Os mapas conceituais (MCs) são úteis para representar o conhecimento dos alunos e promover a aprendizagem significativa. A análise detalhada de mapas conceituais pode revelar informações latentes que não são percebidas a partir da mera leitura do seu conjunto de proposições. O presente trabalho tem como objetivo propor a análise de vizinhança (AViz) como uma forma inovadora de analisar os MCs obtidos em sala de aula. A seleção de um conceito obrigatório (CO) permite verificar como os alunos o relaciona com outros conceitos, que são denominados conceitos vizinhos (CVs). MCs (n=69) sobre as mudanças climáticas formam o primeiro conjunto de dados empíricos que ratifica o potencial da AViz. O CO selecionado foi dispersão, a fim de analisar se os alunos conseguem relacioná-lo com o caráter global desse problema ambiental. Os padrões identificados a partir da AViz sugerem que, apesar de serem submetidos a uma mesma sequência didática, nem todos os alunos conseguiram utilizar o CO de forma adequada. Isso pode ser explicado a partir da Teoria da Aprendizagem Significativa de David Ausubel, que destaca o papel fundamental dos conhecimentos prévios no processo de assimilação de novas informações. / Concept maps (CMs) are useful to represent students\' knowledge and to promote meaningful learning. The deep analysis of concept maps may reveal latent information that is not perceived from the simple reading of its propositional network. This work proposes the Neighborhood Analysis (NeAn) as an innovative way to analyze the CMs obtained in classrooms. The selection of a compulsory concept (CC) allows teachers to evaluate how the students relate it to other concepts, named neighbors (NCs). CMs (n=69) on climate change are the first set of empirical data that confirms the potential of NeAn. Dispersion was selected as CC in order to check whether students can relate it with the global perspective of this environmental problem. The patterns found from the NeAn suggest that, despite being exposed to the same didactic activities, some students could not use the CC properly. This may be explained from David Ausubel\'s learning theory, which stresses the critical role of prior knowledge in the assimilation process of new information.

O tema deste estudo é a relação da criança com a cidade na sociedade contemporânea. O problema de pesquisa se constitui a partir dos indicativos de que a fruição do espaço urbano, fundada na apropriação da rua como espaço de lazer, sofreria importantes transformações diante das inovações produtivas, tecnológicas e comunicacionais da sociedade. A hipótese é que a alteração das práticas está associada às diferenças na estrutura sócio-espacial, não sendo homogênea. Assim, seu objetivo é caracterizar a experiência urbana das crianças, identificando as práticas cotidianas e os espaços vividos; além de evidenciar a relação entre as práticas e as características sócio-espaciais; bem como avaliar a extensão do fenômeno de esvaziamento da rua como espaço de lazer. A investigação toma Porto Alegre como lócus de pesquisa, por se tratar de metrópole inserida no contexto da globalização. A empiria adota como recorte etário a faixa de 7 a 14 anos, e se estrutura em duas etapas: a primeira consiste na análise da estrutura sócio-espacial do município, através de dados censitários que articulam o espaço social das famílias ao espaço físico dos bairros, da qual resulta a classificação dos bairros segundo Perfis do Espaço Social. A segunda etapa é a análise da inter-relação entre a estrutura sócio-espacial de Porto Alegre, em seus aspectos demográficos, locacionais e morfológicos, e as práticas cotidianas. Como fontes de pesquisa, além dos dados censitários espacializados, estão os próprios habitantes, incorporados através de estudo piloto, realizado com estudantes do 8º ano do Ensino Fundamental. A análise da estrutura sócio-espacial aponta que grande parte das crianças porto-alegrenses vive em bairros de baixa renda situados, predominantemente, na periferia da cidade. A investigação das práticas cotidianas indica que a rua continua sendo apropriada para o lazer, embora prevaleça como espaço de circulação. O recolhimento ao espaço privado é verificado em todos os estratos e está vinculado, em alguns casos, à presença de condomínios fechados. Entre os estudantes, o envolvimento com o espaço público se dá em diferentes níveis, da utilização mais intensa, passando pelo equilíbrio na vivência público-privado, até chegar à experiência centrada no privado, que culmina na não-vivência do espaço público. A experiência urbana se constitui, portanto, através de múltiplas vias, marcadas pelas diferenças sócio-espaciais que envolvem o cotidiano de cada habitante. Disto emerge a validade de tomar o recorte etário como critério de análise e definição de políticas urbanas, uma vez que permite a incorporação da dimensão humana e da escala cotidiana à prática do planejamento urbano. / The subject of this study is the children's relationship with the city in contemporary society. The research issue is constituted from the indications that the enjoyment of urban space, based on appropriation of the street as a space for