Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

Squatters, Shanties, And Technocratic Professionals: Urban Migration And Housing Shortages In Twentieth-Century Chile, Nathan C. Norris

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the struggles of squatters and slum dwellers for housing prior to the 1973 coup in Santiago de Chile, Valparaíso, and surrounding areas, with a focus on the Frei era of the late 1960s. The work argues that severe urban overcrowding generated advocacy for housing during the rise of progressive and leftist politics in Chile. It also explores the dynamics of efforts to promote housing through the lens of the work of professionals in the fields of architecture and urban planning. It argues that Chilean professionals adopted modernist principals in the fields of architecture and planning when promoting …

Finding Homeplace: Exploring The Experiences Of Black Women In The City Of Richmond, Mariah Williams

Theses and Dissertations

The planning efforts of African-Americans in the United States remained largely hidden throughout much of early planning history. Although African-Americans engaged in unique planning practices of their own, ones that significantly shaped the social and economic fabric within their communities, planning literature has tended to problematize them within the urban environment instead of celebrating their unique differences and experiences. Black women, despite their significant contributions to the urban fabric of numerous American cities, remain even more silenced throughout the planning profession. The unique ways they experience the urban environment, what they value in the built environment and how they speak …

Tommi's Place: An Adaptation And Commentary On Uncle Tom's Cabin, Vanessa L. Jackson

Theses and Dissertations

Harriet Beecher Stowe penned Uncle Tom’s Cabin which was published in 1852. This book exposed and condemned the atrocities of slavery. Her book became a bestseller and is said to be one of the primary reasons why slavery was eventually abolished. Though slavery has been dismantled the system of oppression which allowed the marginalization of others to thrive has never been eliminated. This system established a dominant culture; one which oppresses those of African descent and has endured for centuries. Tommi’s Place retells Uncle Tom’s Cabin in contemporary corporate America. Tommi’s Place reflects that this system of oppression is still …

Learning Together In Highland Park To Build Civic Capacity, Grace Leonard

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the work of nonprofit organizations collaborating with communities to build civic capacity in North Highland Park, a neighborhood in Richmond, Virginia. Place-focused planning strategies during the twentieth century diminished civic capacity in the community and fostered isolation. Today, collaborative community work in Highland Park is incorporating the assets, resources and knowledge held in the community into strategies to improve quality of life using collaborative learning. A case study approach closely analyzes community engagement and revitalization processes in North Highland Park between 2011 and 2017. Nonprofit organizations mobilized and led a group of community-based collaborators, including nonprofit staff …

Contesting The Commemorative Narrative: Planning For Richmond’S Cultural Landscape, Hannah M. Cameron

Theses and Dissertations

Abstract: New Orleans, Baltimore, and Charlottesville are reevaluating the presence of Confederate statues in their built environment. Known as the Capital of the Confederacy, Richmond’s cultural landscape is visible through the connection of two historical spaces, Monument Avenue and Shockoe Bottom. Both serve as a powerful case study for how the commemorative narrative of these spaces is contested today and how barriers that exist influence urban planning processes and outcomes.

Walkability And Accessibility: Users' Perspectives Of A Planned Neighborhood, Nancy S. Chu

Theses and Dissertations

The transformation of the Westlawn Housing Development, one of the largest housing projects in Wisconsin, has led to this research. The old development, which was modeled after the military barracks style for its uniformity and practicality, is in extreme contrast to the new design influenced by the Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND). TND was well received by the middle class as an alternative to the suburban sprawl sweeping the nation in the 1980s. However, research suggests that most TND’s are premised on upper-middle-class preference and do not focus on the housing needs of the general population.

This research will explore if …

Uncovering The Progress Of Planning For Vulnerability To Sea-Level Rise & Coastal Storms: A Plan Evaluation Of Norfolk, Va & New York City, Eric K. Borchers

Theses and Dissertations

In response to recent storms like Superstorm Sandy and sea-level rise influenced by climate change, cities, particularly those located at the coast, have taken initiative to combat these growing threats with adaptive urban planning. Although civilians residing in susceptible neighborhoods are often the most vulnerable socioeconomically, there has been minimal evidence that planning has accounted for the characteristics of vulnerability. This thesis evaluates the recent planning efforts and vulnerability of Norfolk, VA and New York City to gauge the progress being made toward reducing citizen vulnerability and raising adaptability and preparedness. The most recent peer-reviewed research is consulted to forge …

Community Gardens: Exploring Race, Racial Diversity And Social Capital In Urban Food Deserts, Jennifer F. Jettner

