Urban, Community and Regional Planning Commons^™

Sustainable Small House Project, Mollie Jo George

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

The Sustainable Small House Project was developed in cooperation with UNO/UNL Engineering, UNO Gerontology, and Metro Community College. This project merges both sustainable living with the small house movement to promote aging-in-place for older adults. This presentation describes the journey of Dr. Bing Chen as he envisioned the Sustainable Small House Project to its development and finally to implementation at its current location--west of Baxter Arena or adjacent to the UNO ballfield.

From a gerontological lens, the project focuses on principles of universal design which allows for aging-in-place, fall-detection and prevention using smart technologies such as Nobi, and voice-activated technologies …

Planning, Preserving, And Increasing Accessibility: A Reflection On Going “Car-Free”, Abigail J. Weizer

City and Regional Planning

This paper studies the accessibility of car-free areas to those with mobility impairments by examining three car-free and car-lite experiments in California. Whether slowly converted to car-free with long-term, careful planning, or expeditiously changed to car-free during the COVID-19 pandemic, these three car-free experiments show the shortcomings of planning for accessibility in car-free spaces, and how instead of improving accessibility, current planning practice often hinders it. This paper offers a deep-dive into the drawbacks and benefits of going car-free and the ethical and legal reasons why urban planners, designers, and policymakers must consider the accessibility of a space before planning …

Dlr Covid-19 Mobility Review (Phase 2a): Report On Cmr Economic Development & Business Community Feedback, Sarah Rock Dr., Robert Bradshaw Dr., David O'Connor, Odran Reid

Reports

This research reports on the findings from an area focused economic development and business community focused study of the Costal Mobility Route (CMR), which is intended to complement and extend research previously conducted in Phase 1 of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council’s (DLR’s) ‘Covid-19 Mobility & Public Realm Works’ project. This study is based on participant interviews, and is limited to businesses located directly along the CMR, as well as a number of business groups representing a wider area and a Local Enterprise Office.

While one company reported a significant decline in revenue that they attribute to the CMR, the remainder …

Estimating Solar Energy Production In Urban Areas For Electric Vehicles, Shaimaa Ahmed

Theses and Dissertations

Cities have a high potential for solar energy from PVs installed on buildings' rooftops. There is an increased demand for solar energy in cities to reduce the negative effect of climate change. The thesis investigates solar energy potential in urban areas. It tries to determine how to detect and identify available rooftop areas, how to calculate suitable ones after excluding the effects of the shade, and the estimated energy generated from PVs. Geographic Information Sciences (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) are used in solar city planning. The goal of this research is to assess available and suitable rooftops areas using …

Marshall, Il Brownfield/Superfund Site Project, Nathan Myers

2022 Fall Reports (Marshall, IL)

This course will examine modern public policymaking in the United States. We will examine the different forms that policy can take and how each branch of government can leave a lasting impact on policy. The course will investigate the environment in which policy in the U.S. is shaped and the key official and unofficial actors involved. The course will investigate how public policy issues are defined and earn a place on the policy agenda. The remainder of the course will focus on various criteria for evaluating policy: effectiveness, efficiency, equity, liberty, security, and resilience. The manner in which policy often …

Marshall Recreation Opportunities, Craig Morehead

2022 Fall Reports (Marshall, IL)

This course has been developed to introduce students to the principles and practice of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and managing various spaces and venues throughout the sport industry. NOTE: SPM 340 course builds the foundation of facility management. This course is an extension into this field for students wanting to potentially build a career in this field.

Marshall, Il Community Foundation Project, Nathan Myers

2022 Fall Reports (Marshall, IL)

This class will examine the behavior of public and non-profit agencies, and how various internal and external factors affect the performance of these organizations. The course will consider such factors as they are discussed in classic and current scholarship in the field of organizational behavior, as well as examples from the media.