leisure, has undergone important changes in face of the productive, technological and communicative innovations of society. The hypothesis is that the changing of the practices is associated with socio-spatial differences and is not homogeneous. So, the research objective is to characterize the urban experience of children, identifying the everyday practices and lived spaces; show the relationship between the practices and socio-spatial characteristics, and to assess the extent of the phenomenon of deflation of the street as a space for leisure. The investigation takes Porto Alegre, Brazil, as locus of research, because of its condition of metropolis into the context of globalization. The empirical study adopts as age cut the range from 7 to 14 years, and is divided into two stages: the first is the analysis of socio-spatial structure of the city, through census data that articulate the social space of the families with the physical space of the districts, which results in the districts´ classification according the social-space profiles. The second step is the analysis of the inter-relationship between the socio-spatial structure of Porto Alegre, in their demographic, locational and morphological features, and everyday practices. As research sources, in addition to spatialized census data, are the inhabitants, incorporated through a pilot study with 8th grade students of elementary school. The analysis of socio-spatial structure shows that most children at Porto Alegre live in low-income neighborhoods, mostly located on the suburbs of the city. The investigation about everyday life indicates that street is still appropriate for leisure, although prevails as circulation space. The retreat into private space is found in all strata, and it is linked, in some cases, with the presence of gated communities. Among students, engagement with public space is established at different levels, from more intensive use, through the balance in public-private experience, to the experience focused on private, culminating in the non-experience of public space. The urban experience is constituted, therefore, through multiple ways, marked by socio-spatial differences surrounding the daily life of each inhabitant. Hence the validity to consider the age cut as an analysis and defining criterion of urban policies, especially because it allows the incorporation of the human dimension and of the everyday life scale into the urban planning practice.

This dissertation examined risk factors for hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) — specifically whether neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation exacerbates individual socioeconomic disadvantage (deprivation amplification) to increase the likelihood of developing HDP. To select the optimal areal unit at which to investigate HDP, geographic proxies for neighborhoods were explored. A thematic review qualitatively examined nontraditional neighborhood boundaries identified through internet sources. Data from 2008–2012 Miami-Dade County, Florida birth records (n=121,421) and the U.S. Census Bureau were used for the remaining analyses. Ordinary least squares (OLS) and geographically weighted regression (GWR) analysis empirically compared the proportion of HDP prevalence explained by six areal units: census block groups, census tracts, ZIP code tabulation areas (ZCTAs), and three types of natural neighborhood — census units clustered based on an eight-item Neighborhood Deprivation Index. Multilevel logistic regression examined relationships between HDP, neighborhood deprivation, and individual-level factors. Odds ratios (OR) and adjusted odds ratios (aOR) were calculated. The thematic review found 22 potential alternatives to census boundaries developed through techniques such as crowd-sourcing and qualitative research. In the sensitivity analysis, census tracts aggregated at the scale of ZCTAs performed twice as well as any other model (GWR2 = 0.27) and were used as the Aim 3 unit of analysis. In the multilevel logistic regression, HDP was associated with moderate (aOR=1.13; CI: 1.05, 1.21) and high neighborhood deprivation (aOR=1.16; CI: 1.07, 1.26). Compared with mothers with private insurance, uninsured women (aOR=1.69; CI: 1.56, 1.84) and Medicaid recipients (aOR=1.12; CI: 1.05, 1.18) had higher HDP odds. Non-Hispanic Black women’s HDP odds were 1.58 times those of non-Hispanic White women. Cross-level interactions — between neighborhood deprivation and educational attainment and neighborhood deprivation and insurance status — did not reach statistical significance. Private sector neighborhood boundaries hold promise for developing new public health tools. Because they are relatively easy to generate from census data, natural neighborhoods may balance tradition and innovation. While no evidence of deprivation amplification was found, results suggested that individual-level and neighborhood deprivation are HDP risk factors. Interventions that target expectant mothers in deprived neighborhoods — particularly non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic women who lack health insurance — may help reduce HDP prevalence and disparities.

