Organizational Unit:
College of Design

Permanent Link
https://hdl.handle.net/1853/70628
Research Organization Registry ID
Description
Previous Names
Parent Organization
Parent Organization
Includes Organization(s)
ArchiveSpace Name Record
https://finding-aids.library.gatech.edu/agents/corporate_entities/101

Filters

13
13
Reset filters

Settings
search.filters.applied.f.advisor: French, Steven P. × Has files: Yes × search.filters.applied.f.isOrgUnitOfPublicationTitle: College of Design × search.filters.applied.f.isOrgUnitOfPublicationTitle: School of City and Regional Planning ×

Publication Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 13
Thumbnail Image
Item

Congregations and Community: A Case Study of Church-Led Initiatives in Atlanta, Georgia

2023-12 , Gjoni, Ornela

his research delves into the multifaceted role of faith-based organizations (FBOs), particularly churches, in community development within various neighborhoods of Atlanta, Georgia. Emphasizing the importance of collective efforts for societal well-being, the study explores the motivations, strategies, and outcomes of local missions’ programs initiated or supported by congregations. The investigation aims to assess the effectiveness of church-led initiatives in fostering economic self-sufficiency and creating stable living environments for residents in disadvantaged communities. Employing a case study methodology, the research relies on content analysis as the methodology approach. The conceptual framework integrates variables such as capacity, commitment, community acceptance, and the perceived negative perception of congregations. The study contributes to the empirical understanding of FBOs' contributions to community development, addressing the dearth of comprehensive research in this area. The findings aim to inform policymakers and foster a deeper appreciation for the intricate dynamics of faith-based engagement in community development.

View
Thumbnail Image
Item

Measuring the spatial correlation between temperature and vulnerability across the urban environment

2014-08-25 , Morano, Kaitlin

This thesis aims to examine the spatial relationship between elevated air temperatures and populations most vulnerable to heat across the urban environment. To assess this correlation, the analysis focuses on the cities of Atlanta, Georgia and Minneapolis, Minnesota. A three-part methodology was employed: first, continuous air temperature was estimated using satellite imagery and weather station observations; second, a heat vulnerability index was generated based on demographic, social, and environmental variables at the Census block group level; and third, a spatial statistical analysis was performed to measure the correlation between the hottest temperatures and the populations most vulnerable to heat. Finally, the thesis concludes with policy recommendations that address the comprehensive nature of vulnerability in relation to extreme heat. As municipalities and local governments plan for a future with warmer temperatures and larger urban populations, effective policies must be designed with respect to both the social and physical environments; the results herein can help inform such strategies.

View
Thumbnail Image
Item

Challenges of sustainable urban planning: the case of municipal solid waste management

2011-07-08 , Ai, Ning

This study aims to demonstrate the critical role of waste management in urban sustainability, promote planners' contribution to proactive and efficient waste management, and facilitate the integration of waste management into mainstream sustainability planning. With anticipated increases in population and associated waste generation, timely and effective waste management highlights one of the most critical challenges of sustainable development, which calls for meeting "the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" (WCED, 1987). Waste management in urban areas plays a particularly important role, given that waste generated from urban areas are often exported out of the region for processing and treatment, and the impacts of waste disposal activities may pass on to the other jurisdictions, and even to the next generations. An urban system cannot be sustainable if it requires more resources than it can produce on its own and generates more wastes than the environment can assimilate. The current waste management practice, which focuses on short-term impacts and end-of-pipe solutions, is reactive in nature and inadequate to promote sustainability within urban systems, across jurisdictions, and across generations. Through material flows in and out of urban systems, many potential opportunities exist to reduce waste generation and to minimize the negative impacts on the environment, the economy, and the society. City planners' involvement in waste management, however, has been largely limited to siting waste management facilities. Linking waste management with three important lenses in planning-land use, economic development, and environmental planning, this study investigates the impacts of urban growth on waste management activities, the need of transforming the reactive nature of current waste management, and the challenges and opportunities that planners should address to promote urban systems' self-reliance of material and waste management needs. This study includes three empirical analyses to complement theoretical discussions. First, it connects waste statistics with demographic data, geographic characteristics, and policy instruments at the county level to examine whether waste volume can be decoupled from urban population growth. Second, it examines the life cycle costs of different waste management options and develops a simulation study to seek cost-effective strategies for long-term waste management. Third, it compiles evidence of geographic-specific characteristics related to waste management and demonstrates why waste management policies cannot be one-size-fit-all. This study finds that, with successful implementation of strategic policy design, waste generation and its associated impacts can be decoupled from population and urban growth. Good lessons about waste reduction programs can be learned from different communities. Meanwhile, this study also reveals various challenges facing communities with heterogeneous characteristics, such as housing density, building age, and income. Accordingly, this study discusses the potential opportunities for planners to contribute to community-specific waste management programs, the prospect of transforming waste management practice from a cost burden to a long-term economic development strategy, and the need to incorporate waste management into the sustainable urban planning agenda.

