Urban planning is responsible for the arrangement of environments that we are living in as well as for the design of urban parks that allow us to escape from everyday stressors. However, we no longer live in culturally homogenous societies, and people of different backgrounds seem to have different perspectives on urban park aesthetics as well as the range of facilities and features that parks should provide. This study focuses on preferences and perspectives that people of different cultural backgrounds have of urban parks. This research was based on a single-case study of a multi-functional park – Waterloo Park, located in Kitchener-Waterloo (Ontario, Canada), and was focused on investigating urban park preferences of seven ethnic groups: Caucasian Canadians, East and North Asians, South Asians, Middle- Eastern, Arabic, African/Caribbean and African/Zimbabwean or Kenyan. The feedback obtained from face-to-face interviews with Waterloo-Park users have been analyzed in order to establish how do people of different cultural backgrounds conceptualize urban parks and what their breadth of needs are when utilizing park space. Demographic information, such as ethnic association, was obtained from the participants on a self-descriptive basis. Findings from this study indicates that there are apparent differences in expectations and needs that culturally diverse users have regarding urban parks, and provides substantial evidence that culture plays an influential role in perception and evaluation of urban parks. Recommendations for professional practice advocate shifting Canadian design practices towards a true comprehensive and multifunctional park design and incorporating the various motives and needs of a culturally diverse Canadian society.

“Building processes seem best evoked in terms of various forms of endemic uncertainty which, in turn, define an essentially turbulent industrial environment. The pursuit of stability is re-interpreted as ‘unstable equilibrium’ in building processes, requiring constant feedback to maintain control.” (Groak, 1992) The process of addressing a troubled spatial legacy within the context of South Africa has presented a challenging atmosphere regarding the preservation or reprogramming of urban and architectural space. This becomes a prevalent issue when considering critical urban regions such as Westbury in Johannesburg, where the social and built environment remain in a constant struggle for identity and defensibility. The need to address this reformation of urban space as well as urban programme has lead this dissertation to question the manifestation of social processes in spatial form. This dissertation hopes to propose a system of architecture and supporting infrastructure that will address existing spatial legacy, through responding to social and contextual issues; leading to a new platform for the sustainable progression of social activity and identity in the form of urban densification. / Mini Dissertation (MArch(Prof)) --University of Pretoria, 2018. / Architecture / MArch(Prof) / Unrestricted

The site area for the Orizaba Design District is located in central Long Beach, California. Historically the physical development of the area has been heavily influenced by the existence of the Pacific Electric Railroad, which has a right-of-way running diagonally through the site. With the existence of the railroads, as well as the Districts proximity to the Port of Long Beach and major thoroughfares, the area has developed as an industrial site. Despite the industrial nature of the area, starting in 2007 a small group of creative business owners, including architects, graphic designers, interior designers, and others, started to locate in the District, mainly along Coronado and Gladys Avenues. This private investment spurred further development and led to the identification of the site as having the potential to grow into a unique Design District. Based on these realities, the Orizaba Urban Design Plan seeks to provide conceptual and design principles that will provide the City of Long Beach and local business owners with insight into development opportunities. The Plan envisions Orizaba has a safe, pedestrian friendly District that builds on the existing character of the City. To accomplish this, the Plan incorporates elements of site analysis and community meetings into conceptual development, which is further refined to create Plan objectives. The Plan objectives address elements of land use and circulation and explore ways the District can utilize sustainable design principles, particularly Low Impact Development. Finally, form-based codes incorporate Plan objectives into clearly defined design standards. The standards, which address elements of building envelopes, streetscape, visual quality, signage and wayfinding, and street furniture, are provided to aid in implementation and the realization of the District’s potential.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2009. / Author also earned an Urban Design Certificate from the Program in Urban Design; a joint graduate program with the Dept. of Architecture and the Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [151]-[156]). / Surface parking lots occupy vast amounts of land in urbanized areas-at times covering up to 40% of land in downtown areas in the United States. It is estimated that there are seven parking spaces for every vehicle in the nation; given that a vehicle can be in only one place at any given time, there are underutilized, vacant parking spaces all around us. This thesis argues that vacant parking spaces create an opportunity for more intense use of the land. It investigates which types of surface parking lots are best suited for which types of activities, based on physical design characteristics, multiple-use considerations, and a zoning and regulatory framework. It recommends the most attention is given to parking lots in neighborhood commercial areas and large surface parking lots that occupy entire city blocks. The thesis argues for the creation of more part-time public spaces through the use of underutilized parking lots. This argument is partially based on public spaces' social benefits, increased economic development potential, linkages with increased public health, and aesthetic-related benefits. Issues raised in creating public spaces on parking lots (both public and private lots) are addressed and possible approaches to overcome these obstacles are suggested. Strategies for creating more use on surface parking lots are identified from a municipal perspective, for those who coordinate events on parking lots, parking lot owners, and for developers. / (cont.) The thesis concludes with a discussion on implementation of creating more use on surface parking lots through zoning standards, design guidelines, and publicity strategies. The thesis concluded with a theoretical discussion on the ideal types of conditions for increased use on surface parking lots. The overarching finding is that the challenge of constructing more use on surface parking lots is primarily an issue of having the will to work through the necessary bureaucratic codes and regulations; by posing strategies to help facilitate this process, a palette of ideas for creating more use on surface parking lots can be utilized by any interested stakeholders. / by Kathleen Kane Ziegenfuss. / M.C.P.

