Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Landscape planning'

As a high quality green belt in the city, a city's waterfront landscape is can be a liveable and comfortable place. For citizens, it is also an attractive place to live in. A good city waterfront landscape can be updated and maintained by itself. Therefore, we can not treat the urban waterfront area as just a beautiful landscape in aesthetic terms, but we should also understand it in deeper and broader dimensions. The urban waterfront landscape directly affects the urban structure, the urban ecological environment and the life quality of the urban residents. By analysizing the two cases, Western Harbor in Malmö and Jinji Lake in Suzhou China, we can draw some interesting conclusions about waterfront landscape. Through the discussion of this subject, I aim for an understanding of the urban waterfront landscape as a harmonious system with the artificial and natural landscapes working together, based on scientific and artistic aspects.

This thesis compares the landscape planning goals and procedures of Pima County and Landkreis Hannover as they enter regional planworks. The literature provides three significant approaches to landscape planning, from which are extracted significant valuation criteria including biophysical and sociocultural landscape characteristics as well as data handling and implementation considerations. Landkreis Hannover employs a landscape and a comprehensive planwork, the latter coordinating the missions of all spatial disciplines and the first representing a conservation component. Pima County develops a comprehensive plan based on pro-growth policy which attempts primary issue integration. Both counties demonstrate strengths and weaknesses uncovered by assessment of the valuation criteria. Learning from each other, Hannover can improve in data handling whereas Pima County can improve in organizational cooperation and promotion of the concept of sustainable development.

With the increasing development of relations of consumption between discipline knowledge and students, educators face many pressures. One of these pressures is the emotional response of students to their learning experiences and the weight given to their evaluation of teaching by universities. This study emerged from the polarised nature of student responses to one particular area of study in landscape architecture, the integrative discourse of Landscape Planning. While some students found this subject highly rewarding, others found it highly confronting. Thus the main aims of this study are to describe how the students, teacher and institution construct this discourse and to propose a way to rethink these differences in student responses from a teacher's perspective. Firstly, the context of the study is outlined. The changing nature of higher education in Australian society frames the research problem of student-teacher struggles in Landscape Planning, a domain of knowledge in landscape architecture that is situated in a an enterprise university in Queensland. It describes some of the educational issues associated with Boyer's scholarship of integration, contemporary trans-disciplinary workplaces and legitimate knowledge chosen by the institution [Design], discipline [Landscape Architecture], teacher [Landscape Planning] and students [useful and relevant knowledge] as appropriate in a fourth year classroom setting. Secondly, the conceptual framework is described to establish the point of departure for the study. This study uses the work of Basil Bernstein, Harvey Sacks and Kenneth Burke to explore the changing nature of knowledge relations in Landscape Planning. Unconventionally perhaps, it begins by proposing a new concept called the 'decision space' formed from the conceptual spaces of multiple participants in an activity and developed from notions of creativity, conceptual boundaries and knowledge translation. It argues that it is in the 'decision space' that this inquiry is most likely to discover new knowledge about student-teacher struggles in Landscape Planning. It outlines an educational sociological view of the 'decision space' using Bernstein's concepts of the underlying pedagogic device, pedagogic discourse, pedagogic context, recontextualising field and most importantly the pedagogic code comprising two relative scales of classification and framing. It introduces an ethnomethodological view of knowledge boundaries that construct the 'decision space' using Sacks' concepts of context-boundedness and indexicality in people's talk. It also makes a link to a rhetorical view of knowledge choices in the 'decision space' using Burke's concepts of symbolic human action, motive and persuasion in people's speeches, art and texts. Thirdly, the study is divided methodologically into three parts: knowledge relations in official and curriculum texts, knowledge choices in student drawings and knowledge troubles in student talk. Knowledge relations in official texts are investigated using two relative scales of classification and framing for Landscape Planning and its adjacent pedagogic contexts including Advanced Construction and Practice 1 and 2 and Advanced Landscape Design 1 and 2. The official texts that described unit objectives and content in each context reveal that Landscape Planning is positioned in the landscape architecture course in Queensland as an intermediary discourse between the strongly classified and strongly framed discourse of Advanced Construction and Practice and the weakly classified and weakly framed discourse of Advanced Landscape Design. This seems to intensify the need for students in their professional year to access and adapt to new pedagogic rules, apparently not experienced previously. A further subjective reflection of my own week 1 unit information as curriculum text using classification and framing relations is included to explain what characterised the rationale, aim, objectives, teaching programme, assessment practice and assessment criteria in Landscape Planning. It suggests that the knowledge relations in my teaching practice mirror the weakly classified and strongly framed discourse of the official text for this unit, that is that students were expected to transcend knowledge boundaries but also be able to produce specific forms of communication in the unit. Knowledge choices in student drawings in Landscape Planning are described using a new sociological method of visual interpretation. It is comprised of four steps: (a) setting up a framing scale using the social semiotic approach of Kress and van Leeuwen (2005) (contact gaze, social distance, angle of viewpoint, modality, analytical structure and symbolic processes) combined with the pentadic approach of Burke (1969) (act, scene, agency, purpose); (b) setting up a classification scale using the concept of agent from the pentad of Burke (1969) combined with how the relationship between 'I' the producer and 'you' the viewer is constructed in each drawing, like a sequence in a conversation according to Sacks (1992a); (c) coding student drawings according to these two relative scales and (d) assessing any shifts along the scales from the start to the end of the semester. This approach shows that there is some potential in assessing student drawings as rhetorical 'texts' and identifying a range of student orientations to knowledge. The drawings are initially spread across the four philosophical orientations when students begin Landscape Planning and while some shift, others do not shift their orientation during the semester. By the end of the semester in 2003, eight out of ten student drawings were characterised by weak classification of knowledge boundaries and weak framing of the space for knowledge choices. In 2004, nine out of twenty-one drawings exhibited the same orientation by the end of the semester. Thus there is a changing pattern, complex though it may be, of student orientations to knowledge acquired through studying Landscape Planning prior to graduating as landscape architects. Knowledge troubles in student talk are identified using conversation markers in student utterances such as 'I don't know', 'I think', 'before' and 'now' and the categorisation of sequences of talk according to what is knowable and who knows about Landscape Planning. Student talk suggests that students have a diverse set of affective responses to Landscape Planning, with some students able to recognise the new rules of the pedagogic code but not able to produce appropriate texts as learning outcomes. This suggests a sense of discontinuity where students dispute what is expected of them in terms of transcending knowledge boundaries and what is to be produced in terms of specific forms of communication. The study went further to describe a language of legitimation of knowledge in Landscape Planning based on how students viewed its scope, scale, new concepts and other related contexts and who students viewed as influential in their selection of legitimate knowledge in Landscape Planning. It is the language of legitimation that constructs the 'decision space'. Thus in relation to the main aims of the study, I now know from unit texts that the knowledge relations in my curriculum design align closely with those of the official objectives and required content for Landscape Planning. I can see that this unit is uniquely positioned in terms of its hidden rules between landscape construction and landscape design. From student drawings, I acknowledge that students make a range of knowledge choices based on different philosophical orientations from a pragmatic to a mystical view of reality and that my curriculum design allows space for student choice and a shift in student orientations to knowledge. From student talk, I understand what students believe to be the points of contention in what to learn and who to learn from in Landscape Planning. These findings have led me to construct a new set of pedagogic code modalities to balance the diverse expectations of students and the contemporary requirements of institutions, disciplines and professions in the changing context of higher education. Further work is needed to test these ideas with other teachers as researchers in other pedagogic contexts.

