Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Geography|Information Science|Urban and Regional Planning'

Traditional spatial analysis and data mining methods fall short of extracting temporal information from data. This inability makes their use difficult to study changes and the associated mechanisms of many geographic phenomena of interest, for example, land-use. On the other hand, the growing availability of land-change data over multiple time intervals and longer time frames, often based on satellite imagery, presents to land-change study a great opportunity, given that this information can be effectively utilized. This methodological gap highlights the need to better understand the analytical challenges brought by temporal complexities, and to investigate alternative analytical frameworks that could handle those challenges.

This dissertation attempted to achieve three goals: 1) finding metrics to capture temporal trends, 2) dealing with temporally imprecise data due to constraints of frequency, duration, and starting time of data collection, and 3) handling variables with time-changing values. A simulated land-change dataset based on an agent-based model of residential development and an empirical dataset from two case study sites in San Diego and Tijuana were used for this investigation.

Results from the simulation dataset indicated that the survival function and the hazard function are important metrics to reveal temporal trends. In general the results of land-change analysis are sensitive to time frequency, in particular when time-dependent variables are also present. Longer duration benefits land-change analysis since longer durations contains more information. However, time-dependent variables with measures over a long period are more difficult for detection, which may pose a challenge. Starting time also affects the analytical results because the level of process uncertainty varies at different starting times. Findings from real world data mostly agree with those from computational data. Time dependent variables present a major challenge in land-change analysis, and survival analysis can better handle time-independent variables and thus better forecast urban growth.

Due to the inappropriate planning and explosive population growth in urban areas, especially in developing countries, sustainable and disaster-safe urbanization has become the most important challenge for governments. Urbanization presents benefits in different ways but has led simultaneously to changes in land use/land cover (LULC), impacting soil quality, runoff, surface temperature, water quality, and promoting climate change. The environmental implications of LULC changes cannot be understood well enough to take precautions without the knowledge of LULC change. This reality is the driving force behind my research, which focuses on impacts of urbanization on flood and soil erosion hazards in Istanbul, Turkey. Istanbul is the biggest city in Turkey with its almost 15.000.000 population. In 1999 the Marmara earthquake destroyed the city especially the newly developed zones. Every year Istanbul suffers also from flood damages. Istanbul has been experiencing uncontrolled migration, chiefly from rural areas, since the economic reform policies took place in the second half of the 20th century. These policies forced the city to expand towards the agricultural land and to the coastal areas. Istanbul has been faced with illegal housing and uncontrolled development since then. This developoment has produced significant decreases inproductive agricultural lands and created more impervious areas. Infrastructure development has not matched the rate of the population increase and uncontrolled urbanization, making the city vulnerable increasingly to natural disasters. This dissertation aims to understand the impacts of urbanization on flood and erosion hazards in Istanbul by examining changes in the city using remote sensing (RS) and geographical information systems (GIS) methods. LULC was examined first: Two change detection methods were applied to choose the best peformer for Istanbul. The post-classification comparison (PCC) method produced better results than the principal component analysis (PCA). PCC utilized 1984, 1997, 2001, 2007 and 2010 Landsat images of the study area. These Landsat images were corrected atmospherically and radiometrically using COST Model (Markham and Barker, 1986). After the corrections geometric rectification was performed with the help of 1987 topographic map, 1995 orthophotos, 2005 GPS data. Location and nature of the change were derived for the time periods. Results show that since 1984, agricultural land have been replaced increasingly by urbanization. Flooding and related soil erosion are both natural events. Yet these events can be hazardous; they can harm/destroy lives and property. In recent years these events have become disasters for Istanbul.. We investigated the role of urban growth in such disasters. To understand the urbanization and flood relation better, flood events for each time period were examined using LULC change, runoff information and watershed analysis. Soil erosion events occur slowly and in Istanbul they do not happen frequently (yearly) as with flooding. But some of the locations of erosion that occurred in the past are now urbanized areas. It is thus important to understand how the built environment affects soiol erosion. We applied the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) method for each year in the time series. Prior erosion locations digitized from General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration were compared to predicted locations. The resultant maps indicates that European side of Istanbul is more prone to erosion than Anatolian side.