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The term soundscape, used for the first time at the end of 1970s, refers to the sum of the sounds that can be heard and perceived by people in a specific environment. The concept of soundscape has recently received attention in planning and design disciplines. Recent studies on soundscape have shown that the acoustic environment plays an important role for the comfort of site users. Hence, this research investigates how objective measurement of soundscape might be different from subjective perceptions of users in the Mississippi State University Campus as a public open space due to demographic and climatic variations. The public open spaces studied in the Mississippi State University Campus include four locations: the Mitchell Memorial Library, the Colvard Student Union, the Bell Island, and the Sanderson Center. These locations were evaluated through objective measurement, and subjective evaluation.

This project is an attempt to create a city for the far future using the language and theory of architects that lived in a society of different economic political and ideological conditions. Based on the case study of Ivan leonidov's proposal in 1930 for the town of Magnitogorsk, As well as the supporting theory behind, for example, disurbanism and linear city. The design is a universal system that can be placed in any city in the future, which can adapt to various terrain and move freely.

Fatehpur Sikri is a world heritage monument. It was commissioned by the Mughal Emperor Akbar and was constructed in less than fifteen years (1569-1574). Fatehpur Sikri served as the capital of the Mughal empire for a very short time, from 1569 to 1585. At present, most of its buildings remain in excellent condition. It is a city frozen in time. This dissertation has examined the city of Fatehpur Sikri in the context of its history, design theory, rituals, settings and principles of spatial design. The layout of the imperial complex of Fatehpur Sikri is unique in its spatial organization. It has no streets, but consists of a series of interlocking courtyards set to the cardinal points. The design of individual monuments is based on symmetry but in the layout of the complex, the rules of symmetry are broken and asymmetry is deliberately employed. The dissertation concludes that this unique layout may have been employed to provide flexibility in order to accommodate different buildings and spatial conceptions. It creates a rich and dramatic visual environment within the complex. The layout also reflects the themes of Din-i Ilahi, the religion founded by Akbar and which was a synthesis of Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Zoroastrianism and Christianity. The plan of Fatehpur Sikri is analyzed in the framework of the mandala, a Hindu concept of architectural spatial planning and town planning. The research concludes however, that the plan was not developed within this rigid framework. The dissertation also examines the layout of Fatehpur Sikri in terms of its social and court activities. It was found that there is a strong connection between the layouts of the imperial complex of Fatehpur Sikri and the Mughal camp. The spatial structure of the Mughal camp plan was organized on the concepts of functional zoning based on public, semi-public and private space. The dissertation proposes solutions to the functions of the Diwan-i-Khas, the Turkish Sultana, Birbal's palace and the royal bazaar. The functions of these buildings are in controversy among various architecrural historians. The research establishes that the Diwan-i-Khas had a symbolic meaning. The interior arrangement of the building consists of four bridges connected to the circular platform on the richly carved column in the center. The central column symbolized the axis from which the emperor ruled; this axis was also a connection between the Emperor Akbar, God and the earth. The Turkish Sultana was used by the emperor as a special meeting place. Birbal's palace was the residence of one of Akbar's favorite queens. The building next to this was a royal bazaar where merchants came regularly to sell valuable items to the women of the harem. The spatial structure was created through the use of the principles of asymmetry, multiple axes, enclosure, change in level, transparency, and the element of surprise. Human scale was achieved by emphasizing horizontal facades and lines. To create visual interest horizontal facades were punctuated by introducing monumental scale in the Panch Mahal, the Buland Darwaza and the Badshahi Darwaza. The buildings were also crowned by small pavilions which create a dramatic skyline. The visual image of Fatehpur Sikri is therefore reflected in its unique skyline as well as its landmarks: the Panch Mahal, the Buland Darwaza, Salim Chisti's Tomb, and the profusely carved central column of the Diwan-i-Khas. At present, very few visitors are introduced to the Rang Mahal, the Stone Cutters' Mosque, the caravanserai, the Hiran Minar and the Hathi Pol. The study recommends that a unified circulation system be developed to join together all these major monuments of Fatehpur Sikri in accordance with the historic era. / Ph. D.

