Browsing by Subject "Urban design"
Now showing 1 - 8 of 8
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item The aerotropolis: Urban sustainability perspectives from the regional city(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2017) Banai, RezaThe aerotropolis—a metropolitan region with cities that capitalize on proximity to a globally networked economy’s airport—is regarded as the twenty-first century’s new urban-development paradigm. Similarly, the regional city—a polycentric metropolitan region with linked mixed-use centers, multi-modal corridors, multi-functional districts, and natural preserves—is regarded as an urban form of the future with global and local advantage. In this paper, the building blocks of the regional city, which are increasingly regarded as principles of a durable urbanism, inform a multi-criteria framework toward a sustainability assessment of the aerotropolis-built form. The implications for the redevelopment of a North American city as an aerotropolis are noted. The paper concludes with an expansive discussion of the sustainable urban form of the future.Item Association of perceived environment walkability with purposive and discursive walking for urban design strategies(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2021) Hsieh, Hsu-Sheng; Chuang, Min-TaThe relationship between the built environment and walking behavior has been explored extensively. However, little research has been done to either differentiate between walking for transport and walking as activity or that applies urban design tools to walkability improvement based on environment-walking associations. Therefore, this study constructed perceived environment walkability factors to replace unidentified physical environments that varied among individuals and examined their associations with walking to a destination (purposive walking) and walking as activity (discursive walking), using factor analysis and structural equation modeling. Results suggest that residential density, land-use mix diversity, and pedestrian/traffic safety were associated with purposive walking while aesthetics and crime safety were associated with discursive walking. Land-use mix access and street connectivity were common correlates of both walking patterns. This study also explored how to apply urban design tools, including land-use plans, zoning control, and urban design guidelines, to shape a walkable environment based on the environment-walking associations.Item Moving Design: Spaces of Transportation - Executive Summary(University of Minnesota Center for Transportation Studies, 2007-09) Forsyth, Ann; Jacobson, Justin; Thering, KatieFocusing on the design issues involved in two key types of transportation environments - context sensitive solutions and transit-oriented development - the report investigates design benefits measured in aesthetic and humanistic terms. These include issues of community identity, appearance, scenic quality, and cultural value. These characteristics are difficult to measure, more difficult to quantify, and even more difficult to cast in terms of monetary costs and benefits. Despite the difficulty of measuring it, design is an important element for the success of transportation projects and should not be overlooked. It is critical that we be able to measure the qualities of design so we can discuss it in a systematic and reliable way. In order to capture important details and reflect a range of potential definitions of good design, this report examined case studies in three regions - in Northern Virginia, the Saint Louis Metropolitan area and Missouri, and Northern California. In each it tested six approaches to measuring design quality: using a short score sheet rating tool and a longer inventory, eliciting the opinions of design experts and some of the users and creators of the spaces, using standardized drawing and mapping techniques to compare designs, and by assessing photographs. This report is an executive summary of a longer report, which will be posted here soon. In the meantime, for a copy of the full report, please contact Ann Forsyth at 607-254-5438 or af16@cornell.edu.Item New methods to measure the built environment for human-scale travel research: Individual access corridor (IAC) analytics to better understand sustainable active travel choices(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2016) Appleyard, BruceWhile travel is an inherently linear activity, most studies rely on coarse zonal measures of the built environment, likely missing key details important to human-scale travelers (pedestrians and bicyclists). To more fully understand these relationships, this study tests a new, linear spatial unit of analysis (the individual access corridor) in combination with finer-grained geospatial data (parcel, point, street network)—in sum, human-scaled measures for human-scale travel research. This paper first analyzes the current state of practice, details the development of a set of new linear human-scaled measures, and finally, provides both a quantitative and qualitative assessment of their usefulness toward research and policy application. This paper confirms that these new measures both improve model performance and, perhaps more importantly, provide richer, more nuanced insight into the influence of the built environment on human-scale travel. For example, this study finds that smaller parcels, the presence of small personal-service retail opportunities, and narrower, well-connected streets are positively associated with walking and bicycling. Furthermore, this paper is one of the first to align built environment measures along an individual’s path, from origin to destination, as well as to provide a detailed examination of the choice of bicycle over other modes.Item Place quality in high-speed rail station areas: Concept definition(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2021) Du, Jinglun; Druta, Oana; van