Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / William P. Winslow III / A 2009 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center for Social & Demographic Trends found that people living in suburban areas are significantly more satisfied with their communities than are residents of cities, small towns, or rural areas. With almost 50 percent of Americans living in suburban areas, and not enough infill opportunities to accommodate future population growth, suburban development will likely continue to be a primary location for development (Berens 2010). As suburbia continues to develop there are two options: continue to use conventional suburban strategies or implement alternative suburban strategies. The city of Springville, Utah is currently experiencing suburban growth near a future transit station to the west of the downtown core. Since suburban sprawl has already begun in this area, the city has an opportunity to design for growth and become a positive example of suburban development in the region. What are the possibilities and impacts of using conventional suburban strategies versus alternative suburban methods? A 60-acre tract of land in west Springville, Utah is planned and designed for development. The first master plan is designed to demonstrate Conventional Suburban Development. The second plan is designed to demonstrate Alternative Suburban Development. A comparative analysis of the two master plans accompanies the designs to compare the two solutions. This method has been used by New Urbanists to illustrate the difference in their method of suburban development. This tract includes a future transit station, a major highway corridor, and nearby access to Interstate 15. Additionally, the tract is located approximately two miles from downtown Springville. The focus of this study is to provide the background and evidence that there are design alternatives which can contribute to the mending of suburban sprawl. In this project, city officials, planners, developers, business owners, and housing consumers are provided with an objective comparative analysis of conventional versus alternative methods of suburban development in the Wasatch Front Region of Utah. The analysis of the two design proposals provides valuable insight into the feasibility or desirability of key design principles contained in each design proposal. The study provides compelling evidence that alternative methods of community design and suburban development are to be considered to help the region achieve its long range planning goals set forth in the Envision Utah initiative.

How does transportation shape the cities we live in? This paper takes a close look at the practice of transit-oriented development to assess its implications for the future of urban areas. Through the design of a hypothetical light rail station in the suburb of Redmond, WA, this paper demonstrates how targeting sustainable development around transit has the potential to influence entire towns to “go green,” and proposes that, moving forward, cities be designed to maximize mobility, livability, and sustainability.

"Over 1.5 million single family homes went up in the United States in 2003 alone, and the vast majority of them, sadly, following not a single green design principle." Not only was green design, which is the search for better choices from an environmental perspective, not considered in these homes, neither were the millions of already existing homes within our cities. Modern construction and increasing sprawl are completely out of sync with the ecosystem of the planet and not only is the environment suffering, so is the condition of our cities. The location and inefficiency of these cookie cutter homes greatly contribute to the increasing dependency on automobiles, the clogging of landfills, the destruction of natural wilderness areas and the decrease in human social interaction. Creating a better alternative to the quickly multiplying new homes of suburban America is crucial to improving the future of the environment and the fabric of our cities. By revitalizing the dilapidated, often historic, neighborhoods of our inner cities with green design and building techniques we can improve the fabric of our cities and the daily life of their inhabitants.Located not far from downtown Richmond and littered with bus stops, public schools, parks and markets, the location of the Byrd Park neighborhood works to the advantage of its inhabitants as well as to the advantage of the environment. These convenient factors make Byrd Park appealing, but with further design and development of the existing residential structures the neighborhood will be more attractive and accommodating for a broader range of people. With the help of design, it can be a culturally rich, diverse, safe, comfortable and convenient neighborhood with accommodations for various lifestyles and income levels. Attracting a broader range of people will intern create an area rich in culture, social stimulation and diversity.