Theses and Dissertations

Study purpose. The study examined race and racial diversity in community gardens located in Southern urban food deserts, as well as the capacity of community gardens to generate social capital and promote social justice. Methods. A mixed-methods approach was used to describe characteristics of gardeners and community gardens located in urban food deserts, and test Social Capital Theory hypotheses. A convenience sample of 60 gardeners from 10 community gardens was obtained. Data was collected using surveys and semi-structured interviews. Analyses. Univariate and bivariate statistics were used to describe gardeners and gardens. Leader rationales for garden characteristics were analyzed using thematic …

The Tea Party Versus Planning: A Study Of Tea Party Activism And Its Impact On Local Government Planning, Spencer A. Norman

Theses and Dissertations

The Tea Party movement’s effect on local and regional planning in Virginia has received little study. This work identifies how conservative political activism has impacted planning in the Commonwealth and how planners have responded. The study relies on a qualitative approach involving 22 semi-structured interviews with activists, planners, and citizens, as well as textual analyses of planning documents, local and regional news reports, and Tea Party social media. The resultant findings show that Tea Party activism is rooted in deep seated ideals about private property rights and individualism. It also reveals that planning processes that increased the amount of public …

Analyzing Transportation Services For Older Adults In Southeastern Wisconsin, Elizabeth Jean Saunderson

Theses and Dissertations

Older adults are important users to consider in the evaluation of transportation services. Many older non-drivers take fewer trips than their driving peers. It is important that transportation services meet the needs of older adults to provide greater access to this subset of the population. This thesis applies the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to evaluate the thirty-one non-private transportation services that exist in southeastern Wisconsin. The AHP structure uses multiple criteria to evaluate and rank several alternatives based on a stated goal. An optimization model using the LINGO solver introduces a fuzzy scale level to the AHP and assigns weights …

A Gis Analysis Of Land Cover Effects On Water Systems: Nutrients And Algae In Stormwater Ponds, Nicole Lee Kappel

Theses and Dissertations

Anthropogenic land conversion is occurring rapidly and has the potential to impact our water quality. This study aims to explore the effect of watershed land characteristics on water quality within stormwater ponds (SWPs). Rapid land conversion is known to affect water quality of receiving water bodies, however not much is known about the effect of urbanization on SWPs. Geographic informational systems (GIS) was used to determine areas of land that drain into ponds. Water samples were collected and analyzed for total phosphorous, dissolved reactive phosphorous, nitrate, and ammonia. Algal pigment and percent cover measurements were taken in the field and …

An Integrated Environmental Analysis Framework For Multi-Functional Urban Food Production Utilizing Nutrient Recycling From Organic Waste Streams, William Kort

Theses and Dissertations

Increasing enthusiasm for local food, including urban agriculture, has piqued research interest in the tenets underlying perceived benefits of localizing food production. This study develops and demonstrates the application of a comprehensive framework for the life cycle environmental assessment of the utilization of urban organic wastes in urban agriculture, specifically fruit and vegetable production. Results indicate that this full “urban nutrient cycle” may have significant environmental benefits in terms of land area requirements, water use, wastewater generation, nutrient recovery, environmental contamination and green infrastructure potential, compared to more conventional methods of waste processing and food production. Urban intensive food production …

Get A Lot For Less: Evaulation Of The $1 Vacant Lot Pilot Program In Milwaukee's 15th Aldermanic District, Sierra Starner-Heffron

Theses and Dissertations

Between July, 2014 and July, 2015, the city piloted a program in which City-owned vacant lots could be sold for $1 to adjacent homeowners exclusively in the 15th Aldermanic District. The focus of this research was to determine the effectiveness of the $1 lot program in revitalizing the neighborhoods within that District. Using a visual assessment, this research observed the condition of 26 vacant lots sold approximately one year prior to the assessment and scored them based on a unique set of factors including the presence of a fence (a proxy for defensible space) the presence of gardens, whether any …

Freeway Removal In Milwaukee: Three Case Studies, Alex Snyder

Theses and Dissertations

A growing number of cities are choosing to remove parts of their urban freeway network to make room for alternative land uses. This study examines the history of two freeway spurs in Milwaukee—the Park East Freeway and Interstate 794—which were both targeted for demolition. Park East was demolished in 2002, but Interstate 794, which was considered for partial demolition on two separate occasions, was eventually rebuilt. This study asks what the cases of Park East and I-794 can tell us about the attributes of a successful freeway teardown project. This study traces the history of both freeways from the 1950s …

The Small Area Fair Market Rent System In The Richmond Region: An Evaluation Of Current Voucher Concentration, Move To Opportunity Counseling, And Value Capture Planning, Catherine L. Bray

