Managing megacities : A case study of metropolitan regional governance for Dhaka
subject: city politics, megacity, governance, region
description: Megacities of over 10 million population are a phenomenon not seen before in human history. Among 19 Megacities, 14 are in developing countries and 11 are in Asia. Dhaka represents one of the most extreme examples of rapid Megacity growth having a mere 129,000 at the start of the 20th century, 417,000 by 1950 and more than 12 million in 2001. How can a city be governed that has increased 30 times in size over a person’s lifetime? This thesis makes a case for integrated Metropolitan Regional Governance (MRG) of the Extended Metropolitan Region of Dhaka. The growing problems of Asian Megacities in general and Dhaka in particular are outlined, showing how governance has developed in a sectoral and national way rather than being place oriented. This has fractured and become totally inadequate as a means of solving the deep environmental, social and economic problems of the Megacity. The governance issues of Megacities are traced to the primary problem of the need for integrative functions in strategic and statutory planning as well as development facilitation of the Extended Metropolitan Region (EMR). Ten core principles of Metropolitan Regional Governance are established. Without this, the Megacity’s functions of infrastructure, investment, housing, environmental management, employment etc. are not coordinated or prioritised in ways that lead to ‘common good’ sustainability outcomes. The ten principles are applied to four Asian Megacities – Metro-Manila, Tokyo, Bangkok and Jakarta – to confirm their relevance and application before applying them to Dhaka. The problems of Dhaka are outlined then an analysis of Dhaka governance options is attempted based on the ten core principles of MRG. Four possibilities are analysed and a way forward is suggested combining the options. The proposed structure will build on the present system with greater responsibilities for strategic planning, statutory planning and development facilitation. It will also build up municipalities throu…
creator: Talukder, Sirajul Haq
publisher: Murdoch University - Perth
date: 2006
contributor: Newman, Peter. Supervisor
language: en
type: Thesis

Civitas et urbs : The idea of the city and the historical imagination of urban governance in Spain, 19th-20th centuries
subject: governance, imaginary, urban history, city politics, urban policy, local authorities
description: A thesis on the imagination of historical forms of modern governance in Spain in the 19th and 20th centuries. Contents : 1. The city and the historical imagination 2. From the ancient to the modern city 3. The city and the state 4. The regulation of the city 5. The municipal autonomy of the modern city 6. The city as historical representation 7. From the modern to the ancient city Appendix I : The contents of municipal ordinances Appendix II : Figures
creator: Sanchez de Juan, Joan-Anton
publisher: European University Institute
date: 2001
contributor: Romanelli, Raffaele. Supervisor
language: en
type: Thesis

Henri Lefebvre and the concrete research of space : Urban theory, empirical studies, architecture practice
subject: Lefebvre Henri, urban space, spatial planning, architecture, urban planning, habitation
description: This dissertation discusses the mainly unpublished empirical, or "concrete", studies of urban space by Henri Lefebvre (1901 - 1991) and demonstrates that Lefebvre's theory of production of space cannot be understood without taking these studies into account. Based on archival research and interviews with former collaborators of Lefebvre, this dissertation allows for a re-reading of the theory of production of space that demonstrates its relevance for today's urban research and design practice in architecture and urbanism. While Lefebvre's work, since its rediscovery in the 1990s, has contributed to the theoretical renewal of sociology and geography, its significance for empirical analysis and design disciplines has been hardly recognized. This dissertation fills this gap by showing that the crucial sources of the main questions, methods and arguments of the theory of production of space were Lefebvre's engagements in empirical studies on the everyday practices of habitation in the 1960s and 1970s in France and his analyses of suburban housing and collective estates. This allows situating the key concepts of Lefebvre's theory of space within the political, economic, intellectual, urbanistic, and architectural transitions of post-war France.
creator: Stanek, Lukasz
publisher: TU Delft
date: 2008
contributor: Graafland, A. D. Promotor
language: en
type: Thesis

