Berlin is one of the most dense cities for tenantable living, from nineteen century to the reunification decade in the late twentieth, the housing living cost always maintain an affordable level for multiple classes requirements. However, after step into twenty-one century, the urban gentrification sweeps out many affordable rental housing financed by city government, instead of higher cost for housing living in downtown Berlin. What I look for in this master design project is trying to broad a new view in how to develop the modern, affordable housing for diverse groups living in the inner city. / text

This study seeks to determine whether the process of mortgage finance liberalization, manifested in concurrent activities of securitization, deregulation, and neo-liberal policy, have resulted in changes to the tenure of residents in neighborhoods in Tampa Bay. It makes use of existing literature on gentrification and mortgage finance and compares those findings with three sample neighborhoods in and around the city of Tampa. To do so the thesis employs data collected from lenders pursuant to the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, court records of sales and mortgages filed with the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Hillsborough County, and interviews with stakeholders such as community leaders, activists, residents and those involved in the lending industry. It was discovered that the sample neighborhoods largely conform to expectations about the general pattern of investment of mortgage dollars in core, peripheral, and semi-peripheral neighborhoods. Close analysis indicates that the liberalization of the mortgage process clearly increased the frequency of resident turnover, thus reducing the tenure of residents in each neighborhood to varying degrees. Neighborhoods where traditional, deposit oriented, banks and thrifts dominated the lending market saw a lower tendency for the rapid churning of housing and thus can be expected to possess a lower turnover in residents, fewer examples of foreclosure, and a greater level of wealth accumulation for the homeowner.

The ideal city project was a performance that presented the design for an ideal city with stories about how that imaginary city failed. The design was represented as a 4’0” x 4’0” wood and Styrofoam sculpture. Upon seeing this design, seven writers created scenes and monologues outlining the destruction of the city. The flaws they discovered were not designed into the city intentionally. In fact, the writers pointed to several different sources for the downfall ranging from issues with its layout to socio-political breakdowns. At the end of the performance the audience was left with the ruins of something that was once so full of hope. This piece was intended to serve as a reminder that cities are not predetermined utopias, but continually changing and evolving environments created by those who live in them. Even the best examples eventually fail or evolve into something different. However, this does not mean we stop trying to create better places to live. George Bernard Shaw said “A reasonable man adapts himself to his environment. An unreasonable man persists in attempting to adapt his environment to suit himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” Theater performances provide an excellent way to explore ideas and create dialogue about what these better places look like and how they function. / text

This thesis notes that there is a lack of systematic research investigating segregation patterns based on how public space is used and frequented by citizens. In order for understanding of urban segregation to reach beyond residential segregation, the extent to which public space facilitates co-presence between social groups is a key issue. The main concern in this thesis is to arrive at a deeper understanding of the critical role urban form plays in terms of co-presence in public space and in extension for social segregation. The argument builds on knowledge from other fields, arguing that co-presence is of utmost importance for societal processes: by sharing space and being co-present with others, which does not necessarily imply focused interaction, we gain information and knowledge from our fellow citizens and participate in processes that negotiate social structures, acceptable behaviours and identities. The sharing of space thus becomes a central part of ‘being in society’. It is furthermore through public space that material urban resources are accessible, an access that is dependent on both the location of the amenities in space but also the distribution of space, as structured and shaped by urban form, which creates the actual experience of access through space. Segregation is primarily defined as a social problem. However, in this thesis, it is made clear that it is also a spatial problem. While also broadening the conceptualisation of segregation, the main focus has been upon the role of the built environment. The socio-spatial link builds on social theories. However, these theories are weak when it comes to explaining where co-presence occurs. Addressing the spatial side of the problem, the thesis primarily builds on the architectural theory of space syntax that exactly aims to study the space-society relationship from the viewpoint of space and provides empirical evidence for the correspondence between urban form – as it is shaped by urban design and architecture – and the creation of co-presence as well as variations in its intensity and its constitution. In addition, key questions such as what people may have access to ‘just around the corner’ in terms of human resources or other urban amenities are elaborated. The distinct variations found between neighbourhoods are argued both to enrich the discussion on social exclusion and unequal living conditions and inform future urban planning and design. The thesis demonstrates that specific configurational properties have great impact on the pattern of co-presence. More specifically, it is found that a segregation of public space, a limited spatial reach and an uneven distribution of spatial centrality appears not to favour an exchange between neighbourhoods or access to urban resources across the city – findings that are highly critical for the urban segregation issue. Detailed configurational analysis of Stockholm reveals the performative aspects of different urban layouts related not only to local circumstances and character but, more importantly, to the further context of such layouts. Increased knowledge of how spatial configuration relates to social practices offers new insight into how different neighbourhoods and urban layouts perform socially and increases understanding of the social implications of spatial configuration. The findings of this study are argued to open up theoretical developments that address the social and political dimension of urban design with greater precision. Not least, this knowledge can influence public debate. The knowledge produced can furthermore be used in urban design practice and anti-segregation initiatives, identifying whether spatial interventions can make a contribution and if so, what physical interventions respond to the social ends in question, where the ultimate aim is an urban design that not only builds cities but societies too. / <p>QC 20131108</p>

Within the European Union, policies promoting integration and transnationalization have raised questions about the nature of borders and boundaries. With these shifts in conception emerge an opportunity to re-imagine how borders might be urbanized and developed. The Dreiländerecke (the Three Countries Corner between Switzerland, France, and Germany in Metrobasel) is one instance of this phenomenon, standing at the threshold of change towards increased transborder cooperation and a loosening of political boundaries. However, this process is hindered by residual urban barriers. This thesis investigates the liminal space of borders which provides a rich basis for forming a multi-scalar approach towards infrastructural, architectural, and programmatic strategies for cross-border development. Although connectivity is sought, it is not the ultimate aim, for unfettered integration risks a globalizing homogenization. Instead, this thesis investigates an architecture that facilitates the liminal process as core identities become translated at the meeting point of national cultures.

