Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning. Thesis. 1971. B.S. / Bibliography: leaves 71-75. / B.S.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2010. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 84-89). / The Dominican Republic has an interesting juxtaposition of the largest tourism industry in the Caribbean with some of the worst social conditions in the region such as high rates of unemployment, poverty, and infant mortality. While the Dominican tourism industry experienced growth rates in the double digits in the 1990s, incomes for the lowest wage earners remained flat. This thesis analyzes if and how plans in the Dominican Republic extract greater value from the tourism industry for local economic development. It compares tourism in the Dominican Republic to models of "pro poor tourism" in the development literature. The plans steering the tourism industry in the Dominican Republic mention important factors such as social equity, labor force development and support of local businesses, but they are insufficiently detailed and do not include mechanisms for training and job creation. The private sector has demonstrated leadership in pro-poor tourism efforts in the Dominican Republic. Clustering as a national strategy to organize the tourism industry can be a promising mechanism for helping the poor through tourism in the Dominican Republic by coordinating private sector efforts. For greater distributional benefits to the poor from the tourism industry, however, these plans must be more aggressive and focused on quality job creation. / by Angelica Weiner. / M.C.P.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 69-74). / This thesis explores one tool of government action - information - and its influence on local policy and planning. This thesis is not a comprehensive account of information-based strategies, which would require far-reaching analysis. Instead, this thesis explores designation as one example of an information-based strategy that is used in planning and development. Specifically, this thesis explores how the act of designating an area as a national historic site ("designation") can, if at all, influence local policy and planning and, subsequently, shapes our built environment. Using the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor as a case study, I demonstrate that information strategies such as designation can provide a vital and dynamic planning tool for government. Designation presents a new approach to preservation and development by encouraging dynamic, cross-boundary partnerships that are simultaneously committed to common goals and dynamic enough to respond to the complexities of place. Designation allows local communities to maintain a place-specific approach to planning, while operating within a larger regional network. In the case of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor, designation united twenty-four communities across a bi-state region between Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Designation in this region cultivated a coherent and dynamic vision that, when coupled with the organizational structure, can be seen in the physical environment of the Valley. At one scale, this is shown by the reintegration of underused or abandoned structures and the conversion of older structures for new uses. / (cont.) At another scale, communities embraced the river as a source for recreation and now promote recreational uses along its shores. At the regional level, communities work to create new regional recreational and interpretive networks. Designation, when used by the Federal government as a tool has the ability to strengthen local governmental bodies as well as society to respond to changes in the economy, culture and environment. Designation as a tool links economic development and cultural programming with preservation efforts within communities and across traditional planning boundaries. Yet, because of a heavy reliance on partnerships, the success of designation as a tool for preservation and development is strongly associated with several key factors relating to the physical, economic and social qualities of place. These include the economic stability of the community, the availability of physical resources for heritage redevelopment, the engagement of the local government, the level of support of the local private sector (both the general public and private sector institutions), and the support and organization of the state. / by Danielle M. McCarthy. / S.M. / M.C.P.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [114]-[117]). / The history of shopping centers in the United States is closely associated with decentralizing urban trends and increased auto dependence, both of which have severe environmental effects. Retail formats have shifted over the years from downtown shopping to indoor shopping centers, and more recently to big box superstores. As retail formats and markets continue to evolve, many older, less modem stores have suffered. Most recently, this trend has affected big boxes, creating an opportunity to reuse and re-image many of these sites. Vacant shopping centers represent an expanding phenomenon that has been little studied. I survey examples of vacant superstores in the Boston region, and characterize their physical and neighborhood characteristics, as well as procedural barriers and opportunities toward reusing these sites in a way that promotes land-efficient, non-auto-dependent development. I found two primary types of site: urban and suburban. In both types, site plan characteristics are similar. They have low density site plans, and are serviced almost entirely by the automobile. There are few concessions to pedestrian or transit amenity, and in both cases, sites are disconnected from surrounding parcels. Both also face similar procedural redevelopment difficulties, especially regarding ownership and tenant issues, sprawl-oriented zoning regimes, and known but uncertain levels of environmental contamination. However, characteristics of the surrounding areas differ greatly between the two types. "Urban" sites are located in compact, connected, older suburban areas with connected street grids. The shopping center parcels represent a coarse-grain anomaly in a fine-grain area. "Suburban" types are located in urban fringes, in areas that are primarily single-use, auto-oriented, and poorly connected. Planning for both types of site should account for urban design and pedestrian connectivity deficiencies by encouraging connections among different sites and to circulation systems, and to take advantage of other underutilized parcels nearby. To this end, municipalities should plan for an entire area surrounding the shopping center sites, using the tools of design guidelines, site plan review, and flexible zoning regimes. Additionally, municipalities should engage and coordinate private and community sectors to promote cohesion among many sites. Suburban sites should emphasize site planning for connectivity and directing new superstores into existing space. Urban sites should capitalize on existing neighborhood infrastructure to reintegrate the sites into surrounding neighborhoods, and to direct investment and development away from auto-dependent greenfield sites to connected, accessible locations within the metropolitan region. / by Adam Varat. / M.C.P.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1998. / In subtitle, the copyright symbol appears after the word California on t.p. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-81). / by Gilbert Joseph Contreras, Jr. / M.C.P.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1993. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 118-119). / M.C.P.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 124-127). / by Patrick Field. / M.C.P.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 73-75). / by Judith A. Morrison. / M.C.P.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 136-139). / by Louisa K. Yue. / M.C.P.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture and Planning, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 317-339). / This dissertation investigates the transformation of architectural ideals brought about by the development of iron construction during the nineteenth century in France. The emergence of iron construction paralleled the crisis of neoclassicism, in which an ambiguous compromise between classical formal norms and modem science and technology was already manifest in the iron reinforced lintel. In the crisis of neoclassicism, iron, with its impact on both technological and formal aspects of architecture, emerged as a symbolic material to create a new style of modem architecture among utopians and rationalists. However, iron construction could not create a new style on its own; nor did there exist absolute formal aesthetic principles to impose on the construction. This is a fundamental dilemma of modem architecture, an inherent contradiction of bourgeois culture. Structural rationalists during the second half of the nineteenth century tried to resolve this contradiction by attempting to create a new style of architecture based on material and constructional rationality and reason. However, their inability to create a new style was finally proved in the last decade of the nineteenth century when the Art Nouveau exploitation of iron became a passion for individual fantasies, while engineers declared the triumph of their iron construction. Subsequent rationalists' change of the material signifier of architectural modernity from iron to reinforced concrete testified to the fundamental gap between technology and form, and the dilemma of bourgeois rationalism. Early twentieth century modernist historians rediscovered nineteenth century iron construction as a precursor of modem architecture, constructing an evolutionary history of modem architecture based on the rationalist constructive tradition, from iron construction to reinforced concrete architecture. However, their "discovery" of iron construction was purely an aesthetic invention of the twentieth century based on modernist avant garde aesthetics. Behind their apparent reconciliation of modem technology and architecture lay the aestheticization of material and construction, and the subjectivization of architecture. Thus, this dissertation analyzes the displacement of architectural discourses on iron construction from an objective construction to a subjective aesthetics. This shift characterized the further development of modem architecture and its mode of existence in modem society in relation to the development of modem technology. / Sanghun Lee / Ph.D.