Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

From Flames To Change: An Exploration Of Housing, Fire, And Inequity, Helen Underhill, Charles R. Jennings, Brian Meacham, Danielle Antonellis

Publications and Research

Housing and fire safety are deeply connected: inadequate and poorly maintained housing poses heightened fire risk for occupants. An individual or household’s housing situation (including limited or constrained choice) interacts with issues such as affordability, access, location, quality, safety, occupancy levels, tenure type, and resident or immigration status. These dynamics shape vulnerability, and inequity becomes most visible in the event of a fire. The extreme end of this spectrum includes the unhoused, who occupy structures entirely outside of regulatory systems with little or no fire protection.

The Impact Of Sustainable Urban Development On The Issuance Of Urban Investment Bonds, Xinglin Shou

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Investment, export, and consumption have been viewed as the three driving forces behind economic development in China. Among these, investment has remarkably contributed to the urbanization in the context of China's sustained growth and development. Urbanization involves the mergingof large and medium-sized cities with surrounding areas, renovation of shantytowns and aging urban neighborhoods, and transformation of rural regions into urban areas, culminating in the establishment of a unified market. Such advancements have promoted infrastructure projects that are spearheadedby local governments and aligned with urbanization, thus catalyzing the growth of China's real estate industry, stimulating the Chinese economy, andextending the urbanization-related …

Malled To Death: Surviving Sprawl And Redreaming The American Mall, Gioia Calabretta

Senior Honors Theses

America underwent a shift in city planning post-WWII, a change which still shapes America today. In contrast with Sprawl’s failures in mobility, community, and beauty, New Urbanism, a return to traditional city planning, is presented as the solution to these shortcomings. New Urbanism lacks adequate marketing to advocate these successes, thus more competitive media, such as video, must be pursued. Using the local mall, River Ridge, as a case study to show Sprawl’s short-sighted pseudo-solutions and New Urbanism’s time-tested true solutions, a testimonial-style script is put forth to catalyze the Lynchburg community in promoting traditional city planning.

Reentry Reinvented: The Dayton, Ohio Foodbanks Approach, Carina Yleana Vlaun

Posters - 2025

As of 2024, there are currently 621 incarcerated people per 100,000 people in the general population of Ohio. Due to collateral consequence, many returning citizens have found it difficult to reenter society effectively. The lack of support in safe housing, food assistance, transportation, family support, and much more has increased the percentage of recidivism. Over the years, the Foodbank Inc. of Dayton, Ohio (the Foodbank) has adapted to providing support for people who are leaving the incarceration system to help returning citizens reenter society.

Right-Sizing The Smart City In Southeast Asia, Prerona Das, Orlando Woods, Lily Kong

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

The idea of right-sizing, or the process of adjusting the size of a city to maximise the efficient use of resources, has traditionally been used in strategic management and the resizing of shrinking cities to promote efficient urban development. Concurrently, in contemporary discourse, the sizing of smart cities has emerged as a critical topic, as size impacts the implementation of smart initiatives. Smaller cities offer the advantage of serving as cost- effective testing grounds for innovative solutions; however, they also need to be sizeable enough to attract private investments and build a robust smart city ecosystem. In this paper we …

Urban Morphology And Adaptive Re-Use: Balancing Heritage And Modernity In Cairo’S Al-Gamaleya District, Doha Amer, Iman Gawad, Mohamed Abdel-Shakour

Architecture and Planning Journal (APJ)

Understanding the urban morphology of cities is crucial for comprehending how their physical structures can evolve in response to various needs. This study focuses on the historic urban spaces of Gamaleya in Cairo, exploring the evolution of urban morphology and how adaptive reuse can provide a development approach that preserves the character of historic areas. This is particularly important in light of the changes brought about by the accumulation of urban morphological layers over the years. Al-Gamaleya known for its rich culture, heritage and traditional architecture, is a unique case study to examine the influence of urban morphology on urban …

Advancing Methods For Comparative Urban Research: A City-Centric Protocol And Longitudinal Dataset For Us Metropolitan Statistical Areas, Jason R. Jurjevich, Katie Meehan, Nicholas M. J. W. Chun, Greg Schrock

