Environmental Design Commons^™

Slr Practitioner Needs, Daniella Hirschfeld, Kelli Archie, Emilio Mateo, James C. Arnott, Julie A. Vano

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As sea levels continue to rise, practitioners at the local and regional scale are under increased pressure to reduce risks to people and property posed by the threats of sea-level rise (SLR) and associated impacts. To achieve this, a transdisciplinary approach that integrates data-driven research with local knowledge and community engagement is necessary. As such, it is imperative the science community understands the needs of practitioners. However, there has been little qualitative assessment of adaptation practice in coastal areas, especially with a focus on the needs of practitioners in making use of current SLR science. Our mixed-methods approach began with …

An Overview Of Sustainability Content In Higher Education: Applications For University Landscape Architecture Programs, Hye Yeon Park

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Higher education institutions worldwide have recognized the importance of integrating sustainability into their programs, with over 600 universities offering courses focused on sustainable development. This trend has led to the emergence of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). This multidimensional approach aims to empower individuals to create a sustainable future by integrating environmental, social, and economic systems. In particular, ESD has been implemented in various aspects of higher education, such as course content, teaching methodologies, curriculum design, and faculty roles.

Design and planning education are critical components of shaping future decision-makers who will positively and negatively impact society and the environment. …

A Case For Educational Communication On Sustainable Stormwater Management Sites Using Interpretive Methods: Applications For Utah State University, Lilian Taft

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

Humans are increasingly urbanizing landscapes, lowering the land’s ability to infiltrate stormwater, increasing surface water runoff. This, combined with decreasing water availability in the Intermountain West, produces the issue of sustainable stormwater management. Professionals are moving toward green stormwater infrastructure (GSI), but public is often not aware of stormwater’s impacts on natural environments or what the purpose of GSI is. Stormwater management design techniques are evolving to use visible, sustainable methods celebrating stormwater, rather than treating the valuable resource as a disposable nuisance, channeling it underground and out of sight. Artful Rainwater Design (ARD), a technique coined by Stuart Echols …

Historic Downtown Streetscape Plan Price City, Utah, Patricia Beckert

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

The idea of a small-town Main Street has profound meaning within the American culture that has prevailed for the past two centuries. Historically, Main Street serves as the beating heart of a community, a place where economic, social, cultural, and civic activities are centered (Francaviglia, 1996; Main Street America, n.d.). Since the beginning of the 19th century, many factors have led to the decline of Main Streets, and despite a variety of efforts from different stakeholders, that decline has only intensified in recent decades (Isenberg, 2008; Orvell, 2014 Howard, 2015). In 1980, after a three-year project conducted by the National …

Guiding The Future Of The Cache County Fairgrounds, Logan Hall

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

The County fairgrounds have been a fixture in Cache Valley, Utah for over 100 years. They provide a valuable resource to the community. Effective planning can ensure the appropriate use of this public asset and prevent underutilization. Modern design guidelines have been developed for other fairgrounds in the Intermountain West, but not the Cache County fairgrounds. This research is focused on developing a contemporary visioning plan to guide the growth and future of the County fairgrounds, create design guidelines for future development, and maximize the fairground’s economic potential. The methodology used to develop this plan involved an extensive review of …

The Relationship Between Bird Species Richness And Human Appropriation Of Net Primary Productivity, Kaeli Mueller

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

As humans harvest increasing amounts of biomass, it is crucial to gain an understanding of how much energy is being appropriated and the impact that this could have on ecosystems and biodiversity. The primary way in which humans impact biodiversity loss is through land use change. One way of quantifying the impact of land use change is through human appropriation of net primary production (HANPP). This measurement represents the total amount of energy derived from photosynthesis that humans remove from ecosystems and appropriate for their own use. My research studies the relationship between HANPP and bird species richness at the …

Planning: Scc-Civic-Pg Track A: Securing The Future Of The Great Salt Lake Basin Through Effective Water And Land Use Partnerships, Brent Chamberlain

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Developing And Piloting A Design Guide For Outdoor Classrooms In Utah, Derek Jenson, Jake Powell, David T. Anderson, Rose Judd-Murray

Outcomes and Impact Quarterly

The outdoor classroom design guide can help applicants successfully apply for the Utah Outdoor Classroom Grant introduced by the Office of Outdoor Recreation (OOR) in 2021. The design guide includes case studies, design resources, and critical information for community involvement from statewide locations and will serve as a free public resource.