La périurbanisation, bien que décriée, a longtemps été oubliée des politiques publiques. Ce travail interroge l’évolution des modalités de la gestion métropolitaine, la place qu’y prennent les espaces périurbains et les recompositions territoriales induites. La réflexion est menée dans l’aire urbaine toulousaine dont les dynamiques sont appréhendées par une analyse statistique des évolutions sociétales, une étude de la documentation programmatique et stratégique et une quarantaine d’entretiens auprès d’acteurs de la scène métropolitaine et locale. Elle a pu mettre en évidence l’intégration des espaces périurbains à la réflexion métropolitaine et la capacité de leurs acteurs à se saisir des outils et cadres territoriaux à leur disposition pour dépasser leur statut de sous-espace urbain au profit d’un rôle à part entière dans le devenir métropolitain. En même temps qu’elles accompagnent cette promotion métropolitaine, ces recompositions territoriales ouvrent la voie à une diversité de trajectoires périurbaines. / Although criticized, urban sprawl has been forgotten by public policy for a long time. This research focuses on the evolution of regional planning, especially on the suburbs’ role in this evolution and on the reorganization of regional political governance. Our analysis is based on the example of Toulouse metropolitan area, studied through a statistical analysis of the social dynamics, a study of the urban planning materials and interviews with urban public stakeholders. Our work highlights the growing involvement of the suburbs in regional planning : suburban leaders have been able to use public policies to overcome their political marginalization and to link their destiny to the metropolitan area’s future. The current administrative and political regional reorganization also opens the door to a diversity of suburban trajectories.

Cette thèse traite de la congestion des transports en milieu urbain, et des liens qu'elle entretient avec les localisations des emplois et des ménages. Elle est organisée en trois parties. La première est une analyse bibliographique sur les questions de croissance et de structure urbaine, suivie d'une analyse, de nature systémique, de la congestion des transports. La deuxième partie est consacrée à l'analyse des manifestations spatiales de la congestion en Île-de-France, en s'appuyant notamment sur différentes méthode d'agrégation spatiale d'indicateurs de congestion. Enfin, dans la troisième partie, un modèle d'équilibre urbain décrivant la localisation des ménages par rapport à leur emploi, en présence de congestion, est développé, et utilisé pour analyser le rôle de la dispersion des emplois sur l'étalement urbain / This thesis deals with transport congestion in urban areas, and with the links between it and the locations of jobs and households. It is organized in three parts. The first one is a literature revue on the questions of urban growth and structure, followed by an analysis of congestion in transport systems. The second part is dedicated to the analysis of the spatial expressions of congestion in the Greater Paris Region, based notably on different spatial aggregation methods of congestion indicators. Finally, in the third part, I develop an urban equilibrium model describing the locations of households with respect to their workplace. This model is then used to analyse the role played by job dispersion on urban sprawl

The contemporary urban development pattern in the United States is characterized by land consumptive nature of development, such as a sprawled development pattern. Out of concern that the social and environmental costs of this development pattern outweigh their benefits, cities, counties and states have created a wide range of policy instruments designed to manage urban growth and to protect open spaces from development. The present research deals with such strategies in three study areas namely Portland Metropolitan Area, OR; Montgomery County, MD; and Orange County, FL in order to find out if growth management strategies have been able to reduce sprawl and promote a compact form of development. Based mainly on secondary sources of information, the research evaluates the characteristics, effectiveness, strengths and weaknesses of selected growth management strategies employed in each of these areas and analyses their implications for promoting a compact form of development.

Parce qu'elles concentrent plus de la moitié de la population et l'essentiel de l'activité économique mondiales, les villes sont des acteurs majeurs des problématiques environnementales globales. Les politiques de transport, d'urbanisme et de logement sont ainsi reconnus comme des moyens nécessaires et efficaces d'action pour réduire les émissions ainsi que pour réduire la vulnérabilité aux impacts du changement climatique. Jusqu'à présent, malheureusement, il n'y a pas de consensus sur ce qui doit être fait, et encore moins sur comment le faire. Trois difficultés, au moins, expliquent cela. Tout d'abord, les politiques climatiques interagissent avec les autres objectifs des politiques urbaines, comme la compétitivité économique ou les problèmes sociaux, entrainant des synergies et des conflits. Ensuite, les inerties sont un facteur-clef à prendre en compte : les modifications structurelles des villes s'opèrent très lentement. Si l'on veut que les villes soient adaptées au climat de la fin du XXIème siècle, il est indispensable de commencer à agir dès maintenant. Enfin, les effets des politiques urbaines dépendent de nombreux facteurs exogènes, et inconnus au moment où la décision doit être prise : les changements démographiques, socio-économiques culturels politiques et technologiques vont jouer un rôle majeur. Ces trois difficultés ne sont cependant pas insurmontables, et nous illustrerons comment une modélisation intégrée peut permettre de répondre à une partie de ces problèmes / Because they are home to more than half of the world population, and because most of the world economic activity takes place within them, cities are at the forefront of global environmental issues. Land use planning, urban transport and housing policies are now recognized as major tools for the reduction of both greenhouse gases emissions and vulnerability to climate change impacts. So far, however, how to use these tools efficiently remains unclear. At least three main difficulties explain this, and play a key role in urban climate policies analysis. First, urban climate policies are also not developed or implemented in a vacuum; they interact with other policy goals, such as economic competitiveness or social issues, giving rise to both synergies and conflicts. Second, inertia is a key factor when designing optimal climate policies : structural modifications in cities occur slowly over a long time horizon. Some immediate actions are required if cities are to be adapted to a different climate or to help reduce greenhouse gases emissions within a few decades. Third, the evolution of a city depends on several external factors, on which local policy-makers do not generally have much influence : demographic, socio-economic, cultural, political and technological changes will play a major role. This uncertainty has to be taken into account, and climate policies have to be robust against future possible global evolutions is important. These three difficulties are not, however, impossible to overcome, and we will illustrate how integrated city modelling can help address these issues

