School of Geography - Theses

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    Hotter in the city: Experiences of spinal cord injury during heat waves in Melbourne.
    Hall, Jack ( 2022)
    As a direct result of anthropogenic climate change, Melbourne will likely experience heat events of greater duration, intensity and regularity (Steffen et al., 2014). The impacts of these heat waves will not be evenly felt, however, and people living with a disability will likely experience disproportionate vulnerabilities and be exposed to particularly profound challenges. The bodies of literature that aim to map and understand the context-specific impacts of climate change have thus omitted primary accounts from the disabled community, leaving a void in existing knowledge and understanding that it is vital to address. This research aims to address this knowledge gap by listening to and learning from the experiences of people living with a spinal cord injury (SCI) as they live and move through Melbourne during periods of extreme heat. Additionally, this project contrasts the researched lived experience of people living with SCI with local, State and Federal government policy that seeks to govern these experiences, to explore the nuances of policy thinking and framings and their misalignment with the interests of people living with SCI in Melbourne. This research also takes the step of considering strategies that might better support the health and agency of this particular social group. This thesis uses a novel duet of qualitative methods – semi-structured interviews and a virtual go-along interview – to examine structural and systemic barriers to equal access to space, resources and services and thus to equitable participation in a warming world.
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    Not/ at Risk: A Case Study of Young Adult Perspectives on COVID-19 and Vaccination in Melbourne
    Klages, Theodora ( 2021-12-07)
    Given the importance of vaccination in halting the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic across the globe, research on vaccine intention and hesitancy in specific place-based contexts is vital (Butter et al. 2021; Craddock 2000; Dubé & MacDonald 2020; Piltch-Loeb et al. 2021). Within Australia, studies exploring COVID-19 vaccine intentions both before and after the development of vaccines demonstrated varying results, meriting further analysis at a cohort level (Alley et al. 2021; To et al. 2021; Davis et al. 2021; Edwards et al. 2021). However, little research has explored young adult perspectives despite their increasing importance in the vaccine rollout, increased susceptibility to the delta variant, and higher risk of adverse effects from vaccination. To address this research gap, this thesis presents a case study of young adult experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic in Melbourne – the epicentre of the pandemic in Australia - and examines primary drivers and barriers towards vaccine intention as informed by broader socio-spatial and temporal contexts. A vaccine hesitancy-specific risk culture and healthism framework informs this study, predicated on vaccine decision-making reflecting an individual’s commitment to minimising personal risk and maximising health benefits (Peretti-Watel et al. 2015). Through semi-structured interviews conducted in July of 2021, this thesis explores the attitudes and beliefs of young adults during a critical period, as the delta variant presented an emerging threat, but vaccine access was still largely age-restricted. Two major themes emerged: COVID-19 risk perception among young adults was experienced at multiple scales, from the global to individual; and perceived marginalisation of young adults by a conservative government in the vaccine rollout was experienced through the lens of past vulnerability and potential future insecurity.
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    Citizenship in crisis: international students, food insecurity and the COVID-19 pandemic in Melbourne
    Guest, Sara ( 2021)
    Between the months of March and December 2020, food insecurity emerged as key issue among the international student community of Melbourne. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in widespread job losses, and many international students - whose temporary migrant status rendered them with limited access to state support - experienced serious difficulties in accessing food. This thesis explores the nexus of citizenship and food insecurity in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic by drawing on 54 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with international students attending Victorian higher education institutions; 48 were conducted as a part of the Talking Hunger project on student food insecurity in Victoria and six were follow-up interviews. This research fills a gap in current qualitative work on the experiences of food insecurity among higher education students and adds to a growing body of literature concerning the dynamic nature of citizenship in moments of crisis. Theorising citizenship as the entitlements and responsibilities derived from membership to a community, I bring the practice and status elements of citizenship together in conversation with international students’ lived experience of food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic. In doing so, I discuss participants’ reflections on the nature of their membership to formal institutions namely the state and education institutions within the context of an acutely felt and interconnected experience of COVID-19 induced food insecurity. Furthermore, I demonstrate how students engaged in novel practices of citizenship based in care, empathy and solidarity in responding to food insecurity. This thesis therefore makes a contribution to the literature on food insecurity and citizenship in moments of crisis.