With the increasing development of relations of consumption between discipline knowledge and students, educators face many pressures. One of these pressures is the emotional response of students to their learning experiences and the weight given to their evaluation of teaching by universities. This study emerged from the polarised nature of student responses to one particular area of study in landscape architecture, the integrative discourse of Landscape Planning. While some students found this subject highly rewarding, others found it highly confronting. Thus the main aims of this study are to describe how the students, teacher and institution construct this discourse and to propose a way to rethink these differences in student responses from a teacher's perspective. Firstly, the context of the study is outlined. The changing nature of higher education in Australian society frames the research problem of student-teacher struggles in Landscape Planning, a domain of knowledge in landscape architecture that is situated in a an enterprise university in Queensland. It describes some of the educational issues associated with Boyer's scholarship of integration, contemporary trans-disciplinary workplaces and legitimate knowledge chosen by the institution [Design], discipline [Landscape Architecture], teacher [Landscape Planning] and students [useful and relevant knowledge] as appropriate in a fourth year classroom setting. Secondly, the conceptual framework is described to establish the point of departure for the study. This study uses the work of Basil Bernstein, Harvey Sacks and Kenneth Burke to explore the changing nature of knowledge relations in Landscape Planning. Unconventionally perhaps, it begins by proposing a new concept called the 'decision space' formed from the conceptual spaces of multiple participants in an activity and developed from notions of creativity, conceptual boundaries and knowledge translation. It argues that it is in the 'decision space' that this inquiry is most likely to discover new knowledge about student-teacher struggles in Landscape Planning. It outlines an educational sociological view of the 'decision space' using Bernstein's concepts of the underlying pedagogic device, pedagogic discourse, pedagogic context, recontextualising field and most importantly the pedagogic code comprising two relative scales of classification and framing. It introduces an ethnomethodological view of knowledge boundaries that construct the 'decision space' using Sacks' concepts of context-boundedness and indexicality in people's talk. It also makes a link to a rhetorical view of knowledge choices in the 'decision space' using Burke's concepts of symbolic human action, motive and persuasion in people's speeches, art and texts. Thirdly, the study is divided methodologically into three parts: knowledge relations in official and curriculum texts, knowledge choices in student drawings and knowledge troubles in student talk. Knowledge relations in official texts are investigated using two relative scales of classification and framing for Landscape Planning and its adjacent pedagogic contexts including Advanced Construction and Practice 1 and 2 and Advanced Landscape Design 1 and 2. The official texts that described unit objectives and content in each context reveal that Landscape Planning is positioned in the landscape architecture course in Queensland as an intermediary discourse between the strongly classified and strongly framed discourse of Advanced Construction and Practice and the weakly classified and weakly framed discourse of Advanced Landscape Design. This seems to intensify the need for students in their professional year to access and adapt to new pedagogic rules, apparently not experienced previously. A further subjective reflection of my own week 1 unit information as curriculum text using classification and framing relations is included to explain what characterised the rationale, aim, objectives, teaching programme, assessment practice and assessment criteria in Landscape Planning. It suggests that the knowledge relations in my teaching practice mirror the weakly classified and strongly framed discourse of the official text for this unit, that is that students were expected to transcend knowledge boundaries but also be able to produce specific forms of communication in the unit. Knowledge choices in student drawings in Landscape Planning are described using a new sociological method of visual interpretation. It is comprised of four steps: (a) setting up a framing scale using the social semiotic approach of Kress and van Leeuwen (2005) (contact gaze, social distance, angle of viewpoint, modality, analytical structure and symbolic processes) combined with the pentadic approach of Burke (1969) (act, scene, agency, purpose); (b) setting up a classification scale using the concept of agent from the pentad of Burke (1969) combined with how the relationship between 'I' the producer and 'you' the viewer is constructed in each drawing, like a sequence in a conversation according to Sacks (1992a); (c) coding student drawings according to these two relative scales and (d) assessing any shifts along the scales from the start to the end of the semester. This approach shows that there is some potential in assessing student drawings as rhetorical 'texts' and identifying a range of student orientations to knowledge. The drawings are initially spread across the four philosophical orientations when students begin Landscape Planning and while some shift, others do not shift their orientation during the semester. By the end of the semester in 2003, eight out of ten student drawings were characterised by weak classification of knowledge boundaries and weak framing of the space for knowledge choices. In 2004, nine out of twenty-one drawings exhibited the same orientation by the end of the semester. Thus there is a changing pattern, complex though it may be, of student orientations to knowledge acquired through studying Landscape Planning prior to graduating as landscape architects. Knowledge troubles in student talk are identified using conversation markers in student utterances such as 'I don't know', 'I think', 'before' and 'now' and the categorisation of sequences of talk according to what is knowable and who knows about Landscape Planning. Student talk suggests that students have a diverse set of affective responses to Landscape Planning, with some students able to recognise the new rules of the pedagogic code but not able to produce appropriate texts as learning outcomes. This suggests a sense of discontinuity where students dispute what is expected of them in terms of transcending knowledge boundaries and what is to be produced in terms of specific forms of communication. The study went further to describe a language of legitimation of knowledge in Landscape Planning based on how students viewed its scope, scale, new concepts and other related contexts and who students viewed as influential in their selection of legitimate knowledge in Landscape Planning. It is the language of legitimation that constructs the 'decision space'. Thus in relation to the main aims of the study, I now know from unit texts that the knowledge relations in my curriculum design align closely with those of the official objectives and required content for Landscape Planning. I can see that this unit is uniquely positioned in terms of its hidden rules between landscape construction and landscape design. From student drawings, I acknowledge that students make a range of knowledge choices based on different philosophical orientations from a pragmatic to a mystical view of reality and that my curriculum design allows space for student choice and a shift in student orientations to knowledge. From student talk, I understand what students believe to be the points of contention in what to learn and who to learn from in Landscape Planning. These findings have led me to construct a new set of pedagogic code modalities to balance the diverse expectations of students and the contemporary requirements of institutions, disciplines and professions in the changing context of higher education. Further work is needed to test these ideas with other teachers as researchers in other pedagogic contexts.

