Digital Commons Network^™

The Changing Canadian Inventive Spatial Economic Pattern: An Urban And Regional Analysis Between 1881 And 1986, S.L. Brian Ceh

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Canadian urban and regional patent and trademark data was analysed between 1881 and 1986 in an attempt to distinguish spatial inventive patterns in Canada over time. Inventive activity, as a pre—condition for economic development, is a viable indicator for predicting future economic growth in an inventive spatial economy. As such, it will be possible to extend the description of spatial inventive patterns in Canada after 1986. The percentage and relative level of inventive activity in urban centers and regions in Canada will help distinguish spatial inventive patterns in Canada over time. This information was based on a 25 percent systematic …

Some Hydrologic Aspects Of Snowmelt Runoff Under Summer Conditions, In The Barpu Glacier Basin, Central Karakoram, Himalaya, Northern Pakistan, Ali Ghazanfar

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Snow and ice in high mountains represent and important water resource in many parts of the world, especially the dry continental interior of Central Asia. In the Northern Areas of Pakistan, mountain ranges are the primary sources of annually renewed water supplies. They give rise to rivers which are the only significant, sustainable source of fresh water. The Indus basin is drained by the river Indus and its major tributaries, the Kabul, Jhelum, Chanab, Ravi and Sutlej. Snowmelt contributes about 70 percent to the annual flow of these rivers, but is not timed to meet the requirements for crop production, …

Canadian Railway Museums And Visitor Attraction, Walter Gordon Miller Mcwilliams

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Canadian museums with operating railways constitute special places, and over the past five years they have seen a marked increase in historic preservation work. If this work is to continue these museums, run by volunteer organizations, must be able to increase the numbers of visitors to their sites. Two research questions were investigated, one more objective and scientific, the other more subjective and humanistic: How do such special places function, especially with respect to their market area? And, what sort of sense of place do they create? The first question considers what draws visitors initially; the second question, what brings …

Interbasin Water Transfers: An Appropriate Management Practice For The Great Lakes?, David M. Krentz

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Regional water deficiencies exist in North America, and proposals have been advanced to ‘correct’ these by transferring water from regions where it is relatively abundant to regions where it is relatively scarce. Many of these proposals identify the Great Lakes as either a potential source of the water, or as a ‘distribution centre’ into which water may be transferred and subsequently removed to regions experiencing deficiencies. Although the Great Lakes contain a very large amount of fresh water, most of it is required in place, and so many not be removed. The Great Lakes Basin is heavily populated and highly …

Carbon Dioxide Emissions And Fossil Fuel Consumption A Canadian Perspective, John Peter Doucet

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The potential climate change due to increased loading of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has emerged as one of the most significant environmental threats of the late twentieth century. An analysis of a variety of feasible energy demand scenarios for Canada indicates that if we continue to consume the same types and proportions of fuels as we do today, the expected demand for energy in the year 2005 would yield carbon dioxide emissions up to 52.5 per cent greater than that of 1985. On the other hand, if Canada were to alter the types and quantities of fuels required to …

Housing Policy And Housing Satisfaction In The People’S Republic Of China: A Behavioural Approach Applied In The City Of Xian, Jidong Zhang

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Based on the behavioural approach, this thesis examines housing satisfaction in Xian, The People’s Republic of China, and its implications for housing policy. A conceptual framework of housing satisfaction along three dimensions, housing environment system, social structure, and housing policy, is presented and discussed. From this framework a set of hypotheses are stated and subsequently tested. The strongest factor found to affect housing satisfaction is people’s living space and housing condition is another important factor. Through examining housing policy and housing satisfaction, the centrally controlled Chinese housing policies are shown to need modification and changes in housing supply should be …

The Evolution Of Retail Business In Central Business Districts In Response To The Introduction Of A Downtown Shopping Mall A Case Study Of The Cbd In Thunder Bay North, Mark Jordan Smith

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In recent decades, central business districts in many cities in Canada have undergone considerable change with respect to many aspects of their function and importance. A number of factors have been responsible for these changes, notably the migration of populations to the suburbs. The changes in the CBD have resulted in a deterioration of the core areas of almost every major city and a great many smaller communities in the country. In response to this deterioration numerous downtown renewal schemes have been implemented with varying degrees of success. A growing number of these schemes has involved the development of downtown …

