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ItemGrowth and expansion in post-war urban design strategies: C. A. Doxiadis and the first strategic plan for Riyadh Saudi Arabia (1968-1972)(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009-11-19) Middleton, Deborah AntoinetteThis dissertation resituates C. A. Doxiadis in Post-War urban design history with a detailed examination of how urban growth and change was addressed by urban design strategies as applied in the master plan for Riyadh Saudi Arabia, undertaken between 1968 and 1972. The Riyadh master plan commission is important within Doxiadis' career, occurring in the midst of his prolific writing projects and approximately eight years after he completed the Islamabad master plan, his most renowned project. Most Post-War architects focused on the socio-spatial components of urban life, elaborating architectural projects that intertwined transportation, infrastructure, and concentrated on mass housing strategies. This dissertation argues that Doxiadis' contribution to urban design theory and practice during the Post-War period was to define a rational scientific methodology for urban design that would restructure settlements to enable urban expansion and change while addressing issues of community building, governance and processes of development. The applied urban design for Riyadh Saudi Arabia strongly exemplifies Doxiadis' rational strategy and methodology as outlined in Ekistics theory and the conceptual model of Dynapolis. The comparative analysis examines how Doxiadis applies the Dynapolis model in the urban spatial planning of Riyadh to organize urban territory at the macro and local urban scales, define neighborhood communities, and connect the new master plan to the existing spatial territory of the city. The longitudinal analysis contrasts the Doxiadis master plan, Riyadh's first urban development strategy, to the most recent comprehensive approach MEDSTAR to understand how the Doxaidis' urban design has sustained its spatial continuity over time. This dissertation makes two significant contributions. The first is to broaden knowledge of Post-War urban design specific to the spatial problem of urban expansion and change, and second to resituate Doxiadis within the Post-War history of urban design specifically revealing his previously unrecognized project of the Riyadh master plan undertaken from 1968-1972.
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ItemCoding the urban form(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009-05-04) Habeeb, Dana M.What are the essential characteristics that constitute historic American neighbor- hoods? Do current regulations promote developments that exhibit these essential characteristics? In this thesis I analyze two historic neighborhoods in an effort to un- cover their architectonic principles. By identifying the key components that comprise these places, we can critically analyze whether regulations, such as Historic Preserva- tion Ordinances and the SmartCode, are adequately designed to govern development practices of residential neighborhoods.
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ItemDesigning density: increasing functionality through flexibility in single family neighborhoods(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009-04-29) Smith, Alyson RaeAmerican cities have only recently come of age in the global sense. Therefore, most of our land use regulations have emphasized greenfield development issues over those of a mature city. The next wave of city building is redensification. This thesis argues that modern day, Euclidian zoning needs to be replaced in order to make the case for a sustainable mix of residential diversity, density, and affordability. Conventional zoning relies on simplistic measures to regulate density and shape the form of neighborhoods. Initially used primarily as a way to make the field of planning appear scientific and rational, these measures do not create functionally flexible neighborhoods for the changing needs of the twenty first century. Urban spaces should be thought of as a language, composed of pieces that evolve with cultural norms. Zoning must evolve to reflect current societal values, with an emphasis on environmental issues, while meeting the needs of changing market structures if cities are ever to sustainably house their populous. Zoning's inflexibility towards cultural shifts uses antiquated assumptions to force contemporary city design into a regulatory straight jacket. Using case studies within the city of Los Angeles because of its history in side-by-side integration of single family homes with a range of residential densities and supportive commercial uses, the thesis investigates three primary questions. First, under what zoning ordinances did the Los Angeles neighborhoods evolve and what lessons in functionality can be taken from their design? Second, looking at both conventional zoning and newer, form-based regulatory techniques, how does zoning affect the variety of housing types available? And third, what would a flexible zoning framework, created to support the future development of an evolving regional urbanization process and a changing social demographic, look like?
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ItemBig boxes and stormwater(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008-07-11) Fite-Wassilak, Alexander H.Big-box Urban Mixed-use Developments (BUMDs) are mixed-use developments with a consistent typology that incorporate big-box retailers in a central role. They are also becoming popular in the Atlanta region. While BUMDs serve an important economic role, they also cause issues with stormwater. This study explores integrating a on-site approach to stormwater management into the design of BUMDs. These new designs not only significantly lower the amount of stormwater run-off, but also have potential for better, more attractive, developments.
