Browsing by Subject "urban planning"

Now showing 1 - 20 of 27

Austin and Its Future: The Challenge of Growth, PRP 3
(LBJ School of Public Affairs, 1973) Haynes, Kingsley E.; Hazleton, Jared E.; Poston, Dudley L.
Austin’s Great Streets: Success and Failure on Second Street
(2023-05) Kim, Donghyun
Great streets make great cities. This holds especially true in the United States, where public space and life in American cities are typically relegated to the streets in the relative absence of plazas, squares, and parks. As cities began to acknowledge how car-centric life and low-density sprawl dismantled the life of its downtowns, they sought to employ urban planning and design values for revitalization. Austin, Texas is a notably rapid-growing American city which also began to reimagine its downtown through the lens of urban planning and design, especially at the turn of the millennium. Decades of visionary planning led to the adoption of the city’s first modern, comprehensive street design initiative—the Great Streets Program. Along with a renewed focus on street vitality, Austin engaged in several redevelopment efforts across the city. Of these, the Second Street Retail District was a flagship downtown revitalization project which sought to embody the city’s new urban planning and design values. Now, a decade after the completion of the Retail District redevelopment project, this thesis examines the historic circumstance of Austin’s urban environment and the evaluates the ways Second Street succeeded and failed in its goals regarding economic revitalization, pedestrian prioritization, and urban character. The thesis begins with a recounting of key urban planning decisions in Austin’s history, describes the Great Streets program and Retail District project in detail, then analyzes the project and concludes with key findings.
Climate Change, Urban Planning, and Real Estate in Harris County
(2024-01) Buzzetti, Natalie
This thesis investigates the intricate relationship between climate change, urban planning, and real estate development, with a focused lens on Harris County. As climate change intensifies, real estate faces unprecedented challenges due to rising sea levels, extreme weather events, and shifting temperature patterns. Hurricane Harvey serves as a significant case study, illuminating the vulnerabilities and complexities inherent in real estate development amidst climate disruption. Through a comprehensive literature review, this research explores the critical themes of sustainability and resilience, emphasizing the need for their integration into real estate practices. While existing literature underscores the importance of sustainability and government policies, a gap exists regarding the role of community networks and social factors in building resilience. This research aims to bridge this gap by delving into community dynamics, policy limitations, and the significance of collaboration, providing practical insights and real-world perspectives for researchers, policymakers, and industry professionals. Key research articles, including studies on supply chain resilience post-disaster and social and economic barriers to infrastructure recovery, inform this exploration. Additionally, insights into the performance of coastal residential buildings under hurricane conditions offer valuable lessons for resilient real estate development. By synthesizing these contributions and posing critical research questions, this thesis aims to guide future inquiry into climate-resilient real estate development, offering a roadmap for navigating the complexities of a changing climate in urban planning and real estate sectors.
Eastside Histories: Connecting Urban Food Sovereignty to Environmental Racism and City Planning in Austin, Texas
(2020) Holdeman, Sarah; Walenta, Jayme
I contextualize the goals of the global food sovereignty movement in urban Austn, Texas by investigating the ways that city planning has impacted food sovereignty historically. Informed by this history, I onclude with a list of recommendations for centering racial equity and food overeignty in future land development codes.
Environmental geology of the Austin area : an aid to urban planning
(Bureau of Economic Geology University of Texas at Austin, 1976) Garner, L. E.; Young, K. P.; Rodda, P. U.; Dawe, G. L.; Rogers, Margaret Anne
Scanned and georeferenced version of Garner, L.E. and Young, K.P., 1976, Environmental geology of the Austin area: an aid to urban planning: University of Texas at Austin, Bureau of Economic Geology, Report of Investigations RI-86, scale 1:62,500.
