Urban, Community and Regional Planning Commons^™

Evaluating Mobile-Based Citizen Science In Increasing Citizen Participants In Environmental Management, Wenqi Ou

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

Mobile-based citizen science as thriving citizen education tool increases the non-expert citizen involvement in the scientific world by encouraging the public upload nature observation to assist scientific research while learning scientific knowledge. Mobile-base citizen science as social media has potential to facilitate citizen engagement in the environmental management. Based on the conceptual framework of citizen science incorporation with environmental management, large users in the program foster the citizen involvement in the environmental management. Research here applies SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Threats) analysis to evaluate mobile based citizen science regarding data management, citizen participation, and partnership. It revealed the current status …

Influence Of Street Trees On Roadway User Safety, Maggie Harthoorn

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

This thesis aims to understand trends of trees in transportation planning and to determine if street trees have a negative or positive influence on crash frequency and severity. As roadways become more walkable and livable, they become safer. Street trees are a vital component of this trend. Planners must understand the impacts of trees on roadway user safety as they work to reduce crash risk. Although spatial analysis suggests there may be a negative relationship between trees and crash frequency, correlation models find a significant correlation between trees and crash severity, but no significant correlation between trees and crash frequency. …

Housing Availability, Accessibility And Affordability For Nebraska's Rural Aging Populations, Jordan G. Grummert Rasmussen

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

Rural America and the nation as a whole has entered a phase of significant demographic change, as the number of Americans over the age of 65 is estimated to double by 2050. Nebraska counties and the state are, too, experiencing this shift in the age demographic. As the population ages, consideration must be given to the housing options for older adults, specifically those who reside and wish to remain in rural areas.

While broad consideration is given to either population aging or housing in rural areas, there is limited county level analysis adjoining these demographic and housing realities. This study …

Funding Strategies For Non-Traditional University Ms4 Stormwater Programs, Elizabeth M. Garrett

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

Stormwater programs have historically been stymied by lack of proper funding resources. Unlike drinking water and sanitary sewer utility services that long ago transitioned to enterprise funds, a stormwater utility continues to evade stable and direct revenue sources throughout much of the United States. Inefficiently funded stormwater programs utilizing general funding practices leaves stormwater management programs unable to properly plan for long-term improvement, management, regulatory compliance, and maintenance. Funding research has established that forms of direct funding sources are crucial for successful stormwater programs, however, focus has been directed to strategies for municipalities. This paper will attempt to analyze, through …

Aug City: The Cyber-Spatial Impacts Of Augmented Reality On The Field Of Urban Planning, Colton Berck

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

In the summer of 2016 a technology revolution swept the world from an unsuspecting place, a mobile game called Pokémon: Go. Almost immediately upon release, this application reached white-hot growth with a user-base spanning the globe, sparking new methods of interacting with communities. Behind the app, a driving force of the popularity, is the technology known as augmented reality (AR). This innovative medium, which intersects the “real-world” with the “digital-world,” is set to impact many aspects of life. As planning professionals are closely involved with the development and growth of communities, this thesis serves as a tool to determine how …

Evaluating Climate Change Mitigation And Adaptation Policies On The U.S. 50 States’ Hazard Mitigation Plans, Qiao Hu

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

Climate change brings uncertain risks of climate-related natural hazards. The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA 2011) has issued a policy directive to integrate climate change adaptation actions into hazard mitigation programs, policies, and plans. However, to date there has been no comprehensive empirical study to examine the extent to which climate change issues are integrated into State Hazard Mitigation Plans (SHMPs). This study develops 18 indicators to examine the extent of climate change considerations in the 50 SHMPs. The results demonstrate that these SHMPs treat climate change issues in an uneven fashion, with large variations present among the 50 …

Examining The Potential For Population Growth And An Economic Boom In Elk Creek, Nebraska As A Result Of Mining, Corbin D. Bogle

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

Many communities throughout the world that rely on resource extraction experience a population boom. This boom can be difficult accommodate due to the fact that many of these communities are small and do not have the housing to deal with the population increase. Elk Creek, Nebraska, a small community in southeast Nebraska, is on the brink of experiencing a possible boom situation. A company called NioCorp has discovered a mineralization at a site near the community and plans to mine niobium, titanium, and scandium from it. They believe this will add 1,200 temporary jobs for construction and 300 to 400 …

Central City, Nebraska Risk Assessment, Belinda S. Fowler

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

Small communities have limited resources for disaster preparation and planning. This project provides a factual basis for Central City, Nebraska, to work toward a comprehensive, locally based, hazard mitigation plan by estimating potential losses to people and property from natural and man-made disasters within the city's jurisdiction.