Urban metamorphosis and change in Central Asian cities after the Arab invasions
subject: urban history, Islamic city, urbanisation, urban form, rabad
description: This work is a study in urban history, in particular, one that examines a crucial period in the rise and development of large cities and metropolises in the region of Sogdiana within Central Asia, between the seventh and tenth centuries. The primary focus of inquiry is to show the effects of inter-relationships between social change, intense urbanization and religious conversions that occurred within Sogdiana at this time. All of these processes were initiated as a result of the Arab invasions between 625 and 750 A.D. Sogdia or Sogdiana, along with the regions of Bactria and Khwarazm, were incorporated into the Islamic world through the process of conquest that followed these invasions, but once resistance was extinguished and Islam widely accepted among the populace, these regions became among the most vital centers of urban life in the Islamic world. Sogdiana, among these three regions, witnessed the rise, change and unprecedented development of many large metropolises that were distinct in several ways from the cities in other parts of the Islamic world. Traditional cities in the Islamic world further west and south of Central Asia had a dense structure within an encircling wall, and eventually the residential areas were found to extend beyond the wall, only themselves to be eventually protected by another wall. However, in Central Asia yet another further stage of development took place. Here the main administrative functions and markets moved out into this outer residential area and abandoned the central core. This outer area of the city (the rabad) became the locus of political and commercial activity. In due course the process repeated itself - the residential areas overflowing beyond the walls of the rabad, only themselves to be surrounded by a third outer wall. In this way the Central Asian city developed into a distinct type, markedly different from cities further west and south.
creator: Sobti, Manu P
publisher: Georgia Institute of Technology
date: 2005
contributor: Lewcock, Ronald. Advisor
language: en
type: Thesis

A comprehensive approach to the study of the housing sector in Iraq with special reference to needs, standards, inputs, density and costs as factors in the analysis of housing problems in Baghdad
subject: housing, urban growth, urban density, urban planning, housing policy
description: Iraq has a stock of buildings, particularly dwellings, many of which are neither physically fit nor capable of meeting the economic and social needs of today. Many people, particularly in the cities, live in overcrowded and insanitary conditions. Many dwellings are badly located and mixed with derelict land. Population is expected to grow and even without any rise in standards, this would greatly increase the need for building and works of all kinds. At the macro level the main cause of the housing problem must be attributed to the process of migration and urbanization, which have contributed to the creation of slums and squatter settlements. At the policy level, the existing machinery of planning is scarcely adequate. Housing has conventionally received only scant attention in national development plans and this central neglect is mirrored by a similar failure at the municipal level. At the micro level, with which this study has primarily been concerned, it must be emphasised that housing is not simply an economic commodity but has deep social and political as well as environmental implications. The increasing gap between incomes and housing costs has to be contained and this can only be done by operating on a number of fronts simultaneously. The purpose of this study is to examine the housing sector in Iraq with special reference to the city of Baghdad-from the point of view that housing is not only a shelter which provides protection from the elements but a synthesis in which social, economic, physical and political forces interact. The study also develops an argument that housing density is not simply another planning index to be used with others in the formulation of town plans but a crucial variable which once fixed will have far reaching effects not only to the inhabitants of the housing areas but also to the social, economic and physical environment of the urban structure as a whole. The study adopts two related approaches. The first approach is a general su…
creator: Al-Adhami, M. B
publisher: University of Nottingham
date: 1975
contributor: McKie, R. Supervisor
language: en
type: Thesis

Urbanisation in Qatar : A study of the residential and commercial land development in Doha city, 1970-1997
subject: urban growth, urbanisation, urban development, land, land use
description: The state of Qatar provides an interesting illustration of a nation that has recently witnessed spectacular urban development worthy of investigation. Indeed, during the past three decades huge oil revenues have enabled the country to embark on unprecedented national development. The main thrust of this research study is urbanisation and urban development in Qatar and the impact this phenomenon has had on the urban growth of its capital city, Doha. This study sets out to examine a set of issues caused by the urbanisation process within the framework of urban growth and land use development. The present study examines urbanisation and its impact on the city development in the Arab Gulf states (GCC) in general and in Qatar in particular. The main objective of the study has been to trace the influence these changes have had on the general growth of the city and the land uses particularly the residential and commercial land development with particular emphasis on the political and socio-economic factors which form the main thrust of this research. In addition, the examination of the emerging urbanisation phenomenon has aimed to establish the necessary background before dealing with the topic at the scale of the capital city. Following these objectives, the study has adopted a combined approach, which can be described as historical and empirical. The historical setting provides the changing nature of urbanisation in the Gulf States (GCC) and Qatar by establishing the evolution of this phenomenon until the present time. This is clearly done through defining the evolutionary periods reflecting the urban development stages, which included two distinctive phases : the traditional (pre-oil period) and modern/contemporary periods. The empirical/analytical part focuses especially on the city of Doha with respect to its recent urban development, socio-economic characteristics and the changing land use patterns of which the residential and commercial development represents one of…
creator: Al-Buainain, Fadl A. A. Al-Rashid
publisher: University of Salford
date: 1999
contributor: Grime, Keith. Supervisor
language: en
type: Thesis

