Urbanization alters the natural soil structure of landscapes. This has a negative impact on the environment. This degradation of the soil in the urban environment needs management practices that protect and restore the nutrient value in the soil. Soil is one of the most essential elements of landscapes. High quality soils make a major contribution to cleaning water, acting as a filtration system that purifies the water it absorbs. Soil also sustains microorganisms that promote vegetation growth and consequently food production, one of the most important human activities that allows us to thrive as a society. The poor soil conditions in the urban environment make it very difficult to sustain healthy trees and vegetation. Urban soil is "modified through the regrading, compaction, cutting and filling, and, sometimes, contamination that comes with creating buildings, roads and associated land uses", changing the physical, chemical and biological structure of soil. (Trowbridge and Bassuk 3) In general, urban areas require better waste management methods that could use an abundant resource of food and yard waste to make compost. This thesis focuses on composting organic waste in the McNair neighborhood of Fairfax County in order to produce a resource to improve the soil conditions. This improvement would support the vegetation in this urban environment, and, in addition, sequester carbon and divert materials that otherwise would go to landfills. This thesis demonstrates a sustainable method for composting food and yard waste in a mixed-use community in northern Virginia turning waste material into a resource. / Master of Landscape Architecture / The growth of cities has a negative impact on the native soil and vegetation. The expansion of urban areas weakens the microorganisms that live in the soils through soil compaction for the construction of roads and buildings, runoff pollution and the use of chemicals in lawns and gardens. These urban conditions challenge the growth of trees and vegetation in general. Using sustainable waste management practices in cities we can turn organic waste material and turn it into an organic fertilizer to sustain the microorganisms in the soil and promote the growth of vegetation in urban areas. This thesis focuses in composting food waste and yard waste in the McNair neighborhood in Fairfax in order to turn a waste material into a local resource that benefits the community by sustaining green areas and diverting organic waste from going to landfills.

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While cities across the world are adopting urban sustainability plans and pursuing ‘sustainable development,’ the question of how these urban sustainability plans have made our cities indeed sustainable is a subject of debate. Some scholars are skeptical about whether urban sustainability planning challenges or reproduces existing power imbalance in the growth politics in cities. Given the current trend that the concept of sustainability has become embedded in our culture, little is known about the urban politics around urban sustainability plans and their effectiveness in promoting balanced sustainability in Asian cities. Using a case study of Seoul through in-depth interviews, this study examines the urban politics around the decision-making process and the implementation of sustainability plans in Seoul. As a rare case of recent rapid socio-economic transformations with the legacy of a developmental state, Korea serves as an example of how these transformations are likely to have for the urban politics of sustainability policies in other Asian countries. As conclusions, developmental states like Korea with a centralized governance system tend to use a “sustainability fix” that is heavily focused on ‘pro-growth’ development. With globalization, privatization, and democratization, the growth machine politics around urban sustainability planning in Korea is similar to that observed in the Western context. However, in Seoul, the growth machine is heavily influenced by the federal government and Mayoral leadership. This is because of the embedded legacy of the developmental state. In addition, with increased democratization and a growing role of civic groups in urban politics, we see a move towards “just sustainability” in urban sustainability planning in Korea. / Geography

Urbanization alters the natural soil structure of landscapes. This has a negative impact on the environment. This degradation of the soil in the urban environment needs management practices that protect and restore the nutrient value in the soil. Soil is one of the most essential elements of landscapes. High quality soils make a major contribution to cleaning water, acting as a filtration system that purifies the water it absorbs. Soil also sustains microorganisms that promote vegetation growth and consequently food production, one of the most important human activities that allows us to thrive as a society. The poor soil conditions in the urban environment make it very difficult to sustain healthy trees and vegetation. Urban soil is "modified through the regrading, compaction, cutting and filling, and, sometimes, contamination that comes with creating buildings, roads and associated land uses", changing the physical, chemical and biological structure of soil. (Trowbridge and Bassuk 3) In general, urban areas require better waste management methods that could use an abundant resource of food and yard waste to make compost. This thesis focuses on composting organic waste in the McNair neighborhood of Fairfax County in order to produce a resource to improve the soil conditions. This improvement would support the vegetation in this urban environment, and, in addition, sequester carbon and divert materials that otherwise would go to landfills. This thesis demonstrates a sustainable method for composting food and yard waste in a mixed-use community in northern Virginia turning waste material into a resource. / Master of Landscape Architecture / The growth of cities has a negative impact on the native soil and vegetation. The expansion of urban areas weakens the microorganisms that live in the soils through soil compaction for the construction of roads and buildings, runoff pollution and the use of chemicals in lawns and gardens. These urban conditions challenge the growth of trees and vegetation in general. Using sustainable waste management practices in cities we can turn organic waste material and turn it into an organic fertilizer to sustain the microorganisms in the soil and promote the growth of vegetation in urban areas. This thesis focuses in composting food waste and yard waste in the McNair neighborhood in Fairfax in order to turn a waste material into a local resource that benefits the community by sustaining green areas and diverting organic waste from going to landfills.