In cooperation with: The University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Community and Regional Planning Program; The Nebraska Emergency Management Agency; Region 44 Emergency Manager; The City of Central City, Nebraska

Wetland Inundation Mapping And Wetland Restoration Planning: A Case Study Of Playa Wetlands, Nebraska, Yue Gu

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

There has been a variety of wetland monitoring projects implemented in playa wetlands in Nebraska over the last decades. But there is still a lack of continuous wetland monitoring on long-term and large-area dimension. Because inundation condition is one of the critical parameters to describe wetland hydrologic performance, this study aims to assess the inundation alteration in playa wetlands in Nebraska and evaluate the performance of wetland conservation and restoration practices. This study uses the Landsat data to create playa wetland inundation condition maps and analyze the variation trend of inundated playa wetlands over the past 30 years. The results …

A Guide For Planning A Bike Share System At The University Of Nebraska–Lincoln, Wade M. Schuldt

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

The purpose of this document is to serve as a framework for planning a bicycle share system at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, with the possible inclusion of the City of Lincoln, Nebraska, in the system. This document provides a background review of the evolution of bike share systems and the recent rapid growth of these systems around the world. The document describes planning methodologies used in other locations and the lessons learned from the bike share systems around the world, as to what processes should be pursued to implement a successful bike share system. With the University of Nebraska-Lincoln move …

Energy Planning In Nebraska, Evaluating Energy Elements Of Local Comprehensive Plans In Nebraska, Phillip Luebbert

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

In 2010, Nebraska Legislature passed LB 997 requiring all Nebraska cities and counties to include an energy element within their local comprehensive plan by January 2015. For many communities, this is the first time energy has been addressed within their comprehensive plan. Energy planning literature and the requirements of LB 997 were used to create components of an ideal energy plan. Eighteen energy elements were selected by electronic availability and examined for components of an ideal energy plan. The results of this study show that energy elements of local comprehensive plans in Nebraska are lacking the components of an ideal …

Use Of Accessory Dwelling Units As A Housing Strategy: A Case Study Of Lawrence, Kansas, Travis M. Hulse

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

Accessory dwelling units have long been utilized as an alternative strategy of homeowners within single-family neighborhoods of the United States in response to changing needs in living arrangements. The American Planning Association defines an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) as either a self-contained living area located within the walls of an existing home or a freestanding structure on the same lot as the principal dwelling unit. While it is difficult to accurately identify all of the municipalities that allow the creation of ADUs in single-family neighborhoods, their presence was long established prior to the enactment of zoning regulations in cities across …

Evaluation Of Cultural Ecosystem Aesthetic Value Of The State Of Nebraska By Mapping Geo-Tagged Photographs From Social Media Data Of Panoramio And Flickr, Richard Wagner Figueroa Alfaro

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

Ecosystems and human beings are inter-related. People receive benefits from ecosystems named Ecosystem Services such as provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural services. Aesthetic value from cultural services is the interaction of people with the environment related to natural beauty. Over the time, traditional approaches for evaluating aesthetic value have been developed.

The main goal of this thesis was to evaluate the aesthetic value in Nebraska by using social media data from Panoramio and Flickr since they became a huge source of information available for multiple uses. We analyzed the clusters of pictures with the location of potential areas of aesthetic …

Composite Index As A Way Of Measuring Economic Distress In Nebraska, Cornelius S. Okumu

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

The Nebraska state department of economic development, just like any other state’s department of economic development in the United States receives funding for economic development programs. These programs are mostly geared toward revitalizing economic situations of villages, cities or counties that are under economic distress. The purpose of this paper is to assess how the Nebraska Department of Economic Development (NEDED) currently measure distress in Nebraska Counties, and develop composite distress indexes that might improve the measure, interpretation and use of Economic distress index to help in their allocation of Economic development resources to Nebraska counties.

