The Rise Of Southern Nevada As A Cluster For Metropolitan Transit Technology Innovations, Arthur C. Nelson

Policy Briefs and Reports

Southern Nevada is emerging as the nation’s leader in private sector-driven innovations in transportation technologies. From the humble beginnings of a monorail system serving a portion of major hotel and gaming venues along the Las Vegas Strip, now supplemented by an array of people movers, Southern Nevada continues to attract transit innovations in tunneling, Hyperloop, and driverless vehicle delivery technologies. The region may soon anchor a high-speed rail system connecting Southern Nevada to Los Angeles. The purpose of this briefing paper is to frame the nature of this emerging transportation cluster and the opportunities this creates for Southern Nevada to …

Hudson Yards: Hybrid Capital's New Home, Massimo D. Scoditti

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis focuses on the material and metaphysical aspects of the Hudson Yards, the largest private development in US History. With its roots in the administration of Michael Bloomberg, the site is representative of neoliberal ideology. It is also one in which cultural production is central. This is in terms of the rationalization and mythos of the building of the space itself and the dreamworlds created to obscure the mechanisms of extraction and accumulation that make such a complex possible. The Hudson Yards is particularly interesting because, as Cindi Katz might suggest, topography lines connect it to transnational capital. And …

Past-Futures Of Harlem: Black Urban Space At The Limits Of Spatial Justice, Dane C. Ruffin

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The racial capitalist development of the U.S. metropolitan landscape has been shaped by the involuntary displacement and dispersal of Black communities. From the dispossession of the Half-Free Negro Lots around the Fresh Collect pond in the seventeenth century to the clearing of Seneca Village to build Central Park in the nineteenth century to the turn of the twentieth-century police-facilitated “race riot” in the Tenderloin district of Manhattan, which fueled the move to Harlem, the four-hundred year history of Black Manhattan alone provides substantial evidence of this and is in no way unique in this regard. Incomplete, yet ongoing, is what …

Cities, Settlements And Key Infrastructure, David Dodman, Bronwyn Hayward, Mark Pelling, Vanesa Castan Broto, Winston T. L. Chow, Et Al.

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

In all cities and urban areas, the risk faced by people and assets from hazards associated with climate change has increased (high confidence1 ). Urban areas are now home to 4.2 billion people, the majority of the world’s population. Urbanisation processes generate vulnerability and exposure which combine with climate change hazards to drive urban risk and impacts (high confidence). Globally, the most rapid growth in urban vulnerability and exposure has been in cities and settlements where adaptive capacity is limited, especially in unplanned and informal settlements in low- and middle-income nations and in smaller and medium-sized urban centres (high confidence). …

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, …

Honor Thyself, Alonzo O. Williams

Dance (MFA) Theses

The black male experience and identity in America are filled with complexity. We struggle to know ourselves. We work to see the way of love and the peace of an unviolated free spirit. We want to engage with ourselves with the highest degree of freedom and comfort, not to continue to question our identity in a life-threatening white patriarchal masculinity ideal. Honoring oneself from the lenses of the Reconstruction era of the United States is essential. Reconceptualizing this history explores the significance of emphasizing Reconstruction in my life as a black male to go through a process of self-discovery and …

Constructing Colma, Ethan Treiman

Library Map Prize

The American Cemetery Movement tells the story of American cemeteries in roughly four chapters, demarcated by the emergence of new cemetery forms: the rural cemetery, the memorial park, and so on. This paper identifies the salient features associated with each epoch of cemetery development and locates them within the city-cemetery of Colma, California — America’s only official necropolis — to demonstrate how Colma extends America’s cemetery tradition in familiar ways. In Colma, the trends of cemetery growth and ‘flattening’ reached their natural conclusions, throwing the uncertain future of earthen burial in America into the spotlight. This paper analyzes the societal, …

Tales Of Urban Livability－ Vermont Avenue In Los Angeles As Told By Tree Canopy Cover, Hoi Cheng Wong

