We live in an age defined by the automobile and its infrastructure. This paradigm of movement has shaped how we live our lives, and the urban frameworks we inhabit. Cars as a form of transportation damage the environment and engender unsustainable lifestyles. They also create anti-social spaces with the infrastructure they require, and therefore their success is inverse to that of the pedestrian experience. I seek to adapt this transit paradigm with a more flexible and resilient multimodal system. My work focuses on reinvigorating a rail line in central Massachusetts and designing a modular station system that can serve as a new kind of civic architecture. The station grows and shrinks between towns of different sizes, and over time. It slots into existing communities with little disruption, and is programmatically fluid and diverse, such that an array of stakeholders become invested in its success. It also presents as a new type of civic architecture; a building that represents a larger system, while also maintaining its place in local communities.

The state of Vermont faces increasing risk of costly damage from catastrophic flooding events as climate change increases the frequency of heavy rains and cumulative precipitation. In addition to increasing flood inundation risk, extreme precipitation events are leading to high rates damage from fluvial erosion—erosion caused by the force of floodwater and the materials it carries. As in all U.S. states, flood hazard governance in Vermont is shared by multiple levels of government and involves a complex compliance model that relies on local governments to regulate private property owners to achieve community, state, or federal goals. To encourage municipalities to adopt higher-standard flood regulations, the State government created higher-standard model flood hazard bylaws and has incentivized their adoption through the State Emergency Relief and Assistance Fund program. The higher standards modeled by the State apply no-fill, no-build, and an assortment of additional standards that exceed the Federal Emergency Management Association’s National Flood Insurance Program’s minimum standards. The State encourages the application of higher standards not only to the federally mapped flood hazard area but also to the State-mapped “river corridor.” Though these regulations are enforced through the local flood hazard permitting process, State floodplain managers are meant to play a substantial advisory role in their regulation. A decade after the first of these flood hazard regulations appeared in Vermont municipalities, little is known about how much encroachment still happens in flood hazard areas and how municipalities have handled permitting projects under these new controls. A better understanding of the local governance of flood hazard regulations can further inform State flood hazard governance. This study of twelve Vermont towns found in those towns a fairly high degree of conformance to local regulations but a mixed record on compliance with the State’s expectations for the permitting process. There was on average a little under one investment per town over a 4.3-year period that was significant enough to, by law, trigger a conditional permit review. Within the study sample, activity in the regulated flood hazard zone conformed to local bylaws at a rate of about 88%. However, only three of the ten projects that triggered conditional review were reviewed at the State level, as is the expectation for new, replacement, or improved structures, and the fact that none of the suspected non-conforming structures received a State-level review (and some missed local review) suggests that receiving full review will increase the rate of individual permit conformance. Interviews with State officials indicated that the State may be more interested in changing the culture of local flood hazard mitigation than in achieving perfect land use conformance. When local actions that promote access to information and the capacity to regulate are compared with a Town’s permitting compliance rate, a slight pattern emerges showing that communities that have flood regulation information available online, town-wide zoning, and a zoning administrator, are more likely to have projects be permitted by the Town and sent to the State for review. Interviews with State-employed flood managers and local floodplain administrators also suggest that additional social factors, such as whether bylaws have community “champions” and who acts as the zoning administrator, may influence the degree of community compliance. Often local authorities rely on their own discretion to regulate activity in the flood hazard area as a way of navigating tensions between regulations and private property rights, representing both a valuable point of flexibility for compliance and a potential sticking point in the State’s effort to facilitate a culture shift. Flood hazard mitigation regulation in Vermont most closely aligns with a cooperative enforcement model, which relies on long-term relationships and credible threat of enforcement (among other factors) in order to work. Because the findings show that breakdowns in the expected relationship between Town and State government clearly occur, one important approach to achieving a cultural shift would appear to be strengthening State-local relationships. This may involve increasing the State staff-to-community ratio, conducting more community visits and trainings, distributing a flood regulations enforcement manual, strengthening the capacity of regional planning agencies, and/or reducing the barriers to preparing permits for State review. Focusing on long-term relationship-building with a number of community members may help prevent the breakdown in communication that can occur as individual floodplain administrators come and go. A second strategy would continue to support the state-wide housing buyout program to mitigate inequitable outcomes and general resentment over property loss. And because the ERAF incentive program does not have any penalties that incentivize enforcement, a third beneficial approach would involve creating stronger incentives for local enforcement and compliance, such as ERAF criteria that mandates local enforcement actions and improved State-level monitoring of compliance. Yet while there may be room for strengthening flood hazard regulation enforcement, Vermont’s innovative regulations and incentives for adoption appear to be translating fairly well into local-level conformance and compliance, and could serve a model for other states.

