The footprint of urban streets have become conflict zones of interests; ranging from efficient automobile infrastructure, building restriction lines, economical interests, shy efforts to introduce nature, services, etc. How can we, as urban designers, retrieve a portion of this footprint to nature by taking advantage of the existing public parking areas and create a network of streets that speaks to the larger park network? Can a neighborhood like Adams Morgan serve as an example for a collaborative design between private and public interests to enhance the potential of blue-green infrastructure? / Master of Science / This thesis presents a way of utilizing “public parking areas” to connect the network of streets to a larger network of parks. In Washington, DC, parking areas are public spaces situated between the property line and the sidewalk. Though public, these parking areas are under the immediate care and maintenance of the owners or occupants of the premises. For the purpose of this thesis, streets in the Adams Morgan neighborhood are used to illustrate the potential of a collaborative design between private and public interests in such parking areas. The Adams Morgan neighborhood provides several key elements, including many residential streets, three DC parks (Walter Pierce, Marie H. Reed Community and Learning Center, and Kalorama Park) and four National Park Service Parks (Meridian Hill, Smithsonian National Zoological Park, Rock Creek Trail and Parkway) as well as an active commercial district. Moreover, this thesis illustrates the potential benefits of using blue-green infrastructure, which integrates natural with semi-natural landscape elements, including water. Using this type of infrastructure to link streets to the park network would promote sustainability and resilience and provides an opportunity to enhance connectivity and reduce park fragmentation.

Syftet med arbetet är att undersöka hur 14 kommuner i Stockholms län integrerar grön infrastruktur i den kommunala planeringen. Utöver det vill arbetet även utreda hur kommunernas arbete med grön infrastruktur relaterar till Länsstyrelsen Stockholms handlingsplan för grön infrastruktur och till den regionala utvecklingsplanen för Stockholmsregionen - RUFS2050. Rapporten avser att besvara följande frågor:  Hur arbetar kommuner i Stockholmsregionen med grön infrastruktur? Hur relaterar kommunernas arbete med grön infrastruktur till RUFS2050 och till Länsstyrelsens handlingsplan för grön infrastruktur? Vilka insatsområden för grön infrastruktur prioriteras över lag i den kommunala planeringen? Hur arbetar kommunerna med mångfunktionella områden och konnektivitet?  För att besvara dessa frågor har en litteraturstudie av kommunernas styrdokument med koppling till grön infrastruktur gjort. Inventeringar av respektive kommuns hemsida har gjorts för att hitta dessa styrdokument. För varje kommun presenteras vilka planer som kan kopplas till deras gröna infrastruktur, hur de vill arbeta med sina grön- och blåstrukturer, samt hur kommunen arbetar med uppföljning av sitt arbete och mellankommunal samverkan.  Arbetet påvisar att de flesta kommuner saknar en konkret handlingsplan för grön infrastruktur, och ingen standardiserad process för att arbeta med ämnet finns etablerad. RUFS är ett mycket viktigt underlag, men Länsstyrelsen Stockholms handlingsplan för grön infrastruktur finns inte implementerad i dagsläget, antagligen på grund av att den är relativt ny tidsmässigt. Störst fokus läggs på kulturella och försörjande ekosystemtjänster, följt av stödjande tjänster. Alla kommuner vill jobba med mångfunktionella områden, men enbart ett fåtal fokuserar på de barriärer som påverkar konnektiviteten, samt arbetar för att motverka dem. Sammantaget kan man se att ett behov finns för en mer standardiserad process berörande integreringen av grön infrastruktur i den kommunala planeringen. / The purpose of this report is to explore how 14 municipalities in the county of Stockholm incorporate green infrastructure into their municipal planning. Furthermore, the work also investigates how the municipalities work with green infrastructure in relation to the County Administrative Board of Stockholm's action plan for green infrastructure, and the regional development plan for the Stockholm Region. The following questions are answered:  How does the municipalities within the Stockholm region work with green infrastructure? How does the municipalities implementation of green infrastructure relate to the action plan for green infrastructure, and the regional development plan for the Stockholm Region? What areas within green infrastructure are mostly prioritised in municipal planning? How does the municipalities work with multifunctional areas and connectivity?  To answer these questions a literature study of municipal documents related to green infrastructure has been made. These documents were found by thoroughly searching through each municipality's website. For each municipality there is a summary describing what documents were found, how the municipality integrates green and blue structures into their planning, and also how they follow-up their work and co-operate with neighbouring municipalities.  The study shows that most municipalities lack an actual action plan for green infrastructure, and there is no established process for the municipalities to follow when working with green infrastructure. The regional development plan for the Stockholm region is a great asset for the municipalities, as all of them base their municipal planning on it. However, the County Administrative Board of Stockholm's action plan for green infrastructure has not been implemented into the municipal planning as of today, probably because of it being relatively new. The main areas within green infrastructure that are being prioritised are cultural and provisioning ecosystem services, followed by supporting services. All municipalities want to work with multifunctional areas, but only a few of them prioritise barriers that affects the connectivity within their green infrastructures. Overall, there is a clear need for a more standardised process for the integration of green infrastructure into municipal planning.

