Digital Commons Network^™

Planning For Bike Share Connectivity To Rail Transit, Greg P. Griffin, Ipek N. Sener

Journal of Public Transportation

Bike sharing can play a role in providing access to transit stations and then to final destinations, but early implementation of these systems in North America has been opportunistic rather than strategic. This study evaluates local intermodal plan goals using trip data and associated infrastructure such as transit stops and bike share station locations in Austin, Texas, and Chicago, Illinois. Bike sharing use data from both cities suggest a weak relationship with existing rail stations that could be strengthened through collaborative, intermodal planning. The study suggests a planning framework and example language that could be tailored to help address the …

Nuisance And Call For Service Data Analysis, Dr. Jennifer Burnham, Kristin Schoenecker, Irene Mekus, Melisa Ribikawskis

2015-2016: Clinton, Iowa

No abstract provided.

Clinton Regional Trail Analysis, Dr. Christopher Strunk, Victoria Lason

2015-2016: Clinton, Iowa

No abstract provided.

Access To Recreational Open Space In Patterson, Ca: A Geospatial Analysis Utilizing Geographic Information Systems, Leanne S. Lynch

Projects

Many cities throughout California have experienced land use shifts from prime agricultural land to developed industrial and residential areas without considering access to recreational open space. Access to recreation through open space or parks is beneficial for the health and well-being of the community while providing aesthetic value and potential preservation of local ecosystems. Since 2002 the City of Patterson, located in California’s Central Valley, has rezoned over 800 acres of agricultural land for urban and industrial use while developers reserved recreational open space (parkland) at locations inconvenient to existing neighborhoods. Although several acres of parkland have been added to …

Growing Food Security: The Impact Of Community Gardens On Food Security In Denver, Colorado, Grace Catherine Kellner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Community gardens increase mental health, physical health and social inclusiveness and cohesiveness, while directly connecting gardeners to their environment. In some U.S. cities gardens additionally increase community and individual food security by providing fresh food to those who struggle to feed themselves and their families. This study examined the relationship between community gardens and increased food security in Denver, and is one of the first studies of its kind in this location. Specifically, I investigated who participates in community gardens, why they participate, whether gardens are accessible, and whether community gardens have the potential to improve individual and community food …

Sustainable Safari Practices: Proximity To Wildlife, Educational Intervention And The Quality Of Experience, Ryan Devine Tarver

All Master's Theses

This research examines the perceived quality of experience for safari tourists in relation to wildlife viewing proximities and the potential of educational interventions as a management strategy to mitigate adverse impacts of safari participant crowding. Crowding emanates from the safari tourist preferences to obtain close proximity to animals, particularly large mammals. Recognizing these preferences and associated impacts to animal behavior defined in previous research, we develop and deliver a survey instrument designed to measure the perceived quality of experience of the safari tourist while controlling for the viewing proximity variable. The survey instrument involves responding to stock photos selected to …

Recent Shoreline Erosion Rates Along Black River Bay, Jamaica: Erosion And Recovery After Hurricane Ivan In 2004, Karen Louise Zelzer

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Rising sea level is threatening coastal areas, particularly those in the Caribbean which rely heavily on tourism and marine resources to support local economies. The purpose of this study is to analyze shoreline position along the south coast of Jamaica to determine the locations and rates of coastal change. IKONOS satellite imagery sets for 2003, 2007 and 2012 were used to monitor land use and shoreline changes along Black River Bay, including Galleon Beach Fish Sanctuary, in St. Elizabeth, Jamaica. In particular, the effect of Hurricane Ivan in 2004 on shoreline changes was evaluated. Erosion rates were significantly higher during …

Learning From Cinara: Exploring The Depths Of Participatory Water Engagement In Cali, Colombia, Zachary T. Strickland

Honors College Theses

Located within the Universidad del Valle in Cali, Colombia, CINARA is an academic institution, comprised of both engineers and social scientists, that has almost three decades of experience regarding participatory approaches to water supply and environmental sanitation. In this paper, I argue that CINARA’s work is important due to its emphasis on meaningful community participation that significantly involves communities in decisions on technical matters that are usually allocated exclusively to “experts.” Furthermore, the valuation of social considerations and non-technical knowledge found amongst CINARA’s engineers stands in distinct contrast to traditional development practices and engineering mindsets. This paper will go on …

Let's Learn: All About Geography (Pre K - 3rd Grade) Teacher Guide, Center For Spatial Analysis And Research. Portland State University, Teresa L. Bulman, Morgan Josef, Gwyneth Genevieve Mckee Manser

Instructional Materials

Teacher activity book. Inside you will find fun activities to help you learn about maps and geography. Keep an eye out for Sandy, the Chinook Salmon, for fun facts and helpful hints along the way!

