published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

My research examines how the London Underground – the first subway in the world - provided new public spaces and forms of mobility that redefined how Londoners interacted in, moved through, and imaged the city. Perhaps nothing embodies the Underground’s iconic status in London quite as completely as the phrase, “Mind the Gap.” This phrase, which originally referred to the gap between the train and the platform at Embankment station on the Northern line, has since become an enduringly popular symbol of London in the minds of travelers and visitors. The fact that a behavioral command about how to move through Underground space has become synonymous with visiting London suggests the deep connections between spatial behaviors and identity in the modern city. People had to be taught how to “Mind the Gap” – and railway officials were never completely able to control the ways in which people used, traveled through, and imagined these spaces. Illuminating these tensions between railway technicians and ordinary passengers demonstrates how the Underground provided a new type of space in which men and women from different classes and backgrounds could assert claims to freedom of movement within the city. Aside from the gap between station platforms and Underground trains, this cultural history of the Underground also reveals how Londoners negotiated and bridged other important gaps - between rich and poor, men and women, and concepts of what constituted being modern or backwards, progressive or dangerous - as they embraced this public space as a part of their everyday lives. My dissertation interweaves works of art and fiction, literary scholarship, and elements of geography and sociology into a cultural history of London’s transport. Though it was owned and operated by a series of private companies throughout the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, the Underground offered a relatively affordable means of traversing the capitol for Londoners of all classes and backgrounds, and therefore the spaces of the Underground network (stations, platforms, and train cars) acted as public spaces where new ideas about democratic order in society were challenged and negotiated. My dissertation will bring a new perspective to studies of urban history by using interactions within the Tube to demonstrate how modernity was experienced and given meaning through particular spatial practices. I argue that the Underground helped challenge and redefine urban identities in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, particularly for women.

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Transport Policy and Planning / Master / Master of Arts in Transport Policy and Planning

published_or_final_version / abstract / Transport Policy and Planning / Master / Master of Arts in Transport Policy and Planning

Two of the most important behaviors affecting youth are alcohol use and aggression. Advertisements that promote alcohol consumption and display aggressive images and words may influence attitudes and behaviors of youth. While there is considerable research on these kinds of advertisements in various media channels, there is limited research describing such advertising within public transit systems. The purpose of this study was, therefore, to describe and prevalence and characteristics of advertisements about alcohol and with violent content on the platform walls of the New York City subway system. Methods: A cross-sectional design with direct observations was used to document all advertisements in four boroughs: Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens. Subway stations with and without advertising were identified and selected characteristics of advertisements about alcohol and with violent content were described. The presence of advertisements was examined based on racial/ethnic and income characteristics of station location using logistic regression. Results: Of 472 subway stations observed, 143 contained 8,737 advertisements, including duplicates. Of the 143 stations with any type of advertisements, 76 (53.1%) displayed one or more alcohol advertisements while over 95% included one or more advertisements with violent content (136 of 143). Of the 8,737 advertisements observed, 129 (1.5%) were for alcohol (including three public service messages) and 1,154 (13.2%) had violent content. Almost two-thirds of the 129 advertisements about alcohol were for beer. There were 144 advertisements that pictured guns. Not one public service announcement for violence prevention was observed. Examination of the presence of advertisements based on racial/ethnic and income characteristics of station location (n = 454 with complete data) showed no differences for advertisements with violent content, but greater odds of alcohol advertisements being present in locations with a higher percentage of Black population. Considerable variability existed between neighborhoods within each borough. Conclusions: Almost 9,000 advertisements were documented in this study. Despite the low number of advertisements about alcohol, one or more such advertisements was present in over one-half of the stations with advertising. Advertisements with violent content were pervasive. Recommendations focus on how public transit spaces can be used more productively to help cultivate caring communities.

Thesis (M. A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

Ground-borne vibration from underground rail vehicles is studied analytically. A previously developed model by J.A.Forrest and H.E.M.Hunt is modified to account for different track and vehicle models. The tunnel is modeled as infinite cylindrical shell surrounded by viscoelastic soil. The track is coupled to the tunnel with supports of complex stiffness. The rails, which are modeled as infinite Euler beams, are supported by discrete sleepers with regular spacing, and railpads with complex stiffness. A modified hysteretic damping model for moving loads is applied to soil. Linearized Hertzian contact spring is included between the wheel and the rail. The solution is obtained in frequency domain using random process theory. Effects of improvements in the model are graphically presented to enable comparison with the previously developed model and measurements from literature.

The overall objective of this thesis is to assess the financial, technical and social feasibility of investing in modern Automated People Movers (APM) transportation systems, generally known as monorails, in METU campus which presents a unique opportunity to fulfill the modern-day transportation needs of METU campus. This study complements the Presidency Office&rsquo / s long term goal to integrate environmental, social and economic sustainability into the policies, practices and culture of the university and ultimately reduce the consumption of all resources on campus and traffic congestion and accidents. In this context, the consequent cost-benefit effects of the proposed monorail system on campus life were quantified in monetary expressions and the corresponding multi-criteria feasibility assessment including: Break-even Analysis, Cost Effectiveness Assessments and Cost Benefit Analysis have been done successfully. According to these analyses the overall capital cost of system is $46.5 million which covers the 24 months project construction period, and an additional annual operating and maintenance cost of $2 million will span the 30 year project life time. Three different scenarios were proposed for financing the project and relevant break-even points were determined for each of the scenarios. Eventually, it appears that based on the evaluations, constructing such a transit system in METU campus will be cost effective and will certainly enhance the transportation, and will contribute to the institutional improvements and environmental preservation schemes of METU campus.

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

published_or_final_version / Architecture / Master / Master of Architecture