Community Facing Athletic Trainer, Eric Post

2022 Fall Reports (Marshall, IL)

In an initial planning meeting with Marshall Mayor John Hasten, the mayor identified the potential need for an athletic trainer to serve as a community-facing health professional within the Marshall community in order to provide access to highquality injury prevention, evaluation, and care. The agreed-upon objectives for this project were to: ● Perform a needs assessment to determine the potential costs and resources necessary to provide a community-facing athletic trainer within the Marshall community. ● Share perspectives on how athletic trainers can provide services to serve the health needs in the Marshall community. ● Determine the best strategies for providing …

Marshall Residential Development, Kimberly Smith

2022 Fall Reports (Marshall, IL)

Introduction and development of the design process through the exploration of abstract and realistic problem-solving applications. Design solutions are presented through the development of two- and three-dimensional presentation techniques.

Marshall, Il Communication Plan Project, Nathan Myers

2022 Fall Reports (Marshall, IL)

This class will examine the behavior of public and non-profit agencies, and how various internal and external factors affect the performance of these organizations. The course will consider such factors as they are discussed in classic and current scholarship in the field of organizational behavior, as well as examples from the media.

Marshall, Il Housing Affordability Project, Nathan Myers

2022 Fall Reports (Marshall, IL)

This class is designed to provide a basic working understanding of statistical methods which are commonly used in the social sciences, including public administration. Students will learn the mathematical logic behind the procedures by calculating statistical formulas. Students will also gain proficiency in completing statistical procedures using Microsoft Excel (the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, or SPSS, may also be used).

Building Resilience Through Nature-Based Solutions: Exploring The Urban-Rural Linkages In Flood Mitigation Strategies For Jayapura, Dominika Wara Christiana, Yudhistira S. Pribadi, Retno Wihanesta

Smart City

Nature-based solutions (NbS) offer flexibility and adaptability to different adoption scales and purposes. NbS adoption is influenced by various factors in the target area, including environmental, socio-cultural, and economic factors. Therefore, the chances of successful NbS adoption vary between locations due to different characteristics of the target area. This study aims to identify various factors influencing the suitability level of NbS adoption, potential locations for NbS adoption, and to assess urban-rural linkage in improving the water resilience of Jayapura. This research paper explores the potential locations for implementing nature-based solutions (NbS) in both urban and rural areas of Jayapura City. …

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 …

Economic Impact Of Land Use Planning (Transit-Oriented Development): A Comparative Analysis, Sam M

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

The problem explored in this mixed-method research is that many cities are unprepared for urban growth, which can only increase poverty and crime. The traditional transportation system is inadequate to support the increase of urbanism; it is responsible for polluting the air, increasing greenhouse gases, and losing thousands of lives annually due to car crashes and road-related accidents. The transportation sector is responsible for 28% of the overall greenhouse gas emissions (Environmental Protection Agency, 2018), and the economic costs of vehicle crashes in the United States totaled $340 billion (Department of Transportation, 2019).

This study aimed to measure how Transit …

The Influence Of Urban Forms And Street Infrastructure On Pedestrian-Motorist Collisions, Taylor J. Foreman

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Unwalkable cities are afflicted by serious issues such as increasing rates of pedestrian traffic accidents, public health concerns, and the denied right to have an accessible city. This study examines how different types of urban forms and street infrastructure contribute to the prevalence of traffic accidents in two major metropolitan cities in the United States: Atlanta, Georgia, and Boston, Massachusetts. This study utilizes geospatial analysis through the Average Nearest Neighbor and Optimized Hot Spot Analysis tools to determine the spatial distribution of traffic accidents throughout both cities. Additionally, statistical tests were conducted to explore the relationships between the number of …

From Building To Dwelling: Unfolding Infinity Through Bioregional Fulfillment, Sanjana Bhatnagar

Pitzer Senior Theses

The causes of anthropogenic climate change touch every feature of our modern-day existences. Approaches to sustainability tend to focus on material actions, but unsustainable practices are guided by an ontological orientation of individuality and human exceptionalism. This thesis provides an alternate account of being that decenters individuality through weaving the metaphysics of Fazang of the Huayan School of Mahayana Buddhism with the metaphysics of Martin Heidegger. To encompass the whole of the relational network that constitutes and conditionally defines our existence, I expand Heidegger’s account of locales as relational sites which are put forth solely by humans to an account …

