Master of Regional and Community Planning / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Huston Gibson / Often cities are in a perpetual struggle to increase or maintain community development within their districts; how can cities revitalize struggling neighborhoods? How can cities bring energy and life into portions of the downtown? How can cities encourage development for night-time destinations? There is no clear-cut answer to these questions, but this study will examine what amenities within districts may be in the presence of successful music venues. I will determine the district-based criteria for potential venue placement for success based on multiple case studies of different venues located within St. Louis, MO; Omaha, NE; and Indianapolis, IN as described in Yin’s Case Study Research (2009). These case studies will be compared using the community capital framework (Green & Haines, 2012) using a matrix based upon a) social, b) physical, c) financial, and d) cultural capitals. Each study will contain both qualitative and quantitative analysis in order to tell the story of each district for more comprehensive analysis.

An architectural territory is an area of human settlement that exhibits consistent architectural conditions or elements. In this thesis, three primary aspects of territory are considered: massing patterns, circulation networks, and typological structure. Many European architects work to extend, delimit, and join territories through their architectural interventions. In this way buildings function both as objects in themselves and as linking or delimiting parts in an urban whole. This thesis presents an American's understanding of a typically European approach, gained during a year of study at the Accademia di architettura in Mendrisio, Switzerland. Combining observations of Accademia pedagogy with the presentation of two projects undertaken there, it offers a definition of territory and two territorial discourses. In the first project, located in Padua, the intent is to strengthen the definition of two adjacent territories by means of an interstitial housing and office complex. In the second the territory of a service island at the edge of Venice becomes the primary influence for the form of a rock venue and contemporary cultural center. The social and political territories in a city, powerful forces for architecture, are also discussed in the context of Padua. An aging and shrinking population may not need or want a building typology that interests elite political and economic actors. / Master of Architecture

Background: During live concerts attendees are exposed to excessive high intensity sounds for durations considered dangerous to the auditory system. Thus, regular live music concert attendees are at risk for developing Music Induced Hearing Loss (MIHL) due to their recreational habits. Although MIHL is preventable, current hearing conservation is limited at live music venues. As personal hearing protection is poor within this community, a need for alternative hearing conservation strategies is evident. Method: The objectives of this multi-method quantitative research study was to determine whether venue-based hearing conservation strategies in live music venues are a plausible means of reducing the risk of music induced hearing loss. Four live rock and heavy metal music venues in Johannesburg (South Africa) were included in the study. The current venuebased hearing conservation strategies as well as the acoustic and structural characteristics of these venues are described. In addition, the Sound Pressure Levels (SPLs) were measured throughout the venues. The variance of the mean SPLs between different areas within these venues were then calculated and effects of the structural characteristics on the variance of the sound levels within the venues were determined. Results: The results indicated that hearing conservation including awareness programs and availability of Hearing Protection Devices (HPDs) are not currently occurring in the music venues. Music venues further do not comply with the OHSA (2003) regulations nor are they compliant in terms of the acoustic and structural recommendations for reducing the intensity levels in music venues. Statistical analysis indicated at least one pair of significant differences in the mean SPLs recorded in the different areas in each venue. Results further indicated trends in the variance of intensity levels between different areas confirming a positive relationship between each of these five trends and the variance of sound levels. Thus, this study indicates that venue-based hearing conservation strategies may be a plausible means for reducing the risk for MIHL in attendees at live music venues. Implications: Implications of this study are discussed in relation to clinical and practice guidelines for both audiologists, and occupational health personnel, whilst the need for changes in legislation are highlighted.

This master's thesis deals with the development of EU's music policy and investigates one of its projects, the Liveurope platform. Liveurope is an initiative supporting music venues across Europe in their effort to promote emerging, up-and-coming European artists and thus significantly contributes to the development of European diversity in the area of live music. Since its establishment in 2014, the platform has undergone significant development, but as a result of the Coronavirus crisis, which has led to closure of venues and restrictions of cross- border free movement, it has been subjected to an unprecedented test of viability. It is within this context that the case is being investigated, during the time period of March 2020 to May 2021, in order to answer the research question: "Was the transnational Liveurope project, supported by the EU music policy, able to react to the Coronavirus crisis and keep on fulfilling its objectives in the unprecedented context of this crisis? The theoretical part of the thesis analyzes the academic debate on cultural policy, the role of music within the social sciences and music policy. As the EU music policy is an under-researched field, the thesis analyzes its historical development and current state for the contextualization of the case study of Liveurope...