The Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s (MTC) Freeway Service Patrol’s highway motorist response service is reporting a reduction in their service levels. We analyze the relationship between the reduction in the Bay Area Freeway Service Patrol’s (FSP) motorist assists and changes in vehicle miles traveled (VMT), California Highway Patrol (CHP) reported incidents, and cover research on the impact of new and old vehicle fleet turnover. VMT and CHP incidents have differential effects on FSP assists. Although incidents occurring on freeways with high traffic flows tend to cause more congestion, the trend in local VMT along Bay Area freeway corridors does not share a strong correlation with FSP assists. Through a chi-square test, bivariate correlation and cross tabulation, we can see a relationship and pattern between FSP assists, incidents and VMT. Further analysis into the dispersion of assists, incidents and VMT show that the distribution of the FSP assists over CHP reported incidents is not perfectly equal. By analyzing VMT, CHP reported incidents and research around new vehicle fleet turnover affecting FSP assisted-incidents, Metropolitan Transportation Commission staff can systematically improve the FSP operational model; strategize ways to improve service on needier freeway corridors, while reducing unnecessary service in other regions.

Bicycling is a method of tourism transportation that is healthy, non-invasive, environmentally responsible, and economically sustainable. It allows freedom, mobility, and sightseeing potential that is not made possible by other modes of transit. Thousands of bicycle tourists travel from all over the globe annually to explore California on touring bikes via established cycling routes and robust determination. Thousands of additional domestic and international visitors take weekend trips, plan family vacations, travel for business, or tour California from abroad, many of whom are excellent candidates for local and regional bicycle touring at a more gentle intensity level. The increasing popularity and prominence of bicycle tourism, among both domestic and international travelers, carries great potential for economic benefit to local communities. Rural and agricultural communities can particularly benefit from bicycle tourism, as these communities do not normally experience the benefits of tourism as significantly as their urban, coastal or mountainous neighbors. Tourism that is developed in accordance with the size, scale, constraints and character of a particular community can have a beneficial effect on the economics and industry of the area. Infrastructure projects to this effect, such as development of a town or regional trail system, wayfinding features, or other resources come with benefits for visitors and locals in the form of recreation, public health, mobility, and access to food, drink, amenities, scenic areas, jobs and commerce. Trails may further improve the economy of the local housing market, as proximity to trails has a positive effect on housing values. Incorporation of agricultural destinations into local tourism planning creates a draw for visitors and can become a mutually beneficial relationship – contributing to the economic stability of the agriculture industry, preserving local farm lands, increasing tourism revenue and educating the public on the importance of local farming. Through careful planning of the touristic components of the destination, rural communities can achieve multifaceted economic benefits of diverse and versatile tourism amenities.

Urbanization and development of cities is necessary in contemporary society, however, these advancements are also causing urban problems, such as lack of open green space, density problems, traffic problems, and over population.Also, existing buildings are often lacking certain functions that are currently needed since they have been designed in the past. Thus, plaza and mixed used buildings, which are considered as a unit space, are needed to mention for 'publicity' that is a part of urban components as a wide spatial concept. In particular, mixed used buildings as multiply functioned facilities are needed a specific study for 'publicity' and 'urban plaza'. In general, the meaning of 'publicity' in a city seems to have started from 'agora', which is from ancient Greek. A plaza as an open space in a city was realized as a solution, which people have pursued in order to improve their psychological safety and deterioration of the physical environment. Furthermore, it was made by necessity that was able to gather people in a place and was an indicator space with culture, political, and social activity. Procuring a traffic space, which is increasing more in a city, is expressed based on declining plaza and maximizing land use, on the other hands, it indicatesthe importance of a way to vitalize social public space in urban life. In addition, urban and social modernization has caused proliferation and concentration of urban services and,as a result of it,it has caused population increase and architectural densification. In brief, open spaces and streets for pedestrians have decreased. Expansion of buildings, reduction of streets, and degeneration of urban plazas have started to diminish the space for public activity. This has connected to fall quality of its macro- environment and consciousness of sharing, and thus the quality of the city has fallen as a result. The urban plaza is an important component of urban open space and the space, which can improve social community. Thus, the objective of this study is to reconsider the concept 'publicity' in cities as a strategic space in order to vitalize the city. The study includes analyzing connectivity between urban plaza and architectural space and proposing design methods for a mixed use building which will improve interaction between urban context and the buildings., In conclusion, the study will be used to suggest a new solution for the urban design, which has had less connectivity by transportation and thoughtless development for the environment, in order to produce pleasant open space to enjoy public life for citizen focused on increasing practical use between people and their city's infrastructure with diverse function and psychological stability.