Tradition, continuity and change in the physical environment : The Arab-Muslim city
subject: architecture, urban form, built environment, Islamic city, Arab city, urban change
description: Issues within the context of the present cannot be isolated from their spatial or temporal context. Neither the past (tradition) nor the future (modern technology) can provide solutions to the problems of the present. Their value lies in the fact that they represent "resources" which broaden our choices and inform us as to how similar issues were or could be dealt with in different times and places. However, a society's past and the way that society conceives of its past provides modes of continuity which give the present its authenticity. If we are to deal with the issues of the present and hope for an authentic future, the authority of the past or tradition cannot be blindly accepted though its authenticity and relevance to the present must be recognized. The problem addressed here is that of a present physical environment in the Arab-Muslim city which is totally different from the traditional one. As a result of this difference, a sense of discontinuity and alienation has developed among the inhabitants of these cities. The purpose of this study is to understand how this process came about and how a sense of continuity with the past can be reestablished. To achieve this purpose four main issues are addressed here : (1) the origin and process of formation of the traditional physical environment; (2) the disparity between the traditional and the contemporary environment; (3) the origins of the disparity; and (4) the possible notions which might be suggested by way of reestablishing a sense of continuity between the past and the present. The legal system is used as a means of analysis in this study. This has helped us to see the physical environment within its socio-cultural context, by informing us about the ideological or structural level of the society and by pointing out accepted social norms and conventions and the mechanism of their social effectiveness. The law has helped us to point out the differences between the traditional and the contemporary process. In…
creator: Al-Hathloul, Saleh Ali
publisher: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
date: 1981
contributor: Anderson, Stanford. Advisor
language: en
type: Thesis

Urban transportation problems in the Muscat area, Sultanate of Oman
subject: public transport, urban networks, urban transport, parking, urban traffic, transport policy
description: The economy of Oman, was traditional in character before the development of the oil sector which set in motion the present structural transformation. Economic prosperity gave the opportunity to the public to possess their own private means of transport, thus resulting in a rapid increase in the number of vehicles in the country, particularly in the Muscat Area the capital city of the country. Free essential services such as health and education, and no taxes and duties have led to high disposable household income. Therefore, Muscat is witnessing rapid and successive land-use changes, expansion of the urban area and multi-car owning households. In the last two decades the population of Muscat increased considerably. This population growth was accompanied by a substantial expansion of Muscat's boundaries to provide homes, work places and other facilities. The topographical nature of the area limited the flat land available for housing, shops, schools, and other elements of the infrastructure. The resulting competition for space had as one of its consequences that insufficient land was allocated for car parking in the major activity centres, and the result was an acute shortage of parking spaces in these areas. The expansion of the Muscat Area was accompanied by changes in the employment and residential pattern. This resulted in a significant increase in number of vehicles, trips and commuting, and so the need for effective transport services and facilities became greater than ever before. The topographical features made it more difficult to provide sufficient transportation facilities. Development planning neglected the importance of arranging urban activities in such a way that the need for vehicle movements would be greatly reduced. It also resulted in low density population areas with street patterns mostly not designed for public transport services. This study sets out to discuss the problems of urban transportation in the Muscat Area and seeks to answer the follo…
creator: Al-Rawas, Mohammed Awadh Salim
publisher: University of Salford
date: 1993
contributor: Gleave, B. Supervisor
language: en
type: Thesis

