Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Transformations Towards Just Urban Sustainabilities: A Community Psychology Approach To Analyzing And Fostering Urban Changes, Bianca C. Dreyer

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Cities are uniquely positioned to drive social change towards more just and sustainable futures. However, while discourses of ‘transformations towards sustainability’ have gained prominence, their focus on integrating equity and justice and tackling the root causes of current unsustainabilities is lacking. This document outlines a research endeavor aimed at analyzing and fostering urban sustainable transformations from a community psychology perspective. This research is based on the assertion that without radical change based in equity and justice considerations, transformative efforts fail. First, a theory of just urban sustainable transformations (JUST) is suggested that draws on urban transformations and just sustainabilities scholarship. …

Water Stories: An Exploration Of Human-Water Connectedness In Ontario And The Implications For Water Sustainability, Tracey Ehl

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Abstract

Water is the great connector. Water connects people, health, wellness, culture, spirituality, nature, and the economy. Clean, safe water (potable water) and sanitation were recognized over a decade ago by the United Nations General Assembly (UN) as a basic human right, and more recently the UN has also identified water sustainability and management as one of 17 sustainable development goals for all people in all countries. Water is inextricably connected to humans. Yet, in Ontario, Canada, a place with access to some of the largest freshwater reserves in the world, robust regulatory frameworks, involvement, some investment by all levels …

Exploring The Relationship Between Gender, Race, And Space, And Toronto Community Housing Policy, Anita Rachel Ewan

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This dissertation presents the racial-gendered lived experiences of Black women living in Toronto Community Housing (TCH; subsidized housing). This research found that Black women and their families are disproportionately faced with challenges due to barriers caused by housing policy and procedures that also affect the overall development and wellbeing of their children. It also highlights the ways in which Black women continue to thrive and survive in the face of detrimental and derelict living conditions; accomplished through community development and support initiatives, and fostering strong communities.

This is a qualitative research project that includes an art-based method. Utilizing a feminist …

A Qualitative Study Of Families’ Experiences With Food Insecurity In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Elias Omer

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Ethiopia has shown considerable progress in alleviating the decades-long food insecurity problem, but still, in the context of urban areas such as Addis Ababa families continue to struggle to make ends meet. The overall purpose of this research is to explore families’ lived experiences and coping mechanisms with food insecurity. Framed with the narrative-empowerment theoretical framework this ethnographic study outlines the findings of semi-structured interviews and focus group discussion of 35 adults and children and observational notes. Participants were able to tell their perception, causes, and impacts of food insecurity in their families. They outlined the daily strategies they employ …

Capturing In-Situ Feelings And Experiences Of Public Transit Riders Using Smartphones, Rafik Said, Rafik Said

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

High-density urban environments are susceptible to ever-growing traffic congestion issues, which speaks to the importance of implementing and maintaining effective and sustainable transportation networks. While transit oriented developments offer the potential to help mitigate traffic congestion issues, transit networks ought to be safe and reliable for ideal transit-user communities. As such, it is imperative to capture meaningful data regarding transit experiences, and deduce how transit networks can be enhanced or modified to continually maintain ideal transit experiences. Historically speaking, it has been relatively tricky to measure how people feel whilst using public transportation, without leaning on recall memory to explain …

Using Social Disorganization Theory To Explore Neighbourhood Effects On Violent Crime: A Case Study Of The City Of Brantford, Ontario, Ni-Shan Ho

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The purpose of this study was to explore neighbourhood characteristics related to social disorganization theory and to ascertain whether socioeconomic disadvantage, family disruption, residential instability and young population structure were predictive of neighbourhood violent crime in the city of Brantford, Ontario, as a case study. A two-step analysis was conducted using data derived from the National Household Survey (NHS), the 2011 census and the Brantford Police Service records management system (BPS-RMS). A descriptive analysis of Brantford’s 21 census tracts (CT) was conducted to explore patterns of social disorganization variables and violent crime in each of the city’s 21 CT neighbourhoods. …

Perceptions Of Change In The Urban Core: A Case Study Of A Satellite Campus In Kitchener, Ontario, Lindsay Woodside

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The university satellite campus is a recent planning instrument used to revitalize struggling downtown cores. The satellite model, however, is not without controversy. To gain an insight into the debate, this study focuses on the perceptions of groups involved in bringing the Lyle S. Hallman Faculty of Social Work satellite campus to downtown Kitchener, Ontario. Approaches to revitalization since World War II are examined together with the current downtown revitalization initiative in bringing university satellite campuses to downtowns. The strengths and weaknesses of the university and community dynamic are highlighted as they relate to the main university campus and host …

