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The design of public open spaces frequently does not address the physical and psychological needs of their users with regard to their ages. This research gathered and restated the needs and preferences of teenagers, as an understudied group, in public open spaces, with an emphasis on neighborhood parks. Utilizing a neighborhood park in Roanoke, Virginia, the study developed findings that can influence the design of public open spaces, with the goals of providing social and physical benefits of neighborhood parks for teenagers. This research was conducted through two phases of interviews. The first phase of interviews took place with professionals who had experience in working with teenagers. The data collected in the first phase of interviews with adults were utilized for the second phase of interviews, which were with teenagers. Experimental models of the study site were created for the second phase to assist the interviewees in visualizing the various designs. In the second phase, the design options were presented to the teenaged study group in response to teenagers' characteristics and needs as determined by the outcomes of the first phase of interviews. The teenagers were asked to state their preferences among the design options. The different options for designing neighborhood parks utilized a neighborhood park in Roanoke, Virginia, as a study site. The findings of this research suggest that teenagers prefer to utilize spaces closer to the front of the park, by its edges, entrances, and exits, and the parking lot. These findings suggest that there may be no need to design specific spaces dedicated for teenagers in public spaces; however teenager's preferences should be considered in the design process of public spaces. Based on the findings of this research and the suggested relationships among the design attributes of neighborhood parks and teenagers' use of space, this research suggests that providing public spaces is linked with increased opportunities for the social development of teenagers. The primary implications of the findings of this research could help inform landscape architects and urban planners in their designs of future public open spaces that address the needs of teenagers. / Master of Landscape Architecture

Debate over land development continues to be an issue of dissension between developers and designer. Of particular contention is the issue of neighborhood design. A sector of the design profession has developed a paradigm primarily based on neighborhood design/development of the early twentieth century. This paradigm is known as New Urbanism. While some feel strongly that New Urbanism is the answer to questions related to neighborhood design, others feel that Conventional Suburban Development is what people want. This study aims to determine what the consumer wants in suburban neighborhood design through the means of survey research. The survey employed was based on a previous study conducted by the Conservation Fund in conjunction with Robert Charles Lesser Company (RCLCO) of the Atlanta housing market. The survey asks respondents to choose between attributes associated with New Urban design and those associated with Conventional Suburban Development. This study is focused on the Borough and Township of Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Neighborhoods from the Borough and Township were surveyed. The Borough neighborhood is a proxy for a New Urban neighborhood. The Township neighborhoods are Conventional Suburban Neighborhoods. The results between the two groups of respondents are compared to give further insight to consumers' preferences. Results indicate that residents of neighborhoods with New Urban attributes prefer this neighborhood style to Conventional Suburban Development. Residents of Conventional Suburban Neighborhoods are divided on their preference for neighborhood design. The findings show that approximately 25% of the Doylestown housing market desires something other than the predominant Conventional Suburban Development style. / Master of Landscape Architecture

The purpose of this study is to explore the ways racial and socio-economic diversity potentially affect economic development in Columbia City, one of Seattle's most diverse neighborhoods. Case studies of diverse metropolitan neighborhoods have not considered the impacts of diversity on economic development directly, and quantitative studies regarding diversity and economic development have produced conflicting results. Therefore, this exploratory research will attempt to answer the question, how do neighborhood actors perceive the relationship between racial and socio-economic residential composition and economic development in a diverse, urban neighborhood? For this study, the author conducted 22 semi-structured interviews with neighborhood stakeholders including nonprofit leaders, government officials, business owners, and residents. The author used the interpretive approach to analyze the interviews. Results derived from the perspectives, accounts, experiences, opinions, and understanding of neighborhood informants suggest an important connection between diversity and economic development. / Master of Urban and Regional Planning

The proponents of New Urbanism claim the neighborhoods they design, called Traditional Neighborhood Developments (TNDs), promote community, sense of place, physical health, and environmental sustainability. Critics assert that community is stressed at the expense of individuality, that design unity has become rigid uniformity, and that the neighborhoods are orchestrated and do not reflect real life. This thesis, a post occupancy evaluation (POE), examines how one TND works for its residents and whether it accomplishes the goals of the architect/planner. An additional, essential purpose of this POE is to serve the "feed-forward" role of informing future neighborhood planning projects. The Village of River Ranch in Lafayette, Louisiana is the site of my research. Utilization of multiple research methods (survey, interviews, naturalistic observations) offered opportunities for triangulation and the ability to produce a more comprehensive analysis.