Segregation for aggregation? The pattern and logic of spatial segregation practices of young affluent heads of households in the post-war city of Beirut
subject: residential segregation, urban segregation, social segregation, social mix, urban space, neighbourhood
description: This thesis describes, conceptualizes and explains the segregated spatiality of everyday life of young affluent heads of households in post-war Beirut, Lebanon. It tracks how young affluent heads of households have come to produce the living spaces of their everyday life in a spatially segregated way that rejects the local and is stretched out over the totality of the city. Its main objectives are to contribute to the literature on spatial segregation by (1) conceptualizing segregation in its residential and non-residential manifestations as actively and passively practiced by a certain profile of affluent individuals and (2) explaining the logic behind this type of segregation from the point of view of affluent individuals that are actively pursuing segregation. This research has utilized an ethnographic research approach that started from observing and understanding the motivations of individuals who are actively pursuing segregation. Based mainly on a qualitative research methodology, this research has utilized ethnographic field notes, qualitative interviews and participant observation with young affluent heads of households. The findings of this qualitative research have been supported by questionnaires that were distributed in five elite childcare nurseries in Beirut in which young affluent heads of households were outcropped. A total of 118 questionnaires were collected. The four core chapters of this thesis discuss the relationship of affluence to the local place around the home, to places of play, to non--places and to places of passage in post war Beirut. They conceptualize the spatiality of affluence in Beirut and propose the concept of the layer as one that captures the pattern of this spatiality and unlocks its logic. This thesis concludes by raising questions related to the changing role of neighbourhoods in Beirut and the changing nature of its urban condition. Indeed, to affluent individuals in Beirut the neighbourhood has become a space with which t…
creator: Alaily-Mattar, Nadia
publisher: University College London
date: 2010
contributor: Fiori, Jorge. Supervisor
language: en
type: Thesis

Revisiting "slums", revealing responses : Urban upgrading in tenant-dominated inner-city settlements, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
subject: slum, slum upgrading, tenant, inhabitants, urban space, housing, inner city, gentrification, activist network
description: About eighty percent of Addis Ababa’s settlements are considered “slum”. The study examines the phenomenon of urban upgrading in tenant-dominated non-planned inner-city settlements of the city. It focuses on tenants’ responses and spatial transformations. The phenomenon is investigated through the analysis of case studies located in three localities. The data are primarily collected through qualitative techniques supplemented by a quantitative technique. The investigation is carried out from the perspective in which upgrading is viewed as a process embedded in a dynamic context, rather than a decontextualised static project. Based on the case studies analytical generalizations are made.
creator: Alemayehu, Elias Yitbarek
publisher: Norwegian University of Science and Technology - NTNU
date: 2008
contributor: Røe, Bjørn. Adviser
language: en
type: Thesis

Signs in time : An interpretive account of urban planning and design, the people and their histories
subject: urban planning, urban culture, urban history, urban design
description: From the General Introduction : This dissertation is... about urban planning and design as well as it is about people, history and place. Urban planning and design are linked, as people history and place are. Boundaries between planning and design are considered to be contingent, dependent on context and culture, result of ever renewed negotiations. The triad of history, people and place holds central place in the book. We intend to explore the relations between them, in order to answer our reasearch question : how can history, historical knowledge and historical objects, play a positive role in urban planning and design? We intend to show that answering this question requires a careful scrutiny of history, people and place. Using history implies there is a goal to reach. What could the use of history be? We want to assume - and this is an assumption - that history can be useful in planning and design and that we just have to investiage carefully what this use might be. In this book history can mean old things and places, under and above the ground, visible and invisible, it can refer to characteristics of a given place and to stories attached to a place. History is simply the past of people.
creator: Assche, K. A. M. van
publisher: Wageningen Universiteit
date: 2004
contributor: Valk, A. J. J. van der. Promotor
language: en
type: Thesis

Urban environmental problems in Ghana : a case study of social and environmental injustice in solid waste management in Accra and Sekondi-Takoradi
subject: waste, waste management, urban environment
description: Unsustainable urbanization in Ghana has resulted in poor environmental conditions in urban settlements in the country. Solid waste disposal, in particular, has become a daunting task for the municipal authorities who seem to lack the capacity to tackle the mounting waste situation. This study investigates the nature of the solid waste problem in two Ghanaian cities, Accra and Sekondi-Takoradi. It describes the waste situation in the study areas and identifies the causes of the problem from the perspective of key stakeholders in the waste sector. The delivery of solid waste collection services across different socio-economic groups of the urban population and the siting of waste disposal facilities are also examined in relation to the concepts of social justice and environmental justice respectively. For the empirical investigation, a mixed methodology was used which combined questionnaire and interview data from stakeholders in the waste sector, together with documentary and observational data, to examine the issue of solid waste disposal in the two study sites. The key issues identified by the study include: that Ghanaian cities are experiencing worsening solid waste situations but the municipal governments lack the capacities in terms of financial, logistical and human resources to cope with the situation; that while several causes of the urban waste crisis can be identified, the lack of political commitment to urban environmental management is the root cause of the worsening solid waste situation in Ghanaian cities; and that social and environmental injustices are being perpetuated against the poor in the delivery of waste collection services and the siting of waste disposal facilities in Ghanaian cities. Based on these findings, it has been argued that the solution to the worsening environmental conditions in Ghanaian cities lies in the prioritization of urban environmental management and commitment of Ghana’s political leadership to urban settlement development…
creator: Baabereyir, Anthony
publisher: University of Nottingham
date: 2009
contributor: Jewitt, Sarah. Supervisor
contributor: O'Hara, Sarah. Supervisor
language: en
type: Thesis

