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This thesis studies New Urbanism, a movement intending to address the problems of the American suburbs and create pleasing and livable communities. The focus is on the Traditional Neighborhood Design concept (TND), one of the five types of New Urbanism developed in the late 1980's by architects Andre Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk. The goal of this thesis is to develop the best community design concept, with a basis in the TND concept, which responds to local cultural and physical environments. The study is comprised of two approaches: a literature review and a design approach. In the first three chapters, the findings of the literature review are shown. There include (1) the history, structure, and problems of the American suburbs, (2) the theory and types of New Urbanism community structures, and (3) the characteristics of TNDs. At the end of Chapter 3 the TND concept is analyzed using four criteria comprised, uses and activities, public space, circulation and typological characteristics of architecture, as well as a summary of the strengths and weaknesses of the TND concept are summarized. In Chapter 4 the development of a TND plan for the New Town of Williamsburg is shown, which includes the context of the site, history of Colonial Williamsburg, site inventory, site analysis, design concept, and design development. The design concept was developed from the findings of the site analysis and the improved TND concept. The conclusions in Chapter 5 provide an overview of this thesis, findings of both the research and design part, lessons from this thesis, and areas for future research / Master of Landscape Architecture

Under conventional residential development practices, minimum lot sizes are established by zoning ordinances. Under these requirements, a piece of property is subdivided into as many lots as allowed. This results in suburban development where all land is committed to individually owned parcels. The objective of this thesis is to defend the preservation of open space as a necessary component of rural residential development and to establish a set of criteria that are fundamental to open space design. Concerns for developers, planners, and homeowners in response to the open space preservation movement are identified and addressed. In addition, the three major alternative development approaches, in which the preservation of open space is a fundamental priority, are detailed. From these alternative development approaches, a list of criteria are developed to be used in the evaluation or preparation of open space site designs. A 96 acre site in the Tom’s Creek Basin of Blacksburg, Montgomery County, Virginia is used as a case study for the preparation of an open space site design that fulfills the requirements of a proposed rural residential zoning ordinance for Blacksburg. / Master of Urban and Regional Planning

Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Timothy D. Keane / The fundamental purpose of this project, a suburban infill endeavor in southern Overland Park, Kansas, is to create connections on a number of levels and scales through the implementation of traditional neighborhood design principles within the context of the natural and man-made conditions affecting the site. Beginning at the smallest scale, the project examines what kinds of conditions are best suited for connecting people to one another within the site itself in terms of circulation networks, outdoor public spaces, civic uses, and the relationships of buildings and blocks. On a larger scale, the project explores methods for creating connections between the site and the wider community, both locally and regionally, through the integration of trail systems, land uses, and road networks. It also examines the principles for designing a mixed-use component intended to draw people from a wide geographic area and to serve as a center of activity for residents and visitors alike because of its distinctive qualities. Finally, the project examines principles for creating connections between people and the natural environment through the preservation of existing stream corridors, drainage channels, and woodlands and the restoration of the prairie systems that once characterized the land. Instead of sitting in isolation and addressing only the needs of its own residents while turning its back on adjacent land uses and the wider community, the project utilizes a design that directly engages that community through the full integration of its program elements. Traditional neighborhood design principles are therefore best applied not as a formula but rather as a flexible framework for the design components that define the form of the project. Ultimately the project seeks to achieve its goals and objectives not by simply replicating previous efforts but by developing and applying its own creative design solutions.

