Urban and Regional Planning and Design Theses and Dissertations

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Are Houston's Land Use Relationships Unique?
(2021) Dorney, Christopher Leh; Knaap, Gerrit J; Urban and Regional Planning and Design; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
The city of Houston, Texas has been at the heart of a long-running debate in the United States on government’s proper role in the land development process. As the only large American city that never adopted a city-wide zoning ordinance, Houston is often cited as an example for why more or less government planning is needed. Some authors claim that Houston is an outlier when it comes to land use relationships, with strange land use juxtapositions quite prevalent. Other authors argue that zoning is largely redundant to market forces and that Houston’s land use relationships are not all that different from zoned cities. The purpose of this study is to inform this ongoing debate by undertaking a quantitative analysis of land use relationships across large American cities to determine if Houston’s are distinctive. The study develops several metrics to quantify land use relationships and uses principal component analysis to determine if Houston is an outlier. The findings indicate that Houston’s land use relationships are not substantially different from those of zoned cities.
Assessing User Understanding of Heritage in the Environment: Preservation Strategies for the Use of Place
(2019) Semmer, Johnna; Linebaugh, Donald W; Urban and Regional Planning and Design; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
While places often derive associations with heritage from distinctive land uses or patterns of activity, the historic preservation planning tools commonly available in the U.S. are limited in their ability to sustain those associations. The active and evolving aspects of a location’s character are challenging to reflect in the point-in-time historic property documentation that typically serves as the basis for preservation planning decisions. This study explored methods to illuminate the qualities residents and users associate with a community’s distinctive local character, or sense of place, and how those qualities relate to local history and heritage. Two case studies in Nashville, Tennessee, the urban Music Row neighborhood and rural Bells Bend community, were examined through mixed research methods, including document-based research, field observation, online survey, and interviews, to achieve a more holistic understanding of sense of place and to ascertain which features and qualities meaningful to members of the community align with place characteristics that can be regulated by local planning tools. Older and historic places were among those associated with the sense of place of both cases. Continuity of locally-distinctive uses emerged as important, as did social interactions and relationships. Uses may be sustained with the help of planning tools beyond those commonly thought of as preservation strategies, such as land use zoning and economic incentives. Social aspects of place are harder to address but can be recognized through expanded definitions of heritage and interpretive efforts. Though a limited response rate constrained interpretation of some results, elements of the methodology show promise for enabling direct input from place users in practice. Defining what heritage-related qualities are most meaningful to community character can yield better informed preservation planning processes.
Bayesian Approaches to Learning from Data how to Untangle the Travel Behavior and Land Use Relationships
(2005-12-05) Scuderi, Marco Giovanni; Clifton, Kelly J; Urban and Regional Planning and Design; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
The body of research on land use and travel behavior relationships reaches widely different conclusions with results varying even when considering a single author. The hypothesis of this research is that these differences arise, in part, from the fact that the vast majority of these studies do not address all the theoretical travel behavior tenets and are therefore ad-hoc in nature. An inductive approach to the study of the relationships between land use and travel behavior, prior to carrying out traditional deductive studies, can help improve the outcomes by providing an opportunity to identify and test such relationships. With data sourced from the 2001 National Household Travel Survey Add-On, supplemented with local land use data, this study uses heuristic search algorithms to evaluate relationships hidden in the data without these being framed, a priori, by specific statistical constructs. Bayesian scoring is used to evaluate and compare the results from actual data collected for the Baltimore Metropolitan Area with the set of predominant conceptual frameworks linking travel behavior and land use obtained from the literature. Results show that socioeconomic factors and land use characteristics act in a nested fashion, one in which socioeconomic factors do not influence travel behavior independently of land use characteristics. The land use travel behavior connection is specifically strong only for particular combinations of socioeconomic characteristics and a land use mix which includes both moderate residential densities and a significant amount of commercial opportunities. The study also finds that the heuristic search approach to derive relationships between land use and travel behavior does work, that this technique needs to be fine tuned for the proper use of spatially explicit data, and that although the research outputs are an unbiased representation of the land use travel behavior relationships, they need proper interpretation, especially in light of persisting theoretical questions still driving this research field. The study concludes that an inductive approach to the analysis of the relationships between land use and travel behavior provides valuable knowledge of the data that can be used to better formulate deductive studies, so that the two methodologies are complementary to each other.
