Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Settlement choice'

NAFTA's Article 2005 prescribes that the NAFTA governments, being Canada, Mexico and the US, may choose either a multilateral or a regional forum within which to solve their trade disputes. Thus, they may choose between either the new WTO dispute settlement mechanism or the NAFTA Chapter 20 dispute settlement mechanism. Nevertheless, in order to have an effective choice of forum, there is one essential condition: the subject matter of the dispute must be similar or identical, and there must be some degree of subject matter overlap in both the NAFTA and WTO provisions. The relationship between NAFTA, the WTO and GATT is complex. The core problem is whether there is a legal distinction between the GATT 1947 and the GATT 1994, incorporated into the WTO Agreement, in order to establish either NAFTA or WTO primacy. The latter-in-time treaty general rule will decide the issue. Nevertheless, a decisive conclusion cannot be drawn, as this should be studied on a case-by-case basis.

Within landscapes, spatial heterogeneity is common and specific landscape features can influence propagule dispersal by wind or water, affecting population connectivity and dynamics. Coastline topographic features, such as bays and headlands, have a variety of biophysical effects on nearshore oceanography, larval transport, retention and supply, and the processes of larval settlement and recruitment. Although this has been demonstrated in several parts of the world, engendering a perception of a general ‘bay effect’, few studies have investigated this generality in a single experiment or region, by replicating at the level of ‘bay’. The Agulhas biogeographic region of the south coast of South Africa is a useful system within which to test for such generality. Using the intertidal mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis and Perna perna as model organisms, patterns of adult distribution were surveyed across four large ‘halfheart’ bays and intervening stretches of open coast, providing replication at the level of ‘bay’ and duplication of ecologically similar species. In support of a general, pervasive influence of bays on intertidal populations, mussel cover was found to be greater in bays than on the open coast for both species, although the effect was strongest for M. galloprovincialis. To explain this adult distribution, settlement, post-settlement mortality and recruitment were examined over 12mo at the same sites, with the prediction that rates of each would favour larger bay populations. Contrary to this, an interaction between month and bay-status was found, with greater settlement and recruitment on the open coast than in bays reflecting extreme settlement and recruitment events at 3 westerly open coast sites during summer. Re-analysis excluding these outliers, revealed the expected effect, of greater settlement and recruitment in bays. While this indicates the broad generality of the bay effect, it highlights exceptions and the need for replication in time and space when examining landscape effects. Measuring post-settlement mortality required testing small-scale settlement behaviour on established and newly deployed settler collectors. It was found that all settlers preferred collectors with biofilm, but that primary settlers avoided conspecific settlers, while secondary settlers were attracted to them. With discrepancies in settler attraction to new and established collectors accounted for, initial (over 2d) and longer-term (over 7d) post-settlement mortality rates were found to be substantial (ca 60 %) for both species. No topographic effect on p-s mortality was evident. Finally, recruit-settler, adult-recruit and interspecies correlations were examined at regional and local scales. Synergistic (or neutral) effects maintained the initial settlement pattern in recruit and adult populations regionally, but not at local scales; striking interspecies correlations suggested the influence of common regional transport processes. Ultimately, the results emphasize the importance of the direction of effects in different life stages and at different spatial scales, and the possibility that antagonistic effects may mask even strong patterns.

