A significant portion of a building’s carbon emission comes from the materials used to construct it, primarily through fabrication and assembly. According to the World Green Building Council, this is called embodied carbon, and it makes up to 49% of the total emissions from global construction. Thus, new energy-efficient buildings can take from 10-80 years of time to offset just the carbon used in construction. Combined with such amounts of construction and demolition waste, new construction can be viewed as a wasteful or even destructive practice. Adaptive reuse presents a promising alternative method for creating new space, without the emissions and waste that would be generated by building something new. This thesis identifies challenges in the adaptability of existing buildings and provides instances which show why reuse and mixed-use spaces are significant. A literature review will be used to provide the concepts and strategies of sustainability. ix Case studies will help identify the real world issues and how they are addressed in different ways to show various functional spaces. Adaptive reuse is also being explored as a means to fulfill the socio-cultural, economic and environmental sustainability goals while keeping the character of the city intact.

Urban Villages are a specific phenomenon raised in modern China due to the high-speed economic development and urbanization in recent three decades. And there are social, economic, cultural and architectural transformations happened in these villages during these years. They appear on both the outskirts and the downtown segments of major cities, and surrounded by skyscrapers, transportation infrastructures, and other modern urban constructions. They are commonly inhabited by the poor and transient. Most of Urban Villages are heavily populated, overdeveloped, and lack of basic infrastructure. Some villages' building density is higher than 70%. They are composed of overcrowded multi-story buildings from three to five (or more) floors, also with narrow alleys, which are difficult for vehicles to pass through. Inside these villages, it is dark and damp year round and the lights have to be kept on during daytime. However, they are also among the liveliest areas in some cities and are notable for affording economic opportunity for newcomers to the city. However, Urban Villages are rejected by the governor and face demolition–redevelopment programs in order to replace them with formal urban neighborhoods. But the demolition-redevelopment approach would be devastating not only for the rural migrants, but also for the city’s economy which is largely based on labor-intensive sectors. In my study, I take Gangsha Village, a typical urban village in Shenzhen City, as a study case, to explore an appropriate reformation approach that combines urban design and architectural strategy to solve social, economic and cultural problems in Urban Village. To provide them a better living condition, and make the village better serves the city.

This thesis highlights the role of urban planners in the revitalization of historic seafronts as creative and attractive places for people and a key factor in the regeneration of the urban economy in the historic seafront areas. The Saudi Arabia historic seafront areas along the North Red Sea have been neglected and are suffering because of slow development and changes to industrial uses. This thesis will focus on the urban design principles that make historic seafronts more attractive and successful, and will use a case study approach of several American waterfront cities such as Baltimore, Maryland; San Francisco, California; and Charleston, South Carolina. These American cities and the urban design principles applied for their successful revitalization were selected for analysis because of their similarities with the Yanbu Al-Bahr's historic seafront. The results of this analysis will enable planners to apply the best of these urban waterfront design models to assist in the revitalization of historic seafronts along the North Red Sea in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).

This paper explores two potential land use planning strategies that can be used to preserve and enhance the economic viability of agricultural operations surrounded by suburban development in Santa Barbara County’s Eastern Goleta Valley: buffers between agriculture and other land uses, and agritourism. In the case of buffers, academic literature is examined to determine how effective buffers are at various tasks (filtering runoff, mitigating dust and wind, providing habitat, etc.) and how to construct buffers to maximize their effectiveness. Land use plans and codes from several California jurisdictions are studied to see how buffers are put to use. Academic literature is then reviewed to discover the benefits and potential drawbacks of agritourism to agricultural operations and the larger area. The zoning codes from the top five agritourism counties in California are evaluated to see how effective they are at facilitating five common agritourism uses; these best practices are then compared to the current zoning in Santa Barbara County. This paper concludes by summarizing the applicability of the literature and case studies to Eastern Goleta Valley, and proposes a new zoning designation and other policies to help maintain the urban agriculture operations. This new zoning designation includes a 30-foot minimum width for buffers and a three-tier categorization of land uses capable of promoting agritourism.

