Urban and Regional Planning and Design

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Ledroit Park, A Portrait In Black And White: A Study Of Historic Districts, Social Change, And The Process Of Neighborhood Placemaking
(2016) Henry, Christine Rae; Linebaugh, Donald W.; Urban and Regional Planning and Design; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
This research examines the process of placemaking in LeDroit Park, a residential Washington, DC, neighborhood with a historic district at its core. Unpacking the entwined physical and social evolution of the small community within the context of the Nation’s Capital, this analysis provides insight into the role of urban design and development as well as historic designation on shaping collective identity. Initially planned and designed in 1873 as a gated suburb just beyond the formal L’Enfant-designed city boundary, LeDroit Park was intended as a retreat for middle and upper-class European Americans from the growing density and social diversity of the city. With a mixture of large romantic revival mansions and smaller frame cottages set on grassy plots evocative of an idealized rural village, the physical design was intentionally inwardly-focused. This feeling of refuge was underscored with a physical fence that surrounded the development, intended to prevent African Americans from nearby Howard University and the surrounding neighborhood, from using the community’s private streets to access the City of Washington. Within two decades of its founding, LeDroit Park was incorporated into the District of Columbia, the surrounding fence was demolished, and the neighborhood was racially integrated. Due to increasingly stringent segregation laws and customs in the city, this period of integration lasted less than twenty years, and LeDroit Park developed into an elite African American enclave, using the urban design as a bulwark against the indignities of a segregated city. Throughout the 20th century housing infill and construction increased density, yet the neighborhood never lost the feeling of security derived from the neighborhood plan. Highlighting the architecture and street design, neighbors successfully received historic district designation in 1974 in order to halt campus expansion. After a stalemate that lasted two decades, the neighborhood began another period of transformation, both racial and socio-economic, catalyzed by a multi-pronged investment program led by Howard University. Through interviews with long-term and new community members, this investigation asserts that the 140-year development history, including recent physical interventions, is integral to placemaking, shaping the material character as well as the social identity of residents.
THE PEOPLE’S PARK: A STUDY OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DESIGN AND CONVIVIAL BEHAVIOR IN SUPERKILEN
(2020) RODRIGUEZ, MARIA BELTRAN; Simon, Madlen; Urban and Regional Planning and Design; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
This research project investigates the relationship between design solutions andconvivial behavior among users of urban landscapes, particularly within areas characterized by diverse populations. By unpacking the entwined physical features and signs of convivial behavior at play in a People’s Park, this analysis provides insight into the role design can have in promoting convivial behavior. This is particularly important in Europe, which has long struggled to accept diversifying population and where urban neighborhoods are increasingly heterogeneous. This current diversification has tremendous implications for the ways people live together. The typology of the People’s Park is one of the contexts where this will play out. I define a people’s park as an everyday space with the potential to promote social wellbeing. It is characterized by an intent to design spaces for and with all members of a community. I define conviviality as a social condition contributing to everyday quality of life. I examine the people’s park as an institution for fostering convivial behavior in public life. The ultimate goal is to inform urban planning policies addressing social life in the public realm in multi-ethnic or diverse communities. The means to that goal is the development of a methodology for studying the relationship between design and convivial behavior that can guide park design to promote convivial coexistence and that can assist in assessing and improving existing underperforming parks. Research on these questions was undertaken using a single case study site, Superkilen, a park in Copenhagen’s multi-ethnic Nørrebro district. This case study tests the methodology I developed for this research, examining different areas of the park, in an attempt to ascertain what attributes of urban design are associated with convivial behavior, comprising the activities of eating, playing and chatting. Through the findings on Superkilen, I present the People’s Park as a useful model in helping diverse communities live together, through ordinary convivial behavior activity. Superkilen shows a possible path for societies that have historically been perceived as homogenous and must make space for difference and must deal with cultural diversity, as in Copenhagen, Denmark, but also many other European cities.
The Power of Synthesis: the Pursuit of Environmental Sustainability and Social Equity Through Design Practice
(2017) Kedar, Boaz Ahi Omri; Rockcastle, Garth C; Howeland, Marie; Urban and Regional Planning and Design; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
The paradigm of architecture and design is changing. Centuries of industrialization and rapid urbanization have placed profound stress on the earth’s natural systems, presenting new challenges for architects and urban planners. As our collective awareness towards these challenges increases, designers are increasingly called upon to partake in the global transition towards a low-carbon future. These professionals are re-assessing their priorities and practices, striving for better ecological and social scenarios. This dissertation explores how architects and designers successfully integrate environmental sustainability and social equity deliberations into architectural design practice by implementing more holistic sustainable design approaches. It advocates for a future reality where these considerations are naturally incorporated into the design process of any architectural project, and suggests a framework for their more effective integration. The dissertation opens with a review of current sustainable design approaches and practices in the architectural design profession, focusing on the tools and methods commonly used for their integration in the design process. Next, it presents three case studies of exemplary architectural projects, each demonstrating a progressive design approach that successfully integrates both environmental and social sustainability agendas within the design process. Data collection methods included a series of semi-structured interviews with designers, architects, developers, clients and other stakeholders in the respective projects, as well as site visits. In each case study project, the process of its inception, development, settings, and design methodologies were explored, aiming to evaluate the potentialities and effectiveness of these attributes for better integration of socially and environmentally sustainable design agendas. Synthesis of the collected data ultimately offers a framework for more effective integration of these virtues within architectural design processes. The conclusions point to a multivariate threshold containing a combination of external conditions, recommended processes and design-based tactics to achieve such projects. The conclusions underscore the method for application of these factors, not as isolated deliberations but as parts of a holistic, integrated process. When applied concurrently, these factors perform synergistically to produce holistic, well-rounded living environments that foster environmental stewardship alongside social and cultural wellbeing, empowering a community to flourish.