This study sought to determine how five neighbourhood models (the Grid, Loop and Cul-de-Sac, Fused Grid, New Urbanist and Greenway) compare in terms of the characteristics known to affect active transportation rates, and which model is most likely to be able to facilitate active transportation as a result. In order to do so, model principles and design characteristics of case study neighbourhoods were described and used to create a range of design specifications for each model. These specifications were then used to develop a GIS-based representation of an example neighbourhood for each model, which included the transportation network, parcels of different land use types and densities, homes and destinations. GIS, statistical and graph-based techniques were then used to comprehensively assess and compare the models in terms of their potential to facilitate walking and biking through the built environment correlates identified in through a literature review. The models were ranked on each variable, and then an overall comparison was made on the basis diversity (land use mix), density and design - the three dimensions identified by Cervero and Kockelman (1997) as being the key ways through which the built environment can contribute to creating walkable (and potentially bikeable) neighbourhoods. Additional measures related to trip characteristics and issues of importance to developers (such as buildable area) were also included. The results illustrate how each model’s unique approach to facilitating walking and/or biking is reflected in the built environment characteristics assessed. While a model that was strong in one category was often weaker in another (a finding which echoes that of Filion and Hammond, 2003), the three alternative models (Fused Grid, New Urbanist and Greenway) consistently fared better than the more traditional Grid and Loop and Cul-de-Sac designs, with the New Urbanist scoring the highest on the overall evaluation of walkability and bikeability and the Greenway the best on network design for cyclists. In addition to these findings, the study also provided an opportunity to explore several challenges related to model assessment, such as issues arising from frame choice, off-set networks, and the use of roads as proxies for active transportation networks.

ABSTRACT OUT OF THE GREYZONE: EXPLORING GREYFIELD DESIGN AND REDEVELOPMENT Konstantinos Pavlou Advisor: University of Guelph, 2013 Professor Cecelia Paine Community shopping centres in many North American suburban areas have been in decline for two decades. Failed community shopping centres, termed ‘greyfields’, have resulted in large parcels of unused lands in core urban areas, forcing residents to travel longer distances to regional malls. The decline of community shopping centres may have a number of causes, but for this study it was hypothesized that successful community shopping centres share a number of design qualities that unsuccessful shopping centres do not have. A design framework was developed based on retail design and planning literature. The framework was applied to assess an existing redevelopment, the Shops at Don Mills in Toronto. The assessment findings derived from site observations and key informant interviews resulted in a revised design framework. The final framework provides a guide to those interested in transforming commercial greyfields into vibrant components of our urban communities.

This study sought to determine how five neighbourhood models (the Grid, Loop and Cul-de-Sac, Fused Grid, New Urbanist and Greenway) compare in terms of the characteristics known to affect active transportation rates, and which model is most likely to be able to facilitate active transportation as a result. In order to do so, model principles and design characteristics of case study neighbourhoods were described and used to create a range of design specifications for each model. These specifications were then used to develop a GIS-based representation of an example neighbourhood for each model, which included the transportation network, parcels of different land use types and densities, homes and destinations. GIS, statistical and graph-based techniques were then used to comprehensively assess and compare the models in terms of their potential to facilitate walking and biking through the built environment correlates identified in through a literature review. The models were ranked on each variable, and then an overall comparison was made on the basis diversity (land use mix), density and design - the three dimensions identified by Cervero and Kockelman (1997) as being the key ways through which the built environment can contribute to creating walkable (and potentially bikeable) neighbourhoods. Additional measures related to trip characteristics and issues of importance to developers (such as buildable area) were also included. The results illustrate how each model’s unique approach to facilitating walking and/or biking is reflected in the built environment characteristics assessed. While a model that was strong in one category was often weaker in another (a finding which echoes that of Filion and Hammond, 2003), the three alternative models (Fused Grid, New Urbanist and Greenway) consistently fared better than the more traditional Grid and Loop and Cul-de-Sac designs, with the New Urbanist scoring the highest on the overall evaluation of walkability and bikeability and the Greenway the best on network design for cyclists. In addition to these findings, the study also provided an opportunity to explore several challenges related to model assessment, such as issues arising from frame choice, off-set networks, and the use of roads as proxies for active transportation networks.