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Comparative urban research in the USA has an unacknowledged data and methodological problem at the metropolitan scale, rooted in geographic and definitional boundary changes of urban areas across time. In this article, we introduce a new spatial dataset, decision criteria, and methodological protocol for longitudinal and comparative research with US metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs)—known as ‘metros’—in a way that centers a ‘city-centric’ approach to comparison while significantly reducing spatial error and bias. First, we review gaps and limitations of existing approaches and identify three major but previously unacknowledged sources of error, including a new source of bias we call ‘spanning …

The Asset Management Optimization Engine: An Ai And Machine Learning Model Approach To Pavement Asset Management, Matt Versdahl

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

While state Departments of Transportation (DOT) face major funding challenges, the need to find optimal ways to preserve and maintain pavement assets remains. Asset management employs a lowest cost lifecycle method to analyze asset costs and determine the best investment strategies to preserve it throughout its lifecycle. As new technology emerges, so do opportunities to leverage it. DOTs collect a significant amount of performance data on pavement and use it to decide how to keep it in a state of good repair. The literature in this area focuses on engineering techniques applied to treatment strategies. This dissertation research focuses on …

The Role Of Quality-Of-Life Indicators In Developing Ur-Ban Communities: An Applied Study Of The Case Of Egyp-Tian Rural Urbanization, Hatem Mostafa Rashed El Bakry Hatem El Bakry

Journal of Engineering Research

Quality of life is a comprehensive concept that assesses the well-being of individuals and communities based on multiple criteria including health, education, economy, environment, and security. Its definitions vary, but they generally refer to a balance between physical, psychological, and social aspects. The most important criteria for its assessment include public health, income level, quality of education, environmental sustainability, and social security.

Quality of life indicators are used in the development of urban communities to ensure the provision of health and education services, advanced infrastructure, and green spaces. Some developing countries such as Brazil, India, and Kenya also rely on …

Fire Station Consolidation And Feasibility Study For The City Of Warrensville Heights, Ohio, Bernie Becker

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

The City of Warrensville Heights, Ohio, (Mayor and City Council), commissioned Cleveland State University, Center for Emergency Preparedness to conduct this “Fire Station Consolidation and Feasibility Study.” The summary of findings and recommendations highlights some of the major issues which require discussion.

The focus of this study is on the outcome factors to be investigated but not limited to the existing two fire station locations versus a single fire station, existing two fire station emergency service response times versus a single fire station emergency service response time, effective fire department staffing and relative costs.

A thorough background literature review of …

Active Transportation Data Fusion: Incorporating Big Data To Estimate Volumes, Joeseph Broach, Sirisha Kothuri, Nathan Mcneil

PSU Transportation Seminars

Planners and decision-makers have increasingly voiced a need for network-wide estimates of bicycling and walking. Such volume estimates have for decades informed motorized planning and analysis but have only recently become feasible for non-motorized travel modes. Recently, new sources of activity data have emerged derived primarily from GPS-based smartphone location data, both app-based and passively collected. The project team has led several research projects aimed at evaluating and integrating the emerging sources with conventional demand data, including observed bicycle and pedestrian counts, to assess the value added of various emerging sources and the potential for estimating network-wide volumes. This presentation …

No. 36: ‘Going To The Supermarket Was Hard’: Pandemic Foodscapes And Unsettled Food Practices Of Refugees In The Waterloo Region, Sujata Ramachandran, Elizabeth Onyango, Zhenzhong Si, Zack Ahmed, Mercedes Eguiguren, Jonathan Crush, Neil Arya

Migration and Food Security (MiFOOD) Network

In this paper, we examine how the ‘new normal’ of pandemic-living transformed the local food environment in Ontario as pandemic foodscapes. Using selected findings from mixed methods research with a small sample of recently resettled refugees in the Waterloo region, we evaluated how these changes affected their grocery shopping and food-sourcing habits. We identify the distinctive ways the pandemic-related restrictions altered our participants’ interactions with their local food environment and influenced their food availability and accessibility. Our study found that participants spent more time acquiring food from a reduced number of food sources and experienced an overall weakening of their …

