This practicum examines methods of identifying concerns regarding public spaces and pedestrian orientation through community participation. Walking tours and focus groups were carried out to gain an understanding of existing conditions related to the comfort and safety of pedestrians in public spaces. Public participation plays a vital role in planning processes for projects focused on improving pedestrian environments. The community is a valuable source of information because its members are most familiar with conditions and what changes they would like to see in the urban environments that they inhabit. Although this research focused on a particular neighbourhood in Winnipeg, the research methods used can inform urban design practices in general and can be applied to other neighbourhoods. To address participants’ concerns about public spaces and pedestrian safety, guidelines for public spaces were prepared. These included recommendations about changes and enhancements to public spaces that could improve the experience of pedestrians.

This practicum examines methods of identifying concerns regarding public spaces and pedestrian orientation through community participation. Walking tours and focus groups were carried out to gain an understanding of existing conditions related to the comfort and safety of pedestrians in public spaces. Public participation plays a vital role in planning processes for projects focused on improving pedestrian environments. The community is a valuable source of information because its members are most familiar with conditions and what changes they would like to see in the urban environments that they inhabit. Although this research focused on a particular neighbourhood in Winnipeg, the research methods used can inform urban design practices in general and can be applied to other neighbourhoods. To address participants’ concerns about public spaces and pedestrian safety, guidelines for public spaces were prepared. These included recommendations about changes and enhancements to public spaces that could improve the experience of pedestrians.

City streets are the most widely distributed and heavily trafficked urban public spaces. As cities strive to improve livability in the built environment, it is important for planners and designers to have a concise understanding of what contributes to quality streetscapes. The proportions and scale of buildings and trees, which define the three-dimensional extents of streetscapes, provide enduring, foundational skeletons. This thesis investigates how characteristics of such streetscape skeletons can be quantified and tested for appeal among human users. The first of two journal-style papers identifies a concise set of skeleton variables that urban design theorists have described as influential to streetscape appeal. It offers an automated GIS-based method for identifying and cataloging these skeleton variables, which are practical to measure using widely available spatial data. Such an approach allows measurement of tens of thousands of street segments precisely and efficiently, a dramatically larger sample than can be feasibly collected using the existing auditing techniques of planners and researchers. Further, this paper examines clustering patterns among skeleton variables for street segments throughout Boston, New York, and Baltimore, identifying four streetscape skeleton types that describe a ranking of enclosure from surrounding buildings--upright, compact, porous, and open. The types are identifiable in all three cities, demonstrating regional consistency in streetscape design. Moreover, the types are poorly associated with roadway functional classifications--arterial, collector, and local--indicating that streetscapes are a distinct component of street design and must receive separate planning and design attention. The second paper assesses relationships between skeleton variables and crowdsourced judgments of streetscape visual appeal throughout New York City. Regression modeling indicates that streetscapes with greater tree canopy coverage, lined by a greater number of buildings, and with more upright cross-sections, are more visually appealing. Building and tree canopy geometry accounts for more than 40% of variability in perceived safety, which is used as an indicator of appeal. While unmeasured design details undoubtedly influence overall streetscape appeal, basic skeletal geometry may contribute important baseline conditions for appealing streetscapes that are enduring and can meet a broad variety of needs.

Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Huston Gibson / The issues infested in urban slum communities are many, of which I had no problem indentifying a dilemma specific to my interests in landscape architecture and socially equitable places. However, sustainable solutions specific to these dynamic urban forms and communities are unfamiliar academic territory. Extreme levels of poverty fostered in these communities cause deficiencies in a child’s development, who are often without access to a formal, structured education system (UNDP, 1999). Public spaces are particularly stimulating environments for youth learning and development, but most urban environments in shanty towns host a milieu of violence and crime, making most public streets and vacant lots unsafe. These conditions are ripe for visionary designers to intervene, improving the physical aspects of urban public spaces and specifically bettering the quality of life for children living in these communities. Answering this question required literature research and precedent studies, which was important for developing a thorough understanding of developmental theory as it relates to socio-economically disadvantaged children. By focusing my studies on public spaces in the neighborhood Vistas del Cerro Grande in Chihuahua, México, I began to understand the cultural idiosyncrasies specific to people living in urban shantytowns. Data collected from the neighborhood via surveys, interviews, community meetings, and an auto-ethnographic video study with fifth and sixth grade students provided an introduction to the community and the larger themes and objectives for future public space design. Visiting comparable communities in México City, México deepened my understanding as I was able to observe the daily lives of México City residents with diverse socio-economic statuses, hear their individual perspectives on the history and cultures, and relate to their frustrations with current political, economic, and societal systems. The methodologies described above culminated in a design typology specific to Vistas del Cerro Grande, consisting of public streets, pedestrian access ways, plazas, and vacant lots. These types form the backbone of my research report, which represents an evidence-based design palette of purpose-oriented amenities for positive childhood development in shanty town public spaces. The typology caters to the specific needs of the Vistas del Cerro Grande community, as identified in the research.