Advisor: Rodrigo Cantarero

Examine The Role Of Social Media And Volunteered Geographic Information In 2014’S California Drought, Ligang Zhang

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

Abstract

Social media encompasses online communication platforms. Presently, it has been involved in the management and mitigation of crises and disasters. The paper discusses the use of social meida and Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) in the management of the 2014’s California drought. The significance of social media and volunteered geographic information is emphasized in the study. As well as factors that influence the suitability of the two, social media and voluntary geographic information in the whole process of managing the California drought are also explored. The SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis of one-way info-sharing, two-way info-sharing, rumor control, reconnection, …

Measuring The Adoption Of Development Management Policies As An Instrument Of Disaster Mitigation Toward Resilient Coastal Communities In Florida, Asmaul Husna

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

Coastal hazards have been known as the scariest group of hazards, monsters that threaten 39% of the nation population and in less than 10 years. With the current population growth, the monsters will harm almost half of the nation’s population (45% to be exact) and uncountable properties placed at only 17% of land area of the country. The threat of coastal hazards has never been low, but it keeps rising because no human being in this world can prevent, stop, contain or avoid the hazards from happening. But, there always are ways to lower the risk and the loss with …

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

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

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

Gis Spatial Analysis Of Segregation Clustering Evolution In Lincoln, Nebraska, Sarah Aftika

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

Rising immigration growth in the Midwest creates Multi-racial communities and segregation such as social class segregation, economic segregation, education segregation, and also housing segregation. In urban America, there are three major sets of explanatory causal factors that have been hypothesized to explain ethnic residential segregation. They are: housing discrimination, socioeconomic status (SES) and ethnic group preferences (French 2008, 1).

Lincoln, as a metro city in Nebraska, shows signs of segregation phenomena as well as other metro cities in Midwest. The analysis tool used for this study is Geographic Information System (GIS) spatial analysis. This tool enables us to examine the …

Urban/Rural Spatial Identity And Legislative Behavior In Nebraska, The Impact Differences On Economic Development And Environmental Legislation, Melissa L. Trueblood

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

The urban/rural divide is pervasive in policy-making in Nebraska. In this nonpartisan state, coalitions based on spatial identity or whether the legislator is urban or rural seem to have greater weight than party especially in the creation of economic development policy. Often, economic development policies include locational considerations which give areas such as rural areas and economically distressed areas greater weight when distributing program funds. In my study, I investigate whether constituency or party has a greater impact on the legislative behavior of Nebraska state legislators when voting on economic development and environmental legislation. I expect that constituency would have …

Evaluating Cultural Vitality In U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Areas: Implications For Cultural Planning, Tingying Lee

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

The purpose of this study is to understand cultural planning’s current status in the United States. In this study, I used cultural vitality indicators as a tool to evaluate the cultural resources of cities in the United States. I also explored how planners have responded to the concept of creative cities by reviewing the cultural planning activities of the top 60 metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) in the United States. Lastly, I conducted a statistical test to see if an additional department such as cultural affairs, which focuses primarily on cultural planning, positively impacts cultural vitality. The result shows there is …

Revitalization Of Urban Alleys, Shusei Kakimoto

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

Alley revitalization is becoming more widely acknowledged as a viable urban redevelopment strategy in United States cities. Currently, most alleys in U.S. cities are underutilized, and they evoke a number of negative images—fearful places, waste-strewn, stinky, etc. The successful revitalization of alleys presents many benefits, such as economic development, enhanced walkability, visual enhancement, reduction of crime, etc. Revitalization of alleys leads to more productive and effective utilization of public space. In fact, cities in many countries have long utilized alleys as places where many aspects of ordinary daily life of the city take place. However, the potentials of alleys and …

The Real Estate Economics Of Walkability Components: The Influence Of Built Environment On Housing Value In Lincoln, Nebraska, Dohee Kim

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

This study analyzes the association between walkability and housing value in neighborhoods of Lincoln, Nebraska in order to observe the impact of walkability as one of prominent smart growth principles in creating economic value. The study estimates walkability through walkability components in each neighborhood of Lincoln based on the Lawrence Frank walkability index model. For the housing value assessment, a hedonic regression model was created to estimate median housing value in Lincoln based on the census block group dataset. The result of the model shows that walkability components have weaker influence on estimated housing value compared to other physical, demographic, …

The Role Of Multicultural Planning In Rural Nebraska, Case Studies Of Four Mid-Sized Cities, Pakiza Shirinova

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

The purpose of this study is to analyze multicultural planning practices in rural Nebraska towns. Due to the increased influx of Hispanic population in Schuyler, Lexington, South Sioux City and Crete of Nebraska in the period from 1990 to 2010, this research focuses on uncovering social and economic impacts that Hispanic immigration is leaving on receiving communities. Also, this study reviews current comprehensive plans of the communities selected for this research to determine whether multicultural policies are being defined and incorporated into the vision of community development. A survey of planning consultants, city administrators and community members further contribute to …