Towns, tenements and buildings : Aspects of medieval urban archaeology and geography
subject: street, urban form, urban development, Middle Ages, spatial analysis, archaeology, urban planning
description: This thesis will argue that the most effective way of understanding the physical development of medieval towns, particularly the larger, more complex, towns and those which lack extensive and detailed contemporary documentation is by a structured integration of the data derived from the archaeological investigation of individual sites with detailed town-plan analyses following the methodology introduced and developed by Conzen. This will be demonstrated by two case-studies, designed to explore the Interaction of the different sources of evidence at two different scales of investigation. The first case-study is a detailed analysis of the plan and development of the whole of a large medieval town,(Worcester), the second is a study of a single street (Pride Hill) in Shrewsbury. The analysis of Worcester illuminates, in particular, the boundaries and internal layout of the late 9th-century burh, suggesting that it was an extension to the pre-existing Roman earthwork circuit and incorporated an area subject to regular town planning, possibly following Wessex models, and an area of irregular settlement that included the bishop of Worcester's haga recorded in 904. The defences were, it is argued, partly dismantled for the extension of urban settlement. The Shrewsbury case-study examines an unusually concentrated building pattern of halls behind the street frontage, and sets this in its contemporary context by an analysis of the contemporary plot-pattern, identified in part by its association with surveyed medieval undercrofts. The earlier history of the area is explored through further analysis of the plot-pattern which predates and is cut by the town wall. It is suggested that the area in question was, like other sectors of the early medieval urban fringe, possibly subject to some type of regular land-allotment for grazing and access to the riverbank. Issues, illustrating the mutually-illuminating character of town plan analysis and urban archaeology, arising from the two…
creator: Baker, Nigel
publisher: University of Nottingham
date: 1990
contributor: Dixon, Phillip. Supervisor
language: en
type: Thesis

Decline and regeneration : Policy responses to processes of change in post-WWII urban neighbourhoods
subject: neighbourhood, housing, council housing estates, housing policy, participation, social mix, social cohesion, housing complex
description: The large carefully planned housing estates built after the Second World War were once attractive places in which to live. Nevertheless, across Europe the reputation of many of these areas has changed for the worse. In addition to general impoverishment, in some areas social tensions, high levels of unemployment, crime, social exclusion, and physical decay prevail. With the emergence of the problems, the political as well as the scientific attention paid to large housing estates has increased. Existing studies on regeneration policies on the local level are often limited to the analysis of just one policy strategy. In the research reported here, the focus is on several key-aspects of regeneration policy, which have all obtained increased attention during the past decade. Some of the strategies or aspects focus on the housing stock (demolition/new-building), while in others the local population is central (residents’ participation; social cohesion), and again others concentrate on the cooperation between different actors (integrated approach; public-private partnerships). By contrasting the situation in the Netherlands with various other European countries, the research also brings out the differences in the way problems are encountered and enables them to be explained. It is demonstrated that the institutional framework determines to a large extent whether and how particular policy strategies are implemented; not every country encounters the problems in the same way. Moreover, local characteristics are of influence on the way a strategy is put into practice and thereby on its effects. In addition, it is put forward that particular regeneration strategies might oppose rather than strengthen each other.
creator: Beckhoven, W. A. G. van
publisher: Universiteit Utrecht
date: 2006
contributor: Bolt, G. Co-promotor
contributor: Kempen, R. van. Promotor
language: en
type: Thesis