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ItemTerra fluxus: Urban design in the wake of deindustrialization(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008-06-03) Bacon, Kevin L., Jr.Emerging trends in the re-inhabitation of central cities and government funding of numerous financial incentives have succeeded in making brownfield redevelopment a far more lucrative opportunity for developers over the past decade. However, the redevelopment process itself remains virtually unchanged, maintaining a narrow focus on environmental remediation, site engineering, and short-term market demand. Land use, instead of design, drives the entire process. This approach fails to sustain development and recognize larger redevelopment opportunities based on local and regional context. Despite an increasing amount of public money used to fund incentives, development continues to overlook potential positive externalities presumably to avert risk and increase feasibility. The purpose of this thesis is to re-examine brownfield redevelopment from the perspective of urban design in order to define ways in which design might offer solutions to these shortcomings and play a more critical role in future redevelopments. Using case studies of past redevelopments of former auto plant sites, Landscape Urbanism in brownfield redevelopment, and design proposals for auto plant sites from the GM and Ford closings of 2005-2006, the thesis investigates three primary questions. First, what is the conventional brownfield redevelopment process, to what extent has urban design been involved, and what are the major issues and lessons that can be learned? Secondly, what examples of brownfield redevelopment have integrated urban design to addresses these issues and what are the specific principles that inform design? Finally, how can urban design strategies, based on principles of Landscape Urbanism, lead the redevelopment of brownfield sites?
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ItemUrban Mobility: Transference and Atlanta's Transit(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2007-04-09) Futrell, Janae MaeganThe research segment of this thesis creates the first comprehensive repository of the current and proposed elements of public transit that will potentially operate in Atlanta. Beginning with a base GIS map of Atlanta Regional Commissions [ARC] Regional Transit Plan Mobility 2030, other GIS shapefiles from MARTA and Georgia Regional Transit Authority [GRTA] were added to complete the map of what Atlantas public transit might soon become. Working within this framework, the analysis provides the potential locations for ten nodes of transference located within Atlanta and its outlying areas - all classified by their relative locations within the city. This thesis analyzes methods of connectivity within these nodes and attempts to arrive at successful conditions of transference between various transit modes; resulting in a series of conceptual design proposals that create both modular efficiency and a standardized aesthetic language.
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ItemSuburban Revisions(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2005-05-18) Durden, Alyssa ShankThe word revise means to reconsider or modify as with text. If we think of the suburban landscape as a text, the culture of each era left documentation of their values, policies and way of life in the form of transportation networks and other infrastructure, such as Main Streets, squares and public buildings. While evidence of most of the everyday life of individuals of every era gets erased by the following era, infrastructure investments of each era are adaptively reused and remain to tell the story. This thesis documents the adaptive reuse of these suburban frameworks and develops a proposition for the appropriate next layer to accommodate a new culture of inhabitants. Focusing on second generation suburbs, using Gwinnett County as a case study, this analysis identifies three problems of the current suburban situation: the problem of abandoned strips, a demographic shift, and the need for place. As new strip highways develop, old strips decline leaving abandoned shopping centers and declining property values. New development continues to move north and out of the county, and middle class residents, for which existing auto-oriented suburbs were created, move as well. A new, poorer, and more ethnically diverse population inherits the auto-oriented landscape left behind. This phenomenon is particularly concentrated along the southern portion of the Buford Highway corridor. Those with more money move closer to new development, while those with less money have less choice and are found near declining strips with fewer services, poorer quality housing and lower quality of life. Finally, county officials have expressed a desire for defining "the epicenter of Gwinnett." I believe that there is no one "center" of Gwinnett, but a series of places defined by memory, design or events. I propose to improve the situation of these three problems with a light rail line that connects existing places and creates new walkable, livable places to improve quality of life. This connective piece will serve as a social condenser in lieu of a center, provide links between polar populations, and reactivate declining strips while creating a sustainable infrastructural spine for future growth in the region.
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ItemParking Lots: An Investigation of Public Space in the Contemporary American City(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2005-04-18) Mayer, Madelaine RoseThe surface parking lot was a key element in the destruction of traditional public space. It fragmented the fabric of traditional cities, prompting the sprawl of twentieth century cities and suburbs. The automobile permitted the average individual, for the first time in history, to move through public space insulated in a private shell, shielded from strangers and protected from undesirables. Consequently, the role of the sidewalk dwindled. The automobile and the parking lot dominated the pedestrian and the sidewalk, whose diminished vitality further encouraged widespread automobile use. As a result, the parking lot became one of the defining features of the American city. In the United States parking lots are expected to be utilitarian, prevalent and free. Even as traditional public spaces disappeared, there was little demand for new public spaces, particularly not in the parking lot. Through investigations of parking history and public space, this thesis argues that parking lots, by virtue of their visual and physical accessibility, are contemporary public space. Although they are singular in their use, in contrast to the multifaceted street, parking lots are the settings for modern public life. This thesis further asserts that the simple landscape of the utilitarian parking lot can be transformed into complex public space, thereby enlivening the public realm.