The city of Pittsburgh, PA has been losing population since the steel trade imploded in the 1970's. Every decade, the city lost more inhabitants and began to be hollowed out in the typical fashion of a Rust Belt city. For the first time in four decades, the city saw a rise in population in 2008. Indications show that Pittsburgh is becoming a successful post-industrial city. The average age of the population also lowered, indicating a brighter future. Pittsburgh recently has gained national distinction, being named America's "Most Livable City" by Rand McNally (2007), Forbes (2010) and The Economist(2011). With museums, theaters, a budding arts scene, and three successful professional sports teams, the city is brimming with urban amenities. In many ways, Pittsburgh has been seen as the example that other Rust Belt cities should follow if they too are to transition into the post-industrial age. However, during the challenging economic times over the past forty years, Pittsburgh has missed out on investing in public transit infrastructure. If Pittsburgh is to continue to shed its Smoky City image and further its urban renaissance, it must invest in a modern, comprehensive and integrated regional transit system. The system will act as stitching to reconnect Pittsburgh's urban fabric to its riverfronts as well act as a catalyst for redevelopment of its hollowed neighborhoods. This thesis offers a design for such a system, ranging from the macro scale of a regional network to the micro scale of hub station details. Each chapter examines the situation on a progressively smaller scale and the design principles in each scale's examples can be applied throughout the transit network. / Master of Architecture

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Suburban Centres were established in the Toronto region as the population dispersed beyond the city’s borders. Intended as a set of delivery points for municipal services and concentrations of commercial and social program serving local suburban residents, government policy and market forces are now encouraging these centres to accumulate a greater range of program, and absorb a significant share of population growth. They have a mandate to orient new residents toward improved public transit routes as a relief for overburdened road infrastructure, but their fundamental role as a suburban downtown requires continued accessibility by car. The structure of the suburbs is fixed, dominated by the car as the primary element of an extensive mobility system that has generated its own spatial protocols and building typologies. The morphology of older urban areas was developed in response to the parameters of streetcar service and human abilities, and also shows a resistance to change. The two mobility systems co-exist, each with their own associated territories, creating an intermodal metropolis. In suburban centres, the intensive urban mobility extends into the reach of the suburban territory, creating a threshold condition that requires a hybrid morphology to serve both. The design adopts Scarborough Centre as a test site, proposing a morphology that accommodates urban and suburban mobility by embracing the suburban planning paradigm that separates vehicle traffic from public space. The interaction between the two networks is managed to create variations in accessibility characteristics that determine programmatic distribution. The public realm is compartmentalized into differentiated spaces that support a highly permeable pedestrian network integrated with the central transit station. The proposal allows Scarborough Centre to expand its public space network without compromising its function as a highly accessible suburban downtown.

Many cities today are contemplating major investments in rail transit systems, especially Light Rail Transit (LRT), to address two significant planning issues which have characterized North American metropolitan growth patterns: increasing automobile use and decentralizing population and employment. Proponents of these systems argue that by building rail transit, travel behaviour and land use patterns can be changed. The experience in cities which have built these systems is mixed, but transportation and land use outcomes typically go hand-in-hand: San Diego, Denver, and Portland have increased transit ridership and intensification in station areas, whereas Buffalo and Cleveland have had minimal change occur as a result of investments in LRT. Calgary, Alberta presents an interesting case as its LRT system, first opened in 1981, generates tremendous ridership but has had relatively modest land use change in station areas. This thesis aims to understand why intensification has been so marginal at many stations, and to uncover what are the unique facets of Calgary???s experience which shaped this outcome. The approach taken is to examine the evolution of the City of Calgary???s planning philosophy towards transportation and land use since the need for rapid transit was first identified in 1966. This evolution is also placed within the context of the particularly severe cyclical economic forces that influenced both the city???s growth and policy planning approaches taken to manage this growth. The research finds that the combination of transportation and land use policy, in conjunction with market forces, which existed during the design, construction and operation of the first three LRT lines favoured intensification in Calgary???s downtown and low-density decentralization in suburban areas. However, the evolution of planning policy and market forces indicate that this less likely to be true in the future, both in the near and long term. The City is transitioning from a highly centralized mono-centric city to a poly-centric and increasingly multi-modal metropolitan region. The LRT, and other transit service, will be a key means of facilitating and managing this transformation.

