1999 - Finse, Depertment of Geography Univeristy of Bergen, Norway, July 3-7th

Permanent URI for this collection

https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14235/2769

Browse

Now showing 1 - 12 of 12

Open Access
Book of abstracts : AESOP PhD workshop 1999, Finse, Depertment of Geography Univeristy of Bergen, Norway
(AESOP, 1999)
The AESOP PhD Workshop 1999 aims at constituting a small forum of discussion of PhDs in Planning Issues, bringing together a group of PhD students from AESOP member schools and a group of well known planning professors in an informal environment. The focus of the workshop is dedicated to the specificity of a PhD in planning. We are focusing on the role of paradigms in planning research, the role of theory and methodological approach, the relation between theory and empirical analysis in a PhD thesis. We will as well discuss the process in PhD work from idea to final thesis and whether there are identifiable trends in planning research. The workshop is structured into plenary lectures and group sessions. There will be five lectures by the invited teachers. There will be group sessions on Sunday and Monday at which the PhD students will present their papers, and group sessions on Tuesday at which there will be sought a structured discussion on the different theoretical and methodological aspects of the work with a PhD thesis. Structure of the workshop The workshop is structured in three types of sessions with specific, and different objectives: Plenary sessions of approximately 90 minutes length. There will be 5 such sessions - two on Sunday morning, two on Monday morning and one on Tuesday morning. In these sessions the invited professors and lecturers will present their lecture followed by a discussion. In these discussions all participants are urged to approach the themes of discussion in the light of their own training background, research and practice experience, as well as in the context of the planning school you come from. It is fundamental to keep track of the content of these plenary sessions in order to adress the topics in group sessions, after the PhD presentations.
Open Access
From Theory to Methodology and Back Again: The Need for Planning Researchers to Engage with Methodological Concerns
(AESOP, 1999) Campbell, Heather
Concerns associated with the development and implementation of the methodologies which underpin empirical investigations often seem to be treated as if they are of marginal significance to the research endeavour. For example, refereed journal articles seldom discuss the detailed decisions surrounding the conduct of a piece of research. This element is omitted in favour of concentration on the theory informing the research and the implications of the findings; yet it is the methodology which provides the link between the theory and the findings and consequently is instrumental in determining the validity and reliability of the conclusions. The result of this lack of discussion and engagement with methodological concerns has been the creation of something of an academic myth that carrying out a study is a relatively straight-forward and unproblematic undertaking. Experience suggests quite the reverse and that moreover if the quality of research is to develop and progress in the planning field there is much to be gained from open and honest discussion of the theoretical and practical issues associated with the methodological aspects of research. The purpose of this paper therefore is a plea for greater engagement with methodological concerns. In the context of this discussion it is assumed that methodology includes both the techniques used in the field to collect data and also the approach adopted to analyse and interpret the resulting material. The paper is divided into two parts, the first examines existing perspectives on research methods in planning while the second focuses on the seemingly poorly developed relationship between theory and methodology.
Open Access
Visual Literacy Research Programme
(AESOP, 1999) Romice, Ombretta
The research programme is intended to examine what is meant by visual literacy, investigate the extent of public awareness in this field, and direct this knowledge towards an intensification of such awareness in order to deepen community understanding of, and involvement in, the process of design. Relevance for planning knowledge. The project seeks to contribute to the implementation of social and physical renewal strategies, by supporting the concepts of capacity building and empowerment. Capacity building is linked to the ideas of: - Education, as we believe, is the first step out of disadvantagel. - Participation is relevant as "significant changes in human behaviour can be brought about rapidly and efficiently only if the persons who are expected to change participate in deciding what the change shall be and how it shall be made" (Sanoff 1992 iii). By providing education we wish to stimulate the only significant form of participation, the one connected to awareness and redistribution of power. Unless participation is linked to power of decision making, "it turns into and empty and frustrating process for the powerless. It allows the power holders to claim that all sides were considered but makes it possible only for some of these to benefit and maintains the status quo" (Arnstein 1969).
