Recent studies indicate a relationship between measures of urban form as applied to urban and suburban areas, and obesity, a risk factor for heart disease. Measures of urban form for exurban and rural areas are considerably scarce; such measures could prove useful in measuring relationships between urban form and both mortality and morbidity in such areas. In modeling area-level mortality, geographic relationships between counties warrant consideration because geographically adjacent areas tend to have more in common than areas farther from each other. We modify county-level indices of urban form found in the literature so that they can be applied to exurban and rural counties. We then use these indices in a Bayesian spatial model that accounts for spatial autocorrelation to determine if there is a relationship between such measures and cardiovascular disease mortality for white males age 35 and older for the time period 1999-2001. Issues related to the formation and usefulness of the indices, and issues related to the spatial model, are discussed. Maps of observed and expected relative risk of mortality are presented.

Alleys evoke powerful images in our collective fear and, yet, play an important role in our American culture. Currently, communities are recognizing the value of the alley to their social landscape and designers and planners are reviving the alley in designs for new communities. What is it about the alley that has communities so excited? Why are alleys being reincorporated into today’s design language? What do alleys contribute to a community’s landscape and how do they contribute to its identity? What do we have to learn about community and urban design from the alley? To answer these questions, this study compares a spectrum of five communities with various types of alleys – Holyoke, Amherst, and Northampton, Massachusetts; New York City; and Kentlands, Maryland. The conclusions drawn from this study indicate that the alley is an expressive landscape in which communities communicate their collective values and ideals and residents negotiate their community’s identity through control, order, and organization, including the naming, maintenance and use of the alley. It is also where boundaries of class, economic status, and affluence are navigated and expressed. Furthermore, the implications of these findings are that urban designers, landscape architects, planners, and engineers must resist the temptation to over-design and micro-manage a place if a truly organic and expressive community is desired. Within this framework, these professionals must also anticipate that a community will change and to allow for its alleys and other spaces to respond to, and reflect, these changes.

This dissertation explores the theoretical and methodological implications involved in the policy framework needed to intensify urban residential areas in a developing country. Metropolitan Khartoum, Sudan, has been chosen as a case study. The aim of the study is to further our understanding of the implications of transforming a sprawling city form to an intensified form. The objectives are: to identify the factors that have shaped Sudanese urban form in general and Metropolitan Khartoum in specific; to identify the policies that can intensify the urban residential neighborhoods in Metropolitan Khartoum; and, to influence both the demand and requisite housing needs for this intensified form. This research is qualitative in its nature: the complexity of the study problematic required the adoption of a constructivist paradigm as the fundamental set of beliefs. Inductive arguments are used in conjunction with a wide range of methods, including detailed descriptions of Sudan and metropolitan Khartoum, with special emphasis on how local environment, urban challenges, policy, legislation and practices affect the study problematic. The theoretical premises of intensification are reviewed along with development issues, urban infrastructure challenges and opportunities in developing countries and local acceptability of intensification. The different forces that can shape urban forms have been described and the suitability of metropolitan Khartoum, with different general urban intensification policies and practices and of urban management tools in large African cities has been investigated. The outcome of the study provides detail for a discussion of results that work to explain some of the cause and effect of urban sprawl in Metropolitan Khartoum. It also suggests possible change in both policy and regulation to induce successful city reform towards intensification. / QC 20110121

<p>This dissertation explores the theoretical and methodological implications involved in the policy framework needed to intensify urban residential areas in a developing country. Metropolitan Khartoum, Sudan, has been chosen as a case study. The aim of the study is to further our understanding of the implications of transforming a sprawling city form to an intensified form. The objectives are: to identify the factors that have shaped Sudanese urban form in general and Metropolitan Khartoum in specific; to identify the policies that can intensify the urban residential neighborhoods in Metropolitan Khartoum; and, to influence both the demand and requisite housing needs for this intensified form. This research is qualitative in its nature: the complexity of the study problematic required the adoption of a constructivist paradigm as the fundamental set of beliefs. Inductive arguments are used in conjunction with a wide range of methods, including detailed descriptions of Sudan and metropolitan Khartoum, with special emphasis on how local environment, urban challenges, policy, legislation and practices affect the study problematic. The theoretical premises of intensification are reviewed along with development issues, urban infrastructure challenges and opportunities in developing countries and local acceptability of intensification. The different forces that can shape urban forms have been described and the suitability of metropolitan Khartoum, with different general urban intensification policies and practices and of urban management tools in large African cities has been investigated. The outcome of the study provides detail for a discussion of results that work to explain some of the cause and effect of urban sprawl in Metropolitan Khartoum. It also suggests possible change in both policy and regulation to induce successful city reform towards intensification.</p>

