Urban, Community and Regional Planning Commons^™

Reinventing Greyfields, William Jones

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Since the 21st century began, sports involvement within society has grown as sporting events have become significant spectacles. Thus, major stadia came to be to hold spectators. Unfortunately, many are on the city's outskirts due to the size of their parking lots, categorized as greyfields. Greyfields are 'Underused' land or a 'sea' of asphalt concrete. The problem of creating greyfields within cities harms the urban fabric and the actual relationship between the stadium and the city. They are creating a disconnection between the two. This proposal is to design an urban hub around a chosen existing stadium to enrich the …

Desert Safe Haven, Deja Dortch

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

The purpose of this thesis is to inform on the materials, technologies, spaces and structure needed to architecturally and sustainably achieve human comfort and create a mother nature-proof safe haven in the becoming harsh climate of the USA. All the while implementing minimum HVAC, using primarily passive and active systems towards a net zero home. Studies have shown there is a real threat with the rate in which the climate is changing. Temperatures are rising worldwide which is causing droughts, more frequent fires, glaciers to melt, sea levels to rise, more severe hurricanes and storms, etc. Sustainability is a way …

Urban Anchors: Reviving The "Motor City", Alan Mota Lopez

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Currently, there are several large post-industrial cities around the world that are ridden with abandoned industrial buildings, these cities have also gone through a constant decline in population and culture while at the same time the rest of the world has done the opposite. The question at hand is what can be done for these cities to catch up with the successes of other major neighboring cities. The existing infrastructure and buildings left behind by these industries hold a great potential for re-development into proposed districts which would span a couple of blocks along a main street. The primary function …

Motown [Re]Vival: The Use Of Culinary And Urban Farming To Revitalize The Dying City Of Detroit, Keilani M. Patton

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Motown: Detroit, Michigan, once known as the automotive capital of the world, received its claim to fame through the birth of the assembly line by Henry Ford in 1905. His innovation steered the big boom of the automotive industry in the early 20th century, and later the mass movement to the city. Sadly, that all came crashing down with the fall of the industrial period. The loss of nearly all its auto plants, postwar white flight and suburbanization caused the city to suffer economic turmoil. By 1980 the population had decreased 35% since its peak in 1950. Today? The city …

Convalesce, Grace Kunst

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

What do you value most? Security or comfort? Could you choose only one? This is the daily dilemma for women and children trapped in violence and trafficking. They have a greater disposition to being re-trafficked or abused if they are unsheltered. Often, people within this group have been cut off from their friends and families, meaning they have no access to food, shelter, or finances. They need a place that can provide safety and security along with a support system for a fresh start.

This thesis project aims to explore the socio-spatial dilemma and stigma of distressed and homeless women …

Safer Favelas Through Urban Redevelopment: Keeping Kids Of The Street, And Away From Criminal Life, Thayna P. Rocha

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

This thesis investigates the complexity of a favela’s physical and social environment , and how urban redevelopment can improve crime prevention for youth .Favelas are informal settlements lying on the outskirts of brazilian cities. The favela of Grajau is located south of the city of Sao Paulo, and it is known for gang related violence, and high crime rates. Statistics show that an average of 240 homicides happen in the district of Grajau. Out of these 240 homicides, 104 are teenagers that were involved in gang related fights. A favela’s urban setting, and its’ lack of social programs have a …

Activating Non-Place, Noah Stogner

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Marc Augé defined non-place as the typical area in the urban space that has lost its identity and thus has fallen into the banal. Some of these typical nonplaces include airports, hotel rooms, convenience stores, and shopping malls. Augé argues that our urban space is ridden with these infrastructural inserts that lack of uniqueness and are homogeneous in nature. This lack of uniqueness has evolved into a mass exodus of urban interaction resulting in the identity of a city becoming lost. Auge’s nonplace are evident in our urban and suburban environments. On the other hand, Kevin Lynch defines the city …

Stadiums Redefined: Connecting Stadiums To Their Communities, Jonathan Linssen

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Stadiums are currently overspecialized structures that have limited uses during offseason of the sports they are built for. Additionally, stadiums tend to be extremely enclosed, cutting off its surroundings and greatly limiting any interaction it could have with the surrounding community it is set into. The aim of this thesis is to create a new typology for stadiums by looking at how a stadium can become something that provides more to the surrounding community and transcend its current design limitations.

