The purpose of this research is to understand if and how downtown university campuses contribute to mid-size city downtown revitalization, how this contribution is measured, and the implications for planning practice and planning theory. To address this research question, a mixed methods approach was used which included a literature review, the use of two case studies, a survey administered to downtown businesses, a web-based survey administered to students, faculty and staff and interviews conducted with municipal planners. The two case studies were: Wilfrid Laurier University’s Faculty of Social Work (WLU FSW) in downtown Kitchener, Ontario and the University of Waterloo’s School of Architecture (UW SA) in downtown Cambridge, Ontario. The findings of this research indicate that downtown university campuses do contribute to downtown revitalization in mid-size cities. The WLU FSW and UW SA campuses are not, however, a panacea for their respective downtowns, nor are they significant contributors to downtown retailing or a major catalyst. Rather, the WLU FSW and UW SA campuses act as stabilizing influences on the downtown, bringing confidence to and about the downtown for residents, potential downtown visitors and potential downtown investors. They are examples of revitalization strategies that contribute to the improved reputation of the downtown and city. They are strategies that build on existing downtown strengths (e.g. adaptive re-use of heritage buildings, the complementing of existing businesses and services) and they are part of a larger community vision for these downtowns. The WLU Faculty of Social Work campus and the UW School of Architecture campus are both examples of effective and successful university-community partnerships. Recommendations based on the findings of this research are provided for municipalities, planning practitioners and academics. This research contributes to the limited but expanding literature on mid-size cities, mid-size city downtown revitalization and university-community partnerships. Recommendations for further research are also provided.

In rapidly growing North American cities, large-scale urban developments struggle to create a distinctive sense of community. Responding to increasing trends of isolation, decentralization, cultural and artistic expressions, capitalizing on local knowledge and people, have emerged as driving forces in the creation of authentic community development. Working within the existing model of large-scale development, interrogating process and program in relation to community building, this thesis asserts that architecture and urban design must calibrate themselves in response to the emerging trends by taking a multidisciplinary and comprehensive approach to design. This thesis asks the following questions: What is architecture’s contribution to a creative community? How can our existing instant communities continue to evolve in response to changing needs? Where can we find public space in our contemporary communities? Can public art be used as a tool for community building? The case study site, surrounding the Jane-Finch intersection, was rapidly developed from 1960 to 1970. The imposing Palisades apartment complex, standing on the north-east corner of the intersection, has become an icon in the neighbourhood. Three distinctly modern buildings rise out of a grassy lawn to be seen throughout the larger neighbourhood. The development represents both challenges and opportunities; 4,400 people know it as home while others associate it with media reports of poverty, crime and an aging legacy of modern architecture (San Romanoway Revitalization Association 2009). Issues of identity, public space, scale and implementation are examined through case studies of highly designed architectural precedents and informal grassroots organizations to inform the design proposal. Through the re-conception of the ambiguous ground plane at the base of the Palisades apartment complex as an educational and cultural campus for the emerging arts community, this thesis demonstrates the potential role of architecture in supporting creative community building and an expanded understanding of the contradictory role of an architect as mediator, dreamer and realist.

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ABSTRACT RESTORATION PROJECT OF IBRAHIM SAHIN HOUSE IN SOGUKPINAR DISTRICT, BEYHAMAM STREET, NO 41, TOKAT &Ouml / nal, Ilgin M.S. in Restoration, Department of Architecture Supervisor: Prof. Dr. N. G&uuml / l Asatekin July 2010, 329 pages The subject of thesis is to prepare the restoration project of a traditional Anatolian dwelling in Tokat. As being a representative of traditional historic background of Tokat, Ibrahim Sahin Dwelling is aimed to be rehabilitated at first and revitalized then by refunctioning. Within the context of the study, existing situation of the dwelling and its nearby environment is documented in detail. Graphical presentation of the dwelling is supported by verbal descriptions and analysis of the existing situation. The dwelling is then compared with other examples found at nearby site within its historical background. This information provided a basis for restitution stage and evaluated in restoration chapter then. The study is ended up with a restoration project including intervention decisions aiming both conservation of physical existence, revealing out of the authentic features of the dwelling and the sustainability of it within traditional historic framework by an assigned function.

