Architecture, Building and Planning - Theses
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ItemEquitable and sustainable development in less developed countries( 1997)There has been a perception among development planners that if economic progress continues economic efficiency and market forces will even out any inequality problems through the 'trickle-down' effect. However, in many LDCs (less developed countries) this assumption does not seem to hold. Moreover, it seems that persistent poverty and income inequality are also reflected in environmental degradation in many parts of the world. This leads to unsustainable development, both in the equitability and the environmental contexts. The aim of the research is to explore development policy for LDCs that is both equitable and environmentally sustainable, within the context of the current market economy. Two research approaches were used. First, a statistical cross-country analysis of 40 LDCs was employed. The objective was to provide a general picture of income equality and development attributes, namely: 'level of development'; 'orientation of development'; and 'balanced urbanisation' as an indicator of the spatial distribution of development. Second, a detailed analysis of development over the last few decades was made for two LDCs, Indonesia and Thailand. This was to verify the relationship between development, balanced urbanisation and income equality and to explore the relationship between balanced urbanisation and environmental conservation. The findings were then linked to decentralisation policy in the two countries. Income equality was found to have a negative relationship with level of development and a positive relationship with orientation,of development-export-led growth strategy. It also had a positive relationship with balanced urbanisation. The detailed study of Indonesia and Thailand revealed that when urbanisation was unbalanced, regional disparities in manufacturing, GDP and per capita income and environmental degradation were likely to be high. This indicates that if a government wishes to create equitable growth, one approach is to undertake regional development, targeting on balanced urbanisation. To achieve this, the government should take action on decentralisation policy. Although the findings were mostly specific to Indonesia and Thailand, the following major findings are likely to hold for other LDCs: (1) national development with little attention to equitability is neither socially nor environmentally sustainable; (2) equitable development is likely to be achieved by regional development aimed at balanced urbanisation through fiscal and political decentralisation; (3) the form of development advocated in (2) needs central government intervention although the degree of decentralisation will depend upon the particular country's conditions.
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ItemAppropriate interventions for rehabilitating degraded tropical uplands( 1993)Land degradation is one of the most serious environmental and developmental problems in the upland regions of developing tropical countries. Immense efforts have been made, with considerable international cooperation, to rehabilitate this land and increase its productivity. However, the achievements of these efforts have been disappointing, largely because of unsuitable technology and implementation strategies. The aim of this study was to establish what are appropriate interventions for rehabilitating degraded tropical upland. Agroforestry was specifically studied because it is the most promising family of rehabilitative technologies for biophysical and economic reasons. 'Appropriate' in this work refers to that which is consonant with principles of sustainable development while being pragmatically aware of current geopolitical constraints on following these principles. An 'intervention' is not only the technology applied at the ground-level to rehabilitate land, but also the necessary institutional and organizational changes for its implementation. A case study of the uplands of Sri Lanka, involving one year's field work, was undertaken to achieve this aim. While adopting a broad human-ecological perspective, the case study employed agroecological and politico-ecological methods to diagnose the causes of land degradation, to prescribe interventions for rehabilitating that land, and to evaluate and plan for the implementation of likely agroforestry interventions. Specifically, it evaluated the 'analog forest' (an agroforestry system which is structurally and functionally analogous to the natural ecosystem) and planned for its implementation in an existing management program in the Upper Mahaweli watershed. Based on the experience gained through this case study, it was concluded that: (1) there is no universally appropriate intervention; (2) the appropriateness of interventions is determined at three nested politico-ecological levels, namely the biophysical, the socio-economic, and the politico-cultural; and (3) it is at the politicocultural level that most difficulties are likely to be found in determining an appropriate intervention. A corollary of the third finding is that international development efforts need to be directed to improving the functioning of national resource-management organizations in developing countries.
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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.