School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation
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The collections in this community comprise faculty research works, as well as graduate theses and dissertations.
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Item Razing the Bar: Coastal Resilience and Community Cohesion through Ecological Design(2024) Nivison, Erin Hamilton; Kelly, Brian; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Separated by iron fences, dense trees and drastic changes in elevation, two seemingly close communities are divided by economic greed, a lack of urban planning and community engagement. Over the last two decades the shoreline along National Harbor, Maryland has transformed from abandoned plantation land to a revitalized urban center. Now home to the MGM Casino, Gaylord Convention Center, Tanger Outlet Malls, the iconic Capital Wheel, and million-dollar townhouses, National Harbor’s master plan has been realized into a dense economic hub. While it has grown extensively, it lacks connectivity to the surrounding suburbs of Fort Washington on a multitude of scales. On a macro scale, it is one of the few suburbs of DC that isn’t serviced by a metro line and on a micro scale it lacks porosity to neighboring developments. Iron fences aren’t the only issue Fort Washington is facing, with the continued effects of climate change, sea levels are expected to rise an additional two feet by 2100 and commercial and residential developments will be put at risk. While the Potomac River is finally showing signs of improvement after half a century of pollution from sewage, agricultural runoff and sediment runoff, how can we protect both the natural and built environments harmoniously?Item Urban Sprawl & Critter Crawl: Imagining a More-Than-Human Way of Living(2024) Islam, Ramisa Maisha; Williams, Brittany; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Over half of the world’s population lives in urban areas and that number is projected to double by 2050. Cities and urban transects have an important role in addressing climate change. As urban population and development grows, we also see a decline in biodiversity. Humans are not the only species being displaced. Native species lose their natural habitats due to development and seek refuge in urban areas. The complexity of cities allows for urban biodiversity to find a home, but these urban habitats are still human centered, forcing species to fit within a human designed environment. This thesis explores the balance between human living and urban biodiversity to integrate into our cities. Implementing urban biodiversity strategies and more than human design in urban neighborhoods can help to restore biodiversity and strengthen human relationships with the natural environment. Combining these concepts can reimagine the city as a shared ecosystem that serves all species. An ideal shared ecosystem can support urban living, embrace coexistence, and foster a symbiotic relationship between humans and nature.Item FOOD SERVICE: CULTIVATING FOOD EQUITY & RESILIENCE IN THE HEART OF IVY CITY(2024) Tram, Judy; Curry, Daniel; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Food is fuel for the body and mind, a bridge for social connection, and a lens into culture and identity. Food is a human right, yet food insecurity in the U.S is a prominent issue that affects millions of individuals and families each year. Despite the nation's affluence, a significant percentage of the population still struggle to access consistent and nutritious meals. The relationships that people experience with food are deeply intertwined in and reflective of the country’s social, economic, political, and environmental attitudes. Due to a lack of equity in existing U.S food systems, the need for food aid rises. Nonprofit organizations are increasingly becoming a major asset to public aid and health, working to ensure that underserved communities have direct access to essential resources and services, particularly food. This foundation of service provides a pathway for nonprofit organizations to facilitate a localized shift in the way communities interact with food. This thesis seeks to reshape the experience of underserved communities with food to support a more sustainable and equitable food system.Item 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.Item Persisting Social Vulnerability, Stormwater Infrastructure, and Planning for Flooding and Resilience in Washington D.C.(2024) Park, Minkyu; Hendricks, Marccus D; Urban Studies and Planning; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)While Green Infrastructure (GI) has gained prominence in addressing climate change, particularly in flood prevention and other associated benefits. Limited empirical studies have explored its spatial distribution and temporal changes in relation to the whole stormwater infrastructure. This dissertation investigates the intersection of stormwater infrastructure, social vulnerability, and urban flood management strategies in Washington, D.C. The dissertation is composed of three studies. The first study employs geospatial exploration to assess the equitable allocation of stormwater infrastructure, considering historical discriminatory sewage services. Regression models reveal significant disparities in stormwater infrastructure distribution among communities with varying levels of social vulnerability, highlighting the inequitable distribution within urban areas. The study contributes valuable insights for stormwater management planning in the context of climate-related challenges.The second quantitative study focuses on the spatial and temporal evolution of GI distribution in Washington, D.C., utilizing spatial panel data analysis. Unlike previous cross-sectional snapshots, this study captures temporal trends in GI distribution in relation to social vulnerability. The findings, with potential implications for evidence-based policies, shed light on the evolving patterns of discriminatory distribution of GI and its relation to persistent social vulnerability. The third study employs an Environmental Justice (EJ) framework to critically analyze the urban flood management initiatives in Washington, D.C., specifically examining the Flood Task Force (FTF) action plan. The study uncovers limitations and potential exacerbations of place vulnerabilities within current plans through qualitative coding. This research contributes to the ongoing discourse on achieving more equitable and resilient urban flood management in the city, emphasizing the need for environmental justice considerations. The thorough examination of stormwater infrastructure, social vulnerability, and the initiatives of the DC Flood Task Force uncovers a tripartite phenomenon: 1) uneven distribution of stormwater infrastructure is influenced by social vulnerability, 2) temporally widening the gap in infrastructure among communities, and 3) overlooking social