Spatial Distribution And Significance Of Burdens To Environmental Justice In Parramore, Florida: An Urban Resilience Perspective, Lex Tracton

Honors Undergraduate Theses

In response to climate change, economic instability, and rapid urbanization, the notion of urban resilience has gained prominence in city planning and governance. Urban resilience is the ability of a system to adapt to new baseline conditions developing as a result of disturbances. This study is focused on one of urban resilience’s sub-tenets, ecological resilience. Ecological resilience is the ability of a system to sustain ecosystem services following a disturbance (i.e. droughts, flooding, heat waves). The health of the environment prior to a disturbance informs post-disturbance ecological resilience. An already stressed and unbalanced system, or an ecosystem with degraded health, …

Dollars And Decibels: Quantifying The Impact Of Railroad Noise Pollution On Housing Prices In Cook County, Il, Clemens Walter Wilson

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Noise pollution is a harmful issue that affects all who have the ability to hear, especially those who live close to major noise sources. Some of the most pervasive noise pollutants are major freight and passenger trains, which are a constant nuisance for many citizens across the United States and around the world. One of the greatest impacts that railroad noise pollution has is on residential housing prices, both the value and appreciation of property are often harmed. My analysis quantifies the effect that elevated noise levels associated with proximity to railroad lines have on residential housing prices in Cook …

Riverview Community Park Commoning Plan, Haley B. Keene

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

Riverview Community Park began as an illegal DIY skatepark in the Maymont neighborhood of Richmond, Virginia. Now, although it is a city park, it is still entirely managed by volunteer community groups (skateboarders, the neighborhood Civic League, and a community garden) who view the park as a creative, experimental community-led spatial project. Due to a dearth of communication between the three groups, the park has suffered political strife between the groups and a chaotic physical atmosphere. This plan utilizes a commons governance framework and participatory, asset-based community design to usher in a new era of enhanced collaboration, common narratives, and …

Richmond Watts For Families: An Action Plan To Bring Multifamily Community Solar To The City Of Richmond, Daniel P. Rafferty

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

Seeking to advance community solar energy for multifamily residents within the City of Richmond, Virginia, the Richmond Watts for Families (WFF) is a plan to guide the city in developing robust multifamily community solar program(s). Community (shared) solar has emerged as an alternative approach to traditional rooftop solar energy by allowing customers to subscribe to a portion of a solar array that is shared among other subscribers, which has the opportunity to increase participation by marginalized communities and those currently without the financial or physical means to install solar This plan aids the city in implementing its recently adopted climate …

Revitalize Wakefield: Charting A Course For Growth, Bannon T. Luckert

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

This plan focuses on discovering the objectives and aspirations of residents and merchants to formulate a revitalization strategy comprising actionable steps that will contribute to the flourishing of a rural downtown. By leveraging Wakefield's rich history and existing assets, this plan aims to help realize the vision of revitalizing Wakefield.

The Green Infrastructure Network: Mapping Hopewell's Social & Natural Assets, Derek J. Cathcart

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

This capstone plan provides a map of the network of physical green infrastructure (GI) and the actors involved in GI projects in Hopewell. Green Infrastructure is mapped spatially with GIS and distinguishes between the various forms of GI present in the city. A network map visualizes the relationships between actors and their relationships with GI in Hopewell. This plan analyzes Hopewell’s GI network of social-ecological assets and their relative interactions. While the capstone plan is not a resilience plan on its own, it fosters resilience in Hopewell by connecting actors like city departments, state agencies, residents, business owners, and local …

Assessing The Impact Of Permanent Supportive Housing On Property Values In Richmond, Virginia, Elaine Negasi

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

The combination of affordable housing and supportive services in permanent supportive housing is a proven housing intervention effective in providing housing stability for people who have long been homeless, unstable, or socially marginalized. Virginia Supportive Housing provides crucial resources in addressing the root causes of homelessness in the region.

