Urban, Community and Regional Planning Commons^™

A Review On Recent Deep Learning-Based Semantic Segmentation For Urban Greenness Measurement, Doo Hong Lee, Hye Yeon Park, Joonwhoan Lee

Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning Student Research

Accurate urban green space (UGS) measurement has become crucial for landscape analysis. This paper reviews the recent technological breakthroughs in deep learning (DL)-based semantic segmentation, emphasizing efficient landscape analysis, and integrating greenness measurements. It explores quantitative greenness measures applied through semantic segmentation, categorized into the plan view- and the perspective view-based methods, like the Land Class Classification (LCC) with green objects and the Green View Index (GVI) based on street photographs. This review navigates from traditional to modern DL-based semantic segmentation models, illuminating the evolution of the urban greenness measures and segmentation tasks for advanced landscape analysis. It also presents …

Design Guidelines For Homeless Shelter And Resource Center Site Plans, Samuel Johnson

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

Homelessness is one of the most pressing humanitarian issues facing the country today. Lack of affordable housing, among many other complicating factors, have led to many cities scrambling to find both short-, middle-, and long-term solutions to the issue. The Covid-19 pandemic added a disruption in services, critical record-keeping, and data-gathering, which has further confounded experts looking for an effective path forward. As it stands, there is a significant gap in academic research addressing best practices for shelter site design, particularly as it relates to landscape. The role of landscape and greenspace within and around a shelter is not well …

A Case For Educational Communication On Sustainable Stormwater Management Sites Using Interpretive Methods: Applications For Utah State University, Lilian Taft

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

Humans are increasingly urbanizing landscapes, lowering the land’s ability to infiltrate stormwater, increasing surface water runoff. This, combined with decreasing water availability in the Intermountain West, produces the issue of sustainable stormwater management. Professionals are moving toward green stormwater infrastructure (GSI), but public is often not aware of stormwater’s impacts on natural environments or what the purpose of GSI is. Stormwater management design techniques are evolving to use visible, sustainable methods celebrating stormwater, rather than treating the valuable resource as a disposable nuisance, channeling it underground and out of sight. Artful Rainwater Design (ARD), a technique coined by Stuart Echols …

Historic Downtown Streetscape Plan Price City, Utah, Patricia Beckert

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

The idea of a small-town Main Street has profound meaning within the American culture that has prevailed for the past two centuries. Historically, Main Street serves as the beating heart of a community, a place where economic, social, cultural, and civic activities are centered (Francaviglia, 1996; Main Street America, n.d.). Since the beginning of the 19th century, many factors have led to the decline of Main Streets, and despite a variety of efforts from different stakeholders, that decline has only intensified in recent decades (Isenberg, 2008; Orvell, 2014 Howard, 2015). In 1980, after a three-year project conducted by the National …

Assessing Socio-Demographic And Urban Form Changes Of Sprawl Retrofitting Projects In The United States, Hooman Hadayeghi

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Growing population and urbanization have escalated the inclination in today’s societies to live in the suburbs. In the United States, urban development has had a suburbanization pattern since World War II. People living in such areas must use their cars to reach their destination and commute to work. Sprawl retrofitting is a term introduced by planners and researchers to overcome urban sprawl's negative impacts on mobility, transportation, and the environment. This approach is used to densify and change the built environment to make daily trips easier, shorten daily travels, and enhance pedestrian activity in places dealing with sprawl. Sprawl retrofitting …

Sea-Level Rise Practitioner Workshop Report: Leading Practices And Current Challenges, Ray Boyle, Daniella Hirschfeld, David Behar

Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning Faculty Publications

Seas are rising, and so is action in coastal communities to prepare. The uncertain timing of rising seas, difficulties evaluating long-term rise while facing more immediate causes of flooding such as typhoons and fluvial flooding, and simply the threat of permanent inundation of coastal zones settled for hundreds or thousands of years presents unprecedented challenges. As in all sectors impacted by anthropogenic climate change, working with others facing novel challenges to share progress and difficulties, collaborate regionally, and build competence and confidence in finding solutions can be invaluable.