The perception that wildfires are completely preventable has caused many structures and communities to be built in locations that will inevitably experience an uncontrollable fire event, risking human lives and infrastructure. Modification of built environments into fire-adapted communities has been explored in this thesis, through multiple strategies. Central to this analysis is the idea that sustainable human developments could adopt a form of biomimicry and indigenous design informed by the adaptions of plants, animals, and native groups that endure and even thrive with regular cycles of fire. This possibility has been assessed through the scope of fire adaptation strategies available to architects, builders, and urban planners. Design decisions including the strategic placement of buildings in relation to topography, wind, vegetation type, and fuel loads has been considered. Additionally, other mechanisms for adaptation have been assessed, such as fire-retardant building materials, building form, landscaping, and the density of built form on the scale of single homes, and broader communities. The thesis identifies a typical building site, the adjacent community, the potential threats to landscape and buildings posed by wildfire, and then explores design approaches aimed at improving fire adaptability. These factors have been considered and assessed on a qualitative level and offer new recommendations for building within fire zones. These design ideas and principles can then be applied to a variety of landscapes wherein the wildfire is inevitable, thereby exploring how fire-adapted communities may be built to sustain wildfires through a myriad of methods within a range of regions.

A wide range of research fields have studied how emotions and behavior are affected by the physical environment. This gestalt theorist approach of experimental research as well seeks to measure emotion (using the valence-arousal scale) and micro-scale community development interactions when weighted physical environment factors are adjusted. Community development (CD) interactions at the micro-scale have received but slight attention from scholars in the CD research field and this study aims partially to investigate developing objective measures from social observations. CD interactions from recordings along with self-reported emotion through surveys in four quasi-experimental groups (where the environments were constructed based on peer-reviewed literature to cause emotional reactions) and one control group made up the data collected for this experiment. While the results of this experiment displayed apparent convincing quantitative differences in both CD interactions and emotion when the physical environment was manipulated, the results of a one-way ANOVA indicated no statistical significance to either dependent variable. The conclusions suggest limiting the physical factors of the environment to produce more precise changes as a result of the manipulated quasi environments.

The Cal Poly Pier (Pier) Master/Facility Plan (FP) document provides the vision of the future for the Pier, a marine science research facility. The Plan facilitates project development and management of the Pier while meeting university and department research goals. Specifically, the FP document establishes goals and strategies to direct long-term development of the Pier, streamlines agency approval and permit requirements, provides context for pier management, and assists the permitting process for future development as it relates to regulatory permits and programmatic growth on the Cal Poly Pier to help meet goals of the Center for Coastal Marine Sciences (CCMS). The Cal Poly Pier is the marine field station for the California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly) CCMS and is one of several facilities that supports research and educational activities. The CCMS is a CSU Campus Center research organization that provides research and education activities as a part of Cal Poly’s overall mission while offering opportunities to interested parties beyond Cal Poly, such as private and public entities. The 3,057-foot long pier provides students, faculty, researchers, and other users unrivaled access to the marine environment of the Central Coast and fosters hands-on learning opportunities to progress marine research and science. The Master Plan name was changed to Facility Plan to streamline the plan approval process and to minimize the potential for errors.