Det största folkhälsoproblemet idag är ökningen av övervikt och fetma med de följdsjukdomar det för med sig som högt blodtryck, cancer, diabetes typ 2 och astma. Främst beror denna ökning på vår alltmer stillasittande vardag med brist på fysisk aktivitet. Den byggda miljön skapar förutsättningar för männi-skor att vara fysiskt aktiva, vilket ger den kommunala planeringen och det kommunala planmonopolet en betydande roll. Denna studie syftar till att se hur samhällsplaneringen kan möjliggöra eller hindra människors fysiska aktivitet i den fysiska miljön och genom en kvalitativ innehållsanalys studera Öre-bro kommuns översiktsplan, grönstrategi, strategi för arkitektur och byggande, trafikprogram och hand-lingsplan för ökat cyklande. Detta för att se vad och vilka som är föremål för folkhälsoinsatser i de kommunala dokumenten. Vårt resultat visar att möjliggörande faktorer för fysisk aktivitet är närhet genom tät bebyggelse, platsers multifunktionalitet, tillgänglighet och tilltalande estetik. Hindrande fak-torer till fysisk aktivitet utgörs av långa avstånd till följd av en gles bebyggelse, uppdelning av platser och upplevd otrygghet. Det finns två dimensioner av de folkhälsofrämjande insatserna. Det är det rums-liga, fysiska platsen som sådan, och det mobila i människors förflyttningar som kan främja fysisk akti-vitet. Trygghet i de publika rummen med ett tydligt genus- och barnperspektiv lyfts även som avgörande för platsers användande för rörelse.

Neste trabalho apresenta-se um modelo que relaciona variáveis da forma urbana com o gasto de energia com transporte nas Capitais do Brasil. Na literatura sobre planejamento urbano, menciona-se que a densidade urbana tem significativa influência no consumo de energia. Este consumo pode ser medido, em parte, pelo combustível que é gasto relativo aos meios de transportes utilizados no meio urbano. Para isto foram selecionadas, nas 27 capitais do país, aspectos relativos à população, área territorial das cidades, número de veículos em circulação e consumo de combustível (por tipo), além de variáveis relacionadas a aspectos espaciais das áreas urbanizadas em que se situam estas capitais. Os resultados obtidos apontam o impacto do espalhamento no consumo de energia com transporte urbano. Os resultados das análises mostram que, juntamente com a população, as variáveis espaciais são fatores importantes no consumo de energia por transporte, respondendo por cerca de 92% da variação observada. / The relationship of some variables describing the urban form and the amount of energy consumed with transportation in the state capitals in Brazil is investigated in this work. Urban densities are often mentioned in the urban planning literature as one of the most important variables influencing energy use. The energy consumed for transportation may be measured, in some way, by the quantity of fuel used in different modes of transportation in urban areas. Information about population, urban area, number of vehicles and fuel (the available types in each city) consumption of the 27 state capitals in Brazil, along with variables describing the spatial features of the urbanized areas in which the capitals are located, have been gathered in order to reach the main objective of this work. The results found emphasize the impact of urban sprawl on the amount of energy used for urban transportation. The analyses results indicated that spatial variables are, together with population, responsible for about 92 per cent of the variation in the energy consumed for urban transportation.