Sustainable urban development is mentioned together with the concept of urban form in contemporary planning literature. The main reason behind this is a need for determining an ideal physical development scheme and its main principles of urban future in a broad term. Besides, the operational side of urban planning requires a concrete set of design codes in order to transform urban space in both macro and mezzo scale. At this point, the concept of urban compactness and the idea of Compact City have come into the agenda of planning. In the last decade, the model of compact city has become a prototype of sustainable urban form in developed countries. It is also argued whether compact urbanity is a nostalgic metaphor or an engineering solution. It has emerged as a reaction to the negative consequences of urban sprawl and suburbanization as the anti-urbanist urban phenomena in Western geographies. Hence, the relevance of urban compactness should be examined for developing and underdeveloped countries and their settlement structures. The basic motivation of the thesis is to examine the relevance and validity of urban compactness in the case of Turkey as a developing Eurasian country. For this end, the evolution of urban compactness as a fact and an idea in the historical context of developed countries and it&rsquo / s meaning for the developing world / Ankara is examined as a case study by re-reading its planning history and the transformation of its urban form from the point of view of compactness.

Cette étude a pour but de comprendre Séoul, capitale de la Corée du sud, du point de vue de la forme urbaine. Séoul, qui se situe en Asie de l’Est, est connue comme une ville historique majeure à laquelle furent appliqués des traditions de production et de gestion des villes ainsi que des modèles de ville propres à cette aire de civilisation, hérités de l’époque ancienne. Elle a subi des extensions accélérées et connu des transformations radicales à l’époque moderne, notamment depuis les années 1960.La forme urbaine actuelle de Séoul nous montre plusieurs aspects complexifiés et subtiles à lire: ceux bien lisibles d’une part et ceux peu lisibles d’autre part. Pour comprendre la forme urbaine de Séoul, qui comprend tous ces aspects, nous avons naturellement choisi d’étudier d’abord le centre ancien historique de la ville. Nous avons examiné sa forme urbaine ancienne et la transformation de cette dernière à travers des analyses formelles autour des points suivants: les rapports entre la forme urbaine et le modèle de capitale des Zhouli, le fengshui, et les traditions de production et de gestion des villes en Corée; puis les rapports entre la forme urbaine et la topographie particulière « du fengshui » de Séoul et le système du Bang-Dong. Nous avons par ailleurs prêté attention au dispositif structural particulier des B.A.C.C. et du réseau viaire arrière apparu dans le centre ancien et examiné également la forme urbaine au niveau du tissu urbain. Ensuite, pour comprendre la forme urbaine « moderne » de Séoul, nous avons sélectionné le quartier de Gangnam et l’avons analysé plus ou moins selon les même points que ceux cités précédemment. Enfin, nous avons mis en avant des rapports entre la forme urbaine historique du centre ancien et celle moderne du quartier de Gangnam. Dans cette recherche nous nous sommes penché sur l’identification en premier lieu de l’entité de la forme urbaine de Séoul, puis des caractéristiques de cette dernière, en utilisant des méthodes d’analyse « pratique » de la forme urbaine développées en Europe.A travers cette étude, nous avons pu déduire le fait que dans le passé la ville de Séoul a possédé des caractéristiques formelles urbaines particulières telles que la hiérarchie, l’introversion, la dualité, etc, qui peuvent être considérées comme des « spécificités formelles séouliennes », et qu’une grande partie de ces qualités se succédaient dans le centre ancien actuel transformé et le quartier moderne de Gangnam. / This study aims to understand Seoul, capital of south Korea, from the point of view of urban form. Seoul, which is located in East Asia, is known as a major historic city in which traditions of city making and city models, which are unique in this area of civilization and inherited from ancient times, were applied. It has underwent accelerated extension and experienced radical transformations in modern era especially since the 1960s.Actual urban form of Seoul shows us complicated and subtle aspect to read : well readable one on one hand and hardly readable one on the other hand. To understand this type of urban form of Seoul we have naturally taken historic ancient center of this city as object of study. We have examined its ancient urban form and its formal transformation by means of formal analysis around following points: relations between the urban form and Zhouli’s capital model, fengshui, and traditions of city making in Korea; and relations between the urban form and particular topography ‘of fengshui’ of Seoul, and Bang-Dong system. We have paid special attention to particular structural system of B.A.C.C. and of rear road network, appeared in ancient center, and also examined the urban form on the level of urban tissue. Next, to understand ‘modern’ urban form of Seoul we have selected Gangnam district and analysed it more or less according to the same points as those above mentioned. Finally, we have explored relation between urban form of historic ancient center and that of modern Gangnam district. In this research we have considered the question of identification, firstly, of entity of urban form of Seoul, and then of characteristics of the last through using ‘practical’ analyse method of urban form which was developed in Europe.Through this study we could deduce the fact that, in the past, city of Seoul possessed particular urban formal characteristics such as hierarchy, introversion, duality, etc, which could be considered as ‘Seoul’s formal specificity’, and that a large part of this quality is succeeded in transformed present ancient center and modern Gangnam district.

