As more public spaces are under the influence of private stakeholders in cities, it is important to consider the role, both financial and social, that these stakeholders have on the design of the physical space and the users of the space. This analysis will utilize a qualitative methodological approach to understand the contested redevelopment of a public park in Richmond, Virginia as it transitioned from a city-owned space to a public-private partnership. By gaining a better understanding of the major spheres of influence involved in the redevelopment, namely the large public university and the corporations adjacent to the space, it is understood that the public spaces in question take on forms that are less public and more exclusionary in nature. Upon the conclusion of this analysis, I provide suggestions and recommendations for the future of the public forum and the role that private stakeholders might have in public spaces going forward.

This document proposes historic preservation guidelines for the downtown area of the City of St. George, Utah. It grew from a summer internship with the city where I took inventory of the streetscape in the Historic Downtown and prepared recommendations in the form of a PowerPoint Presentation that was given to the city council. This paper summarizes the summer internship and introduces a more appropriate approach based on reflection of the internship. The new approach involves a thorough inventory of the historic character, in-depth research of the historic elements that contribute to the historic character, development of design guidelines and standards, reviews, and codification of the design guidelines and standards. The historic elements that contribute most to the city’s historic character are identified as 1) block and lot layout and building setbacks, 2) architecture, 3) irrigation ditches, 4) tree lined streets, and 5) other streetscape elements and site features. Through comprehensive research of old photography, literature, and existing conditions these historic elements are further defined. The historic elements are currently being specified in design guidelines and standards and reviewed by the city in preparation for possible codification. (173 pages)

Abstract Strip development eases communities’ economic troubles by providing jobs and cheap goods at the expense of a sense of place and social fabric. Four factors are critical to the dissolution of place in strip development: mobility, standardization, specialization, and technology. (Randolph Hester) Mobility gives people the freedom to move over distances with little constraint; a consequence of this is a produced sense of rootlessness within many communities. Standardization creates placelessness in communities by the repetition of form and function. Specialization diminishes comprehensive knowledge of place and complex social and ecological thinking. Technology may divorce people from their natural environments. I want to test these four place indicated principles within LaFollette, Tn. Through methods of mapping, observation, structured interviews, and photographic and archival research I will show how strip development has negatively altered the social and economic development of the city of LaFollette. I will identify elements that currently and historically give the city of LaFollette a sense of place, and encourage social interaction and investment. Strip development can drastically alter the dynamics of communities, both physically and socially. How can communities grow and develop while maintaining this connection to “place”, and how can the social dynamic of a community be encouraged in light of a changing, and growing community?

The conversion of industrial waste sites, also known as brownfields, into sustainable green space can impact the surrounding community in a number of ways. This thesis is a compilation of three case studies in low-income areas of Los Angeles which have all experienced a brownfield to green space conversion. All three projects are dictated by various stakeholders and are located at the intersection of economic and environmental issues. I examine how the stakeholders of these projects affect the process and design and in turn how the process and design affects the community surrounding the site. Additionally this thesis sheds light on how the social, environment and economic implications of these projects change depending on the structural paradigms behind them.

This thesis examines the Grand Paris Express project currently underway in the Île-de-France. The basis of this project is a series of new and renovated railway lines to connect and span across the entirety of the region. They are being planned with the hopes to improve urbanization for the outlying suburbs. The Île-de-France is the wealthiest region in France, but it has high economic inequality between its departments. One hard hit area is Seine-St-Denis. This is the area I will be focusing primarily on. Department number 93, its urban landscape holds histories of rioting, unemployment, and large immigrant populations. In its underdeveloped growth, residents are calling for socio-spatial justice. Professor of Urban and Regional planning Edward Soja (1980) coins this as a “social-spatial dialectic” (208), where any given space is inherently political. Currently, residents in Department 93 are engaged in this “dialectic”, taking action by means of redefining the places where they live. In addition to demands for spatial equality is a more complex and hidden protest: the demand from marginalized citizens for an adjusted French ideology with respect to national identity. In their spatial marginalization, groups are contesting the egalitarian claims of the state based on where they live. I explore the historical significance of the Seine-St-Denis department in the Île-de-France’s urbanizing efforts. This thesis argues that planning for the Grand Paris Express represents the effects of a new French identity in formation. But while Paris is being recreated to accommodate those living in the outer communes, an anti-immigrant state narrative is also resulting in reformed urban planning in an existing discriminatory French ideology. However, as I plan to prove later in my research, the Grand Paris Express will provide more social access for France’s marginalized citizens.