The student guide can be found here: https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/27719

An Lntegrated Approach (Remote Sensing, Gls, Engineering, Datamining) For Modeling, Assessing And Mitigating Slope Stability Hazards In Mountainous Environments, Racha El Kadiri

Dissertations

Mountainous areas are quite often subjected to hazards related to their steep relief and intense precipitation events. These hazards (e.g., debris flows, mudflows, rockfalls) pose serious threats to settlements and structures that support transportation, agriculture, tourism, and other economic activities.

This study applies and develops a wide range of methodologies and tools that take advantage of readily available remote-sensing datasets, geographic information system technologies, and artificial intelligence techniques. The developed approaches allow the characterization of both spatial and temporal conditions that controlled mass movement occurrences and use these characteristics to model and mitigate future occurrences. The Jazan area in the …

Cyberspace Knowledge Gaps And Boundaries In Sustainability Science: Topics, Regions, Editorial Teams And Journals, Stanley D. Brunn

Geography Faculty Publications

The scholarly world of sustainability science is one that is international and interdisciplinary, but is one, on close reading of research contributions, editoral teams, journal citations, and geographic coverage, that has much unevenness. The focus of this paper is on the cyberspace boundaries between and within fields and disciplines studying sustainability; these boundaries separate knowledge gaps or uneven patterns in sustainability scholarship. I use the volume of hyperlinks on Google Search Engine and Google Scholar to illustrate the nature and extent of the boundaries in cyberspace that exist and also the subject and geographic gaps in the home countries of …

Smart Growth And New Urbanism: The Implementation Of Development Plans Eight Years After Hurricane Katrina On The Mississippi Gulf Coast, Heather Nicholson

Honors Theses

After Hurricane Katrina hit the Mississippi Coast, Master Concept Plans (MCPs) that emphasized smart growth and new urbanism were created to reduce sprawl on the coast. This study seeks to find the reality of these plans by examining what has actually been implemented from the MCPs eight years after Hurricane Katrina. This study was conducted in the Mississippi coastal cities of Long Beach and D’Iberville. The MCPs were georeferenced, digitized, and overlaid on top of current land use parcel data using a Geographic Information System (GIS). Parcels were selected and categorized based on each proposed plan and compared to current …

A Study Of Social Capital And Its Relationship With Dwelling Structure And Environment Based On An Empirical Analysis Of Lincoln, Nebraska, Jeehoon Kim

Department of Geography: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Social capital is described as the concept of social network or social interaction among residents in a neighborhood. In times past, physical environment factors enhancing the level of social capital were main issues to researchers: land-use type and neighborhood design. However, based on various benefits gained from social capital theory, it is needed to study about the influence of social capital. Thus, the impact of social capital on the physical urban environment is investigated in this dissertation research in order to make more livable, healthier, and more active community. Most researches dealing with social capital and housing condition have not …

Maple Syrup Value Systems And Value Chains - Considering Aboriginal And Non-Aboriginal Perspectives, Brenda Murphy, Annette Chrétien, Grant Morin

Contemporary Studies

Harvested from both intensive sugar maple stands and diverse mixed forest ecosystems across Ontario, maple syrup is an important rural and Aboriginal non-timber forest product that contributes to social, economic and environmental sustainability. This paper presents our ongoing work to map Ontario’s maple syrup value system from two different perspectives, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal. In the economic sense, analyses of value systems are useful for members to identify the opportunities and challenges they are facing to advance industry growth and innovation. In the social and environmental sense, these analyses provide a window into how different worldviews and belief systems can lead …

Basic Human Health And Sustainable Community Development: A Case Study Of A Community In Monte Plata, Dominican Republic, Rachelle H. Arnoux

Capstone Collection

One of my objectives in conducting this research is to enhance my skills in data collection while simultaneously improving my writing skills. More substantively, I wanted to explore how access to healthcare in a developing country like the Dominican Republic can contribute to sustainable development. As good health is fundamental and vital for all human beings, it is important in the context of this study to understand how the healthcare system in a particular country gives the population access to quality healthcare. Referring myself specifically to the situation at Batey Relief Alliance (BRA) Dominicana medical center in the Dominican Republic …

Volunteered Geographical Information: An Alternative Solution For Overcoming The Chasm Between Stormwater Management And Community Participation, Yanfu Zhou