Disaster Risk Assessment In The Context Of Social Justice Using Geospatial Data Analytics, Behrang Bidadian

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Disaster Risk Assessment in the Context of Social Justice Using Geospatial Data Analytics

Behrang Bidadian

In recent decades, urban areas have witnessed a rise in floods which have posed a significant threat to human life and wealth, due to the effects of global warming. While researchers have conducted extensive studies on natural disaster risk focusing on components such as hazard, exposure, and vulnerability, certain aspects of this field have remained inadequately understood. To fulfill this need, the primary objective of this dissertation was to enhance our understanding of flood risk in urban areas, considering it a crucial example of natural …

Quantifying The Carbon Stored And Sequestered By The Trees On Pomona College’S Campus, Paola A. Giron-Carson

Scripps Senior Theses

We are experiencing a climate crisis that must be confronted with strategic mitigation. Pomona College contributes to the climate crisis through its emissions for which there is a baseline record. However there is no baseline record of the climate mitigation currently performed by the trees on Pomona’s campus through carbon storage. This study seeks to determine a current baseline quantity of carbon stored and sequestrated by Pomona’s trees as well as possible courses of climate mitigation for Pomona College to take. Initial information gathering was conducted through interviews with several stakeholders. This study was conducted using data collected prior to …

Amtrak Staples Mill Station: Strategic Vision Plan 2023, Daniel S. Longest

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

This plan proposes the replacement of the current Amtrak Staples Mill Station with a new facility designed to incorporate civic art, multi-use development, and fast and easy train boarding. Drawing on successful examples like Union Station in D.C. and Main Street Station in Richmond, this plan encourages stakeholders to adopt a strategic vision for the station and its vicinity as an asset to the region. An independent commission with equal representation from state agency representatives and residents would enact these improvements through a public-private partnership, including a transit-oriented development scheme for adjacent land.

Bicycling For Sustainable Urban Mobility: Comparing Urban Transformations In Paris And Bogotá, Luba Masliy

Pomona Senior Theses

Promoting cycling is one of the low-hanging fruits to decarbonizing transportation, with further extensive benefits to quality of life. The main deterrent to the adoption of cycling for transportation is the lack of safe and connected infrastructure. This thesis explores and compares the case studies of Paris and Bogotá, where cycling modal shares grew significantly within the last decade. Plans outlining ambitious goals around sustainable transportation were put in place, and total bicycle network lengths increased rapidly in both cities. My work focuses on examining policy and infrastructure developments that lead to increased adoption of cycling over time in Paris …

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.

Urban Streets: Remaking Human-Based Places, Mona Helmy

Architectural Engineering

Over the past few decades, due to the emerging compactness of cities considering the increase in population, and consequently the increasing demand for fast mobility, many streets have lost their human dimension. They have been transformed into fast roads, giving priority to vehicles, and reducing the rights of pedestrians. This transformation has affected streets in terms of planning, design, function, and scale. The paper argues that remaking cities’ urban streets as human-based places seeks to achieve a better balance between urbanism, people, nature, and culture, thereby improving their urban life in general. Through a literature review, this article chronologically investigates …

Feasibility Of Earthships As Sustainable Homes In Brookings County, South Dakota, Whitney Sunkwah Yeboah

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Addressing the issue of housing deficit while providing affordable and sustainable homes is a significant problem in the United States today. This has prompted architects to design homes with less adverse environmental impacts despite their affordability, hence the birth of sustainable housing. Earthships are sustainable homes built from recycled materials, utilize solar or wind energy, and function as self-sufficient units. The study's main aim is to assess residents' perceptions of earthships and their willingness to adopt earthships in Brookings County, South Dakota. The research employs online surveys to garner data from residents, and data are analyzed using mixed methods. Results …

Energy Efficiency Retrofit And Decarbonization Of Old And Historic Buildings In California, Daria Nikolaeva

