Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

The Management Of The Bus Rapid Transit (Brt) System And Its Impact On Mobility In Lagos State, Nigeria, Olukayode Lasisi, Mayowa Paul Obembe, Leke Kayode Onabanjo, Tolulope Oluwatosin Bamiro, Oluwatobee Omowumi Iyiola

BISNIS & BIROKRASI: Jurnal Ilmu Administrasi dan Organisasi

Lagos is famous for its high traffic congestion and insufficient road infrastructure. This study examined the effect of BRT management and its influence on mobility in Lagos State. The study adopted a cross-sectional design involving data gathering through the primary data collection method using a closed-ended questionnaire purposively administered to 100 commuters of BRT buses in Lagos. The findings revealed a high positive relationship between managing the BRT system and mobility in Lagos State. Additionally, the findings indicate a robust and positive causal relationship between Lagos State’s BRT system and transportation development. The BRT system contributes to improving transportation infrastructure …

Home Values Vs. Homelessness In Mountain West Metros, 2023, Maryam Raja, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Housing & Real Estate

This fact sheet presents data from Home Values vs. Homelessness in the U.S.: A Concerning Connection (2023 Data), a report by Home Bay. The data includes information on both home values and homelessness rates while also providing national rankings for rent price and homeless rate, which are used here to compare the following Mountain West metros: Las Vegas, NV; Denver, CO; Salt Lake City, UT; and Phoenix, AZ.

No. 41: Crisis, Pandemic Precarity And Food Insecurity Among Migrant Households During The Covid-19 Pandemic In Quito, Ecuador, Mercedes Eguiguren, Taymi Milán, Cheryl Martens

Migration and Food Security (MiFOOD) Network

This study examines the food insecurity experiences of Venezuelan migrants in Quito, Ecuador, within the broader context of the Venezuelan crisis, regional migration responses, and the structural precarity migrants face. Moving beyond the dominant “migration crisis” narrative, this paper adopts a crisis-living framework to analyze how protracted instability and pandemic precarity shape migrants’ experiences. Based on a 2023 survey of migrants and refugees who lived in Quito throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the findings reveal that food insecurity is a persistent challenge, disproportionately affecting female-led and extended households. Key factors influencing food insecurity include job instability and deteriorating employment conditions, limited …

Integrating A Stakeholder-Centric Approach Into Dynamic Adaptation Policy Pathways For Equitable Coastal Flood Risk Management In East Boston, Shailee M. Desai

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

This research aims to illustrate a methodology incorporating diverse stakeholder values in adaptation planning to promote equitable outcomes using a hypothetical case study of the Lower Border Street area in East Boston, using the Dynamic Adaptive Policy Pathways (DAPP) framework for managing coastal flood risk. It offers three significant contributions to the field of adaptation planning: (i) It demonstrates how to integrate a stakeholder-specific assessment within the DAPP framework and illustrates individual impacts to a variety of stakeholders, including high- and low-income residents, commercial actors, government actors, and coastal landowners hoping that the planning process remains transparent and motivates local …

New York City Misses The Exit To Traffic Safety, Joseph Caffrey

Capstones

New York City Misses the Exit to Traffic Safety investigates New York City’s mounting traffic violence crisis through the lens of a devastating crash that killed a Brooklyn mother and her two daughters. It examines the city’s inconsistent enforcement of reckless driving and the failure of the Dangerous Vehicle Abatement Program (DVAP), which aimed to reform recidivist speeders. The piece investigates the imperfections of Vision Zero, public backlash to automated enforcement, and the broader failure to prevent recidivist speeding. It also explores policy alternatives like Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA), highlighting legislative efforts to revive accountability and save lives, while advocating …

Becoming A Beloved Community: A Restorative Reckoning For A Radical Conversion To Transform Discourse In Higher Education, Latasha Tomay Varlack-Butler

Dissertations

This dissertation critically examines the misappropriation of Restorative Justice Discourse (RJD) within three predominantly white institutions (PWIs), analyzing 59 institutional documents through Critical Discourse Analysis, Relational Critical Discourse Analysis, and Rhetorical Criticism (Fairclough, 1995; Vaandering, 2021; van Dijk, 2008). Tribal Colleges and Universities and South African institutions have emerged as exemplars of authentic RJD, countering co-optation within PWIs. The findings demonstrate that RJD as applied in PWIs is framed in ways that attenuate its transformative potential, perpetuating color-evasiveness (Bonilla-Silva, 2017) and obscuring the intersectional experiences of Black, Indigenous, and disabled communities (Crenshaw, 1991; Million, 2009).