Pomona Senior Theses

As city-goers and residents of urban and suburban spaces, we are constantly on the move. It is no surprise that we often neglect the static trees and plants that seemingly blend into the background of our day-to-day rush to our next destination. Unfortunately, once we do have a chance to pause to take a look around us, or to pause long enough to feel the heat of the sun beaming down on our bare skin, we are decades too late in realizing the absence of trees at the location in which we are standing. This thesis contributes critical insight to …

Cruser Place Green Streets Plan, Neal Friedman

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

Combining green and complete street design techniques leads to multiple environmental, social and economic benefits that often enhance each other's effectiveness. In urban areas confronting increased pressures of sea level rise, green streets, which incorporate landscaped features or vegetative areas to manage stormwater within the right of way, can be crucial pieces of pedestrian oriented urban design and multimodal planning frameworks that consider and plan for diverse, complementary transportation options. This plan works with the Colonial Place and Riverview Civic League as well as the Norfolk Preservation Collective to come up with green street design recommendations in order to strengthen …

Food Systems Financing Action Plan, Noah Holmes Foster

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

Food insecurity is a well-documented issue in Virginia and throughout the United States. Food enterprises, especially those in under-resourced communities, often lack access to the credit needed to start or expand their operations due to the narrow profit margins of food enterprises. Community development financial institutions (CDFIs), such as Virginia Community Capital (VCC) address this issue by providing low-interest financing to food businesses that can increase food security and strengthen local economies. Food systems financing is a developing field for VCC and other CDFIs, and changes to standard practices are required to ensure that lending is as accessible as possible …

Metamosque – Envisioning The Mosque As A Virtual Public Space, Alaa Albarazy

Theses and Dissertations

Historically, the mosque was not only a space for a communal prayer but also a place for building a community. Today, however, with conflicts and diseases fragmenting society, people are less able to gather physically in large spaces. Out of necessity, people rely on technology to get together and interact virtually. In this context, my research challenges the notion of the mosque as a physical space, proposing, instead, its extension into virtual space. Recent global events pose the question: Can the metaverse offer an opportunity for the mosque to reassert itself as a public space. I propose that a MetaMosque …

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 …

Comparative Life Cycle Assessment Of Mass Timber And Concrete Residential Buildings: A Case Study In China, Cindy Chen, Francesca Pierobon, Susan Jones, Ian Maples, Yingchun Gong, Indroneil Ganguly

Publications, Reports and Presentations

As the population continues to grow in China’s urban settings, the building sector contributes to increasing levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Concrete and steel are the two most common construction materials used in China and account for 60% of the carbon emissions among all building components. Mass timber is recognized as an alternative building material to concrete and steel, characterized by better environmental performance and unique structural features. Nonetheless, research associated with mass timber buildings is still lacking in China. Quantifying the emission mitigation potentials of using mass timber in new buildings can help accelerate associated policy development and …

The Healing Landscapes Of Usu: Discovering Spaces Of Potential Mental Restorativeness: A Geospatial Analysis Of Usu Campus, Amelia H. Wilcken

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This project focuses on understanding an alternative resource that can be intentionally improved upon to help address the mental health crisis on university campuses. With ample research showing how nature and being outside can help improve, or be restorative for, the mental state of individuals, this project developed an analytical method for understanding the restorative potential within the campus landscape as a whole and within districts. The analysis uses nine separate elements that make up the campus landscape: (1) trees, (2) landscape plantings (grass, planters, etc.), (3) art pieces, (4) benches, (5) water features, (6) sidewalks, (7) roads, (8) parking …

Emerging Barrios In Metro New Orleans, Rosa Gomez-Herrin

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

As the United States experiences a demographic shift that will turn it into a majority people of color nation, with Latinxs making up the largest ethnic minority group, urban planning policies and practices require adjustment to meet the cultural needs of this and other ethnic groups. This dissertation explores how Latinxs’ ethnic identity is socially constructed and intrinsically tied to cultural manifestations that are (re)shaping the nation’s-built environment. This project studies demographic changes and emerging patterns of spatial concentration of the Latinx community in the Greater New Orleans area during the last two decades. I am developing a concept of …