The thesis sets out the candidate’s contribution to the field of landscape planning in relation to themes such as sustainability, multifunctionality and resilience. It contextualises the candidate’s work in terms of the literature linking spatial planning, natural resource management and sustainable development, and shows how these have, most recently, led to a concern for ‘re-connection’. It then considers more specifically the influence of ten published outputs concerning interventions on behalf of the cultural landscape. Substantially, the candidate’s contribution is viewed as a way of ‘designing with nature’, within the legacy of Ian McHarg. The first part of the thesis explains how the candidate contributed broadly to a gradual acceptance of natural resource management as a legitimate concern for spatial planning, and how this was subsequently re-interpreted within a discourse of sustainable development. A set of ten published outputs is then critically reviewed in terms of: a synoptic overview; a contribution to the theory of landscape planning; an exploration of aspects of practical implementation; and a consideration of future prospects for promoting social-environmental resilience through the medium of multifunctional landscape. The thesis concludes by anticipating further development of the themes of multifunctionality, sustainability, resilience and re-connection within a ‘Neo-McHargian’ context.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2012.
This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.
"June 2012." Page [86] blank. Cataloged from student submitted PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 77-82).
This thesis seeks to deploy landscape design as a regional economic development strategy. It investigates the relationship between economic activity and the built environment. Economies transition from one trend to the next at a faster pace than urban stock, meaning the landscape and infrastructure, is able to adjust. Thus, flows of ephemeral economic phases leave patterns of durable infrastructure elements that may not serve as relevant or useful purposes in the emerging economic movements. These landscapes and infrastructure elements can then become underutilized or obsolete. Instead of allowing these facets of the built environment to fall subject to abandonment, entirely rely upon subsidies, or solely become a commodity tourist attraction, this thesis seeks to redesign and repurpose old infrastructure to deliver productive services to the surrounding contemporary society. This paper asks if adaptively repurposing regional infrastructure can contribute positively to regional economics. In order to test this argument, it investigates a single case study - the Erie Canal in Upstate New York. The Erie Canal was a piece of 19th century infrastructure built in 1825 that gave substantial rise and economic prosperity to the region. However, since its initial opening, the Erie Canal has declined in relevance and today suffers from underutilization. This paper seeks to discover if redesigning and repurposing the Erie Canal can generate both economic benefits and ecologic benefits to contribute positively to the surrounding urban region. It applies a systems-based design approach to assess the current conditions of the Canal, and then identifies points of leverage, or catalyst sites, along the linear system that will most greatly engender positive benefits for the entire surrounding region. A full mapping assessment was conducted per the research principles of systems-based design. Further economic and site information was recalled through secondary source reports and interviews. From these research methods, three typologies of catalyst sites and spaces were identified along the linear canal system and five potential economic opportunities were identified in the Erie Canal Region. This thesis proposes three alternative trajectories to move forward with these physical and economic findings: conduct a primary source investigation to discover the true potential of the latent economic opportunities surrounding the canal; remove the subsidy from the Canal budget all together and deinfrastructuralize the waterway to a natural state; or amplify the natural strengths of the Canal by diversifying its utilization.
by Lindsay K. Reul.
M.C.P.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2002.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 107-109).
Currently a gap exists between the regulatory, technocratic approach to managing a municipal landfill and the unofficial narratives of the people who live near the landfill and face a multitude of unpleasant effects in their everyday lives. This fracture between "official" truth and empirical reality stems from divergent construals of landfills as enclosed compartments from the perspective of planners and policy makers on one hand, and as dynamic, multidimensional, even threatening elements in the landscape from the perspective of local residents on the other. Understanding this fracture will provide cues for modifying current planning practice to become more inclusive and responsive to local voice. Working from a case study of Chiquita Canyon Landfill and the community of Val Verde in Valencia, California, my thesis investigates ways to mend this fracture by examining cultural and symbolic artifacts indicative of the community's relationship to the landfill, and suggesting how this qualitative knowledge could then be linked to the practice of environmental planning. My qualitative research included inputs from a series of open-ended interviews, a stakeholder workshop, site visits, and drawings made by children and adults of their conception of the Val Verde landscape. I advocate for the endorsement of a more humanistic approach to planning by visiting sites, meeting the people, and incorporating nontraditional methods of data collection to augment quantitative data generated by environmental impact assessments and cost-benefit analyses in current environmental planning practice. As a new way to frame environmental justice issues regarding landfills, I suggest the possibility of creating a "trashshed" framework to regulate the input/output flow of trash in a given area.
by Chikako Sassa.
M.C.P.

The protection and enhancement of visual resources constitute an on-going challenge to the planning authorities in many communities. The crux of this challenge is to guide development towards built and natural landscape forms that will not cause detriment to an existing landscape character. To understand and cope with this problem, there is the need for a means to define and model a landscape's character, to identify methods for constructing that character definition, to create tools for storing and using such a definition to visualize its spatial manifestations, and to incorporate alternative development regulatory parameters in order to assess their impact on landscape character. Current spatial data technologies are able to portray inventories of specific, real-world objects. While well established in the planning profession, these technologies and their attendant data manipulation tools do not easily facilitate the creation of generalized, non-specific statements that are applicable across a region. Such generalized statements regarding visual and spatial features are at the heart of descriptions of landscape character and implicit within most planning regulations intended to produce a desirable landscape character. Current spatial data tools therefore do not satisfy the stated needs of planning for landscape character. In satisfying these conceptual, methodological and technological deficiencies, the research presented in this dissertation defines and demonstrates a theory of landscape grammar which formally draws parallels between the structures of linguistics and the character of landscapes. A landscape grammar defines a landscape character using a spatial vocabulary and syntax rules and can be applied to a site to generate landscape forms that embody the defined character. In this dissertation, the spatial counterparts of the linguistic concepts of vocabulary and grammar rules are formalized and implemented for use in a custom-developed geographic information system. Methods that enable the use of landscape grammars in a planning environment are presented and subsequently applied through the formal expression of planning regulations into the grammar-based model. The theory, methods and software implementation are demonstrated using a residential area of the island of Bermuda. The iterative grammatical generation of an example two-dimensional landscape scene is demonstrated with further three-dimensional representations of the results for visualization purposes. Alternative planning regulations are also incorporated into the case study grammar and resultant three-dimensional landscapes are shown. Several suggestions for future research on landscape grammars are offered in the conclusions of the dissertation.

