Architecture, Building and Planning - Theses
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ItemNo Preview AvailableA data-driven investigation on urban form evolution: Methodological and empirical support for unravelling the relation between urban form and spatial dynamics( 2023-06)Investigating the patterns of urban development and transformation and unravelling the principles behind these processes are critical for understanding how cities evolve under different physical conditions. While socio-economic, political and cultural forces undeniably shape the patterns of spatial change and persistence, urban form should not be perceived as a passive resultant or a mere consequence of these processes. Quite the contrary, urban form plays a determinant role in establishing the spatial conditions that influence future development patterns by constraining some choices while facilitating others. Recognising the scarcity of systematic, diachronic and quantitative studies on urban form evolution, this thesis is driven by an interest in understanding the relationship between urban form and spatial change. It aims to develop theoretical, methodological and empirical support for unravelling the influential role of urban form in guiding spatial dynamics. The thesis develops a diachronic and quantitative methodological framework to investigate how urban form conditions created by plots, buildings, streets and land uses affect the patterns of change and persistence in three different grid cities: Midtown Manhattan, New York (US); City Centre, Melbourne (AUS); and Eixample, Barcelona (Spain). As part of the research, three longitudinal morphological datasets were generated, drawing upon a rich array of historical cartographic resources and geospatial databases to enable a comprehensive assessment of urban form evolution within each city between the 1800s and 2000s. Through quantitative analysis of urban form and its association with spatial dynamics, the thesis demonstrates that urban form conditions have a measurable impact on the patterns of physical and functional change. This understanding contributes further to the fact that design does not exclude the possibility of change but may even favour it under particular conditions. A rigorous and evidence-based understanding of the interplay between urban form conditions and patterns of spatial change empowers practitioners and policymakers to choose particular forms and structures over others, guide the long-term evolution of urban form and improve the adaptive capacity and resilience of the built environment.
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ItemRenaturing the nature strip: Spatial, environmental and social drivers of road verge extent, composition and resident gardening behaviour( 2019)In this thesis I ask What spatial, environmental and social drivers underpin road verge extent, distribution and vegetation? I investigated road verges across 47 neighbourhoods in Melbourne, Australia, quantifying their extent and distribution and the extent and distribution of the verge gardening undertaken by residents, and I surveyed residents on their beliefs regarding the road verge and verge gardening, and characterised the flora of the road verge understorey. Road easement green space constituted 7.0% of land cover and a high 36.7% of all public green space. The percentage of the road easement that was green space was positively correlated with date of neighbourhood development, footpath absence, social disadvantage and parcel size. Streets with a greater percentage of road easement green space were associated with residential parcels that had a greater percentage of yard (i.e. garden). Verge gardening was common, occurring in almost a quarter (22.1%) of verges and in almost every block in every neighbourhood. I investigated two types of verge gardening, resident-planting of understorey and resident-planting of street trees. The absence of footpaths was a major driver of both. Properties with no adjacent footpath were 5.27 times more likely to have understorey verge gardening, and 2.06 times more likely to have resident-planted streets trees, than those with a footpath. Tree cut-outs (also called tree pits) were a second major driver of understorey verge gardening, 1.75 times more likely to be gardened than standard verges. Local roads were 3.74 times more likely to have understorey verge gardening than major roads. Age of street was negatively correlated with understorey verge gardening. Verges without the presence of street trees planted by local government were 1.33 times more likely to have understorey verge gardening than those with local government street trees. Social contagion was also present, with the presence of verge gardening in a neighbouring property increasing the likelihood of verge gardening by 9%. By surveying residents, I identified cultural background, gardening enthusiasm, sense of community and level of education as significant factors differentiating respondents who planted verge understorey, who planted street trees and who did not verge garden. Normative beliefs were the main cognitive construct affecting verge gardening behaviour, with verge gardeners less likely, compared to residents who didn’t verge garden, to be constrained by others’ perceived disapproval of verge gardening. In particular, residents were constrained by their perceptions of local government attitudes, much more so than their perceptions of neighbours’ attitudes or housemates’ attitudes. Sense of community, beliefs regarding the benefits of verge gardening, and feelings for nature also had significant, but less direct, effects than normative beliefs. Floral surveys identified 150 species, of which 82.7% were exotic, with