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- All Subjects: urban planning
- Creators: Wiek, Arnim
In the spring of 2016, The City of Apache Junction partnered with the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning at Arizona State University on three forward-thinking plans for development in Apache Junction. Graduate students in the Urban and Environmental Planning program worked alongside City staff, elected officials and the public to identify opportunities and visions for:
1. Multi-modal access and connectivity improvements for City streets and open space.
2. Downtown development.
3. A master-planned community on state land south of the U.S. 60.
The following sections of the report present Apache Junction’s unique characteristics, current resident demographics, development needs and implementation strategies for each project:
1. Community Profile
2. Trail Connectivity Master Plan
3. Downtown Visioning
4. State Land Visioning
The Trail Connectivity Master Plan optimizes existing trails and wide road shoulders to improve multi-modal connections across the city. The proposed connections emphasize access to important recreation, education and other community facilities for pedestrians, equestrians and bicycles. Trail and lane designs recommend vegetated buffers, wherever possible, to improve traveler safety and comfort. The proposals also increase residents’ interaction with open space along urban-rural trails and park linkages to preserve opportunities to engage with nature. The objectives of the report are accomplished through three goals: connectivity, safety improvements and open space preservation.
Downtown Visioning builds on a large body of conceptual design work for Apache Junction’s downtown area along Idaho Road and Apache Trail. This report identifies three goals: to establish a town center, reestablish the grid systems while maintaining a view of the Superstition Mountains, and create an identity and sense of place for the downtown.
State Land Visioning addresses a tract of land, approximately 25 square miles in area, south of the U.S. 60. The main objective is to facilitate growth and proper development in accordance with existing goals in Apache Junction’s General Plan. This is accomplished through three goals:
1. Develop a foundation for the creation of an economic corridor along US-60 through preliminary market research and land use planning.
2. Create multi-modal connections between existing development north of US-60 and future recreational space northeast of US-60.
3. Maintain a large ratio of open space to developed area that encompasses existing washes and floodplains using a master planned community framework to provide an example for future land use planning.
In the spring of 2016, the City of Apache Junction partnered with the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning at Arizona State University on three forward-thinking plans for development in Apache Junction. Graduate students in the Urban and Environmental Planning program worked alongside City staff, elected officials and the public to identify opportunities and visions for:
1. Multi-modal access and connectivity improvements for City streets and open space.
2. Downtown development.
3. A master-planned community on state land south of the U.S. 60.
The following sections of the report present Apache Junction’s unique characteristics, current resident demographics, development needs and implementation strategies for each project:
1. Community Profile
2. Trail Connectivity Master Plan
3. Downtown Visioning
4. State Land Visioning
The Trail Connectivity Master Plan optimizes existing trails and wide road shoulders to improve multi-modal connections across the city. The proposed connections emphasize access to important recreation, education and other community facilities for pedestrians, equestrians and bicycles. Trail and lane designs recommend vegetated buffers, wherever possible, to improve traveler safety and comfort. The proposals also increase residents’ interaction with open space along urban-rural trails and park linkages to preserve opportunities to engage with nature. The objectives of the report are accomplished through three goals: connectivity, safety improvements and open space preservation.
Downtown Visioning builds on a large body of conceptual design work for Apache Junction’s downtown area along Idaho Road and Apache Trail. This report identifies three goals: to establish a town center, to reestablish the grid systems while maintaining a view of the Superstition Mountains, and to create an identity and sense of place for the downtown.
State Land Visioning addresses a tract of land, approximately 25 square miles in area, south of the U.S. 60. The main objective is to facilitate growth and proper development in accordance with existing goals in Apache Junction’s General Plan. This is accomplished through three goals:
1. Develop a foundation for the creation of an economic corridor along US-60 through
preliminary market research and land use planning.
2. Create multi-modal connections between existing development north of US-60 and
future recreational space northeast of US-60.
3. Maintain a large ratio of open space to developed area that encompasses existing
washes and floodplains using a master planned community framework to provide an
example for future land use planning.
In this research, urban public participation is a collaborative decision-making process between residents, businesses, experts, public officials, and other stakeholders. When processes are not attuned with the local context (participant lifestyles, needs, interests, and capacities) misalignments between process and context arise around living conditions and personal circumstances, stakeholder trust, civic engagement, collaborative capacity, and sustainability literacy, among others.
This dissertation asks (1) what challenges arise when the public participation process does not match the local context, (2) what are key elements of public participation processes that are aligned with the local context, (3) what are ways to design public participation that align with specific local contexts, and (4) what societal qualities and conditions are necessary for meaningful participatory processes?
These questions are answered through four interrelated studies. Study 1 analyzes the current state of the problem by reviewing public participation processes and categorizing common misalignments with the local context. Study 2 envisions a future in which the problem is solved by identifying the features of well-aligned processes. Studies 3 and 4 test interventions for achieving the vision.
This dissertation presents a framework for analyzing the local context in urban development projects and designing public participation processes to meet this context. This work envisions public participation processes aligned with their local context, and it presents directives for designing deliberative decision-making processes for sustainable urban development. The dissertation applies a systems perspective to the social process of public participation, and it provides empirical support for theoretical debates on public participation while creating actionable knowledge for planners and practitioners.
The dissertation consists of three studies. Study 1 uses a case study approach to investigate existing sustainability program selection processes in three cities: Avondale, USA; Almere, the Netherlands; and Freiburg, Germany. These cities all express commitment to sustainability but have varying degrees of sustainable development experience, accomplishment, and recognition. Study 2 develops a program selection framework for urban sustainable transformation drawing extensively from the literature on sustainability assessment and related fields, and on participatory input from municipal practitioners in Avondale and Almere. Study 3 assesses the usefulness of the framework in a dual pilot study. Participatory workshops were conducted in which the framework was applied to real-world situations: (i) with the city’s sustainability working group in Avondale; and (ii) with a local energy cooperative in Almere.
Overall, findings suggest cities are not significantly adapting program selection processes in response to the challenges of sustainability. Processes are often haphazard, opportunistic, driven elite actors, and weakly aligned with sustainability principles and goals, which results in selected programs being more incremental than transformational. The proposed framework appears effective at opening up the range of program options considered, stimulating constructive deliberation among participants, and promoting higher order learning. The framework has potential for nudging program selection towards transformational outcomes and more deeply embedding sustainability within institutional culture.