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End date: 2016 × Start date: 2010 × Has files: Yes × search.filters.applied.f.isOrgUnitOfPublicationTitle: College of Design × search.filters.applied.f.isOrgUnitOfPublicationTitle: School of City and Regional Planning ×

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 171
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Habitat Suitability Analysis for the Frosted Flatwoods Salamander in Florida

2016-08 , Italiano, Anne

Species conservation and habitat protection are significant ecological issues that the internationally community has been addressing for decades, yet are challenging to incorporate into city and regional planning. The value of a species is difficult to quantify and measure against the potential for economic development and expansion of housing and industry. GIS offers a way to analyze land area according to multiple values and potential uses. Raster analysis is particularly useful in determining suitability of land uses as well as prioritizing development and preservation of land based on a set of weighted inputs. This project seeks to model a way that GIS can be used to determine suitability of areas in a defined region to provide habitat for a threatened or endangered species and prioritize areas for conservation to inform policy decisions. The focus of this study is on the spatial relationships between habitat factors that can support a specific species. In this case, the habitat factors include vegetative cover, proximity to freshwater wetlands, and distance from developed areas (which are completely unsuitable). The species of concern is a threatened salamander native to the southeastern United States, the frosted flatwoods salamander (Ambystoma cingulatum). The study area is the entire state of Florida.

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A Culture of High Speeds and Accumulating Debt: A Case Study of French High Speed Rail Financing Practices

2016-05 , Collot, Adeline

This paper set out to study the methods used to finance High Speed Rail (HSR) in France. It began by introducing the concept of high speed rail and the history of rail development in France to provide context for the state of rail in France today. Rail development history revealed a longstanding tradition of debt which has prevailed in modern times. As France continued to develop its rail network it shifted its financing methods from public debt financing to public-private partnerships. This case study of French HSR financing revealed the true cost of an extensive network which is often overlooked when the country is cited as a model. The paper concludes with lessons to be learned about France’s willingness to subsidize HSR, an ideology which may not be successfully transposed to other countries.

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Sea Level Rise and Migration: Understanding Future Climate-Driven Population Movements to the Atlanta Region

2016-05 , Tatum, Kimberly

As climate change leads to higher sea levels and stronger storms, many coastal cities will be increasingly at risk of a major local disaster destroying homes and vital urban infrastructure. Hurricane Katrina demonstrated how such a disaster can result in displacement of many citizens and how their social connections or existing disaster management procedures push them towards other cities, where they may settle permanently. Atlanta, as a major population center and transportation nexus for the south, should expect to receive high numbers of people forced to flee other southern cities in similar scenarios. This paper describes Atlanta’s migration shed: which coastal areas typically send people to Atlanta, which are at highest risk of future climate change impacts, and how many people could leave these areas for Atlanta. The analysis includes examinations of disaster and non-disaster migrations and sea level rise and storm vulnerability geographies in southern coastal counties. The final section consists of recommendations for a reevaluation of disaster preparedness considerations from a larger regional perspective.

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Virtual and Fantastic Urban Perceptions Through Cinema and Their Relation to Contemporary Cities

2016-05 , Date, Chirag

Any form of media or literature has the potential of being used as a tool to depict our perception of how we would like our cities to be; or in some cases, how we would not want them to end up like (dystopia). This gives us the freedom of testing our ideas and may help us consider which of them may actually fan out to be true. The research aims at understanding the link between our contemporary cities and the cities that we perceive through our media (movies mostly). Both cities and movies have impressions of people living in that era and thus speak to the aspirations and perceptions of what some of these ideas expect future cities to turn out as. The paper will take into consideration several comparative case studies between cities from movies and reality that can be somewhat compared as they have certain common points. The analysis will be divided roughly into two parts for sake of convenience – one looking at examples of urban concepts and comparing them to ancient cities and cities of today to understand if they relate at all and two (speculative case studies), looking at current perceptions of future urban scenarios through movies to see and gauge a possibility of what might or might not be adopted in future. By doing so, the paper will try to understand what governs these virtual perceptions and is there a way to break these factors into tangible components that could help us devise a logical plan to progress towards better cities. The paper also states a set of assumptions that the author considers while analyzing these ideas with an attempt to find common points of comparison. They have been stated in the following sections.