No description available.

Esta dissertação investiga as transformações dos espaços públicos da cidade de João Pessoa no período de 1889 a 1940, através da análise de suas formas, seus usos e suas denominações, alterados tanto no império como na república. Observando esses espaços dentro da dinâmica urbana, o estudo os observa tanto como agentes na transformação da paisagem urbana, quanto na condição de vetores de crescimento da cidade, abrangendo sua dimensão física, nos aspectos simbólico e representativo. Para tanto, a trama urbana, a arquitetura, os conceitos estéticos e as formas de apropriação desses espaços constituíram-se vetores de análise dessas transformações. A abordagem é feita em três períodos: a cidade do século XIX; os espaços públicos resultantes das alterações do período conhecido como primeiro ciclo de reformas urbanas (1916-1926), conduzidos principalmente por questões sanitaristas; e os espaços públicos produzidos na década de 1930, resultantes, sobretudo, de preocupações viárias e da renovação da arquitetura. Abrangendo esses três momentos, estuda-se o caso do Parque Solon de Lucena, espaço público cuja trajetória é tratada no último capítulo. / This dissertation investigates the transformation of public spaces in João Pessoa city in the period from 1889 to 1940, through the analysis of its forms, use and denominations, modified in the empire period as well as in the republic period. Observing these spaces inside the urban dynamics, the study observes them as urban landscape transforming agents, as well as in the condition of vectors to the growth of the city, enclosing its physical dimension, in the symbolic and representative aspects. For such, the urban raster, the architecture, the aesthetic concepts and the ways of appropriation of these spaces constituted vectors of analysis of these transformations. The approach is made in three periods: the city in XIX century; the public spaces resulting from the alterations of the period known as first cycle of urban reforms (1916-1926), lead mainly by sanitary matters, and the public spaces produced in the 1930 decade, resulting mainly from road concerns and the architecture renewall. Enclosing these three moments, it is studied the case of Parque Solon de Lucena, public space whose trajectory is dealt with in the last chapter.

