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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Evaluating Long-Range Transportation Plans For Mainstreaming Of Climate Adaptation Among Virginia Mpos, Sebastian L. Shetty Jan 2022

Evaluating Long-Range Transportation Plans For Mainstreaming Of Climate Adaptation Among Virginia Mpos, Sebastian L. Shetty

Theses and Dissertations

Despite the strides made towards addressing climate change through greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction strategies, it has become increasingly apparent that attempting to mitigate the crisis in such a manner alone is insufficient. This thesis joins a growing body of research on how our societies must adapt to a changing climate, contributing more evidence on common barriers to adaptation and how they might be overcome. Through an attempt to evaluate the progress made towards mainstreaming, or integrating, climate change concerns into five Virginia MPOs’ long-range transportation plans (LRTPs), this study provides support for prior hypotheses around the potential for MPOs …


Connecting Communities To Coastal Resilience: Enhancing Sustainability Through Public Participation In Salt Marsh Management And Restoration In Suffolk County, Ny, Jennifer L. Mcgivern Sep 2021

Connecting Communities To Coastal Resilience: Enhancing Sustainability Through Public Participation In Salt Marsh Management And Restoration In Suffolk County, Ny, Jennifer L. Mcgivern

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Coastal resiliency is becoming significantly more critical to the livelihood of coastal communities as the frequency and intensity of storm events increases and is exacerbated by rising sea levels due to climate change. In October 2012 Superstorm Sandy impacted the New York-New Jersey area costing over $70 billion in storm damages and 147 lives lost, as storm surges surpassed record highs for the region. Protruding more than 100 miles into the Atlantic Ocean with over 1,000 miles of shoreline, Long Island is particularly vulnerable to the increasingly ferocious and numerous storms as well as the rising sea levels that climate …


Public Perception Of Different Planting Techniques Using Augmented Reality, Sultana Quader Tania Jan 2020

Public Perception Of Different Planting Techniques Using Augmented Reality, Sultana Quader Tania

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this study was to measure public perception of the different planting techniques (block and matrix), which are used at visitor information centers (VICs) and other rights of way (ROW) areas. The main factors that affect public perception of planting techniques were identified through an extensive literature review and qualitative survey from four welcome centers in the state of Georgia. The ranking of those indicators, based on public preferences, was discovered through a quantitative survey. During the first phase of the quantitative survey, images of block and matrix were used. An iOS-based user-friendly and cost-effective augmented reality (AR) …


Planning Cities, Economically Or Communally: A Comparative Study Of Amsterdam And San Francisco, Raina Dawn Whittekiend Dec 2017

Planning Cities, Economically Or Communally: A Comparative Study Of Amsterdam And San Francisco, Raina Dawn Whittekiend

Master's Theses

Globalization has spun “community” off its axis. What once defined community is no longer the current state of the community. Increased economic transactions have led to the instability of communities that once depended on one another at the local level. These communities are now dependent on systems that do not know nor understand their actors. This lack of relationship between development and subject is witnessed and highly scrutinized in developing countries all over the world and has been intensely researched in academic literature. This thesis intends to better understand why in modernized global cities these same processes of development and …


Housing The Homeless: A Framework For Sustainable, Affordable Housing, Brianna Providence Feb 2017

Housing The Homeless: A Framework For Sustainable, Affordable Housing, Brianna Providence

Student Theses 2015-Present

New York City’s building stock is comprised of nearly one million structures. Buildings are responsible for unconscionable amounts of global energy, water, resources, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Thousands of buildings are annually constructed when the truth is that there is a significant stock of buildings that could stand to be rehabilitated. New green developments present an opportunity to increase efficiency while reducing energy use, resource consumption, and waste. If virgin new green developments provide the aforementioned opportunities, then it logically follows that sustainably retrofitting preexisting buildings represents an even greater opportunity to promote environmental sustainability and reduce inefficiencies. As …


The Effect Of Urbanization On The Embodied Energy Of Drinking Water In Tampa, Florida, Mark Vincent Eli Santana Sep 2015

The Effect Of Urbanization On The Embodied Energy Of Drinking Water In Tampa, Florida, Mark Vincent Eli Santana

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Increasing urbanization has serious implications for resource and energy use. One of these resources is drinking water. The increased amount of impervious surfaces associated with urban development is responsible for increased runoff during rain events, which may have a negative impact on the quality of nearby bodies of water, including drinking water sources. The growing populations associated with urbanization require a higher water demand. In addition, urban drinking water systems use energy to collect, treat, and distribute a safe reliable effluent to users. Therefore, this study focuses on the degree to which urbanization influences the embodied energy of drinking water …