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

It is a dramatic challenge to promote public engagement in stormwater management and green infrastructure initiatives. When traditional outreach approaches made important influence on public engagement, their limitations are also obvious. With the development of Web 2.0 technology, Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) has been emerging as one of the most important user-generated geographic contents. The crowdsourcing data that generated by volunteers through geo-web, smartphones, and other geo-devices provides invaluable mass data for decision-making. VGI can provide a better understanding of planning issues and other challenges. The research aims to develop a mobile information platform to allow citizens to report the …

Greening Louisville's East Market District : A Comparative Assessment Of Sustainability., Ashley O. Dale

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The East Market District located in Louisville, KY is currently undergoing a multi-million dollar urban regeneration. This transformation is being marketed as a primer sustainable neighborhood with the goal of serving as a model for other cities in the United States. As result of these changes, it is imperative to analyze the concept of sustainability from a variety of stakeholder perspectives utilizing content analysis on interviews and LEED Neighborhood Scorecard. Utilizing these methods, the central goal of this study is to understand the various interpretation of sustainability within this neighborhood. The findings observed via the critical assessment of the LEED …

Local Regulatory Protection For Ecosystem Services: A Case Study From The Karst Region Of Southeast Minnesota, Usa, Mary A. Williams, Susy Ziegler

Journal Articles

Human communities depend upon a myriad of ecosystem goods and services, which are produced by and depend on natural environmental processes occurring at multiple temporal and spatial scales. Land-use policy seldom recognizes the importance of these services or the environmental processes generating these services. This study examined the degree to which ecosystem services and supporting environmental processes are regulated at two United States municipal levels: city and county. Several ecosystem services but few environmental processes are regulated to some extent. We identified policy needs for environmentally sensitive karst features, aquifer recharge, groundwater quality, plant and animal populations, and flood mitigation. …

Personhood, Ethics, And Animal Cognition: Situating Animals In Hare’S Two-Level Utilitarianism, By Gary E. Varner / The Philosophy Of Animal Minds, Edited By Robert W. Lurz., Kristin Andrews

Sentience Collection

It seems to be a widely held belief that we should not try to trap, kill, and eat any creature that can relate the story of its close call. While this turns out to be a good rule from the perspective of R. M. Hare’s version of utilitarianism, other intuitive-level rules about the proper treatment of sentient beings require revision, or so Gary Varner argues in his recent book Personhood, Ethics, and Animal Cognition. After defending Hare’s two-level utilitarianism in the first section, Varner turns to the question of the kinds of beings who worthy of kinds of concern, and …

Entrepreneurial Planning And Urban Economic Development: The Case Of Establishing Commuter Rail In Orlando, Florida, Timothy J. Brock

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

Rooted in the theories of urban entrepreneurialism, this dissertation employs a political economy framework as a means of analyzing urban governance and economic development in the contemporary US city. This case study of Orlando adds to our understanding of how entrepreneurial narratives are being applied to transportation infrastructure projects in pursuit of local economic development.

The empirical case study explores the relationship between planning narratives, urban governance and economic development in the establishment of the SunRail commuter rail system in central Florida. I present the political history of economic development and the role of local boosters in shaping the sociospatial …

Producing Space: Block-By-Block Change In A Gentrifying Neighborhood, Jen Douglas

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Gentrification of urban neighborhoods is part of an ongoing restructuring of the city, linked to the emerging occupational structure of the service economy and the remaking of built environments that were created for a production economy. It is the name given to processes in which commodification and reinvestment accompany the in-migration of professional and managerial workers, often displacing prior residents and giving altered spatial form to inequality.

This dissertation is a case study of gentrification in Hyde and Jackson Squares, part of Boston's Jamaica Plain neighborhood. The emergence of gentrification pressures and their uneven distribution within the area is documented …

Wetlands Utilization And Rural Livelihood Diversification: A Case Of Simiyu Wetland, Magu, Tanzania, Emiliana Mwita

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

In many developing countries wetlands play an important role in supporting the livelihood of both urban and rural communities. In rural areas wetlands are increasingly becoming a focal point of production and livelihood diversification due to their richness and the diverse options they provide. This paper explores the livelihood options provided by Simiyu wetland in Magu District, Simiyu Region, to the community living arround it using social survey methods. This paper is based on a study which shows that wetland farming is the main activity (75%) and significantly contribute to cash income generation, followed by livestock keeping, fishing and handicraft. …

For Logs, For Traditional Purposes And For Food: Identification Of Multiple-Use Plant Species Of Northern Amazonia And An Assessment Of Factors Associated With Their Distribution, Anthony Ravindra Cummings

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation examines the multiplicity of uses associated with tree and palm species of the Rupununi, Southern Guyana and the factors associated with their distribution. As tropical forests continue to decline the most significant response has been to understand the implications for the carbon cycle, with the impacts on forest dwelling peoples and wildlife, inadequately addressed. Multiple-use plants, individual species which at their most critical level provide food for wildlife, non-timber forest products and are commercially logged, provide a suitable lens for appreciating additional ecosystem services that may be compromised as tropical forests decline. I completed a plant inventory in …

Investigating The Housing Market For Student Tenants Surrounding An Urban University, Olivia M. Dobbs Ms.

