Countries and cities around the world are searching for ways to plan urban development to accommodate the growing demand for public infrastructure and amenities due to high rates of urbanization. Urban policies deemed to be successful are often adopted by other cities and hence applied across contexts. Urban Policy Mobility (UPM) theories study the ways in which political relationships, power dynamics, and other potential drivers influence the circulation of urban policies. UPM provides a guiding framework to analyze the policymaking associated with mobilized urban policies to understand the socio-spatial processes that motivate the adoption of urban policies from elsewhere. This dissertation engages with the UPM literature by investigating the assemblage and implementation processes of a mobilized urban policy to explore how the fixed socio-spatial processes embedded within a particular planning culture interact with and absorb a flowing urban policy. The term flowing in this study refers to the process of transposing policies from one place to another. Little attention has been paid to how the planning culture in a developing country can shape the adoption (or non-adoption) of certain policy elements, and what challenges arise during the implementation of a flowing urban policy. Given this context, this study answers two research questions: (a) How does urban policy mobility unpack in practice in response to local socio-spatial processes? and (b) What challenges emerge when policies are transposed into new urban policy environments that are dissimilar from those in which they originated? A case study methodology was used to study the changes that occurred when a Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) urban policy was introduced in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A qualitative content analysis of archival resources, documents, and semi-structured interviews revealed how local urban planning conditions and challenges influenced Riyadh's TOD assemblage and implementation. Public officials and consultants from Riyadh, national officials, and experts were interviewed to develop a clear understanding of the TOD policy assemblage and implementation processes. The two main findings from this research are that: 1) there was an incomplete translation of TOD into the local planning culture, primarily due to Riyadh's stronger emphasis on the density, diversity, and design features of TOD and less concern with the sustainability dimensions; and 2) several governance and prioritization challenges emerged during the policy implementation process, which stem from institutional constraints and institutional and resource gaps. This research expands the UPM field by tracing the trajectory of policy mutation due to local socio-spatial processes. Additionally, this study provides a conceptual framework that synthesizes three heterogeneous elements: planning culture, planning policy, and policy carriers. It offers a methodological contribution that advances UPM analysis to better explain policy mutation. This study can be used as a cautionary tale for officials engaged in adopting urban policies that originate in other jurisdictions. / Doctor of Philosophy / City officials around the world are looking beyond their borders for urban policies that can promote sustainability and improve quality of life. However, those officials rarely consider how differences between urban areas can alter the nature of policies being adopted. To address this challenge, the field of Urban Policy Mobility (UPM) emerged to shed light on how the unique local factors that shape each city environment affect what elements of an urban policy are and are not adopted. This study examines the changes that occurred when a Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) urban policy was introduced in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In order to learn about the changes and challenges associated with Riyadh's TOD policy, interviews were conducted with employees responsible for the policy. Additionally, TOD policy documents and other publications that contained information about Riyadh's TOD were reviewed to build a deeper understanding of why certain policy elements were implemented and others were not. This study found that: 1) the TOD policy was not completely translated into Riyadh, with greater emphasis placed on increasing building density, diversifying land uses, and enhancing design aesthetics, and less on other important policy elements that enhance economic and social sustainability; and 2) the implementation of the TOD policy led to governance challenges due to the differences in how urban planning is undertaken in Riyadh compared to western countries. This in-depth study of Riyadh's experience can inform other cities that are looking to implement urban policies borrowed from other countries.

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This development plan for the Virginia Square Metro is located near Washington DC in Arlington County, Virginia. The proposal includes "open plan" mid-rise residential, high-rise mixed-use, an identifiable transit station and linked green space with small scale agricultural potential. Mid-rise dwelling units provide the density to support local business along shop-lined streets. Pedestrian ways and bike trails offer additional transportation routes while mass transit cuts down on automobile usage. The scheme combines sustainable design, innovative construction techniques and transit-oriented development principles to provide the infrastructure and act as a catalyst for healthy future growth along the Rosslyn-Ballston development corridor. / Master of Architecture

