MCP, University of Cincinnati, 2006, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning : Community Planning

The purpose of this study is to explore meaningful places and clarify their importance in urban life in the 21st century. This research argues that the quality of urban life is based on the experience of urban open spaces. Such experience is what creates meanings and has not been given the necessary level of attention by many professionals in urban design. The outcome, therefore, may not always provide the user needs, which is the key factor for successful public places in the last couple of decades. This paper argues that the ambitions of designers should meet with the expectations of users to create meaningful public spaces. My interest in this study requires a phenomenological inquiry of necessary clarifications of terms. The research question, ‘Meaning for whom?', needs to be answered by using empirical research method to identify what is conceived by outsiders as well as what is perceived by insiders. When we talk about 21st century complex and vibrant metropolitan cities, one of the most famous and attractive cities in U.S. is Chicago where took the attentions to its lakefront and skyline with the city's one of the latest works; Millennium Park. The plan and process had already given an idea about how conspicuous the park would be. Since my concentration is on contemporary public places, Millennium Park is a place to study at the intersection of urban design and culture.

Committee: Menelaos Triantafillou (Advisor) Subjects: Urban and Regional Planning

Master of Arts and Education, University of Toledo, 2021, Geography

In this paper, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology will be used to view census data and open space standards, examine property and property values, and apply existing well-defined measures to explore the concepts of access and equity as they relate to Toledo, Ohio's parks and public open spaces.

Committee: Daniel Hammel PhD (Committee Chair); Sujata Shetty PhD (Committee Member); Neil Reid PhD (Committee Member); Thomas Garey MA (Committee Member) Subjects: Geographic Information Science; Geography

MDES, University of Cincinnati, 2020, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Design

People have a lack of information about open spaces near their fixed places of stay. The most common way to get information about unknown spaces is a recommendation from people around. However, this narrow network cannot lead to activating public space. This study aims to solve the underused Public Open Spaces (POSs) through a network design with benchmarking the Sharing Business apps such as Uber, Yelp, and Airbnb. Users can explore their surrounding area filtered by selected keywords and get recommendations described from previous visitors. The design of the search and review functions made intuitive and straightforward to make the process easier than other business apps to engage the users for further use. This project structured in three phases. In the first phase, the author had to studies three different fields, which are public space visitors' perspectives, the current service structure of the Sharing Economy apps, and the actual usage of the POS in the study area. For the second phase, created the possible users based on the first step's studies, ideated the functions which they needed to understand their neighborhood area and designed the user scenarios of workflow with different functions. In the final phase, the author finalized the wireframe concept and digitized the idea to design an app prototype that simulated as a real application. By gathered validate results of participants, this study confirmed the possibility of the idea could contribute to activating the underused POSs.

Committee: Emily Verba Fischer M.F.A. (Committee Chair); Heekyoung Jung Ph.D. (Committee Member); Vikas Mehta Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Design

MS, University of Cincinnati, 2018, Engineering and Applied Science: Aerospace Engineering

Dual-arm robots have several unique capabilities that make them very attractive for many applications, such as task flexibility, and the ability to perform “two-handed” object manipulation tasks that other systems cannot. Additionally, humanoid systems have the ability to access workspaces and use tools designed for humans. However, in order for these dual-arm systems to be utilized in particularly challenging environments – such as human-shared environments, outer space, or disaster zones – these systems will need to become much more capable than they are today. Currently, the control of these systems is made difficult due to their complex planning, dynamics, and control, and current dual-arm robotic systems are nowhere near resilient enough to handle the uncertainty and risk that are found in these use cases. A separate issue (one which is found in other areas of robotics as well) is that the control architectures are seldom shared, and are so specialized and hardcoded to their particular use cases that they cannot be easily reused even when shared. Extensive development effort, therefore, goes into redeveloping new systems for each particular application with limited ability for reuse.