Unruly urbanisation on Delhi's fringe : Changing patterns of land use and livelihood
subject: urbanisation, peri-urban, peri-urbanisation, outskirts, land use, environment, living environment
description: From the introduction : Metropolitan cities grow beyond imaginable proportions, particularly in the developing world. Urban issues therefore warrant - and receive - increasing attention. The national capital of India, Delhi, is a city where indisputable economic progress related to urbanisation is accompanied by tremendous environmental concerns, congestion, poverty, and housing shortages. This thesis focuses on the rural-urban fringe, which is the ultimate 'battlefield' of the environmental and socio-economic change brought about by urbanisation. The population of urbanising villages is confronted with new problems and possibilities regarding their livelihood and living conditions.
creator: Bentinck, J. V
publisher: University of Groningen
date: 2000
contributor: Druijven, P. C. J. Promotor
contributor: Pellenbarg, P. H. Promotor
language: en
type: Thesis

Space, density and urban form
subject: urban space, urban density, urban morphology, urban form, urban planning, spatial planning, Spacematrix
description: The concentration of humans – in some cases judged as too high, in others not high enough – and the problems connected to this, have resulted in discussions on density. Prior to the 20th century, density in European cities was merely an outcome of complex circumstances. During the second half of the 19th century, high densities in industrializing cities were argued to be one of the major causes of fires, diseases and social turmoil. In this period, density was introduced as a tool to analyse and diagnose the quickly growing and often overcrowded cities. In a following period of increased state intervention, the concept expanded into an instrument used to propagate alternatives and prescribe maximum densities in order to guarantee certain physiological and social qualities of urban environments (such as air, light and privacy). We can observe a shift from urban density as a mere result of city development and migration to a tool used to analyse problems; and, later on, to an instrument applied to offer improved solutions. More recently, minimum densities are argued for to support amenities and public transport, and as part of the solution to produce more sustainable urban environments with potential for vital human interaction (‘urbanity’). In spite of the practical advantages of the concept of urban density in urban planning, critics have argued that the use of density for anything but statistical purposes is questionable, as it is perceived as a too elastic concept. Many professionals, as well as researchers, hold the opinion that measured density and other physical properties are independent of each other. Besides the argued lack of relationship between density and form, density is also considered with suspicion because of the confusion regarding the definition of plan boundaries and the scale at which these are measured. There is no one accepted measure of density in or shared by different countries. This research takes off with a critical review of the origin, c…
creator: Berghauser Pont, Meta
publisher: TU Delft
date: 2009
contributor: Westrik, J. A. Promotor
contributor: Meyer, V. J. Promotor
language: en
type: Thesis

Weimar cities : Assimilating urban modernity in the Weimar Republic, 1919-1933
subject: economics, city politics, governance, local management, local authorities, urban history, Weimar Republic
description: Many Germans perceived the Weimar Republic of the 1920s as an "urban republic" dominated by the power and cultural preeminence of the large metropoles, particularly Berlin. German cities had new and important roles after the war, firstly as the biggest spenders in reconstruction efforts, and secondly as the administrators of new welfare and unemployment programmes. Yet at the same time, municipal finance was undermined by the Reich's new centralized tax structure, in which cities were last to receive distributed revenues. State bureaucrats, bankers, and the private sector exhibited strong hostility towards city governments, accusing them of corruption and nepotism, irresponsible borrowing, and improvident spending. In sum, it was just as Weimar's cities assumed considerable new responsibilities, administering social services that were central to the nature and success of the republican experiment, that they were denied the financial and political support necessary to carry out their new roles. This dissertation examines the Deutsche Staidtetag (German Congress of Cities) as a focal point for the larger issues associated with city power and efforts to manage urban modernity in the republic and, by extension, the feasibility of the experiment itself. Dynamic agents of modern change, cities viewed themselves as regulated by state and financial administrations bound by traditional forms and practices, and saw their financial weakness as part of a larger, systemic failure to meet the needs of a growing and increasingly sophisticated network of urban centres. Through the Stadtetag, municipalities campaigned actively in the later 1920s for firm institutional connections with Reich ministries, an official place in the federal parliament, and seats on various bodies that managed the Weimar economy. These initiatives ultimately failed. Sliding deeper into depression and crisis after 1930, local governments were last in line for federal financial aid. As a consequence, they ex…
creator: Bingham, John Patrick
publisher: York University
date: 1997
contributor: Kater, Michael H. Advisor
language: en
type: Thesis