A water supply plan approach was used to investigate irrigation application on landscaped areas in Virginia with a focus on turfgrass. The economically-important turfgrass industry in Virginia should be proactive in conserving drinking water supplies to meet human consumption needs, especially in drought times. This thesis investigates current irrigation water supplies, water supply sustainability, and alternative water sources to meet irrigation demands and offers an insight on how potable water is unnecessarily consumed for non-potable irrigation needs. A Virginia evapotranspiration website was developed to offer a scientifically based source for efficient irrigation scheduling. The website was developed using a collaborative and user-centered design method, which included potential users in the process. The final website is hosted on the Virginia Tech website at http://www.turf.cses.vt.edu/Ervin/et_display.html and utilizes data from weather stations throughout the state. Evapotranspiration-based irrigation was tested at three case study sites in Blacksburg, Williamsburg and Norfolk, Virginia to assess potential water conservation. In Williamsburg, a 55% water savings was reported with evapotranspiration-based irrigation. In Blacksburg, slightly more water was applied on research greens irrigated based on evapotranspiration demand. Significantly less water was applied in Norfolk, compared to the evapotranspirationbased irrigated plots. The study also uncovered increased confidence to alter irrigation systems and the need to conduct irrigation audits when irrigating based on evapotranspiration. Evapotranspiration-based irrigation, reclaimed water and harvested rainwater were investigated to determine feasibility for meeting irrigation demands, while reducing potable water consumption at four case study sites in Blacksburg, Fairfax, Williamsburg and Norfolk, Virginia. Due to the limited collection potential at the Blacksburg site, reclaimed water and harvested rainwater was not feasible. However, the on-site weatherstation could offer a unique opportunity to calculate evapotranspiration. In Fairfax, all three alternative water sources could be integrated to supply enough water to irrigate a soccer field and adjacent athletic fields and save an estimated $7,000 per season in potable water costs. Harvested rainwater at the Williamsburg site could supplement the irrigation pond and reduce reliance on groundwater. In Norfolk, reclaimed water use is economically feasible, but rainwater harvesting could meet the irrigation needs, while evapotranspiration-based irrigation is too labor intensive for homeowners.
Ph. D.

Millions of people live and work on college campuses everyday. The environment they dwell and interact with is essential to their quality of life and health. There is no doubt that the campus landscape is of great importance to millions of students, faculty, and staff on campus. Surrounding communities are also significantly affected by college campuses as colleges often provide education and social events, as well as economic activities. However, in the past, the design of campus landscape spaces have been overlooked or treated as a leftover of buildings, even though campus landscape spaces are more than the â facesâ of colleges.

With more and more colleges and universities expanding and redesigning their landscape spaces, the design of campus landscape space has gained more recognition in the recent twenty years. One of the significant changes in the design process is the taking of usersâ needs/concerns into account. This change is influenced by a community-based design concept found in Active Living and Public Spaces design. While Active Living and Public Spaces design emphasizes the importance of user involvement and different techniques in soliciting user input, there is a missing link between user input and the design program elements.

In this thesis, I examine the past practice of campus landscape space design and propose using Quality Function Deployment (QFD) to fill in this missing link. QFD has been used in various industries, including service and manufacturing, for years. It emphasizes the importance of taking usersâ needs, called Voice of Customers (VOC), into the design process. The employment of different matrices to capture the relationship between VOC and subsequent design and quality characteristics makes QFD a unique framework suitable to fill the gap in the current design process.

A case study of campus landscape space design is conducted to examine the applicability of QFD in campus landscape space design, including the advantages, the obstacles, and the unique condition of using QFD in landscape design. The study yields several insights on the application of QFD in campus landscape space design, which are applicable in other landscape design projects.

Master of Landscape Architecture

Landscapes are changing environments. Conservation of the amenities associated with landscapes must take into account the tendency of a landscape to change over time. Change is considered to be influenced by both cultural land use practices and natural resource processes which act on the landscape. A technique is developed which demonstrates an approach to measure the stability of landscapes. This approach also provides a means to qualify the importance of the elements which make up the landscape, thus defining the matrix of the landscape. A case study of the San Pedro National Conservation Area is used to demonstrate the technique. Sampled at three intervals 1935, 1973 and 1986 the landscape is shown to be stable, identifying this area with intrinsic value for conservation. Landscape scale assessments are shown to be inappropriate for ecosystem scale changes.

This thesis is an examination of National Recreation Areas managed by the National Park Service, the Forest Service, and the Bureau of Land Management. It is exploratory in nature and seeks to illustrate their history, how well they are working today, and prospects for the decade of the 1990's. Included is information about the history, benefits, and trends of federal provision of outdoor recreation opportunities. Also included is a section on planning theory and conceptual frameworks--the concept of Multiple-Use, and the theory of Transactive Planning, as developed by John Friedmann. Managers of thirty-six of thirty-seven existing national recreation areas were interviewed by telephone concerning area attributes, the designation process, public support, enabling legislation, impacts of designation, and management mechanisms. A second research effort consisted of the creation of a computer database that serves as an index to the enabling legislation of all thirty-seven areas.

Esta dissertação é uma reflexão sobre os distúrbios climáticos devido à actividade humana e sua dependência histórica dos combustíveis fósseis para produzir energia. Chama a atenção para a necessidade do uso de energia renovável e que medidas podem ser tomadas para tal, respondendo a algumas questões neste contexto: que tipo de estruturas existem para produzir diferentes tipos de energia renovável? E no caso específico dos parques eólicos: que impactos podem ter na paisagem? O objectivo da tese é identificar os critérios mais importantes a considerar no planeamento de áreas destinadas à instalação de parques eólicos. Assumindo que a produção de energia renovável exige a instalação de estruturas, é importante uma análise cuidada no planeamento destas áreas. A tese não estabelece regras aplicáveis a todos os casos. Cada paisagem tem as suas próprias características e é percebida de forma diferente por cada pessoa; ABSTRACT:The study is a reflection on the climate disturbances due to human activity and its historic dependence on fossil fuels to produce energy. It notes the need for the use of renewable energy and what steps can be taken for such, addressing some issues in this context: what kind of structures exists to produce different types of renewable energy? And in the specific case of wind farms: what impacts have in the landscape? The aim of this thesis is to identify the most important criteria to consider when thinking about planning an area for a wind farm installation. Assuming that the production of renewable energy requires the installation of structures, is important to care on the planning of these places. The thesis does not establish any formula that applies anywhere. Each landscape has its own characteristics and is perceived differently by the people.

Prior to the Iraqi invasion and occupation, there was limited landscaping in Kuwait. Public gardens, highways, streets, governmental and private buildings had been planted to some extent. In the post invasion days the Amir of Kuwait has set a goal to beautify Kuwait by intensified landscaping. Responsibility for this Plan was given to the Public Authority for Agriculture and Fisheries (PAAF) which in turn, commissioned the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) to develop the Plan, in collaboration with PAAF staff. Currently, a Strategic and Master Plan for "Greenery" Development (1995-2010) is being prepared. The plan will consist of guidelines for the gradual landscaping of Kuwait focusing on the urban areas. The objectives of this thesis is to ensure the development of guidelines into a comprehensive body of knowledge which takes these categories into consideration: sociocultural factors, functional factors, environmental/ecological factors and aesthetic factors. It is hoped that this information could be synthesized into a thoughtful, utilitarian landscape design guideline for Kuwait.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2013.
This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.
Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 86-89).
The image of the modern workplace in the American suburb has long been a contentious topic of discussion among academics, planning and development professionals, and the public. Today, the critics of office parks in the low-density neighborhoods are applauding the idea of reverse migration back to the city. It is no doubt a trend for large competitive corporations and one that this thesis will explore. But in their day, the suburban corporate centers represented the epitome of advanced thinking about corporate organization, productivity, innovation, marketing, and architecture. This thesis will focus on how these large centers came into being, how they functioned and their continuing legacy. The principal cases and relevant examples discussed were designed by renowned 20th century architects and are of an iconic architectural value. The classic examples examined include: General Motors Technical Center, Deere and Company, PepsiCo, and Union Carbide. The hypothesis is that the day of suburban corporate centers is not over, that despite the changes in corporate culture and work-life, the lure of the isolated center in the landscape is so powerful that it will continue to be valuable to companies - but in new ways: as amenity locations for workers, and with new kinds of uses and activities incorporated into the centers.
by Viktorija Abolina.
M.C.P.

