Digital Commons Network^™

Exploring Creative Placemaking Of Americana Outdoor Music Festivals In The Southeastern United States, Tyler Spencer

All Theses

Large outdoor music festivals have been a part of the American experience since the 1930s and are creative gatherings, economic engines, and vehicles of place attachment. This research draws on theoretical constructs of Creative Placemaking, the Biophilia Hypothesis, and Musicophilia to understand outcomes of outdoor Americana music festivals in the Southeastern United States from the perspective of the managers/organizers of these events. Interview data was collected from managers/organizers representing fifteen outdoor Americana music festivals in the Southeastern United States. The data was organized into nine thematic categories, and these were distilled into five key themes associated with the outcomes of …

Assessing Equitable Distribution Of The Urban Tree Canopy At The Neighborhood Scale In Greenville, South Carolina., April Riehm

All Theses

We are living in an era that necessitates adaptation and resilience. The Earth is warming. Our climate has changed (EPA, 2016). Our planet is also rapidly urbanizing. It is predicted that 68% of people will live in cities by 2050. The City of Greenville is a rapidly growing city in South Carolina that has been losing its tree canopy to development(City of Greenville, 2023). The Urban Tree Canopy (UTC) is a community asset that provides many quality-of-life benefits including improved air quality, stormwater management, carbon sequestration, mental and physical well-being, increased mobility and access, aesthetics, a reduction in energy costs, …

A Social-Ecological Systems Inquiry For Understanding Environmental Change In Los Angeles Outer-Ring Suburbs, Farnaz Kamyab

All Dissertations

Within the framework of the city's green infrastructure, urban and suburban green coverage play a pivotal role in delivering substantial benefits to health, economy, and the environment. However, the permanence of these green coverage is threatened by dynamic changes in neighborhood socio-economic, spatial, and ecological elements and their loss or degradation presents a problematic issue. Social-Ecological System Theory (SES) offers a comprehensive framework for understanding the potential correlations between socio-economic trends and the degradation of green coverage. This research is based on a case study of the highly diverse megacity, Los Angeles (LA), which encompasses a wide array of built-environments, …

A Mixed-Method Study On The Walkability Of Streets In Hospital-Anchored Neighborhoods, Xiaowei Li

All Dissertations

The field of healthcare design is adopting planning and design principles from the Healthy Communities movement to connect hospitals to their adjacent communities. This research explores the impact of neighborhood and street design on the walkability of Hospital-Anchored Neighborhoods (HANs), a concept integrating hospitals and satellite services with their surrounding communities to enhance public health. Walkability, a crucial marker of healthy and vibrant communities, was investigated through a mixed-method study across three HANs. A comprehensive Walkability Framework with 17 built environment dimensions was developed from the literature to inform data collection utilizing GIS archival data, ethnographic observations, street audits, and …

Systematic Literature Review Of Roof Systems On Energy Efficiency Of A Building To Support An Ideal Study Framework, Ayushi Raj Dua

All Theses

A sustainable building envelope is a crucial element to build energy efficient structures that contribute towards sustainable communities. The demand for sustainable building envelopes has grown in response to a growing emphasis on sustainable living. The roofing system is an important component of a sustainable building envelope because it influences the building's energy consumption and indoor comfort levels. The current study focuses on roofing systems and associated solar reflectance and albedo values to document the impact on energy efficiency via cooling/heating energy usage, dollar savings and temperature (ambient and surface) reductions due to the roofing systems. Additionally, the study focuses …

We Are Gullah: A Community Approach To Preserving Gullah Geechee Historical Sites Of Significance, Peter Gaytan

All Theses

The National Register of Historic Places is an inventory established by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 that identifies architectural and archaeological sites significant to American history. The National Register was created to encourage the documentation, evaluation, and protection of America’s historic resources. Over 96,000 historic properties, sites, and structures are currently listed on the National Register. Despite the number of historic places listed on the National Register there is still an overwhelmingly low number of sites listed on the National Register relating to underrepresented communities. This thesis assessed the definition of significance laid out in the National Register …