Often placed in urban areas, stadiums are often surrounded by communities that could have used the space taken by the …

The Integration Of T.O.D. Principles In Relation To Built Form: Connecting Suburbia And Urbia, Kim Yen Banh

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Automobiles have been a growing part of our lives. We are left with the consequences of their effect on urban and suburban forms that are detrimental to human accessibility. Atlanta, deemed the poster child of urban sprawl, has made a major impact on neighboring cities, including Marietta, Georgia, which has a population of 60,687 (Data USA). Due to Marietta’s rapid urbanization and population density, the city will need to increase its accessibility and develop sustainable opportunities to meet residents’ needs.

As the city’s population grows and major universities such as Life University, Gwinnet College - Marietta Campus, and Kennesaw State …

Manufactured Exurbia, Elijah Swift

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

This project redefines the identity of the manufactured housing typology by conceiving of more adaptable structural configurations which provide a framework for breaking the conformity of mass production and mass consumption to give the residents true economic prosperity through control of the 3-D manufacturing process of their homes. Manufactured housing, formerly known as mobile or trailer homes, is one of the most vulnerable housing types in the United States during a severe weather event. This is due to the mass industrial production of a structural composition that is rather suited for permanently fixed construction, leading to fragility in their assemblage …

Building Unity; Design Framework For Inclusive New Urbanism, Chad Sharp

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

The city of Atlanta has historically embraced isolated growth over integrated density, which has contributed to the city’s limited inventory of inclusive urban centers. This divisive approach to urban design has helped facilitate a city of extremes; with high regional concentrations of wealth and poverty. This phenomenon is worsened by the city’s inherently exclusive transportation network and isolated residential development patterns. As Atlanta continues to grow and densify, it is crucial to adopt planning and design models that prioritize high-density, mixed-use residential developments in equitable locations with easy access to public transportation. To account for the failures of property filtering …

Core Connections: Stitching Together The Heart Of Atlanta Through The Redevelopment Of Underground Atlanta., Amari Parrish

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

The heart of Atlanta, a prosperous tourist destination brimming with life, has found itself containing areas that have been commercially cut off from inner-city connections in contradiction to being in a heavy transit area. Atlanta’s longstanding history of inhabiting smaller sub-cities inside a larger context that houses a constantly growing population has become overshadowed by traffic, underutilized spaces that create massive voids, and fragmentation which prevents the city’s unification. Core Connections focuses on creating a mixed-use development comprised of parking, retail, and office that reconnects the surrounding contents of Downtown Atlanta and repairs the area as the city’s core. Core …

Revitalizing Main Street, Usa: Recovering From The American Dream And The Destruction Of The Rural Main Street, Rebecca Virgl

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

The American Dream is a national ethos that states any person, with enough hard work, can succeed in the United States; it is both critique of the pitfalls of capitalism and advocacy of the potentials the system offers. Over time, suburbia has come to represent the physical manifestation of the American Dream. In the world of planning and architecture, much discussion is given to the suburbanization of the United States. The relationship between the city and the suburb is well documented, and many plans for suburban improvements focus on making suburbs more like cities, where they are more walkable, dense, …

(Not) Knowing, Jared Friedman

Theses and Dissertations

Jared Friedman’s work creates monuments out of banal common objects. Through acrylic paintings on- Astroturf, burlap, canvas, and upholstery fabric- he explores the ambiguity of the unremarkable, such as the condenser coils on the back of a refrigerator. In, (Not) Knowing, he parses the difference between knowing and understanding.

124 Notebooks, Andrea Lerner

Theses and Dissertations

124 Notebooks is a documentary about Brazilian architect and urbanist Jaime Lerner.

In 2010, two Brazilians were included in the TIMES Magazine list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World, the ex and now re-elected president, Luiz Inacio da Silva, known as Lula, and the Architect and Urbanist Jaime Lerner. Lerner was listed among the 25 most influential thinkers for his 40 years working with urban sustainability, starting in the 1970s with his urban revolution of a once obscure city in Brazil, Curitiba. Curitiba is where I am from; Jaime Lerner is my father.

In 124 Notebooks …

Assessment Of Rural Behavioral Characteristics In Nebraska Mental Health Professional Shortage Areas, Ruhma Khan

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

Since the issue of substance abuse is a concern in the United states and many of the states face the shortage of behavioural healthcare workforce, the purpose of the study is to identify how severe the issue of substance abuse is in Nebraska’s Mental Health Professional Shortage Area Counties. The research further analyses the various environmental, and family and household stresses that contribute to aggravating the issue. The objective is to categorize the counties to prioritize the areas for treatment and prevention measures. The study includes determinants associated with availability of services and facilities as well as family and household …

Song’S Site At Los Angeles Eco-Village Redevelopment, Kendall Gilbert, Marina Rios, Kristin Hernandez, Gianna Morelli