A BETTER NEIGHBORHOOD FOR HOUSING VOUCHER HOUSEHOLDS: OBSTACLES AND OPPORTUNITIES
(2017) Jeon, Jae Sik; Dawkins, Casey J; Urban and Regional Planning and Design; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Since the 1970s, the emphasis of federal housing policy has shifted from place-based subsidies to tenant-based subsidies that are provided directly to low-income households for the purpose of renting in the private market. Although many hoped that the Housing Choice Voucher, a tenant-based housing assistance program, would be a new tool in the fight against concentrated poverty and its associated problems, housing voucher recipients still face obstacles when trying to secure housing in high-opportunity neighborhoods over the long-term. The growing body of evidence linking neighborhood conditions to household outcomes points to the need for a better understanding of how housing vouchers improve access to opportunities. While previous studies have explored neighborhood outcomes of housing voucher recipients, it still remains unclear what factors play a significant role in their residential location choices. My dissertation examines the constraints that housing voucher households face in neighborhood choices. Drawing upon data from the Moving to Opportunity experiment, it specifically analyzes trends in affordable housing inequality, estimates the effect of vehicle access on locational attainment, and explores social networks as a determinant of mobility behavior. The results of these analyses show that obstacles such as affordable housing inequality across the metropolitan area, strong social networks in the initial, poor neighborhood, and a lack of access to vehicles negatively affect the likelihood of moving to neighborhoods in which opportunities are expanded for low-income households. My findings shed light on the dynamics of residential mobility and neighborhood improvements for low-income households. The expansion of the Housing Choice Voucher program, supported by localized payment standard, connection to automobile subsidies, and extensive housing search services that provide information about the opportunities available in across all geographic units, may have a significant impact on poverty de-concentration and access to opportunity over time. These findings are also expected to bridge the gap between research and policy with regard to how housing voucher program could be improved in the context of the federal government’s charge to Affirmatively Further Fair Housing (AFFH).
CHILDREN'S ACTIVITIES AND SCHOOL TRAVEL: A TOUR BASED ANALYSIS OF THE INFLUENCE OF CHILDREN'S OUT-OF-HOME ACTIVITIES ON THE CHOICE OF SCHOOL TRAVEL PATTERNS
(2013) Burnier, Carolina; Howland, Marie; Urban and Regional Planning and Design; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Understanding children's travel patterns is important because children are often dependent on others for travel choices and their travel patterns can have significant implications on travel by parents or other members of the household. Children's auto-dependence, particularly in school travel, has been a point of concern among researchers and policy makers. The rising levels of childhood obesity and the dramatic decline of children's active school travel in both the U.S. and abroad have turned researchers' attention to a better understanding of school travel behavior. Recent work in this field looks to understand what factors influence the travel decisions of school children in order to better inform current and future policies trying to decrease children's auto-dependence and promote active travel. This study looks to analyze children's out-of-home activities and the impact these activities have on children's travel patterns. In particular, it explores the role of children's activities on the choice of tour patterns and travel mode to school. Using both national and regional data derived from the National Household Travel Survey, this study performs descriptive analysis and estimates multinomial choice models testing the effect of children's participation in out-of-home activities on their joint decision of school tour type and mode choice to school. This research examines the effects of children's out-of-home activities on a child's travel to school patterns, while controlling for important factors including children's, parental and household characteristics as well as trip attributes and built environment measures derived from children's travel literature. The focus is on school-age children from 5 to 17 years of age. The findings of this study point to the importance of considering children's activities on travel behavior research. This research contributes to the understanding of the factors influencing children's travel decisions to school and informs policy makers of new factors to consider when making policy decisions. In addition, because children's travel is so interconnected with adult travel, the link between children's activities and travel choices may have implications to overall transportation policy.
