Architecture Commons^™

Trolley Line Trail Creative Placemaking Plan, Courtland Caldwell

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

The Trolley Line Trail is a planned multi-use trail along the historic Richmond-to-Ashland Trolley corridor. The purpose of this plan is to identify potential creative placemaking locations and installations to highlight the trolley's unique past and present. This plan sets forth a vision for creative placemaking by gathering community feedback, analyzing properties along the Trolley Line Trail, and making recommendations for placemaking and public art. Ultimately, the recommendations laid out in this plan aim to preserve and acknowledge the community's unique identity while creating a safe, accessible experience for all users.

Strengthening Urban Resilience: Understanding The Interdependencies Of Outer Space And Strategic Planning For Sustainable Smart Environments, Ulpia-Elena Botezatu, Olga Bucovetchi, Adrian V. Gheorghe, Radu D. Stanciu

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

The conventional approach to urban planning has predominantly focused on horizontal dimensions, disregarding the potential risks originating from outer space. This paper aims to initiate a discourse on the vertical dimension of cities, which is influenced by outer space, as an essential element of strategic urban planning. Through an examination of a highly disruptive incident in outer space involving a collision between the Iridium 33 and Cosmos 2251 satellites, this article elucidates the intricate interdependencies between urban areas and outer space infrastructure and services. Leveraging the principles of critical infrastructure protection, which bridge the urban and outer space domains, and …

Analyzing Residents’ Satisfaction With Residential Neighborhood Gardens Within The Framework Of The Quality Of Life Program, Muhanad Alsaedi, Waleed Alzamil

Emirates Journal for Engineering Research

This paper deals with analyzing the extent of residents' satisfaction with the role of residential neighborhood gardens in the framework of enhancing the applications of the Quality of life program document. The problem of the research lies in the incompatibility of the current status of neighborhood gardens with the principles of the concept of livability, which are infrastructure and transportation, health care, economic and educational opportunities, security and social environment, housing, urban design and the environment. Therefore, the research paper aims to elicit the most prominent problems facing neighborhood gardens from the point of view of the residents and within …

Weathering The Storm: Navigating Urban Ecologies Of Communication In Times Of Crisis, Austin Hestdalen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project explores cities as urban ecologies of communication in which crises emerge and are given significance within the dialogic relations cultivated among public actors attempting to make a living, together, within the shared historical-cultural contexts of everyday life. To describe cities as urban ecologies of communication is to describe them in terms of urban communication and its interdisciplinary foundations in the study of rhetoric, philosophy, planning, policy, architecture, sociology, geography, and media. The first chapter introduces the challenges of urban risk and crisis management within the complex ecologies of communication constituted by cities and reviews how ‘risk’ and ‘crisis’ …

The Impacts Of Former Military Bases On The Urban Geographies: Uncovering The Social Meaning Of Urban Space Beyond The Brownfield Surface, Tina Anne Nailor

Global Honors Theses

Abstract

U.S. military bases are widely present in Germany and dominate territorial urban spaces in the metropolitan regions since WWI. The cultural interaction and the city's formation have imprinted on the lived experiences creating identities through people’s daily interactions with the built environment, both directly and indirectly In combination, the U.S. military dominating presence left behind voids that have caused a rupture in the lived environment and social production of spaces throughout communities and neighborhoods in Germany, particularly in Mannheim, the focus of this study. The U.S. military sites are as interruptive as their counterpart the military brownfields and require …

The Tragedy Of The Commons: A Podcast Exploring Solutions To The Housing Crisis In California, Delaney Li-Ming Faherty

City and Regional Planning

Affordable housing has become increasingly inaccessible across the United States, particularly in California. Because of its long history and far-reaching span, California’s housing crisis is a complexity that affects individuals at most income levels. Accordingly, opinions on solving the crisis vary among each public.

A popular solution is increasing the amount and scale of housing, however, barriers, such as single-family zoning, exist at the state and local level. While statewide legislation is working to counteract municipal zoning codes, local opposition is rampant. Because of this pushback, and the slow pace at which housing reliant on individual action is built, today’s …

Sustainable Urban Planning: Turning The Concrete Jungle Into Green Buildings, Danielle Richardson

Student Theses 2015-Present

This paper addresses the issue of greenhouse gas emissions – particularly those from buildings – within New York City and discusses ways to construct new sustainable buildings and retrofit existing buildings to both minimize greenhouse gas emissions as well as act as carbon sinks to absorb some of the emissions. Reducing overall greenhouse gas emissions is critical to NYC meeting its climate target goals, as detailed in the mayoral administrations’ PlaNYC and OneNYCenvironmental plans. This paper analyzes sustainable architecture and construction and presents various options and policies as to how to turn the city into a green city through …

