Towards a model of the urban development process

In recent years, dissatisfaction with the quality of the urban environment has become widespread, and opposition to many development proposals has been mounted by citizens groups across Canada. Yet all attempts to improve the environment so far have proved relatively ineffectual. The thesis argues that the environment will continue to deteriorate unless massive changes are made in the structure of decision making which surrounds the urban development process; the major change required being meaningful participation by citizens in making the decisions that affect their lives. A first step towards this goal is the attainment of a clear and comprehensive understanding of how urban development occurs at present. Citizens must be informed before they can be involved. The thesis presents an initial description of the urban development process and outlines the conceptual basis for the construction of a simulation model of the process. It is argued that because of the complexities of urban development, a simulation technique seems appropriate. Given an operating model, it would be possible to test proposals for change on the model before implementing them in reality. Using Metropolitan Vancouver - a typical Canadian urban region - as a data base, the thesis examines the types of public dissatisfactions with the urban environment. These are then translated into the more general categories of urban problems, such as soaring housing costs, transportation congestion, urban sprawl, poverty, pollution and so on. Through a literature survey a number of processes suspected as being related to these urban problems were identified. Two kinds of processes emerged: those which lead to population and economic growth (the ones usually considered in urban models), but also those processes which constrain policy formulation and implementation, such as fragmented authority, inadequate research and development, uncoordinated planning, the pressure of developers. Both types need inclusion in the model. These processes were investigated through a number of case studies of the system in action: downtown redevelopment schemes, Vancouver transportation proposals, a public urban renewal project, a shopping centre proposal, etc. Basic chronologies of events were prepared for each case; the events were then abstracted into a set of actions with the (organizational and individual) actors who engaged in them and the criteria (goals or constraints) upon which the actions were based. These actions were then grouped into related processes. A preliminary conceptual mock-up of the model was made, and a program of research outlined which involves the analysis of factors affecting major processes and the development of values suitable for computer manipulation. At this stage of the work it appears that the building of the model is indeed feasible and that such a simulation will prove most useful in understanding the urban development process.Applied Science, Faculty ofArchitecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA), School ofGraduat

Harperism: How Stephen Harper and His Think Tank Colleagues Have Transformed Canada

As of October 20, 2015, Stephen Harper is no longer prime minister. That will certainly reduce government corruption and electoral fraud. But what else will change? Thanks to 40 years of persistent messaging by the Fraser Institute and its neoliberal allies, the climate of ideas that made Stephen Harper possible will still be in place. Any government, no matter what it claims its program to be, will be profoundly challenged in bucking the prevailing neoliberal headwinds. Under Harperism, First Nations can only succeed, the environment can only be protected, jobs can only be created, the economy can only grow, through an unfettered free market. And it’s up to government to create and enforce markets, not look after its citizens. This presentation discussed the changes Harper has made and the difficulties succeeding governments will have in unravelling them. Donald Gutstein is an adjunct professor in the School of Communication at SFU and co-director of NewsWatch Canada, a media-monitoring project. He teaches in the areas of news media, propaganda analysis and documentary research. His new book, Harperism: How Stephen Harper and His Think Tank Colleagues Have Transformed Canada, was published in September 2014

A new odontocete (Inioidea, Odontoceti) from the late Neogene of North Carolina, USA

A new monotypic genus of Neogene odontocete (Isoninia borealis) is named on thebasis of a partial skull (CMM-V-4061). The holotype was found on theriverbed of the Meherrin River (North Carolina, USA) and probablyoriginated from the Miocene marine Eastover Formation. Deep interdigitationof the cranial sutures indicates that this individual was mature. The newtaxon differs from all other delphinidans in the unique combination of thefollowing characters: anteriorly retracted premaxillae and maxillae;premaxillae not contacting nasals; thick nasals with ventrolateral marginsdeeply imbedded within corresponding troughs in the frontals (this is anapomorphy); nasals with transversely convex dorsal surface; nearlysymmetrical vertex; os suturarum (or interparietal or extra folds of thefrontals) at the vertex; large dorsal infraorbital foramen level with theposterior margin of the external bony nares; and a postorbital recess on theventrolateral face of the frontal below and behind the postorbital processof the frontal. This odontocete exhibits two small but pronouncedconcavities on the cerebral face of the frontal/presphenoid that arepresumed to have held vestigial olfactory bulbs in life. Inioidea is onlydiagnosed by a single unequivocal synapomorphy: width across nasals andnares subequal. Isoninia shares this feature with other inioids and forms the basisfor the placement of Isoninia within this clade. A relatively high vertex coupledwith a supraoccipital that is deeply wedged between the frontals suggestsplacement of this new inioid species within the family Iniidae. This is thesecond inioid described from the Eastover Formation (the other beingMeherrinia isoni). This new species adds new cranial morphology and a new combination ofcranial characters to this taxonomically small but growing group of mostlymarine and mostly Western Hemisphere odontocetes (urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:E8B817CA-B250-42B3-9365-36EFBFE351C9)