Architecture, Building and Planning - Theses
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ItemBus Network Accessibility in Thu Duc City, Vietnam: An Analysis Through the Lens of Public Transport Planning Principles for Network Effect( 2024)Effective public transport hinges on accessibility, enabling seamless travel across a city. To compete with private vehicles, public transport systems must offer a level of convenience comparable to car ownership. This necessitates a well-integrated network, where buses and trains connect through coordinated routes and schedules, facilitating transfers and minimizing disjointed journeys for passengers navigating diverse destinations. This powerful concept is called the "network effect". This thesis evaluates how Thu Duc City's planned bus system aligns with network approach principles to enhance public transport accessibility compared to the current system. It investigates two key questions: 1) the accessibility levels of the current and planned bus systems, and 2) how well their route configurations and service frequencies promote network effect. To answer these questions, the research employs established accessibility indicators developed by Australian researchers: transfer intensity and ease of movement. Transfer intensity measures the minimum number of bus changes required to reach an activity node, with lower values indicating a more transfer-free network. Ease of movement, focusing on user experience, considers both travel time and service frequency. Lower values represent a more convenient travel experience. Utilizing secondary data from the Department of Transport and analyzed with GIS and Excel, the study assesses these indicators for both the current and planned bus systems in Thu Duc City. Results reveal that both the current and planned systems exhibit similar average transfer intensity – 0.90 and 0.96, respectively. This suggests that most trips within the systems can be completed with one transfer. However, the current system faces challenges. Inconsistent and infrequent services at main transfer points, coupled with route overlaps on major corridors, create obstacles for passengers. The planned system addresses these issues. By increasing service frequency on key routes, implementing better schedule coordination at transfer points, and removing overlapping routes, it promises a 23% improvement in ease of movement during transfers, leading to a more seamless transfer experience for users. This thesis underscores the importance of network effect in improving public transport accessibility. By analyzing Thu Duc’s bus systems, the study demonstrates how network design with coordinated schedules and service frequencies can optimize user experience and promote a more competitive PT system within a bustling city.
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ItemTouristification of residential space: Unpacking the supply, demand, and impacts of short-term rental in Melbourne, Australia( 2024-01)Over the past decade, short-term rental (STR) has become the subject of debate regarding its potential impact on local residents in international tourist destinations, including Australian cities like Melbourne. The widespread popularity of STR in residential neighbourhoods presents a challenge to one-sided explanations that assume either supply or demand factors drive the process. However, there is a lack of comprehensive studies that examine how STR contributes to touristification from both the supply side and the demand side, or the interplay between multiple stakeholders with different perspectives. This study fills this research gap by proposing the concept of "touristification of residential space" as a link between the supply side (STR hosts/local property owners) and the demand side (STR guests/tourists). This study explores the following research questions: (RQ1) How does STR facilitate the touristification of residential space? (RQ2) On the supply side, how do local owners contribute to the impacts of STR? (RQ3) On the demand side, how do tourists contribute to the impacts of STR? (RQ4) Does STR have a significant effect on rental prices? Empirical analysis of STR in Melbourne, Australia is based on STR transaction data and Airbnb reviews from 2014 to 2019. This study investigates the relationship between STR and the growth of tourism-related neighbourhood amenities, analyses STR's market structure and spatial distribution patterns, examines its supply-side motivations and demand-side preferences, as well as estimates STR's effects on rental prices. Results show that STR facilitates touristification of residential space in the following ways: (1) STR enables the “repurposing” of private homes (or some of the space in them) from residential use to tourist use, by offering higher profitability to local property owners. (2) STR facilitates the touristification of previously less-touristified residential neighbourhoods, not only by expanding the coverage of tourist accommodations to more areas, but also by accelerating the growth of tourism-related neighbourhood amenities. (3) STR intensifies the touristification of previously popular neighbourhoods, not only by bringing an increasing volume of adventure-seeking tourists to such areas at a global scale, but also by encouraging host-guest interactions that introduce tourists to explore “alternative” urban spaces and immerse themselves in the “authentic” local life. This study provides empirical evidence from both the supply and demand perspective to inform the decision-making process of interested homeowners and investors in Melbourne, as well as support the development of initiatives and regulations by the local government. This study also identifies the STR-facilitated "touristification of residential space" as a bottom-up touristification process that is digitally co-produced by locals and tourists, which adds to the ongoing theoretical discussion about the current wave of touristification characterised by the rise of digital platforms like Airbnb.
