Matching Items (31)
Description
The research presented here aims to explore the perceived Quality of Life (QoL) and perceived accessibility among varying demographic and socioeconomic groups in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. A relationship between perceived QoL and perceived accessibility was further investigated. The data was collected through the Phoenix Area Social Survey (PASS), which sent randomized surveys to 496 people in the Phoenix region. The survey’s response rate varied, from a low of 22.2% in one of the lowest-income neighborhoods and a high of 55.6% for a middle-income neighborhood. Results were obtained through statistical analyses, such as correlations, chi-squared tests, and t-tests. Results for income, gender and ethnicity indicated similar and comparable perceived QoL and perceived accessibility in the Phoenix area. The data did not reveal a relationship between perceived QoL and perceived accessibility; however, accessibility did increase with increasing income. A striking finding revolved around disparities in access to walkability and transit across all income, genders and ethnicities. This presents implications for built environment and resource allocation planning in order to enhance the lives of residents in the Valley. Future research and investigation into the objective indicators of QoL and impacts of culture on QoL should be pursued.
ContributorsOmar, Hafsa (Author) / Pfeiffer, Deirdre (Thesis director) / Ehlenz, Meagan (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
Planners are often involved in the development of 'visions' for specific projects or larger plans. These visions often serve as guideposts for more specific plans or projects and the visioning process is important for involving community members into the planning process. This paper provides a review of the recent literature published about visioning and is intended to provide guidance for visioning activities in planning projects. I use the general term "vision" in reference to a desirable state in the future. The body of academic literature on visioning in planning has been growing over the last decade. However, the planning literature on visioning is diverse and dispersed, posing various challenges to researchers and planners seeking guidance for their own planning (research) activities. For one, relevant articles on visioning are scattered over different strands of literature ranging from traditional planning literature (Journal of the American Planning Association, Planning Practice and Research, etc.) to less traditional and intuitive sources (Futures, Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology). Further, some of them not easily identifiable and may not be openly accessible via the Internet. Thus, our review intends to help collect and synthesize this literature and begin to provide guidance for the future of visioning in the field of planning. I do this by compiling visioning literature from different strands of the planning literature, synthesizing key insights into visioning in (urban) planning, undertaking exemplary appraisals of visioning approaches in planning against quality criteria, and deriving conclusions for visioning research and practice. From this review, I highlight areas of opportunity and ways forward in order to make visioning more effective and more influential for the future of communities throughout the world.
ContributorsMinowitz, Amy (Author) / Golub, Aaron (Thesis advisor) / Wiek, Arnim (Committee member) / Pfeiffer, Deirdre (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Mixed-income housing policy has been an approach to address the problem of concentrated poverty since the 1990s. The idea of income mix in housing is founded on the proposition that economic opportunities of the poor can be expanded through the increasing of their social capital. The current in-depth case study of Vineyard Estates, a mixed-income housing development in Phoenix, AZ tests a hypothesis that low-income people improve their chances of upward social mobility by building ties with more affluent residents within the development. This study combines qualitative and quantitative methods to collect and analyze information including analysis of demographic data, resident survey and in-depth semi-structured interviews with residents, as well as direct observations. It focuses on examining the role of social networks established within the housing development in generating positive economic outcomes of the poor. It also analyzes the role of factors influencing interactions across income groups and barriers to upward social mobility. Study findings do not support that living in mixed-income housing facilitates residents' upward social mobility. The study concludes that chances of upward social mobility are restrained by structural factors and indicates a need to rethink the effectiveness of mixed-income housing as an approach for alleviating poverty.
ContributorsDurova, Aleksandra (Author) / Kamel, Nabil (Committee member) / Pfeiffer, Deirdre (Committee member) / Lucio, Joanna (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Over the last two decades programs and mandates to encourage and foster sustainable urban development have arisen throughout the world, as cities have emerged as key opportunity sites for sustainable development due to the compactness and localization of services and resources. In order to recognize this potential, scholars and practitioners have turned to the practice of visioning as a way to motivate actions and decision making toward a sustainable future. A "vision" is defined as desirable state in the future and scholars believe that the creation of a shared, motivational vision is the best starting point to catalyze positive and sustainable change. However, recent studies on city visions indicate that they do not offer substantive sustainability content, and methods or processes to evaluate the sustainability content of the resulting vision (sustainability appraisal or assessment) are often absent from the visioning process. Thus, this paper explores methods for sustainability appraisal and their potential contributions to (and in) visioning. The goal is to uncover the elements of a robust sustainability appraisal and integrate them into the visioning process. I propose an integrated sustainability appraisal procedure based on sustainability criteria, indicators, and targets as part of a visioning methodology that was developed by a team of researchers at Arizona State University (ASU) of which I was a part. I demonstrate the applicability of the appraisal method in a case study of visioning in Phoenix, Arizona. The proposed method allows for early and frequent consideration and evaluation of sustainability objectives for urban development throughout the visioning process and will result in more sustainability-oriented visions. Further, it can allow for better measurement and monitoring of progress towards sustainability goals, which can make the goals more tangible and lead to more accountability for making progress towards the development of more sustainable cities in the future.