Forest managers must consider visual quality objectives to meet public expectations for use and enjoyment of forest landscapes. These applications of visual constraints have been criticized for being overly restrictive, and for causing a lack of opportunity for appropriate development. At the same time, inadequate planning and design can cause unnecessary visual impacts in the landscape. Past studies of visual vulnerability, visual magnitude, and angle of visual incidence have attempted to identify relative risk of visual impact. A new approach was sought that might help alleviate those problems, and improve the ability to forecast, model, and manage that risk. Perspectival variability affects how the landscape is seen, and poses complex challenges in the planning and management of visual resources. Therefore, a dynamic and quantitative approach to landscape classification was developed to provide greater understanding and control from multiple viewpoints. A landscape illumination mapping technique in a three-dimensional terrain model was applied as an analog for viewing from multiple viewpoints. The intensity of illumination, termed cumulative landscape apparency, provided an indicator of relative risk of visual impact for each grid cell in the landscape model. The model was validated internally through tests and applications and externally through focus group testing. Apparency can provide a new, reliable, geographic information system-based inventory measure that will help guide resource planning, design, and integration. It has been shown to offer a potential enhancement to visual landscape inventory, and is expected to be useful to land managers without a strong background in visual resource management, by reducing their reliance on experts and increasing their success in meeting visual quality objectives relative to current planning methods. Apparency was shown to reveal inherent patterns in the landscape that would be useful for differentiating areas requiring greater and lesser attention, improving harvest design outcomes, and partially automating or guiding the design. The knowledge gained in testing apparency for its relation to plan-to-perspective analysis can potentially provide an indicator for refining resource supply questions. Geoptics is expected to be applicable to a wide array of visual resource management and resource planning mechanisms in BC and other jurisdictions.

The purpose of this dissertation is to develop an approach which may aid decision-makers in the arid regions of the Middle East in formulating a comprehensive and operational set of landscape planning objectives. This purpose is sought through a dual approach; the first deals with objectives as the cornerstone of the landscape planning process, and the second focuses on objectives as a significant element of regional development studies. The benefits of developing landscape planning objectives are discussed, and contextual, ethical, political, social, and procedural difficulties are examined. The relationship between setting public objectives and the rational planning process is surveyed and an iterative model of that process is suggested. Four models of setting public objectives are compared and comprehensive criteria for evaluating these and other ones are suggested. Three existing approaches to determining landscape planning objectives are described and analyzed. The first, i.e., the Problem-Focused Approach as suggested by Lynch is applied within the context of typical problems that challenge the common land uses in the arid Middle East. The second, i.e., the Inductive Approach, which is currently used by most landscape planners, is examined through studying five key development projects in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Egypt. The third, i.e., the Deductive Approach, is used as a foundation to a proposed Landscape Planning Objectives System (LAPOS). LAPOS consists of diverse activities with a common purpose: clarifying and quantifying objectives. Ranking objectives within LAPOS is based on the computation of a grand index for each objective. Computing a grand index encompasses measuring six dimensions for each objective, i.e., space, time, population, demand, marginality, and failure index.
Ph. D.

Abstract: New Orleans, Baltimore, and Charlottesville are reevaluating the presence of Confederate statues in their built environment. Known as the Capital of the Confederacy, Richmond’s cultural landscape is visible through the connection of two historical spaces, Monument Avenue and Shockoe Bottom. Both serve as a powerful case study for how the commemorative narrative of these spaces is contested today and how barriers that exist influence urban planning processes and outcomes.

The Sardinian Regional Plan for the Landscape (PPR) was approved in 2006 as a response to statutory requirements and urgency to manage conflicts between environmental and economic needs in coastal areas. For these areas, the Sardinian PPR sets rules and policies to protect landscape and cultural identity. In order to achieve these aims, it provides prescriptive rules and indicative policies to be implemented by means of other plans, among which great importance is given to municipal master plans. This study seeks to understand the nature of the Sardinian PPR by examining its contents and process, and to evaluate to what extent it achieves its aim, that of delivering a balanced, sustainable development in coastal areas. The plan has been studied by using different tools: an extensive study of the documents of the PPR, a literature review on spatial planning to assess its nature, in-depth interviews which provided insights on the preparation, contents, strengths and weaknesses of the plan. The research succeeded in putting the Sardinian PPR in the context of spatial planning by assessing its (partial) fulfilment of four criteria, identified from literature as key features of spatial plans: ability to provide a framework for other plans, vision, inclusiveness, and deliverability. The assessment of the potential delivery of sustainable development in the island by means of qualitative research proved to be challenging. While there is some evidence of commitment to environmental sustainability, economic and social effects were questioned, especially with reference to issues of participation and cooperation between different institutions. Although this study examines only a particular plan approved in Italy in compliance with the national law ‘On Cultural Heritage and Landscape’, the finding of this research can provide useful suggestions to enhance the delivery of sustainable development by means of other similar plans.

Master of Landscape Architecture
Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning
Brent Chamberlain
Anthropocentric disturbances are often the main driver behind the population decline of wildlife species. Bat species are of particular concern recently with large declines in populations worldwide. The conservation of bat species relies on knowledge about the relationship between species-specific needs and the effect urban environments have on individual species. Mexican Free-Tailed Bats (MFTBs) are listed on the IUCN Red List and play an important role in many ecosystems within the United States. Austin, Texas is home to the largest urban bat colony in the world, including MFTBs. Austin can continue to benefit from millions of dollars from ecotourism bat viewing sites and the natural control of insect populations provided by this species if urbanization does not cause a reduction in their population. The focus of this research is to develop a quantitative habitat suitability model for the MFTBs in urban areas to increase the understanding of possible MFTB habitat in the Austin Metropolitan area. A geographical information system was used to map the suitability of habitats for MFTBs in urban areas based off a typology for the needs of the species, which was created through a literature review of expert knowledge. This study will help to quantify the relationship between urban environments and the MFTBs, showing that urban areas in the Austin Metropolitan area are suitable for the species. A predictive model, like the one described here, can act as a crucial assessment and planning tool for bat conservation by helping to eliminate challenges of tracking populations or identifying bats during nocturnal activities. This model informs the proposal of planning and design policy changes in Austin, Texas to better support MFTB’s habitat needs. Adjustments to current site plans in Austin are explored understand the effect the proposed MFTB planning policies could have on current development while exploring the application of the MFTB typology at a site scale. Application of the understanding created through habitat-suitability modelling helps to visualize how current projects in Austin, Texas can better support MFTBs to create an understanding of how these policies may affect the development of urban environments.