Honors College Theses

The private housing market for students around Wayne State University, an urban campus in Detroit, Michigan, stands in a fast-changing period. The area has grown economically from institutional and medical center investment in the past few years, causing occupancy and rents to rise. This follows years of disinvestment that allowed rent rates to fall to comfortable rates for students. The University has published its interest in developing the “campus life” including more off-campus private market housing for students, while developers see potential for even higher rents for young professionals. This study assesses the current perceptions of a sample of rental …

The Painted City: Public Art, Placemaking, And Communities In The Twin Cities, Lora Marie P. Hlavsa

Geography Honors Projects

Over the last century, mural painting has become an increasingly prominent fixture within the urban landscape. Decorating the walls of urban streets throughout American cities, mural paintings can be considered powerful tools within urban communities because of their ability to create place through inspiring meaningful relationships between populations and space, represent marginalized populations and provide a means for expression for communities. Using the case studies of Northeast Minneapolis, the West Side of Saint Paul, and Lake Street, this paper examines the purpose of mural artwork within urban communities, focusing on spatial and contextual analysis to determine the impact of this …

A New Commons: Considering Community-Based Co-Management For Sustainable Fisheries, Charlotte L. Dohrn

Pomona Senior Theses

Commercial fisheries on the West Coast are traditionally managed under large-scale management and conservation plans implemented by state and federal agencies. This scale of management can present obstacles for fishing communities. This thesis examines emerging cases of attempts to define and implement sustainable management of commercial fisheries under a community-based co-management model. In Port Orford, Sitka, San Diego and Santa Barbara, preliminary community-based co-management models are enabling fishing communities to pursue social sustainability through preserving access, participating in local science, and direct marketing for fish products. These communities are actively reshaping traditional models of conceptualizing and managing common-pool resources like …

Currents Of Change: An Urban And Environmental History Of The Anacostia River And Near Southeast Waterfront In Washington, D.C., Emily C. Haynes

Pitzer Senior Theses

This thesis analyzes how social and environmental inequalities have interacted throughout Washington, D.C.’s urban and environmental history to shape the Anacostia River and its Near Southeast waterfront into urbanized and industrialized landscapes. Drawing on the principles of environmental justice, urban political ecology, and environmental history, I examine the construction of urban rivers and waterfront space over time. I link the ecological and social decline of the Anacostia River and Near Southeast neighborhood to a broader national pattern of environmental degradation and social inequality along urban rivers that resulted from urban industrialization and federal water management. Finally, I discuss the recent …

Preserving Place: A Grounded Theory Of Citizen Participation In Community-Based Planning, Pamela Jo Hatley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

For this research project I used grounded theory methodology and qualitative research methods to examine how and why citizens participated in local community-based planning and land development entitlement processes, and learn about their experiences participating in those processes. I conceptualized the citizens' main concern as preserving the character of the place they consider their community. This research demonstrates that citizens participate in community-based planning and land development entitlement processes out of a concern for preserving the character of their communities. They define the character of their communities in terms of their geographic boundaries, history, traditions, people, lifestyle, and qualitative features …

Disaster Vulnerability Of University Student Populations, Jamie Lynn Auletta

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Student populations at Gulf Coast universities and colleges are subjected to multiple forces working together making them an especially vulnerable sub-group to hazards. Research has suggested that college students represent a segment of the population that hazards research has frequently overlooked and maybe not fully appreciated in university emergency planning. Most prior research has focused on university disaster experiences, highlighting what went wrong, and what should be done but little research focuses on what is actually taking place. The primary intent of this research was to gain better insight into university emergency planning and identify areas universities have neglected with …

The Garden Is Always Greener..., Billy Hall

Catalyst: A Social Justice Forum

This essay builds upon a case study of community gardening in Miami to explore the extent to which these gardens are contributing to, and possibly triggering, processes of gentrification within low to lower-middle income neighborhoods. Through a literature review of recent urban planning policy and development in Miami and relevant discourse on the neoliberalization of food, food politics, food justice activism, and gentrification, I situate Miami’s gardens within a complex, multi-scalar web of ideas and processes. I show how the interaction of these forces, varying dramatically with respect to place, is implicit in the motivations for each garden’s development and …