Browsing by Author "Tsenkova, Sasha"

Now showing 1 - 20 of 49
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    A Long Road Home: Post Disaster Community Redevelopment in Haiti
    (2013-10-02) Allport, Jenny; Tsenkova, Sasha
    This thesis looks at neighbourhood redevelopment following the January 12, 2010 earthquake in Haiti through the examination of four diverse case studies. Inadequate national leadership and land tenure issues have hampered redevelopment, but NGOs working to advance physical, social, economic, and social improvements at the neighbourhood scale. Development plans, and plan implementations are examined within the neighbourhood context, and compared and contrasted with each other to find the strengths and weaknesses of the development plans and implementation.
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    A strategic approach to municipal economic development: a case study of the Municipal District of Big Lakes, Alberta
    (2004) Gauci, Joanne; Tsenkova, Sasha
    This Master's Degree Project applies a strategic approach to municipal economic development in a rural Municipal District in Northern Alberta. It explores the distinct challenges facing rural communities in the current economic climate, and reviews past and current approaches to economic development in rural settings. It places an emphasis on the roles of local governments, strategic planning, and collaboration in successful local economic development, and attempts to develop practical short-term to mid-term solutions that will enable the local government to better position itself for economic development. A proactive and strategic approach based on key informant interviews and data analysis is employed. Objectives include: researching best practices; undertaking a local economic assessment (with an emphasis on understanding the role of key regional sectors); undertaking economic development opportunity identification; and providing recommendations on how the local government can facilitate long-term economic development. Findings reveal the need to continue down the path of further economic diversification and job creation. The study assumes that it is imperative for the emerging innovation and competitiveness agenda to extend beyond high technology industries to Canada's traditional industries, such as forestry and agriculture. Furthermore, the report concludes that it will not be one major economic opportunity but a combination of many small and varied economic opportunities that has the potential to improve the long-term economic base of the region. Recommendations are aimed at fostering local business growth, developing organizational capacity, undertaking marketing and promotion, and fostering partnership building with neighbouring local government. A variety of strategies for implementation are identified, ranging from modest initiatives, such as implementing a benchmarking framework and establishing a "one-stop shopping" information area, to joining a regional alliance and creating an economic development body or position.
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    Affordable housing in Shanghai: in the context of transition
    (2005) Zuo, Qian; Tsenkova, Sasha
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    Alternative approaches to development regulation in Calgary
    (2000) Churchman, Patrick Mark; Tsenkova, Sasha
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    Assisted living
    (2011) Maile, Patricia; Tsenkova, Sasha
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    Breaking the poverty cycle: investing in child labourers in Chiclayo, Peru
    (2005) Burga Ghersi, Lisette; Tsenkova, Sasha
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    Bridging Implementation Gaps: Building Complete Communities Around Light Rail Stations in Calgary
    (2013-10-08) Archibald, Jason; Tsenkova, Sasha
    This study examines challenges associated with the implementation of Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Station Area Communities (SAC) in Calgary, Canada. It defines the Community Planning Process (CPP) as a cycle with five stages: Vision, Plans, Implementation, Evaluation and Feedback where the communication of Evaluation outcomes (Feedback) loops back to inform the next cycle and improve future physical and functional outcomes. The research takes a two-pronged approach: (1) SWOT Analysis of Calgary’s municipal practice within the CPP with respect to TOD which includes a review of the literature, a review of Calgary’s city-level TOD policy and interviews with key informants to assess implementation gaps; and (2) Development and implementation of a TOD Community Evaluation Framework (CEF) which is informed by a review of the literature, a review of Calgary’s local-level TOD policy and participant observation in order to determine the level of success of TOD SACs. The CEF defines five evaluation categories: Intensity, Key Elements, Pedestrian Focus, Mix of Uses and Place and was used to analyze three Calgary SACs: Bridgeland, Sunnyside and Westbrook. Within Calgary’s municipal practice, it was found that community evaluation and feedback are often overlooked altogether. At the local level, Intensity, Mix of Uses and Place categories score consistently lower across the case study communities. It is recommended that the City implement a community evaluation system that provides feedback to decision makers within the CPP and that implementation efforts focus on attracting residents and jobs while encouraging mixed use projects and place-making efforts.
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    Bridging the Gap: Policy Instruments to Encourage Private Sector Provision of A! ordable Rental Housing in Alberta
    (Canadian Journal of Urban Research, 2011) Tsenkova, Sasha; Witwer, Melissa
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    Co-operative housing in Montreal: criteria for success
    (2006) Guenther, Paul; Tsenkova, Sasha
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    Community gardens: policies, incentives and recommendations for Calgary
    (2010) Hayes, Taryn; Tsenkova, Sasha
    With increasing globalization population growth, and urbanization comes an emerging need for urban planners to place increasing importance on quality natural and built spaces within the public realm in order to ensure the social sustainability of human settlements. Community gardens can address some of the problems associated with urbanization and its impacts on the quality of the urban environment, however although the benefits of community gardens are widely recognized, community gardens have yet to be incorporated into municipal planning and policy frameworks and are given no legislative or financial support from municipal governments in Calgary. Without proper urban planning that incorporates high quality public realm, green and open spaces, population growth, along with the redevelopment of established communities, poses both challenges and opportunities for Calgary's established communities. The goal of this study was to determine what policy and planning recommendations and incentives would encourage the expansion of community gardens in established communities in Calgary. This research explores the contributions of community gardens to community development, citizen engagement, and sense of place, articulates the need for increased community garden development, identifies the barriers to expanding community gardens, and makes planning and policy recommendations to support the expansion of community gardens in established communities in Calgary. Primary and secondary research was conducted through literature review, case study, participant interviews, and key informant interviews. Drawing on the experience of Vancouver and Seattle, the MOP provides recommendations for a set of regulatory measures to encourage further development of community gardens in Calgary. Research findings document a range of initiatives, incentives, and policies to promote, encourage and enable the successful growth of community gardens. Effective implementation necessarily depends on community-led grassroots efforts, complemented with balanced municipal support to expand the benefits of community gardens to a larger audience.