CLIMATE ACTION PLANS - FACT OR FICTION? EVIDENCE FROM MARYLAND
(2013) Welch, Timothy F.; Ducca, Fred; Urban and Regional Planning and Design; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
On a sweltering summer day in 1988, NASA scientist James Hansen sounded the alarm, in a congressional hearing, that human activity was changing our climate and without action, the world would face grave danger. Since that time, the United States government has ignored international climate policy efforts and failed multiple times to enact federal guidelines to address this serious problem. In the last decade, state governments have begun to formulate their own climate policy in an effort called Climate Action Planning. Climate action plans seek aggressive reductions and form the backbone of most statewide environmental policies but they often suffer from a lack of scientific analysis, unrealistic expectations, little funding, non-existent implementation strategies, and have no enforcement mechanisms. While plans have proliferated across the nation, little has been done to examine closely the ability of the policies to achieve climate change mitigation goals through enumerated strategies. This thesis fills part of the research void by examining all of the built environment emissions reduction strategies specified in the Maryland CAP. The analysis proceeds by developing multiple models calibrated with local empirical data. The results of this analysis show that Maryland, even with a successful implementation of its CAP will not meet its carbon mitigation targets. Further analysis reveals that a full state, national, and global implementation of similar carbon reduction targets would not alter the trajectory of climate change. To address climate change adequately, Maryland should take a three-prong approach. First, strengthen the mitigation strategies that show the greatest potential to reduce CO2 while abandoning strategies that do not. Second, extend the current set of strategies to include the low hanging and quickly implementable mitigation `fruit'. Third, in the face of serious and inevitable climate change, begin to adapt the built environment for better resiliency to more extreme conditions. The thesis concludes with a call to action for urban planners to address ambiguities that relate to the climate change and the build environment. The timing is "ripe" for planners to take the lead in what will certainly become the next great wave of planning.
Defining the Resolution of a Network for Transportation Analyses: a New Method to Improve Transportation Planning Decisions
(2016) Cui, Yuchen; Howland, Marie; Moeckel, Rolf; Urban and Regional Planning and Design; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Travel demand models are important tools used in the analysis of transportation plans, projects, and policies. The modeling results are useful for transportation planners making transportation decisions and for policy makers developing transportation policies. Defining the level of detail (i.e., the number of roads) of the transport network in consistency with the travel demand model’s zone system is crucial to the accuracy of modeling results. However, travel demand modelers have not had tools to determine how much detail is needed in a transport network for a travel demand model. This dissertation seeks to fill this knowledge gap by (1) providing methodology to define an appropriate level of detail for a transport network in a given travel demand model; (2) implementing this methodology in a travel demand model in the Baltimore area; and (3) identifying how this methodology improves the modeling accuracy. All analyses identify the spatial resolution of the transport network has great impacts on the modeling results. For example, when compared to the observed traffic data, a very detailed network underestimates traffic congestion in the Baltimore area, while a network developed by this dissertation provides a more accurate modeling result of the traffic conditions. Through the evaluation of the impacts a new transportation project has on both networks, the differences in their analysis results point out the importance of having an appropriate level of network detail for making improved planning decisions. The results corroborate a suggested guideline concerning the development of a transport network in consistency with the travel demand model’s zone system. To conclude this dissertation, limitations are identified in data sources and methodology, based on which a plan of future studies is laid out.
Do industrial clusters encourage establishment innovation?
(2018) Fang, Li; Knaap, Gerrit; Urban and Regional Planning and Design; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Industrial clusters are geographical concentrations of related industries. They foster innovation, job creation and business formation. Previous studies find that firms in clusters on average are more innovative than firms outside. They interpret this as evidence that clusters encourage firms to innovate. This interpretation is misleading because two different mechanisms can lead to the same result. On the one hand, firms in clusters improve innovativeness through knowledge spillovers and network building. On the other, less innovative firms are forced out of clusters by tough competition. Most studies fail to differentiate these two mechanisms. I separate these mechanisms and examine their variations across industries and establishments. I also search for the optimal spatial scale of industrial clusters to maximize their effect on innovation. In this dissertation, I match establishment data with patent data for the state of Maryland from 2004 to 2013. I improve the methodology of quantifying the causal relationship between clusters and innovation, and apply this method to employment centers. Employment centers on average encourage establishments to file for 8% to 11% more patents. This effect is maximized within a one- to two-mile radius region. I also compare how much clusters encourage innovation across different industries, and find significant heterogeneity. In Metalworking Technology, the effect of clusters peaks at a three-mile radius region and increases patent applications by 18%. In contrast, in Business Services, the effect is essentially zero, even when it is maximized in a one-mile radius region. These differences can be explained by industrial characteristics, such as the different level of reliance on tacit knowledge. Finally, I examine how industrial clusters shape the originality of small versus large establishments. I find that small in-cluster establishments improve innovation numerically more than large establishments, but their differences are statistically insignificant. This dissertation can provide guidance to the design of industrial policies. It helps to more precisely evaluate the benefit of cluster policies. Policymakers can also implement cluster policies targeting at the most beneficiary industries and the optimal spatial scales.
