Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

Epitaph For Edward W. Soja, Jonathan P. Bell

Jonathan P. Bell

Northeast Indiana Entrepreneurial Opportunity Survey Analysis, Ziona Austrian, Merissa Piazza, Eli Auerbach, Sunjoo Park, Joan Chase

Ziona Austrian

This survey report is associated with "Northeast Indiana Regional Analysis: Demographics, Economy, entrepreneurship and Innovation"

Northeast Indiana Entrepreneurial Opportunity Survey Analysis, Ziona Austrian, Merissa Piazza, Eli Auerbach, Sunjoo Park, Joan Chase

Ziona Austrian

This survey report is associated with "Northeast Indiana Regional Analysis: Demographics, Economy, entrepreneurship and Innovation"

Rating The Cities: Constructing A City Resilience Index For Assessing The Effect Of State And Local Laws On Long-Term Recovery From Crisis And Disaster, John Travis Marshall

John Travis Marshall

Superstorm Sandy, the 2008 Iowa floods, and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita all supply recent reminders that U.S. cities can no longer adopt an ad hoc approach to threats presented by climate change and natural hazards. The stories detailing long-term recovery from these disasters underscore that federal, state, and local governments are struggling to appreciate the legal tools and institutions necessary to implement the large-scale infrastructure, housing, and community development programs that climate change and more frequent natural disasters demand. This Article calls for development of a tool allowing succinct evaluation of the range of community capacities that will figure critically …

Walkability: To Quantify Or Not To Quantify, William W. Riggs

William W. Riggs

Academics and policy makers have developed quantitative approaches to judging how conducive a location is to walking. This has resulted in new terms like “walkability,” and the trademarked industry term Walk Score has entered the lexicon because of www.walkscore.com. The website rates one place against another, implying that some areas are a “walker’s paradise” and others are not. Some believe that the Walk Score provides a direct and replicable method to benchmark or measure walkability. While as a metric walkability indices typically use three key factors (proximity to goods and services, population dynamics and the concentration of street intersections, i.e. …

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.

Deadly Waiting Game: An Environmental Justice Framework For Examining Natural And Man-Made Disasters Beyond Hurricane Katrina [Abstract], Robert D. Bullard

Robert D Bullard

Presenter: Robert D. Bullard, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology, Clark Atlanta University 1 page.

Wildlife In U.S. Cities: Managing Unwanted Animals, John Hadidian

John Hadidian, PhD

Conflicts between people and wild animals in cities are undoubtedly as old as urban living itself. In the United States it is only of late, however, that many of the species now found in cities have come to live there. The increasing kind and number of human-wildlife conflicts in urbanizing environments makes it a priority that effective and humane means of conflict resolution be found. The urban public wants conflicts with wildlife resolved humanely, but needs to know what the alternative management approaches are, and what ethical standards should guide their use. This paper examines contemporary urban wildlife control in …

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 …

Community-Engaged Decision Modeling For Local Economic Development, Michael P. Johnson Jr., Sandeep Jani

Michael P. Johnson

This presentation contains current results from a research project to identify success metrics and decision opportunities for Boston Main Streets organizations. It represents an application of qualitative decision analytic methods for values and objectives design

Cargo Bikes As A Growth Area For Bicycle Vs. Auto Trips: Exploring The Potential For Mode Substitution Behavior, William W. Riggs

William W. Riggs

Cargo bikes are increasing in availability in the United States. While a large body of research has continued to investigate traditional bike transportation, cargo bikes offer the potential to capture trips for those that might otherwise be made by car. To investigate this, data from a survey of cargo bike users are evaluated using descriptive and inferential statistics. The survey queried how use and travel dynamics of characteristics with the hypothesis that cargo bike ownership has the potential to contribute to mode substitution behavior. From a descriptive standpoint, 68.9% of those surveyed changed their travel behavior after purchasing a cargo …

Tax Incentives And Housing Investment In Low-Income Neighborhoods, Matthew Freedman

Matthew Freedman

This paper examines how tax incentives to promote housing investment affect communities by exploiting the lottery structure of Missouri’s Neighborhood Preservation Act (NPA). The NPA offers tax credits to homeowners and developers that improve or expand the owner-occupied housing stock in low-income areas. Taking advantage of the random assignment of NPA tax credits and detailed property-level data, I find that the program increases construction activity modestly. There are positive but highly localized spillovers on neighbors’ investment behavior. Spillovers on property values are larger in geographic scope, implying important roles for both neighbor interactions and amenity effects in local housing markets.

