Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2009. / "September 2009." Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 153-159). / The urbanized terrain of São Paulo is characterized by wasteful landscapes on peripheral areas of the metropolitan agglomeration, and decaying landscapes of waste in the core of the city. If on the one hand, the increasingly vacant core of São Paulo is fully equipped with infrastructure, on the other, the burgeoning periphery sprawls onto non-structured lands. Within the core of the city, the São Paulo lowlands stand out as a potential regional site to address this major incongruence. This thesis proposes to study the modernization of a landscape, from an undesired floodplain into a crucial component for the functioning of the metropolis. I examine the lowlands as a constructed landscape, and argue that the infrastructural nature of the territory creates a platform for continued reclamation. By identifying the themes and narrative of the area, I then explore the lowlands as a site for contemporary urban planning in order to re-frame the city's current questions regarding its future. / by Victor Eskinazi. / M.C.P.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1986. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Bibliography: leaves 153-155. / by William Henry Johnson. / M.S.

Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, 2017. / Page 157 blank. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 135-156). / Understanding how environmental attributes can influence the behavior of pedestrians is of concern for public health officials, transportation engineers, and urban planners. To what degree, if any, do these various environmental characteristics influence how much and for how long people walk? To answer these questions, this thesis analyzes large-scale spatiotemporal pedestrian activity records collected from the users of a mobile phone application in Greater Boston, Massachusetts and the San Francisco Bay Area, California. The dataset contains the locative traces of recreational and utilitarian pedestrian walking activities which include the GPS and temporal records of individuals. In sum, this dissertation considered over 2.2 million trips from 135,000 people. This thesis addresses the topic in three parts. The first study examines the impacts of climate and environment on active transportation trips, and finds varying effects of different types of weather. However, these associated effects are influenced by a trip's purpose, as well as by season and location. The second study analyzes the impact of built environment characteristics on walking activities at the urban scale. These characteristics are generally defined as components of the density, diversity, and design of urban spaces. The study finds that activity characteristics are moderated by the features of location, and that infrastructure for walking, transportation access, and destinations have a positive influence on walking volume. Walking durations are largely invariant to these factors. The third study explores the effects of urban attributes on the aggregated route choices of individuals through the use of revealed preferences. The study's findings suggest that pedestrians are sensitive to the presence of retail destinations and transit availability in their choice of path. Despite this, architectural and street-level design features have mixed effects. These analyses contribute a new approach to understanding the interrelationships between the built environment and pedestrian activity, and how those effects contribute to the walkability of communities. This thesis also tests the usefulness of passive, pervasive mobile devices in evaluating urban space, and considers their potential to aid in the development of human-centered urban design-from an analysis of the quantified self toward the understanding of the quantified community. / by Anthony P. Vanky. / Ph. D.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1991. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 305-325). / by Caroline Clarke Guarnizo. / Ph.D.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1993. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 73-76). / by Rachel A. Baker. / M.C.P.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1990. / Title as it appears in the M.I.T. Graduate List, June 1990: The black-Hispanic-white differences in youth employment. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 130-134). / by Michael A. Stoll. / M.C.P.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning. Thesis. 1970. M.C.P. / Bibliography: leaves 152-158. / M.C.P.

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 167-177). / A new phenomenon has emerged over the past decade in a rising number of cities across America: what I am calling "sustainable business communities." These are place-based networks of independent, locally-owned businesses committed to generating social and environmental value in addition to economic value. They are prominent and increasingly influential players in the cities where they are largest, helping these cities progress towards sustainability goals and establish national reputations as sustainability leaders. Nevertheless, little is known about sustainable business communities within the academic and economic development literature, where they are still largely invisible despite their potential to play a significant role in helping cities achieve healthier, more sustainable, and more equitable local economies. This study starts to address this gap, examining sustainable business communities in five American cities where they have grown to prominence in recent years. Through interview-based case studies, I examine how these communities originated and grew over the past decade in each of these places, which vary significantly from each other in terms of size, geography, and urban context. The analysis in turn yields a fuller understanding of what these communities are, what their significance is, and the ways in which they have contributed to these cities' capacity to achieve large-scale, citywide sustainability and social equity goals. By exploring the common strategies and processes that have driven the growth of these five sustainable business communities to date, this study offers lessons and insights for city governments, economic development practitioners, and community members interested in learning how they can encourage and support the growth of their own sustainable business communities. / by Elizabeth Hoffecker Moreno. / M.C.P.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1986. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH / Bibliography: leaves 166-171. / by Ting-Fun A. Yeh. / M.C.P.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1985. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH / Bibliography: leaves 113-114. / by Joseph D. Duran. / M.C.P.