Architecture Commons^™

Principles Of Urban Quality Of Life, Walaa Nour Associate Professor Of Architecture And Urban Design, Department Of Architecture Faculty Of Engineering,

BAU Journal - Health and Wellbeing

Quality of life is a notion that has been discussed by philosophers, social scientists, economists conceded with the question of how society should best allocate resources it has been widely used in a wide range of contexts , including the fields of international development, health care, political science, built environment, education, reaction and leisure time social belonging. The purpose of this paper is to answer the question of how can urban planning contributes to improving individual quality of life, introduce the nation of urban quality of life that refers to the urban planning features that could enhance the individual quality of ...

Co-Designing A Healthier Community:A Comprehensive Mobility Planfor Saida’S Waterfront, M Ohamad Tohme Research Assistant, Faculty Of Architecture-Design And Built Environment,, Hiba Mohsen Assistant Professor, Faculty Of Architecture-Design And Built Environment

BAU Journal - Health and Wellbeing

Designing and improving cycling and walking as a soft mobility mode of transport has both environmental and social benefits and is a key in promoting healthier communities. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in redeveloping a master plan of Saida city, the gate of southern Lebanon in order to enhance the public realm, but unfortunately, a clear vision to develop comprehensive plan is still lacking. Among all Lebanese cities, Saida is the only city banned from motorcycle use for 20 years ago due to security issues. Moreover, Saida has a flat terrain, therefore it has the potential ...

Change Of Plans: The Subversive Kit In The Planned Community, Hugo Caldwell

Masters Theses

My thesis seeks to investigate the relationship between the prescriptive forces of urban planning with architecture. Through extracting elements and characteristics from an existing context, I implement a subversive system/kit of parts that work together to challenge the ideas behind top-down planning while painting a new picture of Columbia, MD, and planned communities as a whole.

Give Us Back Our River's Edge: An Analysis Of Man Made Flood Controls Along The Mississippi River, Taylor Jacobsen

LSU Master's Theses

Settlement and engagement along a river’s edge can be seen throughout human history. The direct proximity to a water’s edge has both physical and mental benefits, as well as economic value. However, throughout the last century, cities and their citizens along the Mississippi River have become disconnected from their water’s edge; due to man-made interventions for increased flood control and advancements in the maritime industry. These interventions appeared to be prudent at the time and contributed to many cities' economies to growth, poor planning and placement of these interventions created barriers between citizens and their water’s ...

Re-Imagining Nature In Dense, High Rise Urban Environment: The Present And Future Of Green Building Infrastructure In Singapore, Claire Yi

Pomona Senior Theses

From the futuristic Jewel at Changi Airport, the healing gardens at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital in Yishun to School of the Arts at Orchard Road, greenery has sprouted in buildings vertically and horizontally in Singapore, painting a growing green canopy for the dense, high rise city. This paper combines both analyses from first-hand site visits and case studies from external scholar studies to examine the performance of existing Green Building Infrastructures (BGIs) within Singapore’s unique urban context. The study reveals that the success of BGIs is highly dependent on the programming (i.e. thermal comfort design, accessibility, amenity facilities ...

Sidewaze: Crowdsourced Sidewalk Condition Data For Your Neighbourhood, Matthew Reynolds

Creative Components

Sidewaze is an app designed to explore the feasibility of crowdsourced sidewalk condition data within the Region of Waterloo, Canada. Its design was informed by user research with primary sidewalk users, including parents with small children, wheelchair users, and those with mobility concerns. Competitive research showed several solutions in the space, but few which aimed to leverage crowdsourcing and none which attempted to capture the impact of poor sidewalk conditions at a personal level. Design and subsequent usability testing of a smartphone prototype application was conducted and it was shown to be quite effective on an individual level. Several key ...

