecting in semi-public locations, (4) intimacy, and (5) social influence. The findings from this study suggest that comprehensive prevention approaches that target individuals and their network relationships may be necessary for sustainable reductions in needle sharing among IDUs.

‘FIELD WORKS’ explores landscape experiences that were once common to the tall grass prairie region of Manitoba. The route through this project winds in and out of urban surfaces to reveal memories embedded in the land. It documents forgotten and dormant prairie events so that they might be woven back into the fabric of the city. The purpose of this project is to transfer explored and speculative experience into a physical route through the urban prairie landscape. It is an effort to expose the layers clinging to physical memories rooted in the prairie.

In the age of an overworked society, struggling to emotionally connect, play is essential. Ludic Landscapes, explores the reenchantment of undervalued landscapes, in particular the industrial site of the Canadian Pacific Railway yards in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. If carnivals are landscapes devoted to play, as rail yards are landscapes devoted to work and industry, what happens when play is brought into a landscape of work? This practicum examines how ludic activities can be integrated into a landscape previously devoted to work - resulting in a reenchantment of an industrial landscape. The term reenchantment implies a positive change in perspective, an emergence of magic, toward something formerly disregarded. The explorations of undervalued and overlooked landscapes within the urban environment begin to unearth a curious history. Many carnival rides of the past germinate from technology developed for work, industry and progress. When the carnival is liberated of its artifice, its heart is shown to be machine technology utilized for work. It is possible to put these amusement rides through one more evolution, to make them not only fun, but also functional. The marriage of work and play results in remediating and reenchanting the landscape through ludic activity, spectacle and wonder. This is a poetic act.

This thesis examines transportation planning at the University of Manitoba Fort Garry campus with the view to improving efficiency, equity and reducing economic loss. Through a broad approach of Transportation Demand Management (TDM) a number of avenues are explored including a comprehensive literature review of sustainable transportation planning; the documentation of selected university TDM programs including University of Colorado, University of British-Columbia and the University of Ottawa; a University of Manitoba commuter web survey, and key informant interviews. Cost-benefit analysis, geographical information systems and key informants interviews are used. Twelve key recommendations are outlined in the concluding chapter. The research suggests optimal solutions can be reached if there is strong leadership from the University of Manitoba central administration in Transportation Demand Management (TDM) including a more collaborative approach to transportation and land use planning, as well as working closely with its stakeholders in reforming current practices. A series of incremental changes can give higher priority to walking, cycling, transit, and car pooling ahead of those driving alone resulting in a more equitable and efficient transportation system and leading to a healthier population and a healthier environment for the University of Manitoba community. The author can be contacted by email at tompearce@hotmail.com

This research explores culture-led regeneration; specifically, how and why small, community-based culture-led regeneration projects potentially affect their respective communities. Methodology is founded on an in-depth case study of The Edge Artist Village in Winnipeg, supported by a literature review, quantitative research examining property values, and archival research. The practicum shows that The Edge Artist Village has had a tremendous impact on the community of North Main Street. While various stakeholders interpreted The Edge‘s impact in different ways, perceptions of safety in the community have improved, and long vacant buildings in the neighbourhood are finding new tenants. This study makes recommendations as to how planners can potentially play a role in encouraging culture-led regeneration projects such as The Edge Artist Village, and suggests ways in which private developers and municipal government can collaborate more effectively to support their communities.

The legacy of James Shaver Woodsworth, according to the traditional biographies, has been an indelible one on the Canadian historical landscape. His biographers have elevated Woodsworth to not only a hero of the Canadian political left, but of the whole nation. Studies of Woodsworth’s life have traditionally rested their case on All Peoples’ Mission in Winnipeg, calling it a watershed moment in the ideological development of J. S. Woodsworth. They characterize his time as Superintendent, from 1908-1913, as the defining moment which would later lead him to found the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation. This Master’s thesis seeks to analyze the historical periphery of this period in order to illustrate Woodsworth’s standard approach to the Social Gospel in Canada. By employing a micro-historical methodology, a greater context reveals that All Peoples’ Mission was not the dynamic, revolutionary institution that his biographers describe. Instead, Woodsworth spent his time in Winnipeg experimenting with different and sometimes conflicting philosophies. This stage of Woodsworth’s ideological development can instead be best characterized by his strong nativist beliefs. His writings and speeches during this period indicate a struggle between Woodsworth’s understanding of assimilation and integration. James Shaver Woodsworth was a far more complex character during this period than his biographers would have us believe.

Bed bugs are making a large international comeback. While people from all economic and social backgrounds can experience a bed bug infestation, the social impacts on the lives of low-income people are potentially far greater given the condition of their living accommodations as well as the financial costs associated with dealing with an infestation. Utilizing the Community Economic Development and Social Determinants of Health approaches, this thesis argues that the experience of a bed bug infestation poses a significant threat to inner-city residents—economically, socially, and in terms of human health. Interviews with 16 inner-city residents, 2 landlords, 1 property manager, 2 By-Law Enforcement Officers, and 5 representatives of inner-city agencies in Winnipeg are drawn upon in developing this argument. In addition, relevant policy documents and other secondary sources are utilized to assess the effectiveness of policies and practices in place to respond to this issue and to offer a more comprehensive approach for responding to the social impacts of bed bugs in the city of Winnipeg.