When species compete for resources, in a stable homogeneous environment, there are two possible outcomes. The first is that one species will out-compete the other and exclude it from the environment. This is known as the competitive exclusion principle. The second is that both species will manage to coexist. Coexistence can only occur if the species’ niches are differentiated such that interspecific competition is minimised, or eliminated. This outcome is known as resource partitioning. Two closely related Australian skink species of the Egernia genus, Egernia multiscutata and Egernia whitii, are abundant and sympatric on Wedge Island in South Australia’s Spencer Gulf. The species are morphologically very similar and appear to have very similar life histories and habitat requirements. Ostensibly, they would compete for limiting resources in this environment. This thesis is the first investigation into resource partitioning in this previously unstudied model organism. I report the results of multi-faceted investigations into the coexistence of the skinks, E. multiscutata and E. whitii on Wedge Island and the evidence for, and mechanisms of, any facultative resource partitioning between them. Study methods involved a transect survey of most of Wedge Island to determine the species’ distributions and any evidence for resource partitioning; a morphological comparison to investigate any potential competitive advantages of either species; a habitat choice experiment to establish retreat-site preferences in the absence of interspecific interference; and, a series of staged dyadic encounter experiments to investigate interspecific competitive interactions. Resource partitioning was evidenced by differential distributions of the species among substrates containing the elements required for permanent refuge shelters. This partitioning was not mediated by avoidance of particular substrates but by the presence of the opponent species, combined with attraction to suitable substrates. Asymmetries in some morphological characters were found to confer a potential competitive advantage to E. multiscutata in agonistic encounters with E. whitii. Both species were found to have the same refuge site preferences when interference competition was experimentally removed. This result was not concordant with observed resource partitioning in the field and suggests that the habitat choices of both species are modified by the presence of the opponent species. Analyses of staged dyadic encounter experiments showed that E. multiscutata was more likely to gain greater access to a contested habitat resource and more likely to exclude E. whitii from the resource than vice-versa. Nevertheless, the outcome of competitive interactions was not completely deterministic and there was some tolerance of co-habitation. E. multiscutata’s competitive advantage was attributable largely to its greater mass and head dimensions relative to snout to vent length. However, differential behavioural responses to the threat of larger opponent size also played an important part in resource partitioning between the species.

Faisant appel à des cadres méthodologiques d'économie du droit et d'économie politique, cette thèse en quatre articles entreprend une analyse de différents aspects clés du règlement des différends économiques internationaux, tout particulièrement du règlement des différends tel qu'entrepris sous les auspices de l'Organisation Mondiale du Commerce (OMC). Les aspects clés ainsi analysés concernent la décision des parties signataires d'un traité international d'accorder ou de refuser le droit de porter plainte à des personnes privées, leur choix de l'arsenal de contre-mesures ainsi que des détails relatifs aux mécanismes de mise en œuvre. L'article 1 analyse les fondements économiques du pouvoir que possèdent les gouvernements des pays membres de l'OMC de s'interposer en tant que filtres politiques ex ante de potentiels litiges, tout en contrastant cette analyse avec ce que l'on peut observer dans le domaine des investissements étrangers. L'article 2 se penche sur un thème d'économie du droit plus« classique» en démontrant que, même s'il n'a pas été conçu expressément pour encourager la rupture efficiente des obligations contenues dans les accords de l'OMC, le mécanisme actuel de règlement des différends à l'OMC facilite, de facto, le non-respect temporaire du droit de l'OMC. L'article 3 examine les principales alternatives à des mesures de rétorsion en tant que mesures de dernier recours. L'article 4 identifie les déficits de l'analyse conventionnel de pourquoi le système de règlement des différends à l'OMC n'a pas été équipé de mesures correctives rétrospectives mais seulement prospectives.