No. 35: Venezuelan Migration And Covid-19 Response Measures In Urban Areas Of Ecuador, Cheryl Martens, Taymi Milán

Migration and Food Security (MiFOOD) Network

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted Venezuelan migrants in Ecuador, exacerbating their vulnerabilities due to restrictive containment measures, socioeconomic instability, and barriers to healthcare and basic services. This paper examines the intersection of pandemic-related restrictions, migrant precarity, and state responses, highlighting the disproportionate effects on urban Venezuelan migrants. Key challenges included irregular migration pathways, increased food and housing insecurity, exclusion from early vaccination programs, and heightened exposure to gender-based violence. Despite Ecuador’s early adoption of an inclusive vaccination strategy, systemic inequalities persisted, limiting migrants’ social and economic integration. The findings contribute to broader discussions on migration governance, humanitarian responses, and the …

The Strategy Of Local Economy Sustainability For Resilient Coastal Settlement: The Lessons Learned From The Covid-19 Pandemic, Sri Aliah Ekawati, Mukti Ali, Gafar Lakatupa, Laode Muhammad Asfan Mujahid, Renaldy Renaldy, Andi Siti Faatimah Mauldini

Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics

Learning from experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, this study aims to recommend strategies for local economic sustainability to achieve resilient coastal settlement goals. A literature review was conducted as a preliminary to obtain an overview of the economic strategies carried out by coastal communities during the pandemic, the variables of resilient coastal settlements, government programs in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, and research gaps related to local economic sustainability. This study used a questionnaire distribution method to collect data. The data were then analyzed using a triangulation method that compared the variables of coastal settlement’s resilience, government programs, and potential …

My Omaha, John C. Lyden

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of My Omaha (2025), directed by Nick Beaulieu.

Cost Comparison Of Congregate, Motel, And Village-Type Shelters For People Experiencing Homelessness, Jacen Greene, Todd Ferry, Emily Leickly, Franklin H. Spurbeck

Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative Publications and Presentations

Village and motel shelters exemplify the expanding field of “alternative” shelters for people experiencing homelessness, largely defined in contrast to “traditional” congregate shelters. Little research compares the financial costs of alternative and traditional shelter models. The research team analyzed cost data for 13 alternative shelters (six villages and seven motel shelters) and nine traditional congregate shelters in Portland, Oregon. Costs were assessed per “unit” (i.e. shelter bed or motel room) to account for differences in shelter sizes. Village shelters had the highest per-unit set-up costs ($99,630), followed by motel shelters ($88,462), while congregate shelters had the lowest ($43,692). Congregate shelters …

Housing Affordability Impacting Factors In U.S. Urban Areas From 2010 To 2020: An Empirical Review Of Theoretical Factors, Colby Lee Woodson

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

This study examines housing affordability in United States Combined Statistical Areas (CSAs) and counties from 2010 to 2020, using American Community Survey and Building Permits Survey data. It evaluates theoretical frameworks from George Galster and Kwan Ok Lee. Using a multiscalar approach, affordability is assessed through a costs-over-income ratio, incorporating both supply- and demand-side factors. A novel contribution is the integration of elder dependency rates, which limit housing turnover and exacerbate supply constraints. Findings indicate that rising full homeownership—particularly among older households—has reduced tenure mobility. The study also shows that CSAs offer a stronger analytical resolution than counties. Despite home …

Urban Planning For Regional Food Equity, Miriam Caroline Sullivan

City and Regional Planning

47 million people, including 14 million children, face food insecurity in the United States of America annually. Defined by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) as: when people don’t have enough to eat and don’t know where their next meal will come from. Food insecurity is a systemic issue caused by systems greater than any individual failure. Poverty and unemployment, lack of affordable housing, chronic public health issues, racism and discrimination all play a role in the state of American food security (Feeding America, n.d.). A tenet of this research and project development is the right of all people, …

Beyond The Shadow Of Large Cities: Small And Mid-Sized Cities As Hidden Epicenters Of Eviction, Evicted In Oregon, Alex Farrington, Colleen Carroll, Azad Amir-Ghassemi, Safia Goldsmith, Lisa K. Bates

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Most eviction research focuses on large cities, leaving us with limited knowledge of evictions in smaller cities. Our analysis of evictions in three small and mid-sized cities in Oregon reveals that these cities can also experience severe eviction crises. By collecting and hand-coding data from justice courts, we provide a comprehensive view of evictions in these cities–including the role different types of courts play–for the first time.