Rail Fixed Guideway Systems In Western U.S. Regions, Kelly A. Beavers

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This research explores the policy factors influencing the intraregional development of rail transit. For the purpose of this research, policy factors include: institutional arrangements, factors associated with governance, and factors in the policymaking process. The research questions are studied in five case study MSAs within the Pacific West and Mountain West regions of the United States: Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ; Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO; Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA; Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA; and Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR. The foundational problems that frame this research are the challenges of urban planning at a regional scale, specifically for transportation. The more specific challenge of transportation planning is situated within …

Wood City: Timberizing The City’S Building Blocks, Stephen Luoni

Community Design Center Faculty Publications and Presentations

"Wood City" applies mass timber engineering to the 19 building categories that essentially shape our built environments, otherwise financialized as real estate products by Wall Street. Suburban offices, fast-food restaurants, metal warehouses, big-box grocers, garden apartments, single-family houses, hotels, self-storage facilities, assisted living facilities, strip-shopping centers, etc. constitute 75% of the built environment. Given that the US will double its built environment in just one generation coupled with the urgency to develop low-carbon futures, what if cities were built from the only construction system sequestering carbon and engineered to be “energy positive” – wood? Real estate value chains are undergoing …

Counteracting Crime Or Wasting Time? Examining A Blight Abatement Cpted Project In Philadelphia, Mandolynn Mcclusky

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study examines the relationships between a blight abatement CPTED project and the total, violent, and property crime rate in Philadelphia from 2000-2019. After controlling for certain demographics (population, median household income, median age of population, poverty level, and unemployment rate) as well as the national crime rate, no statistically significant relationship was found between the CPTED project and the crime rates with the data and measurements available to the researcher.

The Appropriation Of Sidewalks For E-Scooter; From The Urban Built Environment Perspective, Adinda Smaradhana Rachmanto

Smart City

One of the most popular types of micromobility that has rapidly grown in Europe for some recent years is an electric scooter (e-scooter). An emerging phenomenon occurred in many places, including Stockholm. Regardless of some positive claims about e-scooters in urban areas, e-scooters also contribute to new urban problems. Some of the problems occurred in the sidewalk environment, and those issues are widely discussed among pedestrians. Therefore, this study will investigate how the presence of e-scooters affected the pedestrian around Stockholm inner-city based on the experience of various groups of people that use sidewalk environments, including pedestrian and e-scooter users. …

Green Building In The Midst Of Pandemic, Fitria Kusuma Wardani S.Ars

Smart City

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for healthy buildings that can protect against the virus. The healthy building feature includes good air quality and ventilation, natural lighting, and green open space. The features are embedded in a green building design. The benefit of green building on the wellness of its occupants, combined with the unfavourable pandemic situation, should have had increased the green building’s popularity. However, throughout the pandemic in Indonesia, the green building remains unpopular. This research attempts to uncover how the market demand for green building is shaped, how the situation is during the pandemic, and how …

The Spatial Effects Of Elderly Population Presence On Covid -19 Incidence In Dki Jakarta Before, During, And After Large-Scale Social Restriction, Chotib Chotib, I G A A Karishma Maharani Raijaya Mrs., Ahmad Aki Aki Muhaimin Mr., Novani Saputri

Smart City

ABSTRACT

Infected cases and suspect cases of covid-19 are increasing more and more daily. This increment happens either in whole regions of Indonesia and DKI Jakarta as a capital city. The purpose of this research is to seek the pattern in spatial of Covid-19 incidence with 3 different periods of before, during, and after large-scale social restriction, and to identify the influence of the presence of the elderly and other factors. One of the scopes of this study is the presence of the elderly because the elderly population is considered as influencing the increase of Covid-19 incidence. The analysis method …

Literature Review: The Effects Of Covid-19 Pandemic-Driven Home Behavior In Housing Preference, Mahdaniar Maulidini Muhyi, Joko Adianto

Smart City

This literature review is aimed to identify the possible correlation between Covid-19 pandemic and housing preferences. It is known that the pandemic has impacts on human activities and this also has an indirect effect on housing selection. We used a qualitative method by reviewing 52 papers and articles related to pandemic and residential real estate from March 2020 to May 2021. The review indicates that Covid-19 pandemic has induced to the housing preferences: fear of meeting people, fear of economic recession, and ‘stay at home’ lifestyle. The pandemic increases people’s needs to control their living space, including personal safety space, …

From The Editors, Ahmad Gamal

Smart City

No abstract provided.

