The intent of this project is to provide tools for public administrators to implement and evaluate the cost of an alternative on-site residential water supply using rainwater harvesting and greywater reuse in their jurisdiction. These tools are then applied to the city of San Luis Obispo (SLO), California as a case study to demonstrate how rainwater harvesting and greywater reuse could be implemented to supply all residential potable and non-potable water needs, completely replacing the current centralized publicly-managed water system. Further, energy and direct fiscal costs of the alternative system are compared with the current system. A cost analysis is crucial given that sustainability is heavily linked to appropriately valuing a resource and increasing the visibility of same to the public. Pursuing sustainable water supply options is particularly important given critical water shortages and the need to decouple the energy/water equation in pursuit of reducing energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A decision tree and other tools were developed as part of this project for use by public administrators to determine the site-specific scope of an alternative residential water supply system. For example, a key question is the capacity of such a system to supply both potable and non-potable water needs. These tools were applied to single family (SF) residences in the case study city of SLO and resulted in an alternative residential system capable of completely substituting for public water supply. Implementation requires a major adjustment of indoor water demand from the SLO average of 55 gallons per capita per day (gpcd) to a ‘best practice’ water conservation mode of 27 gpcd, including a greywater reuse system for irrigation and toilet flushing. With demand held constant, the costs of the alternative on-site residential water supply system were then compared to the costs of the current centralized public water system for both the municipality and the consumer in SF residences in SLO. The public water supply costs were based on overall budgeted costs, including implementing a new project the city is partially financing for conveying Nacimiento Reservoir water to SLO. Consumer-billed costs include expected price increases proposed for the next year by the City largely due to the addition of the Nacimiento project. The volumetrically apportioned municipal water supply cost ($0.0049/gallon) is 37% lower than that billed to the consumer ($0.0078/gallon), but the wastewater processing cost for the City ($0.0125/gallon) is 39% greater than that billed to the consumer ($0.0076/gallon). Thus the combined water supply and wastewater processing costs for the City are only 4% greater than that billed to residential customers. It is notable that the City intends to significantly increase water prices billed to customers over the next several years which would shift the cost analysis in favor of the alternative system. The alternative system costs were based on operating costs (such as electricity) and the cost of the installed components of the system averaged yearly according to the life of the parts (10-50 years). The municipal cost for water supply ($0.0049/gallon) was 55% less than the cost for the alternative system ($0.0111/gallon), but the cost savings of wastewater processing using the alternative system ($0.0086/gallon) is 31% less than the municipal cost ($0.0125/gallon). The alternative systems savings are mostly a result of on-site greywater reuse for irrigation and indicate the scope of the immediate fiscal benefit to the municipality to substitute residential greywater systems for current public wastewater services. To calculate the overall cost difference in terms of both water supply and wastewater costs, the total costs used are as if all SF residences in SLO used the system. Overall, the municipal costs for combined water supply and wastewater processing ($4,137,598/yr) were 20% less than the alternative decentralized on-site system ($5,376,735/yr). The cost to the consumer for current water supply through the public water system ($0.0078/gallon) is 29% lower than the proposed alternative system ($0.0111/gallon). The wastewater processing cost to the consumer ($0.0076) is also 11% less than that of the alternative system ($0.0086/gallon). On this basis, the consumer cost using expected billing rates ($4,137,598) is 23% lower using the public water system than the cost of the alternative system ($5,376,735). Expected water and sewer rate increases may skew these results in favour of the alternative system where it is viable for the consumer to completely replace their water system and remove their household off the public water system to their financial benefit. The overall energy for water supply and wastewater processing used by the public water system was 34% lower (1,216,849 kWh/yr) than the alternative system (1,855,894 kWh/yr). The alternative on-site system’s electrically-driven pump is mostly responsible for this energy use and could be virtually eliminated by using gravity feed, as is common in many parts of the world currently using rainwater harvesting technology. Solar energy is also an effective solution to eliminate fossil-fuel based electricity. From a fiscal perspective, the alternative system costs are inflated given that an expected drop in supply cost would likely ensue with the economies of scale gained if an entire city was purchasing equipment for the alternative systems. This could override the results of the study showing the alternative system’s 20-23% higher fiscal cost than current public water system. Considering the ‘no fossil-fuel’ energy alternatives and the expected significant drop in supply cost with large scale purchasing, the alternative system provides a promising alternative residential water supply for SLO.

Open space planning has been present within the United States for over a century. Traditionally, open space planning efforts tend to focus more exclusively on either socially-based (e.g., recreational, scenic, or park planning) or ecologically-based (e.g., preserves, habitat networks or more general conservation planning) planning efforts. This separation of ecological and social frameworks in open space planning is reinforced by a persistent cultural model, where community and conservation are seen as opposing forces instead of partners. While recent open space planning efforts have begun to integrate social and ecological frameworks into one plan, the majority of our knowledge on integrated open space planning comes from individual case studies. Thus, a synthesized toolbox for how to practice this planning field is lacking. Given this lack of synthesized knowledge of integrated open space planning, an exploratory effort was undertaken to begin to view this newer planning field through a comprehensive lens. The goal of this research was to identify the state of integrated open space planning and begin to assess whether this state was leading toward "landscape integrity," which suggests that healthy social and ecological systems must function together to be sustainable. Framed within an adapted Pressure-State-Response framework, this thesis employed mixed methods and multiple perspectives to engender a holistic framework that identifies the pressures, state of, and potential responses surrounding integrated open space planning. Pressures synthesized from practice and theory include key barriers and facilitators to achieving integration. For the first time, the state of integrated open space planning has been identified from a synthesis of thirty planning processes, practices, and tools utilized in this new planning field. This framework provides planners with a framework upon which sharing and communication can now take place regarding how integrated open space planning can be institutionalized. Finally, this understanding of the pressures and state reveals potential responses for this newer planning field, including the need for increased collaboration to build this new field of open space planning into a mainstream planning field and increased research into bridging the gaps between theory and practice identified through this thesis. This study found two integrated open space planning models and a breadth of literature supporting a movement away from the community versus conservation dichotomy. While this movement is not yet mainstream, both paradigm shifts and the rapidly changing landscapes in which we live are reinforcing this trend. With the expanded view and holistic framework illustrated by this research, planners are afforded a similar language upon which they can discuss the tools and processes central to integrated open space planning.