Committee: Catharine McGhan Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Ou Ma Ph.D. (Committee Member); Rajnikant Sharma Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Robots

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2012, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture

Urban environments evolve and change over time. The concern for designing sustainably involves investment in more than just an urban environments infrastructure. In order to implement design practices into sustainable neighborhoods, or EcoDistricts, architectural and urban design must address Open Space, Buildings, Energy, Water, Waste, Transit, People, Habitat and Health. Investigating how an EcoDistrict design can be integrated into Cincinnati's Central Parkway will illustrate how existing infrastructure can be utilized to create a sustainable connective link for EcoDistrict systems and inform architectural and urban design decisions.

Committee: Michael McInturf MARCH (Committee Chair); Aarati Kanekar PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Architecture

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2012, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture

The main investigation of this thesis questions the predefined territories within the downtown urban infrastructure of Cincinnati in an attempt to redefine the normative paths of play and interaction through evolving growths and swells of activity. These formations will be investigated and determined through the redevelopment of neglected infrastructure and their influence on local nodes within the urban setting. As the city has continued to thin in pedestrian attraction and vacancies increase, these broken and under- utilized properties can be used to inject new life and density into the city. These territories will be used as an intensifier in creating a remapping of the city and how it evolves through an open-content model. This interaction will be activated by modern ubiquitous virtual networks that draw populations of all scales and backgrounds together. By harnessing the collective power of personal electronic networked devices the anonymous public becomes agent in directing the swell of content within these armatures. The goal is to introduce a new architype wherein the separation between virtual and physical realms are blurred, and a more dynamic social space is derived.

Committee: George Bible MCiv.Eng (Committee Chair); Rebecca Williamson PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Architecture

MCP, University of Cincinnati, 2011, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Community Planning

Sprawl is the new urban reality which is gradually engulfing the undisturbed land within and surrounding urban areas. The loss of open spaces is being widely felt as can be seen by the large number of movements started by interest groups to protect open spaces, like The Nature Conservancy, Trust for Public Land, Land Trust Alliance etc. These efforts to protect open space intervene at two levels, firstly, protecting and restoring open space within the existing built urban environment and secondly, protecting open space that exists at the suburban fringe falling under new developments. This research focuses on protecting the former i.e. urban open space existing within a built urban landscape. In an existing urban framework ecologically viable open space called as green space (for the purpose of this thesis) needs to be preserved because it has a role to play in the quality of life, human environment, and its sustainability and that it should be integrated in the urban planning process. The same has been proposed as an ecological perspective in city planning that involves building a connected network of open space within the existing built urban environment. It is not only necessary but also beneficial to utilize the undeveloped left over spaces as vibrant green space and make them act as important linkages to build an ecological network on privately owned land. This thesis has developed a twofold framework to carry out the above mentioned city-wide greenspace network. Firstly, a prototypical GIS model for selection of the key ecological urban green spaces is designed and applied using real data. Secondly, a framework analysis of existing planning tools is done to propose appropriate tools and techniques that will allow the physical and administrative integration of private green space into a connected green space network.

Committee: Menelaos Triantafillou MLA (Committee Chair); Marisa Zapata PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Urban Planning

MCP, University of Cincinnati, 2010, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning : Community Planning

Sprawl creates a series of social and environmental issues, such as increasing pollution, increasing traffic and traffic-related fatalities, decreasing land and water quantity and quality, and increasing infrastructure costs. However, as the population grows and the need of residential development grows, sprawl would continue in the future. Local governments in the sprawl areas, thus, are seeking land use planning strategies to eliminate sprawl problems.Conservation subdivision development (CSD), a relatively new development tool, emerged about two decades ago, is trying to balance the demand of land development and the conservation of environment, ecosystems, farmland and cultural and historical features. It could reduce the sprawl problems by clustering the development on the relatively small portion of the site, and leaving major portion of the site as conservation areas. This study uses marketing concept in business field to help local government to promote CSD. The study provides a framework for local governments to formulate CSD promotion strategies based on the situations that local government are facing, analysis of the characteristics and needs of developers (the suppliers of CSDs) and residentshomeowners (the consumers of CSDs), analysis of benefits and barriers of applying CSD approach, and the conservation objectives and goals; and then prepare time schedule for the implementation of CSD promotion strategies and monitor the outcomes of the strategies to adjust and update the strategies for better result. The framework is demonstrated with a hypothetical case study. It requires knowledgeable staff and careful research to formulate strategies to promote CSDs. The lack of knowledgeable staff and careful research would reduce the effectiveness of these promotion strategies. In addition, the CSD approach is still relatively new compared with prevailed conventional development in residential development industry. It needs time and afford to achieve the wide r (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Xinhao Wang PhD (Committee Chair); George Suckarieh PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Urban Planning