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ItemUrban financialisation at the bottom urban hierarchy in China: A case study of new town development( 2024-01)Abstract A recurrent discussion about finance and its impact on urban development has caused growing concerns. Urban financialisation studies believe that different financial roles adopt various financial tools to change our built environment and generate profits. Although there indicates an extensive penetration of finance-driven thinking in governing and managing urban spaces, how financialisation is localised in a Chinese context remains ambiguous. Studies on financialisation focus on urban experiences, particularly in global cities and financial centres that are prototypical places exerting high levels of command and control in the global system. However, this neglects the diversity of urban settings, which reflects not only on the hard figures such as population size and land scope but also on the local socioeconomic background that presents local features, dynamics, cultural preferences, and public perception bonded in a specific network. Hence, this research critically analyses the financialisation in a contemporary Chinese urban milieu. It contributes to financialisation studies and comparative urbanism by researching two new town projects in Hanzhong City, Shaanxi Province, a lower-tier city in the Western region. The main findings show that urban financialisation has penetrated the development of lower-tier cities, in which city governors attempt to securitise urban assets for direct financing. Catching the policy windows and interpreting the policy contents to match financing needs are essential factors affecting financing outcomes in this process. Additionally, the local growth coalition shapes the governance of urban financialisation. The credit owners in the coalition have the predominant power in using capital resources to implement projects. Non-local factors such as control rights from the upper-level government could determine who the credit owners are. This research sheds light on urban financialisation, new town governance mechanisms, and their impacts on urban development.
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ItemAnalysing policy evolution trends with respect to SEZ 5.0: a case study of GIFT city, India( 2024)Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has long been an important means of investment for developing countries to aid economic development. A commonly utilised policy tool by these countries to promote the inflow of these investments, are the state sponsored economic zones commonly known as special economic zones or SEZs. While the infrastructural qualities of SEZs are highly discussed and studied, the policy mechanisms behind these zones are a niche topic in the larger discourse. These zones have evolved infrastructurally over time and are referred to as fifth generation zones. These SEZs are built around emerging technologies and integrated in the current urban scenario (Zeng, 2021). This research focuses on studying whether the SEZ policies have evolved in tandem with these infrastructural changes or remain stagnated. For an in-depth analysis, the case study of Gujarat International Fin-Tec (GIFT) city in India is chosen as its proposed technological advancement puts it closest to the description of SEZ 5.0 – a smart city. Two aspects of the case study are explored – the evolution of Indian Special Economic Zones towards fifth generation SEZs and its impact on domestic policy formation. The research questions are analysed using both primary and secondary data collection. Policy analysis is done via the New Dynamic Institutional Framework (Aggarwal, 2017) to negate any contextual restrictions. The policy analysis along with the interviews showcase a realistic, declining scenario of SEZs in India. Comparing the same against an optimistic projection of fifth generation SEZ i.e. GIFT city gives a more positive narrative. While the conclusion of the research is indicative of an overhaul of the existing SEZ policy to keep up with economic dynamism, the case study provides valuable inputs for directing the existing policy tool towards an optimistic direction. The research also leaves the discussion open for future research which takes into account other aspects like security in SEZs of developing countries.
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ItemCommunity connection and Master Planned Estates( 2024)The term ‘inclusive’ has emerged in the 21st century and has come to adopt a plethora of meanings in a series of scholarly and policy documents to date –especially as it means different things to different people, communities, and places. Its origins, however, can be pursued to diverse concepts in various disciplines. In the realm of planning, it can encompass two of many relevant traits: social inclusion and inclusive development. This paper comes to explore these qualities as it pivots the understanding of social inclusion and inclusive development on community connection and how local policy supports this. As such, Master-Planned Estates (MPEs) are taken as one form of such (potentially) inclusive development as well as a vehicle of (potential) socio-spatial segregation. While research has been conducted on greenfield, suburban, and ex-urban MPEs in Australia, brownfield MPEs also play a significant role in the ongoing development of cities –and as such, influence community experiences and lives. As such, brownfield MPEs are the object of study within this research, specifically in the Australian context where this study is based. This research contributes to knowledge on MPEs, including opportunities, and challenges in their creation and for their communities. As the urban landscape –the development forms that take up a piece of it– is a space of possibility and competition between a variety of contesting policies, and practices on varying socio-spatial levels, it is vital to learn from different perspectives in different settings to respond to existing and future issues better. Investigating environments generated by brownfield MPEs through a social inclusion lens is one way to do so, shedding further light on what elements generate positive contributions to a thriving inclusive environment.