Master of Regional and Community Planning / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Huston Gibson / Green infrastructure is a new term with old principles that address the protection of valuable open space through the use of connected natural areas. Through implementation of green infrastructure, communities can experience environmental, social, and economical benefits such as increased biodiversity, improved human health, and increased property values. In order to determine the specific opportunities and constraints municipalities face when implementing green infrastructure, MetroGreen was examined. MetroGreen is a greenways plan for the Kansas City Metropolitan area. The plan was studied as a whole, as well as in more detail in two different municipalities: Platte County, MO and Lenexa, KS. Eight planners, landscape architects, Park and Recreation employees, and public administrators involved with MetroGreen were interviewed to document their experiences. From these interviews three categories were identified as being closely related to successful implementation of regional green infrastructure: management, education, and funding. It was found that in order to implement green infrastructure successfully, leadership of a civic-advisory group, private entity, or non-profit organization is needed; regional dedicated funding is crucial; principles should relate to broader societal issues such as storm water and health; partnerships should be created at all levels through city, county, and citizen organizations to aid in connectivity; and public support can contribute a significant amount to the progress made. These findings serve as an analysis of regional implementation of green infrastructure, in order for professionals and community members to learn from the experiences of MetroGreen.

Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Mary C. Kingery-Page / A 2009 research report by the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Resources Inventory predicts that the developed area in the United States will increase by 54.4 million acres during the next 25 years (McMahon 2010, 2). America’s rural landscape and character is replaced everyday by “placeless” neighborhoods with limited emphasis on conservation efforts. The intent of this report is to demonstrate the benefits of applying conservation design principles to the development of a conservation subdivision in rural Kansas. A 132 acre tract of land, currently known as Nelson’s Ridge, is planned and designed for a subdivision development. The property is located just east of Manhattan, Kansas. The site includes a tributary drainage corridor surrounded by woodlands, existing agriculture fields and upland prairie. It is located no more than a mile from existing amenities of a growing residential and commercial corridor along Highway 24 in Pottawatomie County. The preliminary plat designed by local engineering firm Schwab-Eaton, demonstrates America’s typical or “conventional” approach to subdivision design (Arendt, 1996). The alternative approach is known as a low-impact development or “conservation development” (Gause 2007). After completing a thorough site inventory and analysis, two preliminary designs eventually led to a final conceptual master plan. The two preliminary designs included contemporary and neo-traditional schemes, each portraying conservation principles in alternative ways. Fully understanding the two design alternatives allowed for a balanced and more cohesive final design that incorporated the most positive aspects of both conservation approaches. The preliminary plat and the conservation design were then compared and analyzed in terms of demonstrated design principles and their economic feasibility. This project provides an example for rural subdivision development in Pottawatomie County, Kansas. The project provides decision makers with a conceptual master plan for Nelson’s Ridge that implements conservation subdivision design principles. This project will educate developers, homeowners and the public about design alternatives for subdivision development. The comprehensive analysis of the proposed design will provide important insight into the benefits and limitations of implementing conservation principles into a development.

Syftet med fallstudien har varit att undersöka hur öppen dagvattenhantering och platsens användbarhet skulle kunna kombineras så det ena inte utesluter det andra. Studien utgick ifrån en hypotes om att det finns många konflikter mellan öppen dagvattenhantering och användbarhet. Motsättningarna mellan de olika perspektiven skulle därför innebära, enligt hypotesen, att det är omöjligt att planera för det ena perspektivet utan att skapa problem för det andra. Undantaget skulle vara om kombinationen varit en målsättning under förarbetet. Fallen som har studerats är Ekostaden Augustenborg i Malmö där öppen dagvattenhantering har prioriterats och Stadsparken i Borås där platsens användbarhet har varit en tidig målsättning. Fallen är goda exempel utifrån två olika perspektiv men har gemensamt att de hamnar under begreppet urban parkmiljö. Genom observation, intervjuer och textanalys har fallen studerats närmare. Hypotesen har kunnat verifieras utifrån de två fallen. För mer generella slutsatser behöver fler fall studeras. Resultatet från fallstudien presenteras i form av framtagna planeringsprinciper och förslag på vidare studier.

Houston's Fifth Ward neighborhood is one of the last remaining areas of the inner city to have not yet seen large-scale redevelopment. Situated just northeast of downtown, the neighborhood's population is predominantly low- to mid-income African Americans; demographics are similar today as they were during the neighborhood's prime, from the 1920s-60s, when the Fifth Ward was a cultural hub of Houston famous for its musical culture of zydeco and blues. The ward's rich history also has dark spots, however, specifically its longstanding reputation as a center of poverty and violent crime, and its physical vulnerability to damaging floods. Much of the neighborhood's built history is unpreserved and unprotected, at risk of being wiped off the map by both development interests and extreme weather events. By modernizing the city's approach to stormwater management and infrastructure and strengthening its historic preservation and emergency management practices, Houston could help preserve one of its oldest communities, while also decreasing flood volumes, improving air and water quality, saving money, and establishing a pattern of smart growth citywide. In addition, neighborhood level efforts to promote placemaking via preservation and sustainability efforts can help the Fifth Ward leverage the redevelopment process to change its reputation, ensuring a future for the community that respects its past. / text