Irrigation Agriculture In High Mountain Communities The Example Of Hopar Villages, Pakistan, David Aaron Otto Butz

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The interaction of humans with their geophysical environment has been a popular theme in cultural geography. Mountain regions have been common sites for such studies. Pakistan’s Karakoram Ranges, however, have received relatively little attention. Those studies which have been undertaken in the Karakoram are too general to yield credible descriptions or explanations. In addition, many approach human/environment relationships from a superficial environmentalist perspective. Recent efforts by agricultural development agencies to improve conditions in Northern Pakistan have created a sudden interest in the way traditional high-mountain farming communities interact with their geophysical surroundings. Unfortunately, development agencies concentrate on direct causal relationships …

The Incorporation Of Environmental Perception Information Into Wilderness Park Safety Planning, Thomas Craig Waldichuk

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The park safety planning process currently in use limits users’ inputs to accident statistics. It would be better to more accurately anticipate accident-prone locations and to take preventative measures. A planning methodology is proposed which integrates the safety perceptions of park users into the decision-making for locating facilities and services: the Recreation Opportunity Spectrum (ROS) serves as a systematic planning guide for such decision-making and is compatible with park policy and objectives. Applications to Garibaldi Provincial Park, British Columbia, and statistical and cartographic analyses of 273 questionnaires returned from there, indicate that park users’ perceptions can be advantageously incorporated into …

The Effect Of Particle Size On Phosphate Adsorption By Fluvial Sediment, Michael F.A. Stone

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The quantitative phosphate adsorption behaviour of ten grain size fractions of an experimental sediment (silica sand) and fluvial sediment from two Southwestern Ontario rivers, were evaluated and compared to determine the effect of particle size on phosphate absorption. In addition, the elemental composition of grain size fractions of fluvial sediment were determined by X-Ray fluorescence spectrometry to study the combined effect of particle size and sediment geochemical composition on phosphate adsorption. Results of the adsorption studies indicate that phosphate adsorption per unit mass increases in non-linear fashion with decreasing grain size. The capacity of grain size fractions of silica sand …

Spatial And Temporal Variation Of Snow Accumulation In The Central Karakoram, Northern Pakistan, Cameron Parker Wake

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Runoff from the Upper Indus Basin depends upon snowfall at high elevations in the northern mountains of Pakistan. However, very little is known concerning the amount of snowfall in the major source area, the high Karakoram, or its spatial and temporal distribution. Glaciers contain well preserved records of snow accumulation and provide a unique tool for retrieving data. A number of studies on temperate and tropical glaciers indicate that variations in chemical content and microparticle concentrations delineates seasonal stratigraphy. In addition, the chemical record of the snowpack can usually be used to determine the source of precipitation. Field work in …

An Assessment And Comparison Of Hazardous Waste Management Hessen, Frg And Ontario, Canada, Elaine F. Collis

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Hazardous waste management has recently become an issue of great concern for governments in industrialized countries. In spite of this, no one country has established a successful framework which guarantees the safe handling and disposal of hazardous wastes. The ideal system would generate no hazardous wastes in the first place but this, of course, is wishful thinking for highly industrialized societies. The next best or “preferred” solution is a system which emphasized reduction and recycling of hazardous wastes. The existing waste management systems in the world today, however, almost exclusively emphasize treatment and disposal. This thesis assesses the hazardous waste …

Irrigation Water Use In Southern Ontario, Kenneth Iain Macdonald

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The appreciation of water as a finite resource has engendered a renewed research interest in producing effective water management policies and practices in order to reduce both current and potential demands on existing reserves. Unfortunately, such research, especially in the humid regions of North America, has concentrated on water use in urban areas and has neglected the use of water in irrigation agriculture; even though irrigation is a major consumptive use of water in many localized areas. In addition, research has been dominated by physical, technological and economic viewpoints at the expense of an understanding of the human element in …

Scarcity-Induced Conflict: The Lebanese-Israeli Conflict Over Water, Hussein A. Amery

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This thesis sets out to determine possible links between the depleting water resources in Israel and the country’s hegemony over the water-rich area of south Lebanon. The early Zionist and later Israeli leaders have coveted the Litani river of Lebanon, to which Israel has had access since 1978. Israel’s replenishable water stock is being fully utilized. This fact is the basis of the theoretical motif of the thesis, namely the state conflict induced by resource scarcity. Thus conflict theory is discussed and a model of conflict process is derived.