Grounded in decolonial praxis (Smith, …

A Tale Of Two Chinatowns: Development Projects And Their Effects On Diasporic Communities, Gemma Oshiro

Senior Theses

Urban change as initiated by a municipality has ramifications on the communities and neighborhoods found in the urban area. Development plans greatly affect vulnerable migrant populations who rely on their neighbors for economic and social support. These development plans in urban areas are widely discussed in academic literature because of pervasive processes such as gentrification. While most people agree that processes such as gentrification are harmful to communities, I am interested in exploring urban development plans on a larger scale and who these projects most benefit in order to better understand why they are commissioned. In this thesis I perform …

The Politics Of Being Heard: Communication And Power Struggles In Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, Caroline Trejo

Master's Projects and Capstones

The environmental and public health challenges in Bayview-Hunters Point have catalyzed widespread community activism, as residents and advocates respond to the ongoing fallout from radiological contamination at the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard. Communication plays a vital role in bridging the gap between affected communities and government entities throughout the cleanup process. This research asks: how have the communication strategies of advocacy groups influenced government actions and policies during the Bayview-Hunters Point Shipyard cleanup? To explore this question, I conducted semi-structured interviews with three community advocates, two former members of a non-partisan civil jury, one independent researcher, and one government official. …

Exploring Extension Agents' Understandings Of Local And Resilient Food Systems, Hannah Dankbar, Brooke Matusko

Journal of Extension

Currently, there is a focus on bolstering local food systems to support overall food system resilience. Local and resilient food systems, though related, are distinct concepts. Their use in food system development is complicated by varying interpretations. Data from a survey of North Carolina Extension agents, a group of food system practitioners, identified a range of definitions of these terms. The results underscore the complex landscape of local food system development and identify a need to build on conceptual understandings within the Extension community and establish shared understandings within food system development efforts.

Passive Envelope Retrofits As Climate Justice Infrastructure Against Extreme Heat: A Gis-Guided Approach For Outdated Single-Family Homes In Urban California, Mert Oztekin Mr.

Master's Projects and Capstones

I examined the opportunities to enhance equity in energy performance, climate resilience, and environmental adaptation through climate-resilient envelope retrofitting and spatially guided implementation strategies (via mappings of the Urban Heat Island -UHI- and socio-economic vulnerability indicators). Passive envelope retrofits of attic insulation; high-performance windows; cool roofs; and green roofs / walls, are examined across multiple climate zones of California' aged single-family housing stock, focusing on the Disadvantaged Communities (DACs). Through spatial analysis, strong overlap between Urban Heat Island(UHI) exposure; pre-1980 housing; socioeconomic disadvantage, and thus the need for spatially-directed action is underlined. The policy landscape analysis provides confirmation of the …

Cuyahoga County Regional Collaboration Survey 2024, Meghan Rubado, René-Simone Martin

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

This report explores collaboration among local governments in Cuyahoga County using a survey of municipal and township officials, primarily mayors. The survey was fielded in late 2024 through a partnership between the Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs and the Cuyahoga County Department of Regional Collaboration and follows up on a similar survey fielded by Levin in 2018. This report summarizes findings of the survey. The report examines the extent to which municipalities in the County were collaborating with various types of external partners, including the County, other municipalities, nonprofits, and private organizations. The vast majority of respondents reported …

Case Studies Of Racism As A Force Of Ruin, Bassie Chin

Binghamton University Undergraduate Journal

The connection between racism and the physical environment can be seen in the segregation, disenfranchisement, discrimination, and fear which, as culturally defining attitudes, become baked into where, why, and when cities develop. Strict neighborhood boundaries from previous redlining, decaying infrastructure from a waning tax base, and entire villages which have been wiped out speak to racism’s extreme power as a force of corrosion. This paper discusses how racism contributes to the creation of ruins as a method of artificial decay.

