This study was conducted to identify how daily use rituals affect function, values, and symbolic meanings residents attach to the town center of Biñan Laguna, Philippines. If values and meanings affect the transformations of the built environment, how are social and cultural values related to the temporal and spatial use of the town center? Furthermore, what are the symbolic meanings that the residents attach to the town center? This exploratory study attempts to investigate the morphological changes of the physical and social aspects of the town center's built form. The physical aspect focuses on the function or use and morphological changes of the town center. The social aspect focuses on the symbolic value and associational meaning of the town center to town residents. Other studies on plazas and town centers have only concentrated on site observations, personal interviews, surveys, and urban morphological studies respectively. While these methods show significant results, the focus becomes isolated either only on the users or the built environment or users and the built environment in a confined synchonic analysis. This exploratory study will bridge the gap between the users and the built environment by employing the diachronic analysis using the following methods: personal interviews, site observations, behavioral mapping, and urban morphological analysis. The first three methods deal with the present, and the last method deals with the past, all of which would provide a basis of understanding for future decisions on the built environment. The results show that a hierarchy of religious, economic, and political values is related to daily use rituals of the town center. Likewise, the spatial use of the town center shows its relevance to these rituals. While the results of values show that religion is on top of the hierarchy, the results of symbolic associations reveal that the town center is synonymous to the public market, hence, placing economic activity on top of the hierarchy. This research can provide a model for further investigation and stimulate more comprehensive studies of users' values, meanings, and use of other plazas and town centers since data on Philippine plazas and town centers are so limited. This study could also serve as a model for inventory and collection of data resources for similar towns in the Philippines on which information is extremely deficient. Designers and urban planners can utilize this research project as a source of information and understanding for future design and planning initiatives that focus on social morphology of town centers undergoing suburbanization. / Master of Landscape Architecture

Existing literature suggests that mixed land-use developments have the potential to reduce traffic by “capturing” some trips internally and providing a pedestrian-friendly environment to facilitate walking for some trips. However, these elements which are meant to provide the traffic-reducing benefits also reduce the overall cost of travel, thereby increasing the total amount of travel. This “induced” travel has implications for the site planning process, which assumes that all internal trips are replacing trips on the external street network. In this investigation, travel survey data were analyzed to determine the nature and extent of induced travel at mixed-use developments. The study site was a 75-acre suburban infill mixed-use development in Plano, Texas. Features of the study site included a diverse land-use mix, a grid-style street layout, and pedestrian-oriented streetscapes. The travel survey was administered as an interview of persons exiting buildings at the site and gathered information about two trips made by the respondent, including whether the trip made at the time of the interview was induced. A trip was considered induced if the respondent would not have made the trip if it had required travel outside of Legacy Town Center. Analysis found that in the morning, four percent of all trips at the study site were induced; in the afternoon, about one-quarter of all trips were induced. Induced trips accounted for one-eighth of internal trips in the morning and forty percent of internal trips in the afternoon. Most internal trips made in an automobile were replacements for off-site travel while most trips made on foot were induced. Based on this study, it is evident that some internal trips at mixeduse developments are not “captured” from external streets, but represent additional trips, induced by travel cost savings in the mixed-use environment. However, it is demonstrated that, even with this additional travel, mixed-use developments still contribute to a reduction in overall vehicle-miles of travel. Stakeholders are encouraged to consider these findings when evaluating new land-use policies or the traffic impacts of proposed mixed-use developments.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 208-218).

This Dissertation {\clq},The restructuring process of services in historic town center of Tabor from 2008`` shows us the state of services for several generations. It shows us the town of Tabor from the beginning of 20th century to the beginning of 21st century. During this period the town changed its appearances and adapted its services to recent times. Services were adapted to people and life style. The main issue of this Dissertation is to show the portfolio, quantity of services and shops in every period to recent time, thereby making clear reasons and causes of changes in structure of services.

Vision of redevelopement and revitalization of the Kopřivnice town center. Architectural study on reconstruction of the cultural center and connected buildings of museum and library.

No description available.

Sub-center formation is closely come out when urban environment started to grow and by decentralization and sub-urbanization process to lower the congestions and increase the efficiency in urban life. Besides, by means of rising problems of the growth in an urban area, there emerged the need to share the central activities within the metropolitan region. The growth followed by creation of new towns in the peripheries. Within that organization of the city, sub-centers started to appear to share the burden of the city centers. In this study, the sub-center evolution will be examined with respect to its relationship to urban growth and development. Hence the sub-center formation will be defined and studied in terms of city center, neighborhood center and shopping center developments of the settlements. The criteria on land-use, planning process, design of the built environment, district and neighborhood centers and policies of revisions in the suburb within world examples will help the study to develop principles for sub-center formation. This will provide us to build up some criteria for the central area especially in New Development areas. After the 1970s, the city of Ankara expanded rapidly and there emerged new development areas of the metropolitan region in the West Corridor. With respect to these, Ankara is analyzed with a new urban development area in that corridor called Batikent. With the help of discussions and analysis on sub-center formation on smaller plots belonging to private and a world example of sub-center development produced by the government, design and planning principles of Sub-center growth and development will be proposed in case of Batikent.

Understanding the nature of private-public interaction within a development process provides crucial insight into the workings of a new development from the initial vision all the way to post-construction property management. The private and public sectors must work together as partners in the development process, understanding the goals of one another while remaining flexible in their own decision making in order to create a development that best meets the vision of both parties. By studying Cedar Park Town Center and Midtown Commons, located in Cedar Park, Texas and Austin, Texas, respectively, we can grow a greater understanding of how the private-public interaction involved in these cases affected two pioneering mixed-use projects in Central Texas. Utilizing personal interviews as well as documentation from both public and private sources, detailed information was gathered regarding the process and interaction used by private and public parties in both developments. / text

The Renewal Project of the Mikulov Town Center focuses primarily on its cultural heritage, consisting of reconstruction of the original Národný dom on the main square and new buildings of the Cultural House supplemented by the Art Multifunctional Gallery at the Kapucínská Street. The social cultural complex of buildings is a solution to the problems of cultural and physical connection between the city center and its immediate surroundings. After the reconstruction, the Národný dom has a supranational position in the form of conference rooms, a tourist-information center and an educational center. The present building is complemented by a new building of the Cultural House, which houses a multifunctional social hall suitable for theater performance, lectures or dance entertainment. Another kind of art experience offers Galleries on the Walls, which open their premises directly on the street and also shelter smaller outdoor cultural events in the city. The main idea of the project is to connect the square with the alley and then the city park. The building is a passage that directly connects to the original Národný dom and opens the possibility of moving from the main square to Kapucínska street. The exposed renovated bastion then interconnects the level of the park with the street level and is complemented by a view overlooking the St. Kopeček.

No description available.