Historical area is the unique place to a certain context because it contains the most valuable culture on the site and also keeps recording its history. While the increasing pressure from developing tourism and booming population seriously impacts the old site resulting in culture lost. This thesis investigates a typical historical area in Xi’an in a logical process. The process starts with analysis from local fabric as urban scale to living unit as family scale to make a clear view on local culture lost. According to the context, set up appropriate criteria to select typical site to make sure the solution can be well integrated into similar scenario. Then, based on the analysis, generate possible conceptual responses. Finally, design from a modular unit, to courtyard space and to the final block prospect, and make sure the final solution in every step could not only solve the problems, but also accommodate the local life style. The whole design process appropriately integrates the concept of shared space in dealing with the overload urban and living density. The application of the phasing study makes the whole research and design process more sustainable and feasible.

Can we design waste? This is a question I seek to answer through the research of design and systems. Waste is an ever evolving and growing issue in our world today. Buildings and the spaces we inhabit contribute to the vast destruction and increasing detriment to our natural world. There are many “remedies” in the construction industry that attempt to regulate building waste and inspire sustainability, but are merely ruses for a much deeper rooted problem than sustaining the way we live. Sustainability is not enough, it simply means we are doing less bad while still perpetuating the problem of waste. Design, architecture, and construction must go beyond this to eradicate the issue; producing “less” waste is not a solution, but a redefining of the essence in which we live is a mandate. This thesis seeks to explore the conundrum of waste through the lens of design. This thesis will study systems as a tool for waste remediation and regeneration. It will explore and scrutinize both building systems such as HVAC and energy efficiency as well as space making systems, scenario based, environmental, sociological, and economical systems, all which have an important and integral impact on design, our environment, and the human population. To answer the question, can we design waste, we must redefine our lives and the systems that propel us habitually in the ways we make, produce, work, eat, and live. Moving away from systems of simplicity to those of diversity and complexity. To do this we must re-examine new and existing systems from socioeconomic to the natural cycles of rain water and evaporation. We must re-define the way we live, on all levels, from how we live and what we use to what we actually need to survive happily and harmoniously with ourselves and our planet. The key – Design.

This thesis examines the formation of spatial theory and the linkage between space and place and their relationship with historic preservation and heritage tourism. First, this thesis analyzes the terms space and place, and how scholars define each term. Second, this thesis focuses on the concept of placelessness. Third, this thesis examines historic preservation as a strategy to help alleviate placelessness and as a crucial link to heritage tourism. This thesis also will use regional examples of preservation and tourism as exemplified by the preservation efforts of private organizations, citizens, and government officials in Jonesborough,Johnson City, and Washington County,Tennessee. This thesis provides some ideas for the creation of a possible heritage tourism program within Washington County,Tennessee.

Produced by the Johnson City GIS Division on September 9, 2003, this map denotes the streets of Johnson City. The legend includes fire stations, neighborhoods, and schools. A city street index is also included. The map was designed by Gregory Plumb, GIS Coordinator and Ann Howland, GIS Database Specialist. This map was donated by the Johnson City GIS Division and now resides in the map collection of Sherrod Library's Government Information, Law and Maps Department. Physical copy resides in the Government Information, Law and Maps Department of East Tennessee State University’s Sherrod Library. / https://dc.etsu.edu/rare-maps/1012/thumbnail.jpg

Pipeline map of east-central Tennessee published in 1983 by the State of Tennessee Department of Conservation, Division of Geology. Compiled by Robert A. Miller. Assisted by Frank McConnell, the Tennessee Gas Association, the Tennessee Public Service Commission, and the private and public utilities and carriers shown on the map. The legend denotes interstate and intrastate pipelines, gas utilities, and private gas company franchised areas. The scale is 1:250,000. The central-eastern sheet is part of a series of maps that cover the entire state. The coverage area on this map is from the Middle Tennessee Natural Gas Utility District to the Oak Ridge Utility District. Physical copy resides in the Government Information, Law and Maps Department of East Tennessee State University’s Sherrod Library. / https://dc.etsu.edu/rare-maps/1015/thumbnail.jpg

Geologic map of Tennessee published in 1966 by the Tennessee Department of Conservation, Division of Geology. William D. Hardeman supervised and directed this geologic mapping and the compilation, preparation, and editing of this map. The source material for the map includes all recent (as of 1966) detailed published geologic maps and much recent unpublished geologic mapping that was begun and completed by the Division of Geology for the specific purpose of making this map of uniform accuracy through the state. The scale is 1:250,000 with the lower half including a detailed explanation including symbols/colors for rock types, mountain formations, and other geologic features. The sources of geologic information is also included. Physical copy resides in the Government Information, Law and Maps Department of East Tennessee State University’s Sherrod Library. / https://dc.etsu.edu/rare-maps/1016/thumbnail.jpg