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Description
Literature on the design and management of urban parks has been informed by empirical research on the value of public space in terms of economic value, public health, social, and environmental benefits. Although there is significant value in discussing these benefits, there has been a lack of understanding about the production of public space as a normative goal. Neighborhood parks have been recognized as one of the key urban public spaces that serve the social, economic, and environmental needs of adjacent neighborhoods. However, relevant studies mostly focus on the contribution of neighborhood parks as discrete space, instead of neighborhood parks as built spaces within the urban context. This research provides a better understanding of the relationship between the context of surrounding neighborhoods and the success of neighborhood parks. The research addresses two major research questions. First, what are the major characteristics of the morphological context around neighborhood parks? Second, how do the characteristics of morphological context associate with the success of neighborhood parks? For the first question, the `context' refers to the layout and configuration of urban form including blocks, parcels, and buildings; street network; pedestrian-oriented attributes; and property land uses. For the second question, the `success' of neighborhood parks is defined by property/ violent crime rate. The study is based on a quarter mile buffer area around 150 neighborhood parks in the City of Chicago, Illinois. The research employed factor and cluster analysis to develop a typology of neighborhood park contexts. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to identify the relationship between park morphological contexts and crime rate. Based on understanding the dimensional structure of urban form elements, neighborhood park surroundings were classified into six categories. This study provided an alternative way of constructing public space typology based on surrounding urban form. The findings of regression analysis revealed that variables associated with higher-density, permeability, and mixed-use development do not necessarily correlate with reduced property/ violent crime rates. However, some variables representing `traditional neighborhood' characteristics were correlated with lower property/ violent crime rates. The study provides guidelines for urban design and physical planning strategies for neighborhood park development.
ContributorsLee, Sungduck (Author) / Talen, Emily (Thesis advisor) / Crewe, Katherine (Committee member) / Petrucci, Darren (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Rapid urbanization in Phoenix, Arizona has increased the nighttime temperature by 5°C (9 °F), and the average daily temperatures by 3.1°C (5.6 °F) (Baker et al 2002). On the macro scale, the energy balance of urban surface paving materials is the main contributor to the phenomenon of the Urban Heat Island effect (UHI). On the micro scale, it results in a negative effect on the pedestrian thermal comfort environment. In their efforts to revitalize Downtown Phoenix, pedestrian thermal comfort improvements became one of the main aims for City planners. There has been an effort in reformulating City zoning standards and building codes with the goal of developing a pedestrian friendly civic environment. Much of the literature dealing with mitigating UHI effects recommends extensive tree planting as the chief strategy for reducing the UHI and improving outdoor human thermal comfort. On the pedestrian scale, vegetation plays a significant role in modifying the microclimate by providing shade and aiding the human thermal comfort via evapotranspiration. However, while the extensive tree canopy is beneficial in providing daytime shade for pedestrians, it may reduce the pavement surfaces' sky-view factor during the night, thereby reducing the rate of nighttime radiation to the sky and trapping the heat gained within the urban materials. This study strives to extend the understanding, and optimize the recommendations for the use of landscape in the urban context of Phoenix, Arizona for effectiveness in both improving the human thermal comfort and in mitigating the urban heat island effect.
ContributorsRosheidat, Akram (Author) / Bryan, Harvey (Thesis advisor) / Lee, Taewoo (Committee member) / Chalfoun, Nader (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Survivability of a place brand: politics of place in downtown Scottsdale, in the 1950s and the 1960s
Description
Place branding by its very nature is a highly selective endeavor. Typically, place branding focuses on highlighting positive aspects of place while discounting others that are deemed less appealing. Whether it pertains to attracting tourism, investment or people, or whether it concerns achieving a level of cultural significance, ultimately place branding impacts physical planning decisions and consequently the built environment. The selectivity entailed in projecting a sellable place image, together with the presence of different interests among the particular place stakeholders, may lead to a divergent dialectic of assertion and resistance over which brand ought to be projected and how it ultimately should be represented. This dynamic, I argue, will have impact on equity, on the issue of authenticity and on representation. Through a historical analysis approach and a case study, this dissertation examines how such a dynamic plays out in the built environment and how it evolves and shapes it over time. Downtown Scottsdale is chosen as a case because it offers an example of a small city downtown in the US West that experienced significant place branding activity in the 1950s and the 1960s. In the 1950s, the City of Scottsdale branded itself as a Western town and the built environment of the downtown area was themed to reflect this image; in the 1960s, the Western brand was challenged and calls for change emerged. Stakeholders and supporters of the Western image and those of the call for change are identified, and the dialectic that ensued is examined and discussed in relation to its impact on the built environment.
