A central goal of urban and economic development planning is producing policies and programs to promote economic growth. Urban planners and economic planners always struggle to define economic development policies to improve the growth in way that enhance the quality of life in the community people live and work. Hence, investigation of factors affecting economic growth at the regional level helps decision makers such as urban planners and economic development planners develop smarter policies to increase more opportunities for economic growth. This project aims to look at economic growth from the perspective of urban economic development planners. The main questions of this study include: What is economic growth at the regional level, and what factors influence the growth of US urban regions? Is there any relationship between transportation investments and economic growth? What can urban planners and economic development planners learn from the findings of the growth literature that can better link urban planning with economic development planning and policies? I used research synthesis/meta-study method to review a wide range of studies devoted to economic growth. As neoclassical economists discussed, labor, capital, and human capital and technology are the primary production factors. However, contemporary literature reveals secondary factors that stimulate the efficiency and quality of these primary factors. My findings show that secondary factors such as transportation infrastructure, amenities (schools, housing, weather, and historical, cultural, and recreational centers) and disamenities (pollution, road congestion, and crime rate) influence regional economic growth process. These material factors of economic growth are typically addressed by economists and economic development planners via quantitative analysis of the variables associated with per-capita regional GDP growth. I find, however; that urban planners address a qualitative set of secondary factors related to social norms and institutions. The normative factors include equity, diversity, and housing affordability, and the procedural factors are: public participation, government policies over land use and land development. By reviewing existing regional economic planning, I highlight the lack of strong linkage between economic development planners and urban planners. In the end, an economic growth guideline is developed which might help decision makers such as urban planners and economic development planners derive smarter policies to increase opportunities for economic growth and development. / text

In Washington, DC, historical data are used to adequately size for rainfall events, and efforts to increase stormwater management requirements are fought against by internal stakeholders. In urban planning, extreme rainfall events, that may occur more frequently than expected, are often not a consideration when designing for green infrastructure facilities. The purpose of this case study was to explore how internal and external stakeholders influence stormwater management policies related to extreme rainfall events in Washington, DC. The power and politics organization theory, which focuses on how individuals obtain influence, and the resource dependency theory, which explores how organizations benefit from sustainability, were used as the theoretical framework in this study. The case study analysis was conducted via phone interviews; through phone interviews, data were collected from 4 policymakers (i.e., external stakeholders), 5 real estate developers (i.e., internal stakeholders) and 3 internal team members (i.e., internal stakeholders) and analyzed thematically. All the stakeholders believed that it is not necessary to design the green infrastructure systems to the extreme rainfall event; however, the developers said that they would design their green infrastructure systems larger if required by policy. The results of the study showed that each group'€™s effect works in a cyclic fashion to each other. Recommendations for future studies include to expand and increase stakeholder participation. This collaboration and better communication can help in developing more efficient stormwater management policies for a better city, which is an implication for positive social change.

100 years after the official acceptance of women into higher architectural education in Sweden’s technical institutions, I have tracked and summarized the progress of not just female students and female employees within the architecture industry, but also the extent of the creative space offered for women throughout the years to express their individual styles. This has been with the intention of detecting a female design language that can be read in the Swedish city, starting from Sweden’s earliest female pioneer in the late 1890s. The study relates the female design language to openness and fluidity, and the feminine sense of caring for the social experience taking place within urban spaces. This is naturally not the case for every woman and is just a common pattern detected throughout different architectural eras. Results show a rapid progression of women within statistical numbers of both educational institutions and architecture firms. This number is, however, one dimensional and does not accurately represent positions of power - which appear to be male dominated - and its impact on the Swedish urban city. The modern woman, as it turns out, does not face the struggles of the pioneers. She is, on the other hand, placed within the box of large architecture corporations, and in that way loses her personal touch and sense of style in her professional work.