URP 423 Final

Complete Streets

Street design that safely accommodates all users—pedestrians, cyclists, transit riders, and drivers—regardless of age or ability.

Complete Street Elements

Curb extensions, narrower crossings, protected bike lanes, pedestrian islands, rain gardens, dedicated transit lanes, and off-sidewalk bike parking.

Purpose of Public Participation

Improve decisions with local knowledge, increase fairness and justice, understand preferences, and build legitimacy.

Public Engagement - Inform

Provide information to the public.

Public Engagement - Consult

Ask for feedback from the public.

Public Engagement - Involve

Work with the public throughout the process.

Public Engagement - Collaborate

Partner with the public in decision-making and design.

Public Engagement - Empower

Give the public final decision-making power.

Cost-Burdened Household

A household spending more than 30% of income on housing.

Severely Cost-Burdened Household

A household spending more than 50% of income on housing.

House Price Guideline

A home should cost about 3–3.5 times a household's annual income.

Affordable Housing at Risk

Expiring subsidies, rising construction costs, limited supply, and increased demand threaten affordable units.

Homeless Subpopulation - Women & Children

Often fleeing domestic violence; require shelter and supportive services.

Homeless Subpopulation - Formerly Incarcerated

Need reentry support, employment access, and stable housing.

Homeless Subpopulation - Chronic Homeless

Individuals with mental illness or substance-use disorders; require long-term supportive housing.

San Francisco Housing Approach

Pro-tenant approach with rent stabilization, strong eviction protections, and just-cause eviction rules.

Austin Housing Approach

Pro-housing approach with rapid supply growth, no rent control, and limited tenant protections.

Vienna Housing Model

City where 62% of residents live in social housing; government controls half the housing stock; average rent ~$600; funded by payroll tax; 13,000 new units annually.

Ways to Reduce Housing Shortage - Upzoning

Allowing higher density to expand housing supply.

Ways to Reduce Housing Shortage - ADUs

Permit accessory dwelling units to increase small-scale housing options.

Ways to Reduce Housing Shortage - Renter Protections

Policies that reduce displacement while allowing supply growth.

Ways to Reduce Housing Shortage - Subsidies

Expand financial support for extremely low-income households.

Neighborhood Unit Concept

Planning model centered on a school and park; population 1,500–8,000; ½-mile walk maximum; major roads at edges; stores on perimeter.

Neighborhood Unit - Positives

Walkability, neighborhood identity, reduced car intrusion.

Neighborhood Unit - Negatives

Static demographics, lacking commercial activation, missing institutions like libraries or jobs.

Community vs Neighborhood

A neighborhood is geographic; a community is social and identity-based; they may overlap but are not the same.

Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD)

Approach that builds on existing community strengths rather than deficits.

Community Asset Map

A visual inventory of community resources such as parks, schools, clinics, and organizations.

Eco-City

A city designed to be ecologically healthy, minimizing environmental impact while improving quality of life.

Japan Eco-City Approach

Small-scale, incremental sustainability improvements and pollution cleanup.

China Eco-City Approach

Large-scale, master-planned sustainable developments (e.g., Tianjin Eco-City).

Mobility

Movement speed; how quickly people travel.

Accessibility

Ability to reach needed destinations efficiently.

BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) Features

Dedicated lanes, off-board payment, level boarding, signal priority, and integrated routes.

Policies to Discourage Car Use

Car-free zones, reduced parking minimums, congestion pricing, higher parking rates, transit investment.

Last-Mile Problem

Difficulty connecting transit stops to final destinations, reducing ridership.

Micromobility

Short-distance vehicles like e-scooters and shared bikes.

Transit-Oriented Development (TOD)

High-density, mixed-use housing near transit stations.

TOD Downside

Risk of gentrification and higher housing costs near transit.

Shenzhen Electric Bus Fleet

World’s first fully electric bus fleet with 16,000 buses and extensive charging infrastructure.

Brampton Bus Improvements

Fleet modernization and BRT expansion to improve service and ridership.

California HSR vs Florida Brightline

CA is publicly funded, high cost, delayed; Brightline is private, cheaper, uses existing rail.

High Cost of Parking Causes

Mandatory parking minimums and auto-centric planning resulted in excessive parking supply.

I = PAT

Impact = Population × Affluence × Technology.

Common Pool Resource

A resource that is hard to exclude users from and where one person’s use reduces availability to others.

Common Pool Resource Characteristics

Low excludability, rivalrous use, and potential for depletion.

Tragedy of the Commons

Shared resources are overused without regulation or collective management.

Elinor Ostrom Contribution

Proved that communities can self-govern commons successfully through cooperation and monitoring.

Net Negative Emissions

Removing more greenhouse gases from the atmosphere than are emitted.

Climate Action Plan

A strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (mitigation).

Climate Adaptation Plan

A strategy to reduce vulnerability to climate impacts (adaptation).

Heat as a Climate Impact

Invisible, varies by humidity, kills indoors, lacks FEMA classification, difficult to manage.

Urban Heat Island (UHI)

Urban areas with elevated temperatures due to buildings, pavement, and low vegetation.

UHI Impact - Health

Higher rates of heat-related illness and death.

UHI Impact - Energy

Increases electricity demand for cooling.

UHI Impact - Air Quality

Worsens ozone and particulate pollution.

UHI Impact - Infrastructure

Stress and damage to roads, bridges, and rails.

Cool Roofs

Roofs that reflect sunlight (high albedo) and release heat (high emissivity).

Cool Pavements

Pavement materials that reflect more heat and improve surface temperatures.

Limitations of Trees for Cooling

Trees reduce outdoor heat but don’t significantly cool indoor temperatures without good building insulation.

Indoor Cooling Strategies

Improved insulation, window shading, AC/heat pumps, tree shade directly on building.

American Settler Colonialism

System built on white supremacy, Indigenous genocide, land theft, and forced assimilation.

Doctrine of Discovery

European-Christian legal doctrine claiming lands were “empty” and available for colonization.

Environmental Justice Movement Start

1982 Warren County PCB protest in a predominantly Black community.

First Wave of EJ

Addressed exposure to hazards like landfills, incinerators, and toxic waste.

Second Wave of EJ

Focused on access to environmental goods such as parks and trees.

Just Sustainability

Providing a better quality of life for all, fairly, while living within ecological limits.

Jericho Land Development (Vancouver)

Indigenous Nations jointly redevelop land as owners and developers, exercising sovereignty and equity.

100th Meridian

Climate divide between humid East and arid West; shifting eastward with climate change.

Powell Watershed Governance Plan

Proposed that Western governance align with watershed boundaries due to water scarcity.

Riparian Water Rights (East)

Right to use water based on owning land adjacent to the water body.

Prior Appropriation Rights (West)

“First in time, first in right”; water allocated by priority of beneficial use.