La présente thèse se déroule dans le cadre du projet ANR PRODIGE et est axée sur la recherche de stratégies permettant l’optimisation du transport en général et du transport routier de marchandises en particulier. Le problème de transport support de cette étude est le problème de collecte et livraison avec transbordement. Ce problème généralise plusieurs problèmes de transports classiques. Le transbordement y est utilisé comme levier de flexibilité et d’optimisation. Pour analyser et résoudre ce problème, les analyses sont effectuées suivant trois axes : le premier axe concerne l’élaboration d’un modèle analytique plus précisément d’un modèle mathématique en variables mixtes. Ce modèle permet de fournir dessolutions optimales au décisionnaire du transport mais présente l’inconvénient de nécessiter un temps de résolution qui croit exponentiellement avec la taille du problème. Cette limitation est levée par le deuxième axe d’étude qui permet de résoudre le problème de transport étudié par une méthode d’optimisation approchée tout en garantissant des solutions satisfaisantes.La méthode utilisée est une métaheuristique inspirée de la recherche à voisinages variables (VNS). Dans le troisième axe, l’ensemble des résultats obtenus dans la thèse sont testés en situation de transports réels via le projet PRODIGE. / The thesis is conducted under the ANR project PRODIGE and it is focused on seeking strategies allowing the optimization of transport in general and road freight transport in particular. The transportation problem support for this study is the pickup and delivery problem with transshipment.This problem generalizes several classical transportation problems.Transshipment is used as optimization and flexibility leverage. To study and solve this problem, analyzes are performed along three axes :the first objective concerns the development of an analytical model, more accurately a mathematical model with mixed variables. This model allows providing optimal solution to the decision maker, but has the disadvantage of requiring a time resolution that grows exponentially with the size of the problem. This limitation is overcome by the second line of the study that solves the transportation problem studied by an approximate optimization method while ensuring satisfactory solutions. The method used is a mataheuristic broadly followed the variables neighborhoods research principles. In the third objective, the overall results obtained in the thesis are tested in real transport situation via the PRODIGE project.

La localisation des personnes et des objets à l’intérieur des bâtiments basée sur les réseaux WLAN connaît un intérêt croissant depuis quelques années ; ce système peut être un parfait complément pour fournir des informations de localisation statique ou dynamique dans des environnements où les techniques de positionnement telles que GPS ne sont pas efficaces. Le manuscrit de thèse propose une nouvelle approche pour définir un système WLAN de positionnement indoor (WLAN-IPS) comme un problème d'optimisation combinatoire afin de garantir à la fois une qualité de communication et une minimisation de l'erreur de positionnement via le réseau. Cette approche est caractérisée par plusieurs questions difficiles que nous abordons en trois étapes.Dans un premier temps, nous avons conçu un réseau WLAN-IPS et mis en œuvre une plateforme de test. Nous avons examiné la performance du système sous diverses contraintes expérimentales et nous nous sommes penchés sur l'analyse des relations entre l'erreur de positionnement et les facteurs environnementaux externes. Ces relations ont permis de proposer des indicateurs pour évaluer l'erreur de positionnement. Ensuite nous avons proposé un modèle physique qui définit tous les paramètres majeurs rencontrés en WLAN-IPS à partir de la littérature. L'objectif initial des infrastructures WLAN étant de fournir un accès radio de qualité au réseau, nous avons introduit un objectif supplémentaire qui est de minimiser l'erreur de localisation dans le contexte IPS. Deux indicateurs principaux ont été définis afin d'évaluer la qualité de service (QoS) et l'erreur de localisation pour LBS (Location-Based Services). Enfin après avoir défini la formulation mathématique du problème d'optimisation et les indicateurs clés de performance, nous avons proposé un algorithme mono-objectif et un algorithme multicritère basés sur Tabu Search et Variable Neighborhood Search pour fournir des bonnes solutions en temps raisonnable. Les simulations montrent que ces deux algorithmes sont très efficaces pour le problème d'optimisation que nous avons posé. / Indoor Positioning Systems (IPS) using the existing WLAN have won growing interest in the last years, it can be a perfect supplement to provide location information of users in indoor environments where other positioning techniques such as GPS, are not much effective. The thesis manuscript proposes a new approach to define a WLAN-based indoor positioning system (WLAN-IPS) as