Urban forested natural areas (UFNAs) are the remnants of larger forested ecosystems that have become surrounded by urban land development. Due to their proximity to dense population centers, UFNAs provide levels of ecosystem services disproportionate with their small size. However, stressors on UFNAs, such as fragmentation, invasive species, urban heat islands, soil compaction, altered seed predator populations, and disrupted disturbance regimes, can alter species composition and forest structure such that the continued flow of these ecosystem services is unlikely. Further, management of these systems is confounded by their size and location. While most urban forests are managed using individual tree techniques (arboriculture), UFNAs have too many trees for this approach to be tenable. Likewise, traditional forest management techniques (silviculture) may not be possible due to the relatively small size of UFNAs and their proximity to urban population centers where silvicultural strategies may not be politically acceptable. This dissertation helps inform UFNA management strategies by documenting how species composition and forest structure have changed over time as a result of a mostly laissez-faire management strategy in a UFNA of Memphis, Tennessee. Evidence of the negative impacts of this approach on native tree species can be used by managers to build public support for management interventions. This work also examines potential recruitment barriers for the native overstory species northern red oak (Quercus rubra L). and tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera L.) which provide much of the large tree character in this UFNA. These results can guide specific management strategies to promote these important species. Finally, this research elucidates the potential threat to native plant biodiversity in this UFNA posed by a popular non-native ornamental tree species, cherry laurel (Prunus caroliniana Aiton). The results can aid in the development of appropriate policies regarding this specific tree and similar species in other UFNAs. Combined these studies provide a glimpse into the complicated dynamics and management of this UFNA. Given the widespread nature of the species examined and the methods used, this research may also provide useful insights into UFNA management in the surrounding regions.

Urban transformation initiatives are interventions that aim to manage urban change. Evolving from slum clearance and renewal, these initiatives took different forms throughout the century, in accordance with their social, economic and spatial contexts. The dominant urban context of the late 20th and early 21st century being deindustrialization and decentralization, urban redevelopment and regeneration initiatives became the highlights of urban policy. Alongside the ever-transforming residential neighborhoods and city centers, deindustrialization brought about change in some other parts of the city that had incredible value: Docklands. These areas were slowly being abandoned in this period / creating serious socio-economic and spatial problems while also creating unique opportunities for cities in their adaptation to the postindustrial economy. The fall of production as the basis of urban economies was followed by the rise of consumption, which cherished these vast and publicly owned spaces abandoned by production related uses. Turkish cities are, and have been, transforming with a pace which policy intervention can barely catch up with. Turkish docklands are under real estate investment pressure in a similar way to the vacant docklands of postindustrial cities around the world, but with one significant difference. Dockland transformation has not been the condition, but is the desired situation in our port cities / HaydarpaSa port constituting one of the best examples. While still fully functional, this important port and its surroundings, including the HaydarpaSa train station, has been subject to transformation proposals throughout the last decade. Following a number of unsuccessful initiatives, the latest proposal for the area has been HaydarpaSa World Trade Center and Cruiser Project. This thesis aims to understand the actual forces behind transformation of a dockland area in Turkey, and to determine if the proposals have been addressing these forces and factors. The study involves examination of the conditions of urban development in the postindustrial era and some cases of dockland transformation schemes launched in this period. The aim is to compare these cases and their backgrounds to the context of the HaydarpaSa area, in order to determine the relevance of the utilized policy models to transform this extremely valuable part of the Bosphorus.

This thesis analyzes the economic health of the dining establishments in Downtown San Diego, CA, specifically in the vicinity of Petco Park. Opened in 2004, Petco Park is home to the San Diego Padres, a Major League Baseball franchise. In addition, it serves as a venue for outdoor concerts and shows. The venue is used for most of the year due to an expanded Major League Baseball schedule, especially compared to other professional sports. Much of the transformation of San Diego’s Downtown can be attributed to the late 1990’s East Village Revitalization Plan, which included municipal anchors like the San Diego Central Library, the San Diego Convention Center, and Petco Park. By looking at the restaurant industry as of 2019, this thesis strives to provide a better understanding of how an urban entertainment anchor provides grounds for mutually beneficial conditions to small businesses. Additionally, this thesis integrates the concept of economic health into the larger field of knowledge around urban professional sports stadia. Further, this thesis aims to burgeon a framework for taxonomic research of professional sports stadia.