Master's Projects

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Master's Projects

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 425

Understanding Trends in Urban Heat and Mitigation Strategies in Urban Design and Planning

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2024-04-25) Burch, Makaela

Since the 19th century, a trend of rapid urbanization has been observed across the globe. Given that urban areas need to accommodate more and more people, urban development has been impacted in a way that favors high-density structures, which can lead to a number of environmental concerns. The urban heat island effect is a phenomenon that many urban centers suffer from, especially in the summer months, which causes the atmospheric temperature to be higher in urban areas than in suburban or rural areas. This paper will provide insight into how various mitigation strategies can be incorporated into urban design and planning to reduce the impact of urban heat and heat-related climate hazards in the future. How we interact with our environment directly affects our quality of living, therefore going forward with these understandings may prove to be vital in humanity's hunt to lessen the already tremendous burden that we have placed on our planet.
Engaging Communities for Climate Resilience Planning

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2024-04-25) Van Slooten, Alaina

The field of climate resilience planning has emerged in response to the increased heat, wildfires, storms, and myriad other complex challenges towns and cities around the world are facing as a result of the climate crisis. This paper utilizes a broad definition of climate resilience, encompassing adaptation to changing environmental conditions, improving systems' ability to respond to social and environmental threats, and addressing causes of climate change. While large-scale federal and international action is crucial, climate change impacts will continue to play out among local communities of people around the world. Climate resilience planners and other practitioners will need to work with communities to better understand the threats they are facing and design interventions that provide local benefits. Because of the urgency and complexity of climate threats, as well as controversy surrounding interventions seen as green gentrification, engaging communities in climate resilience planning is uniquely challenging. This paper will examine community engagement practices in climate resilience planning, with an eye towards how they impact the implementation success of the final plan. The research question is, "what community engagement practices lead to climate resilience plans that achieve implementation steps?" First, the paper will review literature to outline the evolution of community engagement approaches and define climate resilience planning. Then, the two concepts are brought together to explore models of community engagement in climate-related planning, emerging challenges, and current guidance on best practices. Following the literature review, the paper will offer four case studies of climate resilience plans with strong community engagement. The case studies will delve into the “how” of community engagement processes with attention to equity and justice: who was engaged, at what stages in the process, and using what practices. To the extent possible using interviews and research, the case studies will connect community engagement to plan implementation: how was the plan received and progress made towards its actions and goals. Finally, this paper will identify common threads and challenges between the examples to develop actionable recommendations for climate resilience practitioners seeking to work among and in partnership with communities.
Calling A House a Home: The Interior and Exterior Design of Black Homes

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2024-04-25) McCain, Mary Jane

This paper explores the interior and exterior design of Black homes as repositories for history, culture including personal identity and family history.
Municipal Food Scrap Composting Programs: What Can Atlanta Learn from Programs Around the Country?

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2024-04-25) Chen, Alicia

In 2022, the United States Department of Agriculture recognized the utility of composting programs and launched Composting and Food Waste Reduction cooperative agreements. Through the agreements, $10.2 million were awarded to fund pilot projects that develop and implement strategies for food waste reduction and compost plans (and increase access to compost for local agricultural producers). The City of Atlanta won one of the grants to pilot its own food waste composting program in 2022 and pilot programs have also been started in the adjacent cities of East Point and Decatur in 2023. As these services are being implemented, it is a prime time to explore and understand what policies should be included in a successful municipal food waste composting program and to discern how existing programs around the country are actually performing. This paper will aim to answer the following questions: Which municipal food scrap composting program best practices are actually being implemented around the country? Which best practices should Atlanta prioritize implementing in its own program?
Planning for Childcare

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2024-04-20) Tamura, Micah

City planners play a pivotal role in establishing the resources communities need to accomplish their goals. Childcare is a critical resource that supports parents' ability to work, promotes children’s development, and advances economic growth. I performed a spatial analysis to identify census tracts that need more childcare accessibility. The analysis compared measures of childcare availability, populations of women likely to use childcare, and economic distress to assess the need for childcare in census tracts within the Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Roswell, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area (Atlanta Metro). I then created a report with spatial analysis, childcare leader insight, and city planning policy solutions that could be incorporated into a comprehensive plan. The purpose of the analysis and the report is to provide a framework for city planners to improve childcare accessibility.
The Northeast Georgia Inland Port and Carbon Emissions due to Ground Transportation in Georgia: An Ode to Rail Transportation