The Living Community Challenge: An Uncase Study In Biophilic Master Planning, Jordan Grimaldi

Pomona Senior Theses

In a world that is quickly urbanizing with a climate that is rapidly changing, the International Living Future Institute’s (ILFI) Living Community Challenge (LCC) offers a whimsical yet highly relevant model for sustainable development—creating cities that are as connected and beautiful as forests. As no certified Living Community exists yet, this thesis serves as an “uncase study” of North Rainier, a neighborhood in Seattle that has registered for the Challenge. In an effort to assess the LCC’s perceived effectiveness as a model for sustainable development, this thesis first summarizes nearly 400 centuries of U.S. developmental history ...

Urban Contacts: Orientalist Urban Planning And Le Corbusier In French Colonial Algiers, Delaney Tax

Copley Library Undergraduate Research Awards

Algiers, the first French colony in Africa, was conquered in 1830 and gained independence in 1962. During this period, Algiers was constructed into an Orientalist acting ground that was shaped through political, social, economic formations in the built environment. The French colonial fascination with Algiers centered around the casbah, and thus the casbah became a laboratory for ethnographic and urban reflections. The French process of urban planning included military intervention, preservation motivated by exoticism and museology, and superstructure master plans dictated by the present benefit of indigenous communities to the colonial regime. Le Corbusier’s contact with Algiers further expresses ...

La Sostenibilidad De La Reconstrucción 2014-2019 Tras El Gran Incendio En Valparaíso: Una Mirada Desde La Habitabilidad, Resiliencia Y Preparación En La Gestión De Desastres, Dana Kulma

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The beautiful port city of Valparaíso, Chile is home to 42 colorful hills that overlook the Pacific Ocean. This unique city, however, is also home to multiple disasters, including urban and forest fires, tsunamis, landslides and earthquakes. This descriptive study explores the case of the 2014 “mega-fire” that destroyed 3,000 homes and affected the lives of 11,000 residents. Through five semi-structured interviews and the review of several academic and official documents, the present study analyzes the process of post-disaster reconstruction, seeking to understand the habitability and the resiliency of the reconstructed houses and neighborhoods. In order to understand ...

Environmentally Responsible Land Use, Spring/Summer 2010, Issue 22

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Urban Ecology, Spring/Summer 2003, Issue 8

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Changing Urban Form In A Shrinking City, Justin Hollander, Michael P. Johnson Jr., Rachel B. Drew

Michael P. Johnson

Webster Square Neighborhood Plan, Conor Mccormack

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

In this study, Webster Square is examined as a neighborhood and commercial node within the City of Worcester, MA. Using a variety of data sources and analyses, the study looks at the characteristics of the area to define the condition and context of Webster Square as it currently exists.Guided by current planning theory, contemporary practice, and key informant interviews, this study then suggests different directions for future development and growth in Webster Square. These visions for the future look to address key issues to help make the neighborhood a more vibrant, cohesive, and walkable community. More broadly, this study ...

“In Principle” Versus “In Reality”: Assessing The Potential Of Adaptive Urban Governance Toward Urban Flooding In Ho Chi Minh City’S District 7, Cindy Pham Nguyen

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Flooding has become the new normal in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). During the rainy season, many areas of the city experience severe inundation that seriously impacts infrastructure, traffic, and economic transactions. As the effects of climate change unpredictably and rapidly manifest in Southern Vietnam, the frequency and impact of urban floods are projected to increase. In addition, within the last few decades, HCMC has rapidly developed and urbanized, transforming itself into the economic center of Southern Vietnam. However, previous studies and international experts have determined that rapid, poor development may be exacerbating urban flood issues.

In recent years, city ...

Feeling Green: The Benefits Of Green Space On Urbanites' Mental Health, Kathryn A. Hoagland

Liberal Arts and Engineering Studies

This investigation intends to determine the best methods for incorporating public green space into dense urban areas, for the betterment of residents' mental health. Data from studies showing differences in the prevalence of anxiety and depression in urban and rural areas are discussed alongside data from studies looking at the effect that certain types of green space might have on mental health. While there is no exact consensus on the extent to which nature has positive effects on mental health there is enough of a correlation to argue for the implementation of public green spaces in urban design, in order ...