ContributorsMinowitz, Amy (Author) / Wiek, Arnim (Thesis advisor) / Golub, Aaron (Committee member) / Pfeiffer, Deirdre (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Over the past decades, rare earth elements (REE) have become a crucial backbone to the functioning of modern technology infrastructure, particularly due to their inclusion within NdFeB magnets which power technologies such as hard disk drives and wind turbines. However, mining and extraction of REEs pose significant environmental and human health risks, thus signaling a need for more sustainable methods of sourcing. This research aims to compare the impact and effectiveness of three recycling processes for decommissioned NdFeB magnets sourced from end-of-life wind turbines, as well as consider strategies for developing these processes on an industrial scale. A material flow analysis (MFA) has been conducted to determine comparable input and output factors for two types of laboratory-scale recycling methods, molten salt electrolysis and hydrometallurgy, and one industrial-scale method, magnet-to-magnet. Following this, an impact analysis of potential industrial level magnet recycling operations for molten salt electrolysis and hydrometallurgy was conducted. The results show that molten salt electrolysis had the highest levels of impact for global warming, ozone depletion, and energy usage of the three methods when scaled on an industrial level. Hydrometallurgy had relatively low energy usage and emissions impacts but required large amounts of water and produced high levels of wastewater. The magnet-to-magnet process showed promising impact results in comparison with the alternate two methods, but further development needs to be done to circumvent the continued use of virgin REE in the final production steps for novel magnets. Overall, it is recommended that locations of recycling operations should be pursued for each process relative to energy and water usage needs, as well as transportation distance from wind farms.
ContributorsSavel, Cassandra Deanne (Author) / Agusdinata, Datu Buyung (Thesis director) / Iloeje, Nwike (Committee member) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-12
Description
This thesis conducted an evaluation of the performance and return on investment of a 2 x 6m, simple design greenhouse, as a climate control technology. Specifically, differences in internal microclimate conditions between a greenhouse treatment plot, and sun and shaded control plots were assessed and related to observed differences in crop yields across these plots. Growing conditions and productivity of two crops, tomato and swiss chard, which were grown over summer and winter growing seasons, respectively, were compared. It was found that the greenhouse was associated with improved growth conditions (as measured by the R-Index) for both crops but resulted in higher productivity only for tomatoes. Return on investment and food security impacts from the scaling of greenhouse agriculture were also explored.
ContributorsKline, Jarod Neale (Author) / Aggarwal, Rimjhim (Thesis director) / Agusdinata, Datu Buyung (Committee member) / Vanos, Jennifer K. (Committee member) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
DescriptionThis paper explores if there is a relationship between neighborhoods foreclosures and future social mobility in Maricopa County. Using data from various sources, we constructed a statistical model, multiple regression analysis, and maps to demonstrate patterns across Maricopa County, Arizona.
ContributorsO'Connell, Jennifer (Author) / Connor, Dylan (Thesis director) / Pfeiffer, Deirdre (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning (Contributor)
Created2022-12
Description
The consumption of food, energy, and water (FEW) resources in U.S. households is very carbon-intensive. However, these negative climate change impacts are often invisible due to insufficient awareness and knowledge. Serious games (SGs) can potentially address this issue through an experiential and rigorous approach to simulate household actions and impacts in a playful but realistic setting. This dissertation focuses on: (a) the design and testing of an SG called HomeRUN (Role-play for Understanding Nexus); (b) the effectiveness of gameplay in advancing player knowledge about the upfront costs, financial returns, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of various household decisions; and (c) the effectiveness of intervention messages in increasing FEW conservation to reduce household GHG emissions. The results of gameplay sessions played by 150 university students show that HomeRUN is fun to play, creates a flow experience, and results in experiential learning. The majority of players agreed that the game experience will continue over time to influence their future consumption behaviors to conserve FEW resources. Female players tended to gain more knowledge about financial aspects of interventions, whereas male players were more likely to increase their understandings of GHG emissions and resource consumption after playing HomeRUN. Social comparison intervention messages about energy and food consumption led to the highest reductions in household carbon emissions. The messages associated with each FEW resource tended to be most likely to lead to FEW conservation actions with the game that most closely corresponded to the particular FEW resource addressed in the message. This dissertation advances understandings about the design and use of SGs to foster learning and promote sustainable household FEW consumption.