As the concept of sustainability gains prominence in the U.S., municipal governments have begun adopting official sustainability plans to outline their goals for a sustainable future. However, with an absence of national guidelines or a streamlined definition of sustainability, these plans contain infinitely diverse goals, policies and motivations. One aspect of sustainability which has a diverse array of benefits and challenges is urban green space. This research uses content analysis and coding of municipal sustainability plans to gain insight into how U.S. cities conceptualize urban green space in the forms of parks, tree canopy and urban gardens and in the greater context of sustainability. This thesis specifically looks at the creation of municipal sustainability plans, how cities organize green space, how cities value green spaces, the kinds of green space goals and benchmarks that cities set, and the inclusion of equity in the realm of green spaces. The 20 case study cities have shown green spaces are an important component of sustainability planning and are conceptualized and included in varying and unique ways. The way a plan is created, the people involved or excluded from the plan creation process and the agreements or groups that cities join can impact how cities envision sustainability and how they conceptualize green space within the plan. The concepts of sustainability and green space appear to be best articulated and operationalized in the context of many voices, viewpoints and opinions. In the categorization of green space, this research found that only a few cities had headings specific to green space, but instead associated it primarily with other aspects of the natural environment. This research also found that the language used to describe green space is broad and varied. Standardization or concrete definitions of these terms may make plans more accessible. Cities discussed environmental, economic and social benefits of green spaces in their plans. Overall, cities valued environmental benefits the most and the majority of benefits identified in the plans are anthropocentric in nature. Some of the best practice green space goals identified within the plans were the inclusion of green corridors, native vegetation, increasing the tree canopy, changing zoning codes to include urban agriculture and goals related to equity and access. Overall, both the goal setting and measurement processes of urban green space serve as beneficial ways for cities to achieve their broader sustainability goals. However, these goals cannot be fully realized when their distribution and access are unequal across the city and when decisions are made without the input of local residents. This research found that there is a gulf between equity being mentioned in a plan, and the depth to which it is explored in the context of green space, leaving room for cities to improve their incorporation of equity in their planning for green spaces. This research has shown that cities conceptualize green spaces in a variety of ways and while there are several successes, there is also a lot of room for improvement in both green space planning and sustainability planning.

The transspecies city concept was developed in opposition to traditional anthropocentric urban policies. This research seeks to determine whether or not perceptions of survey participants taken from the St. Louis area are compatible with the goals of the transspecies city, which focus on integration of animals into human communities rather than their removal. The transspecies city also indicates a need for moral concern for animals in human actions which affect them.

Participant responses were classified into perception categories. These perceptions were then analyzed and discussed to determine their compatibility with the transspecies city, concluding that humanistic and moralistic perceptions are most compatible. Negativistic, naturalistic, and ecologistic perceptions all are found to have some incompatibilities with the transspecies city. In spite of these incompatibilities, this research concludes by examining the ways these perceptions could be addressed, or ways in which the transspecies city could modify itself to have a better chance at actualization.

The distance between home and work has increased in recent decades. By the development of infrastructure and public transport, jobs farther from home have become more accessible and this development has in turn increased commuting. Commuting travellers often pass over administrative boundaries which often serve as borders for public transport pricing. Also the market control prices. Research shows that travel times and costs significantly affect commuting choice. Many people have an upper limit of 60 minutes commuting distance between home and work. How commuting costs affect the individual's choice of commuting will vary depending on the individual's income and housing costs. The aim of our study was to see how public transport costs and travel times may vary geographically. GIS, Geographic Information System was used to make a network analysis which showed time distances and travel costs on maps. We also examined whether there was a link between towns accessibility by public transport and housing market which we did with help of correlation and regression analysis. In order to answer our questions we started from a study area consisting of Uppsala County with its surrounding commuting area. The maps showed how accessibility to larger towns varies among the smaller towns. The access is often best between bigger towns while there is less accessibility between smaller towns. The distance to bus stops or railway station also has a significant effect on how long the total travel time will be. Urban areas with access to rail services had the best opportunities to reach larger cities and that give also better access to labour market. From our study of the Uppsala County with a monocentric structure, we could indicate a link between accessibility to the bigger cities and housing prices in the surrounding towns. The higher commuting costs and longer travel time to the central place the lower the housing prices. A similar study of Stockholm which has a polycentric structure showed that the relationship between accessibility and house prices not are applicable to all regions. Here we can conclude that housing markets depends on many other factors than access to rapid public transport. House prices can depend on things like closeness to nature and water.

Avståndet mellan bostad och arbete har ökat under de senaste decennierna. Utvecklingen av infrastruktur och kollektivtrafik har lett till att arbetsplatser längre från hemmet har blivit mer tillgängliga och denna utveckling har i sin tur bidragit till en ökad arbetspendling i samhället. Pendlingsresenärer passerar ofta över administrativa gränser och dessa gränser styr ofta över kollektivtrafikens prissättning men även efterfrågan kan styra priset. Forskning visar att restider och kostnader i hög grad påverkar pendlingsvalet. Många människor föredrar ett pendlingsavstånd, mellan hem och arbete på högst 60 minuter. Hur pendlingskostnader påverkar individens val till pendling varierar bland annat beroende på individens inkomst och boendekostnader.