Brownfield redevelopment is called upon to remedy damaged ecological, economic, and social conditions due to contamination from prior land use(s). It can be utilized as a means for revitalizing low-income neighborhoods and communities of color that have suffered from years of economic disinvestment and a polluted environment. Critics of brownfield redevelopment in low-income neighborhoods argue that this form of revitalization can backfire when property values and rental prices rise and existing residents are pushed out. The City of Oakland has demonstrated a form of inclusionary brownfield redevelopment that incorporates housing that is affordable to existing residents in the area and thus avoiding the form of exclusionary housing witnessed in other cases of brownfield redevelopment in central cities. This report builds on the hypothesis that inclusionary brownfield redevelopments in Oakland can serve as a model approach for other cities in preventing displacement of lower income, residents of color through gentrification. / text

Baltimore is one of the most notable examples of a city that has revitalized and improved its downtown core to become a world-class destination. In the 1950s, Baltimore faced a slate of problems similar to many other cities across the country: a declining manufacturing and industrial base, increasing rates of suburbanization and sprawl, and the advent of the superhighway. Downtowns large and small were losing businesses, residents, and investments to the hinterlands at an alarming pace. Planners attempts to intervene, while sincere, generated short term gains but produced deleterious consequences over the long term. The foresight of Baltimore’s population and it's elected officials allowed the city to take a different path than that of other post-industrial cities whose fortunes continued to decline well into the 1970s and 80s. Turning an eye towards their natural surroundings, Baltimoreans transformed their harbor front into a front yard, turned their Central Business District into a vibrant, mixed-use 24 hour neighborhood, and emphasized the charms and historic value that had been notoriously undervalued and unappreciated for many decades. Today, Downtown Baltimore is the crown jewel of the region, with a growing residential base, ample services and attractions, and host to more than 22 million visitors annually. In addition to looking at the specific elements that made Downtown Baltimore’s turnaround a reality, this paper will delve into strategies and procedures that other cities and communities can utilize in order to revive and reinvigorate their downtown districts. Each community faces its own unique set of demographics, trends, and future challenges. It must be stressed that the intention of this paper is not to imply a one size fits all solution to planning issues, but that certain measures, when appropriately tailored to a local setting can have beneficial outcomes. Urban downtowns in particular require a distinct approach due to their function as a regional focus for jobs, energy, and infrastructure. The success or failure of a city's core can have geographically far-reaching implications, and this paper will examine the strategies and mechanisms that promote a healthy, viable downtown that can serve as a positive anchor for a city and a metropolitan region. / text

This thesis will discuss the factors that lead to language shift from Zapotec to Spanish in San Jerónimo Tlacochahuaya (SJT), and the challenges faced by language revitalization efforts that have emerged in the home and migrant communities. Today hundreds of Indigenous languages are widely spoken across the Americas; however, in the last century an increasing amount of language shift to the nation-state language has taken place in many Indigenous communities. In the Zapotec community of San Jerónimo Tlacochahuaya (SJT), located in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, about 40% of the town’s population currently speaks Zapotec. However, the majority of speakers within this percentage are elders and adults. This means that the transmission of the Zapotec language to children has declined while Spanish language socialization has increased and is now the norm. Due to socioeconomic factors and neoliberal reforms in Mexico, many community members have migrated to other Mexican states and the United States which has furthered removed Zapotec speakers from the home community. The data for this research is based on 28 open-ended interviews with elders, adults, youth, children, and language activists and participant observation in SJT during the summer of 2013. I argue that the public education implemented by the Post-Revolutionary Mexican state in Tlacochahuaya during the 1930s influenced a language shift to Spanish. Many of those who had a negative schooling experience during this era, which prohibited and punished the use of the Zapotec language in the classroom, choose to raise their children with Spanish. In SJT from 2009-2011 Zapotec tutoring lessons for children were offered by a retired teacher, and since March 2013 migrants residing in Los Angeles, CA have been uploading Zapotec language tutorials on YouTube. Although there is awareness of language loss, I argue that these efforts have been hindered by the absence of a healing process regarding negative schooling experiences and dismantling the language ideologies that continue to devalue the Zapotec language. This case study contributes to the literature of languages shift and revitalization by suggesting that both home and migrant communities have crucial roles in Indigenous language maintenance. / text

