Disasters due to war and conflict or natural forces are responsible for the 26 million people displaced across the world today. The crisis extends into the temporary, yet indefinite, displacement camps where people live in congested living arrangements, vulnerable to an increased risk of disease, death, and social violence (spousal abuse, rape). Even when chaos subsides, social and physical networks have frayed rendering the temporary displacement camp a permanent home for some. Often, despite this “permanence”, access to adequate services and infrastructure and hence social and economic growth remains in a state of emergency. This thesis proposes that water infrastructure is the key social catalyst for developing these displacement camps into permanent sustainable communities. An urban displacement camp in the town of Gulu, Northern Uganda, is the case study location for a speculative design intervention. During rebel activities from 1996 to 2004, the town of Gulu more than tripled in size, absorbing almost 100,000 displaced people forced to flee their land. These people settled in displacement camps next to, and within the wetlands that border the town on all sides. The urban metabolism of the town has become polluted as the displaced people use, alter and degrade the wetlands because they have no other alternatives. Following the instigation of a peace process in 2006, some people have begun the journey home. However, it is estimated that just over half of these people will continue to live in the squalid camps, without an opportunity to prosper. A strategy is proposed for addressing and subsequently re-defining this urban metabolism. By synthesizing the existing urban fabric with strategies for harnessing the natural landscape, varying scales of water infrastructure are proposed. New opportunities for agricultural production is supported, while the spatial relationships created by the physical structuring of the water infrastructure renews the influence that water collection and distribution has in creating the social locus of a community.

The word revise means to reconsider or modify as with text. If we think of the suburban landscape as a text, the culture of each era left documentation of their values, policies and way of life in the form of transportation networks and other infrastructure, such as Main Streets, squares and public buildings. While evidence of most of the everyday life of individuals of every era gets erased by the following era, infrastructure investments of each era are adaptively reused and remain to tell the story. This thesis documents the adaptive reuse of these suburban frameworks and develops a proposition for the appropriate next layer to accommodate a new culture of inhabitants. Focusing on second generation suburbs, using Gwinnett County as a case study, this analysis identifies three problems of the current suburban situation: the problem of abandoned strips, a demographic shift, and the need for place. As new strip highways develop, old strips decline leaving abandoned shopping centers and declining property values. New development continues to move north and out of the county, and middle class residents, for which existing auto-oriented suburbs were created, move as well. A new, poorer, and more ethnically diverse population inherits the auto-oriented landscape left behind. This phenomenon is particularly concentrated along the southern portion of the Buford Highway corridor. Those with more money move closer to new development, while those with less money have less choice and are found near declining strips with fewer services, poorer quality housing and lower quality of life. Finally, county officials have expressed a desire for defining "the epicenter of Gwinnett." I believe that there is no one "center" of Gwinnett, but a series of places defined by memory, design or events. I propose to improve the situation of these three problems with a light rail line that connects existing places and creates new walkable, livable places to improve quality of life. This connective piece will serve as a social condenser in lieu of a center, provide links between polar populations, and reactivate declining strips while creating a sustainable infrastructural spine for future growth in the region.

We all want to live in a healthy community. Each of us has his or her own image of what such a community should look like. That image is shaped, in part, by our reaction to the communities in which we now live or used to live. However we often take for granted the elements of communities that enable and sometimes disable many of us to remain active in a community for a lifetime. For older residents, a lifelong community would include elements that help them to maintain independence and quality of life. The physical characteristics of a community often play a major role in facilitating our personal independence. In order to combat the growing challenges and health concerns facing the American lifestyle this research proposes a set of design guidelines that promote sustainable lifelong communities that are universally designed for people of all ages and levels of physical ability. The purpose of developing a set of universal design guidelines for lifelong communities is to alleviate many of the physical barriers and challenges that prevent some Americans from active involvement in the community. The methods employed to develop these guidelines were based on literature review and analysis. This research was incorporated into a new body of practical standards that was tested against a real life community in Decatur, Georgia. These standards were edited and revised to appropriately accommodate the necessary adaptations that were discovered during the evaluation phase. The resultant guidelines are presented with the intention of becoming a usable guide for planning agencies such as the Atlanta Regional Commission and other local and national community design facilitators.