Tools For Evaluating And Monitoring The Effectiveness Of Urban Landscape Water Conservation Interventions And Programs, Diana T. Glenn, Joanna Endter-Wada, Roger Kjelgren

Diana T. Glenn

We investigated ways to evaluate landscape water use to help cities more effectively direct water conservation programs to locations with capacity to conserve. Research was conducted in connection with a landscape irrigation evaluation delivered through a city-sponsored Water Check Program. Research efforts led to development of several assessment and monitoring tools including: Landscape Irrigation Ratio (LIR), Participant Outcome Evaluation Tool, and Program Evaluation Tool. We utilized these tools to identify locations with capacity to conserve water applied to landscapes, compare water use before and after the water check, and evaluate Water Check Program effectiveness. We found the LIR approach successfully …

Sector Inmobiliario Y Debilidad De La Zona Euro, Jaime Luque

Jaime P. Luque

No abstract provided.

An Evaluation Of Competitive Industrial Structure And Regional Manufacturing Employment Change., Joshua Drucker

Joshua Drucker

Community Involvement To Address A Long-Standing Invasive Species Problem: Aspects Of Civic Ecology In Practice, Rebecca W. Dolan, Kelly Harris, Mark Adler

Rebecca W. Dolan

Invasive non-native species (INS) are found in every city around the globe, but their impacts in urban settings as biological agents of visual pollution that block views of natural landscapes and disconnect citizens from nature are not as often addressed as comprehensively as their impacts in natural areas or agricultural settings. The multiple impacts of INS in cities make them ideal candidates for aspects of Civic Ecology Practice, where local environmental stewardship action is taken to enhance green infrastructure and community well-being in urban and other human-dominated systems. We present details of a community driven program focused on removal of …

Book Review: How To House The Homeless. Edited By Ingrid Gould Ellen And Brendan O'Flaherty. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2010, Dennis P. Culhane

Dennis P. Culhane

No abstract provided.

Building Back Tremé Using Ppgis To Evaluate Neighborhood Stability, Michelle M. Thompson Phd, Gisp, Brittany N. Arceneaux, Elizabeth G. Major

Dr. Michelle M. Thompson, GISP, FRGS

The Historic Faubourg Tremé community of New Orleans is leading the community strategic planning process through the efforts of their neighborhood association. With the help of WhoData.org, a public participation geographic information systems (PPGIS) project that was implemented in 2009, residents and volunteers from Project Homecoming are gathering the necessary parcel-level data to support new visions to recapture, maintain, and plan for change. The on-the-ground surveys use the WhoData PPGIS models for surveying commercial development activity, property conditions and other quality of life issues. As a neighborhood still in the midst of recovery after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, community leaders …

100 Most Cited Articles In Urban Green And Open Spaces: A Bibliometric Analysis, Mehdi Rakhshandehroo, Mohd Johari Mohd Yusof, Nader Ale Ebrahim, Ali Sharghi, Roozbeh Arabi

Nader Ale Ebrahim

Researchers have contributed significantly to the development of the subject of urban green and open spaces (UGOS) in both practical and fundamental aspects. As the number of citations indicates a paper and author’s competency, the online web of science (ISI) was browsed to identify the 100 most cited papers in the field of UGOS from 1980 to 2013. Papers were analyzed for authorship, journal sources, publishers, institutions, countries, year of publication, categories, and author keywords. The total number of citations was compared to the average number of citations per year. From 1105 UGOS papers returned, the maximum number of citations …

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

Jonathan P. Bell

UrbDeZine, July 14, 2015.