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ItemSummertime Sadness: A planning perspective on the future of music festivals in rural Victoria( 2024)Like many other facets of our social and cultural landscapes, music festivals are increasingly impacted by the intensity and frequency of the changing climate, resulting in cancellations of multi-day festivals globally, nationally, and statewide. In response to this, my thesis explores, how increased climate-related risks are perceived to be affecting the success and longevity of music festivals held in rural Victoria. Considering the cultural, social, and economic importance of live music across the state, my thesis sought to determine whether land use planning, strategic and statutory, has the potential to intervene to help alleviate the risks posed to festivals. A multiple case study approach was employed, drawing from three festivals in rural Victoria: Hopkins Creek, Loch Hart Music Festival and Goomfest. Primary data was collected from interviews with the directors of each festival, supplemented by secondary data from online materials. The key findings illustrate that climate-related incidents have been devastating for festivals and, the associated biophysical and social impacts of this growing phenomenon continue to materialise in complex and volatile ways that festival organisers feel ill-equipped to navigate. The hardships facing the festival sector amidst the climate crisis will continue to worsen unless the challenges festival organisers are experiencing are confronted. More advocacy is required for meaningful changes to materialise and as planners, we could play a critical role in determining the future of festivals in rural Victoria.
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ItemChallenging Automobility Through Rail Trails: The Case of the Caboolture to Wamuran Rail Trail( 2024)There is a lack of cycling infrastructure in Australia’s regional and rural areas. These areas already face significant transportation challenges due to an underinvestment in modes other than the car. Investment in cycling infrastructure often contends with the widespread belief that people in regional areas do not cycle for purposes other than exercise, recreation, or tourism. Automobility is a key concept that sheds light on the cultural norms and societal structures that perpetuate car use and car-centric planning. Rail trails may offer a unique opportunity for providing a transport alternative and a potential to disrupt automobility in regional areas. My thesis uses the Caboolture to Wamuran Rail Trail as a case study to investigate: 1) in what ways did the paradigm of automobility inform the vision, planning and design of the Rail Trail, and shape the assumptions of how the Rail Trail would be used?; 2) how has the Rail Trail been used since its opening, and what meanings are associated with these uses?; and 3) what do these uses and meanings tell us about the potential for rail trails to disrupt planning approaches to allow for a greater challenge to assumptions around car-dependence in regional Australia? By taking an informed grounded theory approach to analyse qualitative interviews and micro-ethnographic data, my findings highlight how the subordination of cycling against the car was manifested in the physical design, planning complexities, funding allocation and assumed uses of the Rail Trail. However, current uses go beyond assumptions of planners and community representatives. New meanings and needs associated with these uses were created. My research shows that mobility is heavily structured through underlying assumptions. Planners, policymakers, and decision-makers should continuously re-assess, re-frame and challenge their understandings of mobility if they wish to see driving as optional in these areas and make transport more equitable.
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ItemAre we local enough yet? A Cross Examiniation of international and domestic students’ segregation amongst education precincts of different suburban development patterns( 2024)Social segregation between communities is created through the interplay of spatial and social attributes urbanities. Amongst the various communities that co-exists in urbanities, international students, as a social cohort, is a vulnerable group towards social segregation. In 2010, Fincher and Shaw conducted a study amongst students who study within the City and Melbourne and discovered that social segregation occurs within the municipality because its overall geopolitics discourages integration between international and domestic students. Yet, when considering the segregation of students across the institutional divide, Melbourne City might not be the only precinct where the phenomenon could manifest because universities are located throughout Melbourne’s urban fabric. Hence, this research takes an exploratory approach to better understand the experience of social segregation amongst international students who study in Bundoora, an education precinct where the spatial and social attributes are different than Melbourne City. If the execution of cross-cultural interaction within Melbourne City is constrained due to its geopolitical dynamics, would international students who attend universities elsewhere enjoy a better social landscape in developing friendships with domestic students due to a change in geopolitics? To explore this issue, a quantitative research approach was adopted to address the following research questions: 1. How do suburban development patterns of different designs consolidate social segregation between international and domestic students? 2. To what extent do the socio-economic dispositions of international students deter the prospects of integration with domestic students? 3. How do international students utilize their universities’ surrounding environment as socializing platforms? Analytical methods such as Chi-square tests, descriptive data analysis, and t-tests were used to address these questions. Overall, the results indicated that international students in Bundoora do not enjoy better integration with their counterparts even when conditioned to an environment with different geopolitics. Instead of attributing students’ segregation to factors such a systematic difference in culture, urban development patterns surrounding universities that do not promote after school hours interaction between international and domestic students might be a primary contribution to segregation. It is suggested that medium density housings should be built around the university campus to promote integration across the institutional divide. Further research points towards the university’s architectural design. The design of universities should achieve a high degree of assimilation with the urban fabric.