Homes proclaim our social standing and reflect the trend of the times. This project seeks to explore and redefine the relationship between modern homes and modern women who strive for mobile life styles. Modernism and globalization have brought us a new way of living that could have never been imagined before— our workspace and homes are no longer limited to a specific unit but have extended to the entire globe. The physical changes compelled by modernity have also complemented the changing role of women. Since the beginning of the 20th century, modern women have expanded their lives outside of their homes and are playing a much more active role in society. This project is designed for the modern feminist nomads—young women with international background living away from their home country—who are passionate about what they do professionally and proud of the women they are. The project will allow these women to determine what home means to them, and also allow their artifacts and concept of home to travel with them and, through the process, shape who they are. This project is a series of 5 different scales of designs: the Z-Cases, the Z-Cubes, the Z-Units, the Z-Communities, and the Z-Global Business Model. This series of designs is developed to better aid the life on the move for the feminist nomads, by making traveling , moving, and adjusting to a new community a much easier process.

This thesis relies on an interdisciplinary framework to conduct an investigation of seminal national policies and planning processes in New Zealand and Quebec Province, Canada related to sovereignty, indigenous land rights, and customary land tenure systems. Theoretical frameworks for this research include a comparative analysis of European legislative systems and traditional planning frameworks in relation to indigenous governance systems and land tenure systems for the Maori (NZ) and James Bay Cree (QC). Through interviews and experiential knowledge I will document tools and techniques that these indigenous communities use to navigate complex cross-cultural policy and planning processes for their own advocacy of cultural heritage values. From the Maori perspective, cultural heritage values include the concept and principles of kaitikatanga. James Bay Cree cultural heritage values include the concept and guiding principles embedded in Eeyou Iyihtiwin. These cultural heritage values represent abstract concepts and guiding principles that are embedded in and gain meaning from local context, cultural knowledge and customary traditions. The Maori and James Bay Cree share a similar orientation to the meaning and importance of land. Together these indigenous communities view land as the foundation for collective and individual identity and cultural traditions. From this perspective and meaning of land, the Maori and James Bay Cree recognize that people are a part of a greater interconnected system that spans across physical and metaphysical spaces. In practice, native or customary land tenure systems are based on cultural heritage values that support a spirit of reciprocity with an underlying expectation that a balanced system will provide for all life. This analysis may provide a new cross-cultural framework for policy and planning processes to provide opportunities for fair negotiation of sustainable land tenure systems and natural resource management.

<p>Since the 1960’s, post industrial downtowns across North America and Europe have suffered economic and population losses. Downtown revitalization theory is now a major subject in urban geography. Although each city is unique and requires customized revitalization techniques, certain approaches have worked better than others. Hamilton, Ontario, is a city of roughly 520,000 located just outside the Greater Toronto Area. Its downtown has struggled since the 1970’s. In the last ten years, however, certain areas of downtown have shown signs of revitalization. Conversation about this change has largely focused on attracting creative industries. King Street, Hamilton’s most downtown street, has yet to experience significant improvement, but is surrounded by changing areas and expected to follow suit. This study looks at two theories of revitalization: the Creative Capital theory, and the Main Street approach. It also discusses commercial gentrification. City officials and business owners along King Street were interviewed about what they expect for King Street downtown. Business owners, this study found, are underutilized agents of revitalization in the area. They want and expect the area to improve, but have yet to make significant changes to their own establishments. More could be done to include incumbent business owners in King Street's revitalization processes in Hamilton, and to acknowledge them as agents of change within the commercial gentrification literature.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

The City of Holyoke, Massachusetts is one of many aging, industrial cities striving to revitalize its economy based on the promise of increased digital connectivity and clean energy resources. But how do you renovate 19th century mills to meet the demands of the information age? This architectural study explores the potential impact of sensing technologies and information networks on the definition and function of buildings in the 21st century. It explores the changes that have taken place in industrial architecture since 1850 and argues for an architecture that supports local relationships and environmental awareness. The author explores the industrial history of Holyoke, appraises emerging uses of sensing technologies and presents a thorough narrative of her site analysis and conceptual design of a digital fabrication and incubation center within an existing textile mill.