Dans ce travail nous cherchons à comprendre comment les conditions de projet du renouvellement périurbain modifient les structures de la production de l'habitat périurbain. Le développement durable qui a progressivement gagné toutes les sphères de l'action publique s'attache plus récemment à reconsidérer les modèles de développement d'habitat du périurbain. Dans ce contexte, nous comparons deux pratiques professionnelles récentes, française et américaine, qui reconfigurent le système de production de l'habitat périurbain. Pour mettre cette reconfiguration en évidence nous déployons une réflexion en trois temps. D'abord, nous constatons que ces deux pratiques entrainent une évolution effective des formes urbaines et architecturales. Au prisme de la notion de transition, introduite par la théorie des systèmes sociotechniques, nous montrons qu'au-delà de l'évolution typomorphologique constatée, les logiques de projet de Bimby et du New Urbanism sous-tendent l'implication d'un pluralisme d’acteurs bénéfique. Ensuite, nous présentons et analysons les processus de design charrette et de micro-conception par lesquels les deux pratiques étudiées visent à répondre aux besoins d'une collectivité locale en impliquant une variété d'acteurs. Dans cette partie nous évaluons le degré d'influence des participants sur l'évolution des formes constatée plus tôt. Enfin, par la comparaison nous caractérisons des logiques de projet, des logiques de contrôle ainsi que des figures de l'appropriation par lesquelles le jeu d'acteurs que nous mettons en évidence poursuit une vision durable du périurbain. Nous précisons également les définitions de la co-conception et de la coproduction comme des approches de la médiation situées en amont et en aval des structures de production classiques. Les résultats de cette recherche contiennent plus particulièrement la modélisation des logiques de projet de Bimby et du New Urbanism, la modélisation du système de production de l'habitat périurbain durable, et la modélisation du renouvellement périurbain. / This doctoral research aims to understand how different priorities and actions in the process of suburban renewal can change the ways suburbs are built. Sustainable development, which has increasingly gained acceptance in various venues of public thought and action, has recently entailed the reconsideration of suburban models. In this context, we compare two recent professional practices from France and the United States — Bimby and New Urbanism — that reconfigure the ways suburbs are designed and built. To substantiate this premise we have organized our demonstration in three steps. First, we observe that these two professional practices lead to an effective evolution of urban and architectural forms, and through the sociotechnical lens that examines the interaction between the structures of society and the human behavior of the residents we show that beyond this evolution of urban types and patterns, Bimby and New Urbanism both require a diversity of stakeholders that is beneficial to the design and delivery of an urban project. Then, we present and analyze both processes of the design charrette and micro-conception through which New Urbanism and Bimby expect to formulate better solutions, according to the needs of public and private stakeholders and participants. This enables us to evaluate the level of influence of participants on the whole project. Finally, the comparison allows us to characterize the concepts, processes and delivery mechanisms through which the stakeholders involved can create and follow a sustainable vision of suburban developments. We explain the meanings of specialist terms such as co-conception and coproduction as ways of involving diverse groups of stakeholders and residents before, during and after the conventional systems of suburban development. Our results more specifically include the conceptual models of Bimby and the New Urbanism, as models of sustainable suburb production and of suburban renewal.

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It is easy to overlook the individual features that constitute a community, including types and mix of land use, lot sizes, building type, size and height, setbacks, street and sidewalk widths, parking requirements, and infrastructure, all of which are controlled and regulated by land use development codes, more commonly referred to as zoning. Zoning is the primary means communities employ to control and guide land use and development decisions affecting the physical form of these places. However, zoning is a rigid, legal framework that separates uses and prescribes standards without describing or even considering what development will or should look like. Disenchantment with conventional zoning methods combined with innovative new approaches that address current and emerging issues are now readily available to learn from and adapt. A number of these approaches focus on design and form rather than use alone. The intentions of code reform focus on the creation of better public space, pedestrian friendly streets and communities, mixing uses and reducing parking requirements, all of which can lead to increased physical activity and healthy communities. / Master of Landscape Architecture