“We Felt Powerful And Rebellious”: Contested Spaces, Lesbian Identity, And The Evolution Of Separatism, Sarah Cooper

All Dissertations

Drawing on theoretical perspectives from lesbian studies, queer theory and studies and, feminist rhetorics while using rhetorical analysis, interviews, and archival research, this project traces the relationships lesbians have had to place, through case studies. To date, research on how space occupancy or land practices have contributed to the constitution of a contemporary lesbian identity in the United States lack scholarly attention. My following chapters ask: how has separatism historically and at present contributed to the constitution of lesbian identity? To answer, I turn to archival evidence of women’s lands in Southern Oregon, Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival, and Olivia Travel. …

The Influence Of A Professional Sport Team’S Philanthropic Initiative On Fans’ Corporate Social Responsibility (Csr) Participation Intention, Young Suk Oh

All Dissertations

Within corporate social responsibility (CSR) research, there has been significant evidence of the positive impacts that CSR could bring to businesses. However, few studies, especially in the context of sport, have focused on how CSR benefits an actual social cause. Therefore, through a three-article format, the overall purpose of the dissertation is to examine how a professional sport team could use its CSR as a social marketing strategy to increase its fans’ willingness to participate in the team’s CSR program in contributing to a specific social cause. Specifically, Article 1 assesses whether CSR participation intention significantly differs among fans with …

Evaluation Of The Chinese Sponge City Program: The Resilient Transition Of Urban Stormwater Management, Wuhan, Chongqing, Zhenjiang, China, Case Studies, Jueminsi Wu

All Dissertations

The Sponge City Program (SCP) is a Chinese national-level policy initiative with the primary goal to ameliorate urban flooding created by rapid urbanization and climate change, and it incorporates both green and blue infrastructure strategies. China’s Sponge City construction guidelines (MOHURD, 2014) established the Volume Capture Ratio of Annual Rainfall (VCRa) as the SCP’s key performance index and a general target VCRa goal of 70% annual rainfall was set for all pilot Sponge Cities (General Office of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, 2015). Yet few studies have been conducted to assess the SCP’s obtainability of the …

Homestays In Nepal In The Era Of Covid-19, Anup K C

All Dissertations

Homestays are accommodation facilities provided by hosts in their own residence. Usually, guests are provided food and lodging by the host family members. These tourism facilities are a source of alternative income in rural areas of countries like Nepal. But now, COVID-19 has adversely affected homestays along with other tourism sectors, so it is necessary to assess homestays in Nepal in the COVID-19 era. For this dissertation, online interviews were conducted with homestay stakeholders (54 homestay operators, 12 homestay leaders, 11 homestay experts, and 8 biodiversity experts). These online interviews were recorded in the Nepali language and were translated and …

“You Can’T Hide Behind Being A House”: Examining The Policy Process, Design, And Implementation Of Short-Term Rental Regulations, A Case Study Of Nashville, Tn, Jamie L. Cathey

All Dissertations

Following the economic crash of 2008, the rapid expansion of platform capitalism and the recruitment of others to work for themselves using a company’s platform, has led to a ‘paradigm shift’ in which a sharing economy business model has enabled small entrepreneurial endeavors to become industry giants (Srnricek, 2017). One such platform, Airbnb, has created a new, informal tourism accommodation sector that is bringing with it questions of regulation and community impact. Airbnb regulation thus is a growing national and international trend affecting cities of all sizes and forcing policy response and change at the local government level. Current trends …

Breaking News: Professional Participatory Journalism, Charmayne Lavone Smalls Brown