ContributorsElmubarak, Marwan G (Author) / Crewe, Katherine (Thesis advisor) / Talen, Emily (Committee member) / Pijawka, David (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
This study is an initial step in exploring how urban design typologies can help inform community asset research to broaden the definition of physical assets. Asset based community development research identifies specific types of physical assets such as streets, structures, housing or vacant lots. This research argues that a comprehensive look at physical assets is needed, taking into consideration urban typologies such as paths, landmarks, views and districts as well as the spatial relationships that influence their significance. Community asset literature and conditions specific to the Sunnyslope community in Phoenix, Arizona suggest that differences in ethnicity such as spatial segregation, and socio-economic status exist. However, the literature does not address how these differences in ethnicity might influence residents' perceptions of physical assets. This study explores the questions - How do perceptions of physical assets vary among women of different ethnicities? What, if any, are the reasons behind these ethnic differences in perception? The research applied a survey instrument with open-ended and close-ended questions, and a map to mark frequently used routes. Assets identified by recoding open-ended responses were statistically analyzed for frequencies. The most frequently mentioned assets were analyzed by GIS for spatial relationships. Women of White and Latino ethnicities frequently chose individual buildings and locations as physical assets over paths, views, districts and landmarks. White women identified urban typologies as physical assets. In contrast, Latino women identified no significant urban typologies as assets. The inclusion of urban typologies confirmed and expanded upon physical assets previously identified by other asset-based studies on the community of Sunnyslope. Notable differences in ethnicity were found in the perception of physical assets of economic significance, assets for use and assets of visual appeal. Besides ethnicity, age and proximity to assets also influenced asset perception of White and Latino women. Community organizations need to take into consideration the ethnic differences in perception of physical assets, in the context of culture, spatial segregation and differing family structures. The inclusion of urban typologies helped highlight the differences in ethnicities for physical assets of visual appeal, and the use of leisure and recreation facilities.
ContributorsThatte, Aparna (Author) / Ozel, Filiz (Thesis advisor) / Ahrentzen, Sherry (Thesis advisor) / Guhathakurta, Subhrajit (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
The United Nations projects that 68% of the world population will live in urban areas by 2050. As urban areas continue to grow, it is critical to consider how cities will be redesigned and reimagined to ensure that they are healthy and beneficial places that can properly support their residents. In addition, college students have been identified as a vulnerable population in regards to overall wellness. In Downtown Phoenix, one the biggest elements of concern will be the built environment and its influence on wellbeing as the city itself and Arizona State University’s Downtown campus populations continue to expand. Given this, the purpose of this study is two-fold. I applied Social-Cognitive Theory as a framework to first, understand student perceptions of the built and social environment and second, explore how perceptions of the built and social environment influence student wellbeing. I used semi-structured interviews and participant-driven photo elicitation to answer these questions. The study took place at Taylor Place Mall on Arizona State University’s Downtown Campus and participants were students who attend classes on the ASU Downtown Campus. Findings displayed the need for design considerations to focus on the safety of students, creating places to gather for social connection, and overall a desire for design to focus on place making and place meaning, as well as other themes. Understanding more clearly how the built and social environment guides behaviors and social opportunities can help urban designers, landscape architects, and community developers better plan healthier environments that foster productive behaviors, create meaningful spaces, and prove to be sustainable in future years.
ContributorsRood, Sydney Kirsten (Author) / Budruk, Megha (Thesis advisor) / Jordan, Evan (Committee member) / Cloutier, Scott (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
The City of Phoenix has historically been developed in an unsustainable way based on the way that autocentric cities have come to mature. By learning from a few European cities, Phoenix can focus on improving in a few key areas that will make the valley more walkable, enjoyable, and beautiful. This process of learning from other European cities can help developers, designers, and others in the development community to improve all of the valley’s different communities with a consistent plan of increasing urban density and ending outward sprawl while redefining the connective tissue that makes up Phoenix. This paper is meant to provide a set of example cities in order to pull specific recommendations and create a system of guidelines for all autocentric cities.
ContributorsCava, Daniel (Author) / Coseo, Paul (Thesis director) / Azevedo, Justin (Committee member) / The Design School (Contributor) / Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Promoted by the city to increase land values and provide jobs in the barrios of South Phoenix, industry became a force of massive disturbance along Buckeye Road, interrupting the residential scale with large industrial lots, many of which have been abandoned. However, latent in the landscape are remnants of better times in the vibrant gestures of everyday urbanism.