This study explored the phenomena of pre-adolescents growing up in an informal settlement and explored how needs and wants influenced their value and moral formation. The research was located within the specific context of a qualitative interpretivist study. A phenomenological research design was used to highlight how these young people construct their personal identities rooted in their unique value and moral structures. The criteria used to choose the participants included pre-adolescents between the ages of 10 and 14 who lived alone without parental care or who were left alone for long periods during the day. The selected participants were young people who were daily exposed to adverse conditions and who had to make real life choices. Data on how these pre-adolescents viewed their situation were collected using stick figures, collages, drawings and observations, followed by in-depth individual and focus group interviews and discussions on moral dilemmas. The aim of interviewing the young people personally was to explore their own views of the realities of their lived experiences and how they perceived the world around them. From the empirical evidence and the theories studied a number of significant themes emerged that indicated a strong need for emotional and social support, besides their obvious material needs. The major themes were (1) family and community, (2) emotional needs, (3) financial and material needs, (4) protection and security, (5) moral choices and needs, (6) education and (7) religion. The findings of the study revealed that individuals progress through various stages of moral growth and development as they grow from childhood to adulthood, and that children are not born with an innate moral or value system. These have to be taught through the process of socialisation whereby they learn social values, morals, attitudes and expectations as these are communicated from one person to another. The findings also showed that these young people are able to act in a caring, concerned, altruistic and resilient manner, just as much as they are able to act in a destructive manner. These young people are as able to do good just as they are able to do bad things. They have a strong sense of moral rightness and wrongness and the values that underpin morality. It showed that even when their basic human needs are unmet they can still make choices that reflect good moral values. They have the capacity to transcend themselves and to make radical change in their personal lives and in turn contribute to the well being of a better society. Since this was an exploratory study of specific marginalised young people in a particular environment which focused more on pre-adolescents’ espoused theory and how they would act if faced by moral dilemmas, it suggests the need for further exploration and research on the theory in action by studying the reasons why preadolescents engage in at-risk behaviour. SEPEDI : Thuto ye e hlohlomiša ponagalo e kgolô ya baswa bofalalelong bjo e sego bja tlwaelo, gomme ya hlohletša ka moo dinyakwa le dihlokwa di tutueditšego popego ya metheo le setho. Nyakišišo ye e ile ya ela khwalithi ya seo se nyakišiswago tlhoko. Go somišitšwe moakanyetšo wa phatišišoponagalo go tšweletša ka fao baswa ba bopago boitšhupo bjo bo letšego popegong ya mehola le boitshwaro bja bona. Kêlo ye e šomišitšwego e aparetše baswa gare ga mengwaga ye 10 go iša go 14; bao ba phelago ba le tee, go se na tlhokomelo ya batswadi goba bao ba tlogelwago ba le tee nako ye telele mosegare. Batšeakarolo be e le baswa bao ba bego ba lebanwe ke maemo a šoro gomme ba swanetse go ikethela tsela. Data ya ka moo baswa bao ba lebelelago maemo a bona, e ile ya kgoboketšwa go šomišwa diphata, dibopego tšeo di gomareditšwego, dithalwa le temogo ye e latelwago ke poledišano le mongwe le mongwe, goba sehlopha ka ga mathata a boitshwaro. Maikemišetšo a poledisano le baswa ke go nyakišiša dikgopolo tša bona ka ga bonnete bja maitemogelo, le ka moo ba bonago lefase. Go tšwa bohlatseng bja boitekelo bjo, le go teori tše di nyakišitšwego, go bonagetše nyakego ya thekgo ya khuduego le leago, gape le tša dinyakwa tša bophelo. Dintlhakgolo di bile (1) lapa le tikologoleago (2) dinyakwa tša moya (3) dinyakwa tša tšhelele le didirišwa (4) tšhireletšo le potego (go lotega) (5) boitshwaro le dihlokwa (6) thuto (7) bodumedi. Dikhwetšo tša thuto ye di utollotše gore mongwe le mongwe o tšwelela dikgatong tše mmalwa tša kgolô ya boitshwaro le tšweletšopele ge ba ntše ba gola go tšwa bjaneng go ya bogolong; le gore bana ga ba belegwe ba na le mokgwa wa maitshwaro wa tlhago. Tšeo di rutwa ka tsela ya phedišano; ka fao ba ithute kagišano, maitshwaro bjale ka ge di hlagiswa ke batho ba bangwe. Khumano e laeditse gape gore baswa ba kgona go hlokomela, ba amege, ba be le phanô, gape ba itshware ka tsela ye e sa swanelago. Baswa ba kgono dira botse, ba fetoge ba dire bobe. Ba na le moya wa setho le moya wa tshenyo; gape le theô ye e laetšago maitshwaro a botse. E bontšhitse le gore, le ge dinyakwa tša bona di sa kgotšofatswe, ba kgono kgetha ba laetše maitshwaro a mabotse. Ba na le maatla a go feta mathateng, ba fetole maphelo a bona gomme ba be le kabelo go kaonafatša tikologoleago. Ka ge se e bego e le fela thutotlhotlhomišo ya baswa bao ba lego mellwaneng ya bophelo tikologong e itšego, gomme ya ikamanya fela go teori ya baswa le ka moo batla itshwarago, ge ba lebanwe le mathata a setho, e laetša nyako ya tlhotlhomišo e tseneletšego, e tšwelago pele ka nyakišišo ya teori ye ka go ithuta mabaka ao a dirago maitshwaro a.
Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2011.
Education Management and Policy Studies
unrestricted