DO INTERIOR PRIVATELY OWNED PUBLIC SPACES FOSTER URBAN PUBLIC LIFE? A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF FOUR NYC PUBLIC SPACE TYPOLOGIES
(2024) Donahue, Alex; Simon, Madlen; Urban and Regional Planning and Design; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
This dissertation focuses on a specific kind of public space—privately owned and mandated for public use and enjoyment. In exchange, the property owner receives bonus floor area or waivers. The arrangement provides a unique dilemma: how can a space provide ideal benefits to the public while recognizing the individual rights associated with a privately owned space? The primary inquiry of this research is to compare Interior Privately Owned Public Spaces (IPOPS) with three other space typologies: Privately Owned, Restricted to Public Space (PORPS), Privately Owned, Publicly Available Space (POPAS), and Urban Street (URBS) to discover how successfully the physical characteristics of IPOPS foster urban public life, focusing on aspects of (a) sociability; (b) inclusion; (c) wayfinding; (d) ownership; (e) well-being; and (f) community. The six themes comprise the Hexa-model for assessing ideal space, a tool the researcher developed for this study. I use the following methods to understand better the connection between the built environment, human use, and interaction: (a) architectural analysis; (b) signage analysis; (c) behavioral observation; and (d) archival analysis. I focus on four case study sites within New York City, each including all four typologies: (a) along Maiden Lane from Water Street to South Street; (b) on East 42nd Street and Park Avenue; (c) around 3rd Avenue and East 49th Street; and (d) along 45th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues. The findings illustrate that while the IPOPS included free-of-charge access to secure, sheltered, and climate-controlled seating, tables, natural light, bathrooms, and plants, there was a relative lack of urban public life. The IPOPS demonstrated a lack of urban public life in limited occupancy and activity when compared to the other spatial typologies and a lack of public space legibility, a generic identity with little sense of place, impromptu closures, a fortress-like aesthetic, and rules that conscribe and exclude the types of uses that are allowed to occur within the space. This research illustrates that in the sample of spaces studied, and compared with other spatial typologies, IPOPS lacked several normative criteria outlined in the Hexa-model. As a consequence, the public is currently not receiving the full benefit of public space as outlined in the agreements made with the city of New York. I recommend that further study be conducted at a larger scale, covering more locations and at various times of day and year to confirm the present study’s findings and promote policy changes to improve the public nature of IPOPS.
DO NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSING MARKET TYPOLOGIES MATTER? MEASURING THE IMPACT OF THE HOME PARTNERSHIP INVESTMENT PROGRAM IN BALTIMORE, MARYLAND
(2011) Boswell, Lynette Katrina; Chen, Alexander; Urban and Regional Planning and Design; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Since the late 1990s, neighborhood housing market typologies (NHMTs) have become a popular policy tool used by cities to evaluate neighborhood housing markets. NHMTs support place-based interventions, and are used to guide municipal investments as cities target resources based on neighborhood conditions. The assumption is that the effectiveness of local investment strategies to trigger neighborhood change is linked to existing neighborhood conditions. However, this assumption has not been tested explicitly in terms of neighborhood housing markets. This study examines the following key question: does the impact of public investments on nearby home sale prices vary across neighborhood housing markets? This dissertation consists of three related essays examining the utility of NHMTs in Baltimore, Maryland. Essay one examines the theoretical foundation of and development of NHMTs. Essay two focuses on the HOME Partnership Investment Program (HOME Program) and examines whether the impacts of this program on surrounding sale prices vary across neighborhoods housing markets. Essay three discusses the implications of encouraging cities to target investments in proximity to neighborhood amenities, such as parks and transit nodes, and uses spatial econometrics to determine if and how amenities in different housing markets impact surrounding home sale prices. This study finds that NHMTs do matter to assess the impact of housing program investments and urban amenities on nearby sale prices of homes located in different housing markets. In this analysis, neighborhood housing market types are identified using a cluster statistical methodology based on a combination of indicators, including property values, neighborhood-wide property conditions, and socioeconomic characteristics of households. To examine public investments and urban amenities, separate hedonic price functions are estimated for each market type. Results of these analyses suggest that HOME Program investments and urban amenities affect surrounding home prices, and when estimated from separate price functions, the results show significant differences across market types.
Do Smart Growth Instruments in Maryland Make a Difference?