The population of Greater Roanoke Area during the last decade grew by ten percent. The recent growth has changed the countryside. The agricultural lands in this area has been replaced by sprawling housing subdivisions and strip commercial development. Greater Roanoke Area and its surrounding areas now face problems of traffic congestion, visual and environmental degradation due to commercial and residential growth. Greater Roanoke Area will need an innovative open space plan which preserves the natural character and unique qualities of the place. Many other regions and counties in the United States share similar concerns and needs. There has been parallel progress in the field of landscape ecology and landscape planning for better understanding of our environment. The primary goal of this thesis is to use concepts from both of these fields with an intent of developing an approach which will help both planners and landscape architects to plan and design for open space in a way that meets long term ecological needs and concerns. This thesis develops a process whereby an optimum spatial pattern for Greater Roanoke Area (one that maintains biodiversity, protects natural and cultural resources, improves water quality, protects soils, and increases productivity) is derived. This open space planning approach can in turn be used to guide other regions and counties in developing ecologically grounded open space plans. Spatial attributes, functions and the change dynamics of the landscape are targeted and analyzed to provide a foundation for an open space plan. Management priorities are then established for protecting, enhancing, and restoring agricultural lands, forest lands, wetlands, streams, and special sites. The tools for preserving open space areas are education, community involvement and government regulations.
Master of Landscape Architecture

Colonia Solana neighborhood in Tucson, Arizona was designed in 1928 by landscape architect Stephen Child. The use of native plants and topography as the basis for the site plan was unusual in 1928, and also has applicability today as the basis for an ecologically sound, self-sustaining landscape. Factors influencing Tucson's early development were examined as the background of this subdivision. Thus Colonia Solana neighborhood, the last work known to have been designed by Child prior to his death in 1936, became the starting point for inqueries into the life and other works of the landscape architect. It was discovered that Stephen Child (1866-1936) was not only a landscape architect, and one of the early advocates for the use of native plants; he was also a charter member of the American City Planning Institute in 1917. His works in Boston, Santa Barbara, San Francisco, and Tucson were documented.

Master of Landscape Architecture
Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning
LaBarbara J. Wigfall
Historically downtown St. Joseph was a vibrant urban center where many people came for entertainment and shopping (Bunkowski, 2010). With the rise of the automobile in the 1950’s and 60’s, the city has become largely focused around auto-oriented development. The downtown has been separated from the Missouri River with the construction of Interstate 229 and rail lines, limiting access to the riverfront. Overtime, some of the sites have become contaminated and are now designated as brownfields. Redevelopment of downtown St. Joseph can help solve these problems, and help position the city for future development. By restructuring existing buildings and planning for future infill, as well as incorporating green space into the design of the area, the downtown can once again be a vibrant, vital area of the city. The redevelopment of downtown St. Joseph will focus around creating walkable mixed-use urban fabric that attracts people to the city’s core. Downtown St. Joseph will once again become an important economic and social center for the city. New mixed use development in the downtown will provide places for new businesses and residences in the city. Enhanced connections to the surrounding areas will increase access to the downtown and parks in the area. Improvements to the downtown will make the area a vital part of St. Joseph.

The unique species, ecosystems and landscapes of the Western United States are experiencing unprecedented pressures from climate change, creating new challenges for conservation. As temperatures rise and patterns of precipitation shift, plant and wildlife species have been shifting their ranges to new areas in search of more suitable climates, building groupings of species that are historically unfamiliar. These climate -driven migrations place an additional burden on species that are already threatened from habitat loss and other human-related activities. The impacts of climate change are of particular concern in landscapes that have long been conserved and managed based on the ecological features that define them, including national parks, wildlife refuges, and wilderness areas. With many of these existing protected areas experiencing ecological shifts due to climate change, there is a growing need to identify the places within wider regions that will help species cope with impacts of changing climatic conditions. In some cases, those places are those where the pressures of climate change are least pronounced, what are referred to as “climate refugia.” At other times, helping plants and wildlife cope involves aiding their movement across the landscape in response to climate shifts, by preserving the connectivity between critical habitats and other highly important areas. While many efforts have been made to assess the potential of different areas as climate refugia and corridors, these practices have usually been carried out looking at individual species or ecosystems at a relatively local scale. Unfortunately, many of the decisions to conserve new parts of the landscape occur across much broader regions that span a multitude of species and ecosystems, ranging from individual states to entire continents. As a consequence, assessing climate refugia and corridors on a case-by-case basis for every ecological feature is neither feasible nor an efficient use of the limited resources available for conservation. Additionally, when deciding which areas are best suited for protecting native species and ecosystems from the impacts of climate change, one cannot ignore the existence of the other prevalent threats to conservation, such as habitat loss or invasive species. In this thesis, I have explored methods for widely incorporating climate change into the complex process of identifying high priority areas for conservation across broad regions. As a case study for this work, I chose the Southern Rockies Landscape Conservation Cooperative, a collaborative public and private effort for conserving and managing the ecological characteristics of a distinct region spanning seven states in the US Intermountain West. After broadly measuring climate change impact and connectivity in a manner that was not tied to any particular species, I simulated climate refugia and corridors that simultaneously represented the ranges of 31 separate wildlife species. Though further research is needed to better understand the full suite of threats to species persistence, the means already exist for conservation decision makers to account for climate change in their actions. I believe that my work supports that decision making process, providing a framework for identifying areas that are most critical for aiding diverse species and ecosystems in their responses to the pressures of climate change.

Open space planning has been present within the United States for over a century. Traditionally, open space planning efforts tend to focus more exclusively on either socially-based (e.g., recreational, scenic, or park planning) or ecologically-based (e.g., preserves, habitat networks or more general conservation planning) planning efforts. This separation of ecological and social frameworks in open space planning is reinforced by a persistent cultural model, where community and conservation are seen as opposing forces instead of partners. While recent open space planning efforts have begun to integrate social and ecological frameworks into one plan, the majority of our knowledge on integrated open space planning comes from individual case studies. Thus, a synthesized toolbox for how to practice this planning field is lacking. Given this lack of synthesized knowledge of integrated open space planning, an exploratory effort was undertaken to begin to view this newer planning field through a comprehensive lens. The goal of this research was to identify the state of integrated open space planning and begin to assess whether this state was leading toward "landscape integrity," which suggests that healthy social and ecological systems must function together to be sustainable. Framed within an adapted Pressure-State-Response framework, this thesis employed mixed methods and multiple perspectives to engender a holistic framework that identifies the pressures, state of, and potential responses surrounding integrated open space planning. Pressures synthesized from practice and theory include key barriers and facilitators to achieving integration. For the first time, the state of integrated open space planning has been identified from a synthesis of thirty planning processes, practices, and tools utilized in this new planning field. This framework provides planners with a framework upon which sharing and communication can now take place regarding how integrated open space planning can be institutionalized. Finally, this understanding of the pressures and state reveals potential responses for this newer planning field, including the need for increased collaboration to build this new field of open space planning into a mainstream planning field and increased research into bridging the gaps between theory and practice identified through this thesis. This study found two integrated open space planning models and a breadth of literature supporting a movement away from the community versus conservation dichotomy. While this movement is not yet mainstream, both paradigm shifts and the rapidly changing landscapes in which we live are reinforcing this trend. With the expanded view and holistic framework illustrated by this research, planners are afforded a similar language upon which they can discuss the tools and processes central to integrated open space planning.

