Master of Regional and Community Planning / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Sheri L. Smith / This paper suggest that a force, when encompassed in a tripod body, the host town, the area community, and the University, can succeed in making necessary improvements to a struggling community, provided this effort is embedded in a shared conceptualization of revitalization planning that will enliven, regenerate, and produce. The result of this effort depends on the balanced exchange between the various stakeholders of higher education within the host communities, and local governments who can all share mutual responsibilities as planners while applying the concept of university community partnership to the City of Fort Valley, a target area and Fort Valley State University. The exchange between stakeholders is used to establish why they, as an inclusive community, should apply this model to distinguish each party's roles then determine the concepts and recommendations that could be utilized to accomplish the ultimate goal of revitalization.

This thesis examines the possibility of applying the concept of interest to public urban land use system planning, although it is not intended that the idea should be limited to urban planning. The concept is considered in detail, as is the question of who can have interests. The conclusion on that is that individuals and the public are the only true categories of interest holders, although interest groups need to be recognised for practical reasons. Corporations and governments cannot be true interest holders. The application of the concept was assessed in relation to the subject-matter of urban land use planning, and a typical land use planning process. The possibility of applying it to a hypothetical system of planning using the pragmatic method was also considered. The final part looked at the ‘institutions’ of planning, that is, law, politics, professional planning, administration, and administrative tribunals, to see how they would likely relate to a planning system based on the use of the concept of interest. The conclusion was that there would be no insurmountable difficulties even If not all of these institutions would readily embrace the concept. The idea was found to be plausible in so far as a comprehensive theory of interest-based urban land use planning was able to be worked out. By considering practical issues throughout, a strong presumption was raised that it would be feasible, although testing and further development of the idea would be necessary. Finally, the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed method were reviewed. The expected benefits were ensuring that public urban land use system planning was humanistic, and providing a concept, or theme, around which a comprehensive theory of such planning could be constructed. Likely areas of difficulty were misunderstanding due to the lack of agreement on the meaning of the concept, although the meaning that should be adopted for the proposed purpose was spelt out. Secondly, a conservative attitude towards the use of concepts other than interest in planning and related disciplines could cause resistance to the adoption of the proposed method. It was shown how the idea is largely novel, but that recently there has been increasing use of the concept of interest in the land use planning literature. / Subscription resource available via Digital Dissertations only.

This thesis examines the possibility of applying the concept of interest to public urban land use system planning, although it is not intended that the idea should be limited to urban planning. The concept is considered in detail, as is the question of who can have interests. The conclusion on that is that individuals and the public are the only true categories of interest holders, although interest groups need to be recognised for practical reasons. Corporations and governments cannot be true interest holders. The application of the concept was assessed in relation to the subject-matter of urban land use planning, and a typical land use planning process. The possibility of applying it to a hypothetical system of planning using the pragmatic method was also considered. The final part looked at the ‘institutions’ of planning, that is, law, politics, professional planning, administration, and administrative tribunals, to see how they would likely relate to a planning system based on the use of the concept of interest. The conclusion was that there would be no insurmountable difficulties even If not all of these institutions would readily embrace the concept. The idea was found to be plausible in so far as a comprehensive theory of interest-based urban land use planning was able to be worked out. By considering practical issues throughout, a strong presumption was raised that it would be feasible, although testing and further development of the idea would be necessary. Finally, the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed method were reviewed. The expected benefits were ensuring that public urban land use system planning was humanistic, and providing a concept, or theme, around which a comprehensive theory of such planning could be constructed. Likely areas of difficulty were misunderstanding due to the lack of agreement on the meaning of the concept, although the meaning that should be adopted for the proposed purpose was spelt out. Secondly, a conservative attitude towards the use of concepts other than interest in planning and related disciplines could cause resistance to the adoption of the proposed method. It was shown how the idea is largely novel, but that recently there has been increasing use of the concept of interest in the land use planning literature. / Subscription resource available via Digital Dissertations only.