An Educational Framework For Equity And Inclusion In Planning, Jacob Schlange

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses and Student Projects

As societal discourse about equity has increased, so has the need for planning practitioners to be educated about equity-related issues. This study examines the planning curricula of the 22 land-grant institutions accredited by the Planning Accreditation Board (PAB) to assess whether these programs align with the new emphasis on equity in the most recent PAB accreditation standards. Finding a notable lack of required courses explicitly addressing the topic among most of the programs surveyed, this thesis goes on to propose a framework for developing a course on equity in planning, using existing literature on planning education and guidance from the …

Surface Urban Heat Island In South Korea’S New Towns With Different Urban Planning, Kyungil Lee, Yoonji Kim, Hyun Chan Sung, Seung Hee Kim, Seong Woo Jeon

Institute for ECHO Articles and Research

A new town is strategically built within a short period compared to naturally developed cities. It is considered an appropriate study area for analyzing the urban climate problems such as surface urban heat islands (SUHIs) that is differently generated according to urban planning and development. In this study, we suggest comprehensive method for determining and comparing changes in surface UHI distribution during 1989–2048 in two new towns with different urban planning. First, a substantial increase in built-up areas was observed from 1989 (< 5%) to 2018 (> 40%) in both new towns. However, SUHI phenomenon-increasing patterns were different of about 12.25% depending on urban …

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 …

Re-Imagining Design For Affordable Housing In Mexico, Kenza Fernandez Dominguez

Scripps Senior Theses

Since the presidency of Enrique Peña Nieto, affordable housing developments in Mexico have been produced in a massive, unsustainable scale. The speed at which these developments are produced equates to the carelessness that goes into their planning. At large, the developments’ monotonous design is aesthetically dehumanizing and fails to promote a sense of community. These developments lack basic infrastructure, and their residents have abandoned them, which has incentivized increased criminal activity.

In this paper, I will be looking at successful models of affordable housing globally, exploring the histories of communal living, and function of architectural collages. Based on my findings, …

Connection And Difference Between Urban Planning, Urban Design, And Urbanism, Blend Dema

UBT International Conference

Since the existence of humankind, planning was among the main issues to deal with; this is because planning helps organize activities and predict the future. So in this way, urban planning, urban design, and urbanism are traditionally seen as an expert discipline with little room for ‘soft’ values and concerns based on feelings rather than fact. At the same time the final product of the planning process, the built environment, is a habitat for a wide variety of people with equally diverse wants and needs. The question is, how does planning incorporate the needs, wants and visions of existing and …

Planning, Aging, And Loneliness: Reviewing Evidence About Built Environment Effects, Yingying Lyu, Ann Forsyth

Geography & Planning Faculty Publications

Large numbers of people in many countries report being lonely with rates highest among the very old. Does the built environment affect loneliness among older people and if so, how? Using a scoping review, we examined associations between loneliness and built environments at the block, neighborhood, and city scales The (a) neighborhood environment has received most attention. Research has also examined (b) urban contexts, (c) housing, and (d) transportation access. Findings are mixed with the stronger evidence that local resources, walkability, overall environment quality, housing options, and nearby transportation alternatives can help combat loneliness.

Design For The Past, Zexi Wang

Masters Theses

The thesis project started off with an investigation of the Coal Gas Factory in Datong City, and an interview of a former factory employee. All relevent information is covered in the Report.

This thesis project proposes for an alternative factory design solution for the past (1980s), acknowledging its inevitable failure in its future (2000s).

The design acknowledges architecture’s nature of temporality, and is focused on making architecture transformative--creating space and environment for architecture to be transformed in order to accommodate updated programs and activities when its no longer able to serve its original purpose.

Evaluating Urban Parks Accessibility And Equity: A Case Study Of Hartford, Ct And New Haven, Ct, Natalie Roach, Mara Tu

Honors Scholar Theses

Public parks provide cities with environmental benefits, positive health effects, recreational opportunities, community building, educational spaces, and public amenities. However, certain populations have been systematically denied their fair share of these benefits because of unjust practices in the creation and maintenance of urban parks. With a lens of environmental justice, the goal of this research was to assess park quality and accessibility of two Connecticut cities, Hartford and New Haven, by gathering publicly available information as well as using GIS tools.