Also discussed are 1) the reasons for the high water consumption …

An Analysis Of The Spatial And Economic Variations Of Ethnic Groups, Ontario, Jayati Ghosh

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This study is concerned with six ethnic groups in the province of Ontario: the British, considered the “core group”, and the French, Italian, Indo-Chinese, Indo-Pakistani and Caribbean, the “peripheral groups.”

The principal interest of the research has been to study the ethnic mosaic in two ways, both in a core-periphery context. It was hypothesised that there has been persistence of socio-economic stratification between the British core and the peripheral groups. This thesis analyzes variation in the occupation-income between and within the ethnic immigrant groups.

The secondary objective is to examine these groups spatially, that is, in terms of a southern …

An Assessment Of Hybrid Poplar Biomass Plantations For Ontario, Peter Caleb Sturrup

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The search for an alternative to oil dominated political and economic thinking during the 1970’s and continues in this decade. In Ontario, one such alternative is methanol, which could possibly be supplied in large quantities from hybrid poplar biomass plantations. While the nature of these plantations has been debated at greath length, the exact quantity and location of land that could be available for plantations in Ontario has not been identified.

Using the Land Evaluation Model (LEM 2) developed at the University of Guelph an inventory of the land resources and the resulting land use patterns is determined. Throughout the …

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) …

Environmental Perception And Its Impacts On The Tourist Industry: A Case Study Of The Niagara Region, Donna Marie Senese

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The natural resources of the Niagara Region of Ontario have played an important role in the success of the tourist industry in the region. The Niagara Region has been developed on an industrial and agricultural base since the nineteenth century. Due to conflicting demands of the manufacturing, agricultural and tourism industries for aesthetic, recreational and waste disposal purposes, the physical environment has deteriorated. The research problem of this thesis is to determine the extent of the effect of this deteriorated environment upon the tourist industry in the Niagara Region.

Physical inventories of resources are not adequate in terms of evaluating …

The Pilgrimage To Elvis Presley's Graceland: A Study Of The Meanings Of Place, James W. Davidson

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Sites become places when people bestow meaning, such as sanctity, upon them. Throughout human history, sacred places have continually emerged within cultural groups. Sacred places commonly focus on heroic figures. A pilgrimage is the visible expression of the sanctity of a place. This thesis examines the motives, meanings and experiences which are associated with the journey to Elvis Presley’s Graceland mansion and grave in Memphis, Tennessee.

Data came from questioning 209 people visiting Presley’s home in the summer of 1984, from fan clubs around the world, and from personal interviews with key figures in Memphis. In my analysis of the …

The Role Of Federal Programs And Policies In The Conversion Of Wetlands In Southern Ontario, Terrie Gwladys Radke

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The intent of this thesis was to assess the direct and indirect participation of the federal government in processes which have resulted in the loss of wetlands in Southern Ontario. This study focuses on the present and past Federal programs that had or do have the potential to impact wetlands, their history, funding, and administration, and the federal legislation present for wetland preservation. The research methodology was divided into three phases. The first phase consisted of literature reviews pertaining to the management and conversion of wetland areas and reports concerned with federally funded projects and the generation of extensive interviews …

Current, Erosional And Depositional Patterns At A River Confluence And Bend In The Nottawasaga River, Angus, Ontario, Gregory Robert Brooks

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

At a bend and confluence of the Nottawasaga River, sixty-four measurements of flow velocities were recorded at points along vertical profiles regularly spaced across a series of cross-sections. From the summarization of the data into a ‘three dimensional’ diagram, the current velocity patterns in the river reach were evident.