The planning and design of the walkable environment is receiving more and more attention for its various benefits related to public health, sustainability, economy, or social life. Therefore, there is a growing need for knowledge about the walkability of the built environment. While urban planning, design, and transportation research have also examined walking in urban environments, a recently growing field of research usually referred to as walkability research have been actively investigating the relation between the built environment and walking behavior through correlation analysis. Although one must acknowledge the value of current walkability research to be used as the framework which can make significant contributions to urban design research and practice, it also has a few shortcomings in terms of applicability. There is also a problem that the design factors that are often discussed as promoting walking or creating ‘pedestrian-friendly environments’ in urban design theories and discourses are often based on little evidence and that these factors have been shown to be insignificant in the quantitative analyses on the amount of walking. This project aims to support urban design knowledge and practice and to contribute to the broader field of “walkability” by refining the methods and measures used to analyze the relation between walking behavior and physical environment. Its goal is to integrate knowledge from the medical field of walkability with urban design research and provide new empirical knowledge about the concrete level in which urban design and architectural practice operates. What has been done during the earlier part of this PhD research project and is presented in this licentiate thesis is producing knowledge for a better understanding of the complexity behind the relationship between the built environment and walking. Through literature review from different fields and also through an empirical study, this project tried to investigate the concept of walkability by trying to understand the different ways/aspects in which the built environment influences walking, e.g. directly influencing the quantity of walking through providing destinations, or enhancing the experiential quality of walking by determining the condition as a walking environment. It also investigated the different aspects of walking by partitioning walking activities in understanding how they are influenced by different properties of the built environment. By partitioning both the influence of the built environment on walking and walking activity, the knowledge that this thesis tries to produce is not only on whether or not, but more on how and why the built environment influences walking behavior. Three residential areas from Stockholm were selected for the empirical study. The results of the empirical study show how the various factors and condition of the built environment influence walking with different effects and leverage and the importance of investigating the factors on different levels and from different aspects. Also, it seems that the different types of walking are related to how they are influenced by the built environment, and the different conditions of the environment also seem to influence the presence and characters of the walking activities of their inhabitants. The findings from this project provide insights into how we can better understand the interaction between the built environment and walking behavior in influencing each other. / <p>QC 20120917</p>

Character - Lövholmen is a thesis-project that started in critic and interest of the planned development in the old industrial area south of Södermalm in Stockholm and have continued as a process-focused project in an attempt to find the character of the area. A process that has been based on four different approaches: Theory - Critic - History - Image working together to find aspects that have shaped the area for over a 100 years of industrial development. Characteristics that should be acknowledged as an inherent part of Lövholmen and a new development that becomes part of the spatial context that already exists.