Vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and its relationship with the built environment has been extensively studied. Most notably, five D variables of the built environment including density, diversity, design, destination accessibility, and distance to transit are the key variables included in this research to explain VMT generation from housing developments. This thesis uses prior research that developed robust statistical models and findings to create a framework to estimate VMT reduction affected by infill housing developed using incentives provided by the state compared to a regional comparator. The regional comparator is typically a suburban single-family housing development in the region. The models recommended for future application of the framework are based on ease of finding the data on variables included in the model and statistical robustness. The application of the framework in the Central Coast and San Francisco Bay Area regions of California shows that infill prototypes developed can generate an 11-27% reduction in VMT per capita. The findings are specific to a synthetic household defined for this study. The research provides ways to apply this framework to other regions of the state along with ideas to consider for future work. These ideas include exploring the VMT reduction potential based on households with different income levels appropriate for the regions, future modeling efforts, and selection of existing models. The findings of this thesis support that the combination of the five D variables can help attribute to a larger VMT reduction than the VMT reduction caused by the change of a single variable. When destinations are clustered, and jobs are available at a reasonable distance to the residence, a significant reduction in VMT is more achievable. The results inform public agencies on which locations are ripe for devoting further resources for incentivizing housing development to reach climate and housing goals.

Theatre has always been played a irreplaceable role in people’s lives, even nowadays where people have multiple choices for entertainment. Some theater architecture has also become the symbol of the city, such as Paris Opéra and Sydney Opera House. By taking a close look at various case studies, one will understand how the theatre architecture corresponds with their city representing its history, culture and visions for the future. The development of my thesis is based on the integration of the ‘space’ of storytelling and the space of design. Will the quality of space bring out the memories that have been stored with in it? How the space provide with most flexibility for its users? Explorations in acoustic and lighting design as well as the spectators’ experience in the space will be discussed. My attention is to create a design that will heighten perception and arouse the audience’s sensory experience even before the start of the show. The relationship between nature and the architecture is also one of my attentions. Questions arise such as how to use a multidisciplinary approach to investigate the intersection of architecture and landscape. Should the architecture become a new definition towards the context or an expression that abstract from the landscape？ This thesis explores the relationship between the performer and audience, and how the architecture space can contribute to the theater experience. The design for this project offers one solution for the whole site serving as a place for performing arts as well as a public space and a destination for the city of Boston.

This study adds to the limited literature on residentially-focused special taxing districts by addressing three questions on crime prevention and security districts in New Orleans. 1) Do the districts share common characteristics? 2) Do they act as a tool to retain residents? 3) Do they represent what A.O. Hirschman would characterize as “exit,” “voice” or neither, and, as such, how do they effect the city’s potential for service improvement? The findings show that the districts tend to be wealthier and whiter, and to have higher homeownership rates and home values than the city at large. However, exceptionalities in three of the newer districts suggest greater diversification. This could represent a shift in the perceived role of neighborhood organizations in meeting residents’ service needs. This study also finds that districts act as mechanisms to retain and, in some cases, placate residents who might otherwise be influential constituencies demanding improved municipal services.

Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) provides a great platform for the planners to reduce environmental externalities from auto. We now have access to real time data. We have been using shortest path to provide route choice to the user. But we have the potential to add more variables in choosing routes. Real time data can be used to measure carbon di-oxide emission during a trip. Also, fuel efficiency can be measured using the real time data. Planners should use this potential of ITS to reduce the environmental impact. This paper thus try to evaluate if considering three variables shortest path, environmental impact and fuel efficiency together instead of only shortest path will change the route choice or not. It provides case studies on different types of routes and between different sets of origin /destination to evaluate the combined influence of these three variables on route choice.

Being "deaf" is defined as the inability to hear, but it can also be defined as a culture centered around sensibilities and shared life experiences. This endeavor seeks to integrate the hearing-impaired and hearing communities through the application of "Deaf Space" and other design theories. The result is an inspiring, empowering, and lively solution.