Open Access
Residential Differentation in the Transition from Socialism to the Market Economy. The Case of Tallinn, Estonia
(AESOP, 1999) Ruoppila, Sampo
In my PhD-thesis titled «Urban Transition - the Residential Differentation of Eastern European Cities in the Transition to the Market Economy» I will compare the effects of transition on residential differentation in Tallinn, Budapest, Prague and Warsaw. In the PhD workshop at Finse I would like to present a paper discussing the socialistic heritage of these four cities in general, and in particular the effects of the transition on the social structure of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. The emphasis will be on the socioeconomic differentation, although the ethnic differentation is also discussed when relevant. The method I will use in my PhD-thesis is comparative urban research. My empirical data consists of official statistics and the real estate market reports done by the real estate firms. I also intend to conduct interviews with key groups of urban development: real estate developers, finance managers, real estate market analysts and urban planners. In my presentation at Finse I will first discuss the results of my Master's thesis (January 1999) and secondly, the new empirical material consisting of interviews with experts and newspaper articles I have collected in Tallinn. The discussion on residential differentation in socialist cities was launched by Iván Szelényi's study Urban Inequalities under State Socialism (1983). Because it was written already in the early 1970's, it no longer depicted the situation in the late 1980's.
Open Access
The Community Reinvestment Movement: How Community Based Organizations are Shaping Their Futures
(AESOP, 1999) Schmitt, Brian
This dissertation project investigates whether the Community Reinvestment Act and the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act have substantially strengthened community-based organizations' capacities to influence residential credit availability in US cities and neighborhoods. The community reinvestment movement developed as a response to extensive post-war urban disinvestment and racism in US housing markets. While these problems persist, the community reinvestment movement appears to have made great strides in promoting homeownership opportunities for minority and low-and-moderate income borrowers. This abstract briefly recounts the history of urban disinvestment in the US, describes the research questions and methodology of my dissertation, and then couches the work in the broader context of local control of capital. My goal is to connect the mechanics of these two laws to Agenda 21's concerns with participatory planning and community-based issue analysis (International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, 1996). In 1950 central cities, as distinct from their suburbs, accounted for nearly 6 of 10 persons living in metropolitan areas in the US. By 1970 central city residents accounted for barely 4 of 10 persons. The dramatic population shift from cities to suburbs, indeed the deep distinction between the two, is a particularly American urban phenomenon with many explanations. Strong and persistent consumer preference for new homes in the suburbs has played a significant factor in the process.
Open Access
A Planned Risk?
(AESOP, 1999) Snary, Christopher D.
Main theme of PhD Planning applications for waste disposal units are notoriously met by considerable local opposition. In the case of waste incinerators much of this opposition has been centred upon the potential that the emissions have to pose a health risk. There has been a tendency among waste management companies to view such concerns as irrational, and consequently to approach the problem with a view that education and the provision of information will induce positive changes in people's perceptions towards waste incinerators. This approach has been widely criticised for: being unsuccessful at reducing the level of local opposition accompanying incinerator planning applications; not realising that the problem goes well beyond NIMBY and involves issues of risk perception, trust, and fundamental decisions about the most appropriate waste management strategy (1); and, not making decisions through fair and competent discourse (2). It is increasingly being realised that risk must be looked at within a social context (3); (4), and that non-uniform scientific approaches to assessing environmental risk could be producing non-consistent results (5). Much literature and past research has established risk as a socially constructed problem. Theories on public perception of risk indicate that risk has physical, psychological, social, political, ethical, and economic dimensions (6); (7); (8); (9); (10); and (11). Therefore, it can be said that the effective assessment of risk requires an interdisciplinary approach that recognises the inherent scientific and social pluralities; an integration of scientific and non-scientific perspectives that are both expert in their contexts; and a recognition of citizen knowledge and expertise.
