OU - Dissertations

Permanent URI for this collection

https://hdl.handle.net/11244/10476

Browse

Browsing OU - Dissertations by College/Department "College of Architecture"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    FACTORS DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY INFLUENCING JOB-HOUSING BALANCE AND COMMUTING TIME – THREE CASES IN BEIJING
    (2016-08) Zhao, Kun; Shen, Guoqiang; Franklin, Aimee; Warnken, Charles; Woodfin, Thomas; Frantz, Ronald
    China’s fast urbanization, population growth, and housing reform policies contributes significantly to urban sprawl, environment degradation, and excessive commuting in major cities in recent decades. This research investigates factors directly or indirectly affecting job-housing relation, which is described by employment options, residence choice, and commuting patterns, in three types of communities in Beijing, China. Descriptive statistics and structure equation models using variables for household socio-economic status, individual preference, home-workplace distance, and commuting behavior are implemented. The results indicate that traditional and semi-Danwei community residents have a more balanced job-housing relation, shorter daily commuting time and lower dependency on motor vehicles than residents of non-Danwei community. This research also finds that income, housing qualities, distance from home to workplace, community elementary schools and daycare centers, and sense of belonging significantly affect the choice of community when purchasing houses. These findings show that China’s job-housing relation are dramatically different in the plan economy in which Danwei housing-employment was popular with low vehicle dependency and shorter commuting time. In the free market economy today, non-Danwei housing-employment is dominant with high vehicle dependency and longer commuting distance.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    USING INVEST TO EVALUATE THE PERFORMANCE OF URBAN GROWTH MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES IN CONSERVING ECOSYSTEM SERVICES IN THE CITY OF CORVALLIS, OREGON
    (2016-08-19) Zhou, Long; Woodfin, Tom; Warnken, Charles; Shen, Guoqiang; Loon, Leehu; Purcell, Darren
    The world is undergoing a sustained wave of urbanization and through changing landuse and land cover, urbanization has been posing threats to “eco-environments” at various scales (Wang et al 2002). Urban growth management strategies including comprehensive plan with an urban growth boundary have been widely applied at both local and regional scales in the United States to control urban growth and conserve natural resources (Bengston et al 2003). Scholars have studied the performance of Urban Growth Management in environmental conservation, with the results varying due to different scales and research perspectives (Frenkel, 2004; Nelson 1992; Gordon, et al, 2009; Cathcart, et al 2006; Robinson, et al 2005; Kline and Alig, 1999). Through reviewing relevant literature, the author found that few studies explore this issue based on ecosystem service quantification, which could directly act as an indicator of the effectiveness of environmental conservation under different planning policies (Heldal and Baszka 2012). The InVEST (Integrated Value of Ecosystem Services Tradeoffs) modeling program developed by the Natural Capital Project at Stanford University quantifies various ecosystem services under different planning scenarios. This research uses InVEST 3.2.0 on the parcel level to evaluate the City of Corvallis’s current Comprehensive Plan in terms of alleviating future urbanization’s impacts on environmental quality and conserving ecosystem services in purifying stormwater and storing carbon. Through spatial and temporal comparisons, the conclusion is made that the City’s current Urban Growth Management conserves the land of high ecological value in carbon storage, but does not protect the land of high ecological value in stormwater purification. Using ecological unit monetary values from previous studies and the ecosystem service quantification results generated from InVEST, ecological values of each parcel are converted into a monetary value. Based on these monetized values, this research proposes a revised comprehensive plan for the City. The new plan directs future urbanization into the lands with least ecological values and conserves the lands with most ecological values while still matching the City’s estimated demand for developable land for different land uses.