(2011) Lewis, Rebecca; Knaap, Gerrit J; Urban and Regional Planning and Design; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
In 1997, Maryland passed a package of legislation collectively referred to as "smart growth." This innovative "inside/outside" approach to managing growth relies on targeting state resources to encourage growth and investment in existing urbanized areas and areas planned for development (Priority Funding Areas) while discouraging growth and encouraging the preservation of rural areas (Rural Legacy Areas.) Maryland's approach to managing growth relies on the targeting of resources into these spatially designated areas through state programs. Additionally, the state also created or re-designed several revitalization programs to spatially target resources to encourage revitalization and redevelopment. In three related essays, my dissertation examines the efficacy of three smart growth instruments in Maryland: Priority Funding Areas, Rural Legacy Areas, and Community Legacy Areas. In studying the implementation and outcomes of smart growth instruments, I consider the impact of these policies on development, preservation, and redevelopment patterns. I explore whether targeting resources through the Priority Funding Areas program has been effective in directing development into Priority Funding Areas. I examine whether directing conservation funds into Rural Legacy Areas has restricted development in Rural Legacy Areas. Finally, I examine whether Community Legacy Areas have been effective at encouraging renovation in targeted areas. Overall, I found that the performance of these instruments has been mixed. Because implementation was inconsistent and because the instruments were not well integrated with local planning statutes, smart growth in Maryland has fallen short of expectations. In most cases and with some exceptions, the impact of smart growth instruments on development, preservation, and redevelopment patterns has been slight. To improve performance in these policy areas, the state should consider better integration with local planning statutes and state budgeting processes. For states considering a spatially targeted incentive approach, I suggest that it is important to analyze the impact of state spending on development decisions and carefully consider how spatial targeting will be nested in existing state and local processes. But in the face of high development pressure and lacking strong local planning, it is unlikely that the state budget alone will be enough to impact development, redevelopment, and preservation decisions.
THE EFFECT OF LAND USE REGULATION ON HOUSING PRICE AND INFORMALITY: A MODEL APPLIED TO CURITIBA, BRAZIL
(2009) Souza, Maria Teresa X.; Knaap, Gerrit J; Urban and Regional Planning and Design; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Developing countries have been experiencing an accelerated urban growth with high levels of informal housing (houses that do not comply with property rights regime and urban regulations). This trend has brought renewed attention to the study of developing cities in general, and of the informal housing sector in particular. This study examines the relationship between land use regulation, housing price, and informality, in the metropolitan area of Curitiba, Brazil. Using a simultaneous equation model, the study conducts a regression analysis to understand the magnitude of the effect of urban regulation on formal housing price and the effect of rising formal housing price on the quantity of informal housing. Three hypotheses are tested: (a) more restrictive land use regulation increases housing price in the formal housing market; (b) an increase in formal housing price causes the quantity of informal housing to rise; and (c) an increase in formal housing price in one geographic area causes the quantity of informal housing to rise in neighboring areas. The study shows that for three regulatory variables - minimum plot area, minimum front setback and minimum frontage - land use regulations that limit the density of occupation have a significant positive effect on price. Regulatory variables that affect building height - maximum number of floors and floor-to-area ratio - have the opposite effect, possibly because single and multifamily units are not being analyzed separately. The study finds that the price of formal housing has a negative effect on the quantity of informal housing in the same location, but this effect turns positive in the adjacent and more distant locations. As expected, the rise in formal housing price in one locality pushes people to the informal sector in more distant neighborhoods. However, in the same locality, a rise in price decreases the quantity of informal housing. The results indicate that high priced areas act as a bar to the development of the informal sector in the same locality (explaining the negative coefficients of formal housing price) while the informal sector is being pushed to the outskirts of the city (explaining why the lagged price variables become positive and have an increasing effect on the quantity of informal housing as the locations move further away from each other).
THE ENDURANCE OF GENTRIFICATION: THREE ESSAYS ON MEANING, MEASUREMENT, AND CONSEQUENCES
(2022) Finio, Nicholas James; Knaap, Gerrit J; Urban and Regional Planning and Design; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Gentrification is the process through which an influx of new investment and new residents with higher incomes and educational attainment flow into a neighborhood over time. This dissertation expands scholarly understanding of gentrification’s meaning, measurement, and consequences through three essays. The first essay reviews, inventories, and critiques the numerous methods scholars have used to identify gentrification. The second essay critiques the normative foundations of the smart growth movement and improves empirical understanding of how that urban policy agenda and gentrification are linked. The final essay identifies gentrification in Maryland’s Purple Line Corridor and with quantitative methods illustrates how gentrification impacts the local business economy. The findings of this dissertation show that gentrification is often not properly identified, smart growth and gentrification can be linked, and that businesses in gentrifying neighborhoods are more likely to close.