Os elevados índices de crescimento urbano alcançado pelas grandes cidades nas últimas décadas afetam diretamente o processo organizado de expansão urbana, pois os atuais níveis de desenvolvimento da infra-estrutura nas grandes cidades não acompanham o ritmo do crescimento populacional atual. Frente a isso, os resultados deste cenário podem ser vistos através do surgimento de ocupações irregulares que comprometem o desenvolvimento da cidade de maneira ordenada, além de atingirem áreas de preservação ambiental, consideradas fundamentais para se manter padrões desejáveis na qualidade de vida. Com isso, a necessidade de se obter mapeamentos de maneira rápida e confiável se torna cada vez mais evidente, pois decidir sobre as estratégias e projetos referentes ao planejamento urbano depende da existência de um conjunto atualizado de informações sobre as áreas de expansão. Sendo assim, a obtenção de mapeamentos em áreas urbanas por meio de dados adquiridos com alta resolução espacial provenientes de imageamento orbital e aerotransportado se torna cada vez mais presente e necessária. O surgimento de novos sensores aerotransportados com capacidade de adquirir dados de imageamento com alta resolução espacial, como se destaca o sensor HRSC-AX (High Resolution Stereo Camera Airbone eXtended), permite inovar e automatizar soluções referentes aos problemas de mapeamento. O sensor HRSC-AX, desenvolvido pelo Instituto Aeroespacial de Berlim na Alemanha (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft und Raumfahrt; DLR), possui como característica a capacidade de adquirir dados de imageamento com alta resolução espacial nas faixas espectrais referentes ao visível (RGB) e infravermelho próximo (NIR), além de imagens estéreo fotométricas que permitem gerar modelos digitais de superfície (DSM). Essa característica permite a utilização desses dados em processos de classificação de imagens de alta resolução. Dessa forma, o presente trabalho apresenta e valida uma proposta metodológica para caracterizar objetos do cenário urbano utilizando índices de realce extraídos de dados do sensor HRSC-AX. Com base nos resultados obtidos é possível concluir que a proposta apresentada fornece uma ferramenta alternativa para a obtenção de informações sobre os objetos presentes no cenário urbano como edificações, áreas verdes, áreas sombreadas, áreas de solo exposto e objetos asfaltados de maneira rápida e confiável, além de prover subsídios para a tomada de decisões no planejamento urbano. / The heightened rates of urban growth attained by the large cities during the last decades affect directly the urban sprawl as an organized process, whereas the current development rates of the infrastructure do not keep up with the population increase of today. As a visible result of this scenario, irregular occupations appear, compromising an organized development of the city, besides jeopardizing environmental preservation areas, essential to the maintenance of desirable standards of quality of life. Hence, the ever growing necessity of obtaining maps in a fast and reliable fashion is evident, because the decision-making on strategies and projects, regarding to urban planning, is based on the existence of an updated set of information about the expanding areas. Therefore, the attainment of urban area maps, which are based in high resolution data acquired through orbital and airborne imagery, become increasingly present and necessary. The appearing of new airborne sensors, with the capacity to acquire high resolution image data, as, for instance, the HRSC-AX (High Resolution Stereo Camera Airbone eXtended), allows the innovation and automation of solutions related to problems in mapping. The HRSC-AX sensor, developed by the Berlin based German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft und Raumfahrt; DLR), is characterized by its capacity to acquire imagery data with high resolution in the visible spectral channels (RGB) as for the near infrared (NIR), besides the possibility to extract stereo photometric imagery, allowing the generation of digital surface models (DSM). This feature allows the improvement of the classification process of high resolution imagery. Hence, the present study presents and validates a methodological proposal to characterize objects in the urban scenario, using enhancement indexes extracted from HRSC-AX data. Based on the obtained results, it is possible to conclude that the presented proposal supplies an alternative tool for the obtainment of information regarding the objects that are present in the urban scenario, such as buildings, vegetation areas, shadowed areas, bare soil and asphalt covered objects, in a fast and reliable manner, besides allowing the decision-making in urban planning.