Urban, Community and Regional Planning Commons^™

We Must Count On Policy Change To Halt Obsolete Housing Rate, Lorcan Sirr

Media

The recent preliminary findings of this year’s census have thrown up some curious housing results. A little numbercrunching shows that we’ve not been adding as many houses each year as headline figures would suggest. Official completion numbers tell us that between 2011 and 2016, just 18,981 additional houses—or 0.94%—were added to the state’s overall housing stock, or an average of 3,796 a year. For comparison, at the 2006 census we had added 21%, and in 2011 it was 13%. We have effectively not increased our national housing stock in the past six years.

To Tackle The Housing Crisis, We Need To Talk About Ownership, Lorcan Sirr

Media

The rights and obligations that go with property ownership are important issues in any country trying to control its housing stock, resolve a housing crisis or create a functioning system. The concept of ownership is not clear cut: there is common ownership, as seen on the pampas and prairies, and in the outback; shared ownership, in India and China; temporal ownership, in medieval France and now Catalonia; and subservient ownership, where the Earth belongs only to its creator.

Local Approaches To Regional Problems: Suburban Government Responses To Portland's Regional Housing Crisis, Emma Deppa

Dissertations and Theses

The Portland metropolitan region has seen unprecedented growth in the last three decades, resulting in both economic expansion and considerable gentrification. While lauded for its commitment to sustainability and a "smart development" ethos, many questions remain for the city with respect to the needs of displaced residents and a burgeoning population of young professionals. This study examines how various levels of government implement growth management policies to accommodate these demographic changes, and aims to assess whether and how the consequences of growth, especially gentrification and displacement, are meaningfully addressed. Qualitative interviews were conducted with staff members and elected officials from …

Generation Rent Needs Grown-Up Housing Guidelines Now, Lorcan Sirr

Media

The private rented sector in Ireland accommodates 705,000 people in 324,000 tenancies—in properties owned by 172,000 registered landlords. In the past 18 months alone there has been an increase of 12,000 registered landlords.

The "Creative Workspace": A Comparative Analysis Of Stakeholder Perceptions, Augustina Radziunaite

Master's Theses

The rise of information technologies and creative industries formed a new class of “creative knowledge workers” with special needs for a workspace design. The recent tendency of playful and bold workspace designs for creative industries was labeled by some researchers as a “creative workspace,” but a body of knowledge about design strategies supporting “creative knowledge workers’” performance is still limited.

This master’s thesis research attempts to define “creative workspace” design phenomenon based on the three main stakeholder groups’ perceptions. The research analyzes existing literature and conducts in-depth interviews with designers and users to collect the data and compare the findings. …

Use Of Cycling Paths Along The Morogoro Brt Line, Ford Sanger

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

As the urban population continues to increase rapidly in Dar es Salaam it will become increasingly important to find sustainable means of urban transportation. With planned infrastructure improvements in the city to help alleviate traffic congestion, bicycles, which represent a largely underutilized form of urban transportation, have the potential to play a large role in the future of the city. Through background research, direct observations, community surveys, and interviews, both formal and informal, this study sought to understand the impact of the recent addition of bike lanes along the first phase of the Dar Bus Rapid Transit line. It was …

The Zoning Map And American City Form, Steven Thomas Moga

Landscape Studies: Faculty Publications

This paper investigates a common mode of visual communication in planning practice, the use of maps to regulate urban development. Holding equal legal status with the text, the zoning map was invented in the early twentieth century as a tool for implementing municipal policy and, although debated, modified, and sometimes repurposed over the past nine decades, it remains standard. Mundane and largely taken for granted, the zoning map itself has aroused little scholarly interest. However, as an image of the city and as a graphic intermediary used in administrative processes, it reveals how planning thought is embedded in planning tools.