This thesis analyzes best practices of both brownfield redevelopment and transit-oriented development and identifies both conflicts and opportunities for synthesis. Transit can rekindle demand for otherwise undesirable brownfields along rail corridors. While brownfields, when redeveloped with transit in mind, can increase transit ridership and, therefore, increase the viability of transit. Transit-oriented development on brownfields increases the complexity of the development, but the best practices of each have many commonalities. The most effective tools reduce developer time, cost, or uncertainty, and preferably all three. The City of Indianapolis has the opportunity to create transit-oriented development on brownfields along the proposed Northeast commuter rail corridor on existing rail right-of-way. An investment in transit would provide an opportunity to both remove the environmental contamination along the rail line and to make development in many inner-city neighborhoods more desirable. / Brownfield redevelopment : history, barriers and best practices -- Transit-oriented development : history, barriers and best practices -- Synthesis of best practices in transit-oriented development and brownfield development -- Opportunities for transit-oriented development on brownfields in Indianapolis. / Department of Urban Planning

published_or_final_version / Urban Design / Master / Master of Urban Design

published_or_final_version / Geography / Master / Master of Philosophy

Som ett steg på vägen mot ett hållbart samhälle planerar Trafikverket att bygga ut järnvägsnätet i nordlig och västlig riktning med utgångspunkt i Gävle. Satsningen kommer även innebära att en ny tågstation byggs i Tolvfors, just norr om Gävle Sjukhus. Stationen kommer att få namnet Gävle Västra. I samband med detta vill Gävle kommun utveckla området runt omkring den planerade stationen för att stärka stationens förbindelse med resten av Gävle. Kommunens mål är att skapa ett funktionellt och socialt hållbart område där blandade funktioner och goda kommunikationer ska bidra till ett förenklat och ökat kollektivt resande. Målet med denna studie var att framställa ett kunskapsunderlag som delvis kommer att ligga till grund för projektets planprogram. Syftet med studien var att identifiera troliga målgrupper för stationsområdet och undersöka vilka behov de olika målgrupperna har gällande funktioner i stationsområdet. Dessa jämfördes därefter med planeringsteorin Transit- Oriented Developments (TOD) planeringsideal för levande stationsområden för att ge antydningar om hur välanpassade planeringsteorin är till de behov som uppstår vid kollektivt resande. Genom att granska litteratur kunde ett antal målgrupper pekas ut som viktiga för stationsområdets dagliga aktivitet. Den metod som sedan användes i studien var en webbaserad enkätundersökning där de utpekade målgruppernas behov i stationsområdet undersöktes. De målgrupper som studien kunde peka ut som områdets huvudsakliga användare var boende i de närliggande områdena Sätra, Hagaström och Tolvfors/Lexe samt personal, studerande och besökare på Gävle Sjukhus, Teknikparken/Region Gävleborg och Högskolan i Gävle. Av enkäten framkom att de olika målgrupperna var av störst behov av parkeringar, handelsverksamheter och serveringar, medan skolfunktioner, hotell och rekreation var av mindre intresse. Detta jämfördes sedan med TOD-teorins idéer om levande stationsområden där handel och besöksnäringar pekas ut som viktiga funktioner för stationsnära områden. Resultatet visade att de behov som uppstår i stationsområden i relativt hög grad kan tillgodoses av TOD- teorins planeringsmodell, men att vissa skillnader finns mellan behov och teori och att detta är något som bör tas i beaktning vid stationsnära stadsutveckling. / As a step towards a sustainable society, the Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket) is planning to expand the railway network to the north and west, starting in Gävle. The investment will also include the establishment of a new regional railway station, Gävle Västra, which will be placed in Tolvfors just north of Gävle Hospital. To enhance the connection between the railway station and the rest of the city, the municipality of Gävle are planning to develop the surrounding area as well. The goal is to create a functional and vibrant urban area with a mix of uses and activities and easy connections to the surrounding city, with the hope of increasing the use of public transit. The aim of this study is to produce an informative document that will partly form the basis of the planning program that will be used in the project. The purpose of this study was to identify the main target groups for the new area and investigate their needs referring to uses and activities in the area. These needs were then compared to the ideas of the planning theory Transit- Oriented Development to get an indication of how well the theory is adapted to the needs that occur during travelling with public transportation. After going through some literature, a few target groups could be identified as important for the daily activity in the station area. The method then used was an online survey where the needs of the target groups were examined. Eight target groups were identified as the main users of the transit area, including people living in the close by neighborhoods and people working at, studying at or regularly visiting the Gävle Hospital, the University of Gävle or Teknikparken/Region Gävleborg. The survey showed that the most common needs of the target groups were parking space, commercial businesses like food markets and places to eat. This was compared to the ideas of the TOD theory where commercial businesses and social activities were the most important features in a transit node area. The results showed that the needs of the travelers and visitors of the transit area can be accommodated by the planning model of the TOD theory to a relatively large extent. The study also showed that there are a few distinctions between the needs of the travelers and the TOD theory, and that this is something to take into consideration when planning new station areas.

