Thesis (B.A.)--Bryn Mawr College. Growth and Structure of Cities Program, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Arch.)--University of Detroit Mercy, 2010. / "April 30, 2010". Includes bibliographical references (p. 91-94).

This thesis proposes that sensory experience should play an important role in setting up a direct relationship between people and the natural environment, and it is based on the premise that contemporary urban public space ecological designs. Are often deficient in this regard. In order to develop a design methodology that addresses both ecological function and sensory experience, the author examine both contemporary western ecological design and classical Chinese garden design. The former focuses on the ecological functions of the environment, while the latter typically emphasizes the sensory qualities of the landscape. Drawing from the strengths of both approaches, an experience-oriented ecological design framework is proposed with the goal of improving human experience in urban public spaces. The framework emphasizes both sensory experience and ecological functions in two phases of the design process — site analysis and site design. The framework is applied to a design for Bridge Park in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts. The design is evaluated to assess efficacy of the framework for the design urban public spaces that address both sensory experience and ecological processes. The evaluation suggests that the framework could be an effective tool for designers, and also draws conclusions regarding the potential role of sensory experience as a tool for creative discovery in the design process. Finally the paper raises questions regarding the desirability of employing sensory experience as a didactic tool to enhance environmental awareness. / Master of Landscape Architecture

This research paper examines China's urban housing reform with a historical perspective, which provides an insight into current housing policy. In the past two decades, urban housing in China has been under a drastic transformation. As a critical component of the economy, the housing sector has played a very active role in restructuring China's economic system. The housing reform has encountered significant resistance. This research focuses on the property rights issue, which is a major concern in housing reform. With a comparative approach, the study addresses the basic research question, what are the fundamental barriers in urban housing reform. The research also involves a comprehensive review of the concept of the property rights and related issues in Western countries to establish a theoretical framework for furthering China's housing reform in term of property rights. The research also involves an inspection of housing reform in selected post-socialist countries to explore alternative transformation policies. Further housing reform policy is also articulated. / Master of Urban and Regional Planning

Em razão da existência de problemas que afetam o sistema de transporte público urbano no Brasil, tais como, o aumento da população, o acelerado crescimento das cidades e a falta de planejamento urbano houve uma diminuição na qualidade do serviço de transporte. Diante desse quadro, apresenta-se nesta pesquisa um método para avaliar a acessibilidade do sistema de transporte público por ônibus nas cidades, a fim de auxiliar na tomada de decisões em relação ao planejamento urbano e, consequentemente, melhorias no serviço. Para a realização deste método foi necessário utilizar uma base de dados dos setores censitários do IBGE 2000 (renda), informações da Pesquisa O-D (localização geográfica da residência dos usuários de ônibus), e a base de dados fornecidos pela administração municipal que continha a localização dos pontos de ônibus desta cidade. Com esses dados selecionados, foram gerados os mapas da localização dos usuários de ônibus e dos pontos de ônibus e, posteriormente, para melhor entendimento e análise dos dados, foram criados mapas temáticos da renda dos usuários, da distância mínima de caminhada até o ponto de ônibus mais próximo e o das distâncias entre pontos de ônibus. Foi realizado um estudo de caso do método proposto na cidade de São Carlos-SP, utilizando o SIG TransCAD versão 4.8 para organização, tratamento e análise dos dados, permitiu caracterizar de forma eficaz o comportamento dos dados, pois se apresentavam de forma desagregada. O resultado geral sobre a acessibilidade do sistema de ônibus desta cidade, considerando a distância de caminhada e a renda dos usuários foi que, na maioria das zonas, os usuários de ônibus precisam caminhar no máximo 300m para ter acesso ao sistema de transporte e possuem uma renda média mensal da ordem de três salários mínimos. Outro resultado obtido foi que aproximadamente 90% dos pontos de parada distanciam-se de 200 a 300 metros. Como conclusão geral deste estudo, pode-se dizer que o método desenvolvido poderá contribuir com o poder público municipal no planejamento urbano futuro desta cidade. / Due to problems affecting the urban public transportation system in Brazil, such as population growth, fast expansion of cities and the lack of urban planning, there was a decrease in the quality of transport service. This situation motivated us to introduce a method to evaluate the accessibility of the bus public transportation system in cities as a way to help taking decisions in urban planning and, consequently, improvements in service quality. For the implementation of this method, it was necessary to use the IBGE census database of the year 2000 (income), information of the O-D research (area of residence of bus users), and the database provided by the municipal administration containing the location of bus stops in town. Using these databases, we generated maps of bus user locations and bus stops and, subsequently, to better understanding and analysis of these databases, thematic maps were created from the users income, the minimum distance to walk from home to the nearest bus stop and the distances between bus stops. We conducted a case study of the proposed method in São Carlos-SP city, once the data were in a disaggregated way, it was necessary to use the TransCAD GIS software version 4.8 for organization, processing and analysis of these data. The overall result on the accessibility of this citys bus system, considering walking distance of users and overall income is that, in most areas the bus users have to walk up to 300m to access the bus transportation system and have a monthly basic income the order of three minimum wages. Another result was that almost 90% the stop points distance themselves from 200 to 300 meters. So, it can be concluded that this method could help municipal authorities to take decisions regarding future urban planning.