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ItemThe Housing Commission of Victoria: powers, policies and administrative organization.( 1969)In the first part of the essay we examine the policies the Housing Commission has adopted to implement the above objectives. Each objective is examined separately, following the practice in the legislation, where they are separated into separate parts of the Act. In reality, however, policy concerning one will be affected by the others, and vice versa. Brief summaries of relevant legislation stating and controlling these objectives are found immediately preceding each section. A copy of the Housing Act 1958 has been enclosed inside the back cover for detailed reference. The second part of the essay is concerned with the administrative organization of the Housing Commission.
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ItemBeyond transport duality: Extending the instrumental rationality of kelotok transport in Banjarmasin, Indonesia( 2023-12)Banjarmasin, the ‘City of a Thousand Rivers’ in the South Kalimantan province of Indonesia, offers a unique empirical context for this PhD thesis. The city’s vibrant inland waterway transport (IWT), particularly the kelotoks –the city’s traditional riverboats– provides a rich case study for exploring transport beyond its mere economic and utilitarian functionalities. Kelotoks are not just modes of transport; they serve as the city’s source of cultural vitality, which is deeply rooted in Banjarmasin’s urban fabric and socio-economic life. This study investigates why kelotok drivers persist in Banjarmasin’s IWT sector amidst the challenges imposed by urbanisation and modernisation. This thesis offers a critical examination of the prevalent dualistic framework in transport literature, wherein traditional transport systems such as Banjarmasin’s kelotoks are often relegated to the ‘informal’ category, primarily based on the metrics of efficiency and formality. Challenging this paradigm, the study expands the conventional boundaries of instrumental rationality, a foundational concept in transport analysis, to encompass the socio-cultural dimensions intrinsic to kelotok transport. Departing from traditional quantitative methodologies, this research employs a qualitative approach, employing storytelling as an interview strategy with 22 kelotok drivers. This method facilitates a richer, more nuanced exploration of the socio-cultural complexities within Banjarmasin’s IWT sector, aspects that are often sidelined in mainstream transport discourse. As a result, this thesis broadens the traditional confines of instrumental rationality, typically preoccupied with economic-centric measures, to unpack a more comprehensive understanding of traditional transport systems. In extending the confines of instrumental rationality, this thesis integrates the theories of ‘satisficing,’ ‘access,’ and ‘transport indigeneity.’ These theoretical lenses facilitate the examination of the multifaceted motivations, strategies, and perceived roles of kelotok drivers that influence their interpretation of instrumental rationality. In turn, this nuanced instrumental rationality explains their continued engagement in the declining IWT sector. The study finds that kelotok drivers’ motivations, strategies, and self-conception extend beyond mere economic considerations. Their persistence is also attributed to non-monetary factors, such as familial values, cultural heritage, and social coherence. Building on these findings, the thesis introduces an advanced ‘Indigenous transport’ framework. This context-aware perspective acknowledges the sociocultural imperatives that underpin the provision and continuity of traditional transport systems. In summary, this research calls for a paradigmatic shift in the conceptualisation of traditional transport sectors, calling for more inclusive and culturally sensitive transport evaluation. The research transcends existing knowledge boundaries by introducing empirical depth through the unique context of Banjarmasin’s IWT sector and proposing a new conceptual framework. It establishes a pathway for interdisciplinary research that integrates social, cultural, and psychological dimensions of traditional transport systems, thereby filling a critical gap in the literature and suggesting areas for further inquiry.