Urban, Community and Regional Planning Commons^™

Measuring The Sustainability Of U.S. Public Bicycle Systems, Max W. Williamson

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

As cities worldwide plan for increasing urbanization levels, new challenges in mobility will arise. Any approach taken to address these new issues will need to consider how to move more people with declining resources, thus the need for a sustainable solution arises. This thesis examines the growing trend of cities creating public bicycle systems as a means to add sustainability to a transportation system and identifies what are the criteria and indicators of a sustainable public bicycle. The criteria and indicators are used to examine data collection techniques of three Public Bicycle Systems in the United States: Capital Bikeshare in …

The Role Of The Household In Urban Forestry As A Measure Of Urban Sustainability: A Matrix Of Action And Change, Anthony M. Rodriguez Ph.D.

Faculty Scholarship

The urban forest holds several important positions within the built and unbuilt environments. Those positions include economic, health, sustainability, quality of life measures, and overall protection of the environment, including air, water, and soil. The points are highlighted by Wolf (2005, 2007), McPherson (2005), and Rowntree & Nowak (1991). This research references the four socio-economic sectors; the public or government sector, for profit or market sector, philanthropic or nonprofit sector, and the household or private sector (Biggs & Helm 2007). The common purposes and role of each sector with respect to the urban tree cover takes on importance as they …

Roger Williams Park Edible Forest Garden, Mark S. Scialla

Senior Honors Projects

An edible forest garden is a low-maintenance system that uses edible native and regionally-adapted plants arranged in beneficial relationships to meet human, wildlife and ecosystem needs. The forest garden in Roger Williams Park will transform underutilized urban land into a highly productive parcel producing market-viable fruits, nuts, vegetables, medicine and fiber. Forest gardens mimic natural forest systems in architecture and complexity. The design follows ecological principles to create a system that promotes biodiversity and enhances the surrounding ecosystem. This project also demonstrates the potential to grow food and create land-based livelihoods in the city.

Located on the edge of a …

Public Housing In The United States: Using Sustainable Urbanism To Combat Social Exclusion, Jasmine L. Edo

Scripps Senior Theses

The United States government has taken steps to assure underprivileged citizens housing in the form of public housing through the Department of Housing and Urban Development, as well as various humanitarian programs in the form of homeless shelters. Yet, all housing is not equal. Our freedom to choose where we live and what type of house we live in is one revered aspect of life as a United States citizen. We can express our individuality, creativity, and personality through the architectural style of our homes. In this sense it is hard to ask for equal housing. I am suggesting that …

Building Low-Carbon Cities Through Local Land Use Planning: Towards An Appropriate Urban Development Model For Sustainability, Ting Wei

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

The main purpose of this thesis is to study how to establish low carbon, attractive cities for human beings. This paper attempts to contribute to sustainable development by encouraging the development of low-carbon cities through local land use decisions. The study proposes to answer the following two research questions: 1) how well do the fastest growing cities in the U.S. implement low-carbon principles in their local comprehensive land use plans?, and 2) how can local land use plans be improved to achieve the goal of low-carbon cities? Through evaluating the local land use comprehensive plans of the top fifty fastest …

Crossings, Noel Brady

Books/Book Chapters

Chapter concentrates on the bridges of Dublin’s river Liffey; their importance to the vitality of the city, its commerce and people. It also highlights the importance of crossings in the city linking and opening up new paths to growth and development.

Farm To School Programs As A Tool For Food System Sustainability, Samantha Jackson

All Theses

Are Farm to School Programs being utilized by communities as a component of agricultural sustainability? This initial question led to a larger inquiry as to what agricultural sustainability tools communities are incorporating, with Farm to School Programs as a component, and what roles, or potential roles, planners are playing in program creation and implementation. A literature review of the current food system, sustainability threats imbedded within the system, and the potential for local food system planning, specifically Farm to School Programs, to overcome these threats provided a framework for research on the agricultural sustainability tools being planned for within communities …

The Integration Of Biomimicry Into A Built Environment Design Process Model: An Alternative Approach Towards Hydro-Infrastructure, Timothy Lee Albertson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Current methods and processes that support the planning, design and construction of a sustainable built environment include ambiguous principles (Roseland 2000), lack feedback loops (Van Bueren and Jong 2007) and lack a common language between disciplines (Brandon et al 1997). As a result of 3.8 billion years of "research and development" (evolution), nature provides a set of design blueprints that may be used to guide us to create elegant, sustainable, and innovative designs for human technologies (Benyus 1997). The field of biomimicry analyzes nature's best ideas and adapts them for human use (Benyus 1997). The built environment could benefit from …

