A regional planning model is designed to facilitate coordinated land use and transportation planning, yet have a sufficiently simple structure to enable quick scenario turnaround. The model, TransPLUM, is built on two existing commercial software products: the Population and Land Use Model (PLUM); and a four-stage travel model implemented in a standard software package. Upon creating scenarios users are able to examine a host of results (zonal densities, origin-destination trip flows and travel times by mode, network link flows, etc) which may prompt modification of a reference land use plan and/or network plan. A zonal density-accessibility ratio is described: an index which identifies the relative utilization of a zone and which could serve as a coordinating feedback mechanism. The model was implemented for a pilot study area – the Winnipeg Capital Region. Development of a baseline scenario is discussed.

A regional planning model is designed to facilitate coordinated land use and transportation planning, yet have a sufficiently simple structure to enable quick scenario turnaround. The model, TransPLUM, is built on two existing commercial software products: the Population and Land Use Model (PLUM); and a four-stage travel model implemented in a standard software package. Upon creating scenarios users are able to examine a host of results (zonal densities, origin-destination trip flows and travel times by mode, network link flows, etc) which may prompt modification of a reference land use plan and/or network plan. A zonal density-accessibility ratio is described: an index which identifies the relative utilization of a zone and which could serve as a coordinating feedback mechanism. The model was implemented for a pilot study area – the Winnipeg Capital Region. Development of a baseline scenario is discussed.

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. / February 2006

‘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. / May 2007

The creation of exhibits and exhibit-going have been part of popular culture for centuries and have long been hallmarks of outreach to new audiences for archival services. With the explosion of digital technologies there are many new and exciting avenues for archivists to create exhibitions to display their collections and engage with their users. Websites such as Facebook, Instagram, Tumbler and Flickr as well as increasingly diverse website functionalities have greatly contributed to a new understanding of visual literacy both within and outside the archival profession. Web 2.0 technologies and web analytics have opened up opportunities for archives to curate their records in many different ways for much larger audiences. This study will examine how visual records, specifically the archival photographs from the Lewis B. Foote fonds at the Archives of Manitoba, could be used to commemorate the First World War and shape our understanding of it. During the centennial anniversary of the war it is important to study how such images relating to this conflict might be used today to create specific narratives for understanding it through archival outreach activities such as exhibitions. This can help us rethink the aims and characteristics of archival exhibitions, thereby shedding greater light on the role of archives in creating public memory and enhancing societal understanding of archives and their relevance to important public interests. / October 2015

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.

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