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Thesis (M. Arch.)--University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes special study report entitled: Typological study of street markets in Hong Kong. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Arch.)--University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes special study report entitled : Typological study of street markets in Hong Kong. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.

published_or_final_version / Architecture / Master / Master of Architecture

Commercial strips are ubiquitous elements of the American landscape. They offer important opportunities for inquiry into the ways in which cities are adapted, preserved, and redeveloped over time. This research examines the dynamics of reinvestment along central city commercial strips in Austin, Texas. Research was aimed at understanding the relationship between reinvestment in existing commercial buildings and larger processes of redevelopment and change along commercial strips undergoing transition. Case study commercial strips were selected that had been established in the early to mid-twentieth century and that had experienced decline and subsequent reinvestment. Historic patterns of land use, transportation, and economic trends are described and related to the relatively recent growth of concentrations of local businesses and reinvestment activity along case study commercial strips. “Core samples” of preservation and adaptive reuse were examined using spatial data, building surveys, historical data, and interviews with associated actors. Additional interviews were conducted with actors who have initiated, influenced, and regulated reinvestment, including business and property owners, developers, neighborhood activists, a media correspondent, city officials, among others. This research details the private, public, and community-based actors who shape the character of reinvestment; the influx of new businesses and retention of iconic businesses; and conflicts and negotiations at the edges of commercial and residential districts and between public and private sectors. The dissertation relates observations along Austin’s commercial strips to four themes identified in the literature and their associated views of improvement: 1. commercial strips as “wicked problems” of land use and transportation; 2. commercial strips as cultural landscapes and roadside heritage; 3. commercial strips as concentrations of commercial properties with opportunities for sustainability and retrofitting of commercial properties; and 4. commercial strips as contested arenas of gentrification. This research highlights the importance of understanding the durability of existing land development patterns and of incorporating an understanding of the continued and adaptive use of buildings and urban fabric in land use planning. It presents emerging opportunities for preservation practice beyond standard practices of survey and landmarking. It illustrates the many ways in which actors have agency, or “choreograph” change individually and collectively, in responding to opportunities and challenges presented in the context of social and economic change. / text

The main goal of this project is to design the experience of motion along a mixed-use arterial roadway as a work of art. The research component of this project proposes to determine the influences on the experience of traveling along a road, the key components of environmental art, and how these can be combined to enhance the driving experience. This project will focus on the section of McGalliard Road from Morrison Road to Walnut Street, in Muncie, Indiana.McGalliard Road is one of Muncie's most heavily traveled roads. If one examines its length, the unorganized fashion in which the street has developed is readily apparent. Different and often conflicting uses are scattered up and down the road, in a spectrum ranging from rural/ agricultural to residential to commercial. The result is a confusing sequence of buildings and spaces with little or no focus. Thousands of people use roads similar to McGalliard in their everyday life. Generally the experience of driving these roads is mundane, involving countless parking lots, stores, and chain restaurants. By utilizing the principles of environmental art in the redesign of the experience of a mixed-use arterial roadway, the user's experiences can be greatly enhanced and the road can be infused with a new identity and meaning with which peoplecan identify and take pride.The user's experience of a mixed-use arterial roadway is the main issue I plan to examine in this project. When driving on a highway the sense of motion, space, and sequence is dominant. These sensations are most affected by objects passing overhead and near the roadside (Appleyard, 1966). The primary objects in the user's view are signs, telephone poles, and other vehicles, with nearly nothing overhead.Roads are an integral component of a city's fabric, one of its most intensely used public spaces, which provide linkages between different parts of a city (Moughtin, 1992). A successful road is one that captures the attention of its user. Without this, the user's attention can begin to wander and the experience becomes uninteresting. McGalliard Road has little to catch or hold the user's attention. The nearby surroundings consist mainly of signs, large parking lots, or buildings set far back from the street with nothing to focus the driver's attention. In redesigning the experience a user has while traveling along McGalliard Road, it is important to work with these elements in the near roadside environment, utilizing their attributes in the creation of an experiential work of art.Art has the potential to add another layer to the experience of the landscape, instilling it with new meaning. Works of environmental art are bound to their site and take a large part of their content from the relationship they have with the characteristics of their surrounding sites (Beardsley, 1998), thus drawing meaning directly from the surrounding landscape and culture. Ultimately the success of a city depends on the success of its roads. Art can enhance both the experience of a road, city, and the lives of its citizens. Integrating commercialism, art, and the driving experience, the designer can create a unique experience in which the user is an integral component in the design. / Department of Landscape Architecture

In an attempt to practice inclusive planning, this research project explores whether Broadway Avenue functions as an ethnic commercial strip and identifies social, physical, and economic components that contribute to the Latino neighborhood/ barrio. Using pilot studies Loukaitou-Sideris (2000), Loukaitou-Sideris (2002), Rojas (1993), Manzumdar et al. (2000), Main (2007), and Fernando (2007) as a foundation, this research uses a single case study in addition to several research methods: 42 random surveys, literature review and analysis, site observations/pictures, and land use survey. Various scholars write that barrios have unique physical, social, economic, and political attributes. A new aesthetic, art, symbols, type of businesses, music, community events, and vendors all add to social ambiance and physical design of the neighborhood (Rojas,1993). The findings reported in this case study highlight that the majority of the people who are present at any given time on Broadway Avenue are Latino immigrants from a lower socio-economic background. They visit Broadway’s Latino commercial strip from across Los Angeles County to shop, work, and for leisure purposes. Broadway Avenue is a festive, popular, spiritual, and political public space for many Latino immigrants. Many of the study participants are attracted to Broadway’s diversity, architecture, aesthetics, culturally themed stores and restaurants; showing that this Latino commercial strip possesses deep social, physical and economic significance. Contributions of this study include a detailed description about Broadway Avenue beyond the existing literature review. Survey results provide valuable information about what study participants would like to be preserved for Broadway’s future. This information provides user-driven recommendations for preservation and change on Broadway Avenue. Broadway Avenue between Second Street and Olympic Boulevard in downtown Los Angeles is the focused area of this thesis project to provide a qualitative description of the environment of a Latino commercial strip. This thesis provides recommendations to urban planners as they attempt to preserve cultural elements of Broadway’s Latino commercial strip.