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Revitalising public spaces through collaboration and citizen empowerment : An exploration of Tactical Urbanism’s role in Aotearoa New Zealand : A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Planning at Lincoln University
No full textUrban centres face many complex challenges including rapid urbanisation, car dependency, and climate change, which are increasingly difficult to address through standard planning mechanisms. Bureaucratic and prescriptive systems have restricted the effectiveness of urban interventions, often escalating project risk to the point where the costs outweigh the potential benefits. Consequently, many urban spaces have become low quality and fail to respond to the needs of their communities. Tactical Urbanism (TU) offers a flexible, community-focused alternative incorporating lower-cost, iterative placemaking through experimentation and adaptation. By prioritising community participation, TU facilitates a more responsive and engaging process that can address specific issues, while supporting broader strategic directives. This concept has gained traction worldwide, with numerous successful implementations, including in Aotearoa NZ. The field has evolved towards a more institutionalised planning strategy, highlighted through local examples. This research utilises a mixed-methods approach to explore how TU can best be utilised in Aotearoa NZ, by investigating case studies and local professional experiences, to develop recommendations for future practice.
Notable local examples include Waka Kotahi’s ‘Innovating Streets for People’ and the ongoing ‘Streets for People’ initiatives, which have evolved over time, though an optimal approach befitting of Aotearoa New Zealand’s unique context has yet to be established. This research uses a mixed-methods approach to explore how TU can best be utilised in Aotearoa NZ, by investigating international case studies, and local professional perspectives, and identifying key success factors for future interventions. The findings highlight that while past case studies provide useful foundations, the success of these projects depends on the integration of the core principles of TU, namely, community-focused strategies that are responsive to local contexts. Key recommendations include: (1) Catering to context, (2) Relationship building, and (3) Intervening with intent. Together, these strategies offer a framework to enhance the effectiveness of TU, to optimise its implementation in Aotearoa NZ
To eat or not to eat: novel stable isotope models reveal a shift in carnivory with nutrient availability for aquatic Utricularia spp.
No full text• Background and Aims Freshwater nitrogen inputs are increasing globally, altering the structure and function of wetland ecosystems adapted to low nutrient conditions. Carnivorous wetland plants of the genus Utricularia are hypothesized to reduce their reliance on carnivory and increase their assimilation of environmental nutrients when the supply of ambient nutrients increases. Despite success in using stable isotope approaches to quantify carnivory of terrestrial carnivorous plants, quantifying carnivory of aquatic Utricularia requires improvement. • Methods We developed stable isotope mixing models to quantify aquatic plant carnivory and used these models to measure dietary changes of three Utricularia species, Utricularia australis, U. gibba and U. uliginosa, in 11 wetlands across a 794-km gradient in eastern Australia. Diet was assessed using multiple models that compared variations in the natural-abundance nitrogen isotope composition (δ15N) of Utricularia spp. with that of non-carnivorous plants, and environmental and carnivorous nitrogen sources. • Key Results Carnivory supplied 40–100 % of plant nitrogen. The lowest carnivory rates coincided with the highest availability of ammonium and dissolved organic carbon. • Conclusions Our findings suggest that Utricularia populations may adapt to high nutrient environments by shifting away from energetically costly carnivory. This has implications for species conservation as anthropogenic impacts continue to affect global wetland ecosystems
The future of solar farming in New Zealand
No full textThis article examines the underlying drivers of solar growth within New Zealand – the size, location and timing of solar farm developments, as well as upcoming policy changes that may influence them. The implications and opportunities for farmers and landowners are also discussed
Lure improvements working with the AT220 and other traps
No full textThis project aimed to field-test new combinations of possum lures to improve the efficacy of the AT220 multi-kill trap. The research objectives were to:
1. Install field equipment with lures at a high-density possum site and test the AT220 App and
2. Install field equipment with lures at a low-density possum site and test the AT220 App
Essays on the role of rural finance, green finance and digital financial inclusion on agricultural carbon emissions reduction : A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Lincoln University
Get PDFGreen agricultural development is significant for China against the background of carbon peak and carbon neutrality, and at the same time, it is crucial to secure China's food security. This thesis examines the influence of finance on agricultural carbon emissions, specifically focusing on the significant role of rural finance, green finance and digital financial inclusion. This thesis comprises three essays investigating whether rural finance, green finance and digital financial inclusion help to reduce agricultural carbon emissions in China. The first essay estimates China's agricultural carbon emissions from 2001 to 2020 and analyzes the temporal and spatial characteristics of agricultural carbon emissions, providing a research base for the thesis. Next, the essay examines the impacts of rural finance on agricultural carbon emissions by introducing the rural finance development indicator into the environmental Kuznets Curve Theory. This not only extends the theory but also helps validate the rural environmental Kuznets Curve in China. The findings reveal that the environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis is invalid in rural China and that rural finance is not conducive to reducing agricultural carbon emissions.
The second essay uses a bidirectional-fixed effects regression model, a quantile regression mode, and a difference-in-differences model to investigate the impacts of green finance on agricultural carbon emissions (ACEs). The results reveal that green finance significantly negatively correlates with ACEs in the eastern and central regions but is insignificant for the whole of China. Secondly, there is significant regional heterogeneity in the impact of green finance on ACEs. The impacts of green finance on agricultural carbon emissions also vary across different quantities, showing an asymmetric impact of green finance on ACEs. Thirdly, the Green Finance Reform and Innovation Pilot Zones do not show a direct policy effect on ACEs.
