This study investigates the development of Plant City, Florida as a railroad town developing on the Southwest Florida frontier from 1885-1940. The study chronicles the town's origins and economic, political, and social development in relationship to the broader historical theories of southern urban development, specifically those put forward in David Goldfield's pioneering work, Cotton Fields and Skyscrapers: Southern City and Region 1607-1980. Goldfield contended that southern cities developed differently than their northern counterparts because they were not economically, politically, philosophically and culturally separated from their rural surroundings. Instead, they displayed and retained the positive and negative attributes of southern society and culture, including a commitment to maintaining a biracial society until the 1960s, an affinity for rural lifestyles and values among urban residents, and an economic dependence on outside markets and capital. Since Goldfield derived his findings from research that centered on the cotton producing regions of the Old South, this study sought to determine whether the tenets of his thesis applied to the urbanization process in the frontier areas of Florida, a region often considered an anomaly to the greater South. In the end analysis it was determined that Goldfield's theory generally fits Plant City with some exceptions derived from regional differences found in Florida.

<p> Urban development in the Niagara fruit belt has long been a problem for the area. The gradual beginnings of small non-rural land uses created demand for the infrastructure that literally paved the way for large scale urbanization of this agricultural land. Development has continued to the point that the fruit belt's viability as an agricultural resource, is threatened. This paper outlines a history of events the fruit belt, it's importance to Canada's agricultural industry, the threats to the area and the conflicting views in order to determine whether or not the fruit belt can be preserved for agriculture. In this, it was discovered that the greatest threats to the area originate from economic conditions favouring urban development. This thesis provides a basis on which future planning and development for the fruit belt can be assessed. It also indicates the extent of damage and conditions in order to determine the possibility of saving the area.</p> / Thesis / Candidate in Philosophy

No description available.

This thesis examines the use of a participatory approach to develop a marginalized urban area in the city of Malmö, Sweden. By setting up an innovative, participatory and dialogue oriented meeting place called Garaget, the municipality hopes to strengthen the local community and increase the level of inclusion of the residents into a more sustainable society. Garaget is situated in a place with a history of more than a decade of social projects through the EU URBAN initiative, and has “inherited” the extreme participatory approach of that program. Garaget has also been designed to create a fruitful encounter between the urban social research and the community and as a laboratory for dialogue between community and authorities. Today Garaget functions not only as a community oriented space, but also as a library, café, meeting place and creative workshop, all with the intention to feel as a “second living room”. Although there is no doubt that this living room has been widely used by the local community, especially for holding functions, weddings and other events of social nature, the question whether this participatory approach and dualistic design of public and private space will increase the inclusion of the residents into mainstream society, or if it will just add comfort to the isolation and marginalized position they already inhabit today, is left open and needs further research.

How can I design a good building? There are some buildings and some places that feel so alive and beautiful, and make me want to stay there forever. Is there any method I can use so that I can design one of them? The main goal of my thesis was to find the answer to that simple question. Supposedly an answer lies in the pattern language developed by Christopher Alexander to allow anyone to design a building that feels alive, and has a special quality that makes buildings and places beautiful. I developed my thesis to use his pattern language to design a 12-story mixed-use -- retail, office, and residential -- project located in downtown Washington, D.C. at 1000 Connecticut Avenue, NW. My thesis introduces the theory and methodology of pattern language, narrates the process of the project development, and presents the resulting building. It also includes the challenges I faced and, with the benefit of hindsight, my further reflections on the project, as well as a brief introduction to the area for further study. The book is organized in chronological order of thesis development. / Master of Architecture

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning and Design / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