An Analysis Of The Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority’S Ability To Achieve Sustainability As Defined By The Transportation Index For Sustainable Places, Vanessa Trafas May 2015

An Analysis Of The Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority’S Ability To Achieve Sustainability As Defined By The Transportation Index For Sustainable Places, Vanessa Trafas

Master's Projects and Capstones

This paper analysis the ability of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority to adhere to sustainability under the Transportation Index for Sustainable Places (TISP). Analysis focuses solely on the environmental domain of the TISP and the criteria included within that domain. Three pieces are analyzed: the Los Angeles Sustainable Implementation Plan, the Sustainable Rail Plan, and the Regional Connector Transit Project. These pieces are found to adhere to the sustainability criteria under the environmental domain of the TISP.


The Reclamation Of Public Parks: An Analysis Of Environmental Justice In Los Angeles, Allison Rigby May 2014

The Reclamation Of Public Parks: An Analysis Of Environmental Justice In Los Angeles, Allison Rigby

Scripps Senior Theses

People who live in cities are far more likely to suffer the physical and psychological effects of urban environments--high noise levels, automobile emissions, toxic industrial waste, crowded living conditions, and a general scarcity of open space. Combating these issues, public parks do more than provide recreational space. They are fundamental to any efforts focusing on urban revitalization, social justice, and sustainability. In downtown Los Angeles, public parks are rare, especially in low-income communities. Several new public parks have reclaimed abandoned land, unwelcoming spaces, and the City’s brownfields. After years of intense private use and neglect, spent land has been reinvigorated …


Simulating Land Use Land Cover Change Using Data Mining And Machine Learning Algorithms, Amin Tayyebi Jan 2013

Simulating Land Use Land Cover Change Using Data Mining And Machine Learning Algorithms, Amin Tayyebi

Open Access Dissertations

The objectives of this dissertation are to: (1) review the breadth and depth of land use land cover (LUCC) issues that are being addressed by the land change science community by discussing how an existing model, Purdue's Land Transformation Model (LTM), has been used to better understand these very important issues; (2) summarize the current state-of-the-art in LUCC modeling in an attempt to provide a context for the advances in LUCC modeling presented here; (3) use a variety of statistical, data mining and machine learning algorithms to model single LUCC transitions in diverse regions of the world (e.g. United States …


Understanding Urban Sustainability And Quality Of Life: A System Dynamics Approach, Abby Elizabeth Beck May 2012

Understanding Urban Sustainability And Quality Of Life: A System Dynamics Approach, Abby Elizabeth Beck

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

For an urban area to be sustainable, its resources cannot be depleted faster than they can replenish. If an urban area is to provide a high quality of life (QOL), it must offer and maintain an amenity package that satisfies its resident's preferences. Past studies on these topics all have a common thread: sustainability and QOL both pertain to people's relationship to capital. Capital is something that can accumulate and add value to a person or society. If sustainability and QOL are a function of people's relationship with capital, how they use it, deplete it, replenish it and transform it …


Growing The Urban Ecosystem In Detroit, Michigan, Sean Basalyga May 2011

Growing The Urban Ecosystem In Detroit, Michigan, Sean Basalyga

Social Sciences

Many views of the future are seen as bleak and devoid of the life where once stood beauty and abundance. However, the Living Cities Design Competition challenges these views and calls for a vision of the future that inspires hope, biodiversity, and a healthy interaction between human and natural systems. We chose to redesign the city of Detroit, Michigan to be a living city by the year 2035. As the earth scientist on an interdisciplinary team, I acted as an ecological consultant. By developing the urban ecosystem of Detroit, a number of social, economical, and environmental problems can be solved. …


Limiting Growth In Las Vegas - A Necessary Growth Strategy For The Twenty-First Century, Cheryl Ann Frassa Apr 1995

Limiting Growth In Las Vegas - A Necessary Growth Strategy For The Twenty-First Century, Cheryl Ann Frassa

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Land development in the Las Vegas Valley continues at an unprecedented rate and future growth will no doubt be strongly advocated. Yet, water resources in this desert area are finite, and in the near future, supply will fall short of demand. Plans are underway to supplement the existing supply, and proposals to secure additional sources are under investigation. But there are no guarantees these ambitious endeavors will materialize. In light of the pending water crisis, the pervasive "growth at all cost" policies now dominant in the valley must be abandoned and more realistic land-use policies developed; ones based on the …