Open Access
Urban Form and Activity Patterns
(AESOP, 1999) Snellen, Daniëlle
Main theme of the PhD In recent years national and local governments in the Netherlands have started the implementation of the so-called VINEX-policy in order to comply with the expected housing needs in the decades ahead. This means that vast building sites are being developed. In doing so far-reaching decisions are made on the spatial structure of these new neighbourhoods and districts and on the way in which they are embedded in the existing built environment. The consequences of these choices with regard to policy goals set by Dutch governments, like sustainability, reduction of (car)mobility, sufficient economic and social base for services, are not clear. Empirical underpinnings for chosen policies are only available for some aspects of the choices made. And where empirical evidence is lacking, choices are made based on 'common sense'. The aim of this PhD-study is the development of an evaluation methodology that can be used to assess the effects of existing and new concepts for spatial structures on a large number of aspects, translated in evaluation criteria for policy goals. The knowledge gained in this way can be utilised to make better choices for locations and design of new development sites. Research methodology Theory behind the study is that new (or existing) urban areas form an environment for individuals and households to live in. Individuals and households have their basic needs and personal preferences, while the environment they live in poses them with opportunities and constraints. The fulfilment of the needs and preferences within the context of the urban environment results in activity participation of individuals and households.
Open Access
Interpretation of a Disposal for the Coordination Between the Actors of Planning: The Agreeement of Program as a "Space of Interaction
(AESOP, 1999) Tessitore, Paola
Presentation of the research: subjeet and ease-study The central subject of the research is the relations between actors in the implementation of Public Works in Italy. The Agreement of Programme is a disposal for coordination introduced by the national law 142/90 regarding the renewal of the competences of the local bodies. In the law the recourse to the Agreement of Programme is suggested for the "definition and implementation of public works, interventions and programmes of interventions that require for their complete realization an integrated action of municipalities, districts and regions, of national administrations and other public subjects, anyhow of two or more of the subjects above". The research puts forward an interpretation of this disposal for coordination by building up some hypothesis that take start from the literature on the theme and compare it with three concrete case-studies. The main references come from the reflections of the Planning theory on the ethical dimension of Planning, from the critical contributions of the Public Policy Analysis, and from some last achievements of the Sociological disciplines: actor-based approches, theory of action, principles and applications of principles in planning.
Open Access
The Long-Term Position of Public Transport in Medium Sized Cities
(AESOP, 1999) Vries, Jaap S. de
Since the Second World War the use of public transport in the Netherlands has fallen from a major transportation mode to a somewhat quieter role. The main reason for this downward slope has been the widespread introduction of the car in the fifties, followed by the process of suburbanisation in the sixties. Since then, the government has been trying to influence the flow of people by building new towns around the major cities at a distance of about twenty kilometres. When this turned out to drain the main cities of their resources and to worsen the accessibility problems the focus changed to the four major cities again. The policy of "the compact city" was adopted and new housing sites were only built in or in the immediate vicinity of the main cities. Despite results on the sustainability of the cities themselves, this policy did not have any influence on the transportation problems, simply because the jobs in the cities are taken by the commuters from the suburban towns around the cities. Looking at the increasing congestion in this area, one could say there is some potential for the public transport. It is sad, but true that the public transport did not benefit from the enormous rise in mobility since the sixties. Despite large investments in public transport infrastructure in recent years, the portion of public transport in the modal split has rather diminished than grown. Part of this can be explained by the fact that the public transport network does not match the current transport patterns of the people in the region. The public transport is not able to match the nowadays 'cris-cross-relations in the region (le Clercq, 1996; Raad voor Verkeer en Waterstaat, 1996). Another problem is the fact that the 'quality' of the public transport compared to that of the car is low. For public transport it is almost impossible to compete with the characteristics of the car.