In order to examine the effects of racism on infrastructure in different contexts, case studies of three different American cities …

Neighborhood Change As A Social Determinant Of Health: Assessing Associations With Mental Health And Psychosocial Attitudes Among Resident Clusters, Christopher Williams, Nathaniel Woodard, Charlene Kuo

Advances in Clinical Medical Research and Healthcare Delivery

Neighborhood change (NC) can be understood as a social determinant of health with direct psychosocial and economic impacts. Our objective was to define resident groups’ perceptions of NC and self-rated mental health in a community experiencing an intense form of NC known as gentrification. We conducted a cross-sectional study using random and convenience sampling. Our measures included a combination of scales and indexes that were used for conducting bivariate and cluster analyses. Our study included 143 responses from Phase II. Two of the three groups or clusters were statistically different in mental health and perceptions of NC impacts on community …

Vienna In The New Century: From Public Housing Haven To Neoliberalized Mega Projects, Connery R. Ritter

Geography Honors Projects

While Vienna is often presented as a utopia for social sustainability, the urban developments after the turn of the century have revealed the variegated nature of Neoliberalization. Since the fall of the USSR, Vienna has privatized municipal bodies and engaged with financialized urban development projects. While this Neoliberalized urban governance approach has met with resistance, the resistance ironically has also enabled the city to capitalize on its social-welfarist past. Vienna nowadays brands itself as a sustainable and livable city for corporations, which leads to land assetization and new economic segregation.

The Interlace: Creating Suburban Connections, Annikka Fairfield

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Many cities in the United States are designed based on suburban sprawl, which contributes to excessive automobile-dependency and unwelcoming streets for pedestrians, and metro Atlanta is no exception. Alpharetta, Georgia is a growing city with the potential to become a more walkable suburban city. Alpharetta can be invigorated along specific corridors at the human scale to increase both walkability and connectivity by focusing on pedestrian wellbeing. Research shows that Biophilia's various facets have the power to improve human wellbeing. Prospect, refuge, and presence of water were selected to guide the thesis design. Urban-scale precedents like the Beltline in Atlanta, Georgia …

No. 40: Migrant Shelters And Food Insecurity In Mexico City And Its Metropolitan Area During The Covid-19 Lockdown, Fernanda Vázquez-Vela, Guénola Capron

Migration and Food Security (MiFOOD) Network

The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically exacerbated vulnerabilities among migrant populations globally, and Mexico was no exception. This paper examines the experiences of four migrant shelters in Mexico City and its metropolitan area during the pandemic lockdown, highlighting how these institutions responded to the twin challenges of public health and food insecurity. The study draws on ethnographic and documentary research to analyse the coping strategies developed by managers and volunteers at the four shelters. These shelters serve diverse and particularly vulnerable groups, including undocumented migrants, women and children fleeing violence, and members of the LGBTTIQ+ community. Despite facing increased demand, reduced donations, …

Will Vegas Bet On Itself?, Quintez Gatewood

Undergraduate Research Symposium Podium Presentations

Abstract:

• Las Vegas faces a serious dilemma post covid, whats next? After having been decimated with the shot to hospitality it nearly collapsed the city.
• The question I am supposing is how do we prevent this?
• Like any investor would suggest, diversify your portfolio to mitigate risk. So why hasn’t Vegas done this with the job market?
• I seek to answer this by using models and illustrating how the outcome will be

Stop Design: Rethinking The Approach To Public Transit's Architecture, Elizabeth M. Nielsen

Architecture Masters of Science Program: Theses

Public spaces are the foundation of our social health and wellbeing, but are often designed without considering the needs of the public, creating spaces that people do not feel encouraged to use. Just as public space design as a whole often falls short of serving the public, the same can be said for a subset of public space design, public transit stops. While they are public spaces created for the purpose of waiting, their design rarely reflects this.

