Architecture Commons^™

Landscape Architecture Education: A Study Of Patterns, Tanya Rice

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This research is focused on analyzing landscape architecture education of accredited bachelor programs in the U.S. The primary intent was to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the current state of landscape architecture education and the direction in which it is heading. This was conducted through an evaluation of each landscape architecture program’s course offerings. The objectives were to explore the degree of coherence and dispersion of course requirements among programs, compare similarities and differences and identify current patterns, trends, strengths and emphases of the programs. Then design course descriptions were analyzed for identification of word families and cluster networks to …

Community Wildfire Planning And Design: A Review And Evaluation Of Current Policies And Practices In The Western United States, Carlene C. Klein

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Wildland fire is an important and complex issue, particularly in the fire-prone ecosystems of the Western United States. At the same time that the number of catastrophic wildland fires is increasing across the United States, more people are moving in to wildland areas growing the interface between urban and wildlands. Managing wildfire in the Western United States is becoming increasingly more complex and costly as growth and development continues to push the edge of municipalities into undeveloped wildlands. Communities in this wildland urban interface are exacerbating the problem of wildfire in the West.

With more people living in wildfire prone …

Relationship Between The Built Environment, Physical Activity, And Chronic Disease Among Individuals With Disabilities In Rural Communities, Nicholas F. Tanner

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Increased risk for chronic disease is closely associated with individual nutrition, tobacco use, and physical inactivity. This thesis focuses on physical activity as a means of preventing select chronic diseases. A major barrier preventing engagement in physical activity is the built environment. Populations residing in rural environment are not afforded the abundance of opportunities for physical activity prevalent in most urban networks. Of the demographic living in rural environments, individuals with disability face additional barriers to physical activity than those without disability. This leads to a higher prevalence of chronic diseases associated with sedentary lifestyles among populations with disability. Few …

Evidence-Based Practices For The Design Of Inclusive Playgrounds That Support Peer Interactions Among Children With All Abilities, Courtney L. Fernelius

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Play is necessary for the social, emotional, intellectual, and physical development of all children. Although playgrounds are designed to support the play of children, children with disabilities are often unable to fully participate in play on playgrounds. In part due to the lack of awareness of evidence-based practices supporting the play of children with disabilities, playground designers continue to perpetuate this disparity. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the evidence-based practices for inclusive playground design that support peer interaction between children of all abilities, and to demonstrate how they can be implemented into a playground design.

A …

Evaluating Decline: An Assessment Of Variables Correlated With Shrinking Rural Communities, Aubrey Christensen

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Researchers have long sought to understand the relationship between rural population decline and the factors causing variations from time to time and from place to place (Albrecht, 2010). However, few studies have made comparisons at the local level or developed appropriate regional or place-based metrics. The purpose of this project was to determine which local-level factors and variables correlate with rural population decline and to provide recommendations based on those findings.

This project analyzed the relationships between 2000-2010 population trends and a variety of demographic, economic, and biophysical factors specific to rural communities throughout the state of Utah. A community-level …

Redefining Landscape Norms: Exploring The Influence Of Normative Landscaping Patterns In Washington County, Utah, Ryan White

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

As water supplies in the American West become increasingly strained by growing populations and threats of drought and climate change, water managers and governments are working to maximize water-use efficiency. With well over half of municipal water being used on outdoor irrigation, improved landscape water efficiency has been a clear candidate for conservation messaging. Because social norms play a significant role in what conservation behaviors individuals adopt voluntarily, conservation messaging strategies often try to influence and shift norms in favor of improved behaviors. A clear understanding of the existing norms, demographics, and cultural values of an area is essential to …

Environmental Values And Landscape Architecture: A New Ecological Paradigm Study, Emmet J. Pruss

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In recent decades, landscape design theory has been affected by an increase in pro-environmental values. Largely, this trend has been associated with notions of ‘sustainability’ and ‘ecosystem services.’ These notions involve sustaining current human behaviors within the constraints of ecological limits and maximizing the benefits that humans receive from ecosystems, respectively. In this way, they involve high evaluations of the instrumental values of ecosystems, yet remain predominantly anthropocentric. As such, they are characteristic of shallow ecology worldview.

In order to assess whether the pro-environmental, yet essentially anthropocentric values involved with modern landscape architecture theory are reflected in the environmental worldviews …

A Comparison Of Park Access With Park Need For Children: Case Study In Cache County, Utah, Shuolei Chen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Childhood obesity is one of the nation’s most serious health problems. There are growing efforts to prevent childhood obesity by improving opportunities for physical activity in their communities. The outdoor settings of the built environment, such as parks and open spaces, can offer children opportunities for physical activities, experience with nature, and social interaction, which contribute to children’s physical and psychological health. However, children’s physical access to parks is often inequitable. Simultaneously, the quality of parks also varies. These disparities caused the inequitable distribution of health-promoting features of built environment among disadvantaged groups who may not have access to other …

Transportation Related Challenges For Persons With Disabilities, Graydon Bascom

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Gaining access to transportation is essential for obtaining employment, education, healthcare, and social interaction. Individuals who face difficulties in gaining this access are considered ‘transportation disadvantaged’ and include individuals of lower socioeconomic status, aging individuals, and persons with disabilities. In our autodependent society, individuals with disabilities face even fewer opportunities to interact within their communities. In order to better understand how individuals with disabilities are limited by their access to transportation, two studies were conducted.

The first study specifically seeks to examine how individuals with disabilities gain access to transportation and the interpersonal relationships that affect opportunities for social participation …

Recreation Community Branding: A Comparative Analysis Within Utah’S Wasatch Front, Lynda D. D. Smith

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study demonstrates the role recreational amenities play in contributing to the brand identity and sense of place in Utah master planned communities (MPCs). These MPCs are designed to enable residents to live, work, and play within close proximity within a styled built environment. While the built environment is often branded with a particular identity, these identities resonates with other attributes of the community, including recreation amenities. The study focused on MPCs along the Wasatch Front in Utah, since Utah’s population, along the Wasatch Front, is expected to double by 2050 (Envision Utah, n.d.). Many of the developments being built …

A Comparison Of Design Processes Between Sustainable Sites Certified And Noncertified Urban Open Space Projects, Jennifer A. Wiseman

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In response to the World Commission on Environment and Development’s Brundtland Report (1987) and other documents that have brought the need to address environmental, economic, and social issues to the forefront of the awareness of the public, the Sustainable SITES Initiative was modeled after LEED certification and was formed to establish a rating system and comprehensive framework of guidelines for development. It is a collaborative effort between the ASLA, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, and the United States Botanic Garden. In June 2015, the Green Building Certification, Inc. of the United States Green Building Council acquired SITES and will …

Moab Futures: A Bioregional Planning Analysis, Utah State University

Bioregional Planning Studio Reports

Since its inception, Utah State University's Bioregional Planning Program has conducted landscape-level planning studies across Utah, specifically addressing planning for the future. Rooted in Ian McHarg's seminal book, Design with Nature (1969), the Bioregional Planning Program investigates how biophysical systems influence settlement and culture, and, inversely, how settlement and culture shape biophysical systems.