The Trust for Public Land (TPL) has an existing ParkScore rating system that evaluates the quality of a city’s …

Integrative Sonic Urbanism: Artist-Led Strategies For Urban Sound Design In The Contemporary City, Sven Anderson

Doctoral

This doctoral research advances the fields of urban sound design and acoustic planning, presenting new ways of exploring the interrelationship between individual and collective sonic experience, the dynamic potential of the urban sound environment and the complex evolution of the contemporary cityscape. It links urban sound art practices with larger urban design processes, revealing how sound contributes to the production of urban space. The research progresses by crafting a dynamic, integrative methodology that activates contrasting sonic perspectives to critically reassess the role of sound in the public realm. As it discloses this methodology, the research navigates the tension between new …

Opportunities And Challenges Of Geospatial Analysis For Promoting Urban Livability In The Era Of Big Data And Machine Learning, Anna Kovacs-Györi, Alin Ristea, Clemens Havas, Michael Mehaffy, Hartwig H. Hochmair, Bernd Resch, Levente Juhasz, Arthur Lehner, Laxmi Ramasubramanian, Thomas Blaschke

GIS Center

Urban systems involve a multitude of closely intertwined components, which are more measurable than before due to new sensors, data collection, and spatio-temporal analysis methods. Turning these data into knowledge to facilitate planning efforts in addressing current challenges of urban complex systems requires advanced interdisciplinary analysis methods, such as urban informatics or urban data science. Yet, by applying a purely data-driven approach, it is too easy to get lost in the ‘forest’ of data, and to miss the ‘trees’ of successful, livable cities that are the ultimate aim of urban planning. This paper assesses how geospatial data, and urban analysis, …

To Build A Space: A Reading Of Bodies, Temporality, And Urban Colonization, Delaney Tax

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Abstract

Historical and modern urban planning theory often focuses on an idealized body and subject, shaped by race, gender, and sexuality, that exists within the city. This passively and actively divides space into thresholds impenetrable by bodies othered by social and political ideologies. This project looks at the realities of colonial urban planning and the gendered, raced, and queered implications forced onto bodies and communities through the built environment. This investigation examines the frameworks present in colonial urban theory that engender meaning and knowledges onto bodies as they move through the cityscape. Exploring modes of in/access and power along built …

Sustainable Development And Regenerative Sustainability In The Legal Urban Framework Of The Republic Of North Macedonia – Challenge Or Utopia, Strahinja Trpevski, Zaklina Angelovska

UBT International Conference

We abuse the land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see the land as a community to which we belong we may begin to use it with love and respect- is a deep thinking of Aldo Leopold. This promotes a regenerative shift in the sustainability concept, no longer only considering resources and energy, but also significant human-centric attributes and a space. This paper presents the context in which urban planners can contribute to raising the values of sustainability, attitudes and behavior in future regenerative societies, while critically analyzing 20 years of continuous profound change …

Rethinking Participatory Design: Tools For Modelling Community Potentials, Adam Liu, Stephen Marinelli

Architecture Thesis Prep

This thesis aims to provide an alternative method of community engagement through the process of participatory model-making. Rather than only seeking out community voices for surveys and data collection, this project’s goal is to empower a community’s sense of ownership through collective design.

The methods of this project will be tested and examined in collaboration with students from Dr. King Elementary School in Syracuse, New York. By designing a participatory method for model-making, the project will involve students in the early stages of urban design and make it more educationally and socially accessible.

Olympic Gardens After The Games, Kaylee O'Brien

Architecture Thesis Prep

This thesis begins with an intense study of landscape and the garden. In addition to research on the historical, theoretical, and contemporary conditions of the garden, the thesis investigates the architectural and landscape conditions of the Olympic Games. Specifically looking into issues including Olympic Legacy, Olympic Gardens, and urban interventions associated with Olympic Parks, the project aims to understand ways in which these subjects can be studied, analyzed, and reapplied in the context of a new architectural design. This combined research into gardens and the Olympic Games serves as a foundation for the thesis design project, providing strategies and ways …

“Urban Corridor”: Growing The Connective Tissue Of Nashville, Lindsey Brown

Architecture Thesis Prep

Nashville is undergoing mass-gentrification, and certain marginalized groups are disconnected by infrastructure or distance from basic needs and resources. Architecture can reconnect underserved communities in order to empower them to participate culturally and reclaim autonomy over their community. Through this thesis, architecture can connect the city through the development of infrastructure that (1) encourages tourist exploration out of the inner ring, (2) encourages more sustainable transportation by visitors and residents, (3) increases visitor and resident access to resources through the incorporation of program to make an “active infrastructure”, and (4) highlights the wide variety of cultures in Nashville.