"Saving metropolis" : Body and city in the "Metropolis" tales"
subject: literature, film, catastrophe, destruction, architecture, body, Metropolis, Lang Fritz, Osamu Tezuka, Rintarô
description: The image of the destruction of the city has a long history, and resonates disturbingly with current events. It seems to question the very possibility of creating an architecture – that is, of giving the world a form and thereby a meaning. This thesis charts mutations of that imagery as it emerges in three visual narratives punctuating the last century: the "Metropolis" tales. These are Fritz Lang's film of 1926, Tezuka Osamu's manga or graphic novel of 1949, and the 2001 work of anime or Japanese animated film by director Rintarô. Despite their differences, these tales exhibit a fundamental overlap of concern: each deals in its own way with crises in modern conditions of life, crises articulated not only in the imagery of the city but also in that of the broken bodies central to it. The thesis argues that this imagery, hovering at the brink of and ultimately passing beyond the line of apocalypse, articulates an undiminished human yearning to engage in a life project. In our time this yearning, this desire, takes on a new form in which the city and the body adopt a precarious and problematic relationship to their image. But perhaps the seeming instability of this condition as articulated in disrupted bodies and cities is a more faithful reflection of the fundamental human anxiety reflected in myth, and the more foundational destructuring involved in our perception and making of the world, than any whole and healthy body, than any utopia.
creator: Bird, Lawrence David
publisher: McGill University
date: 2009
contributor: Supervisor, Perez-Gomez.
language: en
type: Thesis

Historical urban agriculture : Food production and access to land in Swedish towns before 1900
subject: urban agriculture, urban history, food
description: This doctoral thesis analyses the role of historical urban agriculture in a long-time perspective, through a combination of overarching surveys of Swedish towns and detailed studies of one town – Uppsala in east-central Sweden. The study shows how agricultural land – town land – of various sizes was donated to towns repeatedly during medieval times and in the 16th and 17th centuries. The study examines urban food production at three points in time, and concludes that grain production and, later, potato production as well was substantial in many towns, indicating high levels of urban self-sufficiency. This allows new perspectives concerning the interpretation of urban food provision, as urban dependency on countryside food production might have varied considerably between towns. In addition, the study shows how urban agriculture was connected to social welfare systems, in particular aiming at supporting urban widows. The results in this thesis provide an historical context to the increasing discussions about present-day urban agriculture globally, and identify a number of factors that may create or counteract opportunities for urban agriculture.
creator: Björklund, Annika
publisher: Stockholm University
date: 2010
contributor: Widgren, Mats. Supervisor
language: en
type: Thesis

The foundation, planning and building of new towns in the 13th and 14th centuries in Europe : an architectural-historical research into urban form and its creation
subject: urban form, urban morphology, urban planning, urban history, history of urban planning, history of architecture, new town
description: The urban environment is the physical and social habitat for almost half of mankind in the present day world. In ‘developed’ regions such as Europe even almost three quarters of the population live in towns and cities. This urban environment has strongly contributed to the shape of our personal and common identity, our culture, both in the past and in the present. For instance, many important facets of our modern world are essentially urban in origin. This holds true for, among other things, the core family as social unit (instead of extended families or tribes), for the freedom of person and personal possession, for the freedom of trade and profession (and thereby for professional specialisation and the recognition of the importance of schooling), for market trade, money and democracy. Conversely, the physical and social urban environment also expresses our common identity. And the forms of historic towns and cities also express the identity and aspirations of our ancestors, which is also important for our own identity, giving us a place in history. Generally speaking, the historic manmade landscape offers us a tangible idea of the long history of our culture and of our own position in history. This holds particularly true for the landscape with many historic buildings, in old villages, towns and cities. This built landscape offers us a strong suggestion of the connection with our ancestors that created (elements of) this landscape in the past, and it makes us more or less conscious of both cultural change and continuity in the course of the centuries. Therefore, the historic urban landscape, as it exists, has to be treated with care and respect. And therefore it also deserves to be studied, and if possible, explained. That is what this study is mainly about. The greatest part of urban space in Europe has been created since the industrial revolution, which, depending on the region, generally took place in the late 18th to early 20th century. The general development…
creator: Boerefijn, Wim
publisher: Universiteit van Amsterdam
date: 2010
contributor: Bosman, A. F. W. Supervisor
language: en
type: Thesis