This study explores the factors urban residents consider when making residential location decisions. The context of the study is informal residential areas in a rapidly urbanising African city – the city of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. A central concern in the study is how the urban poor make their residential location decisions; the assumption is that with income limitations the urban poor rely on other non-economic resources to enable their residential location decisions in the context of rapid urban growth and urban poverty. The study attempts to question residential location choice concepts that rely on economic approaches as well as question explanations based on the developing world experiences.The study suggests that in the absence of reliable incomes, social networks and informalchannels prevail in the decision-making process. The concept of social capital where networks and social relationships are used as a resource by individuals or groups to achieve goals is explored in a residential choices framework. Demonstrated through in-depth interviews with heads of households settling close to the CBD (termed the inner city), the intermediate informal residential areas and the peri-urban residential areas; the study shows how socio-cultural factors play a role in the decision makingprocess of households. This is illustrated inter alia, in the form of informal channels for information on accommodation and residential plots, being accommodated rent-free by a relative, the actions of subsequently making short-distance moves to a location within proximity of a relative, or seeking people of the same socio-economic status. The context within which the actions have taken place has also been shown to be important in corroborating the network and relationship elements in the concept of social capital. The uncertainty that residents in rapidly urbanizing cities have to deal with on an everyday basis calls for networks and relations as an important resource for survival. The study goes further to suggest how urban planning practice can learn from the social processes. The study is based on qualitative methods such as in-depth interviewing with heads of household and key informants.

This doctoral thesis explores slum dwellers’ decisions regarding their ways of making a living. The different aspects of earning one’s life in a poverty situation have been mostly studied from the perspective of livelihood assets, the circulation of information about opportunities, the management of skills and relationships, and the affirmation of personal significance in carrying out one’s livelihood strategy. By contrast, this research investigates the decisions behind making a living, by looking at the relative influence of 1) the norms shaping the slum dwellers’ environment, 2) slum dwellers’ individual intentions, 3) slum dwellers’ motivation to comply with others’ behaviours, and 4) the narratives slum dwellers build around the rationality of their choices. In an attempt to address the knowledge gap concerning the interactions between decision-making and poverty, the research documents and analyses the interplay of individual and social factors affecting decision-making processes in the Thapathali slum settlement of Kathmandu, Nepal. The research shows that through their discourse, slum dwellers relay normative beliefs, that is, beliefs which are influenced by norms or definitions of what is acceptable. It is found that these normative beliefs have a partially prescriptive role in determining how slum dwellers make decisions. Most unexpectedly, while slum dwellers’ interpretations of norms produce normative beliefs that are difficult to revise such as valuation neglect – the dispositions of slum dwellers to strive for further opportunities being limited by the collective interpretation of their constrained situation –, the research demonstrates that particular norms such as religious and caste-related norms create a room for manoeuvre as slum dwellers interpret these norms while serving their individual interests, therefore shifting the boundaries of the collectively accepted norms. Driven by one’s will to ‘opt out’ from caste discrimination, some slum dwellers instrumentalise their religious affiliation and convert to Christianity to overcome discrimination and access further benefits within the community, while others make use of their caste-related skills to enhance their array of opportunities. The research concludes that decisions related to making a living in situations of poverty are primarily characterised by the volatility of the normative beliefs behind these decisions: slum dwellers recurrently interpret and re-interpret norms in an attempt to best align their behaviours with their individual intentions and the collective reasons given for certain behaviours within the community. As such, it is the study of the production of normative beliefs that best achieves the unpacking of decision processes and decision practices related to making a living in the Thapathali slum settlement.