View
Thumbnail Image
Item

Smart Growth Development Case Study: Post Riverside, Atlanta, Georgia

2006-05 , Lowe, Jeffrey A.

View
Thumbnail Image
Item

The serious potential of fun games: a new model for public engagement

2020-04-25 , Barchers, Camille Victoria

This dissertation examines the relationship between game playing and social learning in public participation activities and whether and to what extent participants demonstrate enhanced collaborative decision making (collective intelligence) as a result. This research highlights the potential of Internet Communication Technology (ICT) to advance public engagement activities and demonstrates how planners might practically and intentionally design small group activities to promote collaborative processes. This dissertation used an experimental research design to test the extent to which an online role-playing game created opportunities for participants to experience social learning and whether or not this intervention lead to differences in collective intelligence between control and treatment groups. Additional analysis was conducted to measure the extent to which reported social learning and collective intelligence influenced planning outcomes such as commitment, creativity and consensus. Results of this work clarify the importance of social learning as a variable of interest for planners. Treatment groups demonstrated more equal turn-taking in review of descriptive statistics and social learning was found to be positively correlated with perceptions of consensus. This research also provides new perspectives on public participation and civic engagement. The impacts of this research are important not only for planners, but for all institutions that rely on collaborative decision making and need to understand group processes.

View
Thumbnail Image
Item

Polycentric development and transport network in China's megaregions

2014-03-24 , Song, Ge

China’s mega-regions, in addition to cities and metropolitan areas, have become the engines for economic development, and the target areas for regional and national policies. Reflecting upon China’s current path of regional urbanization, the proposed research examines a fundamental issue for China’s megaregional development: the impact of transport network development on the spatial pattern of China’s megaregions. Using the multiple national Censuses (1982, 1990, 2000, 2010) and the transport network GIS data in the corresponding years, this research 1) constructs measures of megaregional spatial patterns, 2) assesses the spatial trajectory of megaregional growth based on the differentiated growth rates of metropolitan cities, 3) computes indicators of megaregional transport network connectivity and accessibility, 4) examines the impacts of transportation infrastructure on megaregional growth trajectory. This research helps understand the spatial structure of China’s megaregions with newly constructed quantitative measures of polycentric spatial development, as well as the intra-megaregion and inter-megaregion variation of transport network in China. It also clarifies the link between transport infrastructure and megaregional spatial structure in China’s unique context by providing quantitative evaluation of the implications of transport investment for the spatial pattern in Chinese megaregions. Finally it enriches the megaregional solutions to China’s vision of economic, social and environmental sustainability.