This thesis is a guide to building a sustainable rail-trail, wherein I focus on invasive species removal, green pavement, and creating an inviting space with the inclusion of integrated art. When the City of Kirkland, WA purchased the 5.75 mile long section of railroad going through the city, I approached city manager Kurt Triplett to ask about his plans for the corridor. He liked the idea of aiming for a sustainable trail, so I wrote a guide to building an environmentally friendly trail based on a number of prominent readings on sustainable design.

Riyadh city suffers from high housing and construction costs, which have increased by more than 200% over the last 7 years. This problem led to a significant interest from the government and the citizens of the city in understanding the causes of housing and construction cost escalation and the best strategies to address this problem in the short and long-terms, in order to find solutions for affordable housing. In response to the absence of research regarding this problem, the researcher has decided to conduct a scientific survey about the factors that might have led to this problem in Riyadh. While conducting the literature review, the researcher identified 16 possible factors that were mentioned as possible causes for this problem. Thus, the main objective of this study is to identify the main factors that affect housing cost escalation. All of the survey samples were collected from construction industry professionals and experts working in Riyadh. The sample size required was calculated using the statistical equation mentioned in Chapter 4, and based on an estimated level of confidence of 90%, standard error of 10%, and a standard deviation calculated from 30 random samples collected initially. The required sample size was estimated to be at least 215 surveys, and the researcher was able to collect a total of 237 surveys. After collecting the data, the researcher analyzed the data through Microsoft Excel software by applying descriptive statistics, means, modes, and standard deviations. Tables and figures have been used to show the results of the survey. After analyzing the data, the researcher identified the main factors based on the mode and mean averages. The researcher has identified four major impacting factors that affected housing and construction costs. The most impacting factors on housing and construction cost are the corruption in selling land, speculative purchases of land, high demand for housing, and the high population growth rate in Riyadh. The main recommendations that should help the government to solve this problem are: to apply an annual tax on large plots, prevent speculative purchases in housing areas, monitor the prices of consruction materials, and revive small cities around Riyadh to reduce congestion and crowding.

Analyses of traffic accidents are often focused on the characteristics of the accident event and hence do not take into account the broader neighborhood contexts in which accidents are located. This thesis seeks to extend empirical analyses of accidents by understanding the link between accidents and their surroundings. The case study for this thesis is Hillsborough County, Florida, within which the city of Tampa is located. The Tampa Bay region ranks very high in terms of accident rates within U.S. metropolitan areas and is also characterized by transport policies which favor private automobiles over mass transit options, making it an especially valuable case study. This thesis seeks explanations for accidents through regression models which relate accident occurrence and accident rates to traffic, roadway and socioeconomic characteristics of census tracts. The overall findings are that socioeconomic variables, especially poverty rates and percent non-white, and transport characteristics, such as density of bus stops, show a significant relationship with both dependent variables. This research provides support for considering the wider urban context of social inequalities in order to understand the complex geographic distribution of accidents.

Transportation is a discussion of the utmost concern in Los Angeles. The automobile poses great detriment to the environment, people’s economic stability, and the health and safety of the community. A conversation that has, however, been absent from the discussion on transportation is the particular cultural and historical significance and value of the automobile to Los Angeles; it has been seldom discussed that the automobile has been extremely influential to the physical character of the city deems it an object worth preserving. Unlike the literature that exists, this thesis specifies and details ways in which the automobile has influenced and continues to influence the urban context and architecture of Los Angeles. Simultaneously, this thesis discusses the means by which the automobile can be preserved and repurposed into an object contributory to the city’s plans for a sustainable future. By the reevaluation and reinterpretation of the car and car culture, the city would be in effect capable of reclaiming its title as the model future city, a title it achieved and also eventually lost during the 20th century in large part because of the automobile. This thesis further contributes to the greater comprehension of the context of Los Angeles and revives a conversation about the city’s potential to be a precedent for other cities.

In the post-World War II era land development in the United States has largely been focused on the expansion away from urban centers and out into the surrounding suburbs. While the development of suburbs began with utopian ideals of spiritual wholeness, their actual manifestation on the American landscape has been subject to harsh critiques about their long-term economic and environmental feasibility, fostering of social alienation, and general placelessness. In this thesis I address the criticism of suburbs as placeless, asking ―What are the particular practices of place-making in North American suburbs?‖ Examining interviews, cognitive map surveys, participant observation, archival materials, and geoweb activity through lenses of imageability and anticipatory action I seek to better understand how the residents of an Indianapolis suburb narrate, structure, and produce a sense of place in their own community. In doing so I argue that that suburbs force an understanding of place as both experiential and social that is beyond mere aesthetics.