Thesis (M.Arch.)--University of Detroit Mercy, 2009. / "24 April 2009." Includes bibliographical references (p. 113).

Thesis (M.Arch.)(Prof.)--University of Pretoria, 2004. / Title from opening screen (viewed 12 April 2005). Includes summary. Includes bibliographical references.

Em razão da existência de problemas que afetam o sistema de transporte público urbano no Brasil, tais como, o aumento da população, o acelerado crescimento das cidades e a falta de planejamento urbano houve uma diminuição na qualidade do serviço de transporte. Diante desse quadro, apresenta-se nesta pesquisa um método para avaliar a acessibilidade do sistema de transporte público por ônibus nas cidades, a fim de auxiliar na tomada de decisões em relação ao planejamento urbano e, consequentemente, melhorias no serviço. Para a realização deste método foi necessário utilizar uma base de dados dos setores censitários do IBGE 2000 (renda), informações da Pesquisa O-D (localização geográfica da residência dos usuários de ônibus), e a base de dados fornecidos pela administração municipal que continha a localização dos pontos de ônibus desta cidade. Com esses dados selecionados, foram gerados os mapas da localização dos usuários de ônibus e dos pontos de ônibus e, posteriormente, para melhor entendimento e análise dos dados, foram criados mapas temáticos da renda dos usuários, da distância mínima de caminhada até o ponto de ônibus mais próximo e o das distâncias entre pontos de ônibus. Foi realizado um estudo de caso do método proposto na cidade de São Carlos-SP, utilizando o SIG TransCAD versão 4.8 para organização, tratamento e análise dos dados, permitiu caracterizar de forma eficaz o comportamento dos dados, pois se apresentavam de forma desagregada. O resultado geral sobre a acessibilidade do sistema de ônibus desta cidade, considerando a distância de caminhada e a renda dos usuários foi que, na maioria das zonas, os usuários de ônibus precisam caminhar no máximo 300m para ter acesso ao sistema de transporte e possuem uma renda média mensal da ordem de três salários mínimos. Outro resultado obtido foi que aproximadamente 90% dos pontos de parada distanciam-se de 200 a 300 metros. Como conclusão geral deste estudo, pode-se dizer que o método desenvolvido poderá contribuir com o poder público municipal no planejamento urbano futuro desta cidade. / Due to problems affecting the urban public transportation system in Brazil, such as population growth, fast expansion of cities and the lack of urban planning, there was a decrease in the quality of transport service. This situation motivated us to introduce a method to evaluate the accessibility of the bus public transportation system in cities as a way to help taking decisions in urban planning and, consequently, improvements in service quality. For the implementation of this method, it was necessary to use the IBGE census database of the year 2000 (income), information of the O-D research (area of residence of bus users), and the database provided by the municipal administration containing the location of bus stops in town. Using these databases, we generated maps of bus user locations and bus stops and, subsequently, to better understanding and analysis of these databases, thematic maps were created from the users income, the minimum distance to walk from home to the nearest bus stop and the distances between bus stops. We conducted a case study of the proposed method in São Carlos-SP city, once the data were in a disaggregated way, it was necessary to use the TransCAD GIS software version 4.8 for organization, processing and analysis of these data. The overall result on the accessibility of this citys bus system, considering walking distance of users and overall income is that, in most areas the bus users have to walk up to 300m to access the bus transportation system and have a monthly basic income the order of three minimum wages. Another result was that almost 90% the stop points distance themselves from 200 to 300 meters. So, it can be concluded that this method could help municipal authorities to take decisions regarding future urban planning.