This thesis is a critical analysis of the normative planning practice in relation to the aspirational principles of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) (especially Section A, Part 1: Overall Responsibility to the Public). By exploring several dimensions of typical, or Business As Usual, planning practices in a local planning department in Springfield, Massachusetts and contextualized within larger planning concerns in the United States, I illustrate that socio-spatial, racialized oppression is deeply embedded in these common practices. Through a multimethod approach that includes historical survey, archival research, interviews, and direct observation, I argue that most professional planning operates from within antiquated frameworks that prioritize professionalism and expertise over genuine community engagement, relationality, and collective agency. This structure contributes to weakened trust in government and inequitable allocation of attention and resources, thereby reproducing inequity, particularly in disaster contexts. While these are my findings from site-specific research, I contend that such outcomes are evident in planning departments more generally. Thus, I conclude that the exacerbation of inequity during crises is not isolated, but instead a result of deeply embedded neoliberal planning practices. Specifically, I identify key barriers to equitable planning as 1) absence of care, 2) over-reliance on economic development, 3) disconnects between research and implementation, 4) degraded linking social capital and top-down public participation, and 5) illusions of objectivity in planning. These patterns contribute to what I, following Rob Nixon (2011), call slow violence against vulnerable populations through professional silence about and complicity in violent structures. Associating these trends with the violence of COVID-19 and racism, I find that planning may be participating in structural slow violence against communities of color, especially in Legacy Cities such as Springfield, Massachusetts. Finally, I call for a shift in planning practice, wherein we acknowledge and take responsibility for the unavoidable political role of the planner. I propose five steps to redirect our practices: 1) acknowledge our past, 2) reject illusions of objectivity, 3) identify injustices and define resilience collectively, 4) center care frameworks, and 5) invest in the implementation of research findings

The study looks at the applicability of integrating a Bus Only Shoulder (BOS) into the intermittently congested segment of US 101 in southern San Luis Obispo County. Policy, infrastructure and implementing criteria derived from case studies in Minnesota, Florida and California (San Diego) and the 2007 California Decision Document on BOS are applied to conditions in the region. One measure of performance, time savings, is projected to 2025 to determine the value of integrating the program by that horizon year. Given the substantial potential for time savings in that future year, recommendations are made to create the appropriate policy and infrastructure environment for the program.

This study examines the LEED-ND pilot rating program created by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), the Congress for New Urbanism, and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in 2007. The rating system is evaluated based on its application as a broad set of national standards meant to encourage green neighborhood development. The main case study is a master planned community in semi-rural Paso Robles, California. Among other things, the study discovers problems related to the application of the rating system in semi-rural and rural regions of the Western United States. Both the standards used by the rating system and the certification process itself were considered through a case study methodology.

As of March 2016, GRID Alternatives’ 179 solar electric system installations on low-income housing contributed 103 metric tons of carbon (MT CO2e) emissions reduction for the climate action plans’ Energy or Renewable Energy climate action measures that pertain to solar electric installations in the cities of: Arroyo Grande, Atascadero, Paso Robles, and San Luis Obispo and San Luis Obispo County. In 2007, the San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution Control District (APCD) created a team of government agencies to design climate action plans (CAP) that met the emission reduction goals set out by AB 32 and the 2008 Climate Change Scoping Plan (Rincon Consultants, 2014, p. 1-2). Each CAP outlines its greenhouse gas (GHG) baseline emissions and GHG emissions reduction targets in metric tons of carbon (MT CO2e) and identifies climate action measures to reach GHG emissions reduction targets. The climate action measure that pertains to Energy or Renewable Energy, specifically solar electric system installations, is examined in this study. GRID Alternatives, a non-profit solar installer that implements its Solar Affordable Housing Program, was selected by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) in 2008, to serve as the statewide program manager for the California Solar Initiative’s $108 million incentive program called the Single-family Affordable Solar Homes (SASH) program, which is the country's first dedicated solar rebate program for low-income families (GRID, 2016a, p. 2). In 2010, GRID Alternatives opened its Central Coast office in Atascadero to serve five central coast counties and tracks CO2 emission reductions for each installation. My objective is to determine the impact that GRID Alternatives’ solar electric installations in the cities of Arroyo Grande, Atascadero, Paso Robles, and San Luis Obispo and in San Luis Obispo County have on their respective CAPs’ GHG emissions reduction targets for the Energy or Renewable Energy climate action measure that pertains to solar electric installations.