As observed at low discharge levels, the low speeds and directional uniformity of the flow in the Nottawasaga River entering the study reach suggests that the observed asymmetrical channel the study reach suggests that the observed asymmetrical channel was a remnant of higher discharge levels. On the other hand, in the …

Towards The Measurement Of Regional Inequities Through Patterns Of Ideally Generated Socio-Economic Indicators, Richard C. Campbell

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Regional disparities are commonly described in terms of only one criterion when in fact they can be characterized by a number of social and economic variables. The objective of this study is to define regional data according to specific socio-economic indicators, and measure the disparities associated with them in comparison to those from ideally generated groupings. Socio-economic data from the Federal Republic of Germany was obtained from the West German Federal Institute for Regional Analysis and Planning. The variables will be grouped by factor analysis to create the indicators, and variation will be measured using analysis of variance. The ideal …

Communities In Transition Elmira And St. Jacobs, Ontario : A Study Of Resident And Retailer Attitudes Toward Tourism, Frances Hohol

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The present thesis examines the changes which tourism development has brought to two Canadian communities, Elmira and St. Jacobs, Ontario. They are "communities in transition". The research focusses on the local resident and retailer attitudes toward this development, and the possibility and desirability of further tourism development. Following analysis of the data collected through questionnaires, nine recommendations are presented.

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. …

Consumer Images Of Shopping Centres A Socio-Economic Analysis, David W. Bell

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Previous research has shown that behaviour by consumers is influenced by many interacting factors that motivate each individual in different ways. It is how these factors are perceived and combined by each person that leads to the formation of consumer images of shopping centres. Image is an important criterion in the comprehension of the consumer’s perception of shopping centres. Studies have found that the consumer’s image is related in a systematic way with the measures of social and economic characteristics of the consumer. Occupation and income are two variables that have often been employed by previous researchers to measure a …

The Utilization Of Wood As An Energy Resource In Ontario, Ronald Harvey Walder

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The thesis provides an introductory descriptive analysis of the utilization of wood as an energy resource in Ontario from past, present, and future perspectives. Available quantitative and spatial information was compiled and evaluated for each temporal component. Due to a number of factors including local resource supply inadequacies, resource competition, and technological change, wood energy experienced a rapid decline in utilization during the late 19th century. This decline continued steadily throughout the 20th century until world energy events during the 1970’s promoted a modest resurgence. In the domestic sector “serious” users, who consume wood for the majority of their home …

Institutional Arrangements For Flood Plain Management In Ontario An Analysis Of The West Ferris Flood Plain Management Study, Dan Shrubsole

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The intent of this study is to investigate how river basin study delays could be avoided or shortened. Mitchell and Gardner (1983) identified the need for this type of research in order to make watershed planning credible. This study specifically focuses on how the institutional arrangement for flood plain management may be improved to provide more efficient and effective management, present institutional arrangement for flood plain management in Ontario. The research was divided into two phases. The first phase was a literature review pertaining to comprehensive river basin management, institutional arrangements for water management, and general planning. This review led …

Community Access In Northern Ontario The Problem Of Orphan Roads, David A. Frentress

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In northern Ontario, long distances, harsh climatic and physiographic conditions and sparse population make transportation costly and problematic. This thesis examines the problem of orphan roads. An orphan road leads to a small, unincorporated community, but it is not under any type of road maintenance agreement. Five such roads were not under agreement for the 1982-1983 winter. These roads led to Biscotasing, Hillsport, Auden, Oba and Pagwa River. With the exception of Pagwa River, a case study of each situation was carried out to gain a clearer understanding of the problem in order that recommendations could be made. major recommendations …

Regional Variations Among Ethnic Groups In Ontario A Core-Periphery Model, Robert George Sharpe

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This thesis performs a spatial analysis of Ontario’s structure of ethnic stratification. It examines several spatial manifestations of the contrasts in socio-economic well-being—income, education, and occupation—between Ontario’s British majority and seven ethnic minority categories. The major data source for this analysis includes published Canadian Census data and special tabulations of the 1971 Census. Regional patterns of spatial distribution shown by the various ethnic categories are described and compared using location quotients and the centrographic statistical technique. Applying a core-periphery model of regional structure and development, a tendency was found for ethnic categories of subordinate socio-economic status to be disproportionately concentrated …

The Custom Profile Extrusion Industry In Southern Ontario An Economic And Geographic Examination Of A Growth-Pole, Melvyn William Beetham

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The Custom Profile Extrusion Industry, which is one segment of the total Plastics Industry, has developed within Southern Ontario during the last two decades. The behaviour of the firms which make up the Profile Industry has not been scrutinized, collectively, to determine whether or not they qualified as a growth pole within the context of Perroux’s theory. Through the use of a heuristic approach this industry has been studied and evaluated. The findings from the data collected from these firms has been examined to ascertain the relevancy of this industry within a growth pole concept.