Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1985. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Bibliography: leaves 51-52. / by Terri Denise Hamilton. / M.C.P.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 139-140). / Despite their potential for providing efficient and reliable airport access, rail connections to U.S. airports have consistently had trouble attracting a significant percentage of airport passengers. This thesis attempts find out which characteristics of airport rail links most strongly influence mode share so that future rail link plans can be assessed. These findings are then applied to the current plans for an airport rail link in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The thesis begins by examining current airport rail links in the U.S. Detailed case studies are performed for the following airports: John F. Kennedy, Philadelphia, Boston Logan, Washington National, Chicago O'Hare, Chicago Midway, and San Jose. Smaller case studies are performed for Atlanta, Cleveland, St Louis, Baltimore-Washington, Miami, and Oakland. The data collected for these airports is compared by looking for relationships between characteristics of the rail links and their mode shares. Two variables, rail travel time and the difference between rail and auto travel time, are apparently related to rail link mode share. Several propositions are advanced about the characteristics of airport rail links that affect mode share, and the way in which they affect mode share. The strongest of these propositions are that the lower the travel time difference between rail and auto the greater the rail mode share, that on-airport rail stations are likely to increase mode share, and that effectively serving population and employment centers is likely to increase airport rail link mode share. Some further analysis is then performed on two of the propositions advanced. First, the relevance of the airport rail station location is tested by looking at the effect on mode share at Washington National when the rail station was, in effect, moved closer to the airport terminal. This analysis indicates that it is likely that the location of an airport rail station is related to mode share. Second, an analysis of population and employment around airport rail link stations is performed for Boston, New York City, and Chicago. This analysis indicates that the rail links examined serve a very small percentage of the population and jobs in their respective metro areas. This makes sense since rail links in these cities all have relatively low mode shares. Finally, a case study of San Juan is presented. This case study is different than the previous ones since the San Juan link is in the planning stages. After the San Juan plan is presented, each proposition developed earlier is applied to the San Juan case to determine the potential effect of that proposition on mode share for the San Juan link. This analysis and a model for calculating mode share based on rail/auto time difference help to predict mode share for San Juan. The mode share for San Juan is likely to be between 2% and 5%. The thesis concludes with potential changes to the plan that might help increase that figure. / by Joshua Schank. / M.C.P.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (v. 2, leaves 380-[399]). / by Lynn E. McCormick. / Ph.D.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 73-75). / This study examines problems encountered in revenue mobilization by the Local Government of Olongapo City under the Philippines fiscal decentralization policy. It documents the revenue generation processes in Olongapo City, analyses the various administrative and procedural roadblocks faced in generating revenue from major local sources, and recommends steps that can be taken to increase local revenues. It concludes that revenue reform and performance at the local level is highly dependent on local administrative, technical and managerial capacity. Developing local capacity in these areas is critical for effective implementation of the broader decentralized fiscal system. / by Vandana Sareen. / M.C.P.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1989. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 77-81). / by Maribel Marin. / M.C.P.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture and Planning, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 309-336). / The definitive return of the Ottoman court to the capital city Istanbul in 1703 ushered in nearly a century of extraordinary building activity and urban change, in the process of which a new architectural idiom was defined. This dissertation examines the parameters of Ottoman architectural sensibility in the eighteenth century, starting at this pivotal moment and ending with the first European commissions in the 1790s. It draws principally on contemporary court poetry, and a wide array of Ottoman and European literary and visual sources, and architectural evidence. It departs from current interpretations, which view European influence as the chief impetus of architectural change in this period. Instead, I contend that this was a time when social transformations in the making since the late sixteenth century were enacted in the city's fabric through the tastes, aspirations, and recreational practices of the urban society. The continuous dynamic between these manifestations and the state s efforts to reassert its visible presence in the capital was central to the formation of a new urban and architectural landscape. This is highlighted in the first part, which explores the development of the suburban waterfront, the spatial and structural transformations of residences, the formal evolution of private gardens, the proliferation and unprecedented magnificence of public fountains, and the phenomenal expansion of public spaces. The second part focuses on the role of urban sensibilities in shaping a broader cultural horizon of expectations. Through an investigation of the age-old relation between garden and poetry in this period, I show that garden and poetic canon followed a parallel trajectory of "urbanization," symptomatic of a changing environment that accommodated a diverse range of social milieus and sensibilities. Drawing on the flourishing genre of rhymed architectural chronograms, I argue that this hybrid constellation of sensibilities informed the architectural vocabulary of eighteenth-century Istanbul. In Ottoman perception, beauty was measured against the sensuous pleasures derived from the visual and sensory experience of architecture. Brilliance, ornamental virtuosity, mimesis, and novelty, constituted the main parameters of appreciation. They mirrored a flamboyant and immensely hybrid visual idiom, tuned to the sensibilities of a broad and diverse public. / by Shirine Hamadeh. / Ph.D.