How Autonomous Vehicles Will Reshape The Urban Landscape, Ian R. Mccarville

City and Regional Planning

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) will bring one of the largest revolutions to the nation’s transportation system, with major changes in planning policies and the urban environment. While AVs have already been introduced to our mobility network, they still require a human operator behind the wheel. In coming years, as AV technology becomes more sophisticated, it will begin to dominate the roadways due to the technologies ability to maneuver at a much high accuracy and predictability than human drivers. This transition into an AV oriented future will promote road safety, increase productivity, reduce travel and labor costs, and reinvent the urban ...

The Construction History Of Ancient Library Buildings, Sh. Abduraimov

Problems of Architecture and Construction

The history of construction and architectural design of the library in the center of Samarkand are described in the article. In the central part of Samarkand enormous building erected before the revolution is standing. It served as a urban public library for many years. The article depicts that the library building has been attracting many people with its construction work with high quality, compact size and perfect proportions of its parts.

Greenways For Climate Adaptation: Avoiding The ‘Green Paradox’ While Improving Urban Resiliency, Jacobien F. Kuiper, Elisabeth Hamin Infield

Proceedings of the Fábos Conference on Landscape and Greenway Planning

Greenway planning and design is an important approach to climate adaptation in urban areas. In this paper we bring together literature on green gentrification, climate adaptation, and equity in an early exploration of equity issues specific to urban greenways for climate adaptation (‘adaptation-greenways’). Similar to environmental risks and green space access, impacts of climate change are distributed unevenly across urban space. Climate-vulnerable communities are often minority- and lower-income neighborhoods. Greenways can redress existing inequities (‘pre-equity issues’) by providing green space access and climate adaptation benefits in vulnerable communities. Recent projects demonstrate that greenways, while redressing existing inequities, can introduce new ...

Greenness Indicator For Spatial And Settlement Planning Based On Ndvi And Lai Indicators, Laszlo Kollányi, Klaudia Máté, Viola Prohászka, Edina D. Fóris, Ágnes Sallay

Proceedings of the Fábos Conference on Landscape and Greenway Planning

In the international practice of green infrastructure research, many indicators have been developed to measure the social functions, naturalness, the role of the urban climate, interconnection, networking, multifunctionality, and ecosystem services. In 2007, an indicator of biological activity value (BA) was introduced into the Hungarian town planning practice and legislation, which shows the intensity of green areas in areas to be built and is the basis for counting land use changes of settlements. However, the actual biomass, which can be measured by remote sensing devices, has not yet been considered in determining the indicator values. The main purpose of this ...

Exploring Transit-Based Environmental Injustices In San Gabriel Valley And Greater Los Angeles, Bailey Lai

Pomona Senior Theses

This thesis attempts to disentangle the multilayered interactions between Greater Los Angeles’s history, its built environment, and its inequitable treatment of different peoples, focusing on how transportation in surrounding suburban communities like San Gabriel Valley has developed in relation to the inner city of Los Angeles. Greater Los Angeles contains a long, winding trajectory of transit-based environmental injustices, from the indigenous societies being overtaken by the Spanish missions, to the railroads and streetcars boosting the farmlands and urban growth of Los Angeles, leading into the decline of transit and rise of automobile-oriented suburbia. Within the San Gabriel Valley, the ...

Barriers To Implementing Urban Plans In Kenya, Rose Chelangat Kitur

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite a long history of urban planning, Kenyan towns are still characterized by informality, uncoordinated development, urban sprawl, and congestion. Government documents and reports acknowledge that, despite planning, no deliberate effort has been made to implement plans. Little is known about what impedes plan implementation in Kenya. This study sought to develop an in-depth understanding of the barriers to plan implementation from the perspectives of public officials responsible for planning. Using path dependency theory, forwarded by Pierson, and force field analysis, advanced by Lewin, the research questions focused on legal and institutional development, as well as on the nature of ...