Beyond Congestion Pricing, Gregory H. Shill

Journal of Law and Mobility

After years of political and legal efforts to block it, congestion pricing finally went into effect in New York City in January 2025. Early indications are positive, though threats to its continuation from the Trump administration and others remain. But its journey to this point has already made one thing clear: it is time for the Big Apple to seize more of its own destiny in transportation policy.

The battles that delayed and still imperil the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s congestion pricing scheme underscore the need for policies that New York City can implement unilaterally. Making urban transportation policy in the …

Preventing Carbon Emissions With Imaging-Based Civil Infrastructure Assessment And Evaluation, Thomas Schumacher

PSU Transportation Seminars

For concrete bridges without existing plans, simplified and highly conservative load rating (structural evaluation) methods may be used, which can lead to unnecessary load restrictions, unjustifiable strengthening, or in the worst case, preventable replacements. Avoiding these outcomes not only saves money but it prevents carbon emissions from longer travel and construction activities and resources associated with replacement.

This presentation discusses a case study of a prestressed concrete bridge that required a load rating, and for which no plans existed. Imaging and image fusion using radar and ultrasonic measurements taken from the top and bottom of the slab were performed to …

No. 34: Food Insecurity And The Coping Strategies Of West African Migrants In Accra, Ghana, Ralph Armah, Mary B. Setrana, Peter Quartey, Aba Crentsil, Cynthia Addoquaye Tagoe, Innocent Agbelie

Migration and Food Security (MiFOOD) Network

This paper examines the food insecurity experiences and coping strategies of West African migrants in Accra, Ghana, across three periods: pre-COVID-19, during the pandemic, and post-COVID-19. Utilizing a survey of 420 migrants, the study explores the interplay between remittances, socioeconomic factors, and food security. The findings reveal that food insecurity was most severe during the pandemic, with remittances—especially food remittances—offering limited mitigation due to underlying vulnerabilities. Coping strategies employed by migrants included reducing meal frequency, relying on less preferred foods, borrowing food, and seeking social support. The study highlights the need for targeted policies to strengthen urban food systems, provide …

My Wings Are Not Broken: Black Males, Carcerality, And Education, Crystal M. Welch-Scott

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Historically, educational spaces have been sites of racialized inequality for Black youth, creating disparate educational outcomes. The disproportionate divide between young Black and White men continues throughout the life of their academic journey, and this research seeks to examine its impact on dropping out of school. The experience of Black young men being “othered” – compared to their White counterparts – coupled with the myriad ways Black youth must navigate normalcy creates additional challenges they must carry. This dissertation employs critical race theory and ecological systems theory as theoretical frameworks. It utilizes hierarchical regression modeling of the High School Longitudinal …

Synchronizing Work And Teaching Practices With The Spatial Dna Of Distributed Work And Learning, Manju Aishwarya Adikesavan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Phygitality, the seamless and synergistic integration of physical and digital realms, is an indispensable and irrevocable part of contemporary office-based work. Phygitality facilitates spatially and temporally distributed or multi-local working where employees work from diverse locations such as their home, office, and third places at any time of day or night. It also makes nonterritorial working at temporary workspaces accessed on a session-by-session basis possible.