The Urban Center Plaza at Portland State University is a high profile place situated in downtown Portland, Oregon. In some ways it is the ideal university plaza providing space for eating, conversing, or limited recreational activity. It is a place that has been studied before, but not in a more in-depth method incorporating quantitative and qualitative analyses. It is also a place that has gone through several stages of development and is the target of many opinions based on casual observations, at times due to these changes. This thesis focuses on an ethnography of place in this particular plaza in an effort to more thoroughly analyze how people use the space and how it came together to become the plaza known by Portlanders today. This is done through the use of random video observations, direct observations, and in-depth interviews with those who were involved in the creation of the plaza. Analysis of the video recordings includes pedestrian counts, behavioral maps, and common routes taken through the plaza. Direct observations provide more insight into the day-to-day activities of the plaza and the phenomenological perspective of the design elements. Interviews allow for a more complete timeline of events in order to assess the plaza properly. By combining these methods based on other plaza-based ethnographies, it is concluded that the plaza is a well-used and successful space and even suggest possible areas of improvement. Methods are also assessed for future use on other city parks and plazas, possibly in a comparative context.

Urban Agriculture (UA) has been practiced in Montreal, Quebec for well over a century. In the last five years or so, a renewed enthusiasm for UA has manifested itself in the form of citizen-led UA projects. The latter are often established in residual spaces, from vacant lots to sidewalks, and alleyways. These more spontaneous and informal UA practices point to a shift in how urban inhabitants perceive and use urban space. Through a case study of informal UA projects in Montreal, QC, this work brings attention to the dynamics surrounding the establishment of citizen-led UA projects, paying special attention to their complex structure. Indeed, although they are usually initiated by groups of citizens, other actors are either directly or indirectly involved, including non-profit organizations, municipal officials, or business owners. To better understand these processes, I ask the following questions: Why are citizens in Montreal reappropriating vacant and underused urban spaces for UA? How are these spaces being established, and who is involved? How might these spaces and the social relations forged within them, contribute--or not--to a democratic urban politics? Bringing together existing scholarship on critical urban agriculture, radical democracy, and urban geography, this research exposes some of the inherent tensions present in contemporary UA. This work demonstrates that collective UA projects exist simultaneously as a political practice, and one that might not significantly alter the existing spatial and social orders.

In recent decades skateboarding has expanded from recreation into a form of transportation. Skateboarders appear to use roadways much as other non‐motorized modes do. However, there is little academic research on the needs and characteristics of the skateboard as a mode. This research reports demographics, multi‐modal and travel behavior findings, and other data from an exploratory mixed‐methods study of skateboarding as a mode of transportation.

This study is concerned with Japan’s National Capital Region Development Plan. How to modify the capital plan and some of the correlative land policies of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to more fully protect regional air and water quality is the problem dealt with in the study.

Zoning map of downtown Elizabethton, TN and the surrounding area. Legend includes notations of type of dwelling. Originally published in 1953 by the Elizabethton Planning Commission, the color portions were filled in by hand using colored pencil and correspond to the different zoning areas. It is unclear when the color was added. As you can see in the top left quarter of the map, this was before the creation of Sycamore Shoals State Park which was established in 1975 along the Watauga RIver and is located just northwest of downtown. Physical copy resides in the Government Information, Law and Maps Department of East Tennessee State University’s Sherrod Library. / https://dc.etsu.edu/rare-maps/1001/thumbnail.jpg

Originally published in 1976 and updated in 1995 by the First-Tennessee Virginia Development District this map showcases what future land use projections were for East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia at the time. Includes 9 counties which are listed on the bottom left of the map. Legend includes notations for existing and proposed highways as well as population density based on housing units per square mile. Physical copy resides in the Government Information, Law and Maps Department of East Tennessee State University’s Sherrod Library. / https://dc.etsu.edu/rare-maps/1003/thumbnail.jpg

Map compiled by the East Tennessee State University Research Advisory Council showing population centers at different radiuses from the East Tennessee State University Campus. Population statistics were drawn from the population projections of the 1970 census. The legend includes overall population totals in 50 mile intervals. Majid Ejlali is listed as a primary author. In his capacity as Director of University Marketing and Promotion, Dr. Ejlali created a series of series of census maps as part of a university proposal to establish a medical school at ETSU. This is one such map. Physical copy resides in the Government Information, Law and Maps Department of East Tennessee State University’s Sherrod Library. / https://dc.etsu.edu/rare-maps/1004/thumbnail.jpg

Published by the Tennessee State Planning Commission this 1953 planning map was compiled by the Sullivan County Tax Staff and from the Kingsport City Engineer's Map. Many area landmarks located in Kingsport and the surrounding area were added by hand at an indeterminate time post publication. These include area schools and businesses such as General Shale and Eastman Chemical Company. The hand written legend contains the color coding used to denote highways, schools, and new construction. Physical copy resides in the Government Information, Law and Maps Department of East Tennessee State University’s Sherrod Library. / https://dc.etsu.edu/rare-maps/1005/thumbnail.jpg