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The Humane Metropolis: People And Nature In The 21st Century, Rutherford H. Platt

University of Massachusetts Press Books

The Humane Metropolis explores the prospects for a more humane metropolis through a series of essays and case studies that consider why and how urban places can be made greener and more amenable. Its point of departure is the legacy of William H. Whyte (1917-1999), one of America's most admired urban thinkers. From his eyrie high above Manhattan in the offices of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Whyte laid the foundation for today's "smart growth" and "new urbanist" movements with books such as The Last Landscape (1968). His passion for improving the habitability of cities and suburbs is reflected in the …

The Office/Industrial Land Dilemma: A Study Of The Blackstone River Corridor In Massachusetts, John Mullin, Zenia Kotval

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Faculty Publication Series

Local planners have often neglected their industrial resources and are therefore jeopardizing their economic base. There is clearly a mismatch between land zoned for industry and that which is suitable for development. Older areas are constrained by issues of compatibility, access, and environmental and flood plain issues. Greenfield sites are constrained by physical site characteristics, such as wetlands and slope, transportation networks, development pressures from other land uses and public perceptions and concerns surrounding industrial uses. Through this case study, this article analyzes the key factors that are influencing industrial land use decisions and provides recommendations that may be of …

Learning From Worcester Union Station: An Istea Success Story, Michael Di Pasquale

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

The passage of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) of 1991 represented a major shift in federal transportation policy. ISTEA recognizes the interrelated nature of the country's transportation network, and the benefits of coordinating multiple transportation modes. More importantly, for the first time states could spend their share of federal transportation money (raised from gasoline taxes) on public transportation projects.

The ISTEA legislation gave priority to transportation projects that could spur economic development. In Massachusetts and across the country intermodal transportation centers were planned to facilitate efficient transit connections and to help revitalize cities and towns. Intermodal transportation centers …

The Humane Metropolis: People And Nature In The 21st-Century City [Full Book], Rutherford H. Platt

The Humane Metropolis: People and Nature in the 21st-Century City

No abstract provided.

Wild Capitalism: Environmental Activism And Postsocialist Political Ecology In Hungary, Krista Harper

Anthropology Department Faculty Publication Series

"Wild Capitalism" examines environmental issues in the "New Europe" of the twenty-first century. Specifically, it looks at how the meanings of "civil society" and "environment" have changed as environmentalists encounter the political and ecological realities of life after state socialism. Although environmentalism is a global social movement, environmental politics is a grassroots process in which activists creatively translate environmental issues into cultural idioms and political processes.

The Office/Industrial Land Dilemma: A Study Of The Blackstone River Corridor In Massachusetts, John Mullin, Zenia Kotval

John R. Mullin

Local planners have often neglected their industrial resources and are therefore jeopardizing their economic base. There is clearly a mismatch between land zoned for industry and that which is suitable for development. Older areas are constrained by issues of compatibility, access, and environmental and flood plain issues. Greenfield sites are constrained by physical site characteristics, such as wetlands and slope, transportation networks, development pressures from other land uses and public perceptions and concerns surrounding industrial uses. Through this case study, this article analyzes the key factors that are influencing industrial land use decisions and provides recommendations that may be of …

Working Paper Of Fiscal Impact Analysis: Methods, Cases, And Intellectual Debate, John Mullin, Zenia Kotval

John R. Mullin

Fiscal impact analysis seeks to connect planning and local economics by estimating the public costs and revenues that result from property investments. This type of analysis enables the comparison of revenues to costs associated with new development indicating whether local government can meet new demands for services, or must raise taxes to meet new service demands. This paper is a comprehensive description and assessment of current methods for estimating fiscal impacts, it discusses the influence of local factors such as property tax structure and type of development or growth pattern on fiscal impacts and limitations of methods frequently used. It …

Wild Capitalism: Environmental Activism And Postsocialist Political Ecology In Hungary, Krista Harper

Krista M. Harper

"Wild Capitalism" examines environmental issues in the "New Europe" of the twenty-first century. Specifically, it looks at how the meanings of "civil society" and "environment" have changed as environmentalists encounter the political and ecological realities of life after state socialism. Although environmentalism is a global social movement, environmental politics is a grassroots process in which activists creatively translate environmental issues into cultural idioms and political processes.