Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional & Community Planning / Blake Belanger / Investigating historical trends of public transportation, two distinct groups of riders are targeted. First, individuals living and working in large metropolitan centers, and second, people who are dependent upon public transit; referring to people who cannot afford personal automobile transportation, possess no driver’s license, or are physically unable to drive (Garrett and Taylor, 1999). Analyzing the national demographics related to age and poverty levels, transit dependents make up only approximately 25% of the United States population. Expanding transit ridership will make our nation’s transportation sector more sustainable. Public transportation systems yield exceptional benefits including economic and community vitality, gasoline consumption reduction, air quality improvement and diverse cultural interactions promoting social cohesion (Metro Transit- St. Louis, 2010). This report focuses on ridership potential in the Rock Island Corridor, an unused rail thoroughfare in Kansas City. Local governing organizations are analyzing the corridor for future commuter rail implementation. In order to attain higher ridership and ensure long-term viability, the commuter rail must attract residents that are not dependent upon public transportation. This project maps transit dependencies along the Rock Island Corridor looking at income levels, home values, and commuting distance. The findings illustrate that Lee’s Summit is not dependent upon public transit and has tremendous potential to impact the ridership and development direction along the corridor. Looking into the future of the corridor the time to plan is now. Lee’s Summit is expected to see a population increase of 40,636 people (a 50% increase) by the year 2040 (Mid-America Regional Council, 2010). The strategies applied to Lee’s Summit are applicable to other similar suburbs of Kansas City, ultimately making Lee’s Summit a catalyst for the region. The organization of the project is focused around three major sections. The first section explores and analyzes current public transit practice in terms of ridership and aesthetics. The second section explains a three-part strategy focused around a park-n-ride and a transit-oriented development, both supported by a municipal feeder bus system. The third section demonstrates design and program ideas for the park-n-ride station that provide the community with visions to promote smart growth and a sustainable future.

The continued decentralization of employment in U.S. regions has led to the emergence of large employment centers outside of traditional Central Business Districts. Edge Cities in particular, with their high office space densities, significantly influence surrounding land uses and regional commuting patterns. However, existing transit systems tend to be oriented to historic Central Business Districts and the level of service for transit in suburban areas remains considerably below that of central cities. Adequately serving suburban Edge Cities with transit is critical in maintaining and improving access to jobs by transit and mitigating automobile congestion. This study explores the suitability of a Bus Rapid Transit system along the Veterans Boulevard corridor in Greater New Orleans. It does this by analyzing residential and employment densities and existing commuting patterns along the corridor. It also explores the potential impact of BRT improvements on transit ridership in the corridor.

Cette recherche questionne les stratégies d’acteurs publics-privés et les morphologies architecturales dans les projets de renouvellement des zones d’activités commerciales d’entrée de ville. L’analyse tente de révéler les freins au renouvellement urbain et s’appuie sur l’observation participante dans la Société d’Aménagement de l’Agglomération de Montpellier (SAAM) ainsi que des entretiens sur deux autres projets : «Pont de l’âne Monthieu » à St Etienne et « Château-Redon » à La Valette du Var. Ces cas français sont intéressants car rares à leur échelle d’intervention. Ils sont pilotés par des aménageurs publics (Société Publique Locale ou Etablissement Public d’Aménagement) associés à des promoteurs-investisseurs pour la création d’un nouveau site commercial.Le corpus de données permet de comprendre l’organisation des acteurs au sein des projets urbains : coalitions et oppositions entre les collectivités publiques, les commerçants d’hypermarchés ou de grandes surfaces spécialisées, les promoteurs, les propriétaires, et les associations. Les stratégies des acteurs publics et des promoteurs s’appuient sur des représentations différenciées de l’urbanité qui impactent la programmation et la conception architecturale.L’évolution morphologique des pôles commerciaux est complétée par d’autres cas en France et à l’étranger et montre l’hybridation des nouvelles centralités vers plus de mixité fonctionnelle.Les cas étudiés innovent parmi les projets de renouvellement en zone d’activités commerciales, mais leur spécificité questionne leur reproductibilité dans d’autres villes moyennes françaises. / This research will cross-examine strategies used by private and public sector identities in addition to architectural morphologies of town entrance business activity areas' rehabilitation projects. Our analysis will aim to reveal current obstacles to urban rehabilitation and will be relying on the participant observation method inside the structure of the Society d'Amenagement de Montpellier (SAAM) - Building Society of the Urban Agglomeration of Montpellier - as well as interviews relating to two other projects: "Pont de l'âne Monthieu" in St Etienne and "Château-Redon" in La Valette du Var. These French examples are as interesting as they are rare, considering the intervention scale. They are managed by public project managers (Local public companies or Public development agencies) and rely on promoter-investors to create a new commercial site.The data corpus allows us to understand how the main stakeholders interact and manage urban projects: coalitions and oppositions between public bodies, supermarkets or specialized retailers, sponsors, store owners and city-scale community groups.The basis of public sector leads and promoters' strategies take its roots in the discrepancy of representations of urbanism, impacting directly on how the architecture is scheduled and designed.Our analysis of the morphological evolution of commercial centres will be complemented by other case studies in France and abroad and will show the hybrid trends of new suburban commercial centres towards a more dense and functional diversity.Urban projects in our research will show a drift towards more innovation in the sector, however it is difficult to foresee whether their specificities could be recreated in other middle size French cities.

