Cities today are suffering from public dependence on the automobile and a tendency to sprawl. The preference afforded to privatized means of mobility and dwelling has diminished opportunities for interaction and exchange in the public realm. The role of public transportation infrastructure must be elevated to reconnect our fractured communities. To achieve this, the identity of place must be translated into infrastructure- something that is by definition a regularized system of support. Combining the utility of infrastructure and a contextual reading of place, stations have a unique opportunity to communicate to the public. One station simultaneously reflects the identity of the regional network, the particular line it is located along, and the neighborhood it serves. An investigation into the need for redesign of transportation infrastructure in New Orleans explores the relationship between the ephemeral experiences of mobility through a city of shifting identity. Stations designed along a local and an express line demonstrate an approach to transportation planning and design that reinforces local identity in order to redefine the city. / 0 / SPK / specialcollections@tulane.edu

Civic spaces are designed in the absence of the people they most greatly impact. Conventional engagement efforts consist of formalities such as community meetings that deny participants the agency of hand-making and are built upon relationships of obligation. This runs contrary to a body of research that positions hand-making and solidarity as elemental to human nature: Matthew Crawford equates explorations of “manual engagement” to existential questioning, 1 and Karl Marx saw collaboration as integral to our “species character.” 2 The potential outcomes of this disconnect are undignified spaces that fail to accommodate the most basic human needs. 3 This thesis offers a model of praxis to challenge this disconnect. Nadia Anderson writes that praxis is focused on “process and action” 4 as opposed to products, while Marx characterized praxis as the union of thinking and social practice. 5 Accordingly, this model of praxis is composed of two parts. First, an engagement toolkit implemented in a real community; and second, an architectural proposal developed alongside a partner organization. In New Orleans, the disconnect between users and the creation of civic space is manifested in public transit. The RTA (Regional Transit Authority) bus system converges at a few critical intersections in the city’s Central Business District. Each day, thousands of riders must transfer at these stops, despite a lack of adequate seating, shade, and other basic amenities. 6 Currently, the RTA is conducting a feasibility study for a downtown transit hub. In partnership with Ride New Orleans, a local advocacy group, this thesis will deploy a community engagement toolkit that will enable transit riders to shape the design a dignified transit hub. / 0 / SPK / specialcollections@tulane.edu

Concession agreements in infrastructure have civil and administrative nature making possible for the Government to apply administrative fines and liquidated damages provisions in case of concessionaires breach.On the transportation infrastructure side, the authors explain that theoretical and practical misunderstandings are present between both legal systems and suggest amendments to the legal framework to overcome such problems.The analysis of these issues is supported on the review of several concession agreements and a comparison with the regulation of the matter in other markets. / Los contratos de concesión de infraestructura tienen componentes civiles y administrativos que generan, en cuanto a responsabilidades de los concesionarios, la posibilidad de aplicar penalidades contractuales y sanciones administrativas. En el sector infraestructura de transporte, los autores plantean que existen confusiones teóricas y prácticas entre estos dos institutos jurídicos y plantean la posibilidad de que el marco normativo se corrija para superar tales confusiones. El análisis de estos temas se basa en la revisión de diversos contratos de concesión de infraestructura de transporte público, y en la comparación de la regulación de la materia en otros sectores.