Data For: A Global Survey Of The Application Of Sea-Level Projections, Daniella Hirschfeld, David Behar, Robert Nicholls, Niamh Cahill, Thomas James, Ben Horton, Michelle E. Portman, Rob Bell, Matt Campo, Miguel Esteban, Bronwyn Goble, Munsur Rahman, Kwasi Appeaning Addo, Faiz Ahmed, Monique Aunger, Orly Babitsky, Anders Beal, Ray Boyle, Jiayi Fang, Amir Gohar, Susan Hanson, Saul Karamesines, Mj Kim, Hilary Lohmann, Kathy Mcinnes, Nobuo Mimura, Doug Ramsay, Landis Wenger, Hiromune Yokoki

Browse all Datasets

Including sea-level rise (SLR) projections in coastal adaptation is increasingly recognized as crucial. Here we analyze the first global survey on the use of SLR projections comprising 253 coastal practitioners engaged in adaptation/planning from 49 countries with time frames of 2050 and 2100. While recognition of the threat of SLR is almost universally recognized, only 71% of respondents currently utilize SLR projections. Generally, developing countries have lower levels of utilization. There is no global standard in the use of SLR projections: for locations using a standard structure, 53% are planning for a single projection, while the remainder are using multiple …

The Santaquin Greenway System: Preserving The Future Of Santaquin Trails And Open Space, Ian Kola

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

Santaquin residents value their open spaces, trails and gathering spaces. Greenways are a space-efficient form of open space that can ensure a community has access to these amenities.

This greenway master plan is a cumulative result of work compiled and completed by students from Utah State University’s Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning department, Santaquin residents, and city government. Extensive community engagement occurred through USU’s senior capstone and Charrette projects, and this master plan coincides with the planning conclusions made in these projects.

This plan represents a conceptual layout and design of a greenway system in Santaquin, UT. These plans are …

North Logan Active Transportation Plan, Lloyd Sutton

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

The North Logan Active Transportation Plan provides a small, Utah community with background information, data, public involvement summaries, and recommendations regarding active transportation planning. The plan focuses on providing transportation infrastructure recommendations for use by bicycles, pedestrians, and other forms of active, non-motorized transport.

Pocatello Downtown Development Plan: A Vision For The Twenty-First Century, James L. Anglesey

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

Downtown Pocatello is the beating heart of the city and serves as the community's epicenter of civic and cultural life. It encompasses Pocatello's unique heritage and will play a vital role in Pocatello's success in the future. Downtown's physical location between world-class recreational opportunities and a research-based university provides key metrics for creating a successful downtown. This thesis establishes the foundational premise for downtown success and sets forth a vision for Pocatello to reinforce, connect, and intensify its greatest community assets through a series of urban design and redevelopment solutions and recommendations. A literature review focused on the theoretical underpinnings …

Western Region Health & Wellness Programming Efforts: Qualitative Results From A Three-Part Listening Session, Cris L. Meier, Lily Ward, Anders Van Sandt, Sue Schneider, Riana Gayle

All Current Publications

The purpose of this project was to understand the programming efforts and experiences of Extension professionals in the Western Region of the United States. The Health and Wellness Working Group team held a series of listening sessions with a closed cohort of Extension professionals, hoping to learn from each other while also building the foundation for future collaborations and conversations about health and wellness programing in the western region.

The objectives were to understand: (1) the state of health and wellness work in the western region, including the gaps and challenges, (2) the programs that currently exist and ways that …

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 …

The River, The Residents, And The City: A Holistic Vision Study For Logan River's Upper Reach, Lisa Aedo

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

The three-mile Upper Reach of the Logan River starting at the USU Water Lab to the 100 East bridge has been negatively impacted by residential development and diversion for agriculture and industry. A task force comprised of faculty at USU, professionals, government and city officials, and concerned residents has developed a Conservation Action Plan focused on twenty-two baseline indicators which, if improved, can help rehabilitate the river. This thesis looks at the factors that created the current challenges and seeks to provide a holistic vision with design solutions to address said challenges in alignment with that Plan. A literature review …

An Indicator Based Transportation Sustainability Assessment In Regional Development: A Case Study For Cache County, Utah, Humaira Yusuf Nabeela

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Evaluating sustainability for a key system like transportation can be vital for both planners and citizens alike, as planners provide the system and citizens use the system. A sustainable transportation system not only builds a prosperous economy, but it also ensures social equity and a healthy environment for years to come. There are differing scales of sustainability assessment, ranging from neighborhood to global. However, a sustainability scale between the local and national scale is not very common in practice. Therefore, this study offers a regional scale sustainability assessment for the transportation system that will address local changes while also reflecting …

Resilient Golf Course Design: Renovating Eaglewood Golf Course To Improve Stormwater Management & Increase Wildlife Habitat, Foster Cook

