Architecture Commons^™

Are Bay Area Cities Inclusive? Evaluating How San Francisco Bay Area Cities Can Address Environmental Justice Challenges By Strengthening Their Engagement Practices With Low-Income And Minority Communities Through The California Environmental Quality Act Process, Kenneth Antonio Rosales

Master's Projects

No abstract provided.

Harnessing The Power Of Data Can Help Solve Our Housing Needs, Lorcan Sirr

Media

Ireland has traditionally been poor at collecting data, collating statistics and disseminating information. It’s not that we are an innumerate country; I think it is more that facts often inconveniently jar with opinion on a range of topics, from rural Ireland to road safety, to housing.

We Can’T Expect ‘The Market’ To Provide A Housing Policy, Lorcan Sirr

Media

As the government grapples with establishing a worthwhile housing policy, it would do well to remember that affordability is key. As companies increasingly choose to locate in or near cities, and people followjobs, most of Ireland’s housing needs will be in the greater Dublin area. In 2015, about half the population lives on just 20% of Ireland’s surface area, but by 2030 nearly half the nation will be living on just 10% of the land. Figures vary but the Dublin area will need 8,000-10,000 housing units per year.

Urban Redevelopment Through City-University Partnerships: Envisioning An Education District In Springfield, Massachusetts, Mohammed Abdelaal

Masters Theses

This thesis examines the impact of planning a potential new urban university campus in Springfield, Massachusetts on the city’s long term goals for urban revitalization. By exploring a collaborative and community-oriented process for higher-educational development, I propose a dynamic model that could work as a catalyst for urban revitalization.

The study will focus on the following: developing partnerships between the city of Springfield (government, community, local groups) and major educational institutions (such as the University of Massachusetts system); identifying potential sites suitable for the anticipated urban/mixed-use campus or compound; and studying and analyzing the forces within the city (neighborhoods around …

Can’T Buy, Don’T Want To Rent? The Catalans Have A Third Option, Lorcan Sirr

Media

Creativity is generally lacking in Irish policymaking, and this is as evident in housing, as it is in other areas. There is a reversion to the mean in times of crisis, where the usual methods, which have often failed, otherwise we wouldn’t have a crisis, are returned to. Einstein had something to say about this, and it wasn’t complimentary. We’re seeing it once again in efforts to get the building industry off its behind by using taxpayers’ money as an incentive, as if it’s 1996 all over again. Before you know it, we’ll all be buying apartments in Bulgaria.

Walking Is A Right (Civil And Human), Robert Bullard

Robert D Bullard

PowerPoint opening keynote presented at the National Walking Summit in Washington, DC last month. Here is link to the Summit. http://walkingsummit.org/keynote-speakers . Some of themes include - walking as a right, "outdoor apartheid," "walking while black," and connecting nature walks and health (walking is good for the mind, body, spirit and soul) run through the talk.

Discover Joyce's Dublin By Reading And Running, Barry Sheehan

Academic Articles

James Joyce told his friend Frank Budgen. “‘I want’ said Joyce, as we were walking down the Universitätstrasse, ‘to give a picture of Dublin so complete that if the city one day suddenly disappeared from the earth it could be reconstructed out of my book.’” (Budgen, 1960, p.67, 68).

This research looks at the relevance of Dublin to Joyce’s writings and to the relevance of Joyce’s writings to Dublin. It is concerned with the virtual Dublin of Joyce’s writings, the physical manifestation of Dublin over time, and the relationships between them.

