Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

Financing Public Solar Projects: California Public Jurisdictions' Experiences In Acquiring And Financing Solar Photovoltaic Installations, Dana M.C. Hoffman

Master's Theses

More efficient technologies, state laws as well as environmental, social, and political pressures have all contributed to placing solar acquisition on the agenda for California’s public entities over the last half decade. But a key question for these frequently cash-strapped jurisdictions is how to utilize public dollars and lands, and how to leverage incentives to obtain solar PVs. As an alternative to outright purchase, a promising financing option made available to jurisdictions in recent years is ownership by a third party, usually the solar company, including various forms of Power Purchase Agreements (PPA’s) and leasing. Due in part to state …

An Examination Of Walkability In The Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, Courtney Coughenour

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Introduction: The benefits to regular physical activity are well established. Walkability is one element of the built environment that has been correlated with increased levels of physical activity. The auto-centric design of Las Vegas Metropolitan area (LVMA) is unique in ways that may influence walkability. The purpose of this study was to determine which urban design characteristics are associated with walking and physical activity in moderate income neighborhoods in LVMA. Methods: The standard walkability measure developed by Frank et al. (2010) was used to calculate the walkability index of seven neighborhoods. Residents of the two most walkable and two least …

Large-Scale Urban Planning, Culture & Environment: A Case Study In Saigon South Urban Area, John Kennedy

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The incredible urban growth of Ho Chi Minh City has prompted urban expansion into the newly developed District 7. The Phu My Hung urban area is an attempt to create a parallel city to Ho Chi Minh City along the guidelines of master plans submitted in 1993 by Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill; Kenzo Tange Associates; and Koetter Kim & Associates. The final master plan for the area incorporates elements of sustainable development, walkability, heightened connectivity, and connection with nature. Twenty years after the onset of the Phu My Hung urban area creation and, specifically, Saigon South conception, this paper is …

The Grand Paris Express: An Analysis Of Social And Political Trends Towards Mass Transit Planning In The Île-De-France Region, Charlotte M. Leasia

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis examines the Grand Paris Express project currently underway in the Île-de-France. The basis of this project is a series of new and renovated railway lines to connect and span across the entirety of the region. They are being planned with the hopes to improve urbanization for the outlying suburbs. The Île-de-France is the wealthiest region in France, but it has high economic inequality between its departments. One hard hit area is Seine-St-Denis. This is the area I will be focusing primarily on. Department number 93, its urban landscape holds histories of rioting, unemployment, and large immigrant populations. In …

Designing Affordable Housing For Adaptability: Principles, Practices, & Application, Micaela R. Danko

Pitzer Senior Theses

While environmental and economic sustainability have been driving factors in the movement towards a more resilient built environment, social sustainability is a factor that has received significantly less attention over the years. Federal support for low-income housing has fallen drastically, and the deficit of available, adequate, affordable homes continues to grow. In this thesis, I explore one way that architects can design affordable housing that is intrinsically sustainable. In the past, subsidized low-income housing has been built as if to provide a short-term solution—as if poverty and lack of affordable housing is a short-term problem. However, I argue that adaptable …

Link Levy To Services- Not Urban Middle Class Assets, Tom Dunne

Articles

Paying any tax is an unwelcome burden, but in Ireland many have a particular aversion to taxes on their homes. We are not alone in this. Elsewhere, taxes on homes are also unpopular; witness the People's Initiative to Limit Property Taxation which forced the California state government to cut property taxes. Nevertheless, residential property taxes remain an almost universal feature of developed countries because of compelling economic arguments for them. Also, local property taxes are regarded as the best means of funding local government.

Rarely, it seems to me, is there such a distance between what the public wants and …

“Rationalization Takes Command: Zeilenbau And The Politics Of Ciam,” Excerpt From Building Culture: Ernst May And The New Frankfurt Initiative, 1926-1931, Susan R. Henderson

School of Architecture - All Scholarship

Chapter seven, of Building Culture,"Rationalization Takes Command: Zeilenbau and the Politics of CIAM," addresses the New Frankfurt housing and settlement initiative at the onset of the depression of 1929. The shift into decline, saw some initiatives completed, others stifled, and new ones emerge. Thus the 1929 CIAM Congress held in Frankfurt began with performances of experimental music, poetry and dance, and ended with the consecration of the existence minimum as the new housing standard. Meanwhile, Ernst May pushed forward with a revised housing strategy based on the minimal dwelling, the existence minimum, and the superblock (Zeilenbau). The CIAM Congress …

New York Neighborhoods Fight Land Grabs: Public Parks Going To Professional Teams, Donovan Finn

School of Marine & Atmospheric Sciences Faculty Publications

In the diverse New York City borough of Queens, local activists banded together in the early 2000's to fight back against a trio of city-led urban development projects intended to provide public parkland to private real estate developers.

Ua3/9/2 President's Office-Ransdell Subject File, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Subject files created by the President’s Office during the Gary Ransdell administration.

Ua1b1/7 Wku Ceremonies, Dedications, Groundbreakings, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Records regarding special ceremonies, dedications, groundbreakings not already housed in a particular office.

Re-Placing Sprawl: Mapping Place In An American Suburb, Ryan M. Cooper

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

In the post-World War II era land development in the United States has largely been focused on the expansion away from urban centers and out into the surrounding suburbs. While the development of suburbs began with utopian ideals of spiritual wholeness, their actual manifestation on the American landscape has been subject to harsh critiques about their long-term economic and environmental feasibility, fostering of social alienation, and general placelessness. In this thesis I address the criticism of suburbs as placeless, asking ―What are the particular practices of place-making in North American suburbs?‖ Examining interviews, cognitive map surveys, participant observation, archival materials, …

Public Space And Urban Life: A Spatial Ethnography Of A Portland Plaza, Katrina Leigh Johnston

Dissertations and Theses

The Urban Center Plaza at Portland State University is a high profile place situated in downtown Portland, Oregon. In some ways it is the ideal university plaza providing space for eating, conversing, or limited recreational activity. It is a place that has been studied before, but not in a more in-depth method incorporating quantitative and qualitative analyses. It is also a place that has gone through several stages of development and is the target of many opinions based on casual observations, at times due to these changes. This thesis focuses on an ethnography of place in this particular plaza in …

How Routing An Interstate Highway Through South Minneapolis Disrupted An African-American Neighborhood, Ernest Lee Lloyd

School of Business Student Theses and Dissertations

In 1959, the Minnesota Department of Highways (MHD), renamed the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) in 1976, commenced the construction of Interstate 35W proceeding North from Richfield through South Minneapolis to Lake Street (the Richfield-Minneapolis segment) which razed more than 50 square blocks of homes and businesses. The segment of this vast project built between Stevens Avenue South and Second Avenue South, completed in 1967, was part of the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways enacted by Congress in 1956. An area contiguous to the Interstate 35W project was located from Stevens Avenue South on the West, to Nicollet …

A Comparative Study Of The Physical Elements In Shiraz Traditional Districts With The Features Of Cpted Approach, Mohammadreza Mohseni, Ahoura Zandiatashbar, Mohammad Masud

Faculty Publications, Urban and Regional Planning

Neighborhood space and district is an issue that has been forgotten in contemporary architecture of cities. With regard to the quantitative increase of districts and also the increase of a unilateral physical view towards them, their security declines and consequently the capacity for crime increases in the residential spaces and fear of crime occurrence among the residents of the districts. In the environmental design, the CPTED attitude is one of the most effective approaches to enhance security. The main pivot of this article is to study the rate of agreements of the physical elements of old districts of Shiraz with …

The Feasibility Of Closing Vehicle Crossings Along St. Charles Avenue: A Study Of Transit Safety And Performance, Vivek B. Shah

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The St. Charles streetcar is an important transit line in the city of New Orleans, with about 65,000 people living within a ½ mile walking distance from it. However, the line experiences a very high streetcar/automobile crash rate due in large part to the large number of grade vehicle crossings over the tracks that lack signalization. Through traffic modeling, the closure of many of these vehicle crossings and the diversion of automotive traffic to the remaining, signalized crossings is analyzed to determine traffic impacts on street network. The result is a modest increase in traffic, about 7-8%, at the remaining …

Sustainable Water Management On Brownfields Sites, Ryan Fenwick, New England Environmental Finance Center

Sustainable Communities Capacity Building

This practice guide was developed by the Environmental Finance Center Network (EFCN) through the Capacity Building for Sustainable Communities program funded by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development and the US Environmental Protection Agency. Through a cooperative agreement with HUD, EFCN is providing capacity building and technical assistance to recipients of grants from the federal Partnership for Sustainable Communities, an interagency collaboration that aims to help towns, cities, and regions develop in more economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable ways.

The Self-Conscious Gentrifier: The Paradox Of Authenticity And Impact Among "First-Wave Neo-Bohemians" In 2 Changing Neighborhoods, Naomi Bartz, Gordon Douglas

Faculty Publications, Urban and Regional Planning

Gentrification has been a major factor reshaping North American cities for at least four decades, as well as a vital concern of sociological research. In recent years, there appears to be an increasing awareness of the process among contemporary gentrifiers themselves. This self-conscoiusness is significant on two levels: (1) it is unanticipated by or at least unaccounted for in much of the canonical literature on gentrification, having only recently gained acknowledgement (most notably work by Brown-Saracino that explores aspects of a particular type of self-aware gentrifiier); (2) it is complicating the way many gentrifiers or would-be gentrifiers frame and actively …

Narrative Processes In Urban Planning: A Case Study Of Swamp Gravy In Colquitt, Georgia, Ronald David Pate

Dissertations and Theses

In 1990 many in Colquitt, Georgia considered themselves to be a dying town due to the loss of jobs and outmigration that occurred when labor intensive farming transitioned to the machine. In response citizens brought in a theater director from Chicago who helped them launch a performance series of inclusive stories that were acted by local volunteers. The resulting series called Swamp Gravy has run from 1992 to present (2012), and has led to purported claims of community revitalization. The purpose of this study was to discover what this ongoing narrative community engagement meant to the people of Colquitt in …

Green Infrastructure Resource Directory, New England Environmental Finance Center

Sustainable Communities Capacity Building

Green infrastructure is an approach for managing stormwater that uses vegetation and soils to capture and treat rainwater where it falls. Unlike single-purpose gray infrastructure, green infrastructure realizes multiple benefits at once, including flood mitigation, improved water and air quality, community beautification, provision of recreational opportunities, and energy and cost savings. This resource directory is intended to help communities design, implement, fund, and monitor green infrastructure practices and programs. It was compiled by the Environmental Finance Center Network through the Capacity Building for Sustainable Communities program funded by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. …

Getting On The Bus: Marketing San Luis Obispo's Regional Transit Authority, Jenna Higgins

Master's Theses

A new trend is emerging, seeking to recognize the benefits of and encourage the use of public transportation. In the past, public transit agencies have not directed much energy or focus at marketing, seeking to use limited funds elsewhere. “The common perception is that money spent on marketing would be better spent on transit systems themselves…over time, a sustained investment in marketing increases the number of people who use transit. Increased ridership leads to increased revenue, and ideally, an increase in service to match the new demand” (Arpi, 2009).

Even as marketing gains importance in the public transit world, questions …

Preserving Wildlife In San Luis Obispo City By Way Of San Luis Obispo Creek, Sydni Nicolici

Liberal Arts and Engineering Studies

The effectiveness of San Luis Obispo wildlife easements and city open space utilized to preserve species of concern is correlated to the health and maintenance of the San Luis Obispo Creek. I propose that the health of the Creek be addressed before more open space is added to the green belt surrounding the city. This bottom-up approach to preservation will ensure all steps of habitat will function as they should.