Dlr Covid-19 Mobility Review: Evaluation And Review Of The Phase 1 Covid-19 Mobility And Public Realm Works Undertaken By Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, Sarah Rock Dr., Dave O'Connor, Lorraine D'Arcy Dr., Odran Reid

Reports

Evaluation and Review of the Phase 1 Covid-19 Mobility and Public Realm Works undertaken by Dún Laoghaire- Rathdown County Council.

Interim findings, June 2021.

Civichon 1.0: City In A Village, Catalogue For Civichon Exhibition In Vienna Biennale 2021, Albert L. Park, Kyong Park, Annie Pedret

EnviroLab Asia

No abstract provided.

Spectral Urbanism: Modern Ghost Cities, Rare Earths, And Political Time At The Limits Of Materialism, Linsey Ly

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Contemporary urbanization in China is marked by speed, repetition, and similitude, key features of what I call spectral urbanism that also attends to the presence or absence, to recursivity and deferral. The mass development of empty, outmoded, and seemingly abandoned modern ghost cities in China’s borderlands come to be used as evidence of an interruption or lack in the veneer of Chinese modernity. The contours and quality of stalled development are measured, read in objects of the built environment that have yet to fulfill their anticipated function: vacant buildings, quiet roads that lead no one to empty parks, homes which …

From Displaced To Our Place: Using An Educational Narrative To Build Community In A Displaced Community, Morgan Frederick

Symposium of Student Scholars

Thomasville heights is a displacement neighborhood for people pushed out by Atlanta’s Urban Renewal projects. Thomasville Heights remains a casualty of a system of economic segregation. Under this system of segregation these neighborhoods are left in detrimental states. It is in places like Thomasville Heights where the phrase “place matters” becomes a call to action. A town of 6000 residents and only one elementary school, Thomasville heights is bordered by multiple freight yards, a cemetery, landfills, and Atlanta’s US penitentiary, just a 5-minute walk from that one elementary school. There remains a vast difference between that of low-income urban, and …

Towards Creating Smart Cities In Nepal, Ambika P. Adhikari, Keshav Bhattarai

Himalayan Research Papers Archive

Many urban centers in the world are seeking to become smart cities. Nepali city leaders are also aspiring to make their cities smart. A smart city basically has clever improvements made in three sectors of its operations: technological, human, and institutional. Globally, many cities have recently made impressive enhancements in at least one or more of these areas. Nepal’s National Planning Commission (NPC) in 2016 had released a concept paper on smart cities for Nepal, defining smart cities as sustainable, information and technology-based, with high quality services and replicable (NPC 2016). As most Nepali cities still operate with limited infrastructure, …

Central Plaza Recommendations, Jim Speer

2021 Spring Reports (Sullivan)

The City of Sullivan intends to leverage the new Central Plaza and Civic Center as key to the city. The Quality of Life plan indicates a desire to construct appealing aspects to Central Plaza. ENVI460 students were tasked with providing recommendations for a water feature and other sustainable features like a green roofing. This report reflects students’ recommendations for a sustainable water feature at Central Plaza.

Mitigating Urban Heat Island Effect At Southern City Park, Jim Speer

2021 Spring Reports (Sullivan)

The City of Sullivan indicated the southern City Park as an area of interest for redevelopment as a neighborhood area and for sustainable features. There are existing structures and habitats that they are looking to bolster. Students in ENVI 460 identified multiple components of the city park that could be updated and upgraded to provide more sustainable infrastructure and community focus. They recommended permeable pavers in two locations in the park area, green roofing on some existing structures, and adding native habitats to the overall area.