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This thesis attempts to disentangle the multilayered interactions between Greater Los Angeles’s history, its built environment, and its inequitable treatment of different peoples, focusing on how transportation in surrounding suburban communities like San Gabriel Valley has developed in relation to the inner city of Los Angeles. Greater Los Angeles contains a long, winding trajectory of transit-based environmental injustices, from the indigenous societies being overtaken by the Spanish missions, to the railroads and streetcars boosting the farmlands and urban growth of Los Angeles, leading into the decline of transit and rise of automobile-oriented suburbia. Within the San Gabriel Valley, the suburban community of El Monte has a varied history in its racialized spatiality and transportation development, rising from a former agricultural hub and to its more recent growth as a vibrant working-class suburb full of minorities. Based on a case study of El Monte’s past and present built environment, this thesis looks at the present situation of El Monte’s downtown district, including a walkthrough of its ongoing downtown revitalization project centered on transit-oriented development around the newly renovated regional bus station. This thesis finds the city of El Monte and Greater Los Angeles’s transit agencies have approached the renewed economic and public interest in transit in disconnected ways, leading to mixed results for its working-class minority populace, but also finds avenues in which the government and the public can cooperatively create more equitable transit-based communities for the future.

Public participation is not a form of civic responsibility that it once was. With not only fewer people taking part in the public participation process, there is a trend towards an older (45 years and older) group of residents that come to such meetings or workshops. Plans, such as Specific Plans or General Plans often take years to implement and require all generations to give feedback on what is needed for the future. Additionally, within the last decade, there has been a rise in social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter. These websites emerged as informal virtual places for friends to connect, but have slowly evolved into a tool for businesses, and more importantly, government to connect with constituents. This study explores the relationship between the decline of public participation with findings to support the reasons residents do not take part in the process, and the rise of social media as a tool for engagement with findings to support how cities nationwide use Facebook. Social media provides a two-way form of communication between the community and the local government which aides in promoting genuine participation. Additionally, social media allows for efficient outreach and noticing of meetings or public workshops. As opposed to newspaper or website noticing, websites such as Facebook allow for local governments to target a specific audience by location, age, or interests. Findings indicate that although many cities developed a Facebook Page to engage the “younger generation”, all ages became fans of the City operated Facebook Page. In addition, the findings show that the true potential of Facebook as a participatory tool have not been discovered. cities are developing their own ways of using it as a tool as there is no formal best practices manual for City planning departments. The findings of this study have provided the necessary information to develop a best practices manual for planning practitioners to utilize. The manual provides information on developing a Facebook Page as well as the implications of the technology.

As more public spaces are under the influence of private stakeholders in cities, it is important to consider the role, both financial and social, that these stakeholders have on the design of the physical space and the users of the space. This analysis will utilize a qualitative methodological approach to understand the contested redevelopment of a public park in Richmond, Virginia as it transitioned from a city-owned space to a public-private partnership. By gaining a better understanding of the major spheres of influence involved in the redevelopment, namely the large public university and the corporations adjacent to the space, it is understood that the public spaces in question take on forms that are less public and more exclusionary in nature. Upon the conclusion of this analysis, I provide suggestions and recommendations for the future of the public forum and the role that private stakeholders might have in public spaces going forward.

This document proposes historic preservation guidelines for the downtown area of the City of St. George, Utah. It grew from a summer internship with the city where I took inventory of the streetscape in the Historic Downtown and prepared recommendations in the form of a PowerPoint Presentation that was given to the city council. This paper summarizes the summer internship and introduces a more appropriate approach based on reflection of the internship. The new approach involves a thorough inventory of the historic character, in-depth research of the historic elements that contribute to the historic character, development of design guidelines and standards, reviews, and codification of the design guidelines and standards. The historic elements that contribute most to the city’s historic character are identified as 1) block and lot layout and building setbacks, 2) architecture, 3) irrigation ditches, 4) tree lined streets, and 5) other streetscape elements and site features. Through comprehensive research of old photography, literature, and existing conditions these historic elements are further defined. The historic elements are currently being specified in design guidelines and standards and reviewed by the city in preparation for possible codification. (173 pages)