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2008, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning : Regional Development Planning

The objective of this research is to assess the impact of future land cover changes on nutrient enrichment of streams. It applies cellular automata (CA) Markov chain model to simulate future land cover change and a GIS-based distributed cell-based model to predict non-point source nitrogen loadings to streams. The integration of the two models provides site-specific information on how the spatial location and extent of urban development can affect nitrogen pollution under dry, normal and wet conditions. Two scenarios of land cover change, in particular, were examined. The baseline scenario (Scenario 1) involved only minor protection of environmentally sensitive areas. The open space conservation network scenario (Scenario 2) incorporated the principles of "green" infrastructure as outlined by the relevant literature. Scenario 2 was based on protection of riparian areas, floodplains, wetlands, urban open space, and areas with exceedingly shallow depth to seasonally high water table and bedrock. Increased setbacks, where appropriate, were considered. The impact of the projected land cover change under different development scenarios was then examined in terms of nitrogen delivery ratios, total loads and contributing areas. A spatial hydrological model of the watershed was developed under dry, normal and wet conditions. A non-linear regression model was applied to estimate nitrogen trapping efficiencies and delivery ratios based on field characteristics such as slope, saturated hydraulic conductivity, soil mean particle diameter, Manning's roughness coefficient and length of flow. An attenuation factor taking into account cost distance to streams and decay constant was also incorporated into the model to account for transmission losses. Contributing areas of nitrogen delivery to streams were delineated based on the model results.

Committee: Xinhao Wang PhD (Committee Chair); David Edelman PhD (Committee Member); Jan Fritz PhD (Committee Member); William Shuster PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Urban Planning

MCP, University of Cincinnati, 2006, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning : Community Planning

This document attempts to identify valuable forms of open space which could be located in the transitional zones between urban and rural development in unincorporated Campbell County, Kentucky.The literature review first tries to define “valuable open space”. The general definition yielded by the literature review is then used to guide a case study of the Summerlake subdivision. The study analyzes stakeholder interviews to acquire an understanding of planner, developer and resident perspectives concerning open space preservation and valuable forms of open space.A critical analysis of the literature review and interview process reveals that there are many beneficial forms of open space. While it may not be possible to fashion a single definition of open space for Campbell County, there is a significant need to identify the character of the area. Identifying the character of an area may help examine and implement effective methods for preserving open space.

Committee: Carla Chifos (Advisor) Subjects: Urban and Regional Planning

MCP, University of Cincinnati, 2006, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning : Community Planning

This study investigates the problem of children's exposure to environmental hazards in open spaces designated for play and recreation from the planning perspective. It brings a new level of awareness about children's environmental health issues into the planning profession and emphasizes the role of planners in addressing this problem through provision of safer and healthier outdoor environments. For the field investigation, 40 randomly selected playgrounds in the Cincinnati metropolitan area were surveyed for the presence of four major environmental exposures: ultraviolet radiation, air pollution from mobile and stationary sources, pollution from hazardous waste sites, and noise pollution. The analysis of surveyed playgrounds in the Cincinnati metro area reveals that the majority of playgrounds has insufficient shade options and is situated in locations surrounded with densely traveled transportation routes and at least one pollution source within a one-mile radius.