Numerous scholars read and analyse the writings of Joyce …

Hidden In Plain Sight: Tehran's Empowering Protean Spaces, Sara Khorshidifard

Sara Khorshidifard

As a recent citizen I noticed Tehran's urge for new kinds of public spaces. So, I initiated a dissertation that outlined a call for "protean space." Cities need protean spaces as a means to empower people, places that offer social interaction and support--spaces that are safe, accessible, and intriguing. Protean spaces empower people to create places for personal and interpersonal relationships, make social connections, gain information, and build trust across varied networks. My dissertation examined how planning and design practices can enhance the possibility of protean spaces and therefore increase their number. While my research concerns Tehran, all cities benefit …

Squeeze On Space Lifts Profit But Shrinks Living Standards, Lorcan Sirr

Media

When it comes to the topic of apartment sizes, planners and local authorities should keep this old adage to the forefront of their minds: less is not more. Ireland’s size standards for residential housing have tended to followBritain’s since about the 1940s. The UK has been producing ever-smaller units and with, in effect, no minimum national standard, it has the smallest homes in western Europe. This is not a trend we need to follow. Minimum space standards for a one-bedroomapartment in Dublin reduced from 484 sq ft in 1961 to 344 sq ft in 1987—and finally up to a more …

Let’S Look To Uk To Solve Problems Of Our Ageing Population, Lorcan Sirr

Media

Europe is going grey, very grey. In 1800 no country had a life expectancy beyond age 40, but by 2050 one in three people in Europe will be over 60. By then, one in 10 will be over 80—nearly 500,000 people in Ireland. The ageing population will bring its own problems, caused mainly by health, income and government support. Denmark spends about €5,000 a year on social protection in old age; Latvia, Romania and Croatia spend €500. In Ireland, in 2011, the figure was €2,000.

Live In The Sticks If You Want But The Cost Of Services Will Soar, Lorcan Sirr

Media

As Ireland changes from an agricultural production-based country to one more dependent on its cities, rural Ireland finds itself squeezed between the need to support the source of most of its revenue and a desire to protect its rural identity. It’s difficult to have both, and TDs and ministers frequently find themselves in the unenviable position of trying to defend the closure of garda stations and hospitals in their own constituencies.

Our Reliance On Family For Housing Support Won’T Last Forever, Lorcan Sirr

Media

History is more important than geography in explaining our relationship with housing. We have a funny relationship with housing in Ireland, one that goes beyond the usual explanation of our land and property obsession being a post-colonial hang-up. Given our location at the northwest edge of Europe, it would be logical to assume Ireland would have a similar approach to housing as Germany, France and the Netherlands. We are different from our regional neighbours, however, and more like our distant cousins in Malta, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece.

Opportunity Knocks For Developers To Meet Students’ Demands, Lorcan Sirr

Media

Student accommodation is in short supply in Ireland, an issue that was covered in these pages last week. As a housing analyst, I see the topic arising time and time again. In a radio studio recently, Kevin Donoghue, the president of the Union of Students of Ireland, told me that, for the first time, it was not only first-year students who were asking for housing advice, but also second- and third-year students. Students who should have been able to house themselves. There are about 25,000 students in the private rental sector in Ireland. In Britain and Belgium, where I went …

Walking Is A Right (Civil And Human), Robert Bullard

Faculty Scholarship

PowerPoint opening keynote presented at the National Walking Summit in Washington, DC last month. Here is link to the Summit. http://walkingsummit.org/keynote-speakers . Some of themes include - walking as a right, "outdoor apartheid," "walking while black," and connecting nature walks and health (walking is good for the mind, body, spirit and soul) run through the talk.

Developers Hold Keys To Supply But They Can’T Control Demand, Lorcan Sirr

Media

WITH all eyes on Ireland’s homelessness crisis, rising rental costs and an undersupply of newhousing on the market, people ask where the rising demand for homes is coming from. By concentrating on the economic and construction aspects of housing, many people miss the hugely important demographic aspect. Housing is and always will be about people. Brian Hughes, of the government’s Central Statistics Office (CSO) expert group, and Declan Redmond and Brendan Williams of University College Dublin have identified the four main drivers of housing demand—and they’re not what you’d think.

