Browsing by Subject "Community and regional planning"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5

Greenways for Asheville
(2014-12) Melville, Erich Andreas; Oden, Michael
Greenways offer multiple social, environmental, and economic benefits to communities, which has led to their increasing popularity. Social benefits include increased recreational opportunities; alternative transportation options and connectivity; preservation of historical and cultural landmarks; and access to nature. Environmental benefits include cleaner air due to less automobile congestion; increased awareness of environmental issues; improved ecological balance; and disaster mitigation. Economic benefits include reduced natural disaster damage and costs; increased activity, tourism and business opportunities; and revitalization of the area. Implementing greenways, however, also face many challenges, such as funding, public support, land acquisition, political will, planning and maintenance. This report looks at three case study cities: Greenville, SC, Chattanooga, TN, and Austin, TX to examine their successful greenway projects and learn best practices and implementation strategies. The lessons learned from these case study cities are then used to recommend best practices to the City of Asheville, NC, as they embark on an ambitious riverfront greenway plan of their own.
How parks and recreation system master plans are addressing displacement in gentrifying cities
(2023-05-04) Sainburg, Estrella Isabel; Solis, Miriam; Karner, Alex
Park and recreation spaces and services provide social, economic, environmental, and health benefits, yet many communities face park inaccessibility and inequities. The movement of people to, and investment in historically marginalized neighborhoods has gentrified many communities. Investments and efforts to remedy the park deficiency and gap in these underserved neighborhoods often endanger the affordability of neighborhoods due to the attractiveness and desirability of the amenities. One of the avenues for planning for and responding to community concerns, such as these, are park system master plans, which can be utilized for determining policy, investment, and service priorities. To further understand how cities are responding to displacement patterns upon research of green gentrification and anti-displacement strategies being made more widely available, this report focuses on the treatment of green displacement in park system master plans through a systematic analysis of mentions of affordable housing, gentrification, and displacement. Focusing on park system master plans available for the country’s cities with the greatest intensity of displacement between 2013 and 2017 and using an adaptation of Schrock, Bassett, and Green (2015)’s methodology for the review of the treatment of equity in climate plans, the type of mention is categorized into history, problem, goal, action plan, or other. Findings reveal that half of the cities studied acknowledge that green displacement due to park improvements or creation is a concern and less than half of the cities have at least one anti-displacement strategy. Not all plans that acknowledge the problem include an action plan to mitigate or prevent green displacement. The findings show that despite documented gentrification taking place, and at times, green displacement, parks and recreation agencies still have limited plans for working to prevent inaccessibility of the local parks and recreation amenities due to displacement.
Maintaining urban industrial land use to accommodate new craft and light industrial economies
(2016-05) Fleischer, Rebecca Miriam; Oden, Michael; Mueller, Elizabeth
This report will examine the issue of declining urban industrial land use and analyze how cities might benefit from maintaining industrial-zoned land or reconfigure the definition of industrial use in order to accommodate new craft and light industrial economic activities. In order to accommodate both population and economic growth, several U.S. cities are currently faced with the challenge of either changing or maintaining existing land uses so they can provide housing, as well as commercial space for businesses to grow. In many cases, the high demand for housing has overtaken other priorities, such as maintaining industrial pockets, which has led to rezoning for mixed-use commercial and residential development. While a change in land use is beneficial for expanding housing supply, it is disregarding a possible need for new urban economic activities such as small shop inventors, artisanal bakers, home brewers, craft manufacturers – sometimes labeled the maker movement. The initial section of the report illustrates historical and current trends in industrial land use and zoning. I will also define industrial zoning and establish whether or not its definition is possibly irrelevant given today’s uses of such spaces. The paper will then see if scant industrial space is, indeed, an issue amongst cities and if they are seeing a rise of interest for designated zones to create clusters of industrial activities that may benefit from co-location opportunities. I will then explore what types of businesses can best benefit from urban manufacturing space, but may find it a challenge to find adequate space in their city due to zoning changes. I will then use the experiences of three cities that have designated industrial zones for PDR, or Production, Distribution and Repair, use or for light industrial use in order to provide warehouse and activity spaces for burgeoning businesses. Finally, the paper will discuss the importance of industrial spaces to the diversity and economic growth of US cities.
The social and economic impacts of public art : connections, complexity, and possibilities
(2015-12) Goodrum, Emily Kay; Oden, Michael; Simon, Keith A
This professional report addresses the broad issue of evaluating the impact of artistic and cultural activity. Focusing on the quantitative and qualitative effects of public art, this report attempts to address the following questions: What are the social and economic impacts of public art, and what can planners (land use, economic development, neighborhood development, participatory action planners) do to reap potential benefits while avoiding negative impacts? I address these questions through an in-depth review of existing literature from diverse fields and schools of thought and through qualitative analysis of the case study of Aurora, a large-scale new media art event in Dallas, Texas. Drawing upon these sources a number of connections are made and contradictions are revealed, and the complexity of how people perceive and value public art emerges from the literature and the case. The qualitative, cross-disciplinary analysis is used to suggest routes to further avenues of multidisciplinary research as well as revealing possible new ways of thinking about the form and value of public art. The research demonstrates both positive and negative effects from public art depending on context, content, interpretation, as well as an interaction between these factors. Thoughtful implementation suggests great potential for public art’s social benefit and it is an activity that planners and policymakers certainly have role in as regulators of urban space.
The greening of the city : development and application of a biophilic urbanism framework to neighborhood development in Austin, Texas
(2022-05-07) Faulkner, Brittany M.; Lieberknecht, Katherine E.; Miro, Juan
Over the past decade, biophilic design has become increasingly popular in the field of architecture and other areas of small-scale development. It recognizes humanity’s innate affinity for nature and illustrates that integrating nature into the built environment boosts human health, productivity, and safety, and ultimately creates positive spaces and experiences. The success of biophilic design at a site level has prompted exploration into broader application, such as neighborhoods, cities, and regions, but has ultimately remained confined to small pockets of these areas. How can we transform the existing architectural frameworks of biophilic design into a model for neighborhood and city planning in a way that fosters connections between people and landscape while addressing planning challenges brought about by climate change? This report will assess the current principles of biophilic design across three scales—site specific architecture, neighborhood and city scale, and regional planning—and discuss several case studies. This research will be used as a baseline to develop a comprehensive biophilic urbanism framework for city planning and design which is then applied to a site located in East Austin.