Committee: Dr. Carla Chifos (Advisor) Subjects: Urban and Regional Planning

MCP, University of Cincinnati, 2005, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning : Community Planning

Development activities can increase the amount of storm water runoff in a watershed by decreasing the potential for infiltration and evapotranspiration. Increased storm water runoff can cause increased flooding, stream bank erosion, degradation of in-stream habitat and a reduction in groundwater recharge. Conventional subdivision design offering large lots, wide paved driveways and streets, aggravates these problems by increasing the amount of impervious surfaces. This thesis incorporates runoff impacts in a land development decision matrix. The result is a subdivision design that would produce a minimum increase in runoff volume and peak discharge rate from a more or less pristine undeveloped site condition. The proposed design methodology incorporates two improvements to a conventional subdivision design: adding runoff factors given by a simple watershed rainfall-runoff model (i.e., TR55) to the land suitability analysis and utilizing the principles of open space development. The site chosen for this study is one of the experimental watersheds of North Appalachian Experimental Watersheds at Coshocton, OH, which facilitated visualization and data availability. Peak runoff values for the site are calculated for three design scenarios using TR55: 1) natural undisturbed watershed 2) conventional subdivision design and 3) “creative” subdivision design. Results show that the increase in total runoff volume and peak discharge rate due to development is least in case of the creative design scenario.

Committee: Xinhao Wang (Advisor) Subjects:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2009, Mathematics (Arts and Sciences)

The theory of continuous mappings is a crucial field of study in general topology. In this dissertation we expand on this vast area by considering continuous functions and some new classes of spaces, while also pursuing other natural considerations in this direction. A space X is said to be π-metrizable if it has a σ-discrete π-base. The behavior of π-metrizable spaces under certain types of mappings is studied. In particular we characterize strongly-d-separable spaces as those which are the image of a π-metrizable space under a perfect mapping. Each Tychonoff space can be represented as the image of a π-metrizable space under an open continuous mapping. A question posed by Arhangel'skii regarding if a π-metrizable topological group must be metrizable receives a negative answer. A space X is said to be coconnected if |X|>1 and for every connected subset C, XC is connected. It is established that every coconnected space can be mapped onto a coconnected compactum by a continuous bijection. Also every coconnected compactum is the union of two linearly ordered continua intersecting only at end points. In particular every separable compact coconnected space is homeomorphic to the circumference. Every continuum that is cleavable over the class of coconnected spaces together with the class of LOTS embeds into a coconnected space. Thus cleavability of continua over the class of LOTS can be generalized to cleavability over coconnected spaces and their connected subsets. Cleavability over linearly ordered spaces has been an important direction of study. We establish that every locally connected, connected space cleavable over the class of LOTS is linearly ordered. Every separable connected space cleavable over R condenses onto an interval. Finally it is shown that every space cleavable over the class of LOTS containing a converging sequence has a cut point.

Committee: Alexander V. Arhangel'skii PhS (Advisor); Chuan Liu PhD (Other); Vladimir Uspenskiy PhD (Other); E. Todd Eisworth PhD (Other); Philip Ehrlich PhD (Other) Subjects: Mathematics

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2008, Environmental Studies (Arts and Sciences)

This thesis poses the question: Can goals for natural resource conservation and sustainability be better achieved through higher standards for the quantity, quality, configuration and management of the open space areas in conservation subdivisions? This thesis is based on an analysis of the standards in the literature that are used to designate the quantity, quality, configuration and management of the open space in conservation subdivisions, and their influence on the conservation goals of natural resource preservation and sustainability. Using a case study approach this thesis analyzes three conservation subdivisions and their respective municipal subdivision ordinances, including: their covenants, conditions and restrictions; development design guidelines; management plans; and site characteristics. Conclusions reached confirm that there are a variety of terms, standards and design and management approaches that can be advanced to influence natural resource conservation and sustainability goals. Each case study site and ordinance profiled has approaches and standards that can be used to inform future land use policy and planning to better achieve goals most valued in a particular location.