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Jane Jacobs, Quantified: Exploring the Legacy of the 20th Century’s Most Provocative Urban Theorist

2016-05 , Lueders, Abram

This paper attempts to accomplish three goals: to estimate Jacobs’ impact on urban planning, to investigate the evidence for Jacobs’ theories, and to point out the questions raised by Jacobs’ work that have never been answered. To these ends, the paper is divided into three parts. The first part of this paper will paint a brief picture of Jane Jacobs’ life and work, and provide an assessment of her influence on past, present, and future planners. The second part provides an analysis of the empirical literature on urban form that has emerged since The Death and Life was written. The final part of the paper will point out Jacobs’ unanswered questions, and attempt to address the inherent limits to our understanding of the city.

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Digital Media and the Built Environment: The Suspected Impact of Digital Devices on Public Space

2016-05 , Bonn, Sarah Jane

What exactly is the relationship between public space and technology? The physical environment grounds our daily operations, providing meaning and purpose to every decision and destination. As technological innovations progress, their presence in the built environment becomes even more dominant, transforming not only the individual’s life but also the space in which they operate. Numerous scenarios emerge for the future of public space, the impacts technology and digital devices will create, and the overall purpose and experience these spaces will provide, some present cases of extreme fear and uncertainty while others bring hope of increased access and equality.

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Expanding Landscapes: An Exploration of Large-scale Privately Owned Public Spaces

2016-05 , Heath, Simone

Ownership of public space and “the right to public space” are important matters of consideration for planners given the social, economic, and political undercurrents driving the contemporary America city (Miller, 2012). Early city design encompassed this concept by including large public areas for people to gather publically, often in the form of squares and plazas. With the trend towards globalization, the privatization of public spaces is diminishing the amount of public land available to public use. In his introduction to Variations on a Theme Park, Michael Sorkin attributes the new global economy to creating “a city without a place attached to it” naming it “ageographical” and being in a very “advanced condition in the United States (1992).” The sprawling city no longer needs open public spaces, with televisions for entertainment and the Internet for interaction. Shopping malls and office atria being the only places of random social interaction, Sorkin criticizes public space as a function of ability to pay. This description of privatizing public space that is present in all urban downtowns. In a sense, the public desire for goods was satisfied by giving up the “city” through the conversion of public lands. The purpose of this research is to answer the question, “Is privately owned public space, still public?”

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Sears, Roebuck & Company Warehouse Buildings: A Comparative Study in Large-Scale Adaptive Reuse

2016-05 , McMullen, Meghan

There are gaps in the existing literature pertaining to the relationship between urban planning, community development and historic structures (Ryberg-Webster and Kinahan 2014, 129; Mason 2005, 1), and of integrated quantitative and qualitative analyses of adaptive reuse projects and their urban impacts. Based on that need, this study will center on the research question, “What are the urban impacts of the adaptive reuse of large industrial buildings, and what best practices tend to maximize positive impacts?” and will comprise of a literature review and series of case studies. This literature review will 1) provide a foundational overview of adaptive reuse practices, 2) assess the urban impacts of adaptive reuse, including environmental, economic, and social concerns, and 3) outline the role of government in the facilitation of rehabilitation projects. The subsequent series of case studies will analyze ten large former Sears Roebuck & Company mail order and retail centers, using a set of buildings with similar histories and configurations and varied modern uses to illustrate different potential approaches and outcomes of large industrial adaptive reuse projects.

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Walkability, Pedestrian Infrastructure, & Transit Access in Atlanta

2016-05 , Boyd, Joseph

This paper focuses on the complex relationship between walkability and transit access in Atlanta. The following is a case study between three stations of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority heavy rail line that are of near equal distance from Downtown Atlanta and will compare and contrast the current pedestrian infrastructure conditions surrounding the stations. Recommendations from the findings will be stated at the end of this paper.

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Watch and Learn: How Observation Can Enhance Understanding of Walkability and Bikability Around Transit Stations

2016-05 , Maines, Katherine

This paper examines the suitability of the environment for walking and biking around three of Atlanta’s busiest rail stations based on availability of physical infrastructure and observation of public life surrounding the stations. Infrastructure includes elements like sidewalks and on- and off-street bike facilities. The life within the public realm also influences how comfortable different people feel walking or biking, so the analysis will include observations on behavior such as types of activities, level of interaction between people, and how quickly people move through the area. The result will be a holistic view of how the public realm supports last mile connectivity for people who choose to walk or bike to access rail transit in Atlanta. The following literature review addresses several questions regarding first and last mile connectivity (FLMC) and how to assess life in the public realm.

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