In many cases, opposition to permanent supportive housing is based on concerns that property values will decline. As a response to these concerns, this study will provide insight into the extent to which property values are affected. This study aims to change the perception of permanent supportive housing to foster community …

Whose Vote Is It Anyway? A Geospatial Analysis Of The California Voter's Choice Act Ballot Drop Box Criteria In Santa Cruz County, Judith Heher

Master's Projects

The way Californians vote is changing. While some of the laws surrounding these changes are close to a decade old, the events of 2020 surrounding the November Presidential Election and the COVID-19 pandemic both accelerated and expanded the adoption of contactless voting approaches such as vote-by-mail and the ballot drop box. Neither tool is new to California voters. Vote-by-mail was introduced to the state in 1962 (CA Secretary of State, unknown) and ballot drop boxes were first used in 2014 (Sherman, 2020). In 2016 California Senate Bill 450 (SB-450, 2016) was signed into law. Also known as the Voters Choice …

Transforming The Route 228 Corridor: A Safe And Connective Approach, Michael Boeh

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

This capstone plan centers around the Rt. 228/19 intersection and surrounding corridor located in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania. In spite of recent projects, the intersection continues to convey feelings of danger and a lack of safety. This redesign project will utilize SketchUp to demonstrate how safety and connectivity can be prioritized and made a reality for the Rt. 228 corridor.

Social Invention For The Common Good: A Community Land Trust-Based Model For Affordable Accessory Dwelling Units, Adelaide Alexander

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

Executive Summary

Vision: High-quality, affordable ADUs address the housing crisis and foster racial and economic justice for residents of the Richmond region

Key Research Findings

Of MWCLT’s 95 properties, 80 are suitable for the addition of ADUs and another 6 may be suitable, subject to property-specific analysis and permissions.

Richmond now allows ADUs by right in all residential districts, so ADUs could be developed as infill projects or as part of subdivisions in the City.

In Chesterfield and Henrico, developing ADUs as affordable rentals will be most feasible as part of subdivision, rather than infill, development.

Estimated rents for a …

Growth In Appalachia: Downtown Revitalization Strategies For Covington, Virginia, Tucker L. Keener

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

This plan was created for the City of Covington, Virginia which is located in the Western part of the state in the Blue Ridge Mountains. This plan aims to identify the goals and desires of local community members and business owners that prioritize economic growth in the downtown core. The City of Covington has many great assets, and the goal of this plan is to leverage these assets to assist with downtown revitalization. Recommendations in this plan relate to ideas of enhancing downtown, creating and strengthening anchor institutions, and create downtown as a tourist destination.

Flood Resiliency And Sustainable Stormwater Management Plan, Cigdem Parlak Hancer

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Health-Based Urban Design And Planning Interventions; Maximizing Harmony, Vitality, And Wellness In Hopewell, Virginia, Suzanne K. Yeats

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

Urban planners as practitioners work to create a more progressive future while simultaneously redressing the past. This tension is found in many cities, including the City of Hopewell, Virginia where city planners, managers, economic developers work passionately for positive change. In Hopewell, there has been almost no population growth since 1970 and existing health outcomes are alarming. In every determinant of health category (medical, psychological, or social), this city falls below the state and national average. This health-based urban design and planning intervention capstone challenges the status quo by flipping the paradigm and placing the health of all residents first …

Anticipating The Fall Line: A Plan For Equitable Trail-Oriented Development On Commerce Road, Eric King

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

Once completed, the Fall Line trail will provide a 43-mile active transportation route through Central Virginia from Ashland to Petersburg. Three miles of the trail’s alignment follow Commerce Road in Richmond’s Southside. As Manchester continues to undergo rapid change, trail-oriented development (TrOD) offers an opportunity to accommodate growth and transform the industrial corridor into a mixed-use destination as envisioned by the city’s master plan. While TrOD within the study area represents both economic and community development, relatively low residential property values and median incomes within surrounding neighborhoods warrant proactive measures to mitigate potential displacement pressures. Drawing from precedents set by …