Intra-Urban Spatial Accessibility: An Improved Methodological Approach, Jeremy W.E. Mcandrew

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The study of accessibility is commonly utilized to further the social equity debate. However, the accessibility literature is ingrained with, and perpetuates, a form of spatial error; aggregation error. The presence of this spatial error severely hinders the applicability of accessibility research in the study of our environment. This thesis seeks to eliminate forms of spatial error from the study of accessibility through the use of comprehensive high resolution spatial information. A service accessibility study is undertaken utilizing origin data collected at the parcel level, while destinations are represented by a diverse and detailed database identifying businesses which cater to …

The Battle Over Our Land: Urbanization Versus Farmland Preservation In The Greater Golden Horseshoe, Kali Mikulica

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Urban sprawl continues to advance further and further into the countryside, as individuals trade cramped urban spaces for much larger rural lots and longer commutes to work. This increased sprawl permanently converts productive agricultural land to urban uses, especially in regions surrounding rapidly expanding cities. It is for this reason that farmland preservation has become a significant issue for policy officials in recent decades. According to the literature, there are numerous methods of protecting prime agricultural land in the face of urbanization; however there are few studies that focus on how these different policy techniques affect farmers. The Ontario government …

The Dynamic Commercial Structure Of Waterloo, Kitchener, And Cambridge 1989-1999: The Impact Of New Format Retailing (Ontario), Christopher Oakley

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In the past to ensure that the economic vitality of existing and future commercial areas were and would be maintained, a regulatory system was developed by both the Regions and Municipalities in Ontario. Their Official Plans were designed to create a hierarchy of retail commercial areas based upon the perceived need to provide adequate retail facilities to consumers without having excess retail space, thereby creating a retail structure that provided access to goods of all types to consumers with minimum transportation costs. However, the distribution of goods and services providers is constantly changing. It is commonly feared that this process …

Spatial And Structural Determinants Of Residential Burglary Rates In Kitchener-Waterloo (Ontario), Martin Christopher Anstey

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Traditional ecological analyses of burglary have a number of shortcomings. First, break-ins occurring within a neighbourhood have been regarded as a solely the product of local residents. Second, the relationship between burglary and its determinants has been considered constant across space. Third, the data used in ecological analysis has been treated as statistically independent. The purpose of this study is to expand upon previous ecological studies through an analysis of residential burglary in Kitchener-Waterloo, Canada Theory from environmental criminology (a discipline concerned with the spatial aspects of crime) is used in conjunction with spatial data analysis techniques and GIS technology …

Managing Urban Water Resources In A Developing Economy: The Case Of Owerri, Nigeria, Lawrence Chidi Anukam

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Projections indicate that the disparity in population numbers will widen further by the year 2025 when the global population is expected to be 8.5 billion, and at that time about 84% will be living in the developing countries (World Resources Institute, 1992). The greatest proportional increase will occur in Africa, where the population is projected to nearly triple, from a 1990 level of 642 million to 1.6 billion in 2025. In 1997, the population of Nigeria alone was about 100 million, making it the largest country, in terms of population, in Africa. From 1960 to 1990, the average annual population …

Structural Constraints To Development And Land Use In Rural Jamaica: The Case Of Long Road, St. Mary, Anthony John Weis

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Jamaica is currently experiencing the highest rate of deforestation in the world, with severe environmental consequences attendant to the loss of its ecologically significant forests. It also possesses extreme rural poverty and the intense need for development. In Jamaica, as throughout much of the tropics, peasant farmers are blamed as the primary agents of forest colonization. The purpose of this thesis, therefore, is to elucidate how the development and land use decisions of peasant farmers at a study site are constrained by external forces. The goal is to assess how progress towards environment and development (or ‘sustainability’) goals in rural …

The Dynamics Of Ethnic Residential Patterns In The Toronto Census Metropolitan Area (Ontario), Marinel Mandres

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Responding to contemporary urban changes and increasing social complexities, this research endeavours to determine whether recently arrived immigrants still follow residential configurations as prescribed by traditional urban ecological models or whether ethnic groups are displaying a new dispersed (i.e. ‘shot gun’) domiciliary pattern characterized by enclave scattering. A new conceptual model describing various spatial outcomes relative to primary destinations of initial immigrant settlement and subsequent relocation is developed according to propositions discussed in the literature review. Subsequent statistical analyses focus upon the hypothesized post-1980 areal placement of six ethnic groups (Greek, Jewish, Multiethnic, Aboriginal, Chinese, and Jamaican) using the British …

An Evaluation Of Pump-Level Service As A Locational Variable Within Canada's Retail Gasoline Industry, Ian W.R. Gilbart