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    City growth and the rural-urban fringe
    Pryor, Robin John ( 1967)
    No abstract available
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    The development of the Port of Melbourne 1877-1971
    Yarnasarn, Sanay ( 1974)
    The main purpose of this study is to describe and explain the physical and commercial development of the Port of Melbourne in the period 1877-1971. The year 1877 has been selected for the beginning of the study because it was the year in which the Melbourne Harbor Trust was established. The port has been modified in several ways since then and is now one of the most modern and best-equipped in the world. In tracing the port's evolution for nearly a century, the writer has tried to examine those factors, both human and physical, which have influenced its growth - world economic and political conditions, economic activities in its hinterland, policy decisions of the port authority and the national government and site conditions. The study does not encompass merely the physical development of the port, but also changes and trends in its trade and shipping. In addition, an attempt has been made to investigate those problems connected with the port's development. The growth and expansion of the manufacturing industries in the port district have also been considered. As well as these, the physical setting of the port, the discovery of Port Phillip Bay, Hobson's Bay and the River Yarra, the geology of the Yarra Delta, the condition of the port before 1877 and the genesis of the Melbourne Harbor Trust have been briefly referred to.
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    An investigation into the methodology of projecting the future population of Melbourne
    Tuan-Mu, A. C. K. ( 1979)
    The study of population projection has always been of considerable interest to politicians, planners, economists and other professionals from all walks of life. Unfortunately, up until now, most of the studies done in Australia have been restricted to the nation as a whole rather than areas at the regional level. This thesis is intended to fill-at least partially - this long standing void and should be useful to anyone who is interested in the techniques of projecting the population below the national level. The thesis attempts to investigate the methodology of projecting the future population of Melbourne. It is divided into two volumes. Volume 1 contains the text of the research and the bibliography, and Volume 2 contains the relevant tabulations and appendices. There are six chapters in Volume 1. Chapter 1 sets out the aim, scope and structure of the thesis, and Chapter 2 presents a review of the past methodologies in projections. This . is then followed by an examination of the three aspects of population growth (i.e. births, deaths and migration) in Chapters 3 to -5. Each of these chapters could be considered as an independent study in itself. However, these parts are all related and are better understood in the context of the whole volume- than as separate entities. For the reader who is primarily interested in the results of the projections, the last chapter (Chapter 6) gives a summary of the assumptions, procedures and findings of the projections.
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    Three shopping streets, 1890 -1970: a study of changing functions
    Sooksai, Suwattana ( 1975)
    This thesis is a study of shopping centres in terms of their changing functions.l The examination of the general long term trends from 1890-1970 as well as the short term patterns within five 20 year periods of change in the commercial functions in three selected shopping streets is the objective of this study. Since the changes, representing one aspect of the urban environment, were investigated through time, this work falls in the category of Urban Historical Geography. It is necessary to emphasize here that this study is not intended to be an examination of the actual structure of shopping centres, but rather to look at changes in their functions during the period for which reliable data is available. The changes occurring in the types and numbers of commercial establishments as shopping centres developed are traced rather than the physical structure and size of shops, the morphology of the shopping centres or their service areas. Moreover, this work does not profess to expound the theory of retailing patterns or distributions, since this has previously been studied by many urban and retail geographers.3 It is a research work, hoping to provide better understanding of the development of specific shopping centres after their initial formation.