The third essay investigates the combined effect of green finance and digital financial inclusion on ACEs using bidirectional fixed-effects regression, moderation mechanism analysis, and Two-Stage Least Squares instrumental methods. The finding reveals that green finance positively impacts ACEs reduction but digital financial inclusion negatively impacts ACEs’ reduction. Moderation mechanism analysis shows that digital financial inclusion has a negative role in moderating the impact of green finance on ACEs, indicating uncoordinated development between green finance and digital financial inclusion in rural China. The results are robust to different methods that address the endogeneity issues.
This thesis extends the ACEs theory into the agricultural sector, not only enhancing the scope of the Environmental Kuznets Curve Theory into the agricultural sector but also addressing the omitted variables criticized by scholars by considering financial development's impact on the environment. This thesis also examines the role of green finance in reducing carbon emissions in the agricultural sector, which was overlooked in previous research. Using quantile regression to examine the asymmetric effects of green finance across different quantiles and a difference-in-differences model to examine green policy impacts provides more robust results and critical information for formulating policies. More importantly, this thesis provides a unique perspective to examine the combined effects of green finance and digital financial inclusion, offering pivotal conclusions and policy recommendations
Firm productivity in the Energy-electricity sector over the last two decades with crisis: The role of cross-listing
No full textNovel to the literature, this study examines how cross-listing impacts firms’ productivity in Energy sector. Annual data of firm cross-listing over the last two decades with crisis (2002-2022) is employed for our analyses. We find evidence of significant drop in productivity after Energy firms (including electricity firms) cross-list in the US market. Meanwhile, we do not find strong evidence of significant decreases in firm productivity from other sectors in our sample. We note one possible explanation for this finding is that after cross-listing, Energy firms appear to utilize their increased capital to heavily invest in infrastructure, equipment, and plants for expansion, which might eventually damage their productivity. To seek for more thorough explanations for such decreases in Energy firms' productivity after cross-listing, we identify the determinants of firm productivity in Energy sector. Our results provide strong evidence that the increases in capital expenditures after Energy firms cross-list appear to be associated with the decreases in firm productivity. Notably, we note that negative impacts of capital expenditures (after cross-listing) and state ownership on firm productivity become much stronger and more statistically significant in developed countries than in emerging countries. Last, corporate governance and firm liquidity are found to be two determinants that help improve firm productivity in both electricity firms and other energy firms
Comparing physics-based and data-driven models to predict groundwater levels in the Wairau Aquifer
No full textObservations of groundwater heads are frequently used to monitor the storage of aquifers and as decision variables for groundwater management. Groundwater levels can exhibit a strong seasonality and can be highly dynamic in alluvial gravel aquifers that are essentially extensions of the rivers that recharge them. The sustainable management of such aquifers is challenging and requires dynamic forecasting models to test their capabilities in history-matching and o evaluate their performance for extreme events that fall outside their respective calibration ranges
Ewe culling in New Zealand: An interview study of 38 farmers
Get PDFRemoval of ewes from a flock before the end of their productive life, sometimes described as ewe wastage, can potentially lead to reduced flock productivity. While the main reasons for culling ewes are largely known, their relative importance to New Zealand farmers and farmers’ rational behind their culling decisions are not. Therefore, this study involved semi-structured interviews with 38 sheep farmers from throughout New Zealand to explore their ewe culling decisions. Farmers consistently culled mixed-age and two-tooth ewes who failed to become pregnant or who had a vaginal prolapse. For other culling reasons, farmers’ use of them and their rationale for doing so was diverse and varied between farmers based on ewe age-group, severity, season, perceived economic consequences and farmers’ personal preference. This diversity indicates that there is scope for some farmers to carefully evaluate some of their culling decisions
Adoption and intensity of agricultural mechanization and their impact on non-farm employment of rural women
No full textThis study analyzes the impact of the adoption of agricultural mechanization and its intensity on the non-farm employment of rural women using the 2016 China Labor-force Dynamics Survey data. The study captures mechanization adoption as a dichotomous decision and adoption intensity using three types of farming strategies: non-mechanized, semi-mechanized, and fully-mechanized. Non-farm work is categorized based on work types (self-employment or wage employment) and work locations (local or migrated non-farm work). Both inverse probability weighting with regression adjustment (IPWRA) estimator and multivalued treatment effects (MVTE) model are utilized to address selection bias. The IPWRA estimates reveal that mechanization adoption increases the probability of rural women participating in non-farm work in general and wage employment and local and migrated non-farm work in particular. The impact is greater for unmarried women than for their married counterparts. The MVTE estimates show that relative to non-mechanized farming, the adoption of semi-or fully-mechanized farming increases the probability of rural women participating in non-farm work, wage employment, and local and migrated non-farm work, with fully-mechanized farming playing a larger role. Meanwhile, relative to semi-mechanized farming, adopting fully-mechanized farming does not have a significant impact on any type of non-farm work
Place-based diversification: Pathways to diversified shared landscapes in the Wairau Marlborough region of Aotearoa New Zealand
Get PDFThis study aims to explore the potential of place-based theory to contribute to land use diversification, particularly against the backdrop of prevailing climate change challenges. The study delves into local Māori and wider community perspectives in Wairau Marlborough, New Zealand, through two sets of semi-structured interviews. Questions asked aimed to (1) develop an understanding of the community’s vision of land use in the Wairau Marlborough region, (2) identify and understand the elements necessary to develop a pathway to achieving a shared vision for land use in the region, and (3) assess the potential for place-based approaches to support land use and diversification where there is high potential for conflicting interests between different groups, or in contexts with a history of colonisation. Overall, the study highlights the importance of understanding the community’s connection to the place and land, empowering them to be leaders in the development of pathways to solutions for the challenges that impact them. Interviewees emphasise the need for diversification, protection of natural resources, and inclusion of diverse perspectives. The studies provide useful insights for achieving a shared vision for land use diversification in Wairau, Marlborough, that can also be applied to other region