This master’s thesis presents language community information, a descriptive grammatical sketch and analysis of structures in maqlaqsyals (Klamath-Modoc), a severely endangered isolate language traditionally spoken in present-day southern Oregon and northern California. The basis for this thesis is data from descriptive grammars from Gatschet (1890) and Barker (1964) as well as further linguistic and academic literature surrounding maqlaqsyals. This thesis is important because there is limited literature on maqlaqsyals that is accessible to the language community and this thesis fills the literature gap. This thesis is an example in practice of linguistic sovereignty. This thesis provides accessible linguistic resources written by an Indigenous community member asserting local control. Additionally, this thesis is crucial because children are on longer learning maqlaqsyals as a first language. Second language speakers must become more knowledgeable of language structure in order to converse with other speakers, setting a future environment in which children can be taught maqlaqsyals as a first language.

This research explores downtown redevelopment in Tucson, Arizona to investigate who is imagined as the constituent for the redeveloped spaces of downtown Tucson. Drawing from various cases (primarily between 2010-2013), this study resonates with significant contributions of urban geographers to understand the ways that various forms of urban governance, placed subjectivities and political economy help to produce U.S. cities. This research provides a trialectic understanding of forces shaping downtown redevelopment, powers of: social memory; city policies and mechanisms; and economic investment. These forces constantly appear throughout the remaining pages and are informed by each other at times in reactive ways while in other moments in conciliatory ways. Each of these forces--social memory, city policies and mechanisms, and economic development--circulate within a complex of social relations and each, in varying ways (re)produces administrative and institutional norms and juridical regulations.

A history of forced assimilation, colonial education, and cultural and linguistic oppression has resulted in the loss and endangerment of hundreds of Native languages, including the Mohawk language of the northeastern U.S. and Canada. It is estimated that only 5% of the population on the Akwesasne reservation are Mohawk speakers. In 1979 a significant effort to revitalize the Mohawk language began with the establishment of the Akwesasne Freedom School (AFS), a grassroots community-based cultural and language immersion program. No prior research or historical documentation of these efforts has been conducted regarding the AFS. This dissertation documents how the school was founded, how it has maintained itself without federal or state funding, and examines how the school has positively impacted its alumni, students, teachers, parents and staff. Through individual interviews, participant observations, and archival research this dissertation reveals the community's investments in and overall effects of this innovative language program on the Akwesasne community. I present the Akwesasne Freedom School as a model of Indigenous holistic education that incorporates traditional teachings, experiential methods, and language immersion. Alumni, parents, and teachers report that the school has helped them feel a strong sense of Mohawk identity. Many respondents reported that their involvement with the AFS helped them to return to the Longhouse, the traditional meeting and ceremonial place. Knowledge of the Mohawk language is only one aspect of Mohawk identity and several Mohawk values were identified in this study: respect, kinship, responsibility, cooperation, leadership, and stewardship. Ultimately, this study identifies what it means to be fully Mohawk. The Akwesasne Freedom School provides an opportunity for negotiating language and identity in a space designed to transcend historical colonization. The AFS serves as an exemplary model for educational self-determination and as a reminder to the Canadian and U.S. governments of tribal authority and sovereignty over the education of their children. Most importantly, students at the Akwesasne Freedom School are "Free to be Kanien'kehaka (Mohawk)."