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    Urban road traffic noise and health
    Roberts, Michael John ( 2000)
    Some people say they are annoyed by traffic noise. There is rather a lot of evidence to show that where traffic noise is louder, more people say they are annoyed by it. On the basis of this sort of evidence, there is a consensus that road traffic noise causes annoyance. Traffic noise is also suspected of being dangerous to health: of making people ill; so ill they reach for painkillers or even visit a doctor to get medicine prescribed. The fundamental aim of this thesis is to find out whether this is happening in Melbourne. The available evidence contains anomalies: people seem to be healthy where noise is loudest. Even annoyance studies sometimes detect unexplained peaks of annoyance in quieter places; or a plateau of annoyance in high noise. However, the anomalies display a certain consistency. Traffic noise is orthodoxly measured by loudness. Several studies have found a peak of annoyance at around 60 decibels. The consistency of the anomalies suggests that some other physical characteristic of noise may be responsible for the anomalous responses. This thesis sets out to explore the urban soundscape in an attempt to find such a characteristic, and discovers the pattern of alternation of passby noise and background sound: passby patterns. The orthodox loudness measure is essentially a proxy for the daily average sound energy delivered to the ear by traffic. To define patterns requires taking this measure apart - splitting traffic noise into two sounds: the sound of passbys and the background sound. The definition builds up through the use of point source theory, observations in urban and rural environments, experiments with a typical sedan in isolated locations, and experimentation with techniques for the measurement of background sound generated by roads. The tools applied are ears, stopwatch and sound meter. The result is a set of techniques aimed to measure patterns of passby noise in urban environments. Application of these techniques at 102 randomly selected sites spread over 150km2 of urban environments detects passby patterns in Melbourne. By way of an example, the final stage of this investigation embeds pattern measurements within a small, orthodox study of the annoyance and health responses to traffic noise measured by decibels. The results are consistent with regular or rapidly alternating passby patterns being closely associated with annoyance and ill health. In particular, in relation to people who are sensitive to noise, it should no longer be assumed that peak distress at approximately 60dB(A) is anomalous. It may well be due to high levels of patterning of passby noise. The result requires confirmation, to be sure, but the evidence is sufficiently strong to suggest that traffic noise and patterns of passby noise, or something closely associated with them, are probably associated with health problems in Melbourne.
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    Stakeholders' perceptions of the management of groundwater contamination in Altona, Melbourne: is there a problem?
    Callinan, Martin ( 1997)
    The problem of chemical groundwater contamination in Altona has been well documented since 1962 (State Development Committee, 1962). A basalt hosted, upper most aquifer, approximately ten meters from the surface, has been the focus of investigation by the Altona Chemical Complex since the late 1980s. Currently, a contamination plume, containing known carcinogens and mutagens, extends from the Altona Chemical Complex approximately two kilometers to beneath wetlands and residents' homes (GTA, 1996). The existence of such toxic compounds, potentially in contact with biological receptors, warrants investigation into the adequacy of the current management of groundwater contamination in Altona. Interviews were conducted to analyse the perceptions of twenty eight representatives from Altona residents; the petroleum and chemical companies of Altona; the Environment Protection Authority of Victoria; City West Water (water supply company); the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment; environmental assessment and remediation consultancies; environmental pressure groups; Federal, State and local political representatives; academia; banking; and real estate agent stakeholders. Based upon the perceptions of these stakeholders and with reference to supporting literature, this thesis examines the processes of the current management of groundwater contamination with respect to, management effectiveness, management motives, adherence to the precautionary principle, intergenerational equity and compliance to ecologically sustainable development. Analysis of the interviews determined that the management of the groundwater contamination issue was effectively in the hands of the Altona Chemical Complex, with the EPA, albeit with limited resources, facilitating and reviewing works being carried out. The existence of unregistered domestic bores and a lack hydrogeological knowledge indicated that the risk to public health and the ecological environment had not been adequately defined, despite Altona Chemical Complex claims to the contrary (EVS, 1996). In addition, the current management system was found to favour chemical industry management interests as they are the most influential stakeholder. These uncertainties and conflicting motives render the current management strategy inadequate as the precautionary principle was not utilised, intergenerational equity was not safeguarded and ecologically sustainable development was not being practiced. The ramification of the current management of groundwater contamination in Altona is that while action now may appear to be cost effective, the longer term consequences for the Altona Chemical Complex, public health and the ecological environment may not be affordable. iii
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    Communities of resistance: the closure of schools in Victoria, 1992-1994
    Hunt, Jane ( 1996)
    The role of discourse in campaigns of local resistance to the Government has been neglected in most analyses of community protest. This thesis examines the way in which community resistance to the Victorian Government's policy of school closures has been constructed through discourse. In particular, this study demonstrates how discourses were strategically mobilised in the protests over the closures of the Fitzroy, Richmond and Northland Secondary Colleges. It is argued that constructions of community, race and gender were employed to counter the dominant economic discourse of the Liberal Government. This study also illustrates how notions of power and class were evoked to emphasise the unity and sense of purpose of the protest groups.