Rent Certainty Is Not Rent Control, Tom Dunne

Reports

The housing crisis and the debate about rent control should result in a beneficial change to the regulation of the sector but the opportunity could be lost for want of clarity of thinking about the nature of rent certainty and the distinction between it and rent control. At present rent is regulated by the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 (RTA 2004) which provides that rent can only change once a year and cannot be more than the market rent. Many argue a greater degree of rent certainty is required and that rent should not be allowed to increase by more than …

Rent Controls Are Very Different From The Forbidden Freeze, Lorcan Sirr

Media

A growing number of people in Ireland now rent. Up to one third of urban dwellers live in rented accommodation and may never buy, according to the National Economic and Social Council. This is a for a variety of reasons that range from changes in household formation and immigration to incomes, house prices and credit.

Ecoscience + Art Initiative: Designing A New Paradigm For College Education, Scholarship, And Service, Changwoo Ahn

The STEAM Journal

The paper presents a new initiative, EcoScience + Art, which blooms at George Mason University. The creator explains the background, history, and recent activities of the initiative, and also introduces an on-going special project called “The Rain Project”, a student participatory project to design, construct, and monitor a green infrastructure (i.e., floating wetland) for sustainable stormwater management on campus. The special project is geared to design and present a new paradigm to integrate college education, scholarship, and service. The relevance of the initiative and the special project to STEAM education is discussed.

Conveniently Located Disaster: Socio‐Spatial Inequality In Hurricane Sandy And Its Implications For The Urban Sociology Of Climate Change, Gordon Douglas, Liz Koslov, Eric Klinenberg

Faculty Publications, Urban and Regional Planning

Hurricane Sandy was a major event with major implications for how sociologists think about the relationship between climate change and crisis in urban areas. The storm’s impact on New York provides a valuable case for considering how to study the impacts of climate change on large, densely settled cities with vulnerable hard infrastructure and highly complex social conditions that produce differentiated experiences across many different communities. This working paper considers data at several levels of analysis with the aim of assessing neighborhood inequalities in the impacts of such extreme weather. Drawn from the authors’ ongoing research project on unequal vulnerability …

[Re]Constructing Community: A Strategy For Post-Disaster Recovery, Ryan James Stechmann

Masters Theses

This thesis focuses on exploring a viable solution for permanent housing after a natural disaster with an emphasis on community rebuilding in a southern coastal context. This region will continue to be affected by hurricanes and it is only a matter of time until another major disaster will happen. In any major disaster the fabric of the community is torn and takes a long time to recover. Communal places are vital to recovery after such disasters because they serve as a place where the people of the community can gather and provide support or receive support from each other and …

Alternative Institutional Arrangement For Urban Transit And Intercity Railway Operations: Lessons For The U.S., Seitu Akira Coleman

City and Regional Planning

Public transportation is an important part of the U.S. transportation system. After losing popularity in the U.S. during the mid-20th century, public transportation has been making a strong comeback in major metropolitan areas since the 1990s. In an effort to reduce inner-city traffic congestion, promote environmentally sustainable development patterns, rejuvenate decaying central business districts, and take advantage of all the other externalities of public transportation (i.e., reduced air pollution, a smaller urban footprint reducing sprawl, etc.), urban areas have been actively expanding their existing systems or building completely new systems. Despite the strong interest in reinvesting in public transportation and …

Homeowner Willingness To Adopt Low-Impact Development Practices In The Ipswich River Watershed: Opportunities And Barriers, Johanna R. Stacy

Masters Theses

The Ipswich River watershed has experienced increasing urbanization in recent years. The river, which supplies water to over 300,000 residents (twice the watershed’s population), was considered one of the 10 Most Endangered Rivers in the U.S. in 2003 due to seasonal low-flow and no-flow events. Seasonal outdoor water restrictions have curbed residential demand; however, impervious surfaces and municipal sewer systems direct much of the runoff outside the watershed. Low-impact development (LID) practices, specifically those that infiltrate runoff, have the potential to keep more water in the watershed, and increase baseflows in the river.