Well-designed public transit stops are capable of both maintaining existing ridership and drawing in new riders. Most commonly, this design occurs at …

Quality Considerations In The Pedestrian Realm: Dead Space Intervention And Prevention, Alycia Ramage

Masters in Architecture Program: Theses

What if every space deemed “unadmirable” was reimagined as a stage for community life? Efforts to find solutions to this question prompted a more complex question: how can new construction promote interaction between architecture and the pedestrian realm?

This thesis is conducted in three main parts: 1) understanding dead space, 2) reinventing dead spaces in existing conditions, and 3) creating a design handbook that works to minimize dead spaces in new design.

Using Lincoln, Nebraska as a case study, part one begins with observation- looking for spaces that could be deemed unadmirable by a pedestrian. Utilizing research and observation, the …

School Choice And Spatial Equity: A Comparative Analysis Of Public And Private K-12 School Enrollment In Three American Metropolitan Areas, John A. Schumacher

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

This thesis investigates the factors influencing school choice and enrollment patterns in three Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs): Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI; Louisville-Jefferson County, KY-IN; and Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell. It explores the role of socioeconomic and spatial variables, including income levels, racial composition, and educational attainment, political fragmentation, and urbanicity in shaping enrollment decisions across public and private schools. Using spatial analysis and multiple regression techniques, the study examines how these factors contribute to variations in school enrollment within the selected MSAs. The results reveal that income level and racial composition significantly affect enrollment patterns while other factors such as urbanicity had minimal impact. …

Rebuilding The American Dream: Understanding And Alleviating First-Time Home Buyer Affordability Challenges In Northwest Arkansas, Samuel R. Butler

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

Homeownership is a cornerstone of the American Dream. It is linked to numerous socioeconomic benefits such as social cohesion, civic engagement, imbalance in opportunities, education, and public health. However, in recent years, housing affordability across the nation and in Northwest Arkansas has become challenging.

Part I of this thesis explains the importance of homeownership nationally and the deteriorating conditions of first-time homebuyers. It explains the key drivers of housing affordability over time, and it explains the connection between zoning and affordability.

Part II focuses on the housing market in Northwest Arkansas (NWA). I forecast the NWA housing demand, which highlights …

Local Systems Change: Applied Research Methods For Sustainable Communities, Taylor Barrett Hill

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Short-Term Rental Regulation On Neighborhoods In Traverse City, Mi, Joseph H. Slonecki

Master of Public Administration Capstone Papers

With the increase in popularity of Short-Term Rentals (STRs) and the increase in housing and rental prices throughout the United States, this study aims to explore the effects STRs have on housing and rental prices in Traverse City, MI. Traverse City is a popular tourist area and has experienced significant price increases over the last decade. STRs have been a topic of regulation by many local units of government and the area lacks unified regulation. The study area is confined to two census block groups of adjacent neighborhoods that occupy different townships. The townships have two different approaches to STR …

Leveraging Publicly Available Data To Identify Candidate Intersections For Tactical Urbanism Efforts Using Geospatial Analysis, Luisa Maria Venegas

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Urban strategies and countermeasures to increase pedestrian safety in low-density neighborhoods have been proposed by the Federal Highway Administration. Often municipalities have limited resources and would like to have a strategy to achieve maximum impact per dollar spent, as is the case in El Paso. El Paso's urban landscape is a mix of urban, residential, and commercial in the exurbs of the city. Most of El Paso consists of low-density industrial land, commercial strips, and residential development. A scalable and transferable approach was developed to identify intersections that have the potential to reduce traffic-related fatalities and increase pedestrian safety through …