Analysis Of Asla Awards: Building A Stronger Landscape Architecture Program, Corinne Bahr

Fall Student Research Symposium 2021

Every year the American Society of Landscape Architects, otherwise known as ASLA, issues awards for exceptional designs and research in the field of Landscape Architecture. These awards include both Professional and Student awards. Our study analyzes 13,000 award-winning project images over the last 15 years to discover the common trends that create award winning projects. Recognizing these trends enables the USU Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning program, or LAEP, to set the bar high and help our students enter the field equipped to change the world. Our analysis of the creative flow, graphics, and styles in award winning projects can …

The Healing Landscapes Of Usu: Discovering Spaces Of Potential Mental Restorativeness: A Geospatial Analysis Of Usu Campus, Amelia H. Wilcken

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

This project focuses on understanding an alternative resource that can be intentionally improved upon to help address the mental health crisis on university campuses. With ample research showing how nature and being outside can help improve, or be restorative for, the mental state of individuals, this project developed an analytical method for understanding the restorative potential within the campus landscape as a whole and within districts. The analysis uses nine separate elements that make up the campus landscape: (1) trees, (2) landscape plantings (grass, planters, etc.), (3) art pieces, (4) benches, (5) water features, (6) sidewalks, (7) roads, (8) parking …

Managing Summer Camps: A Study Of Culture And Practices At Environmentally Conscious Camps, Landis Wenger

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Supporting private landowners as they manage their land is essential to sustainability because sixty-one percent of land in the United States is privately owned and managed; therefore, it is crucial that we better understand the management practices implemented by private landowners and continue to development best management strategies. A significant portion of these land holders are summer camps. There are over 14,000 summer camps in America. Many summer camps already have cultures where they value their land and the ecosystems on their property; many have also sought to improve their land management practices as well. However, there is a lack …

Adapting To Sea Level Rise: Insights From A New Evaluation Framework Of Physical Design Projects, Daniella Hirschfeld, Kristina E. Hill, Ellen Plane

Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning Faculty Publications

Designers and engineers are developing proposals for physical projects to adapt coastal sites to future sea level rise related threats. This puts pressure on local and regional decision makers to develop strategic frameworks for prioritizing, permitting and funding such projects. However, no systematic evaluation tools exist for the full range of these innovative designs. We build on the literature to develop an evaluation framework that synthesizes two different approaches to categorize these proposals and provide insight for coastal managers and decision makers. We apply this framework to physical projects that address sea level rise in their design around the San …

The River, The Residents, And The City: A Holistic Vision Study For Logan River's Upper Reach, Lisa Aedo

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

The three-mile Upper Reach of the Logan River starting at the USU Water Lab to the 100 East bridge has been negatively impacted by residential development and diversion for agriculture and industry. A task force comprised of faculty at USU, professionals, government and city officials, and concerned residents has developed a Conservation Action Plan focused on twenty-two baseline indicators which, if improved, can help rehabilitate the river. This thesis looks at the factors that created the current challenges and seeks to provide a holistic vision with design solutions to address said challenges in alignment with that Plan. A literature review …

Evaluating Planning And Management Of Natural Resources Within The Utah State Park System, Erin K. Mann

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A change in management style, combined with increased visitation and the advanced age of guiding documents used to describe conditions and goals (known as Resource Management Plans) in Utah’s State Parks, are leading park managers to potentially not fulfill the objectives stated in their Resource Management Plans. Using a research tool known as “content analysis,” we analyzed the Research Management Plans of ten sample parks and found that written plans had strong priorities and goals regarding the care and management of natural resources. Significant findings included strong emphasis on resource protection, data collection, and research. Pre-written questions were asked of …

Chinese Gardens: Solutions For Urban Nature Deficit, Zachary K. Warner

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

Research shows that time spent in nature is good for human health and well-being. However, as the world’s population becomes more concentrated in urban areas regular time in nature, especially extended time, is becoming more difficult to have. On the other hand, Chinese gardens can provide one solution to this problem because they have a unique way of providing a naturalistic space within a small area. Despite this fact, there aren’t many Chinese style gardens outside of China. Therefore, the objective of this thesis was to identify possible barriers to using Chinese garden design principles and construction techniques, then address …

A Deep Dive Into Natural Swimming Pool Filtration: Living Walls As Technical Wetland Filters, Anna Farb

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Vertical gardens such as living walls can filter air and water, in addition to cooling buildings, reducing noise, increasing urban biodiversity, providing food, and enhancing well-being. Natural swimming pools (NSPs) are an ecologically sound alternative to chemically treated pools, but they have not reached their potential in the U.S. We investigated whether a living wall could be integrated into an NSP system for water filtration purposes, given that the vertical filter would have to produce excellent water quality for human swimmers. This could be a novel landscape design, particularly in the cases of steep contours, urbanized sites with limited space, …

Cultural Ecosystem Services Of Agroecosystems Along The Wasatch Front, Utah, Tiffany K. Woods

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Agroecosystems, including peri-urban systems, are important providers of a range of services. However, management of these systems has generally been based on the market value of crops, neglecting to capture the broader public goods that ecosystem services provide to stakeholders. While the ecosystem service framework (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment [MEA], 2005) has been adopted to measure the market and non-market values associated with these services, knowledge gaps persist, particularly with respect to the quantification and valuation of cultural ecosystem services (CES). In this paper, the determination of CES values assigned to agroecosystems by residents of two communities along the Wasatch Front, …