Freeways have had a strong influence not only on the urban transportation but also on downtown areas both physically and socially. Certainly, they have extended the commuting limits of the city and made lower land costs more accessible. However, many of the mid-century freeways, once championed by planners as tools for urban renewal, have created swaths of blight through city neighborhoods. Their negative impacts on the larger urban framework requires new ideas for healthier alternatives to aid in preserving and building sustainable cities. Removal of any downtown highway requires careful thought— even more consideration than when it was built. Quick solutions are what resulted in the problems that downtown highways of the Interstate-Era have today. If it is the simple interactions between people and place are that make up the positive aspects an urban environment, then what are the possibilities and strategies for removing urban highway, which are one of the primary impediments separating people in place in contemporary cities? This question is the focus of this thesis. At its core, the removal of freeways represents a trade-off between mobility objectives and economic development objectives. Evidence from other cities’ decisions to redesign or remove their downtown highways suggests multiple benefits. Making design changes, such as to replace a downtown highway with a well-designed surface boulevard, can stimulate economic activities without necessarily causing traffic chaos. Solutions come in different shapes and sizes. The selected case studies in this thesis reflect a diversity of approaches – suggesting no single strategy exists for addressing downtown highway issues. This reflects the fact that multiple alternatives must be considered in every situation because each approach varies in costs and opportunities. A typology of highway alternations derived from the case studies includes seven different techniques: burying, demolishing, taming, capping or bridging, elevating, retaining, and relocating. The final chapter applies the conclusions from the case studies to the Downtown Connector– Interstate 75/85– in Downtown Atlanta, Georgia. Urban design and transportation planning has an emerging new set of values. Transportation planning is seeking to promote alternate modes of transportation to the private vehicle, like transit, by foot, or by bicycle. We now understand that connectivity is not served only by highways but also by urban street networks that invite modes other than just automobiles. An important role for urban design will be to shape the way these interactions are made to benefit the citizens, its urban spaces, and the economy.

土地混合使用，尤其是住商混合使用，一直被認為是達成環境面永續都市或是生態城市的要素之一。其除了提高住商可及性使人們步行與騎自行車的機率增加外，同時也讓公共空間的安全性提高、並增加都市的活力。然而住、商兩者間不完全相容的土地使用型態卻也容易引發對居住環境的負面衝擊，例如噪音、異味、光線侵擾、使人感覺較擁擠、降低隱私性等使環境品質下降，而可能降低人對住商混合住宅社區的偏好。本研究從過去研究中較少提及的都市空間規劃與設計角度切入，探討不同都市規劃與設計元素如何影響住商混合區之環境品質，其研究目的有三：1. 歸納整理可能影響住商混合區建成環境之都市規劃與設計元素2. 建立環境面生態都市概念下，住商混合實質環境品質之評估面向與指標3. 分析各都市規劃與設計元素對住商混合建成環境指標之影響。 本研究以台北市的住三分區為基礎，建立模擬住商混合社區，模擬各種都市規劃、設計元素之變化情境，以利衡量每項都市設計元素以及組合情境影響下，住商混合社區各面向建成環境品質評估指標的變化。使用工具包括ArcGIS、Google ShetchUP、及AutoCAD軟體，以建立模擬都市基本圖，並使用空間分析工具、ArcGIS外掛模組及Excel計算各面向之環境指標數值。 研究結果顯示降低建築建蔽率有助於提升住商混合社區整體環境品質以及除了商店經營性外所有面向的建成環境(例如行人友善步行空間、居民住家可居住性及自然環境)，商店經營性則於建蔽率40%-55%間時表現較佳。在建物形狀方面，顯示正方塔型與長條型建築在住商混合區建成環境各面向指標上表現的差別不大。此外，階梯式退縮建築對於行人友善步行空間、居民住家可居住性及自然環境等均有提升的效果。 / Mixed land use has been widely considered as one of the key planning principles for achieving (environmentally) sustainable city or eco-city in terms of promoting transit patronage, walking and biking, and incubating retail-business friendly communities. However, it may also lower the livability because of the problems like noise, light instruction and downgraded residents privacy as to decrease the residents’ preference to live in mixed-use area. Few studies, nevertheless, has been done on the roles of the various tools in urban planning and design in improving the physical environment for both residents and retail businesses. The objectives of the paper are: (1) to review the urban planning and design tools normally applied by planners which may have impacts on the physical environment of mixed-use community; (2) to compile an inventory of indexes corresponding to the quality of physical environment for both residents and retail businesses; and (3) to examine the impacts of these tools on the physical environment indexes. The research method involves an simulation analysis, which is conducted in a selected mixed-use community in Taipei city, Taiwan. The simulation analysis helps examining the impact of each of the tools on physical environment indexes . The software packages applied are Google SketchUp, AutoCAD, ArcGIS, and Excel. The results of simulation analyses suggest that lowering the building coverage rate (BCR) is helpful in improving overall quality of mixed-use community and all sub-indexes (i.e., pedestrian-friendly environment, residents’ livability and nature environment) except for retail business operation environment. The quality of retail business operation environment performs better when BCR stays at the intermediate level (between 40%-55%). In the aspect of building shape, there is minimal difference showed on the impact on the overall index between tower-shaped and slab-shaped buildings. Besides, the stair-shaped setback is suggested for better pedestrian-friendly environment, residents’ livability, and especially nature environment.