Everyday Justice And Neighborhood Associations., Rebecca Wells-Gonzalez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the lived experiences of residents in marginalized neighborhoods, focusing on the impact of neighborhood associations on perceived justice and resilience. Utilizing a feminist qualitative approach, the Everyday Justice and Neighborhood Associations (EJANA) framework integrates Human Capabilities, Everyday Life Experiences, and Resilience Justice frameworks. Semi-structured interviews across three distinct neighborhoods (Bashford Manor, Oakdale, and Shelby Park in Louisville, Kentucky) revealed that neighborhood associations were often perceived as inaccessible and ineffective, failing to address prevalent inequities. Participants reported feelings of alienation and marginalization, highlighting a disconnect between association activities and community needs. This study emphasizes the need for inclusive, …

A Framework For Quantifying The Benefits Of Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Development, Donya Negahbani

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Under the Biden Administration’s Justice40 Initiative, a significant portion of benefits derived from federal clean transportation investments is required to be directed to disadvantaged communities. Meeting this mandate necessitates a transparent and reproducible approach that quantifies various dimensions of value and allocates them equitably. This dissertation presents a flexible framework specifically tailored for the deployment of electric vehicle charging infrastructure in Nebraska, effectively translating equity goals into rigorous spatial and economic analyses. The framework first identifies multiple distinct categories of benefit that reflect the societal value of charging access: energy savings, economic opportunities, environmental quality enhancements, and public health improvements. …

Considerations And Techniques For Producing Urban Tree Canopy Maps Using Freely Available And Accessible Methods, Hugh Reed Ellerman

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Urban forests are valued as green infrastructure for the variety of benefits they provide across ecological, social, public health, and economic domains. To understand the distribution of trees, maps are required. Many methods of mapping tree cover use expensive and data-intensive datasets such as hyperspectral and LiDAR imagery, making these methods inaccessible to municipal forest managers. Variations in the modelling approaches of existing, freely available methods are not addressed in sufficient enough detail to understand the trade-offs implicit in these variations. Further, characteristics of urban tree canopy mapping (high spatial resolution imagery, heterogeneous urban environments, the importance of the tree …

Barriers Individuals And Families Experience Utilizing Anti-Poverty Programs, Miranda C. Dube'

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This proposed study aims to explore the barriers experienced by residents of the High Desert communities. Using a quantitative method approach, the proposed research will employ surveys to provide a comprehensive understanding of the outcomes experienced by the High Desert residents. Participants will be selected within the High Desert communities, aged 18 years or older, who have or are currently experiencing poverty. The findings from this proposed study would contribute to bridging gaps in understanding the barriers residents of the High Desert experience. By identifying factors that suppress successfully utilizing anti-poverty programs, this research proposal would aim to inform the …

A Comprehensive Study Of Impacts Of “Q” Bus Rapid Transit System On Blackstone Avenue, Yertai Tanai, Kamil Ciftci

Mineta Transportation Institute

This study examines the dual impact of the Fresno Area Express (FAX) Q Line, a 15.7-mile Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system launched in 2018, on the Fresno housing market and passenger satisfaction. The Q Line, designed to modernize public transit, features eco-friendly compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles, real-time passenger information, and improved service efficiency. Housing market analysis focused on residential properties sold between 2012 and 2024, utilizing Geographic Information System(GIS) mapping to segment properties into three regions: the Q Line corridor, an outer buffer zone, and the rest of Fresno. Results indicate no statistically significant increase in property values within …

Park Cool Island Modifications To Assess Radiative Cooling Of A Tropical Urban Park, Graces N. Y. Ching, Sin Kang Yik, Su Li Heng, Beatrice H. Ho, Peter J. Crank, Moshe Eliezer Mandelmilch, Xiang Tian Ho, Winston T. L. Chow

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

Many cities experience urban overheating from climate change and the urban heat island phenomenon. Previous studies demonstrate that parks are a potential nature-based solution to mitigate urban overheating through the ‘Park Cool Island’ (PCI) effect. PCI intensity can be measured through field measurements (FM) or remote sensing. This FM study used a network of meteorological sensors within a park and in its surrounding urban area to ascertain its PCI intensity in Singapore from January to December 2022. Consistently cooler air temperatures were found throughout a 24-h period in the park area, with mean daytime (nighttime) PCI intensity measured ~ 2.21 …