Theses and Dissertations

In June of 2015, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development released an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to establish a more effective Fair Market Rent System using Small Area Fair Market Rents (SAFMRs) in the Housing Choice Voucher Program (HCVP) instead of the current 50^th Percentile FMRs. The 50^th Percentile FMR is currently in use in the Richmond, Virginia region, and the region is likely to be among early adopters of the new SAFMR System. This thesis assesses existing conditions that will affect implementation of the Small Area Fair Market Rent (SAFMR) System. First, it evaluates …

Perceptions Of The Homeless Toward Nonprofit Human Service Provider, Lequan M. Hylton

Theses and Dissertations

As the debate intensifies regarding developing remedies to meet the needs of America’s homeless, one solution is for governmental agencies to collaborate with and employ organizations from the nonprofit sector to assist with the needs of the homeless population. Included in the nonprofit sector, faith-based organizations (FBOs) have historically been a source of debate and contention in terms of collaborations with the government. However, Presidents Reagan, George H. Bush, Clinton, George W. Bush, and Obama have embraced the idea of including FBOs in the pool of service providers offering human services. In the Richmond, Virginia region, FBOs and nonreligious nonprofit …

Adopting Sustainability Innovations In Restaurants: An Evaluation Of The Factors Influencing Owner-Managers’ Decisions In Richmond, Virginia, Anna Salzberg

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors influencing restaurant Owner-Managers’ decisions to adopt sustainability innovations in restaurants. A cross-sectional survey research design is used for this study, which entails distributing a survey to restaurants in the City of Richmond, Virginia, to gain an understanding of the factors influencing sustainability innovation adoption. Drawing from both the innovation adoption theory and the theory of planned behavior, the researcher contributes a baseline of the restaurants’ sustainability and the Owner-Managers’ intrinsic motivations. By integrating innovation adoption theory’s perceived innovation characteristics and measuring restaurants’ past sustainability behavior, this study increases the overall …

The Impact Of Gentrification On The Youth Of Church Hill, Alicia R. Garcia

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis focus on the topic of gentrification and how the youth have been impacted by this movement in the neighborhood of Church Hill. Given that there are many youths in the community, this thesis specifically focuses on how students have been impacted in regards to their sense of place and their new mentoring relationships with the new residents in the community. Through open-ended interviews with both high school students and post high school graduate students and mentors to the youth, this study focuses on how the students have altered where they spend their time and how they are affected …

Estimating Stormwater Runoff For Community Gardens In New York City, Mara Gittleman

Theses and Dissertations

While much of the literature cites community gardens as providing urban ecosystem services, there is very little research quantifying these benefits. This thesis compares the stormwater runoff rates of urban vacant lots, community gardens, and residential developments in New York City and evaluates community gardens as green infrastructure.

Perceptions Of Bike Sharing In Underserved Communities Within Milwaukee And The Twin Cities, James Hannig

Theses and Dissertations

Despite becoming increasingly more popular in cities across North America, many bikeshare systems have received criticism for not reaching minority and low-income populations. Several bikeshare operators have implemented measures to reach these populations including removing financial barriers, placing stations in underserved neighborhoods, and partnering with various community organizations. However, until recently, few have explored how people in these underserved areas perceive bike sharing.

Feedback was solicited from key community partners in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota to better understand how bike sharing is perceived in underserved communities and to determine whether other models could better address the transportation needs …

Dispersal: A Multidisciplinary Investigation Of Plant Life, Alexandra E. Arzt

Theses and Dissertations

Using plants as a basis for exploring the interstices between the human and nonhuman, this thesis investigates ideas of awareness, intelligence, deep time, animism, and the fluctuating human perception of the agency of Nature. It outlines environmental art practices since the 1950s involving vegetal life. In addition, the paper provides a critical analysis of plant perception of Jakob von Uexküll’s work and theories of vital materialism and “critical plant studies” while noting recent studies in plant neurobiology. In my work, plants become active participants via their movement, seeding, and smell. This study takes the form of imitation, purposeful symbiosis, anthropomorphism, …

Creating Neighborhood In Postwar Buffalo, New York: Transformations Of The West Side, 1950-1980, Caitlin Boyle Moriarty

Theses and Dissertations

This project reconsiders post-World War II neighborhood change by examining how various groups in Buffalo, New York conceptualized, experienced and produced the West Side as a cultural and economic artifact between 1950 and 1980. This approach offers an alternative to conceptualizing neighborhoods as bounded, natural entities and it encourages narratives that complicate the prevailing metaphor of decline in rust belt cities by illuminating other components of postwar neighborhood change than population loss and economic disinvestment. This project uses neighborhood retail as a lens through which to examine how city planners, the West Side Business Men's Club, the Federation of Italian …