ESTIMATING THE IMPACTS OF CAPITAL BIKESHARE ON METRORAIL RIDERSHIP IN THE WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA
(2017) Ma, Ting; Knaap, Gerrit J.; Urban and Regional Planning and Design; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Demographic changes and shared-mobility technology have redefined the urban transportation fabric. Bike share, a public short-term bicycle rental program, has emerged around the world. Many users find bike share to be a convenient, healthy, and smart transportation option that solves first- and last-mile issues. But some are concerned that it may challenge existing rail transit systems and reduce ridership. Hence, it is important to understand the impacts of a bike share program on rail transit ridership. The Washington metropolitan area lends itself well to studying this topic. Both the bike share and rail transit systems in this area, Capital Bikeshare (CaBi) and Metrorail, are the largest in the United States. According to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), which operates Metrorail service, CaBi services may challenge Metrorail ridership, especially for the short-distance trips. Based on WMATA’s concern, I explore whether CaBi substitutes for Metrorail and reduces its ridership. An exploratory analysis finds evidence that CaBi can complement Metrorail trips in some cases and substitute for rail in others. To estimate CaBi’s impacts more precisely, three regression models—the Direct Ridership Model (DRM), the Difference-in-Difference (DID) model, and the Station-Specific Dummies (SSD) model—were applied. The results of the three models consistently demonstrate CaBi’s mixed impacts. CaBi may complement some Metrorail trips, but substitute for others, depending on the type and time. More importantly, the SSD results found that CaBi’s impacts vary by Metrorail station locations, whether a station is a downtown D.C. core station or a non-core station in peripheral and suburban communities. CaBi reduces core Metrorail station ridership by 4,814.4 per month for the number of AM peak exits and by 4,886.9 per month for the number of PM peak entries, but increases ridership at non-core stations by up to 2,781.2 per month, at a high statistical significance level. The finding that CaBi can complement Metrorail ridership is contrary to WMATA’s concern that a bike share program poses challenges for Metrorail. Policy suggestions are provided to help WMATA maximize the benefits of CaBi’s complementary effects.
Evaluating the Impacts of Top-down Protected Area Governance on Local Livelihoods - The Case of the Turkish Village of Kapikiri
(2012) Yilmaz, Aysegul; Howland, Marie; Urban and Regional Planning and Design; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
This study evaluates the positive and negative impacts of strict protected area designation on the livelihoods and socioeconomic wellbeing of a resident community living within the boundaries of a protected area, and explores how these impacts are distributed across different community groups. The study also examines whether strict protected area designation compensates for a decrease in traditional income by increased tourism. A case study analysis was conducted in the Turkish village of Kapikiri, where two centuries ago, modern settlement began among the ruins of an ancient Greek city. The area's rich cultural and natural heritage resources and biodiversity prompted the Turkish government to designate it with strict culture-protected area status in 1989, and with nature-protected area status in 1994. The study involved conducting a household survey with a representative sample of households, interviews with different community groups, and interviews with officials at various levels of protected area governance. The study reveals that the Turkish government did not balance strict culture-protected area status with residents' socioeconomic development needs. An inflexible, to changing circumstances non-adaptive legal framework of cultural heritage conservation did not accommodate residents' development needs, prohibiting them any change on their built structures. Conversely, the broader nature-protected area status, intended to conserve the area's natural heritage resources and biodiversity, provided for the continuation of a traditional cultural landscape and encouraged tourism, creating a demand for tourism services and establishments. Increased demand in tourism combined with fines not high enough to deter illegal construction, however, did not discourage particularly business owners from building illegally. While business owners expanded their business capacity and increased their income, being able to absorb the costs of illegal activity, most farmers vulnerable to regional economic and agricultural influences, lacked finances to build or renovate illegally and provide new housing for subsequent generations. The case of Kapikiri points to a pressing need for long-term conservation and development strategies that address the unique and changing dynamics of local socioeconomic contexts. Protected area governance in Turkey needs to adopt a conservation policy that is pluralistic and responsive to changing local socioeconomic needs and environmental conditions; one that meets the needs of local communities while preserving heritage resources for generations to come.