To respond to the global issue of sea level rise, this thesis examines architectural adaptation strategies by focusing on a low-lying coastal community in Dartmouth Cove in Halifax, Canada. Without a comprehensive adaptation strategy, these residents, along with 75% of the properties surrounding the harbour, will be forced to abandon their homes, resulting in a massive retreat from the coast. This project explores ways to build that can accommodate the future rise in sea level and population growth but are sensitive to the natural environment. It includes designs for urban organizations and amphibious housing blocks. The findings presented in this thesis suggest that amphibious architecture could become a viable solution for coastal environments in urban areas.

When undertaking the renovation of large-scale road infrastructure, there is a unique design opportunity to reconsider the role of road networks and their effect on our contemporary urban landscape. This study analyses Montreal’s trenched Décarie Expressway to explore the potential space created by road infrastructure and its role as a key element in urban renewal. The urban design takes shape according to the specific characteristics of the neighborhoods adjacent to the Décarie axis. Remediation of these neighborhoods occurs here by introducing public spaces and inserting real-estate development over the expressway. The design concentrates on connecting pedestrian paths along a new public plinth. Since we have inherited the road infrastructure developed by modern car culture, we must begin to envision transportation infrastructure as an opportunity for public spaces with real three-dimensional connectivity that would marry civic needs with cultural amenities and ultimately symbolize the physical rehabilitation of the Décarie axis.

The urban landscape-heat-health relationship was explored using a model of human thermal comfort (as energy budget) modified to incorporate varying urban landscape. Census Tract-level energy budget was modelled in Toronto during four extreme heat events. Energy budgets (~+80 W m-2) and heat-related ambulance calls (~+10%) increased during heat events and were positively correlated, albeit with some event-to-event fluctuation in relationship strength. Heat-related calls were negatively correlated to canopy cover. “Cooling” design strategies applied to two high-energy budget Census Tracts nearly neutralized (~–25 W m-2) thermal comfort and increased canopy cover (500–600%), resulting in an estimated 40–50% reduction in heat-related ambulance calls. These findings advance current understanding of the urban landscape-heat-health relationship and suggest straightforward design strategies to positively influence urban heat-health. This new high-throughput, Census Tract-level thermal comfort modelling methodology incorporates the complexities of the urban landscape has relevance to landscape architecture, urban design, and public health.

A case study of Vancouver’s West End neighbourhood examines the cultural, structural, economic and political impacts of a glbtt (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and two-spirited) community and a gay urban village on its city. This work also queries the role of municipal government in the regulation and maintenance of the social composition and identity of a neighbourhood. Finally, the future of gay urban villages is discussed as their role in promoting solidarity and safety transitions toward a commercial and nodal one. This research involved three local key informant interviews and nine community residents who participated as photographers in a community visual analysis. Results unveiled a neighbourhood intrinsically well suited to serving a transient gay male community with an increasing dispersion of the identifying demographic. For the foreseeable future the significance of the Davie Village in the socio-sexual landscape of Vancouver appears secure through the nodal nature of gay retail, bars and services, reinforced by business interests. As an urban typology supporting a comparatively young glbtt culture, the gay urban village plays a unique role in the city, providing spaces of experimentation and invention — a stage for new systems of cultural (ex)change to emerge.

A map is a context. This project is about contextualization. This process has helped me understand where landscape architecture currently sits as a discipline and offers hints as to where it might go in the future. The function of this mapping is as much about re-shaping an understanding of landscape architecture as it is about understanding landscape urbanism. Like architecture and city planning, landscape architecture is a discipline in constant flux, redefining its role with and relationship to parallel fields of thought and within broader disciplinary contexts. Over the last few decades it has become apparent that landscape architecture has emerged as a discipline strongly capable of reshaping urban space. Ideas regarding landscapes as active, dynamic, operational systems have paralleled the discipline’s growing relevance within an urban context. In this time landscape urbanism has emerged as a reaction to landscape architecture’s role within our changing world. For landscape urbanism to contribute anything of value to the future of urbanism, or to the design disciplines, it needs to be contextualized within the larger framework of which it is part, without this context landscape urbanism has no relevance. Where it has come from must be critically assessed as a way to understand its intentions and potential future. Landscape urbanism may expand architecture’s boundaries to include elements of landscape thinking, but it does not expand the boundaries of landscape design. Its attempt to generate a new approach for urbanism is innovative as architecture, in its effort to expand the discipline’s understanding of site, but as a design discipline, or a strategic approach to thinking, landscape urbanism is not innovative.