Urban public spaces are constantly restructured with new meaning, reflecting their socio-cultural, political, historical, and technological influences. Over the last two decades, the rapid technological advancements and increasingly widespread use of mobile devices give people a chance to share their experiences of their immediate surroundings through various applications. As these platforms enable people to create and exchange various forms of User-Generated Content (UGC) has gained wide attention as an invaluable source of information on human-environment relationships including people's timely perception, emotion, preference, and sense of place in public space. This study employs quantitative content analysis to identify collective perceptions of urban public spaces and their characteristics as projected through a photo-sharing social media application, Instagram. A total of 1,200 users' photos and associated hashtags geo-referenced to three New York City urban public spaces, Bryant Park, Madison Square Park, and Union Square. This study begins with a qualitative phase, employing manual categorization techniques to identify the concepts in visual and textual data. The second phase applied a statistical analysis method, a set of descriptive analytics, and chi-square tests to answer the research questions for this study. Findings indicate physical attributes of urban squares are the most dominant type of geo-referenced users' photographs through the visual social media platform. People's immediate perceptions vary with time and place, while the patterns of hashtag usage found in this study show no difference across the three urban squares. people's perception of urban squares goes beyond the boundaries of the square itself, encompassing the streetscape, buildings, and local businesses adjacent to the square. While people rarely utilize hashtags as a method of emotional expression, findings show a clear connection between hashtags associated with users' photo content and the image of the city. / Doctor of Philosophy / The proliferation of mobile devices and social media platforms has given people new opportunities to document and exchange their experiences in urban public spaces. Publicly available content, which communicates timely opinions, perceptions, emotions, and preferences has a strong influence on the formation of the overall perception of urban public spaces in the digital environment. This study aims to explore how a sense of place—including emotional value, urban identity, distinctiveness, and seasonality—is built-in urban public spaces through one image-sharing application, Instagram. In addition, hashtags attached to the photographs are collected to help understand people's motivations for posting content in urban public places. The study compiles 1,200 photographs on Instagram taken at three New York City public spaces, Bryant Park, Madison Square Park, and Union Square. The study finds that people tend to post content that focuses on the physical appearance of the squares. However, people's perception of urban squares goes beyond the boundaries of the squares themselves, encompassing the streetscape, buildings, and local businesses around each square. One important function of Instagram in these spaces is for people to write information to document their experiences in the urban squares. There are also strong connections between the visitors' perceptions of urban public space as seen through their photographs and the image of the city.

Certain urban public spaces seem to embody the cities in which they are found, helping to make those cities the vibrant places they are. This project explores how urban public spaces can be created to reflect the vitality of the city by embracing the culture and the people who reside in it. Through literature review and case studies, a framework is developed focusing on the areas of identity and use in the design of public spaces. Identity is looked at in terms of place attachment, spatial identity, and how surrounding uses affect the identity of a space. Use is explored in terms of designing a public space to encourage a diversity of uses at different times. Identity and use are inevitably linked: much of a space's identity depends on the uses that take place there and whether or not the space meets the needs of its users. In the same way, a space will not be used unless potential users can identify with it and feel a connection to it. A design project is carried out in an urban neighborhood based on this framework to create a space that is connected to its users and its city. / Master of Landscape Architecture