An Experiment in Statewide Scenario Analysis: Towards an Even Smarter Growth for Maryland
(2007-08-03) Chakraborty, Arnab; Knaap, Gerrit J; Urban and Regional Planning and Design; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Using scenario analysis, this dissertation explores the impacts of alternative development patterns on quality-of-life indicators for the state of Maryland. It compares existing conditions and six alternative scenarios using a set of planning-relevant indicators, such as open space protected, vehicle miles traveled, and proximity to highways and transit. The scenarios are - 1) extension of past trends, 2) build-out of local government zoning, 3) a regional vision developed through representative, participatory process, and three rule-based experimental scenarios (4, 5 and 6) developed through a land use allocation model. This experiment in scenario analysis adds to the literature in two respects. First, it offers a rare experiment in scenario analysis at the statewide level. In that respect, it offers new insights concerning the influence of geographic unit of analysis, methods of aggregation, and the choice of performance indicators. Second, it offers new insights into the performance of alternative state-level land use policies. It shows, for example, that by most measures of performance land use planning by local government yields the poorest outcomes. The smart growth strategy in which growth is contained in state approved Priority Funding Areas yield better outcomes. Even better outcomes are possible, however, by containing growth in urban corridors, an urban core diamond, or as recommended by the public in a "Reality Check" exercise. Whether there is sufficient political support to implement these better performing outcomes, however, remains uncertain.
EXPLORING PUBLIC HEALTH RISKS AND VULNERABILITIES TO EXTREME HEAT THROUGH URBAN BUILT ENVIRONMENT
(2021) Peng, Binbin; Hendricks, Marccus; Urban and Regional Planning and Design; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Extreme heat events have rapidly increased over the last several decades and is a leading cause of health threats in cities and communities worldwide. Despite the seriousness of this situation, urban planning scholars have yet to sufficiently examine the multidimensional nature of health risk to extreme heat in the scope of the built environment. Furthermore, literature that empirically explores relationships between extreme heat scenarios and road safety in cities is scant. This dissertation research focuses on the intersection of extreme urban heat, public health risk, and the built environment; it presents three interconnected and standalone studies. To synthesize what we know to date on how heat-related risks and associated health outcomes manifest in urban planning and the built environment, this study systematically reviewed urban areas’ extreme heat and health mortality and morbidity. The literature review used empirical evidence drawn from refereed manuscripts to bring attention to the built environment factors that are significant but understudied public health threats in times of extreme heat events. The review highlighted the linkages that have been least explored and/or in the germane literature and expatiated on key challenges in conducting research on associations between extreme heat and health risk in the context of urban environment. The first empirical study applied latent variable analysis analytics to explore the dimensionality of health risk associated with extreme heat by integrating a wide range of data sets from multiple disciplines, including but not limited to public health, applied geography, environmental science, and urban planning. Socioeconomic and socioenvironmental factors related to extreme heat are examined altogether with human behavioral risk factors in the dimensionality analysis. The final empirical piece examines the relationship between extreme hot days and non-motorized traffic crashes from a spatiotemporal perspective. Using a series of spatial econometric approaches, I found significant associations between extreme hot days and both the occurrence and severity of non-motorized crashes. I suggest that future research needs to adopt a dynamic traffic risk management approach that considers both urban climate and spatial dependencies when making transportation safety management plans. This dissertation is the first attempt to utilize latent variable analysis technique in a more sophisticated way to explore the dimensionality of health risk to extreme heat and the underlying factors resulting in different degrees of health risk associated with heat. It is also the first trial to quantify the spatiotemporal relationship between heat extremes and the mobility exposure and consequences, i.e., non-motorized traffic crashes.