The aim of this study was to investigate the impacts of urbanisation on the use of, and access to, NTFPs in three settlements in the Chobe District of northern Botswana. Specific objectives were to determine the extent of NTFP use occurring in these areas; the purposes of use; the factors that influence use and access in the rural/urban context, particularly government rules and regulations; and implications for future NTFP use in this region. Research was conducted in three settlements: Kasane, Kazungula and Lesoma. Kasane is an urban town, Kazungula is less urbanised and Lesoma is a rural village. All areas are surrounded by state-owned Forest Reserves and the Chobe National Park. The study employed both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods including household interviews (30 in Kasane, 30 in Kazungula and 25 in Lesoma), four key informant interviews, two focus groups with youth and the collection of other grey literature relating to government harvest permits and market data. Households in all three areas used NTFPs despite the different rural and urban contexts in which they exist. Kasane and Kazungula showed a less diverse range of resource use, with fuelwood and wild foods the most commonly used resources in all three areas. These resources were used mainly for subsistence purposes. Harvest locations varied but were most commonly in and around the settlements themselves. Households in Kasane and Kazungula expressed the desire to use fewer resources in the future, mainly for conservation reasons, while those in Lesoma wished to use more. The government rules and regulations, particularly the DFRR permit system, were found to restrict resource access. Despite this, households in the more urban areas felt that the laws were necessary while those households in Lesoma thought that the laws conflicted with community livelihood needs. The majority of respondents believed conservation management to be a barrier to resource access as the presence of wild animals and anti- poaching units in the harvesting areas compromised safety. The general absence of resource commercialisation and market opportunities in the settlements, especially the urban towns of Kasane and Kazungula, were other commonly cited barriers to resource access. The perceived degradation of traditional practices due to modernity and urbanisation was evident for most households in all three areas but the actual loss of indigenous knowledge was most apparent in the urban areas. Wider implications for this case study are the application of the findings to further research into the impacts of urbanisation. This study can add to the literature around the implementation of improved urban development strategies, including the reliance on NTFPs and declines in cultural and environmental degradation. Recommendations provided in this study include further investigations into resource use; the application of resource co-management; improved market infrastructure and the implementation of ecotourism and local craft-making projects.

No
Decisions on settlement location in the face of climate change and coastal inundation may have resulted in success, survival or even catastrophic failure for early settlers in many parts of the world. In this study, we investigate various questions related to how individuals respond to a palaeoenvironmental simulation, on an interactive tabletop device where participants have the opportunity to build a settlement on a coastal landscape, balancing safety, and access to resources, including sea and terrestrial foodstuffs, while taking into consideration the threat of rising sea levels. The results of the study were analyzed to consider whether decisions on settlement were predicated to be near to locations where previous structures were located, stigmergically, and whether later settler choice would fare better, and score higher, as time progressed. The proximity of settlements was investigated and the reasons for clustering were considered. The interactive simulation was exhibited to thousands of visitors at the 2012 Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition at the “Europe's Lost World” exhibit. 347 participants contributed to the simulation, providing a sufficiently large sample of data for analysis.