a combinatorial optimization problem to guarantee the requested communication quality while optimizing the positioning error. This approach is characterised by several difficult issues we tackled in three steps.At first, we designed a WLAN-IPS and implemented it as a test framework. Using this framework, we looked at the system performance under various experimental constraints. Through these experiments, we went as far as possible in analysing the relationships between the positioning error and the external environmental factors. These relationships were considered as evaluation indicators of the positioning error. Secondly, we proposed a model that defines all major parameters met in the WLAN-IPS from the literature. As the original purpose of the WLAN infrastructures is to provide radio communication access, we introduced an additional purpose which is to minimize the location error within IPS context. Two main indicators were defined in order to evaluate the network Quality of Service (QoS) and the positioning error for Location-Based Service (LBS). Thirdly, after defining the mathematical formulation of the optimisation problem and the key performance indicators, we proposed a mono-objective algorithm and a multi-objective algorithm which are based on Tabu Search metaheuristic to provide good solutions within a reasonable amount of time. The simulations demonstrate that these two algorithms are highly efficient for the indoor positioning optimization problem.

Le conflit entre la demande de services multimédia en multidiffusion à haut débit (MBMS) et les limites en ressources radio demandent une gestion efficace de l'allocation des ressources radio (RRM) dans les réseaux 3G UMTS. À l'opposé des travaux existant dans ce domaine, cette thèse se propose de résoudre le problème de RRM dans les MBMS par une approche d’optimisation combinatoire. Le travail commence par une modélisation formelle du problème cible, désigné comme Flexible Radio Resource Management Model (F2R2M). Une analyse de la complexité et du paysage de recherche est effectuée à partir de ce modèle. Tout d’abord on montre qu'en assouplissant les contraintes de code OVSF, le problème de RRM pour les MBMS peut s'apparenter à un problème de sac à dos à choix multiples (MCKP). Une telle constatation permet de calculer les limites théoriques de la solution en résolvant le MCKP similaire. En outre, l'analyse du paysage montre que les espaces de recherche sont accidentés et constellés d'optima locaux. Sur la base de cette analyse, des algorithmes métaheuristiques sont étudiés pour résoudre le problème. Nous montrons tout d'abord que un Greedy Local Search (GLS) et un recuit simulé (SA) peuvent trouver de meilleures solutions que les approches existantes implémentées dans le système UMTS, mais la multiplicité des optima locaux rend les algorithmes très instables. Un algorithme de recherche tabou (TS) incluant une recherche à voisinage variable (VNS) est aussi développé et comparé aux autres algorithmes (GLS et SA) et aux approches actuelles du système UMTS ; les résultats de la recherche tabou dépassent toutes les autres approches. Enfin les meilleures solutions trouvées par TS sont également comparées avec les solutions théoriques générées par le solveur MCKP. On constate que les meilleures solutions trouvées par TS sont égales ou très proches des solutions optimales théoriques. / The high throughputs supported by the multimedia multicast services (MBMS) and the limited radio resources result in strong requirement for efficient radio resource management (RRM) in UMTS 3G networks. This PhD thesis proposes to solve the MBMS RRM problem as a combinatorial optimization problem. The work starts with a formal modeling of the problem, named as the Flexible Radio Resource Management Model (F2R2M). An in-depth analysis of the problem complexity and the search landscape is done from the model. It is showed that, by relaxing the OVSF code constraints, the MBMS RRM problem can be approximated as a Multiple-Choice Knapsack Problem (MCKP). Such work allows us to compute the theoretical solution bounds by solving the approximated MCKP. Then the fitness landscape analysis shows that the search spaces are rough and reveal several local optimums. Based on the analysis, some metaheuristic algorithms are studied to solve the MBMS RRM problem. We first show that a Greedy Local Search (GLS) and a Simulated Annealing (SA) allow us to find better solutions than the existing approaches implemented in the UMTS system, however the results are instable due to the landscape roughness. Finally we have developed a Tabu Search (TS) mixed with a Variable Neighborhood Search (VNS) algorithm and we have compared it with GLS, SA and UMTS embedded algorithms. Not only the TS outperforms all the other approaches on several scenarios but also, by comparing it with the theoretical solution bounds generated by the MCKP solver, we observe that TS is equal or close to the theoretical optimal solutions.