The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) Transit Oriented Development (TOD) program has been expanding the number of stations being considered for development of surface parking lots and into the air rights over certain rail stations. As of 2015, MARTA has six rail stations in various stages of TOD development, which will increase multi-modal options for metro Atlanta residents. The overarching goal of TOD development is to increase transit ridership and reduce auto-dependency; hence quantifying the potential benefits of TOD development in terms of ridership is paramount. Despite several drawbacks, travel demand models have historically been utilized to forecast ridership for land use changes and transit improvements. Direct ridership models (DRMs) are transit demand forecasting methods that can be applied to land development in cases where traditional travel demand models (TDMs) are not well suited. DRMs leverage geographic tools commonly used by planners to take advantage of small scale pedestrian environment factors immediately surrounding transit stations. Although DRM data and methods can achieve greater precision in predicting local walk-access transit trips, the lack of regional and large-scale datasets reduces the ability to model ridership generated from riders outside the immediate vicinity of the rail stations. Stations that have high multi-modal access trips, particularly via personal vehicle and connecting buses, are not typically accounted for by DRMs. Hence, this study focuses on pedestrian-based rail boardings only, a metric that also allows the use of a large scale onboard survey distributed by the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) in late 2009 and early 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia. Analysis of the large scale on-board ridership survey also reveals variables that may be useful in forecasting ridership at the station level when coupled with available census data. Comparison of variables such as income, age, gender, ethnicity, and race from census data with the large scale survey guided the selection of candidate variables to be included in a DRM for MARTA rail stations. Results from the comparison showed that using census data in DRMs does not always accurately reflect the ridership demographics. Notable differences in pedestrian-based ridership and transit catchments appear to occur in populations making less than $40,000, African American populations, and the young and elderly populations. Large differences in the survey and census data reported around the stations raise questions about the usability of census data in predicting ridership at rail stations. Despite the shortcomings of using census data to directly predict walk access transit ridership, an ordinary least squared (OLS) regression model predicts a high proportion of variance of pedestrian-based ridership in Atlanta, Georgia. A small number of variables were incorporated into a DRM to show the strong relationship of employment density with pedestrian based ridership. The number of low income residents was also influential in increasing ridership via walk access.

The population of Austin, Texas is projected to reach 1.6 million people by the year 2040, which doubles the city’s current population. The populations of cities in neighboring counties, Hays and Williamson, are projected to experience even more growth within the same time frame. For the first time in history, over half of the world’s population lives in urban areas, so sustainable development is currently relevant for urban planning. Until 2010, Austin lacked a mass public transportation system. Currently, Capital Metro, Austin’s main public transportation operator, operates the Red Line of the MetroRail, a commuter rail system. The Red Line only serves a specific subset of the population in Austin and its northern neighbors, running from the city of Leander, through northern Austin, before its final stop in downtown Austin. Because of this, Capital Metro will begin operations on a new method of rapid mass transit: a bus rapid transit system called MetroRapid. With two lines opening in 2014, MetroRapid will function as a mass rapid public transit option for two of the busiest north-south corridors in the city. The opening of MetroRapid will provide opportunities to stimulate growth in areas focused around this transit system. Transit-oriented development can be a method of guiding Austin’s future growth that will theoretically facilitate and encourage public transit use. The benefits to such growth would be reduced congestion, less dependency on automobiles and fostering communities that are vibrant and self-sustaining. This paper defines Transit-Oriented Developments (TODs), Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), and analyzes the MetroRapid stations themselves as Austin moves toward becoming a sustainable city. / text

Smart Growth is a comprehensive approach to planning that aims to shape more compact and well-connected communities across the United States. Among its principles are leveraging existing infrastructure, developing around transit, providing a mix of housing types and price ranges, and increasing community participation in the planning process. However, research suggests the comprehensive approach at times obscures potential tensions between these principles, in particular when Smart Growth principles are applied to a specific property. This is the case in Austin, Texas’ Lamar/Justin Lane TOD, where the City of Austin is currently evaluating development scenarios for a publicly-owned 5.6 acre parcel located within the TOD area. How equity and access is addressed in Smart Growth comes to fore in conversations between the City and affluent, neighborhood residents. This report examines the history of Smart Growth, reviews its implementation in cities across the U.S., and considers how the City of Austin may learn from other cities. / text