Master's Projects and Capstones

Buildings are responsible for almost 40% of total global greenhouse gas emissions and the retrofitting of existing buildings is an essential part of solving the problem. About 75% of buildings in Californian were constructed before the first energy-efficiency building code was adopted in 1978. Old buildings are inefficient, responsible for large carbon footprints and must be retrofitted to stay on track with the state's climate targets. However, current policies do not require substantial changes and tend to favor historic preservation over energy efficiency, missing improvement opportunities. Recognizing the significance of carbon intensity, the 2019 California Energy Efficiency Action Plan shifted …

Depaul Digest - Moments - Margaret Hie Ding Lin Park

DePaul Magazine

Photo spread of Chicago’s Margaret Hie Ding Lin Park, which DePaul renovated to celebrate the the university’s 125th anniversary and commitment to community service.

Nexuscapes: A Landscape Approach For A Transdisciplinary Water-Energy-Food Nexus Decision-Making Process, Fortino Acosta

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study develops a reliable transdisciplinary framework for complex ecological and social systems by characterizing, mapping, typifying, assessing, and testing enhanced water-energy-food nexus scenarios under critical time constraints, specialized skills, or sensitive data accessibility. Detached management of limited essential resources like fresh water, reliable energy from renewable sources, and nutritious food can jeopardize regional economies and governance. Using a novel landscape approach, this study recommends a decision-making the framework focused on the circular economy that induces collaboration among diverse sectors and brings strategic coordination, specificity, and magnitude to the proposed solutions. The study elaborates on a decision-making tool that integrates …

Learning From Public Spaces In Historic Cities, Cody Josh Kucharski

Symposium of Student Scholars

Successful public spaces in cities are key for enhancing social cohesion and improving health and safety. Learning from historic cities involves the development of representational and analytical tools aimed at capturing their essence as places of human interaction. The research reports findings of the spatial analysis of twenty Adriatic and Ionian coastal cities, which addresses the question of how the network of public spaces calibrates different degrees of spatial enclosure necessary for creating successful social interactions. Cities in the littoral region include well-preserved historic centers that are renowned for the successful integration of urban squares into the urban fabric. For …

Reviving Knowledges Through Play And Resistance: The Case Of Navajo Conceptions Of Space, Daniel Ness, Richard D. Sawyer

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

The authors explore a possible cause of epistemicidal predispositions of the dominant Eurocentric curricula. They posit that one way to determine a plausible contributing factor of this increasing devastation is to consider epistemicide through the lens of intellectual development. To do this, the authors examine parallel patterns of behavior in the domains of developmental and cognitive psychology. The authors then discuss an alternative framework to the Western conception of space within formal K-12 education by presenting the Navajo conception of space and play. Throughout the paper, the authors argue that all students—and especially those living in poverty in commercially constructed, …

Science, Technology, Engineering, And Mathematics (Stem) Project-Based Learning (Pbl) Education: A New Mexico Case Study For Equity And Inclusion, Kimberly A. Scheerer

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

This research addresses how student participation in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) project-based learning (PBL) education activities encourages underrepresented minority student achievement in STEM career field trajectories. Seven New Mexico high school counselors and 12 STEM organization personnel were interviewed during this study. Their responses represent the nuanced professional voices where New Mexico public education intersects with STEM student interest and cultural influence.

For students, STEM PBL can foster deep integration across educational disciplines and enhance STEM career trajectory interest and readiness. STEM education converged with PBL methodologies has the ability to leverage community support while broadening student networks. …

The Resilience Of Proximity Tourism During The Pandemic: Local Walking Tours Of Budapest, János Klaniczay

International Journal of Tour Guiding and Visitor Attraction Research

Global tourism was hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, but an exception can be seen among walking tour companies providing tours for locals in Budapest, who saw a rise in demand for their tours during the summer and early autumn of 2020. During pre-pandemic times tourism levels broke records annually, and one of the main concerns was overtourism in certain cities, but due to COVID-19, international arrivals hit record-lows and millions of jobs became endangered. Meanwhile data show that local alternative walking tours in Budapest could operate sustainably during the pandemic at almost the same capacity as before, because local …