ContributorsHanif, Muhammad Adnan (Author) / Agusdinata, Datu Buyung (Thesis advisor) / Halvorsen, Kathleen (Committee member) / Janssen, Marco (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
Given increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events and disparities in socio-economic conditions, managing flood risks has become ever more challenging. Building a community flood resilience becomes an essential strategy to reduce flood risks and achieve sustainable development. However, enhancing community flood resilience presents numerous obstacles and potential downsides. To address such a challenge, this dissertation investigates the interactions among natural, built environment, and actor systems using a case study of flooding in Jakarta, Indonesia, focusing on the Ciliwung river watershed. The study first develops a conceptual framework for community flood resilience by integrating concepts from disaster, flood, and community resilience research to represent how water, structural elements, and actors are connected and can contribute to hazards and vulnerabilities. Building on the framework, the study utilizes a mixed-methods approach, combining stakeholder interviews with network and heatmap analysis to identify the roles and interconnections of relevant actors in Jakarta’s flooding. Next, the study employs a hybrid of agent-based and system dynamics modeling to explore the complex interactions among the watershed’s physical and actor systems. The model evaluates how the level of collaboration among government agencies affects flood management interventions and community resilience under various scenarios concerning weather patterns and land-use change.
The research provides an exploratory tool and a strategic guide for enhancing community flood resilience. The stakeholder analysis reveals the complexity of stakeholder relationships and challenges such as imbalance in resource allocation, authority overlap, and low engagement. These insights highlight the need for trust-building, community involvement, and strategic alignment in flood management efforts. Systems modeling to derive policy recommendations bridges the gap between theoretical frameworks and governance challenges, offering empirical evidence of the critical role of governmental collaboration in reducing exposure to floods. The systems modeling results suggest that under conditions of uncertainties, enhancing community flood resilience requires a coordinated approach among stakeholders.
ContributorsSulistyo, Sinta Rahmawidya (Author) / Agusdinata, Datu Buyung (Thesis advisor) / Aggarwal, Rimjhim (Committee member) / Brundiers, Katja (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2024
Description
Promoting human wellbeing is a core tenet of human development and sustainability research and practice. The COVID-19 pandemic provided a unique opportunity to examine drivers of distinct aspects of wellbeing in an urban setting. Understanding how nature interactions impact human wellbeing is pertinent during the pandemic given the abrupt changes in lifestyle and anxiety experienced by many people. Through a quantitative analysis of 2021 survey data in metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona, I explored how distinct nature recreation activities, along with nature satisfaction and social capital in their neighborhoods, affected residents’ wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic. To conceptualize wellbeing holistically, I employed a tripartite model of health encompassing subjective wellbeing, physical health, and mental health. Data from the 2021 Phoenix Area Social Survey were analyzed coupled with geospatial environmental factors that linked to survey respondents. With linear and logistic regression models, I examined how different types of nature recreation, along with local environmental and social factors, influence Phoenix residents’ life satisfaction, common health diagnoses, and depression and anxiety.
Results indicate that perceived social and environmental attributes of neighborhoods and proximity to desert preserves had a more significant impact on subjective wellbeing than nature recreation. Age and park visitation largely influenced physical health, while socio-demographic factors had the largest impact on mental health. Changes in nature recreation during the COVID-19 pandemic did not significantly impact any dimension of wellbeing among the survey sample. This research demonstrates that distinct aspects of wellbeing have different drivers, and multiple environmental and social features should be considered when designing happy and healthy communities. Additionally, the design and management of human‒environment dynamics at the local level can improve residents’ subjective wellbeing. Research should continue investigating trends and drivers of human wellbeing to support sustainability goals into the future in order to promote wellbeing in urban communities.
ContributorsMitchell, Abigail Jenn Holst (Author) / Larson, Kelli L (Thesis advisor) / Rosales Chavez, Jose-Benito (Committee member) / Pfeiffer, Deirdre (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023