Honors Thesis

The Los Angeles Eco-Village (LAEV) is a co-op housing community, located in Koreatown, focused on building sustainable and economically cooperative living in an urban environment. The purpose of this project is to transform a property recently acquired by the LAEV, called Song’s, into a multipurpose community hub. The project design goals established with LAEV founder and community members, include cultivating new highly sustainable and resilient ideas on urban living and incorporating educational elements that inspire the community and visitors to live more sustainably. This project proposes three design elements to improve the community use of the newly acquired Song’s at …

معايير تقييم محطات النقل التبادلية بالتطبيق على محطة الجيزة التبادلية بالقاهرة الكبرى, Rania Adham, Abeer Galal, Maha Abd El Sattar

Emirates Journal for Engineering Research

يعتبر الاهتمام بترابط وكفاءة وسائل النقل العام في كل من البلدان المتقدمة والنامية من الأولويات الاستراتيجية من أجل تحقيق تنقل سلس وفعال، خاصة في المدن كثيفة التحضر والأنشطة، حيث يكون استخدام وسائل النقل المختلفة سمة أساسية في الحياة اليومية للناس. ويواجه انشاء محطات نقل الركاب بمختلف أنماطها عدة تحديات أهمها تحقيق هدف التنقل الامن للركاب بالتوافق مع معايير الاستدامة العمرانية والاقتصادية والاجتماعية والبيئية. يركز البحث على دراسة محطات نقل الركاب التبادلية وذلك من خلال استخلاص معايير لتقييم تلك المحطات من الدراسات النظرية والتجارب العالمية، ثم تطبيق تلك المعايير لتقييم إحدى المحطات التبادلية في إقليم القاهرة الكبرى. وينتهي البحث باستخلاص نتائج …

Tactical Urbanism On A University Campus: A Case Study Of Crossroads On Dickson, Noah Berg

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

Tactical Urbanism is a method of creating temporary, low-cost interventions in a city’s built environment, aiming to test new ideas, gather community feedback, and create momentum for larger-scale changes. The approach is characterized by its focus on quick, iterative projects that can be easily implemented and adjusted, rather than large, expensive initiatives that take years to complete. Examples of Tactical Urbanism projects include pop-up bike lanes, parklets, and community gardens. The goal is to encourage community participation, foster a sense of ownership, and create a safer, more livable, and inclusive city. In spring 2022, a class called “Walk, Bike, Link” …

White Picket Possibilities: Socially, Economically And Environmentally Reshaping Suburbia, Brendan Carroll

Architecture Senior Theses

What does the future of suburbia look like? For much of its history suburbia marketed itself as a pillar of the American dream. While it could be argued that for many years owning a single-family home was an obtainable goal for most Americans, this is far from the case today. Suburbia has shifted from the housing type advertised for the masses to a housing type only obtainable by a fraction of Americans. Suburbia and the housing units within it do not match the social, economic, or environmental needs of today's society.

As the demand for suburban living remains at all-time …

Linear Waltz With Nature: A Self-Supporting Infrastructure In Nature, Shangkun Zhong

Architecture Senior Theses

This project aims to create a sustainable system that addresses waste management issues in urban areas by examining the functionality of recycling infrastructures and how they can be integrated. The system will absorb waste and convert it into renewable energy to support a field station in Tibet, where self-sustainability is critical, due to the remote location. Architects often demonstrate their understanding of sustainability through various means such as integration, passive/energy-saving, and natural architecture. This thesis argues that a sustainable system such as CopenHill, can exemplify the combination of green-manifested design and recycle content as a sustainable cycle that supports human-nature …

Designing The American Dreamscape: Suburbs Of Worship And The American Dream, Rebecca Virgl

Masters in Architecture Program: Theses

This thesis explores suburbia as the physical manifestation of the American Dream as a pseudo-religious system. This religious system and contemporary suburban ideology are explained and disseminated through a historical review and analysis of suburban media. Pop culture serves as a signpost that directs public opinion and cultural value; much of media today wrestles with the ideas of the American Dream, fore fronting these cultural values in our collective identity. Once the baseline of socio-economic religious ideology has been established in the American Dream, the extremes of these beliefs were explored in three suburban environments: home, labor, and retail. Each …

Examining Pedestrian Accessibility To Opportunities In Four New Deal Villages, Maral Shemirani

