Architecture Commons^™

Community Design Centers (Cdcs) On The Upsurge: Investigating Perceptions Amongst Cdc Leaders And Administrators In Texas, Rodriguez Robert Kevin

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses

For several decades, community design centers (CDCs) have specialized in professional design and planning assistance to non-profit groups, agencies, and individuals that lack the funding or resources to otherwise receive such services (ACD 2016). Notwithstanding the historical context under which CDCs were originally created, their persistent presence since the year 2000 has seen the number of CDCs nearly triple in North America, from just under 70, to "over 200 active organizations, covering ever-expanding geographic, disciplinary, and strategic territories" (ACSA 2014, 4). Yet, this growth aside, "CDCs remain a somewhat silent partner in the world of design" (Curry 2004, 70) with …

Community Design Centers (Cdcs) On The Upsurge: Investigating Perceptions Amongst Cdc Leaders And Administrators In Texas, Robert Kevin Rodriguez

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses

For several decades, community design centers (CDCs) have specialized in professional design and planning assistance to non-profit groups, agencies, and individuals that lack the funding or resources to otherwise receive such services (ACD 2016). Notwithstanding the historical context under which CDCs were originally created, their persistent presence since the year 2000 has seen the number of CDCs nearly triple in North America, from just under 70, to "over 200 active organizations, covering ever-expanding geographic, disciplinary, and strategic territories" (ACSA 2014, 4). Yet, this growth aside, "CDCs remain a somewhat silent partner in the world of design" (Curry 2004, 70) with …

Community Design Centers (Cdcs) On The Upsurge: Investigating Perceptions Amongst Cdc Leaders And Administrators In Texas, Robert Kevin Rodriguez

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses

For several decades, community design centers (CDCs) have specialized in professional design and planning assistance to non-profit groups, agencies, and individuals that lack the funding or resources to otherwise receive such services (ACD 2016). Notwithstanding the historical context under which CDCs were originally created, their persistent presence since the year 2000 has seen the number of CDCs nearly triple in North America, from just under 70, to "over 200 active organizations, covering ever-expanding geographic, disciplinary, and strategic territories" (ACSA 2014, 4). Yet, this growth aside, "CDCs remain a somewhat silent partner in the world of design" (Curry 2004, 70) with …

Excess Capacity: Shared Space Possibilities In An E-Commercial Suburbia, Christina Lulich

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Policy Mobilities And West Dallas Dream: Considering Transactive And Communicative Policy Ideas Tested In Vancouver And Assembled In Dallas, Wayne Mitchell Beggs

Planning Dissertations

This dissertation considers contemporary urban development and urban change as framed by emerging forces of neoliberalism and globalization and applies critical theory lenses to discuss how policy approaches developed in Vancouver, BC are mobilized in Dallas, Texas.

Feasibility Analysis And Strategic Measures For Promoting Viable New Urban Development, Elizabeth J. Farr

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis demonstrates that New Urbanism is both an advisable and feasible method for reducing carbon emissions to mitigate global climate change. New Urban areas commonly generate lower carbon emissions compared to conventional suburban development due to lower car use and higher levels of walking and use of other forms of transportation. Economic and political feasibility of New Urban development is determined by analyzing case studies, housing price premia, financing, and fiscal impact. The many contexts and perspectives involved in the planning process are analyzed to determine if New Urbanism is advisable in the larger setting in which developers, advocates, …

Revisit And Revise: The Introspective Approach To Reclamation And Redevelopment In Miami's Urban Core, Jescelle Renee Major

LSU Master's Theses

The human plays a vital role in the city and the city a vital role in the sustainability and resiliency of the future. It is imperative to explore all avenues for improvement and longevity. Now is the time to explore methods to strengthen the cities we have and the people who live there. This is especially true for coastal cities facing sea level rise and climate change. It is important now not to dwell on what we have lost but to seek methods for using the memory of a place to restore and build for the future. Recognizing there is …

The City Of Minas: The Founding Of Belo Horizonte, Brazil And Modernity In The First Republic, 1889-1897, Daniel Lee Mcdonald

Masters Theses

The foundation of Belo Horizonte in the state of Minas Gerais in 1897 represents a pivotal moment in urban planning and the search for modernity in Brazil. This thesis argues that the decision to move the capital of Minas Gerais at the outset of the First Republic and the designing of the new city encompassed an evolving vision of modernity that helped establish the planned city as a means to transport Brazil into the future. It also situates the effort to build Belo Horizonte within the wider theoretical discourse on modernity and the development of urban spaces in Brazil. The …

Yuppies And Bootstraps: The Impact Of Gentrification On The Preservation Of Community Identity And Urban Youth Culture In Somerville Ma., Kathleen Portillo

Honors Theses

Gentrification has been at the forefront of dialogue within major social science research fields, as it is a crucial urban phenomenon that prompts fascinating interchange regarding changing definitions of community. Traditional interpretations of this process have highlighted a dynamic in poor urban areas when residential shifts, urban planning, and other forces significantly alter the spatial, social, and cultural configuration of a particular city. Furthermore, much of the gentrification literature focuses on the displacement of poor pre-gentrification residents living in declining “broken” cities. The city of Somerville, MA, provides an interesting and refreshingly different context in which to observe the impact …

No Parking But Parks: Sustainable Urban Planning Of Open Space In New York City, Jenny Kun