Data And Analytics For Neighborhood Development: Smart Shrinkage Decision Modeling In Baltimore, Maryland, Michael P. Johnson Jr., Justin Hollander, Eliza D. Whiteman

Michael P. Johnson

Many older cities in the United States confront the problem of long-term decline in population and economic activity resulting in blighted conditions that make conventional revitalization initiatives unlikely to succeed. Smart shrinkage, a planning approach that emphasizes alternative land uses while preserving quality of life, offers a way for cities to remain desirable places to live and work. However, there is little research on empirical methods to support planning decisions consistent with smart shrinkage. We present results from two studies with planners from the City of Baltimore that provide novel insights regarding ways in which planners can perform vacant property …

Tables On Black Alone Population In The Us States _ Geography States _ 2000 To 2020, Michael A. Rodriguez Ph.D., Joy Semien

Joy Semien

Information demonstrates black alone population based on 2000, 2010, 2015, and 2020 predictions.

Tables On Black Alone Population In The Us States _ Geography States _ 2000 To 2020, Michael A. Rodriguez Ph.D., Joy Semien

Anthony M Rodriguez Ph.D.

Information demonstrates black alone population based on 2000, 2010, 2015, and 2020 predictions.

Data And Analytics For Neighborhood Development: Smart Shrinkage Decision Modeling In Baltimore, Maryland, Michael P. Johnson Jr., Justin Hollander, Eliza D. Whiteman

Michael P. Johnson

Researching What Matters With Community Members: Session Introduction, Michael P. Johnson Jr.

Michael P. Johnson

Data and technology can and do change people’s lives, but most often they are conceived as market-driven entities, where changes in people’s lives arise from consumption of goods and services they pay for. Of course, government is a big user of technology and data, but impacts are usually aggregate in nature, not usually targeted at specific communities. Yet, with inequality and structural barriers to economic and social progress quite high in the U.S., can there be a way to think of data and technology as a means to support individual and group opportunity, engagement, action for social justice? The purpose …

Community Development Analytics: From Data To Decisions For Boston Main Streets, Michael P. Johnson Jr., Sandeep Jani

Michael P. Johnson

A successful Main Street organization should be able to identify community strengths and deficits, to formulate a range of potentially effective local initiatives for economic and neighborhood development, to implement select initiatives using the best mix of volunteer and paid resources, to share data and best practices among all Boston Main Street districts, and to communicate project progress and outcome measures with the Office of Business Development. This project seeks to help Boston Main Street DIstricts operate more effectively by articulating values, identifying performance metrics and choosing decision opportunities. We present preliminary study results from a survey of Boston Main …

The Smart Cities Movement And Advancing The International Battle To Eliminate Homelessness - Barcelona As Test Case, John Travis Marshall, Jessica Venegas

John Travis Marshall

Barcelona is a leader in the smart cities movement, a movement that aims to help cities deliver services to citizens more efficiently and economically as a way of making the city a more inviting and inclusive place to live and work. As with any city committed to forward-looking economic, social, and urban development initiatives, it is important to consider whether ambitious goals to reinvent the city include an agenda to solve the persistent problems that have faced major cities for decades, including affordable housing and caring for roofless or homeless men and women. This article ties together the challenges Barcelona …

Affordable Housing For Sustainable Cities: A North American Perspective, Detroit Metropolitan Area And Montreal (Quebec), Courtney Lauren Anderson, Maryse Grandbois

Courtney L Anderson

Housing is an integral part to elevating and maintaining a quality of life to ensure a healthy and productive citizenship. The overwhelming number of citizens in Montreal and the United States who are unable to find housing that is less than 33% of their income stifles that economic progression of individuals and the society in which these individuals live. The ability for cities to dictate their own plans for creating and maintaining affordable housing without mandates from the federal vacillates among the various levels of government with each level having certain positive and negative elements. Although city autonomy can provide …

Greater University Circle Initiative: Year 4 Evaluation Report, Ziona Austrian, Kathryn W. Hexter, Candi Clouse, Kenneth Kalynchuk

Ziona Austrian

This report evaluates the fourth year of the Economic Inclusion program of the Greater University Circle Initiative (GUCI) in Cleveland, Ohio, namely the activities and accomplishments during 2014. The GUCI combines the economic power of anchor institutions with the resources of philanthropy and government to create economic opportunity, build individual wealth, and strengthen communities in the neighborhoods around University Circle and the Health Tech Corridor of Cleveland. The program, spearheaded by The Cleveland Foundation, is based on the premise that anchor institutions and residents share an interest in revitalizing their neighborhoods and by working together they can create jobs, income, …

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 …