With the increasing number of Information and Communication Technology (ICT)-based initiatives addressing sustainability in urban areas, it is important to examine the possible contributions these initiatives can make when transitioning society as a whole towards sustainability. This thesis investigates CUD‟s potential as a supportive approach to move urban areas towards sustainability, and the adjustment needed in the current strategies for alignment to a goal of global sustainability. This was accomplished by working with CUD Pilot Cities, various experts in urban development, ICT authorities and sustainability researchers. A scientific approach to the understanding of sustainability concepts provides the basis of this evaluation of the CUD initiative, the benefits and challenges, including the role of connectivity and the applicability of ICT. Within this context, recommendations were made to further improve the CUD initiative‟s effectiveness in moving urban areas towards sustainability. An ideal initiative was envisioned in relation to system boundaries and components, strategic guidelines, actions and tools - “CUD Gold” - and steps were suggested for how to make CUD more strategic in its pioneering endeavors of global urban sustainability. / Med det ökande antalet informations-och kommunikationsteknik (IKT)-baserade initiativ som riktar sig mot hållbarhet i städerna, är det viktigt att undersöka de eventuella bidrag dessa initiativ kan ge när de stödjer samhällens hållbara utveckling. Denna uppsats undersöker Connected urban developments (CUD) potential som initiativ och dess stödjande strategi för städers hållbara utveckling. Förslag till justeringar av CUDs strategi studeras och rekommendationer för bättre anpassning av nuvarande strategier till CUDs nya mål ges. Orginalstrategierna skrevs utifrån orginalmålet, reducering av koldioxidutsläpp och behövde justeras för att bättre inriktas mot det nya målet, global hållbarhet. Detta uppnåddes genom att studera Connected Urban Development som organisation och genom att intervjua representanter från CUDs organisation, representanter för Pilotprojektsstäder, olika experter på stadsplanering, IT och hållbar utveckling (både forskare och praktiker). Ett vetenskapligt förhållningssätt till kunskap om hållbarhetsbegrepp utgör grunden för denna utvärdering av CUD-initiativet, dess fördelar och utmaningar, inklusive rollen för bredbandsuppkoppling och tillämpning av informations-och kommunikationsteknik. I detta sammanhang ges rekommendationer för att ytterligare förbättra CUD-initiativets effektivitet gällande städers hållbara utveckling. Gruppens forskning utgick från ett föreställt idealiskt initiativ i förhållande till systemets gränser och komponenter, strategiska riktlinjer, åtgärder och verktyg - "CUD Gold" och åtgärder föreslås för att göra CUD mer strategiska i sin banbrytande ansträngning för att stödja hållbara städer på global nivå. / <p>Carina Forsman-Knecht S. Bellevuevägen 2 371 61 Lyckeby E-mail: cinaknecht@gmail.com US +1 435 503 8460 Sweden +46 (0)733 629951 Skype: cinaknecht Annita Seckinger 10620 Barnwood Lane Potomac Maryland 20854 email: a2ndger@yahoo.com Khuloud Odeh address: 2501 Calvert St. NW Apt. 401, Washington, DC, 20008, USA phones: home +1-202-332-1103, mobile:+1 301-768-1886 email: khuloud.odeh@gmail.com</p>

This paper uses an exploratory multiple case study research approach to investigate three bottom-up temporary use projects in Malmö. The aim is to provide an understanding of starting processes of temporary use through a project lens with a focus on phases and activities; key stakeholders and motivations; and project key enablers. Regarding temporary use project phases and activities, this study found that there are five steps/phases among the three cases: (1) inspiration; (2) ideation and feasibility; (3) preparation; (4) implementation; and (5) on-going operation. Furthermore, the common key stakeholders found in the projects are founders; landowner; intermediary; authority; temporary user (participant, volunteer, or tenant); researcher; local community; and funding body. Although the stakeholder groups were pretty similar, they engaged in different intensities in different projects. Their different motivations can be grouped in three different groups: personal interest; assigned task; or monetary incentive. Some stakeholders had mixed motivation. Moreover, this paper discovers 14 key project enablers: (1) municipality support; (2) landowner support; (3) intermediary support; (4) financial support; (5) communication & expectation management; (6) network; (7) good planning; (8) community support; (9) openness and engagement; (10) partnership; (11) space and location advantage; (12) project team and entrepreneurial mindset; (13) luck; and (14) influence from the neighbor city. The study recommends creating a municipal temporary use activating unit in order to grow this type of bottom-up movement in the city. This recommendation is in line with the discourse of the researchers in integrating bottom-up temporary use into the strategy and planning level of top-down activities. This research might allow future project leaders to get reference points and guidance for their own bottom-up temporary use projects, as well as provides understanding to researchers who are interested in temporary use and other bottom-up urban development fields.

