Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 280-298). / by Ramón Borges-Méndez. / Ph.D.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1989. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 80-81). / by Buckley Ken Yung. / M.C.P.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1991. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 101-120). / by Kristin Dawkins. / M.C.P.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 113-118). / In September 1991, the Massachusetts State Legislature passed an Act that placed the city of Chelsea, Massachusetts under state receivership. Though the State justified receivership as a response to the City's bankruptcy, they acknowledged that the fiscal problems could not be solved without overcoming a corrupt local political structure. A staff of state-appointed receivers took control of the City for an ensuing five-year period with the charge of regaining fiscal solvency and writing a new city charter. During this time, the receivers initiated a consensus process with the residents to engage them in rewriting their city charter. The receivers were offering a unique opportunity for a state intervention to facilitate a local bottom up process to consider new possibilities for a local government structure. This held the potential to institutionalize greater public participation in local governance and redevelopment. However, I argue that the receivership primarily facilitated metropolitan planning agendas at the expense of public participation in local planning. Chelsea, less than two miles from both downtown Boston and the Logan International Airport, is geographically critical to metropolitan growth and transportation planning. In Chelsea, the tensions between local and metropolitan planning are critical. Given the City's value in the Boston metropolitan area, a significant portion of Chelsea's land is allocated to uses that serve metropolitan needs. The formulation of planning processes that allow the local community to reconcile their demands with the metropolitan authorities remains critical. In this thesis I explore the receivership and redevelopment of Chelsea, Massachusetts, during the early 1990's. I consider the similarities between the "reform" of Chelsea and the reforms advocated during the Progressive Era (1890-1920). I turn to the literature regarding the Progressive movement to understand the implications of the reform initiatives on planning outcomes. Though academic analyses of the Progressive movement do not offer insight into the planning outcomes of the Progressive Era reforms, an analysis of the reform of Chelsea lends insight into rethinking the Progressive Era. Throughout the chapters, I have placed photographs of Chelsea taken in spring 2002. The titles are not listed with the photographs to allow the reader to reflect freely upon the photographs in relation to the text. The themes and the intention of the photo essay are provided after the conclusion of the thesis. / by Asha Ghosh Rao. / M.C.P.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1985. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Bibliography: leaves 51-52. / by Terri Denise Hamilton. / M.C.P.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 139-140). / Despite their potential for providing efficient and reliable airport access, rail connections to U.S. airports have consistently had trouble attracting a significant percentage of airport passengers. This thesis attempts find out which characteristics of airport rail links most strongly influence mode share so that future rail link plans can be assessed. These findings are then applied to the current plans for an airport rail link in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The thesis begins by examining current airport rail links in the U.S. Detailed case studies are performed for the following airports: John F. Kennedy, Philadelphia, Boston Logan, Washington National, Chicago O'Hare, Chicago Midway, and San Jose. Smaller case studies are performed for Atlanta, Cleveland, St Louis, Baltimore-Washington, Miami, and Oakland. The data collected for these airports is compared by looking for relationships between characteristics of the rail links and their mode shares. Two variables, rail travel time and the difference between rail and auto travel time, are apparently related to rail link mode share. Several propositions are advanced about the characteristics of airport rail links that affect mode share, and the way in which they affect mode share. The strongest of these propositions are that the lower the travel time difference between rail and auto the greater the rail mode share, that on-airport rail stations are likely to increase mode share, and that effectively serving population and employment centers is likely to increase airport rail link mode share. Some further analysis is then performed on two of the propositions advanced. First, the relevance of the airport rail station location is tested by looking at the effect on mode share at Washington National when the rail station was, in effect, moved closer to the airport terminal. This analysis indicates that it is likely that the location of an airport rail station is related to mode share. Second, an analysis of population and employment around airport rail link stations is performed for Boston, New York City, and Chicago. This analysis indicates that the rail links examined serve a very small percentage of the population and jobs in their respective metro areas. This makes sense since rail links in these cities all have relatively low mode shares. Finally, a case study of San Juan is presented. This case study is different than the previous ones since the San Juan link is in the planning stages. After the San Juan plan is presented, each proposition developed earlier is applied to the San Juan case to determine the potential effect of that proposition on mode share for the San Juan link. This analysis and a model for calculating mode share based on rail/auto time difference help to predict mode share for San Juan. The mode share for San Juan is likely to be between 2% and 5%. The thesis concludes with potential changes to the plan that might help increase that figure. / by Joshua Schank. / M.C.P.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (v. 2, leaves 380-[399]). / by Lynn E. McCormick. / Ph.D.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 73-75). / This study examines problems encountered in revenue mobilization by the Local Government of Olongapo City under the Philippines fiscal decentralization policy. It documents the revenue generation processes in Olongapo City, analyses the various administrative and procedural roadblocks faced in generating revenue from major local sources, and recommends steps that can be taken to increase local revenues. It concludes that revenue reform and performance at the local level is highly dependent on local administrative, technical and managerial capacity. Developing local capacity in these areas is critical for effective implementation of the broader decentralized fiscal system. / by Vandana Sareen. / M.C.P.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1989. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 77-81). / by Maribel Marin. / M.C.P.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture and Planning, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 309-336). / The definitive return of the Ottoman court to the capital city Istanbul in 1703 ushered in nearly a century of extraordinary building activity and urban change, in the process of which a new architectural idiom was defined. This dissertation examines the parameters of Ottoman architectural sensibility in the eighteenth century, starting at this pivotal moment and ending with the first European commissions in the 1790s. It draws principally on contemporary court poetry, and a wide array of Ottoman and European literary and visual sources, and architectural evidence. It departs from current interpretations, which view European influence as the chief impetus of architectural change in this period. Instead, I contend that this was a time when social transformations in the making since the late sixteenth century were enacted in the city's fabric through the tastes, aspirations, and recreational practices of the urban society. The continuous dynamic between these manifestations and the state s efforts to reassert its visible presence in the capital was central to the formation of a new urban and architectural landscape. This is highlighted in the first part, which explores the development of the suburban waterfront, the spatial and structural transformations of residences, the formal evolution of private gardens, the proliferation and unprecedented magnificence of public fountains, and the phenomenal expansion of public spaces. The second part focuses on the role of urban sensibilities in shaping a broader cultural horizon of expectations. Through an investigation of the age-old relation between garden and poetry in this period, I show that garden and poetic canon followed a parallel trajectory of "urbanization," symptomatic of a changing environment that accommodated a diverse range of social milieus and sensibilities. Drawing on the flourishing genre of rhymed architectural chronograms, I argue that this hybrid constellation of sensibilities informed the architectural vocabulary of eighteenth-century Istanbul. In Ottoman perception, beauty was measured against the sensuous pleasures derived from the visual and sensory experience of architecture. Brilliance, ornamental virtuosity, mimesis, and novelty, constituted the main parameters of appreciation. They mirrored a flamboyant and immensely hybrid visual idiom, tuned to the sensibilities of a broad and diverse public. / by Shirine Hamadeh. / Ph.D.