Inspired by this palate of lively, idiosyncratic street designs—created out of necessity by people making-do—this project seeks to bring identity, value, and vitality to this challenging human environment.
This project uses concepts and processes of disturbance ecology and ecological succession, specifically the role played by pioneer species and biological legacies in the immediate aftermath of the eruption of Mount St. Helens, to develop an urban revitalization plan for Buckeye Road.
Inspired by this palate of lively, idiosyncratic street designs—created out of necessity by people making-do—this project seeks to bring identity, value, and vitality to this challenging human environment.
This project uses concepts and processes of disturbance ecology and ecological succession, specifically the role played by pioneer species and biological legacies in the immediate aftermath of the eruption of Mount St. Helens, to develop an urban revitalization plan for Buckeye Road.
ContributorsWhitesides, Ashley Nicole (Author) / Petrucci, Darren (Thesis director) / Hejduk, Renata (Committee member) / Fischer, Heidi (Committee member) / The Design School (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
As the move towards sustainable urbanism grows, understanding how the city has previously been envisioned and designed will be useful to moving forward. This work examines the legacy of urban design theories, what these theories have implied about what the city should be, and their sustainability consequences. Noticing three prominent urban design visions of the city, the technological city (as proposed in 1922 by Le Corbusier's Ville contemporaine and later in 1933 by his Ville Radieuse (The Radiant City), and in 1935 by Frank Lloyd Wright's' Broadacre City), the social city (as explored in 1961 by Jane Jacobs and in 1976 by Edward Relph of the University of Chicago), and the ecological city (as expounded upon in 1924 by both Lewis Mumford and in 1969 by Ian McHarg), I have newly applied the social-ecological-technical systems framework (SETS) to help classify and analyze these urban design theories and how they have mixed to create hybrid perspectives in more recent urban design theory. Lastly, I have proposed an urban design theory that envisions the sustainable city as an ongoing process. Hopefully, this vision that will hopefully be useful to the future of sustainable development in cities, as will a more organized understanding of urban design theories and their sustainability outcomes.
ContributorsWeber, Martha Stewart (Author) / Coseo, Paul (Thesis director) / Larson, Kelli (Committee member) / Industrial, Systems and Operations Engineering Program (Contributor) / The Design School (Contributor) / School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
The suburbs provoke a deeply polarized reaction, more so than most other components of the urban landscape. Those who live in the suburbs often love them for their quietude and their spaciousness, even while urban designers lament suburban sprawl. Regardless, suburbs are deeply entrenched in patterns of American urban land use, so an evolution to more sustainable land use will require incremental changes to suburban landscapes. The purpose of this project is twofold: one, to design a transition to a more sustainable landscape for an HOA in Gilbert, Arizona; and two, to abstract the process of designing this transition so that it can be applied on a larger scale.
ContributorsRonczy, Patricia Sophia (Author) / Coseo, Paul (Thesis director) / Hargrove, Allyce (Committee member) / The Design School (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
This research seeks to answer a question—is it possible to change the overall “image” of a city through changes to individual parts of the cityscape? Based on the approach of urban theorist Kevin Lynch the city of Berlin is analyzed through Lynch’s five elements: paths, edges, districts, nodes, and landmarks. Within Berlin, the Unter den Linden, Berlin Wall, Museum Island, Alexanderplatz, and Brandenburg Gate are analyzed through this lens. The time period from 1989-2015 provides a strong example of a case where a city has been able to reinvent its image. This research utilizes historical images and written accounts of the city of Berlin to track changes to the city’s overall “image.” These accounts and images are then contrasted with those of a visit conducted in June of 2015. Ultimately, much is revealed about Berlin through this analysis of its urban landscape. During the 1990s, many sites across the city were re-designed through high-profile international design competitions that show the global interest in rebuilding Berlin after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. A return to pre-20th century architecture, through rebuilding and restoration, is one significant outcome of this process. The struggle of Berlin, and Germany, to come to terms with the history of former Communist East German is another. This research finally reveals that even after almost 30 years of being a reunified city, Berlin has yet to fully understand its Communist history to the same degree it grasps its Nazi past in the cityscape.
ContributorsRogge, Andrew Winfield (Author) / Kelley, Jason (Thesis director) / Kestutis, Zygas (Committee member) / The Design School (Contributor) / School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05