Este trabalho analisa o processo de formação e produção do espaço urbano da Favela Nova Jaguaré como estudo de caso, procurando compreender como a ocupação informal do território, intimamente relacionada à morfologia de relevo, e as ações e propostas institucionais para a área, constituíram o espaço urbano em questão. Avalia-se a estrutura urbana resultante, entendendo-a como a base de um patrimônio físico, econômico e cultural desta população a partir da qual deve-se intervir. Evidencia-se suas deficiências, conflitos e potencialidades, indicando elementos, relações e operações estabelecidas pela população favelada sobre o meio físico natural e os elementos construídos, que possam subsidiar futuras intervenções em núcleos precários situados em encostas. Delineia-se o papel do espaço livre público, nas suas diversas escalas, como fundamental para estruturar as transformações necessárias para a reconciliação da favela ao suporte natural e a sua integração à cidade como um todo. / This dissertation analyzes the process of formation and production of urban space of the Nova Jaguaré favela. It tries to understand as informal occupation of territory , closely related to contour morphology, and institutional actions and proposals for the area have produced the studied urban space. It examines the resulting urban form, understanding it as the base of physical, economic and cultural realms of this population from which one must start for any intervention. Its deficiencies, conflicts and potentialities are addressed, indicating elements, relations and operations established by the slum population on the natural environment and built elements, that can subsidize future interventions in hillsides precarious settlements. The role of the public open space is defined, in its diverse scales, as the basic element to support the necessary transformations for the reconciliation of the favela with the natural environment and its integration with the city as a whole.

A presente pesquisa parte do problema que o crescimento e o adensamento urbano são inevitáveis e que vêm causando diversos danos ao meio natural e à qualidade ambiental das cidades. Diante disso, visando minimizar os impactos gerados pelo processo de urbanização, com base na idéia de que o adensamento urbano pode ser positivo para a construção de cidades mais sustentáveis, o trabalho parte da necessidade da inserção da camada meio ambiente no processo de projeto urbano. Além disso, todas as outras camadas (usos, estoque construído, redes de infraestrutura, etc) também devem ser analisadas sob o enfoque ambiental. Para isso, o trabalho apresenta como objetivo geral a elaboração de um método para inserção de fatores ambientais relacionados ao adensamento e a forma urbana no processo de projeto. Esta pesquisa foi desenvolvida em três distintos momentos: um primeiro de fundamentação teórica e construção de conceitos; um segundo momento de análise e avaliação de projetos urbanos contemporâneos sob os aspectos da sustentabilidade ambiental e; um terceiro momento de síntese e proposição da incorporação de parte da camada meio ambiente no processo de projeto urbano. Durante o desenvolvimento da pesquisa, verificou-se que, de fato, os projetos que apresentaram uma preocupação explícita com as questões ambientais, por parte dos projetistas, obtiveram melhores resultados, na avaliação com relação à sustentabilidade urbana, como, por exemplo, os ecobairros presentes na Europa. Além disso, foi concluído que não existem soluções únicas, cada sitio e cada projeto necessita de medidas específicas relacionadas às suas características próprias. Da mesma maneira que não existe um método de projeto universal, já que esse é definido diante dos problemas e potencialidades apresentados. Porém são necessárias a definição e adoção de parâmetros e regras que orientem o processo de projeto que visa à sustentabilidade ambiental, atendimento às exigências humanas e produzindo espaços urbanos de qualidade com o mínimo impacto ao meio natural. / This research is based on the assumption that urban growth and densification are inevitable and have been causing damage to the natural environment and the environmental quality of cities. With the objective of minimize the impacts caused by the urbanization processes and assuming that urban densification can be positive to the achievement of more sustainable cities, the research introduces the environmental layer in the process of developing urban projects. Furthermore, all the other fundamental layers (use, building stock, infrastructure, etc) should also be accessed through the environmental perspective. In order to do that, the general objective of this work is the definition of a method for the insertion of environmental factors related to the densification and urban form in the design process of the built environment. This research was carried out in three phases: the first one is about the formulation of the theoretical background including the definition of key concepts; a second phase of analysis of contemporary urban projects approaching environmental and sustainable aspects and; the third phase of synthesis and proposition to include a key part of the environmental layer in the design process of the built environment. During the development of the research, it was verified that the case study projects which express a clear concern with environmental issues from the designers perspective got better overall results in the assessment of urban sustainability, such as the eco-neighborhoods in Europe. Besides, it was concluded that there are no unique solutions, each place and project needs specific measures related to its own features. In the same token, there is not one unique method or universal project, once this is defined by the local problems, challenges and potentialities. However, it is necessary the definition and adoption of design rules which can direct the design process towards environmental sustainability, peoples expectations and urban spaces with quality and the reduced environmental impact.