This thesis redefines the typology of Third Places and the design considerations that influence envisioning downtown revitalization of mid-size cities that are embracing a town-gown partnership. The exercise ultimately explores and addresses the importance of integrating civic growth with community cultivation to instigate the development of a new kind of place. Responding to the endangerment of place in the twenty first century city, the proposal is inspired by the historical “common place” typology and urban sociologist Ray Oldenburg’s concept of the “Third Place”. By linking the origin of rhetoric with the neutral space between work and home, Third Places revive the social realm whereby people can informally gather, interact and celebrate the human condition amidst the ever changing urban and cultural fabric. Unlike established suburban cities, Third Places still exist in many declining mid-size cities. As the University of Waterloo’s presence in the downtown continues to expand in the City of Cambridge, there is a critical need for Third Places to continue moderating healthy socioeconomic and cultural development. The thesis presents three distinctive design proposals for the existing Fraser Block site located in Cambridge Ontario’s City Centre to a key informant focus group. Each development proposition offers a different contemporary design approach to the site while maintaining the basic design goal of creating a mixed use building that will become a future social incubator and vibrant neighbourhood gathering place. Primarily this thesis attempts to provide a discourse on the potential impact of Third Places within the context of revitalizing a mid-size city downtown as it embraces the presence of a satellite university campus. A heuristic is proposed to instigate the cultural capacity of the community to envision their downtown. By interpreting the results gathered from the key informants, basic design considerations and recommendations can be offered to communicate how the downtown can be revitalized. The recommendations can also be used to help property owners, developers, the city, and the architect understand the working goals of Cambridge’s growing downtown culture.

This thesis redefines the typology of Third Places and the design considerations that influence envisioning downtown revitalization of mid-size cities that are embracing a town-gown partnership. The exercise ultimately explores and addresses the importance of integrating civic growth with community cultivation to instigate the development of a new kind of place. Responding to the endangerment of place in the twenty first century city, the proposal is inspired by the historical “common place” typology and urban sociologist Ray Oldenburg’s concept of the “Third Place”. By linking the origin of rhetoric with the neutral space between work and home, Third Places revive the social realm whereby people can informally gather, interact and celebrate the human condition amidst the ever changing urban and cultural fabric. Unlike established suburban cities, Third Places still exist in many declining mid-size cities. As the University of Waterloo’s presence in the downtown continues to expand in the City of Cambridge, there is a critical need for Third Places to continue moderating healthy socioeconomic and cultural development. The thesis presents three distinctive design proposals for the existing Fraser Block site located in Cambridge Ontario’s City Centre to a key informant focus group. Each development proposition offers a different contemporary design approach to the site while maintaining the basic design goal of creating a mixed use building that will become a future social incubator and vibrant neighbourhood gathering place. Primarily this thesis attempts to provide a discourse on the potential impact of Third Places within the context of revitalizing a mid-size city downtown as it embraces the presence of a satellite university campus. A heuristic is proposed to instigate the cultural capacity of the community to envision their downtown. By interpreting the results gathered from the key informants, basic design considerations and recommendations can be offered to communicate how the downtown can be revitalized. The recommendations can also be used to help property owners, developers, the city, and the architect understand the working goals of Cambridge’s growing downtown culture.

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To be married is an important thing in a life. It almost only happened once in alifetime. Therefore, it¡¦s very important for a woman to choose a proper bridal gown for her. Accordingly, it is also a critical issue how to design a bridal gown for thecustomers to meet their requirement.Through rich data collected, the thesis was analyzed from both view ofconsumption and supply aspects.¡CMeanwhile, case study method was used to wellunderstand the characteristics and current situation of bridal gown industry inAmerica. After compared analysis of crossed cases, the followings were concluded,I. Freely product design. Bridal gowns are belonging to life-staged products. The designers can seldom consider the durability of the products and designatethem freely. Hence, The competitive advantages are determined by abilities of the designer in the bridal industry. II. Prices into opposing extremes. The prices are divided into opposing extremes in the bridal industry. Except for materials and labor costs, the key point to pricing is design and this is one of characteristics in the bridal industry.Different business models make the prices into opposing extremes as well. III. Leadership of design.¡COf the American bridal business, the salesperson sells the bridal gowns to the retailers or end users directly. The Americans buy the bridal gowns and this is totally different from Taiwanese. In U.S, high divorce rate comes up with high re-married rate. This would make wedding ages diversified. And designs create fashions which make a brand¡¦s advantage ofunique. IV. Differentiation is one of competitive advantages. There are many ways tomake different from others, such as service quality, stylish design, and price. InU.S, people would like to pay more to have higher service quality and stylishproduct design.

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Master of Regional and Community Planning / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Hyung-Jin Kim / What makes a city a place people love and want to live is the essence of livability. Livable cities are places where people can delight in a high quality of life. College towns are great places to live because their universities function as a cultural wealth and an economic anchor for the city. Using Manhattan, KS and Kansas State University (KSU) as a case study, this study utilizes a survey as an instrument to investigate the possible correlations and patterns between the perceived quality of life of permanent residents of college towns and their degree of interaction with their university’s campus. Using statistical analyses of this data, this study explores the relationships between a higher quality of life in Manhattan and a higher interaction with KSU. As well, it seeks to find what aspects of university interaction have the most impact on quality of life, if there are any shortfalls in quality of life in Manhattan, and if the university can play a role in the strategy to mitigate for these shortfalls. In this, town-gown relationships give insight to creating more livable cities as a whole.

