Open land has historically been considered an expendable resource. This concept has abetted the sprawl which occurs in all urbanizing areas of our country. With the United States urbanizing at a rate of more than a million acres a year, this concept can no longer be tolerated. In the last fifteen years, urban development has consumed approximately two-thirds as much new land as it did in all the previous years in the history of our country. Virginia has not been an innocent bystander in this process. This thesis points up the necessity for immediate action to preserve open space in the State of Virginia. It examines the human as well as the economic values that can be derived from open space through an analysis of both the active and passive uses to which open space or low-density use lands can be put. This is accomplished through the establishment and critical analysis of the goals and objectives of an open space program for Virginia. The law on open space in Virginia is a mass of detail buried in traditional legal categories developed for other purposes. This thesis has examined the existing constitutional and statutory powers available to local governmental subdivisions for developing an open space program. In addition, it examines and appraises significant proposals for acquiring and controlling open space. From this analysis, alternative programs for open space acquisition and control are presented including the acquisition of development rights, the land bank, fresh concepts of zoning and subdivision regulations, and expanded concepts in the use of the taxing power. / Master of Science

no abstract provided by author / M.L. Arch.

This study set out with the premise that many urban alleys have the potential to become city open space assets. The project was designed to develop a process by which alley characteristics may be evaluated for their effect on alley open space potential. The alleys of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia were the inspiration for this study. Old Town is an 18th century city which was established as a settlement on the Potomac River in 1749. For nearly 100 years it flourished as a seaport town. As the town grew, property owners created alleys through the blocks providing rear access to their homes and businesses. The alleys bustled with activity, and became a circulation subsystem to the street and sidewalk circulation. This paper follows the process used to discover alley open space potential in Old Town. However, it is not the findings for Old Town that are most important. It is the process which is the true result of this study. This process can be used as a model by any city or town where there is a desire to better use alley spaces. The four tasks which were found to be important in discovering this open space potential are outlined below. Task One: Evolution of Alley Spaces The purpose of this task is to understand the part the alleys play in the city's circulation system. To know the history of their development and the way they have been used in the past is to learn what makes them important and distinct from other circulation systems in the city. Task Two: Evaluate the Alley Paths The elements that create the"floor, ceiling, and walls" of the alley paths are defined and evaluated for their potentially positive or negative impact on the alley as it is refurbished for pedestrian open space use. Task Three: Alley Potential Use Task three looks at the way different land uses use their alleys. Knowing present alley use allows the development of an alley typology from which decisions concerning potential use can be made. Task Four: Design Proposals Finally, the first three tasks are brought together in the form of design proposals. The proposals become a pallet with which to refurbish the alleys in a way that is sensitive to their history, their character, and their particular open space potential. The project teaches that all urban alleyways are not the same. Each has its own story, and its own particular combination of characteristics. In knowing the alleys as individual, their design as viable open spaces becomes more imaginative. / Master of Landscape Architecture