Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

Towards Systematic Prediction Of Urban Heat Islands: Grounding Measurements, Assessing Modeling Techniques, Jackson Voelkel, Vivek Shandas

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

While there exists extensive assessment of urban heat, we observe myriad methods for describing thermal distribution, factors that mediate temperatures, and potential impacts on urban populations. In addition, the limited spatial and temporal resolution of satellite-derived heat measurements may limit the capacity of decision makers to take effective actions for reducing mortalities in vulnerable populations whose locations require highly-refined measurements. Needed are high resolution spatial and temporal information for urban heat. In this study, we ask three questions: (1) how do urban heat islands vary throughout the day? (2) what statistical methods best explain the presence of temperatures at sub-meter …

Vision Zero Oregon, Marielle Brown, Nick Falbo, Brandy Steffen, Michelle Van Tijen, Ben Weber

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

Vision Zero Oregon (VZO) is a street safety philosophy that aims to create streets where no one will be killed or seriously injured. Vision Zero Oregon prioritizes road safety above all else. Every life is worth more than an increase in speeds or road capacity for vehicles. Achieving Vision Zero Oregon goals will require a shift in the focus of policy, laws and enforcement, and the formation of a new relationship between residents and their streets, and revolution in the way transportation departments operate their streets. This project takes on one part of this complex topic, focusing on community interest, …

Planning A Sustainable Portland: A Digital Library For Local, Regional, And State Planning And Policy Documents, Carl Abbott

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper is intended as a guiding framework for the collection and digitizing program of the Oregon Sustainable Community Digital Library (OSCDL). The document addresses the following issues: (1) Portland and Oregon as centers of innovative planning (2) The institutional context of planning (3) The types of planning documentation typically found (4) The definition and dimensions of sustainability (5) Issue areas and topics that are most significant and interesting for electronic access.

It then offers suggestions about priorities for digital archiving based on a historical interpretation of Portland’s key planning and policy accomplishments and its consequent planning "gems" that are …

Sustainability: Think Globally, Act Locally, Shannon Axtell

Metroscape

A brief look at developing concepts of sustainability and sustainable development, both from an international as well as an Oregon perspective. Addresses the difficulties faced by cities in their efforts to formulate specific goals and policies for sustainability, and cites several Oregon projects and initiatives that have sustainability as their focus.

The Final Frontier: Using Space Under 2040, John Provo

Metroscape

Later this year the Metro Council will face a decision about expansion of the urban growth boundary (UGB). Reaching a verdict on that question will require negotiating the conflicts between the long term regional vision described in Metro's 2040 Plan, short-term economic fluctuations, and specific local concerns. Looking at possible tradeoffs and choices facing the region, panelists at a recent Metroscape™ forum on these topics were asked to discuss the connections among implementation, design, and market challenges involved in planning for the integration of open space with denser development in regional centers.

What follows are excerpts from a panel discussion …

Regional Centers: Do They Work?, John Provo

Metroscape

Focusing on Regional Centers and other places designated in 2040, this article is the first in a two part series discussing some of the key concepts of density and open space, inseparably intertwined with our understanding of the region's quality of life. The local implementation of these regional plans will be explored through discussions with local planners, developers , and neighborhood activists. Looking back five years to the visions expressed by the citizens of Clackamas , Multnomah, and Washington Counties in Metro's 2040 plans, how have Metro and local jurisdictions planned for density and open space? How has the market …

Five Downtown Strategies: Policy Discourse And Downtown Planning Since 1945, Carl Abbott

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Downtown planning since World War II has been based on constantly changing assumptions about the nature of central business districts. From 1945 to 1955, downtown was seen as the city's unitary center, and the focus of planning activity was the improvement of downtown access and circulation. Between 1955 and 1965, downtown became a declining activity center and failing real estate market; planners and business groups fought decline and competition from the suburbs through programs like urban renewal. In the decade after 1965, a reaction against urban renewal led to a new conception of downtown as a set of distinct functional …