This dissertation examines how phygital, multi-local, and nonterritorial working reshape individual and group work behaviors, organizational spatial practices, work-centric settings, non-work-centric settings, neighborhoods, cities, and regions. The Spatial DNA of Distributed Work encapsulates a conceptual …

Cuyahoga County Housing Study, Molly Schnoke, Kristen A. Blazek, Jack Yochum, Georgina Figueroa, Erika Shinn

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

The Cuyahoga Countywide Housing Study was completed by the Center for Economic Development in the Levin College of Public Affairs and Education at Cleveland State University. The study aims to guide the newly established Office of Housing and Community Development in formulating housing policies and action strategies for Cuyahoga County and its municipalities. The Center for Economic Development utilized housing data and stakeholder interviews to assess the county's housing needs. The study addresses challenges such as mismatched housing stock, an aging population, affordability issues, and programming difficulties. To tackle these disparities, the study identifies key metrics, recommends best practices, and …

Island Platforms And The Hyper-Terrestrialisation Of Singapore's Smart City-State, Orlando Woods, Tim Bunnell, Lily Kong

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

This paper foregrounds the importance of underlying territorial formations in realising a vision of the smart city. It argues that as a political technology of the state, territory should be understood as a platform upon which data works and the smart city unfolds. In this view, island territories – of which bordered city-states like Singapore provide paradigmatic examples – provide an integral, yet hitherto unexplored, component in the realisation of urban “smartness”. We illustrate these theoretical arguments through an analysis of how the territorial constraints that characterise Singapore’s island platform enable the state to accurately and effectively realise its vision …

Catchwater Colonialism: Reshaping Hong Kong’S Hydrology, Infrastructure, Metabolism And Landscape, 1937–1968, Jack Greatrex, Florence Mok

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

This article explores the development of hydrological infrastructure in colonial Hong Kong between the late 1930s and the late 1960s. Utilizing archival sources in Hong Kong and London, it shows how this infrastructure fundamentally reshaped Hong Kong’s geography. By way of concrete catchwaters and metal pipes, both ‘green’ and ‘urban’ Hong Kong became counter-intuitively interconnected. This interconnection created both unintended consequences and novel opportunities for colonial governance, driving forward natural conservation, state intervention into rural society and the development of new carceral institutions. Exploring these developments provides pivotal insight into the urban history of Hong Kong, with implications for global …

Repositioning North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato): The New Security Dilemma On Trans–Atlantic Relations Amid Shifting Global Geopolitics, Daniel C. George, Indra Alverdian

Journal of Strategic and Global Studies

The shifting global geopolitics have led to a new security dilemma in Europe, especially in trans–Atlantic relations. NATO as the vanguard of the trans–Atlantic defense pact is faced with transitional conditions of non-conventional threats that return to conventional threats. Due to the shift in the new global order, these threats require a repositioning for NATO to counter the new security dilemma amidst shifting global geopolitics. By referring to the three asserted pillars–the return of conventional warfare on the European continent; a more assertive Russia in the European continent under Vladimir Putin; and the geopolitical of China's rise impacted trans–-Atlantic …

The History And Manifestations Of The Metaverse In Contemporary Literature, Marlon Semuel Contantin Kansil, Wanting Sun

Journal of Strategic and Global Studies

The metaverse, an interactive and immersive virtual world, has emerged as a critical theme in contemporary literature, significantly impacting narratives and character development. This paper explores the history and literary manifestations of the metaverse, investigating its influence on identity, space, and social interactions. We find that the metaverse supports flexible and individualistic identities, reshaping how characters and readers understand themselves. The digital space of the metaverse provides a dynamic setting for moral and emotional conflicts, enriching the literary aesthetics of space. Furthermore, literature plays a crucial role in both shaping and reflecting the concept of the metaverse, employing symbolism and …

Celebrating Achievements As Digital Rituals Among Indonesian Youth On Social Media, B.J. Sujibto, Malikatun Natiqoh, Kafhaya Nuzulanisa, Saras Wati Widodo

Masyarakat: Jurnal Sosiologi

Youth and social media are increasingly intertwined, as their socio-cultural trajectories accelerate digital connectedness and intensify the contestation of diverse identities. Posting on social media has thus become a ritualized practice. This article explores how Indonesian university students construct identities by sharing achievement stories and success narratives on Instagram. Using qualitative data, it examines the experiences of students who have excelled in academic competitions. The study identifies two key typologies behind such posts. Firstly, personal determinism, aimed at self- reward and self-branding. Secondly, social motivation, focused on inspiring peers and building supportive networks to achieve academic success. These typologies reflect …