Urban green space plays a vital role in the stability of the environment. Green spaces are increasingly becoming an integral part of the efforts to promote sustainability because of the different areas of benefits they provide. Sustainable city ranking systems were used to identify the most sustainable urban extents within the US. Landsat TM 4-5 imagery and textural classification are used as techniques in identifying, classifying and analyzing urban green spaces within nineteen urban extents. Patch analyst was used to analyze the location, structure and fragmentation green spaces within each urban extent. The aim is to determine to what degree urban green spaces can be considered to be an integral part of the sustainability of sustainable urban extents across the US and ascertain whether or not more sustainable urban extents do have more urban green spaces. The results of the study have shown that urban extents that are ranked highly v on sustainable ranking systems do not necessarily have to have large proportion of green spaces. Results have also shown that urban extents that are ranked high on sustainable rankings will not necessarily be affected by increase in population or decrease in urban green space. Finally human modified green spaces have simple geometric shapes compared to natural unaltered green spaces that have more complex geometric shapes. / by Gillian Bloise. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2013. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

Thesis. 1974. M.Arch.A.S.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Bibliography : leaf 121. / by Cheryl A. Amisial. / M.Arch.A.S.

Thesis (M.S.)--Washington State University, 2002. / Title from PDF title page (viewed May 26, 2005). Includes bibliographical references (p. 116-118).

No description available.

For decades there has been an urgency facing America's cities to address the declining condition of inner city communities. Initiatives implemented to address the problem have had mixed success and the drive to find solutions continues to be at the forefront of discussions surrounding urban community development. This document offers a look at an initiative designed to createa greater sense of community among neighborhood youth and to increase levels of youth involvement in community development activities. The initiative is one of many projects taking place in the Martin Luther King Jr. development Area, in Anderson, IN. The intent of the project is to enhance the quality of life for community residents through community beautification.This document will capture the essence of Project Green including both the design and implementation process. It will provide the details of the project management and activities from the origin of the idea until the completion of the summer initiative.As the document unfolds the reader is introduced to the partners and the participants, how the idea was conceived, what made the idea financially feasible, the impact on the community, and the impact left on the youth. It is intended that the reader can use this document to develop and start a similar initiative, to aid in the development of projects intended to spur revitalization of communities and the renewal of resident community spirit. / Department of Urban Planning

This proposal is a catalogue of considerable contextual issues that inform the architect about values, environmental qualities, and principles, found within existing building structures of an American downtown. It is the intention of this collection to help the architect considering a broader range of ideas in a new single building to be designed, with the intent of improving foremost the public quality of a future building in the downtown.The main architectural questions embrace the definition of the contextual influences, dimensional and non-dimensional, and the clarification what type of influences remain under the control of the architect.It is my overall premise that buildings in downtown are indeed of "higher quality" when they reflect the surrounding rules, i.e., when the architects, clients and any other powerful participants of the building enterprise know about the additional ideas that have been established around the proposed site. The downtown is often the oldest part of a city where first housing, first trade, growth, and the idea of neighborhood had its roots, where it all began. I specify downtown still as the traditional center of a community, a center, not defined so much geographically or architecturally as it is socially.How can a future best building become a piece of the existing downtown environment as an ideal. Is there such an ideal answer? Or is the downtown itself a conglomerate of random individual and uncompromising Inventions?What is the basic language, the common traits that all buildings in downtown shareMarkus Vogel, May 1997•What parts of a building are of importance in becoming a part of downtown and what reasons can we identify for attaching importance to those parts?What generates form, use and expression in downtown buildings which we consider as being a successful part of the place.Out of these questions, a catalog of influences will be presented, a reference framework of 21 issues, notions, and contextual influences, divided into dimensional and non-dimensional influences. Each of the influences analyses a single aspect out of the pool of qualities of downtown buildings. The consideration of non-dimensional contextual influences without any obvious visual dimensions such as contextual symbolism, questions of aesthetics, and behavioral aspects is of special importance. In defining the references the following set of questions serve as a guideline:A) Why are the notions important and where are they coming from?B) How can we look at them in downtown Indianapolis?C) What are the related suggestions and implications for a design study?The research includes visual, graphical and oral analysis whereby downtown Indianapolis serves as an example and as a resource city. The target groups includes senior students of architecture, architects and the community, or any other public client involved in design decisions or design reviews which supervise new developments in downtown.It is the position of this paper that only a consideration of all contextual influences together in one building may create what utopists could consider an ideal building. Aware of this heavily difficult ideal, an overview on those constraints that are not sufficiently under the control of the architect will be given in order to clarify the dualism between the ideal outcome and realistic possibilities. This proposal is therefore the creation of a methodology which defines questions and issues rather than providing the answers, describing final design implications.In conclusion, I assume that the belief and the application of such a contextual framework is characteristic of those people interested in particular and individualistic design responses rather than those individuals preferring universal and broad rules honoring all kinds of manifestoes that can be found in the pluralistic mishmash of present day's architectural theories. / Department of Architecture

Ecological restoration techniques are increasingly employed along urban stream corridors. In the past, flood-control projects had negative impacts upon our urban streams and many of these streams suffer from degradation. Cardinal Creek, a stream that flows through Ball State University's campus is one such example. With an increase in urbanization, and subsequent loss of habitat, the stream has become nothing more than an open drain, often carrying bacteria that pose a serious health risk. Following a review of stream restoration principles and "aesthetics of care" principles, the application of these ideas is explored. This project will incorporate, both stream restoration principles and "aesthetic of care" principles in order to produce a potentially ecologically healthy and visually appealing community amenity. / Department of Architecture

This project provides a historical perspective and a comprehensive review of the quantitative and qualitative benefits of green roof technologies and argues that most of these benefits could be represented in the City of Chicago in an educational and interactive site. As a demonstration site, the Chicago Cultural Center rooftop could be retrofitted as such a green roof project. In addition to the normal benefits of a green roof, this high profile site would provide increased awareness of the benefits of rooftop greening in hopes of encouraging future such projects in Chicago and elsewhere. The major barriers to the widespread use of green roof technologies are summarized; creative solutions making use of various green roof technologies are displayed on one prominent, showcase rooftop. / Department of Landscape Architecture

Thesis (M.Arch.) - Carleton University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 57-58). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

published_or_final_version / Architecture / Master / Master of Landscape Architecture