Flood events have become more frequent in Europe, and the adaptation to the increasing flood risks is needed. The Flood Directive set up a series of measures to increase European resilience, establishing Flood Risk Management Plans (FRMPs) at the level of the river basin district as one relevant action. In order to efficiently fulfil this objective, the involvement of stakeholders as well as the analysis of their roles, responsibilities, and demands has been considered to be crucial to develop FRMPs. As a result, the hypothesis tested in this paper is that a consensus solution for the 2021 update Austrian Flood Risk Management Plan is feasible. To demonstrate this, both in-depth interviews and questionnaires to key Austrian stakeholders are implemented. The information collected in both participatory techniques are then used to run a conflict prevention analysis. The results show that (a) improving the coordination among regions and including better land-use planning approaches are preferable to a hypothetical business as usual scenario; and (b) a consensus solution for the 2021 update Austrian FRMP might be achievable on the basis of both a deep discussion on the state-of-the art and green infrastructure development.

Lake Champlain is a major economic driver for Vermont's tourism economy, as well as a primary source of drinking water for many of the state's residents but nutrient pollution represents a potential threat to ecosystem health and economic well-being. From December 2011 to December 2012 a field trial of an EAF steel slag filter was assessed for its feasibility in treating wastewater originating from Swan Valley Cheese (SVC), in Swanton, VT. The study focuses on a period of the filter's operation from May 4 to October 10, 2012. The plant generates approximately 20,000 gallons per day of high P concentration wash water which is treated in an open aerated lagoon. The filter treated effluent from this lagoon. The major goals of this research were to conduct a field trial of an EAF steel slag filter to evaluate its effect on total P (TP), dissolved reactive P (DRP), and total suspended solids (TSS). Research was also conducted on pH reduction for filter effluent. Results indicate that the filter removed 95.83% of TP, 96.65% of DRP, and 52.25% of TSS. Average pH effluent was measured at 10.12 ±1.55. Additionally, a field study was conducted on sampling two unlined bioretention systems treating urban stormwater runoff. Methods used are presented and methodological considerations for future studies are presented to guide researchers in more effective and efficient methods for obtaining influent and effluent samples from bioretention systems that are not necessarily designed for sampling.

Green Infrastructure of Central Europe Green infrastructure is a strategically planned network that broadens the traditional conservation efforts to encompass the concept of ecosystem services. This study aims to identify green infrastructure network in Central Europe. Method presented in this thesis is an analysis of ecological connectivity based on ecosystem services potential quantified for CORINE land cover classes (Burkhard et al., 2009). Design of ecological corridors between the core areas represented by Natura 2000 sites is dependent on the capacity of ecosystems to provide ecological integrity and regulating services. Analysis was performed in ArcGIS Linkage Mapper extension. Green infrastructure network identifies 17 % of area of Central Europe that provides high values of ecosystem services. Corridors also create linkages between Natura 2000 sites and improve biodiversity conservation as well as they support migration corridors for large mammals. Full implementation of the Birds and Habitats directive and promoting of a European Green Infrastructure are two important targets of The EU Biodiversity strategy to 2020. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Timothy Keane / Wichita is an historic keystone in American history. Since 2002, Wichita has begun another period of urbanization and the Wichita Downtown Development Corporation (WDDC) was formed to help facilitate the needs of both the people wanting to move downtown and the developers who aim to realize the city’s historic potential. With the help of the WDDC the City of Wichita adopted the Project Downtown Master Plan developed by the Boston based firm Goody Clancy in 2010. The Project Downtown has a market driven development strategy that has little concern for ecology. The economically driven master plan gives little reason for a developer to be ecologically and socially oriented. The City of Wichita does have a rudimentary incentive focused on public infrastructure. Essentially, the City of Wichita will front the money to help develop the public infrastructure of a site to ease the total development costs. This is the key to begin defining the Project Downtown’s green spaces that are socially and ecologically oriented. Green infrastructure is a method of developing land used by pedestrian, automobile, and other human needs in a way that is ecologically sensitive. The general idea of green infrastructure is to open up the barrier of an impermeable infrastructure created by urban development to the soil below. The goal is to get as close to an undeveloped footprint as possible while still meeting the needs of the humans who occupy the area. This project looks at the Catalyst Site C-2 (chosen by the Project Downtown as an integral step of development) and designs the given program using several green infrastructure techniques. The proposed design is treated as a pilot project intended to treat 80% of the stormwater runoff developed by the building, automobile, and pedestrian space during a two year, one hour storm. This schematic design would cost roughly $536,00 designed using traditional grey infrastructure of impervious pavements that drain directly to the Arkansas River. By implementing green infrastructure the costs total roughly $533,000 saving $4,000 and greatly improving the ecological and social benefits of the design.