An der Schnittstelle von Quartiers- und Wohnungsmarktforschung wurde im Rahmen dieser Arbeit der Beitrag von Wohnungseigentümern zu einer resilienten Quartiersentwicklung in Berlin untersucht. Die Verknüpfung des Quartiers als Untersuchungsraum mit dem Konzept der Resilienz stellt aus raumwissenschaftlicher Perspektive eine weitgehende Neuerung im akademischen Diskurs dar. Aufgrund der massiven Transformation des deutschen Mietwohnungsmarktes hinsichtlich dessen Eigentümerstruktur seit Ende der 1990er, standen die beiden zentralen Akteure dieses Prozesses - kommunale Wohnungsunternehmen sowie private Finanzinvestoren - im Fokus der Analyse. Der Beitrag der Wohnungseigentümer zu resilienter Quartiersentwicklung wurde sowohl in Hinblick auf deren Bestandsbewirtschaftung als auch hinsichtlich des Engagements in einem weiteren Quartierskontext untersucht und bewertet. Die Ergebnisse der Untersuchung belegen, dass Wohnungseigentümern insgesamt eine sehr bedeutende Rolle für die Resilienz von Quartieren zukommt, da sie diese auf vielfältige Weise beeinflussen - sowohl über ihre Bestandsbewirtschaftung als auch darüber hinaus. Das Engagement im weiteren Quartiersumfeld sowie der daraus resultierende Beitrag zur Quartiersresilienz sind dabei sehr divers, wobei Engagement von den Wohnungseigentümern in verschiedenen Quartieren sehr selektiv erbracht wird. Während in (Groß)Wohnsiedlungen das Engagement recht aktiv war, konnten in Altbauquartieren kaum Aktivitäten der Eigentümer identifiziert werden. Dabei war die Erbringung des Quartiersengagements sowie der Beitrag zur Resilienz von einer Reihe verschiedener Faktoren abhängig (quartiers- und unternehmensspezifische sowie institutionelle). Der Beitrag zur Resilienz von Quartieren konnte für die kommunalen Wohnungsunternehmen im Vergleich zu den privaten Finanzinvestoren insgesamt als positiver charakterisiert werden, wobei eine Pauschalisierung nicht erfolgen kann. So konnte zum einen auch für private Investoren vereinzelt ein durchaus positiver Beitrag zur Quartiersresilienz herausgearbeitet werden, zum anderen wurde auch in einer Reihe von Quartieren ein Ausbleiben des Engagements der kommunalen Wohnungsunternehmen beobachtet. / At the interface of neighborhood and housing market research, the presented study examines the contribution of housing owners to a resilient neighborhood development in Berlin. The link between the neighborhood as an area of research and the concept of resilience is a scientific advancement from a spatial science perspective. Due to the massive transformation of the German rental housing market in terms of its ownership structure since the end of the 1990s, the two central actors of this process, municipal housing companies as well as private financial investors, have been in the center of the analysis. The housing owners’ contribution to resilient neighborhood development was analyzed and assessed both with regard to their stock management and particularly their commitment in the neighborhood. The results of the study reveal that housing owners are of major importance for neighborhood resilience as they influence it in various ways, by their stock management and beyond. The commitment in a broader neighborhood setting as well as the resulting contribution to neighborhood resilience are very diverse. However, housing owners render their activities in various neighborhoods very selectively. While in (large) housing estates the commitment was fairly active, hardly any activities could be identified in old building stock neighborhoods. The performance of neighborhood commitment and the contribution to resilience was dependent on a number of factors (neighborhood and company-specific as well as institutional). The contribution to neighborhood resilience can be characterized as more positively for the municipal housing companies compared to the private investors. A generalization, however, should not be deduced since a positive contribution to neighborhood resilience could be identified for private investors occasionally. Furthermore, an absence of commitment could also be observed for the municipal housing companies in several neighborhoods.