This study seeks to ascertain the barriers …

Reyner Banham, Mike Davis, And The Discourse On Los Angeles Ecology, Jonathan P. Bell

Jonathan P. Bell

UrbDeZine, July 14, 2015.

2015-07-04; Pamphlet; Pilgrim Baptist Church Daily Vocational Bible School, Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church

Pamphlets

No abstract provided.

The Transitional Museum As Urban Parasitism, Jorge Capetillo-Ponce

Jorge Capetillo-Ponce

In a recent talk at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, I presented to the public an initial approach to the concept of the Transitional Museum, one that I have developed over time in collaboration with Mauricio Rodriguez-Anza and Vivianne Falco. This concept grew out of our efforts at defining the main features and goals of the new Anza Falco Museum of Art and Design, and particularly out of our struggle with the word "alternative" as an all-embracing, defining category with the necessary components to project to the world a unique and interdisciplinary style both in its architectural form …

Renting Trouble: Current Government Policy Of Relying On The Private Rented Sector To Deliver Social Housing Is Unlikely To Succeed, Tom Dunne

Reports

A review of the history of housing in Ireland shows that owner occupancy and social housing were policy choices by successive governments. Owner occupancy was heavily supported through a system of grants and tax breaks and social housing was directly provided through local authorities at subsidised rents. In recent years policy has changed and tenure neutrality is now guiding the government’s attitude to housing. This is a significant change which has not been sufficiently discussed and has consequences which are not appreciated. Relying on the market to provide rental housing for people on low incomes and who may be in …

Ecodistricts In San Francisco: The Implementation Of Neighborhood Regional Planning And Its Potential Effects On Environmental Resilience, Elizabeth M. Juvera

Master's Projects and Capstones

Ecodistricts, or neighborhood-scale, community-driven areas of sustainable development, have emerged internationally and within the U.S. to create models of adaptive environmental design and advanced urban infrastructure. Central SoMa is the first ecodistrict to be planned and implemented in San Francisco, with the intention of revitalizing and greening this urbanized region of the city. At this time, the Central SoMa area has very low biodiversity levels, inefficient infrastructure, and poor water management capabilities. Through the implementation of ecodistricts in San Francisco, the city can integrate physical and behavioral sustainability measures from existing ecodistricts such as permeable surfaces, green roofs, stormwater management, …

Expanding Hope In Payatas, Rhea Cristine S. Bautista

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Informal settlements, also known as slums or squatter settlements, are a way of life for millions around the world, especially within urban centers. The challenge is to provide a better quality of life, both physically and socially. This thesis provides a critical look into the conditions, limitations, strengths, and hopes of the community of Payatas in Metro Manila, Philippines, with recommendations of measures to support and strengthen the community, by building upon the community’s positive elements to develop social impact.

Driving Away: A Macro And Micro View Of The Prague Car Transit System, Danny Meyers

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of the this study is to understand the rise in auto traffic in the city center of Prague since the Velvet Revolution and to use this understanding to make my own recommendations for policies I believe the city should enact to limit traffic in the macro and micro scale. The theoretical framework was created through observations of three specific streets and through interviews with urban planning experts. Although there are many different strategies for calming down traffic in Prague, the most important are to execute long term planning and to focus on limiting the numbers of cars in …

Bicycle Tourism Plan For Economic Development: A Template For Rural Agricultural Towns And A Case Study For The City Of Winters, California, Marisa Rene Lee

Master's Theses

Bicycling is a method of tourism transportation that is healthy, non-invasive, environmentally responsible, and economically sustainable. It allows freedom, mobility, and sightseeing potential that is not made possible by other modes of transit. Thousands of bicycle tourists travel from all over the globe annually to explore California on touring bikes via established cycling routes and robust determination. Thousands of additional domestic and international visitors take weekend trips, plan family vacations, travel for business, or tour California from abroad, many of whom are excellent candidates for local and regional bicycle touring at a more gentle intensity level.

The increasing popularity and …