View
Thumbnail Image
Item

The application of advanced inventory techniques in urban inventory data development to earthquake risk modeling and mitigation in mid-America

2008-10-27 , Muthukumar, Subrahmanyam

The process of modeling earthquake hazard risk and vulnerability is a prime component of mitigation planning, but is rife with epistemic, aleatory and factual uncertainty. Reducing uncertainty in such models yields significant benefits, both in terms of extending knowledge and increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of mitigation planning. An accurate description of the built environment as an input into loss estimation would reduce factual uncertainty in the modeling process. Building attributes for earthquake loss estimation and risk assessment modeling were identified. Three modules for developing the building attributes were proposed, including structure classification, building footprint recognition and building valuation. Data from primary sources and field surveys were collected from Shelby County, Tennessee, for calibration and validation of the structure type models and for estimation of various components of building value. Building footprint libraries were generated for implementation of algorithms to programmatically recognize two-dimensional building configurations. The modules were implemented to produce a building inventory for Shelby County, Tennessee that may be used effectively in loss estimation modeling. Validation of the building inventory demonstrates effectively that advanced technologies and methods may be effectively and innovatively applied on combinations of primary and derived data and replicated in order to produce a bottom-up, reliable, accurate and cost-effective building inventory.

View
Thumbnail Image
Item

Sustainable urban water use with a GIS planning support system: A case study of metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia

2016-05-19 , Sung, Sangwoo

This dissertation discusses a sustainable water use framework, including chief determinants of water consumption. It presents sample analyses of sustainable water uses and demonstrates a GIS-based planning support system that includes integrated land use-water models, called 'Sustainable Water use Scenario-based Planning Support Systems’ (SWSPSS). This study is composed of three linked research analyses: a cross-sectional regression analysis to examine the relationship between key water measures with county water withdrawal data; an empirical analysis adopting a spatial error model using single family residential water billing data; and the development of sustainable water use sample analysis of an ArcGIS-based planning support system using Python scripting and ModelBuilder to forecast future water demand in the metropolitan Atlanta region, GA. The analyses find that a series of urban form variables are correlated to urban water use rates, which support the proposition that a compact growth policy would reduce per capita urban water use moderately in the long run. The major contribution of this research is to connect land use to water resource planning and to demonstrate that changes in urban form can result in more sustainable water use.

View
Thumbnail Image
Item

The impact of natural disasters on neighborhood change:longitudinal data analysis

2012-09-18 , Lee, Dalbyul

This dissertation seeks to explore the association between natural disasters and neighborhood change and further to examine the differential impact of natural disasters on neighborhood change according to the disaster itself, the rehabilitation efforts of local jurisdictions, and the characteristics of the affected neighborhoods. Using the longitudinal model, it examines the shifts in neighborhood change trajectory before and after natural disaster for three indicators (home values, poverty rate and racial diversity). The results find that natural disasters have a significant impact on the trend of neighborhood change, reducing variation in the indicators within neighborhood. Home values and racial diversity of neighborhoods are likely to immediately decrease after natural disasters but not to shift in subsequent rate of change,while poverty rates are likely to instantly increase in the aftermath of the disasters and to annually decline over time. This dissertation also explores the differential effects on neighborhood change according to intensity of natural disaster, neighborhoods? average income and the location. The results of the analyses are like the following: 1) the neighborhoods which the more intense disasters hit are more likely to experience the rapid decline in home values and an instant increase in their poverty rates than those which the less intense disaster hit. On the other hand, the more intense natural disasters are more likely to increase neighborhoods? racial diversity than the less intense natural disasters, while natural disasters themselves are likely to decrease it. 2) natural disasters might have the more adverse impacts on low- and high-income neighborhoods than moderate-income neighborhoods and that the impacts on low-income neighborhoods are most severe. More importantly, the adverse impacts in low-income neighborhoods might be long lasting. 3)neighborhoods in suburban areas, compared to neighborhoods in the central cities, are likely to decrease in their home values after natural disasters and to increase in their poverty rates. Finally, the findings of this dissertation confirms its main arguments that a natural disaster affects the trend of neighborhood change and intervenes in the path of change over time and that natural disasters differentially shift neighborhoods according to their characteristics. Further it suggests that these neighborhood changes, once accelerated by a natural disaster, further polarize residential populations on a metropolitan neighborhood scale.

View
Thumbnail Image
Item

Multi-Use Trail Funding in the Atlanta Region: The Roles of Philanthropy and Politics in Project Development and Implementation

2006-05 , Safstrom, Lisa M.

View