Residentes de um mesmo contexto urbano podem apresentar padrões distintos de deslocamento. A distinção desses padrões pode estar relacionada às diferenças na percepção acerca da caminhabilidade do entorno. Para estimular mudanças no padrão de deslocamento dos usuários de transporte motorizado é importante compreender como os fatores do ambiente urbano, percebidos por esses usuários, se diferenciam em relação aos usuários de transporte ativo, e a partir disso montar estratégias eficientes para cada público alvo. A partir de uma pesquisa realizada com moradores de bairros da zona leste do município de São Paulo, este trabalho compara os usuários de transporte ativo, coletivo e individual em relação a três questões: (i) os fatores que influenciam a percepção da caminhabilidade (dentre eles a segurança pública), (ii) o impacto da caminhabilidade na satisfação com o bairro e (iii) a relação entre percepção de caminhabilidade, satisfação com o bairro e o impacto nos hábitos de deslocamento ativos (frequência e tempos de viagem semanais) reportados para os três grupos. Para analisar tais relações, foram desenvolvidos modelos de equações estruturais, que permitem testar uma hipótese entre múltiplas variáveis e que diversas variáveis observadas representem conceitos que não podem ser diretamente medidos (variáveis latentes), como a percepção de caminhabilidade e a sensação de segurança pública Os resultados obtidos mostraram a existência de diferenças na percepção do ambiente construído entre usuários de transporte ativo, transporte coletivo e transporte individual motorizado. As diferenças principais foram encontradas entre os usuários de transporte ativo e os usuários de transporte motorizado (coletivo e individual), tanto em relação à percepção do ambiente, quanto em relação à sua influência no comportamento do usuário relativo à viagem. A preocupação com a segurança pública parece ser superestimada por aqueles que não realizam deslocamentos ativos regularmente. Investimentos em segurança pública e na qualidade do ambiente mostram ter um efeito positivo em todos os usuários, tanto no que se refere à satisfação com o bairro quanto à utilização de modos ativos de deslocamento. O impacto da percepção do ambiente na satisfação com o bairro foi maior para os usuários de transporte coletivo e individual. / Residents of a same urban context may present different travel patterns. The distinction of these travel patterns may be related to differences in the perception of the environment walkability. To stimulate changes in the travel pattern of motorized transport users, it is important to understand how the environmental factors perceived by these users differ in relation to the users of active transport, and from that, create efficient strategies for each target public. Based on a survey with residents of neighborhoods in the eastern part of the city of São Paulo, this study compares users of active, public and private transport in relation to three issues: (i) the factors that influence perceived walkability (among them public security) (ii) the impact of walkability on neighborhood satisfaction, and (iii) the relationship between perceived walkability, neighborhood satisfaction, and the impact on active commuting patterns (weekly frequency and travel times) reported for all three groups. To analyze such relationships, structural equation models have been developed, which allow testing a hypothesis among multiple variables and that several observed variables represent concepts that cannot be directly measured (latent variables), such as perceived walkability and sense of public security The results showed the existence of differences in the perception of the built environment between users of active, public and private transport. The main differences were found between users of active and users of motorized transport (public and private), both in relation to the perception of the environment and its influence on travel user behavior. Concern about public safety seems to be overestimated by those who do not regularly commute by active means. Investments in public security and environmental quality have a positive effect on all users, both regarding neighborhood satisfaction and the use of active modes of travel. The impact of perceived environment on neighborhood satisfaction was greater for users of public and individual transport.

A (closed) neighborhood-restricted 2-achromatic-coloring of a graph G is an assignment of colors to the vertices of G such that no more than two colors are assigned in any closed neighborhood. In other words, for every vertex v in G, the vertex v and its neighbors are in at most two different color classes. The 2-achromatic number is defined as the maximum number of colors in any 2-achromatic-coloring of G. We study the 2-achromatic number. In particular, we improve a known upper bound and characterize the extremal graphs for some other known bounds.

