ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First, I wish to acknowledge my advisor. Dr. Gary Stewart Elbow for his wise, patient, and generous guidance. I also express my gratitude to the rest of the members of my dissertation committee, Dr. Safei-Eldin Abdelhamid Hamed, Dr. Saif-ul Haq, and Dr. Aaron Robert Meskin, for their methodological, scientific, and philosophical suggestions and recommendations. All of them were very encouraging and supportive with my study. I also recognize Dr. Michael Anthony Jones, my former advisor, for his stimulus to investigate a problem on urban aesthetics. I thank the Graduate School of Texas Tech University for awarding me the Chancellor's Endowed Scholarship, the Summer Thesis/Dissertation Award, and, especially, the Elo and Olga Urbanovsky Endowed Fellowship. All these awards were a fundamental aid for my education and completion of the doctoral program in Land-Use Planning, Management, and Design. I also acknowledge all the excellent professors I had during my course work from different schools of Texas Tech University, and the administrative support 1 received, especially from the College of Architecture. I also recognize the administrative and moral support I received from colleagues and friends from the Universidad Nacional Federico Villarreal, Lima, Peru. I express my immense gratitude to Pilar, my wife, and Jose, Maria, and Celia, my children. They shared with me all the joys and sacrifices that meant leaving our homeland and fulfilling this academic endeavor. To them this study is dedicated. I also extend this dedication to my stepson Samuel. Finally, I give thanks to my parents, Gustavo and Maria. This study is a result of the outstanding education that I received from them