Syftet med vår studie var att se hur kollektivtrafikens kostnader och restider kan variera geografiskt. GIS, Geografiska Informationssystem, användes vid utförandet av en nätverks- och kostnadsanalys vilket visade tidsmässigt avstånd och kostnad på kartor. Vi undersökte också om det fanns ett samband mellan orters tillgänglighet med kollektivtrafik och bostadsmarknaden genom att utföra korrelations- och regressionsanalyser. För att svara på våra frågeställningar utgick vi från ett undersökningsområde bestående av Uppsala län med pendlingsomland.

Kartbilderna visade tydligt hur tillgängligheten till större städer varierar mellan olika orter och att tillgängligheten ofta är bäst mellan större tätorter medan det är sämre tillgänglighet mellan mindre tätorter. Avståndet till hållplatser har också betydande påverkan på hur lång den totala restiden blir. Tätorter med tillgång till järnvägstrafik hade det bästa möjligheterna att nå större tätorter och därmed blir arbetsmarknaden större för dessa orter. Från vår studie över Uppsala län som kan anses ha monocentrisk struktur kunde vi även tyda ett samband mellan tätorters tillgänglighet till centralorten och orternas bostadspriser. Ju högre pendlingskostnad och längre restid till centralorten desto lägre var orternas bostadspriser. En likadan studie över Stockholm som har en mer polycentrisk struktur visade dock att detta samband mellan tillgänglighet och bostadspriser inte gäller för alla regioner. Här kan vi dra den slutsatsen att bostadsmarknaden styrs av många andra faktorer än tillgång till snabb kollektivtrafik och att vissa områdens bostadspriser mer styrs av exempelvis närhet till natur och vatten.

Home…that space so personal, so distinct, so intrinsic to the human/place relationship that “lies right at the heart of human geography” (Cresswell, 2004, p. 93). Studying the connection people feel toward certain places through concepts of emotion, experience, and attachment to meaning stems outward from the phenomenological and humanist branches of geography (Holt-Jensen, 2009). With every person’s version of home a space unto itself, is it possible for a place so intimate to be studied and defined? My answer is yes. This phenomenological case study investigates the perceptions and emotions of a newly designated conservation neighborhood, the second of its kind in Reno, Nevada. In an area usually looked at as a site for economic development and perhaps initiatives in historic preservation, there is little research undertaken through a cultural geographic lens aiming to understand how different communities in the area view their own home ground in transition and the implications of place creation. This project navigates the allegory of home through the voices and drawn maps of the Wells Avenue Neighborhood Conservation District (WANCD) and is approached through the impressions and attitudes of community groups, merchants, and a patchwork of residents diverse in both their backgrounds and their stories about the place they live. Through the construction of sense of place inside and around the WANCD and with the usage of Geographic Information Systems as a tool for qualitative data collection and comunication, this study investigates how personal experiences and perceptions, community connections and common goals, and specifically-identified areas of personal meaning play into the way in which these different stakeholders experience, participate in, and envision their neighborhood.

From the time of the New Deal legislation in the 1930s, the Federal government has provided some form of housing relief for people with low income. Today, the primary demand side subsidy program is the Housing Choice Voucher Program (HCVP), which subsidizes rents for low-income people and households to live in places where market-rate rents are beyond their economic means. During the last two decades many Americans cities have been transitioning and affordable housing is becoming scarce even in formerly low-income neighborhoods. In these transitioning neighborhoods current rents are prohibitive for low-income residents. However, with a subsidy through HCVP, this population can remain in its original neighborhood. Landlords are assured full market value rents, while renting to low-income tenants. The residents of the Anacostia neighborhood in Washington, D.C. are predominately low-income and African-American. Using Anacostia as a case study, this paper shows how HCVP has increased in volume and, in the face of diminishing affordable housing, recipients of this subsidy are concentrating in this low rent neighborhood rather than dispersing throughout Washington DC. This is a mixed methods study using data gathered from the Washington D.C. Housing Authority, home sales, home rental prices, census, and interviews with participants in HCVP. The findings of this study reveal that HCVP has been successful in improving the lives and residences of low-income people but that vouchers are geographically concentrated to the lowest income neighborhoods of Washington D.C.