Wesemael, PieterHigh-speed railway (HSR) station areas are expected to benefit urban environments, not simply as transportation or economic hubs but also as urban places contributing to living quality. However, the relationship between HSR and place quality has not received systematic attention, despite the evolution of urban planning paradigms toward a clearer focus on quality of life. We have reviewed 44 academic articles written between 1996 and 2019 and analyzed concepts of place quality spanning the disciplines of urban design, urban planning, and urban economics. We identified three dimensions commonly associated with quality of place: a spatial dimension associated with aesthetic qualities of urban spaces; a socio-cultural dimension associated with experienced “sense of place”; and an economic dimension associated with the agglomeration of economic activities. Then we worked out these three dimensions in the context of HSR station areas and attributed features accordingly. We concluded that the economic dimension far outweighs the others in academic debates, with dominant theories being primarily concerned with land use, accessibility, and economic performance. Studies from the urban design field have tackled the spatial elements of place quality and showed a strong correlation with economic dimension. However, the literature remains insufficiently developed when it comes to addressing user experience and “sense of place.”Item Seven American TODs: Good Practices for Urban Design in Transit-Oriented Development Projects(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2008) Jacobson, Justin; Forsyth, AnnIn the past few decades, Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) has emerged as a popular and influential planning concept in the United States. Physical design is an important aspect of making TOD projects work as it is a crucial means of coordinating relatively intensive land uses and multiple transportation modes. This paper analyzes seven American TOD projects in terms of urban design and concludes with a discussion of “good practices” for future TOD projects focusing on development processes, place-making, and facilities. This paper supplements prior scholarship on TOD that has tended to focus on policy issues such as regulation and financing.Item Shape grammars overview and assessment for transport and urban design: Review, terminology, assessment, and application(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2016) Vitins, Basil Janis; Axhausen, Kay W.Shape grammars for urban design have attracted much interest in research and practice. Transport and urban planners increasingly deploy shape grammars, especially in simulations and procedural models. Shape grammars have multiple advantages due to their interdisciplinary and straightforward approach and low computational requirements. In addition, a rule-based design method and underlying fundamental research knowledge can potentially support future planning and design guidelines for handbooks and norms. However, little is known about the effectiveness of shape grammars in transport networks and urban environments. The proposed methodology aims at a future development of a robust and effective language for sustainable urban development. The theory of different fields is consolidated for a general grammar definition. Grammars require specified and corresponding objectives and application specifications for enhanced implementation. The proposed methodology for grammar rule assessment is based on elasticities to gain more insights in the effect of the rules. Elasticities allow comprehensive comparisons and verification between grammar rules. The paper reviews and highlights the key achievements and applications of shape grammars in cognate fields of science. Terminology sheds light on the definitions of most relevant terms including a general definition for grammar rules embedded in the language context. The paper differentiates methodological approaches in grammar design assessment and emphasizes a standardized approach for shape grammar definitions. The paper concludes with a detailed example for grammar rule assessment and potential future research.Item Urban transformations | Immigration: re-opening of Nicollet Avenue & Lake Street. Community center for Hispanic immigrants in midtown Minneapolis(2011-01) Blumenkron, Salvador RochaUnderstanding a place from its geographical and physical aspects is not a simple task. We are used to learning about our surroundings and to relate to them empirically, by costume and association. However, once we leave our context and we inhabit a place different from the one we knew already, we go through a long process to be able to adapt to the differences in the new place. Even though the human being is very easily adapted to new conditions, the human being also tends to keep costumes and traditions, to settle in one place only to later develop more complex activities.When I first came to Minneapolis, I faced many contextual, social and cultural changes. It was a long time before I was able to grasp everything that was happening in my life. This was also a great opportunity for me to see the world with different eyes, and to understand human relationships and how they are affected by the physical environment. The possibility of understanding a site in different realms is vital for the development of urban and architectural projects. The field of Architecture has changed substantially in our times due to technology, politics, and economy. We know that the professional practice is not only a local duty, that every day we face different challenges and opportunities to find new sources for progress. This thesis explores a community and an important part of the city from which more opportunities for the city and eventually for the field of Architecture and Urban design might emerge.