La recherche sur le phénomène sonore, depuis les théorisations de Pierre Schaeffer entourant le concept de « l’objet sonore », a largement évolué nous permettant d’en saisir toute sa complexité. Poursuivant ce même dessein, nous proposons une approche compréhensive du phénomène sonore dans l’espace public urbain en nous penchant plus spécifiquement sur l’interprétation sonore des usagers empruntant les grandes rues commerciales de la ville et en l’occurrence, celles de Montréal. Au quotidien, le citadin déambule et chemine dans l’espace public en prenant conscience de son environnement à l’aide de ses sens. Outre l’aspect visuel, l’ensemble des autres sens sont, pour la plupart du temps, négligés par les designers de l’espace urbain. Il en résulte une conception du projet urbain relativement pauvre au niveau sonore. Dans ce mémoire, il sera question d’aborder le son sous l’angle de l’expérience subjective telle qu’elle est vécue par les usagers. L’objectif de nos travaux tend donc à approfondir la compréhension de l’expérience sonore de l’usager dans l’espace public urbain afin d’en intégrer les principes en amont du processus de conception. Les théories et méthodes issues du domaine de l’environnement sonore voient leur champ d’investigation élargi par l’anthropologie des sens. La richesse de cette approche permet de mieux saisir les multiples dimensions qui façonnent le vécu sonore des usagers. Le cadre de références puise également dans les pratiques artistiques. L’analyse de ces dernières fait émerger des dimensions utiles à la compréhension de l’expérience sonore. Cette expérimentation a été effectuée à l’aide de différentes méthodes de collecte de données permettant de recueillir un maximum de matière qualitative. Ainsi, des observations, des parcours d’écoute qualifiée, des parcours commentés et finalement des entretiens en profondeur ont été menés. Cette recherche a permis de mieux comprendre le dialogue existant entre le son, l’espace et l’usager en révélant les différentes dimensions de l’expérience sonore de la grande rue commerciale et notamment, celles entourant la culture des sens. / Since Pierre Schaeffer has first explored the concept of "sound object," research on the sound phenomenon has considerably evolved, allowing us to grasp all of its complexity. This research further explores the world of sound by examining the everyday experience of the city main commercial streets using as fieldwork, Saint-Laurent Street in Montreal. Through a comprehensive approach, we examine people’s own interpretation of their sound experience of this historical commercial street. Every day, citizens wander and make their way in public spaces by apprehending their environment through their senses. Besides the visual aspect, senses are quite often ignored by designers of urban space. This often results in a relatively poor urban design in terms of sensorial experience. The theories and methods resulting from the environmental sounds field see the scope of their investigation expanded by anthropology of the senses. The richness of this approach allows us to better understand the multiple dimensions that shape the sound. The field of references privileged here also draws on artistic practices. Those offer us a form of field of experimentation that abounds with qualitative material. The analysis of these last ones brings to the foreground dimensions useful for the understanding of the sonic experience. This experiment was conducted using various methods to collect a maximum of qualitative material. Then, observation, qualified listening walks and commented walks1, in-depth interviews were led. This research allowed to a better understanding of the existing dialogue between the sound, the space and the user disclosing the various dimensions of the sonic experience of the commercial main street and in particular those was surrounding the culture of the senses.