In order to better understand the effects of condominium conversions, this study explores the nature and extent of the conversion trend, and its social impacts on the Vieux Carré neighborhood. The increasing number of conversions in the Vieux Carré, also known as the French Quarter, has been the focus of recent controversy and has been perceived by many residents as a threat to the viability of the historic district as a neighborhood. Long-term Vieux Carré residents and neighborhood organizations have expressed fears that the converted rental units are being used as short-term rentals to tourists or second homes, which may be contributing to the decline of the neighborhood's residential base. As a framework for understanding the social impacts of condominium conversions in the Vieux Carré neighborhood, this study includes a review of the literature on neighborhood change, neighborhood health, and neighborhood attachment. Since the issue of condominiums is intertwined with the ongoing research on tourism in this historic district, a review of the literature on condominium conversion, tourism impacts and the Vieux Carré also is included. In addition, this study contains the results of a mail survey of occupants of converted condominium units in the Vieux Carré. While survey respondents report formal and informal participation in the neighborhood, only half of the occupants (53%) of the converted units consider the Vieux Carré as their primary residence or are registered to vote in New Orleans. Although many condominium residents do exhibit a sense of neighborhood attachment, half are not present in the neighborhood on a full-time basis; therefore, they have limited opportunities to participate politically on behalf of the neighborhood. The findings of the survey suggest the social impacts of the condominium conversion in the Vieux Carré are likely to contribute to the decline of the neighborhood.

This study evaluated the associations of individual and neighborhood level risk factors with physical health, mental health, and stress in a diverse urban county. Relatively little research has attempted to disentangle the interactive individual characteristics and neighborhood conditions underlying health outcomes and disparities. To address this, survey data were collected and analyzed from 1,107 residents living in one of the 114 census tracts in DeKalb County, GA. Using multilevel structural equation modeling techniques, this study found that neighborhood level measures of the social and built environment were not associated with the health outcomes under study after controlling for neighborhood level income and education. Alternatively, individual level perceptions of the social and built environment and measures of access to health care were significantly associated with physical health, mental health, and perceived stress. This study also found that the association between low individual income and poor physical health was more pronounced for participants who lived in low-income neighborhoods than participants who lived in high-income neighborhoods. Additionally, this study found that Black residents reported significantly better mental health compared to White residents when they lived in high-income neighborhoods, and Black participants reported significantly more stress compared to White participants when they lived in low-income neighborhoods. Results of this study further scientific understanding of the role of neighborhood processes in health disparities and potentially help inform the development of programs and policies related to neighborhood conditions and health disparities.

A central issue in word recognition is how readers retrieve and select the right representation among others in the mental lexicon. Recently, it has been claimed that recognition of individual words is influenced by the degree to which the words possess unique vs. shared letters or sounds relative to other words, that is, whether the words have few or several neighbors. Research on so-called neighborhood density effects advances understanding of the organization and operation of the mental lexicon. Orthographic neighborhood effects have been claimed to be facilitative, but recent studies of visual word recognition have led to a revised understanding of the nature of the orthographic neighborhood density effect. Through a reexamination of orthographic and phonological neighborhood density effects, the specific objective of the present research is to understand how orthographic and phonological representations interact across two different writing systems, i.e., English (an alphabetic orthography) and Chinese (a morphosyllabic orthography). The phenomena were studied using a joint behavioral (lexical decision) and neural imaging approach (near infrared spectroscopy, or NIRS). Orthographic and phonological (more, specifically, homophone) neighborhood density were manipulated in three lexical decision experiments with English and three with Chinese readers. After different sources of facilitative inter-lexicon connections were controlled, orthographic and phonological neighborhood density effects were found to be inhibitory in both writing systems. Inhibitory neighborhood density effects were also confirmed in two NIRS experiments of English and Chinese. The present research provided a better control of lexical characteristics than was the case in previous research on neighborhood effects and found a clear and consistent pattern of neighborhood density effects. This research supports interactive-activation models of word recognition rather than parallel-distributed models, given the evidence for lateral inhibition indexed by inhibitory neighborhood density effects. As such, the present study furthers the understanding of the organization and operation of the mental lexicon.