Green infrastructure development is desired in many municipalities because of its potential to address pressing environmental and social issues. However, despite technical optimism, institutional challenges create significant barriers to effective green infrastructure design, implementation, and maintenance. Institutional challenges stem from the disparate scales and facility types that make up the concept of green infrastructure, which span from large-scale natural areas to small engineered bioswales. Across these disparate facilities 1) different performance metrics are used, 2) different institutions have jurisdiction, and, 3) facility types are differentially classified as assets, producing epistemological and ontological variegation across the spectrum of green infrastructure that must be negotiated within and across municipal institutions. This has led to knowledge challenges that constrain and shape facility design, implementation, maintenance, and--ultimately--performance on-the-ground. Here, the eco-techno spectrum is developed to highlight the different degree to which biological entities (e.g. plants, microbes) are incorporated as infrastructural components in facilities; this inclusion presents a major knowledge challenge to green infrastructure, namely it brings biological and ecological knowledge into traditionally engineering-dominated decision-making spaces where it does not easily fit procedures for defining, measuring, or valuing existing facility component types. Therefore, municipal institutions have created and vetted new practices, protocols, and institutional structures to appropriately implement and manage green infrastructure. The institutionalization of green infrastructure is examined in this dissertation using knowledge systems analysis in two comparative case studies conducted in Portland and Baltimore. Discourse analysis provides 'thick' description of knowledge systems dynamics within and between different municipal departments in each city; a follow-up Q-method survey is used to further examine these qualitative results and explore the subjectivities that underlie the various ways of 'knowing' green infrastructure in the city.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-10T18:33:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Marcel Augusto Colling.pdf: 2829606 bytes, checksum: 768b731ef6977d504304258b17b70741 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-06-24 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This study was aimed at analyzing the urban development corridor in Marechal Candido Rondon Parana State, represented by the federal highway BR-163, and the organizations and institutions responsible for City Planning and Organization. BR-163 highway, in Toledo Micro region connects the cities of Toledo and Guaira passing through an extension of 5.3 kilometers inside the urban perimeter of Marechal Candido Rondon. It was questioned whether (1) the corridor represented by BR-163 drives the development of the urban economy and (2) what is the importance of the highway for the city of Marechal Candido Rondon. Delphi methodology was used to conduct the study. Interviews were conducted with 11 representatives of institutional organizations who are responsible for planning processes. The questions were based on 10 pre-conditions for strategies to development corridors. The results indicated that BR-163 in the urban perimeter of Marechal Candido Rondon is important to the city for being the route of connection between nodes of activity and development centers. Despite this importance, respondents hold a negative perception of the highway within the urban perimeter. The main issue raised is the poor distribution of rural, industrial and residential land uses along the urban corridor, which causes it to assume a heterogeneous precondition and creates a complex of activities featuring a rural / urban continuum along the extension of the highway in the urban perimeter. / Este estudo analisou o corredor urbano de desenvolvimento do município de Marechal Cândido Rondon Paraná, representado pela rodovia federal BR-163, e as organizações e instituições responsáveis pela organização e planejamento municipal. A BR-163, na microrregião de Toledo, liga os municípios de Toledo e Guaíra, passando pelo perímetro urbano de Marechal Cândido Rondon com extensão de 5,3 quilômetros. Questionou-se (1) se o corredor representado pela BR-163 impulsiona o desenvolvimento da economia urbana e (2) qual é a importância da BR-163 para o município de Marechal Cândido Rondon. A metodologia utilizada para a realização da pesquisa foi a Delphi. Foram realizadas entrevistas com 11 representantes de organizações institucionais do município que são responsáveis pelos processos de planejamento. As questões foram elaboradas com base em 10 pré-condições para estratégias de corredores de desenvolvimento. Os resultados apontaram que a BR-163 no perímetro urbano de Marechal Cândido Rondon é importante para o município por ser a via de ligação entre nós de atividade e polos de desenvolvimento da microrregião. Apesar desta importância, os entrevistados possuem uma percepção negativa da rodovia no perímetro urbano. O principal problema levantado é a má distribuição dos usos de terra rural, industrial e residencial ao longo do corredor urbano, o que faz com que ele assuma uma pré-condição heterogênea, formando um complexo de atividades que caracteriza um continuum rural/urbano na extensão da rodovia no perímetro urbano do município.