New Sheriff In (Down)Town?: Business Improvement Areas And The Regulation Of Public Spaces: A Case Study Of Seattle, Washington, Shannon R. Kelley

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines Business Improvement Areas (BIAs) in Seattle, WA. While the literature on BIAs continues to grow, interestingly, very few studies have been performed on BIAs in west coast cities, as the mass preponderance of the BIA literature body within the United States has focused on east coast cities. Thus, the first purpose of this study is to provide a comparative analysis of Seattle BIAs. This analysis describes the formation, organizational structure, geographic size, budget size, and service programming of each BIA in Seattle. In addition, this thesis also briefly assesses the accountability, the democratic nature, and the potential …

The Elliniko Airport: Contested Politics And The Production Of Urban Space In Athens, 1938-2014, George Papakis

Theses and Dissertations

This study traces the historical forces that conditioned the dearth of public spaces in Athens, Greece, and through the case study of the city's first civil airport, examines the current redevelopment plans of Athens' largest remaining open space as part of a wider process of urban transformation. After serving the city for sixty years, the airport closed its doors in 2001, and since then the site has remained vacant. The government aims at attracting investments in upscale tourism and real estate, hoping to reposition this sector of the city as a thriving business center and entertainment destination. Yet, given the …

Hidden In Plain Sight: Tehran's Empowering Protean Spaces, Sara Khorshidifard

Theses and Dissertations

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 …

Hang-Yong High-Speed Railway And Ningbo’S Industrial Structure: A Conceptual Analysis, Dongxuan Ying

Theses and Dissertations

High speed railway and promote the economic development of the city. So the operation of high-speed railway in Ningbo to Hangzhou, Ningbo’s opportunity and challenge, tourism, transportation, business, industry, real estate industry, headquarters economy, financial, cultural and creative industries, attract talent. Although short-term high iron research is very difficult to see effect, but through some research can guess and judge the impact of high-speed rail industry of Ningbo city and some Suggestions put forward the Ningbo, Hang-Yong high-speed railway.

Community Participation In Disaster Planning And The Expectation Gap: Analysis And Recommendations, Phillip Sperry

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the expectation gap and how it relates to the field of emergency management. As disasters become more commonplace, many citizens have high expectations of their governments, which results in a lack of individual disaster preparation. This thesis analyzed the current state of community education and engagement programs, use of best practices by governments and inter-agency cooperation and partnerships. The research consisted of fifteen interviews with emergency management professionals representing local, state, and federal government as well as the private sector. The results show limited public participation, as well as issues with crisis communications systems. Over 80% of …

The Impact Of Local Public Education On Economic Development, Curtis Cobert

Theses and Dissertations

The focus of this thesis is to seek and observe the patterns of economic development around local public schools of varying quality. The Greater Richmond Region (consisting of the City of Richmond and the counties of Chesterfield, Hanover and Henrico) were used as the basis of the study. The scores for the schools were derived from an equation that took into account some of the main quality aspects. The factors that went into the equation were graduation rates, dropout rates, standardized test scores and AP (Advance Placement) enrollment. The basis of the economic development evaluation is based on a set …

New Urbanism As Redevelopment Scheme: New Urbanism's Role In Revitalization Of Downtown Milwaukee, Leila Saboori

Theses and Dissertations

By the turn of the twentieth century persisting decay of many large American urban centers signaled the failure of redevelopment efforts to solve inner city problems and to stop destructive patterns of suburban sprawl. This serious concern persuaded many urban specialists to study the history of urban redevelopment in the United States in order to examine the urban problems and to discuss alternative solutions to the demise of U.S. cities. The past two decades have seen a growing turn toward New Urbanism in the revitalization of urban neighborhoods; as an alternative to conventional suburban development and social and environmental problems. …

The Neoliberal City And The Neighborhood: The Case Of The Lindsay Heights Redevelopment Project, Rodney E. Ranken

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

THE NEOLIBERAL CITY AND THE NEIGHBORHOOD:

THE CASE OF THE LINDSAY HEIGHTS REDEVELOPMENT PROJECT

by

Rodney Ranken

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2013

Under the Supervision of Professor Anne Bonds

A 1994 Fannie Mae report on poverty in America identified 20 census tracts in the city of Milwaukee that had the third fastest rate of growth in poverty in the nation, behind only areas in Detroit and Los Angeles. This prompted The Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA) to initiate a redevelopment program that came to be known as Lindsay Heights. This study will ascertain what the impetus was …