Matching Items (43)
Description
This dissertation research investigates both spatial and temporal aspects of Bronze Age land use and land cover in the Eastern Mediterranean using botanical macrofossils of charcoal and charred seeds as sources of proxy data. Comparisons through time and over space using seed and charcoal densities, seed to charcoal ratios, and seed and charcoal identifications provide a comprehensive view of island vs. mainland vegetative trajectories through the critical 1000 year time period from 2500 BC to 1500 BC of both climatic fluctuation and significant anthropogenic forces. This research focuses particularly on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus during this crucial interface of climatic and human impacts on the landscape. Macrobotanical data often are interpreted locally in reference to a specific site, whereas this research draws spatial comparisons between contemporaneous archaeological sites as well as temporal comparisons between non-contemporaneous sites. This larger perspective is particularly crucial on Cyprus, where field scientists commonly assume that botanical macrofossils are poorly preserved, thus unnecessarily limiting their use as an interpretive proxy. These data reveal very minor anthropogenic landscape changes on the island of Cyprus compared to those associated with contemporaneous mainland sites. These data also reveal that climatic forces influenced land use decisions on the mainland sites, and provides crucial evidence pertaining to the rise of early anthropogenic landscapes and urbanized civilization.
ContributorsKlinge, JoAnna M (Author) / Fall, Patricia L. (Thesis advisor) / Falconer, Steven E. (Committee member) / Brazel, Anthony J. (Committee member) / Pigg, Kathleen B (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
The characteristics of the wintertime 500hPa height surface, the level of non-divergence and used for identifying/observing synoptic-scale features (ridges and troughs), and their impact on precipitation are of significance to forecasters, natural resource managers and planners across the southwestern United States. For this study, I evaluated the location of the 500hPa mean Pacific ridge axis over the winter for the period of 1948/49 to 2011/12 and derived the mean ridge axis in terms of location (longitude) and intensity (geopotential meters) from the NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis dataset. After deriving a mean ridge axis climatology and analyzing its behavior over time, I correlated mean location and intensity values to observed wintertime precipitation in select U.S. Climate Divisions in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Utah and New Mexico. This resulted in two findings. First specific to the 500hPa ridge behavior, the ridge has been moving eastward and also has been intensifying through time. Second, results involving correlation tests between mean ridge location and intensity indicate precipitation across the selected Southwest Climate Divisions are strongly related to mean ridge intensity slightly more than ridge location. The relationships between mean ridge axis and observed precipitation also are negative, indicating an increase of one of the ridge parameters (i.e. continued eastward movement or intensification) lead to drier winter seasons across the Southwest. Increased understanding of relationships between upper-level ridging and observed wintertime precipitation aids in natural resource planning for an already arid region that relies heavily on winter precipitation.
ContributorsNolte, Jessica Marie (Author) / Cerveny, Randall S. (Thesis advisor) / Selover, Nancy J. (Committee member) / Brazel, Anthony J. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Sustainable urbanism offers a set of best practice planning and design prescriptions intended to reverse the negative environmental consequences of urban sprawl, which dominates new urban development in the United States. Master planned developments implementing sustainable urbanism are proliferating globally, garnering accolades within the planning community and skepticism among social scientists. Despite attention from supporters and critics alike, little is known about the actual environmental performance of sustainable urbanism. This dissertation addresses the reasons for this paucity of evidence and the capacity of sustainable urbanism to deliver the espoused environmental outcomes through alternative urban design and the conventional master planning framework for development through three manuscripts. The first manuscript considers the reasons why geography, which would appear to be a natural empirical home for research on sustainable urbanism, has yet to accumulate evidence that links design alternatives to environmental outcomes or to explain the social processes that mediate those outcomes. It argues that geography has failed to develop a coherent subfield based on nature-city interactions and suggests interdisciplinary bridging concepts to invigorate greater interaction between the urban and nature-society geographic subfields. The subsequent chapters deploy these bridging concepts to empirically examine case-studies in sustainable urbanism. The second manuscript utilizes fine scale spatial data to quantify differences in ecosystem services delivery across three urban designs in two phases of Civano, a sustainable urbanism planned development in Tucson, Arizona, and an adjacent, typical suburban development comparison community. The third manuscript considers the extent to which conventional master planning processes are fundamentally at odds with urban environmental sustainability through interviews with stakeholders involved in three planned developments: Civano (Tucson, Arizona), Mueller (Austin, Texas), and Prairie Crossing (Grayslake, Illinois). Findings from the three manuscripts reveal deep challenges in conceptualizing an empirical area of inquiry on sustainable urbanism, measuring the outcomes of urban design alternatives, and innovating planning practice within the constraints of existing institutions that facilitate conventional development. Despite these challenges, synthesizing the insights of geography and cognate fields holds promise in building an empirical body of knowledge that complements pioneering efforts of planners to innovate urban planning practice through the sustainable urbanism alternative.