The presented dissertation entitled „Development and Validation of a Landscape Metrics Based Approach for Standardized Landscape Assessment Considering Spatial Patterns” addresses three main questions: I. Which ecosystem services depend on landscape structure? II. How can landscape metrics be used to achieve a standardized routine for assessing the impact of landscape structure on the hereon dependent ecosystem services? III. How can regional planning benefit from the consideration of landscape structural effects on the provision of ecosystem services? The PhD study was carried out in the context of the Climate Change adaptation project REGKLAM (funding code 01 LR 0802). The work package “Land Use” was conducted at the Institute of Soil Science and Site Ecology of the TU Dresden under the direction of Prof. Dr. Makeschin. The PhD study took place in the framework of a sub-work package of it, which was called “Integrated Land Use Assessment”. The aim of this sub-work package was the evaluation of Climate Change adaptation strategies at the landscape scale in a cross-sectoral manner. The ecosystem services concept was chosen as methodological framework for this purpose. Particular motivation of this PhD study was that landscape structural aspects are often not sufficiently considered in commonly used ecosystem services assessment approaches. A standardized assessment procedure regarding the impact of the composition and configuration of land use/ land cover types is not yet existent in contemporary planning approaches, neither in strategic environmental assessment. In my thesis, I developed in the period from 2010 to 2014 a methodological basis which addresses this challenge. My thesis was realized as cumulative dissertation, which consists of three articles. These articles are published in peer-reviewed, ISI-listed international journals, whereas the third article still is in press. The short introduction in chapter one gives information on the motivation and the structure of the thesis. In chapter two, the research hypothesis is formulated and scope and objectives are explained. Chapter three gives an overview of the history of landscape metrics, the state-of-the-art, and current research in topic. In chapter four, the model region, focus areas, and the methodological basis are described. The fifth chapter summarizes results of the three articles (Frank et al. 2012, 2013, in press). Discussions in chapter six critically reflect the methodology and identify limitations, strengths, and its contribution to regional planning and to decision-making. Furthermore, some suggestions for extending the approach to other ecosystem services, especially regulating services, are made and perspectives towards different research questions are shown. Chapter seven summarizes the main outcomes of the PhD study. The central output of the dissertation is a module of GISCAME, a land use change impact assessment platform for supporting regional planning. The landscape metrics based ecosystem services assessment approach facilitates calculation, combination, and interpretation of a choice of landscape metrics and, hence, the evaluation of the impact of composition and configuration of land use patterns on ecosystem services. I selected eleven focus areas in the planning region “Upper Elbe Valley/Eastern Ore Mountains” to demonstrate the application and validation of the landscape metrics based approach that I propose in my dissertation. With these use cases, I show that the landscape structure significantly influences the provision of the ecosystem services ecological integrity and landscape aesthetics. Within the first use case I could demonstrate that the afforestation planning can be enhanced by including landscape metrics in the planning process. Actual priority areas for afforestation do not contribute to ecological integrity at the regional scale. Landscape fragmentation, habitat connectivity, and landscape diversity must be taken into account in order to identify most efficient priority areas for afforestation in terms of enhancing ecological integrity. The second use case focused on the question, how landscape structure influences scenic beauty. By means of a survey, I performed a comparison between the landscape metrics based approach and landscape perception of 153 respondents. This test underpinned my assumption that a landscape metrics based routine allows conclusions on the value of landscape aesthetics. The third use case gives practical advice in the current planning challenge about how to enhance water erosion protection planning in the context of Climate Change. Here, I demonstrated that not only land use change in preferential water erosion paths, but especially the change of management strategies combined with an improvement of landscape structure have the capacity to reduce water erosion potential by 92 %. The results show that it is of great importance to consider landscape structural aspects in current and future regional planning questions because additional, relevant planning information becomes tangible. The comparison of the presented method with other landscape metrics based approaches for ecosystem services assessment shows that the interpretation of the landscape metric values in the GISCAME platform module goes one step further towards usability for planning support: its transparency, spatial transferability, and flexibility are the main strengths of the approach. However, there is a clear need to involve the impact of landscape structure aspects also regarding other ecosystem services
Die vorgelegte Dissertation mit dem Titel „Entwicklung und Validierung eines auf Landschaftsstrukturmaßen basierten Ansatzes zur standardisierten Landschaftsbewertung unter Berücksichtigung räumlicher Muster“ behandelt die drei Hauptfragen I. Welche Ökosystemdienstleistungen hängen von der Landschaftsstruktur ab? II. Wie können Landschaftsstrukturmaße genutzt werden, um ein standardisiertes Bewertungsverfahren dieser abhängigen Ökosystemdienstleistungen zu ermöglichen? III. Wie kann die Regionalplanung von der Berücksichtigung der Effekte von Landschaftsstruktur auf die Bereitstellung von Ökosystemdienstleistungen profitieren? Die Promotions-Studie wurde im Rahmen des Klimawandel-Anpassungs-Projektes REGKLAM (Förderkennzeichen 01 LR 0802) durchgeführt. Das Arbeitspaket „Landnutzung“ wurde am Institut für Bodenkunde und Standortslehre der TU Dresden unter Leitung von Prof. Dr. Makeschin bearbeitet. Die Promotions-Studie erfolgte im Rahmen des Teil-Arbeitstaktes „Integrierte Landnutzungsbewertung“. Ziel dieses Teil-Arbeitspaketes war die Bewertung von Klimawandel-Anpassungs-Strategien auf Landschaftsebene in Sektor-übergreifender Weise. Zu diesem Zweck wurde das Ökosystemdienstleistungskonzept als methodischer Rahmen gewählt. Der spezielle Anlass dieser Promotion-Studie war, dass landschaftsstrukturelle Aspekte in gebräuchlichen Ökosystemdienstleistungs-Bewertungsansätzen oft ungenügend berücksichtigt sind. Ein standardisiertes Bewertungsverfahren des Einflusses von Zusammensetzung und Anordnung von Landnutzungs-/Landbedeckungstypen existiert weder in aktuellen Planungsansätzen noch in Umweltverträglichkeitsprüfungen. In meiner Dissertation entwickelte ich im Zeitraum von 2010 bis 2014 eine methodische Grundlage, welche diese Herausforderung angeht. Meine Promotion wurde als kumulative Dissertation, welche aus drei Artikeln besteht, umgesetzt. Diese Artikel wurden in begutachteten, ISI-gelisteten, internationalen Journalen veröffentlicht, wobei sich das dritte aktuell im Druck befindet. Die kurze Einleitung im ersten Kapitel informiert über die Beweggründe und die Struktur der Dissertation. Im zweiten Kapitel ist die Forschungshypothese formuliert sowie Geltungsbereich und Zeile erläutert. Kapitel drei gibt einen Überblick über die Geschichte der Landschaftsstrukturmaße, den aktuellen Forschungsstand und aktuelle Forschungsfelder. Im vierten Kapitel sind die Modellregion, die Fallstudien-Gebiete, sowie methodische Grundlagen beschrieben. Das fünfte Kapitel fasst die Ergebnisse der drei Artikel (Frank et al. 2012, 2013, im Druck) zusammen. Diskussionen in Kapitel sechs reflektieren die Methodik kritisch und identifizieren ihre Grenzen und Stärken sowie den Beitrag der Ergebnisse zu Regionalplanung und Entscheidungsfindung. Darüber hinaus werden einige Empfehlungen zur Erweiterung des Ansatzes für weitere Ökosystemdienstleistungen, insbesondere regulierende Leistungen, getroffen und Perspektiven zur Anwendung für andere Forschungsfragen werden aufgezeigt. Kapitel sieben fasst schließlich die wichtigsten Ergebnisse der Promotions-Studie zusammen. Das zentrale Ergebnis der Dissertation ist eine Erweiterung des Entscheidungsunterstützungs-Werkzeuges GISCAME. Der auf Landschaftsstrukturmaßen basierende Ökosystemdienstleistungs-Bewertungsansatz ermöglicht die Berechnung, Kombination und Interpretation einer Auswahl von Landschaftsstrukturmaßen und somit die Bewertung des Einflusses von Zusammensetzung und Anordnung von Landnutzungsmustern auf Ökosystemdienstleistungen. Ich wählte elf Fokusgebiete in der Planungsregion „Oberes Elbtal/Osterzgebirge“ aus um die Anwendung und Validierung des auf Landschaftsstrukturmaßen basierenden Ansatzes, den ich in der Dissertation vorschlage, zu demonstrieren. Mittels dieser Anwendungsfälle zeige ich, dass die Landschaftsstruktur die Bereitstellung der Ökosystemdienstleistungen ökologische Integrität und Landschaftsästhetik erheblich beeinflusst. Im ersten Anwendungsfall konnte ich zeigen, dass die Aufforstungsplanung durch die Einbeziehung von Landschaftsstrukturmaßen in den Planungsprozess verbessert werden kann. Vorranggebiete für Waldmehrung in ihrer derzeitigen Form tragen nicht zur ökologischen Integrität auf der regionalen Ebene bei. Landschaftszerschneidung, Biotopverbund und Landschaftsdiversität müssen vermehrt beachtet werden, um Vorranggebiete für Waldmehrung für eine Verbesserung der ökologischen Intaktheit effizienter anzuordnen. Der zweite Anwendungsfall richtete sich auf die Frage, wie Landschaftsstruktur die Landschaftsästhetik beeinflusst. Mithilfe einer Befragung verglich ich den auf Landschaftsstrukurmaßen basierenden Ansatz mit der Landschaftswahrnehmung von 153 Befragten. Dieser Test untermauerte meine Annahme, dass das auf Landschaftsstrukurmaßen basierende Vorgehen Rückschlüsse auf den ästhetischen Wert einer Landschaft zulässt. Der dritte Anwendungsfall gibt praktische Hinweise bezüglich der aktuellen Planungs-Herausforderung, wie Erosionsschutzplanung im Kontext des Klimawandels verbesset werden kann. In diesem Fall konnte ich zeigen, dass nicht nur Landnutzungsänderungen in präferenziellen Abflussbahnen, sondern insbesondere eine Änderung der Bodenbearbeitungsstrategie in Kombination mit verbesserter Landschaftsstruktur das Potential hat, die potentielle Wassererosion um 92 % zu reduzieren. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass es von großer Bedeutung ist, landschaftsstrukturelle Aspekte in aktuellen und zukünftigen Planungsfragen zu berücksichtigen, da somit zusätzliche, maßgebliche Informationen greifbar werden. Der Vergleich der vorliegenden Methodik mit anderen Ansätzen, die Landschaftsstrukturmaße nutzen um Ökosystemdienstleistungen zu bewerten, zeigt, dass die automatisierte Interpretation der Landschaftsstrukturmaße mittels des neuen Moduls in GISCAME einen Schritt in Richtung Nützlichkeit für Planungsunterstützung geht: Transparenz, räumliche Übertragbarkeit und Flexibilität sind weitere Stärken des Ansatzes. Jedoch gibt es eindeutig den Bedarf den Einfluss von Landschaftsstruktur auf weitere Ökosystemdienstleistungen einzubeziehen