Form-Based Codes, Design Guidelines And Placemaking: The Case Of Hayward, Ca., Cindy Ma

Master's Theses

Throughout history planning codes and standards have been used to regulate the built environment for health, power, order, and economic reasons. More recently, in the urban design and planning field, planning codes and standards have emerged to become tools in the process of “placemaking”. The concept of placemaking builds from the desire of humans to create places, not spaces, which are unique, attractive, identifiable, and memorable. It is a concept that is comprised of visual and social components, recognizing the need for both in the creation of successful places. In the field of urban design and planning, form-based codes (FBCs) …

Deep Play, Urban Space, Adolescent Place: A Multi-Sited Study Of The Effects Of Settings On Adolescent Risk/Reward Behavior, Benjamin A. Shirtcliff

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The extant literature on the play behavior of youth normalizes adolescent behavior in public space as transgressional, resistant, and in need of social control. The dissertation counters this trend by looking to see if physical qualities, peer effects, and neighborhood context of settings play a deeper role in youth behavior. The study documented urban context, peer effects, physical features, and play behavior across 21 urban settings in New Orleans. Unobtrusive observations employed a highly innovative technique based on YouTube videos and analyzed using hierarchical linear modeling. Coded observations of risk-taking and prosocial behavior demonstrated some stability in behavior amongst adolescents—“youth” …

True North: Transportation Issues In Riverdale And Edenwald, Amelia Zaino

African & African American Studies Senior Theses

No abstract provided.

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 …

The Potential Of Downtown Las Vegas Becoming A Creative Milieu, Ana Magdalena Barragan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The city of Las Vegas is attempting to revitalize downtown through a creative economy by bringing cultural and experiential activities to the area in a mixed use arrangement with residential, business and civic uses. This study looks at the possibility of not only revitalizing downtown, but on it becoming a true creative milieu - a place that fosters creativity and innovation. It does so by first identifying three major forces working upon the realization of these goals: 1) the regional socio-economic conditions, 2) the government strategies, and 3) the creative population's participation.

The study conducts a quantitative assessments of each, …

North Bottoms: A Participatory Redevelopment And Sustainable Community Engagement Process, Andrea C. Koerner

Community and Regional Planning Program: Professional Projects

This project addressed the economic, social, and environmental ill effects occurring in the North Bottoms in Lincoln, Nebraska. This neighborhood requires the use of innovative community engagement to counteract minimal resources, civic engagement, and social capital in order to accomplish sustainable redevelopment when traditional methods have been unsuccessful. The initial goal of the project was to involve citizens in the design process to create an effective and development strategy and design project for the neighborhood.

Although traditional methods were sufficient to develop a comprehensive approach to sustainable development, it became obvious through engagement with citizens and civic officials that a …

Longley Building: Reuse And Rehabilitation Feasibility Report, Elizabeth Deblock, Alexander Leblanc, Carolyn Reid, Kathleen Wilson, Arnold Robinson, Philip Marshal, Robert Dermody

Historic Preservation

The southern, eastern, and northern façades (the principal façades) have a great amount of decorative masonry including granite, slate coursing, brownstone coursing, and brick veneer (Photo 2). All of these materials are in good condition, except for the brownstone, which is deteriorating in areas that are connected to a wrought iron balustrade. The surface of the brownstone is face-beded, and the corrosion of the iron in contact with the stone has caused oxide jacking. All of the masonry has environmental staining.

Washington Park Main Street Plan, Benjamin Bergenholtz, Derek Dandurand, Valerie Fram, Tracy Jonsson, Kimberly Lindner, Carolyn Reid, D.J. Sevigny, Alexandra Skerry, Timothy Guimond, Brooke Kourafas, Elise Murphy, Matt Berry, Erik Butler, Kayla Nerone, Arnold Robinson, Jeremy Wells, Julie Coon, Joel Cooper

Historic Preservation

There is an immense variety of privately owned businesses. They will be stakeholders because their businesses are located there, but they will also be assets in themselves in drawing people to the area. There is basically everything anyone could possible want or need in this area. There are two gas stations, a Family Dollar, a liquor store, a few sit down restaurants, numerous places where one can get a quick bite to eat, a frame shop, a clothing store, a pawn shop, a store with fresh produce (which is hard to find in urban areas), a store that sells sports …

Avoiding The Mistakes Of The Past, Tom Dunne

Articles

Tom Dunne explores the long term drivers of dysfunction in Ireland's housing markets and what a more sustainable housing system would look like.