Social Media Communication By Local Governments And Its Implications For Urban Planning, Leiming Zhao

Community and Regional Planning Program: Student Projects and Theses

Social media has altered traditional communication and enriched traditional social networks. In addition to its use for personal communication and business marketing, social media has also been proved to be a valuable tool for urban planners and managers. However, there are relatively few studies about how social media communication may inform the design of urban master plans. The objectives of the thesis are to understand how the city governments have used social media to engage with the general public on urban planning issues, and assess if social media contents can be used to inform urban planning. The 10 top digital ...

Gentrifier By John Joe Schlichtman, Jason Patch, And Marc Lamont Hill, Hannah Brais

The Goose

Review of John Joe Schlichtman, Jason Patch, and Marc Lamont Hill's Gentrifier.

Progressive Commemoration: Public Statues Of Historical Women In Urban American Cities, Melanie D. Chin

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Women who made notable accomplishments are underrepresented in commemoration. Some American cities have brought women to the forefront of becoming visible through commemoration in statues. This thesis compares the commemoration of historical women in four different American cities. Stakeholders hold the key to implementing and changing public policy to increase the visibility of women and people of color in public monuments. Cities which lack representation of women and people of color may learn from and follow the efforts of a leading city to achieve lasting and effective change in representing those who historically been underrepresented.

Preserving Brutalism Through Color Theory.Pdf, Marissa Gudiel

Marissa Gudiel

"Safety In Numbers" And Bicycle Safety: A Detailed Analysis Of The Denver Metropolitan Area, Rachael Thompson Panik

All Theses

Recently across the US, there has been a push to accommodate and encourage the viability of alternative modes of transportation—especially bicycling. Leaders across all levels of government, trade groups, advocacy and policy groups, and others are promoting different methods to make urban areas more bikeable. Now, as planning practice is moving towards implementing a transportation system that serves different types of travelers, the US faces challenges involved with retrofitting existing automobile-oriented streets.

While implementing bicycle safety initiatives is becoming a popular movement among municipalities, there have been differing opinions on the best way to make cities more bikable in ...

A Model For Sustainable Living In Guanajuato, Mexico, Melina Smith

City and Regional Planning

No abstract provided.

Re-Live Downtown Pine Bluff, Community Design Center

Project Reports

Once a prosperous cultural urban center in the Mississippi River delta, but now the nation’s second fastest shrinking city, Pine Bluff (population: 42,700) is Arkansas’ Detroit. Indeed, a study of black wealth conducted by famed sociologist W. E. B. Du Bois in 1899 found that Pine Bluff had the fourth highest rate of black wealth in the nation behind Charleston, Richmond, and New York City. The school’s community design center prepared a downtown revitalization plan, Re-Live Downtown Pine Bluff, a housing-first initiative focused on building neighborhoods around downtown “centers of strength”. While the revitalization approach is triaged ...

Willow Heights Livability Improvement Plan, Community Design Center

Project Reports

Willow Heights is a 43-year old public housing complex owned by the Fayetteville Housing Authority (FHA) within the federal public housing portfolio administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The school’s design center was commissioned by a local foundation to study an alternative to the FHA’s plan to sell the downtown Willow Heights complex to a developer of high-income housing, necessitating relocation of low-income residents to another complex outside of downtown. Using equity as a driver of decision making, the studio introduced scenario planning to organize reluctant stakeholders in considering transformations to the five-acre complex.

Nature-Ization Nyc, Sarah Collins

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Manhattan once was a beautiful landscape of rolling hills, forests, boulders, farms, and spaced-out homes. Over the years Manhattan has been built up and there is a sense of absence in New York City. New Yorkers walking through the city are confronted with excessive pedestrian traffic, and do not have the luxury of experiencing the sounds, smells, and natural landscape that exists a few miles outside of the densely populated city. I am proposing a series of typologies that bring a new nature to the city and change the way one walks through the city. Pathways or hiking trails will ...