Browsing by Author "Rai, Pranjali"
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Item Columbia Gateway Innovation District: Alternative Future Visions(Partnership for Action Learning in Sustainability (PALS), 2016) Goldbeck, Aaron; Green, Ashlee; Davis, Chris; Lombardi, Derek; Stark, Jereme; McGowan, Kevin; Tariq, Maha; Vatandoost, Mahsa; Carpenter, Molly; Ranbhise, Pranita; Rai, Pranjali; Green, Thomas; Robey, Taylor; Cohen, JamesThe Columbia Gateway Project is a comprehensive report on future development for the Columbia Gateway site in Columbia, MD. This report charts the next steps to enhance the viability and explore the economic possibilities of the area. This report lays out key issues and goals for impending planning efforts. It is a framework that establishes options for the next 25 years and beyond. This report contains three ‘alternatives’ for development: low intensity, medium intensity and high intensity. It also explores the possibility of transforming the area into an “innovation district” which is defined as a spatial geographic model that stimulates economic growth by clustering entrepreneurs, startups, business accelerators and incubators. Key Issues: The landscape of Columbia, MD will continue to shift over the next 20 years. The population will continue to increase and become more diverse. The Columbia Gateway area is one of the last areas available for extensive development within Howard County. In order to keep up with shifting population demands, Howard County will need to develop a unique plan for redeveloping this area in order to create and expand a “work, play, and live” atmosphere. This report outlines some key initiatives, including: Economic Development: Tactics are recommended to encourage business innovation and growth, in order to make the area a leader in 21st century technologies. Particular attention is given to making the area into an innovation district on various levels that would support the area’s growth and economic conditions; Transportation: This report places great emphasis on transit, bike and pedestrian transportation while also improving existing road networks within Columbia Gateway. Each development alternative expounds on what improvements would need to be made to support proposed development within the area; Housing: Suggestions are made to create housing options that appeal to a diverse group of people. The report also provides options for how affordable housing options can be added to the area; Community Design: This report recommends a well-designed a community that includes green spaces, community areas, and more. The plans offer a way to transition the area from an office environment into a livable and recreational environment as well.Item School Development in Urbanizing Areas(2016) Rai, Pranjali; Bennett, Ralph; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Good schools are essential for building thriving urban areas. They are important for preparing the future human resource and directly contribute to social and economic development of a place. They not only act as magnets for prospective residents, but also are necessary for retaining current population. As public infrastructure, schools mirror their neighborhood. “Their location, design and physical condition are important determinants of neighborhood quality, regional growth and change, and quality of life.”2 They impact housing development and utility requirements among many things. Hence, planning for schools along with other infrastructure in an area is essential. Schools are very challenging to plan, especially in urbanizing areas with changing demographic dynamics, where the development market and housing development can shift drastically a number of times. In such places projecting the future school enrollments is very difficult and in case of large population influx, school development can be unable to catch up with population growth which results in overcrowding. Typical is the case of Arlington County VA. In the past two decades the County has changed dramatically from a collection of bedroom communities in Washington DC Metro Region to a thriving urban area. Its metro accessible urban corridors are among most desired locations for development in the region. However, converting single family neighborhoods into high density areas has put a lot of pressure on its school facilities and has resulted in overcrowded schools. Its public school enrollment has grown by 19% from 2009 to 2014.3 While the percentage of population under 5 years age has increased in last 10 years, those in the 5-19 age group have decreased4. Hence, there is more pressure on the elementary school facilities than others in the County. Design-wise, elementary schools, due to their size, can be imagined as a community component. There are a number of strategies that can be used to develop elementary school in urbanizing areas as a part of the neighborhood. Experimenting with space planning and building on partnership and mixed-use opportunities can help produce better designs for new schools in future. This thesis is an attempt to develop elementary school models for urbanizing areas of Arlington County. The school models will be designed keeping in mind the shifting nature of population and resulting student enrollments in these areas. They will also aim to be efficient and sustainable, and lead to the next generation design for elementary school education. The overall purpose of the project is to address barriers to elementary school development in urbanizing areas through creative design and planning strategies. To test above mentioned ideas, the Joint-Use School typology of housing +school design has been identified for elementary school development in urbanizing areas in this thesis project. The development is based on the Arlington Public School’s Program guidelines (catering to 600 students). The site selected for this project is Clarendon West (part of Red Top Cab Properties) in Clarendon, Arlington County VA.