All Dissertations

This dissertation analyzes the current principles of journalism that govern professional journalists. For more than a century, mainstream journalists accepted objectivity as the best practice to report fairly, accurately, and without bias. As defined by Brian Brooks, Beverly Horvit, and Daryl Moen (2020) in News Reporting & Writing, “Objectivity was a reliance on observable facts, but it was also a methodology for freeing factual reporting from the biases and values of source, writer or reader” (Brooks et al. 2020). Today in the 21st century, journalism still holds itself up as objective. Participatory journalism has been demeaned by many in the …

Leadership Development And Service Learning: A Case Study Of The Human Ecology Social Impact Assessment, Joseph Aaron Tonjuk

All Theses

Civic engagement, personal growth, and cognitive development are just a few beneficial outcomes that students gain when they participate in service-learning courses. Assessing these outcomes is often challenging; determining an ideal outcome, like leadership development, can be especially so. Leadership development as an outcome for students who participate in a service-learning is an understudied area, especially for how students develop leadership in a service-learning course throughout the semester, which critical incidents are identified as impacting student’s leadership development, and how a service-learning course that utilizes Social Impact Assessment (SIA) influences these outcomes. Designed as a case study, this research describes …

Investigating The Cultural Context For Big Cat Conservation Around The World, Kathleen Elizabeth Krafte

All Dissertations

Populations of predators are in decline worldwide as human growth and development destroys and alters their habitats. At the same time, large predators are a tourist attraction in many regions of the world, bringing essential income to governments and local communities. The complex interactions between predator populations and local communities often result in conflicts that can negatively impact both humans and wildlife populations. To gain a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of human-predator conflict and potential solutions, this study focuses on assessing the social suitability for predator conservation that measures the cultural context for conservation in a region. First, a …

Rural Economic Development Policy Making: Effecting Change Through Community Voices, Sonya Rae Albury-Crandall

All Dissertations

ABSTRACT

This research presents results from a doctoral study that explores a holistic approach to quantifying economic development. The mixed-methods study was conducted in four communities in Upstate South Carolina that have been part of the national Main Street Program. The study poses several important questions: What development strategies do the public value? What strategies contribute the most to the overall quality of life of the community? Further, what is the role of local leadership and accountability in facilitating revitalization, and how do they contribute to the overall quality of life in the community? Third, are there primary components of …

Integrating Tiny Houses Into The American Urban Fabric: A Comparative Case Study Of Land Use Policy Change In The Carolinas, Krista Evans

All Dissertations

The concept of the American dream, manifested in the ownership of a detached single family home, remains a driving force in the housing market. Historically, small homes have held a prominent niche in this dream in both urban and rural areas. However, the expansion of restrictive urban land use policies to protect property values, paired with the rapid diminishment of the American middle class, has made homeownership increasingly difficult to achieve. The tiny house movement has emerged as a means to promote small, affordable, and sustainable home ownership. However, the construction of tiny homes, or even the traditional cottage, is …

Integrating Tiny Houses Into The American Urban Fabric: A Comparative Case Study Of Land Use Policy Change In The Carolinas, Krista Evans

All Dissertations

The concept of the American dream, manifested in the ownership of a detached single family home, remains a driving force in the housing market. Historically, small homes have held a prominent niche in this dream in both urban and rural areas. However, the expansion of restrictive urban land use policies to protect property values, paired with the rapid diminishment of the American middle class, has made homeownership increasingly difficult to achieve. The tiny house movement has emerged as a means to promote small, affordable, and sustainable home ownership. However, the construction of tiny homes, or even the traditional cottage, is …

Learning Energy Literacy Concepts From Energy-Efficient Homes, Frederick Eugene Paige

All Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to understand ways that occupants’ and visitors’ interaction with energy efficient home design affects Energy Literacy. Using a case study approach including interviews, surveys, and observations, I examined the potential for affordable energy efficient homes in the Greenville South Carolina area to "teach" concepts from an Energy Literacy framework developed by dozens of educational partners and federal agencies that comprise the U.S. Global Change Research Program Partners. I paid particular attention to concepts from the framework that are transferable to energy decisions beyond a home’s walls.