All Theses

This study focuses on accessibility as an essential performance factor in city planning and urban development. The automobile-oriented designs that characterize and organize most modern United States cities, since the 1950s, have degraded pedestrian mobility and accessibility, causing people to be largely dependent on cars rather than walk, bike, and/or use public transit to reach essential and complementary daily destinations. This pervasive condition not only hinders community and sense of place, but also negatively affects people’s health and environment. We as planners should not forget that cities should be designed to serve people rather than cars. The more our …

Politics, Players, And Legislation In The California Housing Crisis, Andy Daly

All Theses

California has faced a statewide housing shortage for three decades, particularly in exclusive job-rich cities that are becoming increasingly unaffordable. In response, the state has passed pro-housing legislation that bypasses local zoning regulations, focusing on increasing the construction of affordable housing units. I conducted a convergent content analysis of over 80 articles and eight expert interviews. I found that state-led housing legislation is most effective when politicians align their messaging with other pressing issues, such as climate change, transit, and homelessness. Even if bills are rejected, progress is made by opening conversations about the importance of density and housing affordability. …

Assemblage Dwelling: A Radical Migrant Domesticity In Urbanity, Protik Choudhuri

Architecture Senior Theses

Humanity will end the 21st century as an entirely urban species. But urban environments are factories- the site of perpetual reproduction of services, interactions, urban and domestic spaces for capital accumulation, rather than the outcome of social processes. As such, the conditions under which migrants have integrated into the urban environments globally are characterized by the extraordinary struggle for decent housing and work.

Globally, it is the squatting movement that responded by countering exclusionary forms of ownership and radically transforming urban and domestic conditions for migrants through two distinct operations: the illegal appropriation of vacant buildings and domestic interventions centered …

Threshold Tectonics: Reclaiming Space Through Geomorphological Design, Amreeta Verma

Architecture Senior Theses

This research posits that a revitalization of indigenous earth architecture practices in a contemporary context can mitigate the immense waste and embodied carbon in the construction industry while engaging practices of land return and reclamation. Locally sourced earth materials are the focus of this research because when utilized in a circular consumption cycle, they can be reused or returned to the natural environment. Designing with a temporal understanding of material decay, changing site conditions, and project life cycle reduces the impact of construction waste on the burgeoning issue of environmental degradation and resource depletion. Material experimentation is used to develop …

Mela: Vessels Of Ephemeral Architecture, Neha Tummalapalli

Architecture Senior Theses

In states of temporality, conventions can be challenged and reimagined. Ephemeral architecture responds to fluctuating conditions and are often built with lightweight, recycled materials that allow for reconfiguration and reinvention. Melas, Sanskrit for "gathering," become a lens through which ad hoc urbanism can be further explored in its most idealized form. Melas include gatherings of all scales that are commercial, celebratory, or religious. The large crowds and temporary nature of these events allow for thoughtful ephemeral configurations to be tried and tested.

The largest gathering of humans in the world is the Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj, India. This religious pilgrimages …

Designing For Mass Customization Housing Through Generative Design, Tania Salgueiro

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

This research proposal aims to investigate computational design strategies for sustainable, affordable, and more equitable housing. The study will focus on the use of generative design tools, such as parametric modeling, rule-based modeling, and optimization, to aid architects and designers in creating custom housing complexes for single families in small and medium urban lots. The goal is to develop a computational method that considers sustainability, affordability, and long-term usage parameters to create housing designs that meet the desired spatial qualities. The research question asks how generative design tools can support designers in approaching affordable housing given the increasing demand for …

Environmental Injustice In Fayetteville, Arkansas: Investigating Unjust And Racist Conditions In Fayetteville's Industrial Park, Chloe Devecsery

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

Environmental racism refers to how minority neighborhoods are burdened with a disproportionate number of environmental hazards and pollution that lower the quality of life and create health disparities. Despite the growing awareness of the national and global problem, environmental injustice and racism can be found in nearly every place. There is little being done regarding policy, public awareness, and government action. The fight for environmental justice is still needed across America, in Arkansas, and in our community. This disciplinary-oriented capstone gives a brief overview of the environmental justice movement and uses publicly available maps and statistics from government and academic …

Springdale Arkansas' Form-Based Code: Analyzing Urban Dispositions, Nate Cole

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

Springdale, Arkansas, has witnessed population growth, public and private development, and interest from stakeholders throughout the Northwest Arkansas region in the past six years. The impetus for this case study is the rapid urbanization of Springdale, catalyzed by the adoption of a downtown Form-Based Code in 2017. The study analyzes four projects representing a range of typologies and uses, selected from many new and upcoming projects in the FBC area. Utilizing multiple techniques to present each project's spatial and social characteristics, the study presents these nuances and provokes further discussions. A literature review covering complexity and complex adaptive systems supports …