Planning For Drought-Resilient Communities: Evaluating The Fastest Growing Counties’ Local Comprehensive Plans, Xinyu Fu

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

Recent drought events across the United States illustrate the country’s changing and continuing vulnerability to drought. Drought impacts are often associated with unsustainable land use and poor water management practices, but research has been conducted on how well localities prepare for drought in building long-term resilience through land use planning and what jurisdictional factors correlate with their quality in drought planning. Targeting the fastest growing counties, due to their high possibility in increasing drought risk by making unwise land use decisions, this paper analyzes 61 selected county comprehensive plans from the research sample against a conceptualized drought-ready protocol, and examines …

Analysis Of Urban Water Use And Urban Consumptive Water Use In Nebraska, Case Study In The City Of Lincoln, Grand Island And Sidney, Yao Li

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

The trends of increasing water demand and drought occurrences in Nebraska’s urban areas pose a new crucial issue to water resource management. Former studies in Nebraska mainly focused on rural water demand caused by intensive agricultural irrigation, while largely ignoring the growing municipal water use. Therefore, this thesis aims to investigate total water use and consumptive water use in three major urban land use categories of residential, CIO (commercial, industrial and others), and open space. Three case cities are City of Lincoln, Grand Island and Sidney. First, a reliable and feasible methodology of estimating consumptive water use is developed based …

Internet-Based Public Participation Gis In Environmental Management, Tiantian Liu

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

Environmental problems are among the most urgent and significant issues in contemporary society and have attracted increasing attention all around the world. How to deal with the interaction between human and natural environment and achieve sustainable development is the task of environmental management. With the development of the democratic process, participatory management and planning show incomparable advantages in the decision making process. How to facilitate public participation in environmental management is the research endeavor of this thesis. With the development of the Internet and technology, Internet-based PPGIS becomes an affordable and accessible GIS tool for public engagement. This thesis uses …

Drought As A Component Of Local Hazard Mitigation Plans: Are The 100 Fastest Growing Counties Ready?, Jeffrey L. Henson

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

Drought is one of the most destructive natural disasters that threatens nearly every environment on earth. Between 1980 and 2011 there were 16 drought events in the United States with impacts that exceeded $1 billion with an average event cost of $12.2 billion according to the National Climate Data Center. While many states have engaged in the creation of drought plans, little research has been done regarding drought planning at the local level. This research examines the local planning efforts in 62 of the 100 fastest growing counties in the United States from 2000 to 2009. It is expected that …

Factors Affecting Students Walking To School: Case Study Of Two Middle Schools In Lincoln, Nebraska, Nivin S. Khalil

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

Physical activity, including walking, can be a very healthy and sustainable mode of transportation. Children walking to their schools can get a lot of benefits from acquiring good habits that can be carried through their adulthood. Also, walking to school can reverse the trend of increasing obesity rates among children in the United States. This study is trying to identify the effect of urban form, presented in the distances between residences and schools, on the children’s behavior whether they walk to school or not depending on different urban forms around their schools. Two middle schools in Lincoln, Nebraska were selected …

Planning The Future Of Connecting Young Nebraskans: The Evolution Of A Virtual Community, Andrea N. Gebhart

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

Connecting Young Nebraskans (CYN) is a statewide network designed to connect, empower and retain young Nebraskans. Due to the geographic spread of its members, the CYN network functions as a virtual community—a group of people who primarily interact through electronic means. With CYN approaching a period of organizational transition, this project is a social and community plan for CYN. Describing the network, summarizing the key issues facing the network, and recommending strategies to minimize issues and strengthen the network, this plan addresses how CYN can evolve so as to ensure the sustainability and continued success of the network. As the …

Building Healthy Communities: Integrating Walkability Concepts Into Local Land Use Planning, Jenna Danelle Muhlbach

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

In recent years, American communities have been diagnosed with several chronic health diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and obesity. Several researchers attribute sedentary lifestyles as one of the contributing factors to chronic diseases. The lack of physical exercise can be blamed by the auto-dependent suburbia lifestyle that many generations have become accustomed to. Poor land use developments have roads and freeways dominating the use of space, with the intent of having an automobile get from one place to another as efficiently as possible. This has allowed places to be much further apart therefore it has had a negative impact …