2014 Student Theses

Parks are keys to create a sustainable urban living environment. They are particularly important today as they ameliorate of one of the most urgent problem—global climate change. Parks has been New Yorkers’ most cherished public infrastructure. This thesis takes a close look on New York City and examines how open space planning affect the development of a metropolis. To investigate the topic, I applied three disciplines in environmental policy: environmental planning and design, history, and politics. These disciplines are intertwined. This thesis first digs in to the history of how the city’s iconic Central Park is created and evaluates how …

Interpreting The Roman Squatting Tradition, Shaun J. Mcgann

Senior Theses and Projects

This thesis addresses the rich tradition of urban occupations, also known as "squatting", in Rome, Italy. I argue that Roman squatting had its origins mainly in the Social Center Movement of the late 1970s and a preceding wave of occupations aimed at garnering affordable housing. In order to provide a context for these social movements, I first briefly describe the urban development history of the city since the late 1800s. The Roman pattern of urban development favored private interests and land speculation in a manner that resulted in overconsumption and the marginalization of a large sect of the population. In …

Practice Resurrection: Urban Planning, The Right To The City, And Transformative Social Justice, Megan Hebard Mcrobert

Architecture and Planning ETDs

Social justice movements organize against contemporary conditions of oppression and domination. Today’s movements often target neoliberalism as an agent of both economic and cultural marginalization, citing environmental degradation, increasing wealth disparities in the information/service economy, and destruction of community-based institutions in the name of capital accumulation. One such example is the right to the city, both an intellectual idea and organizing framework for social action. The right to the city utilizes a Marxist framework to argue that cities are part of capitalist processes of production and, thus, space can and must be a site of intervention in the service of …

The Urban Ecotone: A Connecting District In Downtown Memphis, Richard Stowe

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

Memphis is a shrinking city. As more people move out to the suburbs, the downtown area falls into a greater decline. With fewer people to support the businesses and attractions of downtown Memphis, more and more vacant lots start to show up. Breaks in what was once a vibrant city fabric have led to the decay of the downtown area. While the downtown area offers amenities that cannot be found in the suburbs such as attractions like Fed Ex Forum, Beale Street, and the Orpheum Theater, as well as specialty shops, and a riverfront. The suburbs offer a quality of …

Connection Through (Re)Use: Repurposing Kingsport, Tennessee's Industrial Landscapes, Patrick Nathan Osborne

Masters Theses

This thesis seeks to promote industrial reuse and sustainable planning principles as catalysts for adaptive redesign of public space in Kingsport, Tennessee. During the middle to late decades of the 19th century, the southeastern United States experienced a period of extreme industrial acceleration, stemming from the mining, manufacturing, and transportation advances of the Industrial Revolution. Concurrently, a transatlantic transition toward utopian planning principles was being cultivated by Briton Ebenezer Howard under the Garden City movement. Garden cities were planned, carefully zoned communities, containing designated areas for commerce, industry, and living. In 1919, American landscape architect John Nolen developed a plan …

Sustainable Cities As The Gateway To The Future: A Case Study Of New Rochelle, Andrea B. Grenadier

Honors Theses

This thesis explores the characteristics of sustainable cities and uses New Rochelle, New York as a case study to further describe initiatives synonymous with green communities. Five prominent topics of sustainable cities and urban planning are discussed within the literature review and later mirrored throughout the case study of New Rochelle. These topics include, smart growth, energy efficiency, green buildings, transportation, and recycling. The mayor of New Rochelle and Sustainability Coordinator completed questionnaires and their responses contributed to an assessment of the contemporary issues facing sustainable cities.

Revitalized Streets Of San Francisco: A Study Of Redevelopment And Gentrification In Soma And The Mission, Lucy K. Phillips

Scripps Senior Theses

San Francisco's South of Market (SoMa) neighborhood and the Mission District are facing new forms of redevelopment. The deindustrialization of SoMa has posed an opportunity for a 'new model' of gentrification to create a mixed-use, mixed-income neighborhood from an area previously occupied by abandoned warehouses and vacant lots. In the Mission, awareness of the threats of gentrification and increased community participation are fighting to preserve the neighborhood and eliminate displacement. The innovative approaches to urban revitalization in these two neighborhoods demonstrate how redevelopment may occur without gentrification.

Public Space Planning As A Catalyst For Dweller Initiated Slum Upgrading: Ahmedabad, India, Christopher Bystedt

Master's Theses

This research observes how public space planning can improve slum upgrading projects, focusing on two case study slums in Ahmedabad, India.

The inclusion of formal public space planning into slum upgrading schemes can act as a catalyst for dweller-initiated housing improvements. While municipalities that choose to upgrade their slums are primarily concerned with supplying bare necessity infrastructure—such as water, sewage, and paving—most upgrading schemes ignore the reality that slum communities are complex, integral components of the urbanization process. These settlements deserve and necessitate comprehensive design and planning services which will integrate the community into the larger urban fabric.

This thesis …

The Memphis Ballpark District - A Case Study Investigating The Global And Local Influences In The Recreation Of A Downtown Through Urban Architecture And Sport, Jillian Jung

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

In the late twentieth century, Memphis, Tennessee was on the verge of destruction due to its neglectful past. Race and safety concerns continued to plague the city. The area was failing socially and economically. Memphis and its needs were generally ignored by its public. What needed to be done to recreate this urban center for talent and entertainment? What local influences and global patterns help sustain an urban downtown environment? How could Memphis reestablish its forgotten identity? What would be the ‘difference-maker?’ The goal of this thesis is to answer these questions by addressing the essential elements of urban planning …