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Marketers who are searching for prime retail locations for gasoline outlets, and other automobile-oriented activities, in today’s market are faced with an increasingly complex process. As land and development costs escalate, competition increases and margins are tightened, there is a greater need for marketers within the retail gasoline industry to pinpoint sites that offer the best profit potential (Gilbart, 1994). In turn, large gasoline chains attempt to develop networks of stations that optimize market coverage and consumer convenience while minimizing costs. In response to the evolution of an increasingly dynamic marketplace, experts within the retail gasoline industry have invested a …

Heritage Conservation Districts In Ontario: Case Studies, Lynda Elizabeth Formosa

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

There are twenty-eight formal Ontario Heritage Act “heritage conservation districts” currently in place in Ontario. Though some of these are now more than a decade old, little is known about how they have functioned. This study outlines the social and economic context out of which the Ontario Heritage Act was created and then examines a sample of four heritage conservation districts, including reviews of the district plans, field examinations of each district and interviews with the district administrators. The Ontario Heritage Act originated as a reaction to the 19705 "bull-dozer” approach to urban development and was intended to allow for …

Barriers To Achieving Sustainable Development In North America: Historical Naivety, Media Limitations And Non-Anticipatory Governance, Blair Wayne Feltmate

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This thesis addresses three critical problems affecting the implementation of “sustainable development”: historical naivety, media limitations, and non-anticipatory governance. Emphasis is placed on North America--primarily the United States complemented with a global perspective towards the latter aspect of the presentation. Foremost (Chapter 2) in the thesis is the focus on contemporary society's lack of appreciation for its environmental past, and the assertion "to be ignorant of history is to repeat it" is corroborated by reviewing many "modern" (circa 1990's) problems of environmental degradation and placing them in a historical North American context. For example, George Perkins Marsh (1801-1882)--the father of …

Gentrification In Canadian Inner Cities: An Investigation Of Major Factors (Montreal, Quebec, Toronto, Ontario, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Vancouver, British Columbia), M. Anne Sinclair-Puchtinger

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Over the past two decades, the literature regarding gentrification has become extensive. More recently, a smaller body of research has emerged. This research, which takes a more theoretical approach, accepts some of the views of earlier literature, but places an emphasis on explaining the underlying causes of gentrification, rather than describing its instances. The purpose of this thesis has been to consider recent literature on gentrification in terms of whether a relationship exists between contemporary demographic and societal changes and the process of gentrification. This has been accomplished by using three methods. The first method involves the computation of growth …

Rural-Urban Migration And Squatter Settlement Formation In African Cities: A Case Study Of A Ghanaian Squatter Settlement (Tema), Thomas Y. Owunsu

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The massive rural to urban migration in developing countries has been identified as the cause of the existence of squatter settlements in the neighboring urban areas. This thesis puts forward a comprehensive theoretical framework of the process that leads to the formation and growth of such settlements. It is argued that, under intense urbanization, the number of urban migrants far exceeds the capacity of the receiving city to provide sufficient employment and housing opportunities. A certain segment of migrants, especially those with low levels of skills, educational background and support in the city of destination are assimilated in the squatter …

The Impact Of Multi-Stop, Multi-Purpose Shopping On The Location And Efficiency Of A Supermarket Chain: A Location-Allocation Approach, Andrea K. Dawkins

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

As the retail environment became increasingly competitive and the risks of opening new outlets also increased, there became a need for firms to develop a quantifiable location strategy in order to help them minimize these risks and be successful in the market place. Past location models however, modeled consumer shopping trips as consisting of a single-stop, single-purpose, were home generated and were only considered with the impact of a single store location. Recent literature however, has revealed consumer shopping trips as being more complex with multiple stops and multiple purposes. In addition, the retail environment has shifted from consisting of …

The Changing Residential Structure Of Toronto’S Core, Ann C. Weiss

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Traditionally, the residential areas of Toronto’s core have housed low-income, working class families and represented a reception area for immigrant groups. Much of this attraction centered around manufacturing and the associated availability of unskilled jobs. The economic base of the city has undergone extensive change in the past two decades. Growth has occurred in the service/commercial sector. In addition, a number of demographic trends have affected housing. Land use activities within Toronto’s core, including residential, have experienced a tremendous amount of change. Due to the city’s prominence, it is important to analyze: 1) changes in the demand for housing; 2) …