My research reveals ways that interaction with high …

Designing For Multigenerational Community: Creating A Supportive Environment For Young And Old In The U.S.A., Tatiana Epimakhova

All Theses

It is well-known that many countries face tremendous challenges triggered by the aging of their population. The increasing percentage of the population that is reaching or at retirement age and rising life expectancy have brought about increasing multigenerativity, a new social phenomenon, when different generations live at the same time longer (Höpflinger, F., 2008). These demographic changes will be complemented with socio-cultural transformations, such as changing the perception of old age, the decrease in traditional multigenerational extended families living together and the growing conditions of multi-locational families. These undergoing changes significantly impact all niches of society: labor markets and social …

Rebuilding Social Organization In Low-Income Neighborhoods: The Influence Of Habitat For Humanity, John Lattimore

All Dissertations

Research has linked neighborhoods of concentrated poverty with high crime, low employment, poor health, and low educational achievement. Because of these linkages, federal housing policy over the past few decades has often tried to 'deconcentrate' or disperse the poor from these neighborhoods into more affluent neighborhoods with the hope that better institutions and better neighbors will motivate these families to improve their lives. However research on large mobility programs such as Gautreaux and Moving to Opportunity (MTO), has found mostly mixed results and criticized the programs for having a small impact. Race and income have also proven to be significant …

The Black Baptist Denomination Of South Carolina: A Social Capital Analysis, Sheila Snoddy

All Dissertations

The question of the Black church's relevancy, power, and influence has been at the forefront of theological and social debates since the Civil Rights era. The continuation of these debates in the 21st century has postulated that today's Black church has become less theologically grounded and less vision-driven in initiatives and movements and is becoming ineffective advocates in addressing the social ills and challenges that cripple the upward mobility of individuals and communities. This study attempts to support the hypothesis that the Black church still possesses the relevancy, power, and influence as a vital and progressive community institution for positive …

A Comparison Of The Source, Media Format, And Sentiment In Generating Source Credibility, Information Credibility, Corporate Brand Reputation, Purchase Intention, And Social Media Engagement In A Corporate Social Responsibility Campaign Presented Via Social Media, Kristie Byrum

All Dissertations

ABSTRACT This study addresses the impact of source, media format, and sentiment in the influencing source credibility, information credibility, corporate brand reputation, purchase intention, and social media engagement in a corporate social responsibility campaign presented in a social media environment. The study utilized a 2 x 3 x 2 ANOVA to analyze results from an online survey that exposed respondents to various source, format, and sentiment combinations. The source was designated as either a corporation or a consumer. The media format was a news release, an advertisement or a news article. The sentiment was classified as either 'with sentiment' or …

Holding The Process Accountable: An Exploration Of New Housing Developments And Place In Cukurcayir, Turkey, Beyza Sen

All Theses

Housing environments are the places where its residents spend most of their time in. In Turkey, housing types that have been built in the past have over time. Especially during the past decade, due to the concentration of people in the city centers and the nations goals on housing developments have resulted in dense and tall apartment buildings to be built in newly developing cities. This study exemplifies the current planning practices and its effects on housing environments and place. The reasons why this study is focusing on the housing environments are: housing environments represent the culture and society, people …

Cultivating America's Working Lands: A Study Of The Sociocultural Value Of Family Farms, Katherine Lloyd

All Theses

Our ability to produce food in a sustainable, healthy and humane manner is threatened, both in the United States and on the global scale. This difficulty is exacerbated by expected population growth, creating a need for 60% more food worldwide by 2050 to feed a population of 9.3 billion (United Nations Chronicle, 2012). How we produce food affects local economies, the cultural vitality of communities, and the health of regional ecosystems. Industrial or conventional agriculture is damaging all three of these systems, by draining local economies through corporate business practices, isolating farmers and attributing to rural population losses, while depleting …

Neighborhoood Snapshot Inventories: A Study Of The Cooper River Bridge Tax Incremnent Financing District, Rebecca Anne Quandt