Older Australians walk for many reasons: health, recreation and transport. However, road safety statistics show that pedestrians over 65 represent one-third of Australia's pedestrian deaths. As Australia's population ages in place and older people take up a walking regime for health and transportation reasons, they need a supportive suburban setting. Urban design theories discuss such "pedestrian-friendly" concepts as sense of place, sense of community, responsive environments, traditional neighbourhood design, transit-oriented development, and crime prevention through environmental design. To investigate these concepts in relation to older pedestrians, this study brings together two areas of literature - research into older pedestrians in relation to urban design theories. Qualitative research methods were used in two case studies, to reveal how older people's interpretation of their local walking environment relates to urban design theories concerning walkable suburbs. The two Brisbane suburbs of Bulimba and Forest Lake were chosen for study, as they have different histories, topographies, street patterns, and other variations. Analysis of key themes gathered from two focus group discussions, one from each suburb, revealed the significance for participants of social interaction when walking for health. A photographic exercise performed by the Forest Lake focus group provided pictorial information for analysis, and revealed participants' interest in the lake's fauna and flora, and in its ongoing maintenance. The study was limited by an unforeseen failure to obtain the cooperation of the Bulimba group in the photographic exercise. In support of the claims made in the literature review, it seems that when older pedestrians walk through suburban streets, they avoid steep hills, busy roads, and intersections where possible, and require footpaths with even surfaces and shelters. When walking for health reasons, participants in this study did not favour local streets, but preferred "natural" places designed exclusively for walkers. Forest Lake participants stated a preference for driving to places they deemed suitable for walking, which suggests a need for more detailed design attention to the urban design qualities of local streets, so that those older people without cars are not disadvantaged.

This thesis is concerned with placing public art within the broader modernist spatialisation of social relations. The research takes place around two related enquiries. The first emerges from questions raised by the art critic Rosalyn Deutsche with regard to the proposition that public art functions as both a profession and technology that attempts to pattern space so that docile and useful bodies are created by and deployed within it. Following such questions, this thesis seeks to scrutinise the ways in which discourses on public art might operate in enabling, maintaining or disrupting everyday practices and socio-spatial relations. Secondly, as a foray into methodologies of public art research, the thesis considers Foucauldian governmentality approaches in terms of what these might have to offer an investigation of public art. The thesis undertakes the analysis of a wide range of texts connected with three South Australian urban developments for which public art was separately proposed, designed, selected and installed. Attention is given principally to the Rundle Street Mall, a pedestrianised shopping street in the city-centre of Adelaide, examined at several moments throughout the period of its development (1972-1977) and later refurbishment (1996-2001). Also discussed are the Adelaide Festival Centre Plaza (1973-1977) and the Gateway to Adelaide (1996-2000), the latter project involving the reconstruction of a major traffic intersection on the outskirts of metropolitan Adelaide. Through these examples the thesis documents key debates in the history of Australian discourses concerning public art. In addition, this study brings attention to the relations between artwork and a proliferation of individuals, agencies, and other interests, highlighting the competitions over space, authority and expertise, and the often unexamined role that public art plays in maintaining or unsettling socio-spatial relations. Knowledge about public art, it is argued, is produced, transformed and deployed across a range of discursive sites (contemporary art, urban design, planning, transport and others) and becomes tied to specific problems of governing. / Thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 2008