Arson In Toronto: A Geographical Perspective (Ontario), James Richards

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This thesis is an empirical study of the crime of arson in Toronto from a geographical perspective. Although empirical in nature there is a framework of analysis that hopefully provides a starting point for theoretical development. The study is loosely organized around the framework of four areas of arson research which include: antecedent environmental conditions, organismic variables, actual firesetting behavior, and the consequences of firesetting. To each one of these areas of research geographical analysis is possible. In most cases it was necessary in this study to incorporate the findings from the psychological and sociological literature into the geographical analysis. …

The Kingston Harbourfront Site: An Evaluation Of Urban Development (Ontario), Warren Bruce Stewart

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Between September 15 and December 15, 1980, staff members from the Kingston Harbourfront Archaeological Project conducted rescue excavations on a provincially owned property in the City of Kingston, Ontario. Excavation at the Kingston Harbourfront Site (Bb Gc-7) exposed structural and artifactual data representing four occupational periods and ranging in date from the late 1780's through to the present. A wide variety of structural remains representing military, commercial, industrial and residential developments were examined. Analysis of the archaeological and historical data has led to the compilation of an occupational profile which outlines the historic periods of occupation, the structural and artifactual …

The Impact Of Physical Design And Surrounding Land Use On Residents’ Perceptions And Attitudes Towards High Density Housing, Jeffrey George Ahonen

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Studies of various types have indicated that high density housing and overcrowding may have effects on man’s well being and resident satisfaction. The study examines residents’ attitudes and perceptions of high density housing in two square mile tracts in the City of Kitchener. One tract is characterized by homogeneous land use; the other by mixed land use. Responses are obtained from sixty townhouse and sixty apartment units in each of the two sample tracts by use of a questionnaire. The data is analyzed using SPSS, a difference-of-means test and factor analytic work. It was determined that the variables physical structure …

Regional Economic Development In Ontario: The Problems Of Both Federal And Provincial Government Involvement, John Brandon Lander

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Regional economic disparities have always been a topic of concern for the geographer as has the alleviation of this problem. In examining government efforts in this area, one must be aware of the parameters placed on such action by the established system of government.

Federalism, in the same way as other major forms of government, is supported by a voluminous amount of theoretical material. This literature discusses the foundations of this system of government but also delves into some of its inherent problems. Such problems have led many political scientists to advocate co-operative federalism, a more contemporary form of this …

The Evolution Of The City Of Timmins: A Single-Industry Community, Joe G. Torlone

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The purpose of the thesis was to historically trace the development of a single-industry community, Timmins, Ontario. Five time periods were studied beginning with the incorporation of the Town of Timmins in 1912 and ending with the time period 1973 to 1977.

Three aspects of economic development were used to analyze the growth of Timmins. The economic base of the town was analyzed in order to gain a better understanding of the sources of income and employment because these two elements in turn influenced demographic factors and the development of other sectors of the Timmins economy. The second aspect was …

An Analysis Of Transport Services And Facilities In Northern Ontario Centres: A Qualitative Approach, Violet Konkle

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Transportation has been considered in the discipline of geography largely within the context of distance and cost constraints, particularly with reference to industrial location decision-making processes. These costs are easily-quantifiable and measurable, and transportation geographers have tended to depend upon distance and tariff costs as the major transportation inputs in locational decision-making processes.

This dependency upon cost considerations is no longer evident in the real world. The priorities of the consignors (shippers) and consignees (customers) have shifted lately, and these distance and cost considerations are now examined in conjunction with such qualitative priorities as frequency of the consistency and reliability …

A Regional Approach To Solid Waste Management In Oxford County, Ian Smith

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

No abstract provided.

The Relationship Between Urban Structure And Human Behaviour: An Exploratory Investigation, John Mark Mccash Jr.

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Recognition of the limitations of previous explanations of urban spatial structure due to their implicit assumptions concerning human behaviour in conjunction with the desire to present a framework more conducive to the answering of socially relevant urban problems, has led to this study’s use of an exploratory methodology within which to investigate the phenomena of urban spatial structure. The overall purpose is to investigate the relationships between both the structural and behavioural components of urban spatial structure which will possibly lead to greater levels of understanding of the complex processes which give rise to our present urban environments. To achieve …

A Relocation Diffusion Model Of Selected Retail Businesses In Hamilton, Ontario, Richard Blake Hull

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In Hamilton, Ontario from 1969 to 1973 the Civic Square Urban Renewal Project was carried out in part of the Central Business District. As a result most of the businesses in the project area were forced to move. This thesis examines the relocation decision which was made by the entrepreneurs who operated retail businesses in the Civic Square Area. The factors which were considered important as input in their decision were incorporated into a model which projects a relocation diffusion pattern similar to the actual pattern created when these businesses spread to other sections of the C.B.D.

The likelihood of …