Browsing by Subject "feedback loops"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
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    Mutually Reinforcing Relationships Between Bicycling and Infrastructure
    (2017-04) Schoner, Jessica
    Researchers have long sought evidence about whether dedicated bicycling infrastructure induces people to cycle, based on a supply-driven assumption that providing infrastructure causes the behavior change. However, supply inducing demand is only one of four theoretical relationships between bicycling and infrastructure. The aims of this research are twofold: 1. Develop a theoretical framework to identify and evaluate all of the possible relationships between bicycling and infrastructure and describe how these factors reinforce one another to shape diffusion of bicycling and infrastructure in cities; and 2. Develop and execute a research plan to empirically model selected hypotheses within the theoretical framework. The empirical portion of the dissertation tests the hypotheses that (1) bicycling infrastructure supply induces bicycling demand, and (2) bicycling demand induces additional demand. The research uses a series of cross-sectional tests at multiple points in time as well as lagged variable models to add a layer of temporal precedence to our otherwise cross-sectional understanding of associations between bicycling and infrastructure. The findings show persistent associations between infrastructure and bicycling over time, across geographies, and at both the individual and aggregate level. The association between bicycling and additional bicycling holds over time at the individual household level and for bike share membership. However, the tests failed to find evidence of bike share stations and activity affecting general population cycling rates. This dissertation provides a roadmap for future research into feedback loops between bicycling and infrastructure. It additionally provides practitioners with guidance on both the strengths and limitations of both infrastructure provision and socially-focused bicycling initiatives. Like most bicycling research, this dissertation is limited by the quality of data available for both bicycling behavior and infrastructure supply. Neither the data nor the tests performed are rigorous enough to infer causality; instead, the findings add strength and nuance to the existing body of literature.
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    Redesigning Individual Wellness Potential and Behavior in American Culture
    (2016-12) Davis, Sarah
    In America, the concept of wellness can be observed and interpreted in various ways, producing a “disconnect” between intentions and commitment to action. This thesis uses a Whole Systems Thinking Approach to explore the reasons behind the disconnect by deconstructing individual wellness potential as a system. Design thinking will then be used to reconstruct parts of that system in order to reduce or avoid the disconnect. Systems thinking helps us understand the connections between parts in a system and how they work together. Design thinking creates an opportunity to embrace self-awareness and aids in selecting elements for the feedback loops needed to strengthen our potential for wellness.