ContributorsTurner, Victoria (Author) / Gober, Patricia (Thesis advisor) / Eakin, Hallie (Committee member) / Kinzig, Ann (Committee member) / Talen, Emily (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Canal oriented development (COD) is a placemaking concept that aims to create mixed use developments along canal banks using the image and utility of the waterfront as a natural attraction for social and economic activity. COD has the potential to for landlocked cities, which are lacking a traditional harbor, to pursue waterfront development which has become an important economic development source in the post-industrial city. This dissertation examines how COD as a placemaking technique can and has been used in creating urban development. This topic is analyzed via three separate yet interconnecting papers. The first paper explores the historical notion of canals as an urban economic development tool with particular attention paid to the Erie Canal. The second paper explores the feasibility of what it would take for canal development to occur in the Phoenix region. The third and final paper explores the importance of place in urban design and the success or nonsuccess of COD as a place maker through the examination of three different CODs.
ContributorsBuckman, Stephen Thomas (Author) / Talen, Emily (Thesis advisor) / Ellin, Nan (Committee member) / Crewe, Katherine (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
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
The lack of substantive, multi-dimensional perspectives on civic space planning and design has undermined the potential role of these valuable social and ecological amenities in advancing urban sustainability goals. Responding to these deficiencies, this dissertation utilized mixed quantitative and qualitative methods and synthesized multiple social and natural science perspectives to inform the development of progressive civic space planning and design, theory, and public policy aimed at improving the social, economic, and environmental health of cities. Using Phoenix, Arizona as a case study, the analysis was tailored to arid cities, yet the products and findings are flexible enough to be geographically customized to the social, environmental, built, and public policy goals of other urbanized regions. Organized into three articles, the first paper applies geospatial and statistical methods to analyze and classify urban parks in Phoenix based on multiple social, ecological, and built criteria, including landuse-land cover, `greenness,' and site amenities, as well as the socio- economic and built characteristics of park neighborhoods. The second article uses spatial empirical analysis to rezone the City of Phoenix following transect form-based code. The current park system was then assessed within this framework and recommendations are presented to inform the planning and design of civic spaces sensitive to their social and built context. The final paper culminates in the development of a planning tool and site design guidelines for civic space planning and design across the urban-to-natural gradient augmented with multiple ecosystem service considerations and tailored to desert cities.
ContributorsIbes, Dorothy (Author) / Talen, Emily (Thesis advisor) / Boone, Christopher (Committee member) / Crewe, Katherine (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
This is a study that tests the New Urbanist claims that neighborhood design impacts sense of community and residential habits. Through the framework provided by New Urbanist theories, a social survey is used to examine residential perception and behavior among three fringe neighborhoods in southeast Tucson, each representing a different approach to neighborhood design: New Urbanist, traditional suburban, and a hybrid variety. The primary relationships studied are between neighborhood design and use of public space, neighborhood design and travel habits, and neighborhood design and sense of community. The findings show that the New Urbanist community does support the highest levels of sense of community and use of public space, but conclusions cannot be drawn concerning the relationship between sense of community and travel behavior, especially non-vehicular travel to public space. While these results are inconclusive concerning the direct impact of the neighborhood type on certain behaviors and perceptions, the findings support the notion that a New Urbanist design does indeed enhance social interactions and use of public space. It also offers insight into the importance of residential preferences, not as much towards walkability but towards general environmental concern.