Coveney Must Grasp The Nettle Of A Flawed Housing Report, Lorcan Sirr

Media

On June 17, the Oireachtas committee on housing and homelessness published its report after convening in April. It interviewed 38 witnesses and received about 82 submissions from the public and various bodies. These reports do not write themselves, so the committee must be commended for its efforts. Indeed, as I suspect many of its members did not appreciate the infinite complexities of housing, apart from the normal personal experiences, what they have read and constituents’ queries. They did well to get their heads around some of the main issues involved. The final report has some good recommendations but it misses …

The State Needs To Supply Its Own Housing — To Save Money, Lorcan Sirr

Media

Much debate about housing has centred on proposed solutions such as the Central Bank’s lending limits and a reduction in VAT for developers. The Department of the Environment’s contribution managed to bypass the democratic process, ignore its own civil service rules, then introduce newmandatory smaller apartment sizes, which, it said, would bring down costs and stimulate development. Of course, such a crude move did no such thing—just as reducing VAT for developers and lifting bank lending ratios for lenders will not create an affordable housing system. These “solutions” are like Nero fiddling as Rome burned behind him.

Hearst Lecture: Andrea Johnson - New York City (Steady) State, Andrea Johnson

Focus

No abstract provided.

Provisional Capital: National And Urban Identity In The Architecture And Planning Of Bonn, 1949-1979, Samuel L. Sadow

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation explores the physical transformation of Bonn in the postwar period, with a particular focus on the 1960s and 1970s, as the city accommodated the West German federal government. Bonn’s long campaign in the 1960s to redraw its municipal borders and the federal government’s construction of several high-rises in the city and its neighbor, Bad Godesberg, were the most concrete markers of Bonn’s evolution as a capital city in this period. The complex political processes and sometimes bitter conflicts behind each of these developments paralleled the gradual and successful entrenchment of democracy in the Federal Republic of Germany. At …

Table Of Contents

Focus

No abstract provided.

Editor's Overview, Vicente Del Rio

Focus

No abstract provided.

A Note From The Department Head, Michael R. Boswell

Focus

No abstract provided.

A Planner's Perspective: Liars And Slanderers, Chris Clark

Focus

No abstract provided.

Eulogy For David Dubbink

Focus

No abstract provided.

Global Changes, Local Impacts: California's Adaptation Tools Help Its Cities Address Climate Change, Michael R. Boswell, Christopher Read

Focus

The State of California has been changing state-level policies and legislation to prepare for and minimize the impacts of climate change. But how can local governments integrate climate adaptation planning into local policy and practice? Through three-case studies, Boswell and Read discuss how state agencies and the robust set of tools and guidance in the California Adaptation Planning Guide have been helping California communities in climate action planning.

Form-Based Codes: An Overview Of The Literature, Evan Evangelopoulos, Cornelius Nuworsoo

Focus

Urban form, sustainability, community vision, place specificity, code document clarity, and efficiency of the development process are identified as the essential themes behind form-based codes by Evan Evangelopoulos and Cornelius Nurworsoo. The authors note the need to develop measurable parameters to better study these themes and understand the impact of form-based codes in their effort to reform US cities and move them away from Euclidian zoning.

From Downtown To The Inner Harbor: Baltimore's Sustainable Revitalization, Vicente Del Rio

Focus

The revitalization of Baltimore's Inner Harbor and waterfront is internationally recognized as a planning and urban design model. This successful story started in the late 1950s with the Charles Center redevelopment plan for the core of the Central Business Distric and its positive effects on the city's economy. In the first of a twopart article, Vicente del Rio writes about this early plan and its role in Baltimore's efforts towards a sustainable revitalization. Next FOCUS will feature his account of the plan for the Inner Harbor and beyond.

A Wellness District For The City Of Ventura, Vicente Del Rio, Amir Hajrasouliha

Focus

This article describes the work by a graduate urban design studio from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s CRP Department during the Spring Quarter, 2016. Under a contract with the City of Ventura’s, the students explored the notion of a wellness district anchored by two major hospitals, and developed an urban design concept plan that is consistent with the General Plan and the city’s economic strategy.