Thesis: Ph. D. in Urban and Regional Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, 2015. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references. / This dissertation investigates how location tracking technologies can transform municipal solid waste management in smart cities. While waste is often tracked in aggregate as it flows between and through handling facilities, there have been few attempts to follow individual trash items geographically using GPS and web-based mapping. Such data change the interaction between citizens, local government, and service providers, by revealing inefficiencies or fraud in disposal practices, or building trust between stakeholders and enabling alternative approaches for contracting waste services. Five essays demonstrate various designs and evaluations of real-time waste tracking systems, identify challenges and opportunities for incorporating these tools, and show how developed and developing cities can learn from each other. The first essay presents a system where individuals electronically tag a trash item, and view its movements in real-time. By surveying volunteers who participated in this experiment, it shows how this feedback can significantly improve their knowledge of how waste systems operate and where different types end up. The second essay extends this method for tracking hazardous electronic waste, such as CRT monitors, when illegally exported from high- to low-income countries. This information allows activist groups to investigate smuggling routes and support public agencies in enforcing international law. The third and fourth essays implement waste tracking in Brazil and Kenya, where many cities rely on informal workers to collect and recycle trash. By carrying smartphones tracking their location, waste pickers can map their own movements, waste generation, and material flow across the city. This allows them to organize more efficient routes, coordinate actions in real-time, and negotiate more favorable partnerships with government and private clients. Planners also benefit from crowdsourced data in informal areas. Looking to the future, the fifth essay considers how formal waste collection services could be made transparent, and how this supports crowdsourcing efforts to improve their efficiency and better meet resident needs. Doing so requires design of both real-time urban dashboards and citizen feedback mobile applications. The result transforms how cities benchmark effective municipal services and strive for high quality urban environments. / by David Lee. / Ph. D. in Urban and Regional Planning

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1991. / Vita. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 78-80). / by Daniel Anthony Acosta. / M.C.P.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1989. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 225-235). / by Evangeline Kim Leano Cuenco. / Ph.D.

Thesis: M.C.P., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, 2014. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 74-78). / Cooperation projects rooted in cultural ties, such as South-South cooperation, are contemporarily receiving unprecedented attention from the international development community. This focus on specific types of partnerships points to an increasing concern that who a development actor partners with matters. One reason behind the comparative advantage of South-South cooperation is that countries from the global South have similar social and cultural situations. Yet when and how culture practically matters to development has not been thoroughly explored within urban planning. This thesis examines whether, when, and how cultural affinities matter for the successful design, management, and implementation of urban planning projects in the global South with international partnerships. By exploring the experiences of urban professionals working on collaborative projects in Maputo, Mozambique, this thesis argues that broadly speaking, culture does matter for cooperation and urban development, but whether cultural affinities and differences matter or not for a project largely depends on the project's context. Simply speaking, national culture does not always matter. Consideration of culture beyond the national level to a subcultural level, such as employment and organization-type, often specifies when, how, and how much cultural affinities matter with cross-cultural urban planning cooperation projects. Ultimately, culture is a factor that needs to be more explicitly explored at a nuanced level and included in the design and management of collaborative urban planning projects. Further, culture should be a topic of conversation in promoting reflective practice and the goal of learning in development, such that cross-cultural exchange can be more enabling for urban development. / by Laura Andreae Martin. / M.C.P.