Open Access
The Diffusion of Government Responsibilities: Movement Towards Regional and Neighborhood-Centered Policy-Making in Brazil
(AESOP, 1999) Williamson, Theresa D.
Changing economic, social, and political conditions worldwide are rapidly affecting the way governments are organized. Emphasis on efficient government is growing as democracy and market-based economics spread throughout the globe. In the past 20 years, many nations have pushed for decentralization. Central governments accumulated excessive debts, requiring that state and municipal authorities take on greater roles, while at the same time attention was focused on the effectiveness of democratic participation and localized planning at providing services. This marks the first recent shift in the distribution of responsibility within government. Today, a second shift is occurring. Municipal governments are finding ways to shift responsibility for service provision and planning away from their offices in two directions "up" to regional agencies (see Kirlin 1993) and "down" to neighborhood associations. Regional planning agencies are gaining significance as certain problems require regional cooperation (see Turok 1995, Prud'homme 1995, Popper 1992, 1993, Doherty 1992, Gilbert 1992, Gore 1984). At the same time, many municipal governments are moving certain municipal functions down to the community level, in an effort to improve efficiency (see Bens 1994) by including the community in the decision-making (see Ortiz), and even the implementation, process (for associated problems, see Fulton 1996, Beatley 1994).
Open Access
A Study of the Behaviour and Cognitive Maps of Tourists in the City
(AESOP, 1999) Wilson, Julie
Lutz and Ryan (1997) have observed that in the 1980's in the UK, both central and local government turned to tourism as one means of generating economic growth. The decline in the inner cities of the UK stimulated a range of urban regeneration policy initiatives and an increasing importance was attached to tourism as a possible generator of employment, albeit often in association with retail and property development and linked to wider civilisation policies. Along these lines, Murphy (1992) notes that urban tourism cannot be regarded as an 'isolated attraction' of the city but is by definition strongly anchored in the urban morphology and the functional urban system. Furthermore, it is clear that within cities, few facilities could be identified as exclusively intended for 'tourists'. A second difficulty with the study of urban tourism is inherent in the wide variety of motives, spatial origins and patterns of behaviour of visitors to cities. (Ashworth, 1989) Existing research has tended to concentrate on the profiling of single cities using facility and supply side approaches, or adopting an ecological approach by attempting to map the tourist 'district' within a city. Further to this, policy approaches have been initiated, following a realisation by planners that the growth of urban tourism requires the ongoing provision of a high quality tourist experience. More recently, there has been a need for cities to compete for tourist markets - cities which may display similar touristic attributes. (Page, 1993). Promoters of urban tourism are increasingly conscious of the necessity for a distinctive 'position' within the marketplace.
Open Access
Social Cohesion in Housing Rehabilitation; A Study of Three Housing Areas in Istanbul
(AESOP, 1999) Ögdül, Hürriet
Planners are usually in favour of creating strong social ties in housing areas. Lots of models developed in history - from garden city to neighbourhood unit - intended to create social ties in newly developed urban areas. Existing community, on the other hand, is something that modern planning tends to ignore. Housing rehabilitation process is one of the cases in which planners inevitably have to involve local communities. Taking the term community within the framework freed from modern-traditional dichotomy, the thesis deals with especially low income immigrant urban communities who are living in bad environmental conditions, but seemingly have strong community ties. The aim of the thesis is to see whether these ties can constitute a base for an organization of housing rehabilitation. Approach to the modern and the traditional The thesis begins with some groups of questions; 1. What happened to the community in 'modern' cities of non-Western countries in the «global age»? How is the community distorted during so-called modernization and globalization processes? What kind of combinations is established between "modern" and "traditional" aspects of social life? 2. What is happening in low income immigrant neighborhoods in terms of "solidarity"? Can social relations be defined as "social cohesion" in these areas? What kind of social networks are established between low income nighborhoods and remaining parts of the city? 3. Can these social relations be developed as a base for further local organizations for housing rehabilitation?

Browse

Recent Submissions