Green Can Bring Green: An Evaluation And Comparison Of The Economic Effects Of Sustainable And Economic Redevelopment, Kathryn Young

All Theses

The process of redevelopment is a relied upon method of breathing new life into downtowns and urban areas. Though several common redevelopment approaches contribute to a sustainable atmosphere, more significant environmentally- and ecologically- sustainable approaches can be implemented in redevelopments to repair and support the environment and ecology of an area. But do economic and sustainable redevelopment models have similar impacts on the surrounding economies? This report conducted an evaluation and comparison of the economic effects of sustainable redevelopments and economic redevelopments. Though research is considered exploratory, the results demonstrate that sustainable and economic redevelopments are both viable options for …

Sustainable Commercial Interior Design, Órla Keane

Dissertations

This dissertation looks at the environmental benefits of 3 key areas in relation to interior design: Energy, Water and Air; energy efficient lighting, water efficient plumbing fixtures and the effects of interior materials and finishes on indoor air quality.

Qualitative research methodology: Extensive literature review of texts available on these topics, and also of the relevant building codes and environmental legislation applicable to Irish interior designers and the built environment.

Quantitative research methodology: A comprehensive survey of then currently practicing Irish interior designers, and their use of sustainable design strategies (or lack thereof). The survey was conducted in conjunction with …

Planning For Climate Change Mitigation And Adaptation In North Central Texas: A Roundtable Discussion, Jeff Howard, Kent Hurst

School of Urban and Public Affairs Publications - Archive

On July 16, 2009, the School of Urban and Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Arlington hosted a daylong roundtable on how “climate leader” municipalities of North Central Texas—and urban planners in those communities—are responding to the looming challenge of climate change. The organizers invited the planning directors in selected North Central Texas communities to send staff members to participate. The targeted municipalities were those who are members of Cities for Climate Protection (ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability) or whose mayors have signed the Climate Protection Agreement (U.S. Conference of Mayors). Of the 17 such communities in the …

City Of Patterson Sustainability Plan, Colin Brian Clarke

Master's Theses

This Master’s Thesis / Professional Project is a Sustainability Plan developed for the City of Patterson, California. The Patterson Sustainability Plan (PSP) was developed concurrently with the General Plan Update, and will be presented to the City for adoption within a year. The Sustainability Plan will help inform decision-making by way of its Goals and Actions for implementation to improve community sustainability. Before the plan was developed, background research was conducted that included a Best Practices Review to assess what other cities are doing to address sustainability, a Needs Assessment to evaluate existing conditions in Patterson and determine its unique …

Mountain Megas: America's Newest Metropolitan Places And A Federal Leadership To Help Them Prosper, Robert E. Lang, Andrea Sarzynski, Mark Muro

Brookings Mountain West Publications

The Initiative The Brookings Institution and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, are collaborating to bring Brookings’ high-quality, independent and impactful research to the issues facing the dynamic and fast-growing Mountain West region: the states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. Every year, Brookings will send scholars from each of its five research programs to spend three weeks at UNLV to conduct research, meet with faculty, and deliver lectures and seminars. The project begins September 8, 2009, with presentations on national and local trends. The new initiative builds upon the work of Brookings’ Metropolitan Policy Program, which focuses …

Fta And The City: Imagineering Sustainable Urban Development, John Ratcliffe, Elzbieta Krawczyk, Ruth Kelly

Articles

This paper argues that urban planners and policy-makers lack an effective future-oriented approach enabling them to comprehend current complexity, anticipate impending change and shape a preferred future condition. In doing so it: - reviews the performance of contemporary city planning; - examines the need to chart and navigate the city technosphere by reference to city capital; - explores ways in which planning can benefit from a futures studies approach; - describes generally how futures-oriented thinking can produce effective city prospective; and, - poses specifically a number of questions regarding the concept of the intelligent city’. The paper concludes by calling …

Public Private Partnerships And Sustainability Principles Guiding Legislation And Current Practice, Brenda Ryan

Reports

No abstract provided.