Suburban Centres were established in the Toronto region as the population dispersed beyond the city’s borders. Intended as a set of delivery points for municipal services and concentrations of commercial and social program serving local suburban residents, government policy and market forces are now encouraging these centres to accumulate a greater range of program, and absorb a significant share of population growth. They have a mandate to orient new residents toward improved public transit routes as a relief for overburdened road infrastructure, but their fundamental role as a suburban downtown requires continued accessibility by car. The structure of the suburbs is fixed, dominated by the car as the primary element of an extensive mobility system that has generated its own spatial protocols and building typologies. The morphology of older urban areas was developed in response to the parameters of streetcar service and human abilities, and also shows a resistance to change. The two mobility systems co-exist, each with their own associated territories, creating an intermodal metropolis. In suburban centres, the intensive urban mobility extends into the reach of the suburban territory, creating a threshold condition that requires a hybrid morphology to serve both. The design adopts Scarborough Centre as a test site, proposing a morphology that accommodates urban and suburban mobility by embracing the suburban planning paradigm that separates vehicle traffic from public space. The interaction between the two networks is managed to create variations in accessibility characteristics that determine programmatic distribution. The public realm is compartmentalized into differentiated spaces that support a highly permeable pedestrian network integrated with the central transit station. The proposal allows Scarborough Centre to expand its public space network without compromising its function as a highly accessible suburban downtown.

Les éléments transposables jouent un rôle majeur dans l’évolution des génomes eucaryotes. La connaissance de la distribution des éléments transposables entre différentes espèces au sein d’un même taxon est une condition essentielle pour étudier leur dynamique et mieux comprendre leur rôle dans l'évolution des espèces. Compte tenu de leur abondance, de leur diversité spécifique et de milieu de vie, les crustacés sont un excellent modèle pour étudier la génomique comparative des rétrotransposons. C’est notamment chez les Galathées qu’a été défini le clade GalEa des éléments de la superfamille des Copia. Nous avons étudié la distribution de deux superfamilles de rétrotransposons à LTR bien connus: les Gypsy et les Copia, au sein des crustacés. En combinant des PCRs avec amorces dégénérées et des analyses in silico, nous avons identifié 35 familles de rétrotransposons Copia et 46 familles de rétrotransposons Gypsy dans respectivement 15 et 18 espèces de crustacés (principalement des malacostracés : crabes, crevettes, krill...). Ces éléments présentent une distribution et une diversité différentes au sein des crustacés. Les éléments Gypsy apparaissent relativement fréquents et diversifiés dans toutes les espèces. A l’inverse, les éléments Copia semblent rares, donc difficilement détectables, et sont largement dominés par les éléments du clade GalEa. Ces résultats suggèrent deux stratégies différentes de dynamique pour les rétrotransposons Gypsy (théorie de la Reine Rouge) et les rétrotransposons GalEa (‘domino days spreading’ branching process). De plus, les éléments GalEa présentent un grand succès évolutif en étant largement distribués dans de nombreuses branches de métazoaires. Ils sont aussi présents chez quelques algues rouges et nous en avons également détecté chez des Fungi. Profitant des nombreuses données génomiques disponibles, nous avons donc étudié la distribution des éléments GalEa de Fungi, dans le but de comparer celle-ci aux résultats obtenus chez les crustacés. En fait, ils n’apparaissent qu’au sein d’un grand embranchement d’ascomycètes, les Pezizomycotina, et ils forment un groupe monophylétique au sein des GalEa. Enfin, chez les Fungi, les éléments GalEa ne sont pas majoritaire parmi les rétrotransposons Copia. Nous avons donc initié une nouvelle étude chez les mollusques, afin de définir si les résultats obtenus chez les crustacés sont une caractéristique des éléments GalEa, des malacostracés ou des métazoaires. / Transposable elements play a major role in the evolution of eukaryotic genomes. Knowing the distribution of transposable elements between different species within the same taxon is essential to study their dynamics and to better understand their role in the evolution of species. Given their abundance, species diversity and living environment, crustaceans are an excellent model for studying comparative genomics of retrotransposons. It is notably in the squat lobsters that the GalEa clade of Superfamily Copia was defined. We studied the distribution of two well-known LTR retrotransposons superfamilies: Gypsy and Copia, in crustaceans. By combining PCRs with degenerate primers and in silico analysis, we identified 35 families of Copia retrotransposons and 46 families of Gypsy retrotransposons in 15 and 18 species of crustaceans (mainly Malacostraca: crabs, shrimp, krill ...). These elements have different distribution and diversity in crustaceans. Gypsy elements appear relatively commonly and diverse in all species. Conversely, the Copia elements seem rare, and consequently more difficult to detect, and are largely dominated by the elements of the clade GalEa. These results suggest two different dynamic strategies for retrotransposons Gypsy (the Red Queen theory) and retrotransposons GalEa (‘domino days spreading’ branching process). In addition, GalEa elements present a great evolutionary success being widely distributed in many branches of metazoans. They are also present in certain red algae and we have also detected them in Fungi. Taking advantage of the large amount of available genomic data, we have studied the distribution of GalEa elements of Fungi, in order to compare it with the results obtained in crustaceans. In fact, they appear only in a large phylum of Ascomycetes, in Pezizomycotina, and they form a monophyletic group within the GalEa. Finally, in the Fungi, the GalEa elements are not majority among Copia retrotransposons. We have therefore initiated a new study in molluscs, to define if the results obtained in crustaceans are a feature of GalEa elements, Malacostraca or metazoans.