Thesis: M.C.P., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, 2015.
Vita. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 125-132).
The US Army has set a course to transition to a future force that is adaptive, modern, and at the forefront of change. This strategic vision lacks a refined installation strategy to meet the needs of the future force. In a period of troop reductions, declining budgets, and increased facility vacancy rates the Army is required to shrink its installations. This thesis explores how to shrink Army installations through change, policy, and design. A set of changes is proposed that focus on eliminating housing, revising security standards, increasing privatization, and growth in Enhanced Use Leasing. Current Army planning strategies based on New Urbanist principles do not address how to shrink installations. Four theories are analyzed to develop a framework for designing the future of Army installations. Parameters are established to test the results of the design. The framework is applied to develop a design proposal for Fort Belvoir, VA. The framework generated a successful design of Fort Belvoir, VA based on the establish parameters. The framework and design process is transferable to all Army installations in the United States. Army planners can apply the process and framework as a tool to generate solutions to shrink Army installations.
by Dwight D. Howell.
M.C.P.

Dating back to the late 1700's from the skirt of Devil's Peak down to what used to be the shoreline of Cape Town, this once walled off city has undergone plentiful re-inscriptions of the landscape till today. Remnants of the old French line fortifications remain along the slope of Trafalgar Park, disregarded and lost in the city 'scapes. The reading and re-tracing to pre-existing and existing layers of the precinct has been developed through blackout art methods of incisions and insertions to acknowledge the pre-existing and the existing in order to create a new narrative for this land without a landscape. In establishing the character of the narrative and the architecture thereof, the imagination of the space transcribed from archetypes - people - from the surrounds and what could be their ultimate feeling for what should be placed forms the landscape and how their individual expectations meet with others. The narrative is split twofold, the one is that the moments along the Bigger story is the park intervention - traces of the incision old fort wall - strung into the city block and the other is the pedestrian insertion armature which cuts through the site, providing for a short cut to the train station. The path aims to take the pedestrian through a series of spatial experiences through the site. These experiences are shaped by the tectonic expression. The architecture of the new is at constant dialogue with the existing, playing on a series of incisions and insertions. The cross pollination of the varying programme in the precinct facilitates this dynamic spatial experience through the link.