ContributorsSchwaller, Ellen (Author) / Talen, Emily (Thesis advisor) / Pijawka, K David (Committee member) / Crew, Katherine (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Droughts are a common phenomenon of the arid South-west USA climate. Despite water limitations, the region has been substantially transformed by agriculture and urbanization. The water requirements to support these human activities along with the projected increase in droughts intensity and frequency challenge long term sustainability and water security, thus the need to spatially and temporally characterize land use/land cover response to drought and quantify water consumption is crucial. This dissertation evaluates changes in `undisturbed' desert vegetation in response to water availability to characterize climate-driven variability. A new model coupling phenology and spectral unmixing was applied to Landsat time series (1987-2010) in order to derive fractional cover (FC) maps of annuals, perennials, and evergreen vegetation. Results show that annuals FC is controlled by short term water availability and antecedent soil moisture. Perennials FC follow wet-dry multi-year regime shifts, while evergreen is completely decoupled from short term changes in water availability. Trend analysis suggests that different processes operate at the local scale. Regionally, evergreen cover increased while perennials and annuals cover decreased. Subsequently, urban land cover was compared with its surrounding desert. A distinct signal of rain use efficiency and aridity index was documented from remote sensing and a soil-water-balance model. It was estimated that a total of 295 mm of water input is needed to sustain current greenness. Finally, an energy balance model was developed to spatio-temporally estimate evapotranspiration (ET) as a proxy for water consumption, and evaluate land use/land cover types in response to drought. Agricultural fields show an average ET of 9.3 mm/day with no significant difference between drought and wet conditions, implying similar level of water usage regardless of climatic conditions. Xeric neighborhoods show significant variability between dry and wet conditions, while mesic neighborhoods retain high ET of 400-500 mm during drought due to irrigation. Considering the potentially limited water availability, land use/land cover changes due to population increases, and the threat of a warming and drying climate, maintaining large water-consuming, irrigated landscapes challenges sustainable practices of water conservation and the need to provide amenities of this desert area for enhancing quality of life.
ContributorsKaplan, Shai (Author) / Myint, Soe Win (Thesis advisor) / Brazel, Anthony J. (Committee member) / Georgescu, Matei (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Research indicates that projected increases in global urban populations are not adequately addressed by current food production and planning. In the U.S., insufficient access to food, or the inability to access enough food for an active, healthy life affects nearly 15% of the population. In the face of these challenges, how are urban planners and other food system professionals planning for more resilient food systems? The purpose of this qualitative case study is to understand the planning and policy resources and food system approaches that might have the ability to strengthen food systems, and ultimately, urban resiliency. It proposes that by understanding food system planning in this context, planning approaches can be developed to strengthen urban food systems. The study uses the conceptual framework of urban planning for food, new community food systems, urban resiliency, and the theory of Panarchy as a model for urban planning and creation of new community food systems. Panarchy theory proposes that entrenched, non-diverse systems can change and adapt, and this study proposes that some U.S. cities are doing just that by planning for new community food systems. It studied 16 U.S. cities considered to be leaders in sustainability practices, and conducted semi-structured interviews with professionals in three of those cities: Portland, OR; San Francisco, CA; and Seattle, WA. The study found that these cities are using innovative methods in food system work, with professionals from many different departments and disciplines bringing interdisciplinary approaches to food planning and policy. Supported by strong executive leadership, these cities are creating progressive urban agriculture zoning policies and other food system initiatives, and using innovative educational programs and events to engage citizens at all socio-economic levels. Food system departments are relatively new, plans and policies among the cities are not consistent, and they are faced with limited resources to adequately track food system-related data. However they are still moving forward with programming to increase food access and improve their food systems. Food-system resiliency is recognized as an important goal, but cities are in varying stages of development for resiliency planning.
ContributorsTaylor, Constance M (Author) / Talen, Emily (Thesis advisor) / Crewe, Katherine (Committee member) / Pijawka, David (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
The aims of the study are to investigate the relationship between density and social equity. Social equity is an important social goal with regard to urban development, especially smart growth and sustainable development; however, a definition of the concept of social equity from an urban planning perspective was still lacking. In response to these deficiencies, the study used quantitative and qualitative methods and synthesized multiple social and spatial perspectives to provide guidance for density and social equity planning, community design, and public policy. This study used data for the area of King County, Washington to explore the empirical relationship between density and social equity at the neighborhood level. In examining access to several facilities, this study found that distances to parks and grocery stores were shorter than those to other facilities, such as the library, hospital, police station, and fire station. In terms of the relationship between density and accessibility, the results show that higher density is associated with better accessibility in neighborhoods. Density is also positively associated with both income diversity and affordable housing for low-income families. In terms of the relationship between density and crime, density is positively associated with violent crime, while density is negatively associated with property crime. The findings of this study can aid in the development and evaluation of urban policy and density planning aimed at promoting social benefits in urban space. Therefore, this study is useful to a range of stakeholders, including urban planners, policy makers, residents, and social science researchers across different disciplines.
ContributorsMin, Bogyeong (Author) / Talen, Emily (Thesis advisor) / Harlan, Sharon (Committee member) / Phillips, Rhonda (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014