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

The Earth is experiencing climatic changes globally, influencing issues such as reduced water availability, loss of native habitats for flora and fauna, increased resource demand and consumption by humans, continued dependency on carbon-based energy, rapid population growth and rising global temperatures. In order to combat and mitigate these issues, changes to our design habits will be required. Historically, golf courses have been viewed negatively with regard to environmental impacts, due to excessive water use, reliance on herbicides and pesticides and the carbon footprint associated with mowing. However, recent studies have shown that golf courses have the potential to positively impact …

Exploring Park Quality In Urban Setting With Environmental Justice, Alternative Measurements, And Social Interaction, Shuolei Chen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

With rapid urbanization, urban green resources, such as parks have become important assets for quality of life in urban settings. Parks provide urban residents with both physical and psychological health benefits through various mechanisms such as physical activity and social interaction. Quality is an important non-spatial dimension of urban parks and has started to gain attention among researchers. To better understand park quality in an urban setting, additional knowledge should be explored. This dissertation studies the quality of urban parks from three different perspectives: 1) the equal distribution of park quality resources and its relationship to environmental justice issues, 2) …

Alternative Futures For Dalton Wells, Mary Oliver

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

Visitation to the Moab region has increased significantly in recent years, causing campgrounds near town to be consistently full. The Dalton Wells area, a recreation area off Highway 191 just north of Moab, has become an especially popular place for dispersed camping, as it is free and in close proximity to town. Dalton Wells does not have the infrastructure or management necessary to support the current number of visitors, straining the site’s fragile desert ecosystem. The site also hosts a dinosaur quarry and the foundations of a historic CCC camp. These resources are unmaintained and at risk of pillaging and …

Not Parking Lots But Parks: A Joint Association Of Parks And Transit Stations With Travel Behavior, Keunhyun Park, Dong-Ah Choi, Guang Tian, Reid Ewing

Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning Faculty Publications

Urban design literature says that public open space in a station area could promote walking and other types of physical activity, enhance place attractiveness, and increase property values. In the context of station areas, however, there is a lack of empirical studies on the relationship between the presence of parks and sustainable travel behavior, which is one of the primary goals of transit-oriented developments (TODs). This study examined the impact of park provision on transit users’ mode choice in three U.S. regions: Atlanta (GA), Boston (MA), and Portland (OR). This study utilized multilevel multinomial logistic regression to account for hierarchical …

Space Syntax: Regional Planning For Bicycles, Connor J. White

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study focused on using a mapping tool, Space Syntax, to analyze the connectivity of the Cache County road network and its use to plan for bicycles. Space Syntax is being compared to another method that is already used by city planners called Bicycle Level of Service, or BLOS. The two analyses used data from Cache County and, after they were modeled and evaluated, a statistical analysis was done to see how similar one is to the other. The analyses were done at both a regional and a local scale. At both scales the analyses were not similar.

Data was …

Identifying And Assessing Conflicts Between Future Development And Current Migratory Bird Habitat Around Farmington Bay, Utah, Aubin A. Douglas

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

Every year, the Great Salt Lake (GSL) and its associated wetlands provide critical habitat for over 250 migratory bird species from both the Pacific and Central Flyways. The GSL borders the Wasatch Front, which is the fastest growing and most populous region in Utah. To support the ever-increasing working population, the government of Utah aspires to increase the robust economic growth of the region through economic incentives and development of infrastructure. As this area continues to develop, greater pressure will be placed on the surrounding natural resources, including the GSL, its wetlands, and the open space and agricultural land that …

Street Life And The Built Environment In An Auto-Oriented Us Region, Keunhyun Park, Reid Ewing, Sadegh Sabouri, Jon Larsen

Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning Faculty Publications

Urban planners and designers believe that the built environment at various geographic scales affects pedestrian activity, but have limited empirical evidence at the street scale, to support their claims. We are just beginning to identify and measure the qualities that generate active street life, and this paper builds on the first few studies to do so. This study measures street design qualities and surrounding urban form variables for 881 block faces in Salt Lake County, Utah, and relates them to pedestrian counts. This is the largest such study to date and includes suburbs as well as cities. At the neighborhood …

A Framework For Assessing Natural Lands And Finding Common Ground In The Bear River Range, Scott Mccomb