A pesquisa lança uma reflexão sobre a construção do conceito de Unidade de Vizinhança por Clarence Perry (1872 - 1944), em estreita relação com a noção de comunidade desenvolvida pela Escola de Chicago de sociologia. Explora também a circulação deste conceito através das redes profissionais e publicações do período analisando as apropriação da Unidade de Vizinhança nos discursos e nas práticas de arquitetos atuantes na América Latina no segundo pós-guerra através de suas trajetórias, produção intelectual e planos urbanos. O foco recai nos movimentos de circulação, recepção deste conceito e suas apropriações nos planos urbanos e projetos concebidos por Josep Lluís Sert (1902-1983) na Colômbia, Carlos Raúl Villanueva (1900-1975) na Venezuela e Affonso Eduardo Reidy (1909-1964) no Brasil entre os anos 1945 e 1958. Momento em que a América Latina passa a ser alvo de olhares de arquitetos e críticos de arquitetura e urbanismo modernos, vistos ora como desvios dos preceitos modernistas, ora como singularidades inovadoras. Contudo, é o momento em que a América Latina é sobretudo um espaço de circulação de profissionais estrangeiros, sejam como consultores, migrantes que se estabelecem, viajantes etc, que intensificam os contatos e trocas culturais. O trabalho localiza o debate teórico e conceitual que embasa as proposições urbanísticas acerca do conceito de Unidade de Vizinhança, seu deslocamento do campo sociológico para o urbanístico e sua formalização diante da relevância que o tema assume no debate urbanístico no segundo pós-guerra. / This research aims to reflect on the concept of Neighborhood Unit, constructed by Clarence Perry (1872 - 1944) in relation to Sociological School of Chicago\'s notion of community, and investigates how this concept has been circulated, adapted and appropriated in Latin American cities after the Second World War, through the discourses and practices of architects. Our focus is the reception of the concept in the context of urbanistic debates, as it becomes an instrument in urban plans conceived by Josep Lluís Sert (1902-1983) in Colombia, Carlos Raúl Villanueva (1900-1975) in Venezuela and Affonso Eduardo Reidy (1909-1964) in Brazil between 1945 and 1958. At that time, Latin America attracted the interest of architects and critics of architecture and modern urbanism, as the region presented both \"deviations\" of modernist principles and innovative singularities, becoming a space of circulation, intensified contacts and cultural exchanges for foreign professionals. This project intends to locate the theoretical and conceptual debate underlying the urban propositions around the concept of Neighborhood Unit, its formalization and displacement from the sociological research field to urban, considering the importance, it is given in the urban debate in the post-World War II years.

Esta investigación analiza las representaciones sociales configuradas en el colectivo docente, referidas a la inmigración y su presencia en los centros de enseñanza, y en el alumnado, sobre su relación con el profesorado y la representación del contexto escolar. El análisis macro y micro confluye bajo un contexto social complejo que abarca desde las representaciones que aparecen en la prensa escrita hasta las que acontecen en los propios docentes y el alumnado, en este caso el contexto se refiere a los centros de enseñanza ubicados en el barrio de Son Gotleu (Palma de Mallorca) socialmente vulnerable, estigmatizado y con elevada concentración de población inmigrante extracomunitaria. Un lugar propicio para experimentar con las representaciones mantenidas por unos y otros actores, puestas en práctica en un ambiente enrarecido, por la llegada de nuevos alumnos, que de una u otra forma rompen con las funciones pedagógicas, que se venían realizando hasta el momento.

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.