With increased enrolment in post-secondary education in Canada, communities hosting universities or colleges have witnessed a higher number of students residing in their near-campus neighbourhoods. The concentration of students has negative impacts on these once low-density, family-oriented neighbourhoods. Near-campus neighbourhoods are often associated with images of run-down properties, garbage-strewn front yards, and alcohol fuelled parties. Some Ontario municipalities have responded to these problems with student accommodation strategies and planning initiatives. However, the problems in near-campus neighbourhoods and the effectiveness of the planning strategies have not been well understood due to the novelty of the issue and the scarcity of related research in the Canadian context. This study aims to answer two research questions: 1) what are the impacts of student populations on near-campus neighbourhoods in Ontario? 2) how, and how effectively, have planning authorities responded to the challenges of near-campus neighbourhoods? To answer these research questions, surveys and interviews were conducted among planners and post-secondary institution housing officers in Ontario university/college communities. Evidence was also sought from other resources including other academic studies, planning documents and media output. The study results showed that at least 23 Ontario municipalities faced challenges associated with the concentration of student population in near-campus neighbourhoods. The challenges relate to demographic imbalance, decreased rates of homeownership, a deteriorating neighbourhood environment, and student behavioural issues. However, only around half of the affected communities have developed planning strategies to respond to the challenges. Eleven planning approaches are identified, analyzed, and evaluated in the study. In general, planning policies to encourage high-density development to accommodate students are common approaches and considered effective: purpose-built student housing has significantly increased its market share in some university communities. This type of development relieves housing pressure, but it is not clear if it helps to stabilize low-density neighbourhoods near campus; the attempt to regulate the student private rental market by zoning and licensing regimes has several drawbacks. The study also reveals diverse interests of different stakeholders in near-campus neighbourhoods, and the lack of effective collaboration and partnerships among them in addressing challenges in their neighbourhoods in general.

With increased enrolment in post-secondary education in Canada, communities hosting universities or colleges have witnessed a higher number of students residing in their near-campus neighbourhoods. The concentration of students has negative impacts on these once low-density, family-oriented neighbourhoods. Near-campus neighbourhoods are often associated with images of run-down properties, garbage-strewn front yards, and alcohol fuelled parties. Some Ontario municipalities have responded to these problems with student accommodation strategies and planning initiatives. However, the problems in near-campus neighbourhoods and the effectiveness of the planning strategies have not been well understood due to the novelty of the issue and the scarcity of related research in the Canadian context. This study aims to answer two research questions: 1) what are the impacts of student populations on near-campus neighbourhoods in Ontario? 2) how, and how effectively, have planning authorities responded to the challenges of near-campus neighbourhoods? To answer these research questions, surveys and interviews were conducted among planners and post-secondary institution housing officers in Ontario university/college communities. Evidence was also sought from other resources including other academic studies, planning documents and media output. The study results showed that at least 23 Ontario municipalities faced challenges associated with the concentration of student population in near-campus neighbourhoods. The challenges relate to demographic imbalance, decreased rates of homeownership, a deteriorating neighbourhood environment, and student behavioural issues. However, only around half of the affected communities have developed planning strategies to respond to the challenges. Eleven planning approaches are identified, analyzed, and evaluated in the study. In general, planning policies to encourage high-density development to accommodate students are common approaches and considered effective: purpose-built student housing has significantly increased its market share in some university communities. This type of development relieves housing pressure, but it is not clear if it helps to stabilize low-density neighbourhoods near campus; the attempt to regulate the student private rental market by zoning and licensing regimes has several drawbacks. The study also reveals diverse interests of different stakeholders in near-campus neighbourhoods, and the lack of effective collaboration and partnerships among them in addressing challenges in their neighbourhoods in general.

This thesis analyses the Delphos gown, created by both Mariano and his wife Henriette Fortuny, as well as the relationship between the gown and its wearers. Following an object-based analysis, the gown is interpreted through perspectives of temporality drawing on theories by Walter Benjamin and Gilles Deleuze. The analysis reveals its timelessness through the concepts of past, present and future embedded in the gown, as well as its in-between location regarding fashion and art. While performing a visual analysis of photographic and painted representations of the gown and its wearers under the umbrella of phenomenology, the study further takes a feminist approach in order to understand how wearing the Delphos gown can be perceived as an act of feminism, in the context of contemporary fashion history and the dress liberation of women.

American downtowns were once the place to see and be seen, but the introduction of the shopping mall in the late 1950s challenged this notion and gave the American consumer a different place to spend their time and money. The prevalence of shopping malls has slowly been declining across the country since the beginning of this century, leaving room in the American retail landscape for downtowns to reclaim their status as community and retail centers. Towns across the U.S. are turning to national and local organizations to assist them in revitalizing their downtown districts. Downtown Bloomsburg, Inc. (DBI), a non-profit organization located in the small town of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, has been working since 2006 to revitalize its town’s downtown and main street area. The unique findings presented here were derived from a four month long ethnographic study of downtown Bloomsburg merchants and shoppers and are meant to be used by DBI as a supplemental guide for further revitalization of the town.