This thesis examines the possibility of applying the concept of interest to public urban land use system planning, although it is not intended that the idea should be limited to urban planning. The concept is considered in detail, as is the question of who can have interests. The conclusion on that is that individuals and the public are the only true categories of interest holders, although interest groups need to be recognised for practical reasons. Corporations and governments cannot be true interest holders. The application of the concept was assessed in relation to the subject-matter of urban land use planning, and a typical land use planning process. The possibility of applying it to a hypothetical system of planning using the pragmatic method was also considered. The final part looked at the ‘institutions’ of planning, that is, law, politics, professional planning, administration, and administrative tribunals, to see how they would likely relate to a planning system based on the use of the concept of interest. The conclusion was that there would be no insurmountable difficulties even If not all of these institutions would readily embrace the concept. The idea was found to be plausible in so far as a comprehensive theory of interest-based urban land use planning was able to be worked out. By considering practical issues throughout, a strong presumption was raised that it would be feasible, although testing and further development of the idea would be necessary. Finally, the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed method were reviewed. The expected benefits were ensuring that public urban land use system planning was humanistic, and providing a concept, or theme, around which a comprehensive theory of such planning could be constructed. Likely areas of difficulty were misunderstanding due to the lack of agreement on the meaning of the concept, although the meaning that should be adopted for the proposed purpose was spelt out. Secondly, a conservative attitude towards the use of concepts other than interest in planning and related disciplines could cause resistance to the adoption of the proposed method. It was shown how the idea is largely novel, but that recently there has been increasing use of the concept of interest in the land use planning literature. / Subscription resource available via Digital Dissertations only.

This thesis examines the possibility of applying the concept of interest to public urban land use system planning, although it is not intended that the idea should be limited to urban planning. The concept is considered in detail, as is the question of who can have interests. The conclusion on that is that individuals and the public are the only true categories of interest holders, although interest groups need to be recognised for practical reasons. Corporations and governments cannot be true interest holders. The application of the concept was assessed in relation to the subject-matter of urban land use planning, and a typical land use planning process. The possibility of applying it to a hypothetical system of planning using the pragmatic method was also considered. The final part looked at the ‘institutions’ of planning, that is, law, politics, professional planning, administration, and administrative tribunals, to see how they would likely relate to a planning system based on the use of the concept of interest. The conclusion was that there would be no insurmountable difficulties even If not all of these institutions would readily embrace the concept. The idea was found to be plausible in so far as a comprehensive theory of interest-based urban land use planning was able to be worked out. By considering practical issues throughout, a strong presumption was raised that it would be feasible, although testing and further development of the idea would be necessary. Finally, the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed method were reviewed. The expected benefits were ensuring that public urban land use system planning was humanistic, and providing a concept, or theme, around which a comprehensive theory of such planning could be constructed. Likely areas of difficulty were misunderstanding due to the lack of agreement on the meaning of the concept, although the meaning that should be adopted for the proposed purpose was spelt out. Secondly, a conservative attitude towards the use of concepts other than interest in planning and related disciplines could cause resistance to the adoption of the proposed method. It was shown how the idea is largely novel, but that recently there has been increasing use of the concept of interest in the land use planning literature. / Subscription resource available via Digital Dissertations only.

This thesis examines the possibility of applying the concept of interest to public urban land use system planning, although it is not intended that the idea should be limited to urban planning. The concept is considered in detail, as is the question of who can have interests. The conclusion on that is that individuals and the public are the only true categories of interest holders, although interest groups need to be recognised for practical reasons. Corporations and governments cannot be true interest holders. The application of the concept was assessed in relation to the subject-matter of urban land use planning, and a typical land use planning process. The possibility of applying it to a hypothetical system of planning using the pragmatic method was also considered. The final part looked at the ‘institutions’ of planning, that is, law, politics, professional planning, administration, and administrative tribunals, to see how they would likely relate to a planning system based on the use of the concept of interest. The conclusion was that there would be no insurmountable difficulties even If not all of these institutions would readily embrace the concept. The idea was found to be plausible in so far as a comprehensive theory of interest-based urban land use planning was able to be worked out. By considering practical issues throughout, a strong presumption was raised that it would be feasible, although testing and further development of the idea would be necessary. Finally, the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed method were reviewed. The expected benefits were ensuring that public urban land use system planning was humanistic, and providing a concept, or theme, around which a comprehensive theory of such planning could be constructed. Likely areas of difficulty were misunderstanding due to the lack of agreement on the meaning of the concept, although the meaning that should be adopted for the proposed purpose was spelt out. Secondly, a conservative attitude towards the use of concepts other than interest in planning and related disciplines could cause resistance to the adoption of the proposed method. It was shown how the idea is largely novel, but that recently there has been increasing use of the concept of interest in the land use planning literature. / Subscription resource available via Digital Dissertations only.

Master of Regional and Community Planning / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Larry L. Lawhon / This report addresses the questions of whether the Birch Street Development in Brea, CA is a successful example of Smart Growth, and whether it is something that can be replicated in other cities. It is important to find the answers to both of these questions because Smart Growth may hold the key to solving the problem of sprawl, and the Birch Street Development could potentially serve as a Smart Growth implementation guide for cities everywhere.