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    Designing on the edge: sustainable community design for Belvedere - Calgary's new edge community
    (2008) Marcan, Sarah; Tsenkova, Sasha
    Similar to other North American cities, Calgary's urban development has been based primarily on the suburban model, with a rapidly expanding urban area over the past twenty years. Since 1981 Calgary's developed area has increased by fifty percent with a forty percent population increase. With such rapid population expansion , it is crucial for Calgary's development to become more sustainable in order to reduce growth pressures and outward land consumption. The purpose of this Masters Degree Project is to explore, compare and contrast different approaches of sustainable community design to develop recommendations for Belvedere, Calgary's new edge community. First, the paper explores and compares sustainable planning approaches. Second, recognized sustainable North American communities are explored to demonstrate examples of best practices and precedents of community planning. Third, Calgary's current planning documents, density objectives and vision of creating sustainable communities will be reviewed as they pertain to new greenfield developments. Based upon the research conducted, several planning policies are recommended for sustainable neighbourhood development was formulated as set of comprehensive guidelines for community development in Belvedere. The importance of considering urban development holistically is crucial in developing affective and efficient neighbourhoods. The recommendations recognize that the relationship between land use, transportation and urban design should be addressed at the community level within planning policies. With the creation of comprehensive recommendations for Belvedere, Calgary has the opportunity to develop in a more sustainable manner. emergence of various sustainable community planning policies including: Smart Growth, New Urbanism, Urban Villages and Green Development. Several communities across North America have incorporated sustainability policies using principles found within these approaches. Each community has their own unique characteristics demonstrating the evolution of principles over time imparts unique innovations, best practices and precedents for sustainable community design. The importance of considering urban development holistically is crucial in developing affective and efficient communities. With the creation of comprehensive recommendations for new greenfield edge communities, Calgary has the opportunity to develop in a more sustainable manner with features including higher density mixed-use developments, a range of housing types, transportation options and environmental preservation.
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    Evaluating Citizen Participation in Sustainability Planning: The Story of Alberta
    (2012-07-13) van Fraassen, Kate Greta; Tsenkova, Sasha
    This research tackles the question: what is the status of citizen participation in the development of sustainability planning in Alberta, considering both the process and the output? In Alberta, professional and academic attention to citizen participation is occurring in tandem with government support for sustainability planning initiatives. As a result of this endorsement many Albertan communities have had the opportunity to develop a range of sustainability plans. An environmental scan of sustainability planning activity in Alberta was completed, gathering stories from over 20 small-medium sized communities, along with a case study analysis of two communities. The results illustrate that a patchwork is emerging across Alberta, municipalities are adapting a range of sustainable planning process to make them work in their contexts. These place-based approaches can be knitted together to indicate clear shift towards more participatory planning that concerns itself with the long-term vitality of communities’ futures.
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    Gated-ness, Income Segregation and Neighbourhood Cohesion in Two Western Canadian Metropolises
    (2015-02-03) Youssef, Karim Wagih Fawzi; Tsenkova, Sasha
    This research investigated the relation between the degree of gated-ness of a neighbourhood and the level of neighbourhood cohesion among its residents. Such an investigation was prompted by the current practice of municipal planners for promoting a grid pattern of streets for neighbourhoods and linking such a pattern with principles of resilience and connectedness while at the same time condemning altogether the enclave pattern of curvilinear streets, loops and cul-de-sacs as being non-resilient and non-sustainable. Municipal planners seem to overlook the reasons behind the morphological development of postwar suburbs as well as overlook, in particular, socio-psychological effects of their physical structure and access configuration. This research introduces new typologies in order to differentiate neighbourhoods along those two structural aspects. By undertaking a comparative analysis of four case studies in two Western Canadian metropolises, this research argues that semi-gated neighbourhoods raise cohesion among residents. The major findings of the research are that residents’ sense of neighbourhood cohesion, for both its affective and interactive dimensions, increased in the case of neighbourhoods that had a sense of enveloping space, a sense of entry into a domain that is signalled by the degree of exclusion and seclusion of the development. This research does not claim that all neighbourhoods need to be single access ones. Rather, it suggests that in as much as a neighbourhood is successful in conveying a cohesive image for such a domain, in as much do residents identify with the neighbourhood and with each other. The aesthetic quality of such a domain plays a role of in-forming residents who gradually develop an embodied space such that residents of the neighbourhood could be identifiable from outsiders. Such a process of in-forming and embodiment sets a common ground for social acceptance, sense of familiarity, and facilitates social interaction among residents who have developed common norms and values over time.
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    Housing deconstructed: affordable rental housing in the City of Kamloops
    (2009) Collins, Blake; Tsenkova, Sasha
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