vulnerability and the unfair allocation of stormwater infrastructure in planning or policies could intensify place vulnerability.Item SOCIAL URBANISM IN MEDELLIN – INTEGRATION OF LANDSCAPE, LIFE, AND CULTURE(2023) Farieta, Maria Fernanda; Matthews, Georgeanne; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Over the last 50 years, the city of Medellín, Colombia has experienced a drastic urban transformation. The drug war and armed conflict in the late 20th century expedited urbanization as people were forced to leave their rural homes and seek shelter in major cities. However, the infrastructural capacity of larger cities has been unable to accommodate the basic needs of the growing population. As a result, people had to build habitats in the peripheries of the cities. These “informal settlements” were born out of necessity, with limited resources, and often under unsafe conditions. Nonetheless, these self-built neighborhoods are “the most common form of urbanization on the planet,” and as such, the processes behind “informal city making” are key to understanding the potential for development, innovation, and integration of a city. This paradigm shift regarding informality intends to bring visibility to the perseverance and creativity of migrants under limited resources, to challenge policies that shape urbanization and to explore alternative methods to address population growth.Item Step into Green: Reimagining our Urbanscapes with Integrated Green Spaces(2023) Long, James Renwick; Gabrielli, Julie; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Communities across the country, and beyond, suffer from food insecurity due to Food Desert conditions. Food deserts persist due to lack of reasonable access to nutritious foods, often as a result of distance to the nearest grocery store or market. Minorities, impoverished areas, and otherwise marginalized peoples are particularly subject to this inadequate access to healthful foods and produce. Existing infrastructures and urban planning provide little relief, particularly for those communities that wish to become more self-reliant by establishing greenspaces devoted to urban agriculture (UA). Zoning, local regulations, costs, and access to viable soil and clean water compound the challenges that inhibit a transition from consumer (reliant) to producer (provider). While there are many factors that contribute to the commonness of Food Deserts, the following proposal shows how rethinking urban design approach can, at various scales, provide meaningful relief by way of UA to those in need of nutritious supplements to their diets.This design scheme must be scalable, affordable, and resilient while also being applicable to a variety of build scenarios including new construction, renovation, and repurposing. As such, this proposal rethinks urban design strategies from a theoretical standpoint and exemplifies the execution of this theory in the neighborhood of Harlem Park, Baltimore, MD, that currently and historically suffers from food desert conditions. The scale of this neighborhood will allow the execution of urban planning aspects, community integration strategies, and individual household or unit-scale production to be showcased. Many UA initiatives have proven successful across the country and will serve as a basis by which to quantify the potential impact and effectiveness of this new design proposal in terms of initial and upkeep costs, volume of produce, and sustainability.Item Harboring Identity: Community-Informed Design for Belonging in Westport and Curtis Bay(2023) Abe, Danielle; Filler, Kenneth; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This thesis is a community-informed exploration of South Baltimore’s Westport and Curtis Bay neighborhoods. It is about listening, empathizing, and starting the design process with these communities and then exploring forms and spaces that can serve current community anchors and community needs while acknowledging complicated histories. In the U.S., the pattern of redlining and disinvestment of resources from communities of color is sometimes followed by re-investment that leads to physical and/or cultural displacement of long-time residents. The Baltimore Harbor is experiencing pressure of potentially speculative gentrifying re-investment that would serve future hypothetical residents instead of existing ones. The design intent is to empower residents to stay, strengthen, and feel a sense of belonging in their home neighborhoods.Item Boulder's Missing Community(2023) Mora Rangel, Miguel Alejandro; Kelly, Brian P; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Addressing housing disparities in the United States has been a hot topic issue for many years as it cannot be solved with a singular design that incorporates affordable housing. In order to produce change in communities that suffer from housing disparities, a new typology of affordable housing communities must be introduced and change the way in which housing is perceived.Boulder, Colorado is a city that is in dire need of change. Over the past decades, Boulder has served as a hotspot in Colorado and will continue to be one for many more to come. However, living with the city limits has become an unattainable dream as housing prices rise to astronomical levels and steer newcomers and young entrepreneurs away. This long standing issue is one that, if left unresolved, will reduce Boulder to a city that lacks life outside of commerce and business, which is a characteristic that the city has avoided since its incorporation. However, by carefully analyzing the city, understanding what contributes to its uniqueness, and proposing a housing community that will address the city’s issues while also enhancing the fabric, an over encompassing solution can be reached in an attempt to maintain Boulder’s vibrant communities.Item The Riverfront Wedge: Industrial Land Use on the Anacostia waterfront(2023) ALAJATI, FADI; Noonan, Peter; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The riverfront wedge (RFW) neighborhood struggles to remake itself because its identity is locked between its old production, distribution, and repair (PDR) zones and real-estate developers' expectations. RFW is isolated by freeways on two sides and the Anacostia River on the third. Therefore, the study will reimagine RFW by capitalizing on its unique location and proximity to the water, turning the PDR zoning infrastructure from a liability into an asset, and turning the vacant, disconnected property into a thriving neighborhood with connections to the 11th Street Bridge to the east and Capitol Hill to the north. The property's inaccessibility prevents it from being redeveloped like Navy Yard. Challenges addressed in this thesis:• Waterfront access • Affordable housing • Economic development for social justice, climate change and uplifting the community by providing an industrial institution where people can work, live, and gather in the same place