Architecture, Building and Planning - Theses
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ItemHousing and neighbourhood change : a study of attitudes and behaviour of middle-class householders in Yogyakarta, Indonesia( 1998)An improvement in public housing development in Indonesia in recent time has coincided with national development towards modernisation. Modernisation occurs in all aspects of Indonesia's everyday life, including improved education. The context for the changing role of women - in part as a result of improving education - as well as for new trends in house and neighbourhood design, is first the rapid economic modernisation pursued in Indonesian society in recent decades, and second a seemingly related cultural westernisation. The design of both house and local neighbourhood accordingly faces dilemmas relating to new economic imperatives, cultural tensions, and tensions in values relating to gender differences and the role of women. Additionally, there are changes in the context of the family and its roles and tasks, as economic modernisation interacts with the pressure of safeguarding traditional values and cultural differences. The aim of this study is to examine the question whether, in the face of economic modernisation and cultural westernisation, the persistence of traditional values and local culture is manifest in present dilemmas concerning the planning and use of the house and its neighbourhood. This question will be explored within the specific context of middle-class housing. In pursuing this aim we turn to the theory of modernisation advanced by Jurgen Habermas, and then to Nancy Fraser's critique of this theory on the grounds that it ignores issues of gender. Yogyakarta is selected as a case study, and the intention is to obtain information on behaviour and attitudes of educated middle-class people residing in the study area. Households are selected from recently developed neighbourhoods characterised by KPR-BTN housing which is typically purchased by the educated middle-class. Households interviews are employed, with a focus on examining the relations between different aspects of attitudes and behaviour. Data are obtained from 67 households, in four neighbourhoods of Yogyakarta. It is an exploratory case study where the intention is not to obtain generalisable results, nor to rigorously test hypotheses, but rather to explore the relationships between phenomena. This is achieved by reducing a mass of different variables measuring attitudes and behaviour down to a simpler set of "summary" measures, employing multivariate statistical techniques - mainly factor analysis. The analyses are accordingly more directed towards description and explanation than towards generalisation to the broader population, or towards prediction. Stated briefly, it is found that for the surveyed group there is a strong correspondence between men's and women's attitudes to issues of work, home, children and culture. There is however also a fair degree of independence between these attitudes on the one hand, and on the other hand the levels of satisfaction with aspects of the dwelling, and levels of satisfaction with aspects of neighbourhood. These findings suggest that there is an interplay of three sets of processes: (1) the persistence of local culture, most notably in the orientation to family, in ideas of respect and deference, and in a conservatism in gender relations and attitudes; (2) there is the excitement of rapid economic growth; (3) there is of course also a negative side to economic growth and "progress", as older values and culture are eroded by new, global influences. While it is not possible to extrapolate from this group to Yogyakarta society generally, nevertheless the complexities of the responses tell us a great amount about the interweaving of attitudes and behaviour affecting use of the house and neighbourhood. Furthermore, it is necessary to reinterpret Habermas's theory of modernisation for a non-western society.
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ItemThe role of coal in China's development( 1992)The aim of the research described in this thesis is to examine the ways in which China's coal should be mined and used to support the rapid economic development necessary to achieve the "four modernizations" by the end of the century. This development is likely to require at least 50% more energy per year than is used at present. Analysis of the capabilities and limitations of China's coal production, transport, consumption and export systems showed that the present policy of developing further coal mines to provide most of this energy is unsustainable. Problems resulting from the present heavy dependence on coal for China's energy needs are already severe, and would become worse: first, the present transport system cannot cope with the current requirement for the transport of coal; second, environmental problems and pollution caused by coal production, transport and storage and by the burning of coal in small industries and households are very severe; and third, the transport sector, small industries and agriculture are unable to respond flexibly to new demands while depending on coal. The low efficiency and poor technology throughout the whole coal consumption system, especially in small industries, transport and households, is the biggest contribution to the present unsustainable situation, as it leads to excessive consumption of coal, which in turn puts pressure on the coal mining and transport systems, and leads to environmental degradation at both the supply and consumption points. The main conclusion of this research is that China would be better served by investing available funds in improving the technology of coal utilization rather than in further development of coal mines.
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ItemThe valuation of road safety for public decision making : with application to Australia( 1982)This study investigates the proper valuation of the social and economic consequences of road accidents in guiding public decision-making and policy on accident research and road safety. The work is in three stages: (i) a review and assessment of road accident cost studies; (ii) the estimation, presentation and appraisal of comprehensive social costs of road accidents for Australia in a recent year; and (iii) a critique of the theoretical and empirical economic literature on the 'value of life', and its implications for the valuation of road safety. The theme of the study is the conflict between the two approaches to the valuation of safety: the practice of treating road accidents as social costs and the alternative concept of direct economic valuation of life and the avoidance of risk. Neither approach has yet produced definitive empirical results and there remain unresolved valuation problems affecting public sector assessments of safety. 1978 Australian accident costs are estimated in a modified 'societal' cost framework which is proposed as a compromise between the two valuation approaches. The composition of this framework Is examined, especially the valuation of fatalities in terms of foregone income. Problems identified include the income concept chosen, the treatment of those not earning, the effects of the age distribution of the accident sample, and the role of the discount rate. The study gives particular attention to the skewed distributions of average accident costs which renders them misleading in use. A method is proposed to simulate accident cost distributions according to injury severity by fitting probability distributions. Finally a critique of the extensive recent literature on the economics of the value of life and safety is undertaken to assess the relevance of this approach to public sector decision making, and its relationship to accident cost studies. This approach, proposes willingness to pay for reduction in risk of death as the correct safety valuation concept, with suggested application in road safety, public health, and environmental pollution policy. Recent empirical studies using this valuation concept are examined, and appear to produce plausible results. A useful but controversial suggested elasticity relationship between willingness-to-pay valuation of life and the foregone income method is also discussed. Some preliminary conclusions are presented about the conceptual and empirical feasibility of valuing road safety, and about the limitations of the 1978 Australian estimates as parameters to guide public policy on road safety.