Transportation Policy For Campus Climate Action Planning: Process And Policy Implications, Curran K. Lord-Farmer, William W. Riggs, Adrienne Greve

Focus

This article discusses the innovative methods used to complete the transportation components of Cal Poly’s Climate Action Plan (CAP). The campus's CAP was completed by a BSCRP studio during the fall and winter quarters (2015-2016AY) in collaboration with Facilities Planning and Capital Projects. Professors William Riggs and Adrienne Greve (instructors for the studio along with Chris Clark) developed the methods discussed here, and C. Kai Lord-Farmer was the graduate assistant who assisted in completing the technical analysis.

Highlights Of The Crp Summer 2016 Field Trip To San Miguel De Allende, Mexico, Hemalata C. Dandekar, Vicente Del Rio, Alex Chapman, Audrey Ogden, Kara Tobin, Melissa Smith, Tara Ash-Reynolds

Focus

From August 15 to 27, 2016, CRP professors Hemalata Dandekar and Vicente del Rio led a group of five CRP undergraduate students in a field trip to Mexico. Based in Los Arcos, an educational facility in San Miguel de Allende, the group studied the city’s planning and urban design, visited other cities and places of interest, and interviewed with local planners and architects.

Back Cover

Focus

No abstract provided.

Theses And Professional Projects Abstracts

Focus

For fulfilment of the MCRP degree, the CRP department offers the student a choice between a final comprehensive planning studio, a thesis, or a professional project. The following abstracts represent master’s theses and projects approved during the 2015/2016 academic year. They are all available from Cal Poly’s Kennedy Library at http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses.

Coversations With Alumni: Spotlight On Norm Allinder

Focus

No abstract provided.

Cartoon Corner

Focus

No abstract provided.

Crp 463: University Area Multi-Modal Access Plan June 2016, William Riggs, Sam Anderson, Spencer Johnson, Garrett Wank, Alex Hunt, Lauren Leedeman, Roberto Contreras, Mark Manha, Emma Petersen, Rebecca Wysong, Shannon Boston, Augustus Grochau, Matthew Wiswell, Jerome Wu, Crp 463 Senior Project Professional Practice

City and Regional Planning Studios and Projects

This study outlines work completed as a part of the CRP 463 senior capstone class outlining a new, comprehensive approach to active transportation on the Cal Poly campus. Led by Dr. William Riggs the project assessed the current conditions, identified opportunities and constraints and then developed conceptual options for a campus active transportation plan. In addition to this process the plan involved completion of a draft Bicycle Friendly University application for the Cal Poly campus (included as a supplemental file) and envisioned conceptual design options for various locations on the campus. Key locations evaluated included the Perimeter Road / University …

Hearst Lecture: Planning For Bhutan, Christopher Benninger

Focus

No abstract provided.

The Invisibility Of Code Enforcement In Planning Praxis: The Case Of Informal Housing In Southern California, Jake Wegmann, Jonathan P. Bell

Focus

In this article, Jake Wegmann and Jonathan Pacheco Bell argue that more and better engagement with working class neighborhoods and communities of color are urgent imperatives for the planning profession. Drawing on a survey, interviews, and their professional experiences with the informal housing market in Southern California, they show that, although much of this work is managed by code enforcement officers, the planning profession largely holds code enforcement at arms’ length. Wegmann and Bell show that ending the estrangement between code enforcement and planning would offer numerous benefits including inculcating cultural competence in planners, addressing vexing issues such as housing …

Streetplan: Hacking Streetmix For Community-Based Outreach On The Future Of Streets, William W. Riggs, Michael R. Boswell, Ryder Ross

Focus

Riggs, Boswell and Ross describe their pilot street design project deploying Streetplan, a version of the opensource tool Streetmix. As part of the City of San Luis Obispo downtown revisioning project, their efforts inform the process, currently underway, of revising the Downtown Vision Concept Plan. The project was presented at the 2016 Code for America Summit.