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2024-04) McDonald, Asha

This applied research paper examines the projected difference in carbon emissions caused by the construction of the Northeast Georgia Inland Port in Gainesville, GA.
The Outdated Procedural Law of Planning

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2024-04) Hulett, Charlie

Planning started in the 1920s as simplistic delineations of land. Zoning and planning have since progressed to complicated designs of districts, overlays, and built environment standards, among others. What has not changed are the procedural rules of bringing planning and zoning decisions to life. Based on traditional systems of democracy, procedures in planning seek only to act as the minimum standard of conduct despite producing genuine impacts, akin to substantive law. This paper seeks to illuminate those procedures in Georgia and begin the conversation for planners to consider what has long been treated as local government attorneys’ responsibility, alone.
Planning for a Climate Driven Implementation of Mobility Hubs on Georgia Tech’s Campus

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2023-12) Murali, Malavika

Mobility hubs are an efficient and effective transportation solution that promotes connectivity and provides last-mile modal options for commuters and residents through integrating multi-modal transportation infrastructure in one convenient transitional space. In addition to encouraging place-making efforts and transforming cities with innovative technologies, mobility hubs are foundationally a strategy for addressing the climate change crisis, which is substantially driven by transportation related carbon and carbon-equivalent emissions. Therefore, a focus on a climate driven implementation of mobility hubs is pertinent to accomplishing the goal of reducing carbon emissions and creating resilient transportation infrastructure. This paper provides a case study analysis of best practice strategies for implementing mobility hubs from three institutions across the United States, which informs a review of Georgia Tech's plans for improving mobility on campus as outlined by the 2023 Comprehensive Campus Plan (CCP). This analysis is used to determine what elements are critical to creating resilient, sustainable, and accessible mobility hubs and to propose a climate driven approach to implementing the mobility plans of the institution. Through this analysis, 14 locations are identified for potential mobility hubs throughout campus that incorporate 11 sustainability and accessibility elements which are detailed in the paper.
Towards a Safer Atlanta: Identifying High-Priority Intersections for Leading Pedestrian Intervals

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2023-12) Mase, Heather

This study addresses the critical issue of pedestrian safety and the need to prioritize safety interventions in the City of Atlanta. It specifically focuses on leading pedestrian intervals (LPIs), which adjust signal timing to give pedestrians a head start when crossing the street at intersections. While traditional safety analyses rely primarily on historical collision data, this analysis takes a systemic and proactive approach to safety by incorporating risk factors such as roadway characteristics, the surrounding built environment, and socioeconomic characteristics of nearby residents. The primary objective of this research is to determine where LPIs should be implemented in the City of Atlanta by ranking and identifying high-risk intersections. The methods comprise of six major steps: (1) factor selection; (2) data collection; (3) database construction; (4) calculation of factor weights, using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP); (5) factor normalization and aggregation, involving scaled scores and weighting; and (6) determination of the final signalized intersection ranking for LPI implementation, based on a rank-order prioritization process. Results from this analysis reveal that many of the highest risk intersections are primarily concentrated around Downtown Atlanta and West Atlanta. The proposed data-driven framework provides a comprehensive and systematic approach to guide decision-makers and safety advocates in directing resources and support to intersections with the greatest need for pedestrian safety intervention. Overall, this research contributes to the advancement of safety, sustainability, and equity in the City of Atlanta.
America’s Gayborhoods: A Study in the Cultural Preservation of LGBTQ+ Communities

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2023-12) Brennan, Laurence

In recent years, Atlanta, GA has seen a boon in development, catapulting housing demand and prices, particularly in its densest and most desirable neighborhoods. The Midtown neighborhood’s Garden District, commonly referred to as the ‘Gayborhood’ is one such place where long-time residents are being pushed out. The exodus of queer trailblazers combined with an influx of new, heteronormative populations in dense new high rises, dilutes the proportion of LGBTQ+ anchor residents who patronized the shops and cafes that served as the backbone of this community. This exploratory effort reviews literature and research from other studies and governmental entities and conducts a comparative analyses of planning interventions that other U.S. cities have used as tools toward cultural preservation. This analysis, identifies policies, ordinances, or other successful practices of stewarding the heritage of identity-based places, to prevent further erasure of Atlanta’s LGBTQ+ enclaves.