Evaluating Descriptive and Predictive Spatial Models of Emergency Medical Services Demand During Extreme Heat Events in Austin, TX
(2023) Mandalapu, Akhil; Jiao, Junfeng
Extreme heat events are becoming increasingly common. With extreme heat exposure often necessitating prompt emergency medical service (EMS) response, the situation is critical as a rapid response is necessary to prevent severe disability or death. However, limited EMS capacity requires reallocation of resources to meet the increased demand for EMS. Although prior literature suggests a slight positive association between heat and EMS demand, studies have not investigated the spatial patterns of EMS demand during extreme heat. This study compares predictive models of EMS demand during extreme heat events across space. First, an unsupervised clustering approach was utilized to characterize EMS demand spatially to identify clusters with similar EMS demand and heat vulnerability characteristics. Finally, linear regression and geographically weighted regression (GWR) models were evaluated in predicting the spatial demand of EMS.
FitCity|SA - A Health-Based Housing Model for San Antonio, TX
(2017) Moore, Dana
Identity Crisis: The Post-WWII Reconstruction of the City of London
(2017-03) Dolan, Alexandra
Land [fill] the gap
(2012-12) Liu, Siqi; Fajkus, Matthew
How can we bridge the gap between the lack of construction land and the sustained rapid urban population growth in China? This is a social problem China need to solve in the near future. ‘Land [Fill] The Gap’ is an investigation of the possibility of utilizing existing landfills in Beijing for urban construction in order to accommodate inhabitants, remove landfills and generate electricity from trash.
Mapping the Ties Between the Built Environment and Social Capital
(2022-05) Lim, Natalie; Wegmann, Jake
Social capital is the sociological concept of the resources (both actual and potential) available to a person due to their relationships with other people. Urban planners and architects have studied how to increase social capital through the built environment and have designed neighborhoods and cities based on their research. Some of the most prominent designs come from architecture firms like DPZ CoDesign, which produce New Urbanist designs. New Urbanism places a focus on community building through mixed-use developments, grid-like designs, high density, and public spaces. However, it is important to note that studies on changes in social capital due to New Urbanist design elements have produced contrasting results: the relationship between an urban plan and a community's social capital is not well understood. This study reviews existing literature to analyze the potential connection between design and social capital to better discern if any link truly exists. Previous research demonstrates that there is a connection between the built environment and increasing social capital; however, larger amounts of social capital in residents of New Urbanist subdivisions (as compared to residents of standard suburban subdivisions) can be accounted for by a social bias variable. This variable is based on the idea that individuals moving into New Urbanist subdivisions are already likely to engage in community-centered actions and behavior. Overall, while there is a connection between the built environment and social capital, future research should include the social bias variable as a control more often to understand to what extent design features can influence social capital.
People, land, & water: stories of metropolitan growth
(Texas Metro Observatory, 2019-09) Lieberknecht, Katherine; Oden, Michael; Leite, Fernanda; Bixler, Patrick; Felkner, Juliana; Richter, Stephen; Wu, Sarah
TMO has brought together several data sets into our first report on metropolitan Texas, People, Land, and Water: Stories of Metropolitan Growth. In People, we analyze socio-demographic trends on diversity, education, poverty, and more, revealing several trends about the people of metropolitan Texas. In Land, the physical expansion of metros is analyzed against population growth, density, and imperviousness, finding that growth is both more efficient and increasingly intense. In Water, consumption patterns are examined by source and end-use, finding decreasing water use per capita; however, increasing population growth will outpace efficiency improvements.
Planning Forum Volume 01
(The University of Texas School of Architecture, 1995) Powell, Laura
Planning Forum Volume 02
(The University of Texas School of Architecture, 1996) Powell, Leilah
Planning Forum Volume 03
(The University of Texas School of Architecture, 1997) Walker, Jim
Planning Forum Volume 04 / 05
(The University of Texas School of Architecture, 1999) Morales, Tammy
Planning Forum Volume 06
(The University of Texas School of Architecture, 2000) Danenfelzer, David
Planning Forum Volume 08
(The University of Texas School of Architecture, 2002) Lane, K. Maria D.; Weston, Lisa M.
Planning Forum Volume 09
(The University of Texas School of Architecture, 2003) Weston, Lisa M.; Ferguson, Tommi
Planning Forum Volume 10
(The University of Texas School of Architecture, 2004) Ferguson, Tommi; Otto, Seth S.
Planning Forum Volume 11
(The University of Texas School of Architecture, 2005) Otto, Seth S.