After a 100-year history, traditional zoning practices are being challenged as a contributing factor in a number of social, heath and economic problems facing cities in the United States. In this context, form based codes have emerged as a possible alternative way for cities to guide development. Growing out of the New Urbanist movement, form based codes frequently mix uses, allow for a greater variety of housing types and encourage development that is both denser and more compact. Despite an established literature which links land-use regulations, and zoning in particular, to fiscal outcomes, the impacts that form based codes have on public finance in the growing number of cities which have adopted them has yet to be fully investigated. The goal of this research is to examine if and how form based codes alter property tax and sales tax generation in the cities that adopt them. To examine the relationship between form based codes and public finance a series of two multivariate regression analyses were conducted using historic property and sales tax data. The first regression analysis was performed using the full list of 122 cities which have adopted form based standards from between 1984 and 2009. In an attempt to limit the diversity of sample cities and improve the ability to generalize results a second regression analysis was performed using a smaller list of 47 cities with populations between 50,000 and 200,000 thousand that had adopted form based standards between 1984 and 2009. The results of the first analysis established that a statistically significant positive relationship existed between the presence of form based standards which were implemented citywide and observed property tax revenue both in total and on a per capita basis. Similarly, a statistically significant positive relationship between the presence of form based standards implemented at the neighborhood level and total property tax revenue was observed. No significant relationship was found between the presence of neighborhood level standards and per capita property tax revenue. Further no significant relationship was found between form based standards and sales tax revenue. In general, these findings support the theory that form based codes and the development they allow, does alter the amount of property tax a city collects, but does not support the theory that form based codes affect sales tax revenues by facilitating the development of a more conducive urban, walkable environment or for any other reason. The results of the second regression analysis using data from cities with populations between 50,000 and 200,000 showed a significant positive relationship between the presences of citywide form based standards and total property tax revenue and per capita property tax revenue. Analysis of sales tax data showed a positive relationship between total sales tax revenue and the presence of form based standards at the neighborhood level. No other significant relationship between form based standards and sales tax revenue was observed. Similar, to analysis of all cities, the results for cities with population of 50,000 to 200,000 support the theory that form based codes and the development they allow does alter the amount of property tax a city collects, and that form based codes do not affect sales tax revenues except in the case of codes adopted at the neighborhood level, where a generally positive relationship was identified at the 10% confidence interval. Following this multivariate regression analysis, a case study of Saratoga Springs, New York was completed. Located in the far reaches of the Albany Metropolitan Area, Saratoga Springs developed as a popular tourist destination in the mid 1800’s. After experiencing economic decline in line with that of its peer cities in the mid to late 20th century, Saratoga Springs has experience a boom and now boast some of the highest home values in Upstate New York. In 2003 the city was one of the first in country to adopt form based standards, which have guided a significant amount of development in the city’s historic downtown as the city re-emerged as a popular tourist destination. Since the adoption of form based standards in Saratoga Springs both property tax and sales tax receipts have doubled.

The main aim of this study was to investigate the prophetic calling of the Reformed Churches in South Africa (RCSA) in the moral regeneration of the South African urban community. The method of research followed in this study was to study primary and secondary sources, as well as appropriate biblical teachings and theological principles relevant to this study and to systematise the information. An analysis was provided of the main problems regarding moral decay besetting the South African urban community and the main challenges this moral decay poses for the RSCA were identified. A strategy the RCSA should implement in tackling these challenges was devised and a number of practical projects the RCSA could undertake at congregational level to concretise the strategy were discussed. The study confirmed that the Church has an important role to play as the driving agent for moral regeneration of the South African urban community. It was pointed out that the moral regeneration of the urban community in South Africa cannot be left to the government. The main reason is that morality cannot be legislated. However, when the love of God transforms the lives of people, it changes the heart, heals moral decay, provides strength to overcome temptation and gives the desire to reach out to people (friends, relatives’ neighbours, strangers and even enemies) in true love. The congregation’s main task with regard to moral regeneration is therefore to be clear about God’s mission, to discern what God is doing in the community and to serve his mission in practical ways. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Dogmatics and Christian Ethics / unrestricted

The problem addressed in this study is the difference in patterns of verbal and non-verbal communication across gender and generational groups, specifically between members of traditional and urban communities. These differences, it is argued, are linked to differences in values, attitudes, beliefs, views, etc., i.e. cultural differences, between the groups. Misunderstanding in such communicative interaction arises because people are unaware of the role of cultural differences in the construction and interpretation of texts/cases of language use, for example, the gender differences in the way men and women from different age groups and different habitats (rural vs. urban) can generate misunderstanding. In the Ndebele community, there is a marked diversity in communication patterns and practices by gender. These differences in communication patterns between men and women are socially constructed and are related to power. For example, women are not expected to maintain eye contact with their male counterparts in mutual conversation. Where they disregard these communicative norms, it would be regarded as socially unacceptable and such behaviour would be regarded as disrespectful by the traditional members of the society. Non-verbal behaviour may also impede effective communication because there are different systems of using and understanding gesture, posture, silence, touch and physical appearance in different gender, age and rural/urban communities. Copyright / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Afrikaans / unrestricted

While there is considerable academic research on the intersection of comprehensive plans, finance policies, zoning policies and how these factors influence real estate developers' choice of what land to develop and what buildings to construct on that land, little is understood about whether these three variables promote or hinder real estate developers' choice of whether to build communities that promote healthy living. Using urban planning theory as the foundation, the purpose of this correlational study was to determine how real estate developers' decisions are made to support healthy New Urbanism development in the United States. Secondary data from the Urban Land Institute were used for this multiple regression study that explored the degree to which comprehensive plans, finance, and zoning policies predict the likelihood that real estate developers will build New Urbanism communities in the United States. Findings indicated that comprehensive plans, finance policies, and zoning policies had a statistically significant influence on real estate developers' decisions on the types of communities to build in the United States by 53.6%, 46.8%, and 71.6% respectively p < .05. The information presented in this study is important to urban planners/designers, health care professionals, and municipal officials because of the intra and interdisciplinary approach of the built environment as a nonmedical determinant of health. Cultivating public and private collaboration to develop public policy could affect social change by directly affect the alterations and improvements in the built environment health that either promote or impede healthy outcomes.