All Theses

Tax Increment Financing (TIF) is one of the most widely used economic development tools in the nation. In 2008, Charleston, South Carolina, designated the Cooper River Bridge neighborhood (CRBN) as its fourth TIF district. The planning process is now underway, and many large redevelopment projects have already started construction. Private investors will receive funding to develop vacant lots and revitalize dilapidated properties, and the City will benefit economically from new property taxes added to the revenue roll. City officials have anticipated the economic change this TIF district will provide, but have they properly anticipated the changes that will occur to …

Adaptive Use Potential Of Kitchen And Carriage Houses Toward Smart Growth Goals In Charleston, South Carolina, Elizabeth A. Shaw

All Theses

Growth and historic preservation are typically framed as being mutually exclusive. Since growth is inevitable, it behooves cities and towns to focus on growth that collaborates with preservation. This can successfully be achieved by creating plans that use existing infrastructure, promote mixed-use neighborhoods, and encourage sustainable building efforts. In Charleston, the main dwelling of an individual lot was often accompanied by separate outbuildings such as carriage houses, kitchen houses, privies, and laundry buildings. Many of these out buildings remain, and provide an opportunity to create sustainable smart growth and sensitive density.
This thesis analyzes the way property owners in two …

Procuring And Tracing Produce From Small- And Medium- Scale Farmers For Use In Institutional Foodservice Operations In Nc, Sc And Ga, Anita Nunnelley

All Theses

In response to concerns about an increasingly globalized food system in the United States, and increasing interest in the connections between small- and medium-scale (SMS) farms and institutional foodservice operations (IFO), the U.S. has recently developed legislation to link farmers to institutional markets (Joshi, Azuma, & Feenstra, 2008; Poulton, Dorward, & Kydd, 2010; USDA, 2010; Wootan, 2012). The purpose of this study is to determine if these connections are viable, sustainable and ultimately if the food is safe for consumption in the IFO. There are significant logistical, contractual and food safety concerns when sourcing food for IFOs from SMS farms. …

An Exploratory Study Of The Potential Impacts Of Yoga On Self And Community: Creating Mindfulness, Self-Actualization And Social Capital, Lauren Ponder

All Theses

ABSTRACT
Yoga, literally translated means yoke or connection and is a process by which relationships, respect and transformation can occur. It is believed that mindfulness is a result of the practice of yoga and can be easily understood in its opposite of mindlessness. When change takes place within self, or one's own body and mind, both positive transformation towards more conscious action and mindfulness is hypothesized to be transferred to one's community. Community is self-defining in that it is based on a sense of shared purpose and common goals. Yogis, those who practice yoga, could be responsible for a positive …

Cultural Sustainability Of A Post-Industrial Brownfield In Wanzhou China: Maintaining Cultural Value Through Brownfield Redevelopment, Yi Zhang

All Theses

The post-industrial brownfield, generally regarded as one type of brownfield, is defined as an industrial property that remains abandoned or underutilized in part because of environmental contamination. In China, more and more post-industrial sites are abandoned because of changes to city land use, often becoming an obstacle for healthy city growth. This phenomenon places more concerns on brownfield redevelopment in China. Chinese professionals in landscape architecture can borrow some methods and techniques for addressing brownfields from more developed countries. While the brownfields in China share some similar characteristics with those in developed countries, they also have some specific features. For …

Re-Engaging Historic Military Sites, Gina Hartness

All Theses

Historic Conservation seeks to protect the historically significant built environment while
allowing for more current uses. As it pertains to land planning, this effort extends current
land-use tools beyond the historic and conservation districts to include buffer districts and
heritage areas. We need these tools because preservation, which is defined as maintaining
an unaltered environment, does not adequately address managing change over time. Fort
Moultrie on Sullivan's Island, South Carolina is one example where historic preservation
and conservation merge to address the adaptive reuse of this former military installation.
At Fort Moultrie, many of these former installations are in disrepair …