This study on feminism is a study aimed at understanding a reality within feminism (suburban feminism) in the suburbs of Gothenburg and the underlying factors that contribute to the emergence of this new phenomenon, and why women in the suburbs relate to as an alternative social tool in the quest for better social standings. The research was focused on the 2 major issues and they were (1) the effect of intersectionality on feminism in the suburbs and (2), the effect of internal factors like culture and religion on feminism in the suburbs. Intersectional analysis in my study partly explained the emergence of this new phenomenon (suburban feminism) as a reality within feminism. Cultural shock experienced by the immigrant women when they come Sweden explained also the relevance of cultural polarisation as a factor in the emergence of suburban feminism. The research was done through the qualitative research methods among the immigrant populations living in the suburbs of Gothenburg. The primary research material was the respondent’s experiences and answers to a variety of questions. With the help of several respondents and earlier research done on feminism in the suburbs shows how suburban feminism as a phenomenon emerges and takes shape among the immigrant populations and how this kind of feminism emerges out of the daily challenges ranging from intersectionality, socio-economic setups and several other aspects the respondents refer to as cultural shock between different cultures that have converged in the suburbs. In general, suburban feminism is a phenomenon that emerged out of several factors that range most of them intended for the furtherance and empowerment of women in all spheres of life. The respondent’s answers to the questions fielded in this study together with the earlier research done on feminism and equality in Sweden formed the bedrock on which the study is anchored on. Suburban feminism in my study is a product of social construction different from feminism anchored on theories and this becomes more evident from the answers of my respondents in their understanding of feminism.

In less than 20 years over 6 million lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals will be over 65 years old designated as seniors according to the Older Americans Act. When public policies for the aging population are implemented, LGBT individuals are forgotten, especially those living in nonmetropolitan areas. Using a purposeful convenience sample and a phenomenological approach 7 gay seniors residing in Florida suburban areas were interviewed to explore their lives as they age. Aging policies were investigated through the social construction of deservedness lens to ascertain individual political power while exploring (a) the challenges of living in suburban areas, (b) government services used as aging occurs, and (c) connection to the larger LGBT community as these men moved away from metropolitan areas and age. Using a phenomenological interpretive design, findings illustrated these men can choose different constructions, yet seldom disclosed their sexuality for fear of being labeled as a deviant. Four major themes emerged: each man recognized aging is difficult for all seniors but gay men living in suburban areas deal with a lack of gay friendly services; daily discrimination causes many to go back into the closet; government policies for the aging include anti-discrimination against sexual orientation but does not encourage free expression of sexual orientation; and, active involvement in LBGT communities often ceases. Positive social change emerges by using these findings to provide lawmakers with information regarding current aging policies and the realized marginalization of policy constituents in hopes of crafting supporting legislation that is more inclusive of the nonmetropolitan-residing LGBT community.