Not Parking Lots But Parks: A Joint Association Of Parks And Transit Stations With Travel Behavior, Keunhyun Park, Dong-Ah Choi, Guang Tian, Reid Ewing

Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning Faculty Publications

Urban design literature says that public open space in a station area could promote walking and other types of physical activity, enhance place attractiveness, and increase property values. In the context of station areas, however, there is a lack of empirical studies on the relationship between the presence of parks and sustainable travel behavior, which is one of the primary goals of transit-oriented developments (TODs). This study examined the impact of park provision on transit users’ mode choice in three U.S. regions: Atlanta (GA), Boston (MA), and Portland (OR). This study utilized multilevel multinomial logistic regression to account for hierarchical …

Street Life And The Built Environment In An Auto-Oriented Us Region, Keunhyun Park, Reid Ewing, Sadegh Sabouri, Jon Larsen

Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning Faculty Publications

Urban planners and designers believe that the built environment at various geographic scales affects pedestrian activity, but have limited empirical evidence at the street scale, to support their claims. We are just beginning to identify and measure the qualities that generate active street life, and this paper builds on the first few studies to do so. This study measures street design qualities and surrounding urban form variables for 881 block faces in Salt Lake County, Utah, and relates them to pedestrian counts. This is the largest such study to date and includes suburbs as well as cities. At the neighborhood …

Planning For Active Transportation In The Western United States: An Alternative Future For Cache Valley, Utah, Stephanie A. Tomlin

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Mobility in the western U.S. is defined primarily by the private automobile. Since the conclusion of WWII, the private automobile has become readily available to the public, and as a result, has heavily influenced the design of our modern cities in the west. In recent years the connections between high motor vehicle use and rising obesity rates, crumbling road infrastructure, and deteriorating air quality have caused city officials to reexamine the transportation systems of the west. One solution advocates, city officials, and planning professionals have begun examining is active transportation (walking, cycling, and public transit). Research suggests that a robust …

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 …

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 …

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.

Blacksmith Fork - Little Bear Watershed Alternative Futures Study, Scott Mccomb, Emmet Pruss, Thomas Terry, Conner White

Bioregional Planning Studio Reports

The following project was carried out in conjunction with the Logan River Task Force, under the chairmanship of Dr. Frank Howe. The Logan River Task Force was formed to develop an overall approach for managing the Logan River that balances ecology with people's social values for the river including public safety and property protection. Although the work of the Task Force has focused primarily on the Logan river, the Bioregional Planning graduate students have provided the Task Force with contextual information about the watershed, by exploring alternative futures for the Blacksmith Fork and Little Bear watersheds. This work expands on …

Green Infrastructure Performance In Stormwater Quality, Hailey Wall

Research on Capitol Hill

No abstract provided.

Insites, 2014, Utah State University

inSites

Magazine of the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning

Recovering The Moca River: An Exploration Through Sustainable Strategies For Developing Countries, Marleny Santana Diaz

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

Natural watercourses are being negatively affected by growing urbanization in different cities of the world. Within these circumstances the concept of river restoration has gained relevance, becoming a worldwide priority in water management. In developing countries, river restoration plans, conditioned by social and economic limitations, are mainly focused on a single approach, typically relying on short-term, low technology strategies.

In the long term, these strategies tend to fail because they usually avoid integral solutions that address the interconnected factors contributing to river degradation. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to develop a framework of river restoration planning for developing …

The History Of The Department Of Landscape Architecture And Environmental Planning 1939-2014, Utah State University, Laep Department

Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning 75th Anniversary

As the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning at Utah State University celebrates its first 75 years of existence, it is appropriate to reflect back on the individuals who have laid the foundation for what the department has become, and to trace its evolution from the first two graduates in 1940 to over 1,500 today. Given the amount of time covered, the plethora of actors involved, and the many stories to be told, it is inevitable that events have been missed. It is hoped, however, that enough is presented to provide a substantial overview of the program’s growth and …

Regional Planning Initiative For The Province Of Puerto Plata In The Dominican Republic: A Tourism Planning Framework For The Towns Of San Felipe De Puerto Plata And Sosua, Ana A. Baez Sarita

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

The Dominican Republic has locations rich in cultural, historical, and ecological assets. One of these places is the province of Puerto Plata. Located in the northern region of the country, Puerto Plata was one of the first territories of America in which Christopher Columbus arrived in 1492. Built in the year of 1494 because of the second Spanish expedition arrival, La Isabela, the first new world’s Spanish village represents one of the many vital historical components of the province of Puerto Plata. The country has an economy largely based in the service sector. According to the U.S. Department of State, …

Insites, 2013, Utah State University

inSites

Magazine of the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning