Thesis. 1978. M.C.P.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Includes bibliographical references. / M.C.P.

This dissertation investigates the transitions of urban design models in practice: the ways in which practitioners have adopted the urban design models and the factors that have influenced such adoption. In particular, this dissertation focused on the unexpected consequences of the adaptations of urban design models and distinguished these effects from those stemming from the inherent limitations of urban design models themselves. The major goal of this dissertation is to clarify the patterns of the transitions associated with urban design models in practice (particularly adaptation) to ensure a better understanding their impact on the urban environment. However, the transitions of urban design models in practice are complex phenomena that multiple actors with diverse interests have participated in and implemented numerous principles of the models over a long period of time and in diverse contexts. Therefore, to minimize such complexities while capturing important elements of the diffusion and adaptation processes, this dissertation presented a theoretical framework, the Model-Prototype-Adaptation (MPA) framework, based on recurring patterns of urban design movements. In the MPA framework, a "model" refers to an integrated set of urban design principles derived from a consensus of opinion of the enthusiastic proponents of an urban design movement; "prototypes" are projects developed by enthusiastic proponents who have strong commitment to the model and the movement; and "adaptations" are projects developed by eclectic followers who have weak commitment to the model and the movement and take advantage of the model for their interests and concerns. With these three key elements, the MPA framework hypothesizes two distinct transitions of urban design models in practice: "evolution," the developmental transition from old prototypes to new prototypes by enthusiastic proponents seeking to more effectively embody the model; and "divergence," a "watered down" application of the model in practice by eclectic followers responding to external factors such as market forces. This dissertation fleshed out the proposed basic MPA framework with historical reviews of the three urban design movements (Garden City, City Beautiful, and Modern) and a literature review of innovation-diffusion theories. In particular, the literature review focused on theories that present major factors influencing the adoption of innovations. The theories suggested that the ways in which adopters, who have different innovativeness and roles, perceive the attributes of innovations influence their decisions to adopt the innovations. In addition to the theoretical construction of the MPA framework, this dissertation presented a comparative case study with New Urbanist practices to test the MPA framework in a real world context. In particular, "divergence" of New Urbanism principles was examined specifically through a comparison of the six matched prototype-adaptation pairs of neighborhood developments in the Atlanta area. The case study first hypothesized three predictions about the perceptions and implementation of New Urbanism principles based on the MPA framework, that is, 1) enthusiastic proponents of New Urbanism perceive New Urbanism principles more positively than eclectic followers; 2) prototypes developed by enthusiastic proponents incorporate more New Urbanism principles and do so more thoroughly than adaptations developed by eclectic followers; and 3) New Urbanism principles that actors perceive more positively are implemented more often and more thoroughly. Data for the case study have been collected through interviews, surveys, field observations, planning documents, and local periodicals. The methods of analysis that were used in this study were pattern matching between predictions and observations, the explanation-building for the findings from pattern matching based on detailed contextual information derived from each case, and finally, cross-case synthesis. The comparative analysis showed that the case observations generally confirmed the three predictions. For example, among the New Urbanism principles, the "creation of an identifiable neighborhood" was perceived the most positively and also implemented the most often and thoroughly by both the enthusiastic proponents and the eclectic followers while "access to public transit" was perceived the least positively and implemented least often by both groups. In addition to the general confirmation of the three predictions, the analysis also revealed numerous unexpected findings, and efforts to build explanations for such findings based on the detailed contexts of each case yielded several important insights: the issue of compatibility between the thorough implementation of the New Urbanism model and the supply of affordable housing; the possibility of positive externalities from the proximity of prototypes to adaptations; two distinct flexibility arguments--flexibility for incremental accomplishment and that for contexts; the extent of public-private partnerships that broaden the influence of the New Urbanism principles beyond project boundaries; and communication problems between enthusiastic proponents and eclectic followers.

This thesis examines how planners negotiate urban design by examining a case study of a development project that was planned for the waterfront of Vancouver, British Columbia in the 1990s. This project, called Portside, was to be situated on land owned by the federal government, adjacent to the downtown of the City of Vancouver but not under their jurisdiction. The literatures in urban design and negotiation theory are iteratively searched to find where there is overlap between theoretical writing on related subjects and communicative or collaborative planning. Qualitative methodologies were used in researching this subject with emphasis on interviews of representatives of those parties involved in negotiations. The questions asked in the interviews mirror the progression of ideas in the theoretical underpinnings of the paper and form the framework around which the results are organized. The statements of the interview subjects form the basis of the about what works in negotiating urban design. High quality urban design is the result of a high quality design process-one that uses effective negotiation techniques and a mixed bag of practical planning tools. The theory of communicative planning acknowledges the importance of negotiation skills and multiple approaches to overcoming obstacles such as those found in the case study. The importance of visual communication skills, team cooperation, anticipation of problem areas, and flexibility within bureaucratic frameworks for planning professionals are underlined as a result of examining this development project. It is apparent that negotiating urban design happens often in Vancouver. It is also apparent that practitioners are unclear as to how they reach agreement in areas that can be subjective and unquantifiable, only that agreement is usually reached. The literature of communicative planning supplies suggestions as to how "messy" problems, such as negotiating urban design in a multi-stakeholder context, can be successfully overcome. And the techniques put forward in the theory are apparent in practice in this case. A high-quality communicative planning process, one that made good use of best negotiative practices coupled with effective design-specific communication, led to highquality urban design for this project. These methods were applied largely unconsciously by the participants as part of a mixed bag of practical planning tools.

No description available.

No description available.

Over the last forty years, China has been facing major problems resuIting from rapid urban growth. In the last decades, great efforts were made to solve the dramatic housing shortage and to improve the appalling living conditions in overcrowded areas. In 1990, the Beijing municipal government launched a program for the renewal of the old city center. A series of residential projects has been implemented in traditional neighborhoods since then which have affected the character of the old city and the lives of its residents. So far, very few studies have been conducted to assess the implementation of the renewal program. This thesis provides an overview of the regeneration projects implemented in the inner-city of Beijing since 1990. It identifies the diverse approaches currently used, along with their impacts on the traditional environment and its population. The main weaknesses of the renewal program are discussed and suggestions are made for its future transformation.

For decades there has been an urgency facing America's cities to address the declining condition of inner city communities. Initiatives implemented to address the problem have had mixed success and the drive to find solutions continues to be at the forefront of discussions surrounding urban community development. This document offers a look at an initiative designed to createa greater sense of community among neighborhood youth and to increase levels of youth involvement in community development activities. The initiative is one of many projects taking place in the Martin Luther King Jr. development Area, in Anderson, IN. The intent of the project is to enhance the quality of life for community residents through community beautification.This document will capture the essence of Project Green including both the design and implementation process. It will provide the details of the project management and activities from the origin of the idea until the completion of the summer initiative.As the document unfolds the reader is introduced to the partners and the participants, how the idea was conceived, what made the idea financially feasible, the impact on the community, and the impact left on the youth. It is intended that the reader can use this document to develop and start a similar initiative, to aid in the development of projects intended to spur revitalization of communities and the renewal of resident community spirit. / Department of Urban Planning

<p> Throughout the nation, grocery retailers are reentering underserved communities amidst growing public awareness of food deserts and the rise of federal, state, and local programs incentivizing urban grocery stores. And yet, even with expanding research on food deserts and their public health impacts, there is still a lack of consensus on whether grocery stores truly offer the best solution. Furthermore, scholars and policymakers alike have limited understandings of the broader neighborhood implications of grocery stores newly introduced into underserved urban communities.</p><p> This dissertation analyzes how local organizations and agencies pursue grocery development in order to understand the conditions for success implementation. To do this, I examine the historical drivers, planning processes, and outcomes of two extreme cases of urban grocery development: a Fresh and Easy Neighborhood Market (a chain value store) in San Francisco's Bayview Hunters Point and the Mandela Foods Cooperative (a worker-owned cooperative) in Oakland's West Oakland districts. </p><p> Through a comparative institutional analysis, I find that both Fresh and Easy and Mandela Foods reflect distinctive neighborhood revitalization legacies, critical moments of institutional capacity building, localized versions of national policy narratives, and the role of charismatic leaders in grocery store implementation. While national narratives shape the rhetoric of urban grocery development, ultimately local context dictates how food access issues are defined, who addresses them, and how. These findings suggest that federal grocery incentive programs should: 1) maintain a broad framework that enables local communities to define food access problems and their solutions on a case-by-case basis, 2) encourage diverse solutions not limited to grocery stores and supermarkets, and 3) emphasize community reinvestment goals.</p>

This thesis analyses the making of the landscape and community of Westmount, Quebec from 1871 to 1929, when it grew from a quiet rural area into Montreal's foremost anglophone elite inner-city residential suburb. A cultural materialist approach to landscapes is adopted, viewing them analytically as a means to organize and assign existential meaning to human action towards the environment at a given time and place. The making of Westmount is placed within the context of Montreal's society in the 19th century, when rapid industrialization created massive wealth for the city's English-speaking business elite, but threatened its political domination. Westmount became the 'suburban solution' to this problem, providing a sanctuary where, by careful and pioneering use of municipal bylaws governing both land use and social conduct, a 'model' elite community and landscape was created and maintained. The degree of control obtained through the maintenance of Westmount's suburban autonomy allowed a strong expression in the landscape of a shared ideology of difference and privilege.

Thesis (MCRP)--Morgan State University, 2004. / "UMI Number: 1420566"--Prelim. p. Includes bibliographical references.