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

Forests, wetlands, grasslands, lakes and deserts make up the natural lands that humans and nature rely on. In the Bear River Range, these lands are becoming smaller and more disconnected due to residential and commercial development, agriculture, energy production and transportation corridors. In addition, natural lands are owned and managed by a variety of groups representing different values, priorities and traditions. For large-scale conservation to be successful, it needs to incorporate multiple priorities. The purpose of this study was to provide a process for identifying the remaining network of natural lands within the Bear River Range that indicate high ecological …

Evaluating Decline: An Assessment Of Variables Correlated With Shrinking Rural Communities, Aubrey Christensen

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

Researchers have long sought to understand the relationship between rural population decline and the factors causing variations from time to time and from place to place (Albrecht, 2010). However, few studies have made comparisons at the local level or developed appropriate regional or place-based metrics. The purpose of this project was to determine which local-level factors and variables correlate with rural population decline and to provide recommendations based on those findings.

This project analyzed the relationships between 2000-2010 population trends and a variety of demographic, economic, and biophysical factors specific to rural communities throughout the state of Utah. A community-level …

Transportation Related Challenges For Persons With Disabilities, Graydon Bascom

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Gaining access to transportation is essential for obtaining employment, education, healthcare, and social interaction. Individuals who face difficulties in gaining this access are considered ‘transportation disadvantaged’ and include individuals of lower socioeconomic status, aging individuals, and persons with disabilities. In our autodependent society, individuals with disabilities face even fewer opportunities to interact within their communities. In order to better understand how individuals with disabilities are limited by their access to transportation, two studies were conducted.

The first study specifically seeks to examine how individuals with disabilities gain access to transportation and the interpersonal relationships that affect opportunities for social participation …

Archaeological Tourism Opportunity Spectrum: Experience Based Management And Design As Applied To Archaeological Tourism, Brian Mazzola

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

Archaeological sites need a new management and development framework to address the pressures resulting from an increasing interest in archaeological tourism. This new framework needs to address both the imminent threat that increased tourism brings (overuse, crowding and additional wear) to the site as well as the widening range of experiences that tourists expect. Over the last decades, management frameworks have been developed in many fields of tourism to address similar issues. The most widely known of these approaches are the Recreational Opportunity Spectrum (ROS), the Tourism Opportunity Spectrum (TOS) and the Ecotourism Opportunity Spectrum (ECOS). These frameworks provide several …

Bear River Pipeline Concept Report Volume 2, Bowen, Collins & Associates, Hdr Engineering

Water

No abstract provided.

Bear River Pipeline Concept Report Volume 1, Bowen, Collins & Associates, Hdr Engineering

Water

No abstract provided.

Regional Planning Initiative For The Province Of Puerto Plata In The Dominican Republic: A Tourism Planning Framework For The Towns Of San Felipe De Puerto Plata And Sosua, Ana A. Baez Sarita

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

The Dominican Republic has locations rich in cultural, historical, and ecological assets. One of these places is the province of Puerto Plata. Located in the northern region of the country, Puerto Plata was one of the first territories of America in which Christopher Columbus arrived in 1492. Built in the year of 1494 because of the second Spanish expedition arrival, La Isabela, the first new world’s Spanish village represents one of the many vital historical components of the province of Puerto Plata. The country has an economy largely based in the service sector. According to the U.S. Department of State, …

A Cpted Bibliography: Publications Related To Urban Space, Planning, Architecture, And Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, 1975-2010, Sean E. Michael, Gregory Saville, Joel W. Warren

Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning Faculty Publications

This compendium is the result of two different bibliographies. The first was completed by Sean Michael, Professor and Department Head of the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planing at Utah State University. The second was completed by Gregory Saville, urban planner and Principal of AlterNation Consulting, started during graduate work at the Faculty of Environmental Studies at York University. Consolidation and expansion of the two works was overseen by Joel Warren, during his Masters of Landscape Architecture at Utah State University.

Our thanks go to the many students, colleagues, and friends who contributed to this work over the years. …

Seep Ridge Road Paving Project Environmental Assessment, United States Department Of The Interior, Bureau Of Land Management

Environmental Assessments (UT)

This Environmental Assessment (EA) has been prepared to disclose and analyze the environmental consequences of the Seep Ridge Road Paving Project as proposed by Uintah County (hereafter referred to as the county). The EA is a site-specific analysis of potential impacts that could result with the implementation of the Proposed Action or an alternative to the Proposed Action. The EA assists the BLM in project planning and in making a determination as to whether any “significant” impacts could result from the analyzed actions. An EA also provides evidence for determining whether a statement of “Finding of No Significant Impact” (FONSI) …