Master of Regional and Community Planning / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Claude A. Keithley / In the near future, due to the baby boom of the sixties, a large proportion of the American population will fall into the age group of over 65. This dominating portion of the population will naturally require decent living styles and facilities. Most cities in the US, however in their current plan, do not seem to have enough provisions to address the needs of these senior citizens. The needs and rights of the aged are often found to be not properly addressed as the majority of the population are young and able-bodied and their needs are sure to take priority in formulating any community's plan and policies. Necessary changes in the current plan of many American cities are required to accommodate the needs of the elderly people as the baby boomers age. In this report, an attempt is made to understand and define the needs of the aging population who will very soon form a formidable part of the community. Of late, aging in place has become quite a popular lifestyle among senior citizens who usually like to spend the rest of their life in the same community as they have spent most of their adulthood or even childhood. Moving out of one's community and learning to adapt to a new environment is hardly desirable for anybody at a ripe age when one would rather lead an easy life by relaxing and engaging in the fond recollections of the past. The report attempts to study the aging components within the existing plan and investigates whether they exist or not and prescribes the required components in the comprehensive plan. For that purpose, the literature review identifies the needs of the elderly followed by a review of the Manhattan Urban Area Comprehensive Plan to determine how well the city plan addresses the needs of the elderly. The review of this plan provides a critique of the city's plan in terms of its efforts to make the community livable for the elderly. Moreover, the last chapter provides policy guidelines for the development of a specific component of the plan targeting the needs of the elderly.

Master of Regional and Community Planning / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Sheri L. Smith / The Kansas City Design Center (KCDC) Interdisciplinary Urban Design Studio is one of a myriad of design studios throughout the country, which seek to bring students of differing educational backgrounds together in an urban environment. In this setting they collaborate with each other, faculty, and outside professionals in an effort to stem many of the problems associated with urban America today. While these design studios have made their goals and objectives clear to the public and their studio participants, what are they offering in terms of a quality interdisciplinary educational experience? How interdisciplinary are these urban design studios? Are students receiving the same educational experiences? The above questions can only be answered by documenting the processes involved as well as looking to the students for their insight and feelings of their own individual educational experiences while taking part in the studio. The Kansas City Design center builds its educational endeavors around its interdisciplinary design studio. The goal of this studio is to “strengthen the educational experiences of future planning and design practitioners by engaging university faculty and students with real world issues facing Kansas City’s built environment.” Through this studio, faculty and students are able to work closely with local client groups working towards improving the built environment in Kansas City. If Kansas State University and the University of Kansas continue to send students to KCDC to study each year, it only seems appropriate that their faculty and potential students understand what is taking place at this particular studio. Therefore, the goal of this research paper is to describe the projects undertaken during the inaugural Kansas City Design Center Urban Design Studio and to analyze the interdisciplinary environment of the studio.

Master of Regional and Community Planning / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Sheri L. Smith / In 1998, the City of Manhattan, Kansas and Kansas State University jointly developed a City of Manhattan Bicycle Master Plan. This plan created a vision for bicycling in the community, established goals and designated streets to be improved with bicycle facilities. The Master Plan also developed recommendations to incorporate bicycle facility planning into the growth of Manhattan. This plan created a solid political foundation that showed that bicycling matters in Manhattan, Kansas. However, the 1998 Bicycle Master Plan lacked specifics on how to incorporate these recommendations and routes into the existing and future street system. The 2008 Bicycle Master Plan Update attempts to address the shortcomings of the 1998 Master Plan and incorporate the growth and expansion of the City since 1998. The initial step of the Bicycle Master Plan Update was to calculate a Bicycle Safety Index. The Bicycle Safety Index was modeled after previous research conducted on the City of Manhattan, where street and land use attributes, such as road surface materials, street width, traffic volume, presence of angled-parking and traffic speeds were weighted and calculated in a spatial environment using GIS software. The result was a rating of all streets in Manhattan based on their suitability for safe bicycle travels. Using the results of the Bicycle Safety Index, specific routes were developed based on their proximity to bicycle destinations, such as commercial areas, schools and parks. Routes were created by using ESRI's Network Analyst software. Routes proposed by the software were evaluated by a windshield and handlebar survey to ultimately determine the appropriateness of each route. Following the determination of the proposed routes, specific facility recommendations for each street segment were proposed based on the traffic volume, vehicle speeds, street widths and the geometry of the segment. General recommendations and funding options were created to assist in the advancement of the goals and objectives originally initiated in the 1998 Master Plan. The result is a Master Plan that can be used by City Planners to incorporate bicycle transportation into the City and a map for bicyclist to travel from one place to another in the City safely.