Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1984. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Bibliography: leaves 160-162. / by Howard T. Baker-Smith. / M.C.P.

Thesis: M.C.P., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, 2015. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 37-41). / Due to ever-increasing summer temperatures and a population with minimal technological adaptations to help them cope, extreme heat events will likely have a large impact on vulnerable populations in Massachusetts. As such, heat events are likely to impact the health of residents because they are related to a rise in all-cause hospital admissions and other health outcomes. We sought to clarify how Massachusetts may improve their extreme heat event response policies. To do so, we examined Massachusetts' current policies and best practices for extreme heat event response as well as the spatiotemporal weather and vulnerability patterns throughout the state. As a result, we found that varying the scale of response will be necessary based on the extent of different heat events. Additionally, the state ought to clarify who is in charge at the state and regional levels. By better addressing the needs of its populations during heat events, Massachusetts would likely prevent unnecessary hospital admissions and harm to its residents. / by Halley Brunsteter Reeves. / M.C.P.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 51-54). / The study describes a "Village Adoption Scheme" as a model for energising the rural economy in India and to slow down rural - urban migration which research has shown to be harmful to both; rural and urban people of India and their regions. The model presented here is designed to use the resources existing in social, traditional, cultural, legal, ethnic, religious, economic and political layers of the rural society and seeks to enable the region to build upon them to generate resources. The thesis describes implementation of the scheme in one region of rural India and suggests the conditions, which would be needed to prevail if the approach were to be extended. The study describes the scale of the project and also the lessons learnt from the endeavour, which would help those who plan to use the model described. The author participated in the project as a member of the GVSP's steering committee and is in a position to give first hand information of the project works. / by Shahid Sadruddin Nanavati. / M.C.P.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2009. / "June 2009." / Includes bibliographical references (p. 95-98). / Most of the roads built over the last century in the US were built assuming that efficient mobility for drivers was most important without considering impacts to the natural or built environment. Urban neighborhoods were severed, ecologically sensitive areas were disrupted, and pedestrian, bicycle and transit accommodation was ignored. Public offense at this approach to road-building led to new policies and practices for more open, locally-based decision-making. Road construction is now subject to a higher level of scrutiny, yet investment is preserving existing roads is assumed with little public discussion even though preservation represents the majority of transportation expenditures. As public priorities shift toward favoring sustainable development and transforming out of auto-dependency, road preservation can be either a barrier or an opportunity. This study examines whether and how road preservation investments support these new priorities. I use the Maryland State Highway Administration (MSHA) as a case study. As a national leader in context-sensitive solutions and in commitment to sustainable development, MSHA is expected to exhibit innovative use of system preservation expenditures to support local plans for more balanced, less auto-intensive transportation systems. I find that rather than integrate context -sensitivity and sustainability into all transportation programs, Asset Management-based preservation programs focus almost exclusively on cost-efficiency while alternate programs are created to address broader concerns. / (cont.) Policies for context-sensitive solutions, flexible transportation investment, and sustainable development have little bearing on Asset Management -based preservation investments. MSHA's Neighborhood Conservation program offers a good model for locally-based, flexible preservation investment, though the fund has been susceptible to budget cuts. Asset Management systems are an important tool for managing risk and cost associated with an aging transportation system. However, as reliance on Asset Management-based investment grows, the narrow scope of these projects will undermine commitment to responsive, sustainable transportation investment. The decision-making process for these investments should be supplemented through small-area preservation planning, incentive funds for preservation project enhancements, and performance measures that focus investment on broad transportation goals in order to achieve reduced auto-dependency and transportation investment that supports public priorities. / by Kathleen R. Sylvester. / M.C.P.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2009. / "September 2009." Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 153-159). / The urbanized terrain of São Paulo is characterized by wasteful landscapes on peripheral areas of the metropolitan agglomeration, and decaying landscapes of waste in the core of the city. If on the one hand, the increasingly vacant core of São Paulo is fully equipped with infrastructure, on the other, the burgeoning periphery sprawls onto non-structured lands. Within the core of the city, the São Paulo lowlands stand out as a potential regional site to address this major incongruence. This thesis proposes to study the modernization of a landscape, from an undesired floodplain into a crucial component for the functioning of the metropolis. I examine the lowlands as a constructed landscape, and argue that the infrastructural nature of the territory creates a platform for continued reclamation. By identifying the themes and narrative of the area, I then explore the lowlands as a site for contemporary urban planning in order to re-frame the city's current questions regarding its future. / by Victor Eskinazi. / M.C.P.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1986. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Bibliography: leaves 153-155. / by William Henry Johnson. / M.S.

Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, 2017. / Page 157 blank. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 135-156). / Understanding how environmental attributes can influence the behavior of pedestrians is of concern for public health officials, transportation engineers, and urban planners. To what degree, if any, do these various environmental characteristics influence how much and for how long people walk? To answer these questions, this thesis analyzes large-scale spatiotemporal pedestrian activity records collected from the users of a mobile phone application in Greater Boston, Massachusetts and the San Francisco Bay Area, California. The dataset contains the locative traces of recreational and utilitarian pedestrian walking activities which include the GPS and temporal records of individuals. In sum, this dissertation considered over 2.2 million trips from 135,000 people. This thesis addresses the topic in three parts. The first study examines the impacts of climate and environment on active transportation trips, and finds varying effects of different types of weather. However, these associated effects are influenced by a trip's purpose, as well as by season and location. The second study analyzes the impact of built environment characteristics on walking activities at the urban scale. These characteristics are generally defined as components of the density, diversity, and design of urban spaces. The study finds that activity characteristics are moderated by the features of location, and that infrastructure for walking, transportation access, and destinations have a positive influence on walking volume. Walking durations are largely invariant to these factors. The third study explores the effects of urban attributes on the aggregated route choices of individuals through the use of revealed preferences. The study's findings suggest that pedestrians are sensitive to the presence of retail destinations and transit availability in their choice of path. Despite this, architectural and street-level design features have mixed effects. These analyses contribute a new approach to understanding the interrelationships between the built environment and pedestrian activity, and how those effects contribute to the walkability of communities. This thesis also tests the usefulness of passive, pervasive mobile devices in evaluating urban space, and considers their potential to aid in the development of human-centered urban design-from an analysis of the quantified self toward the understanding of the quantified community. / by Anthony P. Vanky. / Ph. D.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1991. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 305-325). / by Caroline Clarke Guarnizo. / Ph.D.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1993. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 73-76). / by Rachel A. Baker. / M.C.P.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1990. / Title as it appears in the M.I.T. Graduate List, June 1990: The black-Hispanic-white differences in youth employment. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 130-134). / by Michael A. Stoll. / M.C.P.