Exploring the Influence of Urban Form on Travel and Energy Consumption, using Structural Equation Modeling
(2012) Liu, Chao; Ducca, Frederick W; Urban and Regional Planning and Design; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
This dissertation has contributed to the current knowledge by gaining additional insights into the linkages of different aspects of the built environments, travel behavior, and energy consumption using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) that provides a powerful analytic framework for a better understanding of the complex relationships of urban form, travel and energy consumption. Several urban form measurements (density, mixed land use index, street network connectivity, regional accessibility, and distance to transit) were gathered from multiple external sources and utilized for both trip/tour origins and destinations. This dissertation also contributed to the analysis framework by aggregating trips into tours to test whether the tour-based analysis generates better results than the trip-based analysis in terms of model fit, significance, and coefficient estimations. In addition to that, tour-based samples were also stratified into three different classification schemes to investigate the variations of relationship of urban form and travel among auto and transit modes and among various travel types.: (1) by modes (i.e. auto and transit); (2) by travel purposes (i.e. work, mixed, and non-work tours); and (3) by modes and purposes (first by modes, then by purpose). Stratification by purposes and modes provided an in-depth investigation of the linkages of urban form and travel behavior. The research findings are many: (1) urban form does have direct effects on travel distance for all tour types modeled; (2) urban form at the destination ends has more influence than on the origin ends; (3) Urban form has indirect effects on travel distance and energy consumption through affecting driving patterns, mode choice, vehicle type and tour complexity; (4) People tend to drive when they have complicated travel patterns; (5) The effects of intermediate variables (driving patterns, tour complexity, mode choice, and vehicle type) are stronger than the direct effects generated from urban form; (6) Tour-based analyses have better model fit than trip-based analysis; (7) Different types and modes of travel have various working mechanisms for travel behavior. No single transportation technology or land use policy action can offer a complete checklist of achieving deep reductions of travel and energy consumption while preserving mobility of driving.
HOUSING DEMAND AND TENURE CHOICE FOR SENIOR CITIZENS: LESSONS FROM THREE ESSAYS
(2020) Kim, Jinyhup; Dawkins, Casey J; Urban and Regional Planning and Design; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
The U.S. housing market faces a huge surge brought on by the growth of the older population. Housing researchers and gerontologists are now focusing on potential challenges that older households could face over the coming decades and are attempting to estimate how such challenges will affect the housing market. This marks a critical point for assessing housing affordability, availability of accessible housing, and housing demands based on geographical locations – all of which will be of utmost importance to aging populations in the coming decades. Although the older population is growing rapidly and is receiving considerable attention from both researchers and policymakers, there have been relatively few empirical studies about the housing behaviors of older Americans. This dissertation examines the aforementioned three challenges through empirical essays by employing micro-data (e.g., the 2004–2014 Health and Retirement Study, the 2011 American Housing Survey, and the 2013–2017 Public Use Microdata Sample). Specifically, the first paper will examine the reasons why elderly homeowners make the downward transition from homeownership, with a particular focus on the significance of property taxes on elderly behaviors. The second paper will investigate the living conditions of existing housing for stayers – those who have remained in their place of dwelling since reaching the retirement age of 65 – and estimate how accessible their housing is to meet the daily needs for aging in place. The third paper will seek empirical determinants on residential mobility and housing choices by elderly households in the Baltimore MSA, accessing the net impact of individual and housing attributes on migration behaviors and housing consumption. The results of these analyses show that property tax abatement programs fail to provide tax subsidies targeted to low income seniors in need. Furthermore, policy approaches to grow the accessible housing stock have proven largely unsuccessful. Finally, seniors who migrate throughout the Baltimore MSA show a strong tendency to downsize and become renters – particularly of apartments – regardless of location. This research will provide timely new evidence, which will help decision-makers better understand the burning issues that impact aging adults’ housing-related behaviors in the U.S. housing market.
Housing Value and Light Rail Transit Construction: Evidence from Three Essays
(2020) Peng, Qiong; Knaap, Gerrit Jan; Urban and Regional Planning and Design; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
In three essays, this dissertation explores what’s the determinants of multifamily rents and whether an anticipated investment in light rail transit influences multifamily rents and single-family housing prices in the rail transit pre-service period. In the first essay, I applied a multilevel linear model approach to account for the multifamily housing hierarchical data structure, and assessed the effects of service provision and management on multifamily rents. The findings show that pet allowance, availability of a short-term lease, and storage service increase rents significantly, while general renovations and availability of services for those with disabilities do not increase rents. The second essay empirically tests whether light rail transit in the pre-service period impacts multifamily housing rent in the transit corridor. Two approaches, a first-difference method and a difference-in-difference method, are used to test the research question. The results indicate that the rents of two-bedroom, three-bedroom, and four-bedroom units within a half-mile from planned light rail stops have significantly increased from 2015 to 2018 compared with the rent of units in other areas in Montgomery County. The third essay examines the temporal and spatial variation of the effect of the Purple Line on single-family home prices during the rail line pre-service period. The results show that the housing market saw a premium in 2012, the year the Purple Line project progressed into the preliminary engineering phase. The results also show that the effect of the new light rail transit line is distributed unevenly across the catchment areas of newly built stations and established stations.