Browsing by Subject "urban planning"
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Item Evolutions: Digitization vs. Digital Born Photography in Urban Architecture(2013-03-26) Holmes, Scott; Swenson, Kris; University of Texas at ArlingtonThe Fort Worth Evolutions project takes original material by Ft. Worth commercial photographer W.D. Smith and creates a modern view of those photographs. Images taken in the 1920s-1950s are retaken from the same angle in this century and compared to urban architecture of the early to mid 20th century. This project leverages the process of digitization and the art of modern digital photography to create a contrast of urban development over the last 90 years.Item Growing Food is Work: A Spatial and Social Analysis of Urban Agriculture in Houston(2014-05-05) Broadstone, Sasha B.Increasing interest and awareness of urban agriculture?s contribution to food access, healthy eating, and community interaction have influenced activists and city officials to re-evaluate this activity?s role in sustainable city planning. While information regarding the spatial extent and socio-economic context of urban agriculture (UA) would be beneficial to city planners and policymakers as well as local communities, these data do not currently exist for most North American cities; moreover, the characteristics of UA sites, such as production practices and management strategies, are virtually unknown. This research addresses this gap through a systems-based approach to urban socio-natural landscapes, where UA sites are viewed as a system composed of three main components: spatial form, social process, and material metabolism. Spatial form was determined through a geospatial analysis of UA distribution within the socio-economic context of Houston, Texas. Both social process and material metabolism were discovered through surveys and semi-structured interviews regarding management strategies and food production practices for 31 UA sites. Qualitative data were analyzed in terms of UA site objectives, access rules, decision making, labor, harvest destination, and challenges. The interconnectedness between UA site objectives and site access was found to influence decision-making strategies, division of labor, and destination of the harvest. Variations in these characteristics indicate numerous circumstances in which UA sites produce food. All UA sites surveyed face challenges such as access to consistent and committed participants, an affordable water source, a safe and secure site, and funding.Item Land [fill] the gap(2012-12) Liu, Siqi; Fajkus, MatthewHow 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.Item Rethinking Houston's core: a case study for organic design(2012-12) Jackson, Nicholas Ryan; Wang, Wilfried; Doll, Larry A. (Larry Alan)At the time of conducting this study there exists several design methodolgies competing for relevance in the continually growing and evolving urban cultures found in cities around the world. Simultaneously modern cities, particularly those in the United States of America, struggle to adapt their infrastructure and sprawling natures to increasing densities and demand for more localized city centers. In this study, I develop a conceptual urban intervention plan for Houston, Texas as a case study of how cities like Houston might revitalize their downtown cores in the future by removing and redeveloping the elevated highways that surround the core. Additionally, I present a case study for the importance of carefully contextual architecture in the form of a high-desnsity mixed-use complex as a driver for the success of such an urban intervention. These interrelated design projects facilitate the testing of design principles in parametricism against more traditional design methods. The results show that there is in fact large demand for residential and retail developments in Houston’s core as well as the potential for increased value along the the area now occupied by highway in the event of more pedestrian and development friendly infrastructure. The results also show one potential example of architectural design that attempts to step down the scale of the urban core and transition more effectively between the core and the surrounding neighborhoods, thus facilitating said potentials.