Thesis (M.A. (Health Sociology))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Humanities, 2016.
This study examines use of different energy sources by a poor community of the Ramaphosa Informal Settlement in Gauteng Province, South Africa. The purpose of this study was to investigate the reasons behind continued use of biomass fuel (plant or animal material, wood, charcoal) for cooking and space heating by poor residents. The research questions are: What informs the informal settlement residents’ use of certain energy sources for cooking and heating over other types? Where residents possess knowledge of the harmful effects of continued use of an energy source, yet continue to use it, what are the reasons for this? Whose responsibility does it become to collect a chosen energy source, and how is it collected? The consequences of indoor air pollution vary from short-term – eye and throat irritation – to long-term effects – respiratory disease and cancer. Exposure to high levels of some pollutants, such as carbon monoxide, can even result in immediate death. An exploratory empirical research was performed using mixed qualitative and quantitative methods using data on time-activity patterns collected from eleven households by means of semi-structured interviews, observations, focus group discussions and expert interviews. The results show that the respondents in the researched areas of Reserve and Extension two in Ramaphosa Informal Settlement use a total of thirteen different energy sources to meet their fuel needs. Although possessing the necessary knowledge on negative effects of indoor air pollution, the respondents lack sufficient resources to make decisions that would help improve their conditions regarding effects of air pollution. In thirty of the fifty respondents women and girls collect fuel and only in the remaining twenty wherein electricity, paraffin and liquid petroleum gas (LPG) are used, do men and boys become responsible for fuel collection. In the absence of electricity, respondents reported preferences for LPG, however, the prohibitive costs of the capital outlay of the latter energy source makes it unaffordable to more than half of the respondents. The major finding in this report is that whilst some of the respondents think that electricity remains a key barrier to improving their socio-economic development and well-being, twenty of the fifty respondents who exclusively rely on government grants do not think so. Electricity, although an absolute necessity in the researched areas, is not a sufficient condition for avoidance of effects of indoor air pollution for the poor communities. This was demonstrated by the five respondents who have electricity but alternate its use with coal and firewood. The high cost of electricity means that poorer communities will continue to rely on the less expensive bio-mass fuel – risking their lives in the process – even when electricity is available. Respondents reported difficult conditions under which they live which are shaped by broader sets of unresolved structural aspects in the form of economics, social policies, and politics.
GR 2017

碩士
國立雲林科技大學
企業管理系
105
“Should I work in China?” This research explores the willingness of Taiwan youth to mainland China on issues of exchange study, employment, startup business and settlement. The survey was conducted among eight colleges in Taiwan and questionnaires were included four parts: (1) willingness of exchange study in China; (2) get job in China; (3) startup own business in China; (4) settle in the China After a descriptive statistical analysis of 1011 valid samples, the study found that: (1) Taiwan youths prefer to do the cross-strait exchanges by traveling and hope to learn the advantages of each other and establish the friendship. Only 9.6% of people are unwilling to do the cross-strait exchanges because of economic pressures; (2) About half of the students are willing to work in China due to not only the rapid growth and higher wages in China, but also the low salary in Taiwan. Only 15.5% of people do not want to work in China due to the personal and property security; (3) Due to the enhancement of the international influence and tremendous market growth in China, 33.4% of youths would like to start a business in China. However, the problems of personal and property safety and entrepreneurial risk cause 14.9% of people are unwilling; (4) Due to factors of diet, climate, environment, economic pressure, career development, only 18.4% of people would like to live in China. Finally, we made recommendations on Taiwan youths, cross-strait governments for future references which help the future cross-strait exchanges of higher education, and assist youth in innovation and entrepreneurship, also the development of straits business.

The movement of people from county to country brought about an increase in international marriages. However, South African private international law rules with regard to the proprietary consequences of marriage are not on par with their foreign counterparts. The prejudicial rule which governs proprietary consequences of marriage has raised difficulties for our courts in past and recent cases. The advent of a new constitutional dispensation in South Africa forbids discrimination based on sex, gender and marital status. Furthermore, the question is asked whether parties to a marriage with a foreign matrimonial domicile may rely on section 7(3) of the Divorce Act 70 of 1979. The classification of redistribution orders in private international law matters has given rise to uncertainty. The objectives of the study are to suggest workable alternatives to the current connecting factor for proprietary consequences of marriage in South African private international law and to investigate the availability of redistribution orders to spouses applying for divorce in South Africa.
Private Law
LL. M.