Principles Of Urban Quality Of Life, Walaa Nour Associate Professor Of Architecture And Urban Design, Department Of Architecture Faculty Of Engineering,

BAU Journal - Health and Wellbeing

Quality of life is a notion that has been discussed by philosophers, social scientists, economists conceded with the question of how society should best allocate resources it has been widely used in a wide range of contexts , including the fields of international development, health care, political science, built environment, education, reaction and leisure time social belonging. The purpose of this paper is to answer the question of how can urban planning contributes to improving individual quality of life, introduce the nation of urban quality of life that refers to the urban planning features that could enhance the individual quality …

Co-Designing A Healthier Community:A Comprehensive Mobility Planfor Saida’S Waterfront, M Ohamad Tohme Research Assistant, Faculty Of Architecture-Design And Built Environment,, Hiba Mohsen Assistant Professor, Faculty Of Architecture-Design And Built Environment

BAU Journal - Health and Wellbeing

Designing and improving cycling and walking as a soft mobility mode of transport has both environmental and social benefits and is a key in promoting healthier communities. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in redeveloping a master plan of Saida city, the gate of southern Lebanon in order to enhance the public realm, but unfortunately, a clear vision to develop comprehensive plan is still lacking. Among all Lebanese cities, Saida is the only city banned from motorcycle use for 20 years ago due to security issues. Moreover, Saida has a flat terrain, therefore it has the potential …

Urban Politics And Policy, Susanna F. Schaller

Open Educational Resources

This class will focus on urban politics and policies as they relate to the economic, social and spatial development of metropolitan areas. We we will ask why cities and place matter and explore patterns of urban spatial development in the US. We will investigate the politics and policies that have led to “urban sprawl” and uneven development, particularly in post World War II period. We will discuss the social, economic, political implications of this form of development, focusing especially on the politics of race and class. By inserting cities, especially NYC, into the global context, we will read about neoliberal …

Change Of Plans: The Subversive Kit In The Planned Community, Hugo Caldwell

Masters Theses

My thesis seeks to investigate the relationship between the prescriptive forces of urban planning with architecture. Through extracting elements and characteristics from an existing context, I implement a subversive system/kit of parts that work together to challenge the ideas behind top-down planning while painting a new picture of Columbia, MD, and planned communities as a whole.

Give Us Back Our River's Edge: An Analysis Of Man Made Flood Controls Along The Mississippi River, Taylor Jacobsen

LSU Master's Theses

Settlement and engagement along a river’s edge can be seen throughout human history. The direct proximity to a water’s edge has both physical and mental benefits, as well as economic value. However, throughout the last century, cities and their citizens along the Mississippi River have become disconnected from their water’s edge; due to man-made interventions for increased flood control and advancements in the maritime industry. These interventions appeared to be prudent at the time and contributed to many cities' economies to growth, poor planning and placement of these interventions created barriers between citizens and their water’s edge. This thesis analyzes …

Urban Contacts: Orientalist Urban Planning And Le Corbusier In French Colonial Algiers, Delaney Tax

Copley Library Undergraduate Research Awards

Algiers, the first French colony in Africa, was conquered in 1830 and gained independence in 1962. During this period, Algiers was constructed into an Orientalist acting ground that was shaped through political, social, economic formations in the built environment. The French colonial fascination with Algiers centered around the casbah, and thus the casbah became a laboratory for ethnographic and urban reflections. The French process of urban planning included military intervention, preservation motivated by exoticism and museology, and superstructure master plans dictated by the present benefit of indigenous communities to the colonial regime. Le Corbusier’s contact with Algiers further expresses the …

The Living Community Challenge: An Uncase Study In Biophilic Master Planning, Jordan Grimaldi

Pomona Senior Theses

In a world that is quickly urbanizing with a climate that is rapidly changing, the International Living Future Institute’s (ILFI) Living Community Challenge (LCC) offers a whimsical yet highly relevant model for sustainable development—creating cities that are as connected and beautiful as forests. As no certified Living Community exists yet, this thesis serves as an “uncase study” of North Rainier, a neighborhood in Seattle that has registered for the Challenge. In an effort to assess the LCC’s perceived effectiveness as a model for sustainable development, this thesis first summarizes nearly 400 centuries of U.S. developmental history to give greater context …

Re-Imagining Nature In Dense, High Rise Urban Environment: The Present And Future Of Green Building Infrastructure In Singapore, Claire Yi

Pomona Senior Theses

From the futuristic Jewel at Changi Airport, the healing gardens at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital in Yishun to School of the Arts at Orchard Road, greenery has sprouted in buildings vertically and horizontally in Singapore, painting a growing green canopy for the dense, high rise city. This paper combines both analyses from first-hand site visits and case studies from external scholar studies to examine the performance of existing Green Building Infrastructures (BGIs) within Singapore’s unique urban context. The study reveals that the success of BGIs is highly dependent on the programming (i.e. thermal comfort design, accessibility, amenity facilities etc.), as …