Committee: Nancy J. Manring PhD (Committee Chair); Nancy Bain PhD (Committee Member); Geoff Buckley PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Architecture; Civil Engineering; Design; Ecology; Energy; Environmental Engineering; Environmental Science; Geography; Landscaping; Public Administration; Systems Design; Transportation; Urban Planning

Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, 2007, Geography (Arts and Sciences)

Policy makers continue to develop ways to control sprawl, but the problem is growing. Many studies offer evaluations of current planning efforts or suggest new ones; however, few have sought to explain the evolution of sprawl, especially as it affects open space planning. This study compares the creation and current conditions of open space planning in Edinburgh, Scotland and Baltimore, Maryland. The research specifically focuses on the Green Belt around Edinburgh, Scotland and addresses several open space management programs in and around Baltimore. Results show that history, government structure, and adherence to a regional plan achieve open space preservation goal. Additionally, the future of each city's open space may be dependent upon their approach to planning. This study is part of the ongoing Baltimore Ecosystem Study, a multifaceted, long-term ecological research project devoted to understanding how cities function as ecosystems.

Committee: Geoffrey Buckley (Advisor) Subjects: Geography

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2013, Theatre

Abstract Improbable, a London based, international theatre company, after having achieved over a decade of critical acclaim found themselves in an excellent position in the industry to serve the theatre community. Through what the company terms `eldership,' the company has stepped back and placed more and more of their energy helping others, particularly young and emerging artists. Beginning with creating mentoring programs, and evolving into studying, training, and developing alternative leadership methods, the theatre company created a theatre conference like no other. Borrowing heavily from the Open Space Technology principles of Harrison Owen and the influence of Process Work and World Work pioneered by Arnold Mindell, Improbable created the Devoted & Disgruntled conferences. The Devoted & Disgruntled conferences have worked so well for Improbable because they mirror the ways that the company works when creating their devised performances. Like the company's work, the Devoted & Disgruntled conferences are a collaborative endeavor. There are no invited speakers, the conference agenda is not preplanned, but is developed by those attending during the initial hour of the event in a collaborative process where all of the participants are empowered to take charge of issues and concerns they feel passionate about, opening dialogues, pooling resources and knowledge, and seeking actionable plans and solutions. This participant-created conference of self-managed sessions (including discussion groups, experiential workshops, ideas sessions, and planning meetings) are all related to a central question of strategic importance: “What are we going to do about theatre and the performing arts?” Devoted & Disgruntled allows diverse, and often very large, groups of people to get together, discuss issues of heartfelt concern, share ideas, pool their knowledge and develop plans for collaborative action. There are no invited speakers, and just one facilitator to explain the pr (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Lesley Ferris PHD (Advisor); Beth Kattelman PHD (Committee Member); Joy Reilly PHD (Committee Member); Clayton Funk PHD (Committee Member) Subjects: Theater; Theater History; Theater Studies

Master of Landscape Architecture, The Ohio State University, 2013, Landscape Architecture

Since 1896, the modern Olympics have created a substantial impact on host cities socially, economically and physically. Olympics are regarded as beneficial to the host city in terms of prestige and world status. The competitiveness of hosting is apparent, with nine cities vying for the bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games. This study seeks to evaluate the impact of the Olympics on public open space, positively or negatively, through a review of three late 20th and 21st century host cities. The study uses a mixed methodology including data collection and case studies. The literature review identifies key definitions and standards of open space through the eras. Environmental reports and zoning maps are the primary data source and analytical focus. Metropolitan Reports and park maps were also used to allow quantitative analysis. The study examines data from a sample of three cities hosting summer Olympics during the last 20 years: Atlanta (1996), Sydney (2000) and London (2012). The examination analyzes pre and post-Olympic games: the amount of open space, in hectares, and open space per capita. This initial study provides groundwork for future studies on Olympic host cities and areas looking to revitalize open space infrastructure. Planning paradigm shifts in governmental responsibilities are also brought out in this study. The research suggests that public open space increases in the city of Atlanta, Georgia and the Auburn Local Government in New South Wales, while decreasing in London, England relative to hosting the Olympics. Though data for the London post-Olympic timeframe is limited, open space has not kept pace with population growth.

Committee: Deborah Georg (Advisor); Charisma Acey (Committee Member) Subjects: Landscape Architecture