Architecture, Building and Planning - Theses
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ItemOffice block : design V 1967(University of Melbourne, 1967)
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ItemScientific-systematic methods for planning : an applied evaluation(University of Melbourne, 1982)
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ItemHuman criteria for design : an inner city case study(University of Melbourne, 1979)
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ItemPerceived environmental quality : the use of linear models to approximate the environmental evaluation process(University of Melbourne, 1979)
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ItemTransformation of Jalan Malioboro, Yogyakarta : the morphology and dynamics of a Javanese street( 2001)Streets are an important element of urban form and function. For their future development it is essential to understand the processes of transformation they have undergone in the past. This thesis is specifically concerned with Jalan Malioboro, the principal street of Yogyakarta, Indonesia, which has had many historic roles and has undergone many transformations since its establishment in 1756. The various plans and regulations put forward in the past for the development of this street have proved to be inadequate to manage its invaluable but fragile local character. The aim of this research project is to understand and define the prevailing processes and forces that have brought about the transformation of Jalan Malioboro's streetscape since its establishment up to the present. Two approaches were used: morphological analysis for the physical-spatial characteristics of the streetscape through graphical representations and their qualitative descriptions; and socio-cultural analysis of the functions, meanings and activities taking place on the street, also done descriptively and qualitatively. A retrospective method was applied to reveal the processes that had occurred in the past and a prospective method to analyse the current condition and envisage its prospects. The overall process of transformation shows both continuities and changes of both the morphology and functions and meanings of Jalan Malioboro. The only true continuity is that of the very original axis. Everything else was and is in constant flux depending upon the contemporary forces. Although Jalan Malioboro forms a prominent linear space that provides a vista from Kraton to Tugu as part of a cosmological axis, it has grown spontaneously and incrementally. Socioculturally, the most striking transformation has been from its royal ceremonial function to its current predominant commercial function. The processes of transformation also demonstrate the dialectic between the form and function of the spaces along Jalan Malioboro, which has produced a hybridised and lively street. Its linearity, an orderly form derived from its function as a cosmological axis, has had superimposed on it different forms and activities, thus producing an ambiguous and chaotic streetscape. There are five key forces that have brought about the transformation: (a) the religious syncretism of the Javanese culture; (b) the political subversion, (c) lack of planning control, (d) modernisation, commercialisation and commodification of space; and (e) the 1997 economic downturn. Any development efforts for Jalan Malioboro arising from an examination of its process of transformation should attempt to ensure that its cultural significance, including its complexity and the dynamism of the street environment, is maintained.
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ItemThe impact of producer services on Ho Chi Minh City( 2008)Services industry has emerged as an important sector underpinning the economy, especially those in developed countries, and spanned to lower tier countries through inflows of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and globalisation. Producer services, as a significant service component, experienced the growth in terms of activity and establishments in the metropolitan areas and then shaped (or reshaped) their most central district (area). Ho Chi Minh City, as the largest city of Vietnam, plays an important role as a gateway city in attracting FDI which is believed a hitch for the current fast economic growth after the country promulgated the open policy in 1986. Within this context, producer services have emerged in this city. It was found that their growth closely relates to the flows of FDI. That outcome suggests that there are important differences between Non- Vietnamese and Vietnamese firms in the development of this sector and in the spatial patterns. The aim of this research is to explore the role of producer services and identify how their growth, through the numbers and types, influences Ho Chi Minh City in the spatial aspects; particularly the research focuses on the location of producer service firms in the city's central area. The outcome of the research will provide insight on the link between the producer service and the development of a large city of an emerging economy. In a local planning perspective, the thesis, as one of the first specific studies on the producer services in Vietnam, has it own enthusiasm to contribute its understanding and findings to the current urban planning to cope with the rapidly changing economy in a global era. In search of the role of producer services in the national economy and their spatial influences, the research has used the Yellow Pages Data as the major approach for its analyses due to the current lack of data on service employment and limited sectoral information. Questionnaire and interviews survey have also been carried out to enrich and justify the information. Given an important factor that the emergence of producer services in Vietnam relied on FDI, the analyses of the research basically based on the nationality framework in order to uncover the significance of the two groups of firms: Non Vietnamese and Vietnamese. The research has also embedded the city planning policy as its implication in order to provide insightful information for the future location and growth of producer services.
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ItemUrban dispersal around Kumasi, Ghana( 2008)Kumasi, the second largest Ghanaian city, has grown rapidly recently and dispersed into its surrounding rural region. The outcome is that large numbers of incomplete houses and overgrown housing plots are spread across a large front in an unplanned and uncoordinated manner. The research used published data and interviews with homebuilders and city officials to develop an understanding of that outcome. Although transportation networks figure prominently in urban dispersal studies in western cities, this research found that transportation had less significant influence on the outcome. It found that the uncoordinated urban dispersal reflects uncertainties in land ownership shaped by administrative fragmentation and ineffective regulatory controls. These are expressed in land ownership and chieftaincy disputes, the difficult application of official regulations alongside traditional mechanisms, and gridlock in the complex framework for development controls. The results suggest some changes in local and regional actions to improve the urban outcomes. Key challenges include reorganising land development management structures, better land information systems and a rethink of ways to finance infrastructure investment in new subdivisions. In addition, improvements in housing financing mechanisms and property taxation could minimise land banking and thereby encourage speedy home construction. The links between official land administration and the practices of traditional authorities needs to be rationalised in order to enhance the system of land management. The research has provided new perspectives on suburban development with implications for urban management in low-income countries.
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ItemTeletechnologies, place and community( 2006)This thesis discovered how notions of place and community circulate in the literature on various forms of teletechnologies and place-making. To do this, its aim was, first, to understand the interactions and interconnections between teletechnologies (or, information and communications technologies), place, and community, both within and outside of the literature on teletechnologies, and, second, to ascertain what relevance place and community might continue to have in the electronic age. The research was carried out using textual analysis and was developed within an interdisciplinary framework which ranged across quite diverse (con)textual terrain. The texts examined were drawn from a range of disciplinary fields, including media and communications, philosophy, sociology, literature, urban design, and architectural theory. The results of this examination reveal that the notions of place and community circulate in complex and at times contradictory ways in relation to information and communications technologies. Yet, in overall terms, the study revealed that these notions are of enduring relevance in understanding how we think about and experience who we are, where we are, and the ways that we interact and relate with one another. Nevertheless, this study also revealed the need for more careful articulation of intended meanings and possible implications when engaging with and employing ideas of place and community. Moreover, there is significant scope for further theoretical refinement of ideas of place and community in light of the impacts of and interconnections with teletechnologies. In response to the study findings, the thesis developed a three-part proposal to accommodate the complex interconnections between teletechnologies, the spaces and place in which we live, and various forms of social engagement. The proposal provides a theoretical framework which addresses: (1) the complicated interactions between the `actual' and the `virtual'; (2) an alternative and `non restrictive' approach to thinking about community; and (3) an account of place which emphasises openness, reIationality, and its heavily mediated nature. This tripartite proposal provides a series of productive initial steps towards the development of a fuller, more unified, and theoretically coherent response to these areas and the issues they raise. This work contributes to knowledge on the interactions and interconnections between teletechnologies, place and community. In particular, it challenges the way that the notions of place and community are understood to circulate in relation to, and how they operate in tandem with, the social as well as wider uses of teletechnologies. Finally and fundamentally it underscores the enduring importance of ideas of place and community in the present age, and the urgent need to continue to think about and engage with these ideas.