This thesis is concerned with placing public art within the broader modernist spatialisation of social relations. The research takes place around two related enquiries. The first emerges from questions raised by the art critic Rosalyn Deutsche with regard to the proposition that public art functions as both a profession and technology that attempts to pattern space so that docile and useful bodies are created by and deployed within it. Following such questions, this thesis seeks to scrutinise the ways in which discourses on public art might operate in enabling, maintaining or disrupting everyday practices and socio-spatial relations. Secondly, as a foray into methodologies of public art research, the thesis considers Foucauldian governmentality approaches in terms of what these might have to offer an investigation of public art. The thesis undertakes the analysis of a wide range of texts connected with three South Australian urban developments for which public art was separately proposed, designed, selected and installed. Attention is given principally to the Rundle Street Mall, a pedestrianised shopping street in the city-centre of Adelaide, examined at several moments throughout the period of its development (1972-1977) and later refurbishment (1996-2001). Also discussed are the Adelaide Festival Centre Plaza (1973-1977) and the Gateway to Adelaide (1996-2000), the latter project involving the reconstruction of a major traffic intersection on the outskirts of metropolitan Adelaide. Through these examples the thesis documents key debates in the history of Australian discourses concerning public art. In addition, this study brings attention to the relations between artwork and a proliferation of individuals, agencies, and other interests, highlighting the competitions over space, authority and expertise, and the often unexamined role that public art plays in maintaining or unsettling socio-spatial relations. Knowledge about public art, it is argued, is produced, transformed and deployed across a range of discursive sites (contemporary art, urban design, planning, transport and others) and becomes tied to specific problems of governing. / Thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 2008

This thesis establishes the concept of affective form as a means of examining urban design – being the intersection of architecture, planning and landscape – in relation to techniques of governance. Affective form broadly describes a built environment where people are encouraged to amend, or govern, their actions according to particular socio–political ideas. Exploration of the concept’s application as a theoretical tool is undertaken here in order to generate a means of discussing the ethical function of urban design. The emergence of notions of affective form will be located in the eighteenth century, alongside the growing confidence in the ability for humankind to effect social and cultural progress. In a series of examples, stretching throughout the twentieth century, the implicit relation of planning, architectural and landscape form to social effect is discussed. The language, and design models, used to delineate affective form are described, alongside discussion of the level of intentionality apparent in the conceptions of urban form’s social effect. Critique through affective form allows an analysis that brings together the underlying utopian elements of projects – the traces of ideology and sociological theories – with an evaluation of the formal concepts projected. As the second area of investigation, the city of Perth in Western Australia provides a contextual focus for the examination of concepts of affective form. Through a series of appropriations of urban design models a suburban archetype emerged in Perth of a planned, homogenous field of low–rise, single–family, detached dwellings within a gardenesque landscape. The process of appropriation is described as a continuing negotiation between local expectations and the implicit conceptions of affective form within the imported models. Connecting the two primary concerns of the thesis, the ability of form to influence social change and the evolution of Perth’s garden suburb ideal, is the association of that developing garden suburb model with notions of affective form. The associations are outlined through three case studies. The first is an account of the planning of the City of Perth Endowment Lands Project during the 1920s. The second describes the planning and architecture of the athlete’s village built for the VIIIth British Empire and Commonwealth Games held in Perth in 1962. The third study details the development in the 1990s of Joondalup, a satellite city in the Perth metropolitan region. The account of Perth’s garden suburb ideal is intertwined with the consideration of the varying ways in which the conceptualization of affective form has been expressed. Each case study is contextualized by a preceding chapter that discusses the particular conceptions of affective form used in its examination. Thus the main body of the thesis comprises three parts – each associated with a case study, each containing two linked chapters