Suburban encroachment is a growing concern for many National Guard training installations. The Ethan Allen. Firing Range and Camp Johnson, Vermont, are either experiencing or are completely enclosed by urban encroachment. The objective of this study was to analyze the trends of suburban growth within Chittenden County, Vermont, to evaluate growth and explore future training site viability of the Ethan Allen Firing Range and Camp Johnson. This study focused on historical data, recent real estate transactions, population projections, and county plans for growth. Using historical and contemporary data, I developed a predictive model of suburban encroachment on Camp Johnson and the Ethan Allen firing Range facilities by residential and commercial development. This model may assist land managers make decisions and illustrate the viability of these installations as National Guard training sites. This model may also be applied to other installations with similar concerns.

Despite a general consensus regarding anthropogenic global climate change across the international scientific community, many of the major greenhouse gas producers in the world, especially the United States, are hesitant to implement strict emissions regulations. According to some prominent atmospheric scientists, such as James Hansen and Michael Mann, if industrialized countries continue to produce carbon emissions at current rates, an irreversible planetary tipping point of raising temperatures 2°C above pre-industrial levels could be reached in less than 40 years. Societies have a wealth of information from the natural sciences to understand the climate problem and currently possess the technological means to address it. But substantial regulatory policies have not been implemented, clean energy technologies have not been established as the primary energy source, and widespread behavioral changes needed to create sustainable societies have not been fostered. This dissertation seeks to understand why the preponderance of scientific evidence surrounding climate change has not produced a sea change of public perceptions of the climate change problem consistent with the dire projections of climate science. It is grounded in four interrelated questions: (1) What are the prevalent discourses of climate change and to which institutions can these be attached? (2) How do suburban residents understand climate change? (3) Since electricity is a major link between suburban lifestyles and climate change, how does knowledge of climate change compare with knowledge of electricity production and consumption? (4) In what ways do institutional discourses of climate change connect to the viewpoints of suburban consumers? These questions were explored through a case study carried out in a neighborhood in the city of Tampa, Florida. Forty-six semi-structured, face-to-face interviews were conducted to understand perceptions related to climate change, suburban consumption, and environmental conservation. The interviews compiled information pertaining to personal knowledge and representations of socio-ecological relationships. The findings indicate that most relationships or connections to the natural world in general, and climate change in particular, are produced by the arrangements and processes of capital accumulation as experienced in everyday practices. Suburban residents seemed disconnected from or ignorant about how their everyday consumption is related to climate change. Based on ideological formations, as manifest in institutional discourses and material practices, suburban residents accept the social processes and spatial forms that they inhabit as being the only possible options for suburban living.

This research draws upon the writings of Michel Foucault and a range of governmentality texts to problematise those planning techniques and practices promulgated in an attempt to produce particular ideals of community. To accomplish this I have focused predominantly on the discourses pertaining to the Golden Grove Development. The histories I re-construct from these discourses demonstrate how ideals of community have been constituted and how they act as technologies of government. The goals of these governmental technologies, I argue, were the normalisation of particular suburban subjectivities, with the intent to maximise economic gains and minimise financial, temporal, spatial and social risks. / PhD Doctorate

One of the most common retaining systems for deep excavations is by supporting a wall with multiple levels of anchors. In densely built urban areas, preventing soil movement with such a system can be very costly. Additionally, anchored walls are assumed and forced to act independently during design calculations, thus fail to take the advantage of the rigidity of the whole system at the corners of the excavation area. An alternative support system that uses the entire system is bracing of the walls with struts. But such a system greatly hinders construction space. In this research, a new type of supporting system has been investigated by performing a parametric study in finite element analyses program. New system is a single ring at each support level, supporting the system at several locations. A comparative study has been undertaken between the conventional systems and the new system in both 2D and 3D. PLAXIS finite element analysis software was used for the analyses. The primary aim was to investigate the structural and geotechnical performance of the arch supported system. The study revealed that the new system provides improvement for specific cases and can be considered as an alternatve support system for such cases.

As found in modern art and architecture during the 1950’s and 1960’s, North Americans were conditioned through advertising and media to adopt modernism as a new and better way of life. Modernist styles such as Abstract Expressionism were promoted as leading edge ways to make art that defined American culture. In architecture, modernism infiltrated the development of suburbs and represented a way of life that promoted consumerism, leisure and the nuclear family. Much of the urban and suburban spaces we live in have been influenced by modernism. I am interested in exploring the vocabulary of modernist abstraction through the language of contemporary figuration. I am influenced by late modernist Formalism, colour field painting, gestural mark making and Abstract Expressionism.