This thesis strives to establish a set of design guidelines for the upcoming Eglinton Crosstown Light Rail Transit development in Toronto. The primary design goals are to promote an enjoyable travel experience to commuters, offer positive public spaces in vicinity, and contribute to the greater social and cultural matrices of the city. Under a realistic project setting, the study will meditate upon spatial anthropological theories to identify essential public space qualities and to formulate underground lighting strategies. The main objective is to complete the development of both underground station and surface stop prototypes that can be flexibly implemented along the entire transit line. The vision is for these stations to not only provide convenient public transit amenities but also function as locale identifiers, showcasing Toronto’s culture virtually as unique rooms in a gallery. Three sites are chosen: Mount Pleasant, Dufferin, and Keele stations. These stations will provide interesting conditions to demonstrate the way in which a set of design guidelines can facilitate the positive development of subway stations into the powerful loci envisioned.

This thesis strives to establish a set of design guidelines for the upcoming Eglinton Crosstown Light Rail Transit development in Toronto. The primary design goals are to promote an enjoyable travel experience to commuters, offer positive public spaces in vicinity, and contribute to the greater social and cultural matrices of the city. Under a realistic project setting, the study will meditate upon spatial anthropological theories to identify essential public space qualities and to formulate underground lighting strategies. The main objective is to complete the development of both underground station and surface stop prototypes that can be flexibly implemented along the entire transit line. The vision is for these stations to not only provide convenient public transit amenities but also function as locale identifiers, showcasing Toronto’s culture virtually as unique rooms in a gallery. Three sites are chosen: Mount Pleasant, Dufferin, and Keele stations. These stations will provide interesting conditions to demonstrate the way in which a set of design guidelines can facilitate the positive development of subway stations into the powerful loci envisioned.

Light Rail Transit (LRT) has been getting more attention in U.S. cities due to its socio-economic benefits, such as reducing pollution and congestion, as well as promoting regional economic development. However, huge capital costs remain an obstacle to the construction of a new light rail system. For this reason, cities in the planning phases of LRT want to use value capture tools to finance transit construction and operation. In theory, any improvement in a transportation structure that increases accessibility and reduces transportation cost can be capitalized into property values in an area. In turn, governments levy taxes on a portion of the additional value of adjacent properties. This study, however, aims to empirically examine whether value capture is possible in the recession when property and land values continue to decrease. The study uses the case of the DART Green Line, which started to run in 2009 just after a financial crisis in the U.S. The 5745 residential parcels are analyzed with using a hedonic price model in order to detect the Green Line’s influence on residential values before and after the recession. To enhance the proficiency of the regression, this study includes several structure and neighborhood characteristics. The statistical results found the Green Line’s benefits on residential values both in the pre-Green Line period (before the recession) and the post-Green Line period (during the recession). It is noteworthy there are still positive influences of transit accessibility on residential values even in the unstable housing market, although the magnitude of the variable has diminished compared to the pre-Green Line period. / text

This thesis examines the characteristics of railway infrastructure development and associated issues in Manitoba, Canada. The period under consideration dates from when the first tracks were laid in 1878 through to the completion of the Hudson Bay Railway in 1929. Setting the scene is a template for railway development in general, one that allows hypotheses to be drawn that are specific to Manitoba. In order to test those hypotheses it is necessary to first provide a comprehensive overview of the historical evolution of the railway network. Next, aspects of graph theory are reviewed, identifying the methodology most appropriate for a spatial analysis of railway networks. This analysis attempts to draw conclusions about the relationship between the railway companies and the governments, people and geography that they were compelled to deal with. The testing of these forms revealed that while the Manitoba railway network is very complex, it never arrived at the maximum possible complexity.