Tension Between Construction And Conservation : Dutch Gap Conservation Area Park Access Design, Colleen Campbell

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

The goal of this plan is to create a site-specific design as well as investigate the best practices to use to aid in mending the tension between conservation and construction especially in conservation areas. This comes in response to legislation passed by the Virginia General Assembly in 2019. Using literature, expert surveys, and public input a design will be created to aid the public in accessing the Dutch Gap Conservation Area. Many challenges are present in conservation areas and this plan will help to address which challenges are most important as well as the best way to mitigate these challenges. …

Assessing Impact: Equitable Community Development, Rose M. Lewis

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

This plan explores strategies to advance equitable community development outcomes and enhance the understanding of impact analysis to improve economic well-being and quality of life across the Fifth District. By examining historical and current community development practices, along with relevant laws, regulations, and policies, the plan identifies actionable recommendations to address systemic inequities and foster inclusive growth. Grounded in Asset-Based Community Development and Equitable Development Planning principles, the approach emphasizes leveraging community assets, fostering collaboration, and promoting cultural competence to create sustainable frameworks for impactful development.

To address challenges in measuring outcomes, the plan introduces the Community Development Impact Self-Assessment …

Plenty Of Room At The Inn: Strategies For Gentle Densification Of Cleveland Park, Woodley Park, Van Ness, And Forest Hills, Dc, Harrison M. Hyde

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

This capstone focuses on expanding housing opportunities, through the implementation of Gentle Density, in high-resource, single-family neighborhoods in Washington, D.C. The tangible outcomes of this study were be: a set of design guidelines, proposed changes to the Zoning Code of 2016, and an analysis of the co-benefits of densification. The co-benefits analysis examined any potential changes ridership changes for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, as well as changes in the potential customer bases for local businesses in each neighborhood. These analyses were done for a maximum build-out Scenario A, a less dense Scenario B, and a do-nothing Scenario C. …

Expanding Equitable Housing Through Rezoning: Strategies For Land Use And Future Development Within Richmond, Kevin Costanzo

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

This paper serves as a critical component of the City of Richmond's extensive initiative aimed at comprehensively understanding and reforming its zoning regulations. Focusing on housing market conditions at both municipal and census block levels, as well as conducting individual neighborhood case studies representing diverse contexts within Richmond, it draws upon primary documents such as Richmond's master plan (Richmond 300) and the Department of Housing and Community Development's housing plan "One Richmond." The methodology involves thorough documentation and analysis of neighborhood-specific impacts of zoning regulations, utilizing the Pattern Book as a foundational resource. The content encompasses an examination of urban …

“Fly Buddha To Mars”: The Co-Production Between Religiosity And Science & Technology At Longquan Monastery, Beijing, Han Zhang, Junxi Qian, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This article attempts at a re-theorization towards the symbiosis and co-production of religion, modern science and technology, inspired by theoretical thinking within geographies of religion and science and technology studies (STS). Recent scholarship on the geographies of religion has made substantive advancements in discerning the convergence of religion and secular modernity. However, science and technology (S&T), as an essential condition and driving force of secular modernity, remain peripheral to this ongoing theoretical agenda, yet to be fully incorporated into the analytical framework about the co-constitution of religion and secular modernity, arguably because of the entrench divide between the rationalism of …

Variation In Las Vegas Tree Diversity Based On Socioeconomic Status, Fabrizio Ciccone

Calvert Undergraduate Research Awards

An increased level of plant biodiversity has been observed in urban communities of above average socioeconomic status. This phenomenon was previously termed the luxury effect. This study aimed to identify potential disparities in tree diversity of different communities across Las Vegas and Henderson. Communities were selected based on the zip code’s median income for 2023; this information was gathered from the Healthy Southern Nevada database. Public parks were chosen from a range of zip codes, with trees initially being identified with PictureThis, then cross-referenced with Southern Nevada Water Authority’s regional plant list for validity. Trees were counted, identified, and …