Architecture, Building and Planning - Theses
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ItemHow far can community engagement go in EIA?: A case study for the MMRP in the Parkville community.( 2019)As a planning tool, public participation has been encouraged in environmental impact assessment (EIA) to evaluate the possible impacts any development project could cause to the urban setting (Christie, 2008). Nonetheless, public participation has been sparsely addressed in the Australia EIA process (Thomas & Elliot, 2005). Hence, my research examined the extent to which EIA enables public participation in the context of a large project in Melbourne, Victoria. I expanded on my analysis by examining the limitations, challenges and opportunities of the EIA’s community engagement process to foster citizen participation. I used a single-case study methodology using the Melbourne Metro Rail Project (MMRP) in the Parkville community as the case. I collected the data through an extensive document and media analysis, and a semi-structured interview. For the data analysis, I developed a collaborative planning evaluation framework (CPEF) which builds from Healey’s (2006) imperatives of collaborative planning. The CPEF constitutes in evaluating (1) the identification of stakeholders considering their social networks, systems of meaning, and power relations, (2) the integration of innovation and different types of knowledge which covers as well the participation of stakeholders in the problem framing phase, (3) the inclusion of stakeholders, and (4) the accountability of the participation process. The analysis showed that an EIA’s engagement process is rigorous in at least one characteristic of each of these 4 evaluation categories. The EIA’s engagement process identifies and includes stakeholders, while safeguarding the accountability of the process and integrating local initiatives into the EIA process. Nonetheless, the participation of the stakeholders in the problem framing phase is limited by the Victorian legislation. Additionally, the engagement activities (stakeholder inclusion) are predetermined by the stakeholders’ identification, which is faced with the challenge of not considering the social networks of the stakeholders. EIA’s participation process is faced with the challenges of identifying the stakeholders’ social networks, acknowledging the power relations between stakeholders, and integrating different types of knowledge into the EIA process. Finally, EIA’s participation process has the opportunity to foster citizen participation by expanding on the assessment of the stakeholders’ systems of meaning. Further opportunities to encourage participation remain outside the EIA process itself, such as engaging stakeholders before the start of the EIA process or creating a new participation platform as part of the Environment Performance Requirements (EPRs) of the EIA.
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ItemPlanning for dogs in urban environments( 2016)Dogs are the most common pet in Australia and increasingly occupy both social and cultural norms. There is a growing interest in more-than-human geography and my thesis extends this critical concern to the planning of urban environments as a human habitat. Contemporary literature in more-than-human geography typically and unconsciously anthropomorphises the experience of those other species and in turn accounts for other species from a human perspective. My thesis recognises this gap and endeavours to provide a critical account of planning for dogs through a lens of justice for animals. My research problem is predicated on the basis that Australian society lacks consensus on the appropriate treatment of dogs in urban environments, reflecting in local differentiation of opportunities available to dogs and yielding different outcomes of justice for dogs. My thesis accordingly examines how institutions and planners affect such freedoms through their language and actions. My thesis comprises a similar systems case study design that examines the phenomenon of planning for dogs using the case of Melbourne, a city of four million people and the capital of the state of Victoria, Australia, through the institutional discourse of eight representative councils (local government authorities). In order to critically address the fundamental uncertainty of anthropomorphism introduced by the dependent companion relationship, I elect to examine the discourse of government institutions as a credible, consistent and comparable reflection of society. Themes and theory emerge from the data through a disciplined application of qualitative content analysis underpinning a grounded theorisation of planning for dogs in cities. An operational framework describing justice for dogs is developed from first principles, suggesting the importance of animal management, open space planning and urban planning professions in planning for dogs. These roles demonstrate a clear ontological distinction, with the dominance of ontology shown to be exceedingly important to understanding planning for dogs. In operationalising a justice for dogs, I capture the pervasive anthropocentrism of planning which manifests in the animal management practices of councils and in how human agency is defined and exercised in the process and outcomes of planning for dogs. Whilst my thesis is ostensibly about planning urban environments and the role of local government, it also contributes to the social sciences more broadly. My approach distinguishes from what may be typical to other more-than-human geography literature through its treatment of planning for dogs as attending to underlying considerations of justice for dogs. A natural concordance with the justice as capabilities (derived from the Capabilities Approach espoused by Sen and Nussbaum) emerges, suggesting more authentic and just outcomes for dogs than in the utilitarian anthropocentric tradition where actions are guided by the demarcation of humans from animals. My thesis is a valuable contribution to this growing body of more-than-human geography literature and advances the philosophy of planning of urban environments beyond humanity, in doing so strengthening the bonds which connect the broader social sciences.