native species mostly introduced through verge gardening. Species richness, abundance and composition were mostly driven in part by residents’ verge gardening behaviour, mowing frequency, rainfall, soil compaction and canopy openness, but much variation remained unexplained and was likely to be due to stochastic factors such as degree and frequency of disturbance. Seven vegetation communities were identified, distinguished by the presence of garden plants, rhizomatous turfgrasses, and the relative proportions of three dominant grasses. The extent of the road verge, combined with its often city-wide distribution, makes the road verge a green space component of fundamental importance to our urban ecosystems. Its varying distribution and extent across neighbourhoods means its significance also varies across the urban area. Verge gardening increased the overall species richness of verges, doubled the number of native species, and introduced structural complexity, suggesting that verge gardening can significantly contribute to quality and complexity of urban greening through the summed effect of the many small acts of citizen greening. Verge gardening promotes further verge gardening in a positive feedback loop. The influence of footpaths, road type and tree cut-outs shows that urban design can encourage this resident greening of public space. Municipal authorities are well-positioned to lead change, through reframing policy and outreach in order to positively frame verge gardening as an acceptable practice, by increasing plantings in the verges they maintain, and by promoting alternative low-mow practices that reduce the normative position of the well-manicured lawn. Planners, landscape architects, urban foresters, engineers and ecologists should work together to reimagine the ecological and greening roles of existing and future road easements. The potential for road easement green space to provide for the biodiversity, ecosystem function and human amenity now being demanded from urban green spaces is much greater than previously thought.
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ItemThe grid in history and its relevance to transport infrastructure planning in the present( 2015)This research is a study of gridded street patterns in history, critically examining the ways in which the grid has been utilised throughout history, its advantages and limitations, and what features of this street pattern – its rectangular and/or square blocks, and straight, orderly, parallel and perpendicular intersecting trajectories which are mostly wide or coupled with narrower streets – aid in its capacity to adapt, and flexibility to accommodate changing circumstances and needs. More specifically, this thesis explores the retrofitting of and alteration to essential (transport) infrastructure, and associated services and networks in varying street patterns, given how critical this, and the movement of people and goods, is to the functionality of cities. Delivery of infrastructure takes place in both formally planned grid and non-grid (e.g. radial) arrangements, and organically developed settlements. This thesis specifically addresses the contribution made by the grid – an essential design element used in the planning of urban spaces – and whether the features of this rectangular geometric form are able to better facilitate the construction and/or retrofitting of and alterations to essential elevated, surface and underground hard infrastructure, and associated services and networks, particularly those of transport, in a more effective and extensive, and less disruptive manner. Theoretical and practical examples of how well various street layouts adapt to accommodate change, particularly in regard to the application and patterns of essential infrastructure, and associated services and networks in question, are examined. This is predominately tested from the era of industrialisation (beginning with the Industrial Revolution in the late eighteenth century) onwards, as it is from then that urbanisation and unprecedented city population growth was occurring. Associated with this was the need for improved health, sanitation, and movement of people and goods, and the solutions to this including the development of infrastructure, and related services and networks, such as that of transport, still remain integral to societies. Case studies selected, the nineteenth century British (who were particularly active in utilising grid planning tools in delivering settlements) colonial settlements – now central cities – of Melbourne, Australia; Hong Kong (i.e. the approximate extent of what was the City of Victoria on the north face of Hong Kong Island); and Dunedin, New Zealand; support the wider analysis of street patterns, providing an array of simpler and more complex grids for examination. The main research question asked is: In what way has the grid been used throughout history, what are the reasons for its use, what are the features of this street pattern that contribute to its benefits, and how does this compare to other layouts of urban form?
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ItemThe evolution of central Melbourne: a morphological analysis 1837-2011( 2011)Melbourne's colonial core has been influenced by diverse political, economic and social relations intersecting with planning and urban design concepts: gold rush, periodic bursts of speculation, World Wars, and waves of immigration. These relations reflect the city's process of urban transformation and are typified by cycles of boom and bust. This research examines the characteristics of the major morphological periods associated with specific planning ideologies and contemporary influences of politics, economy and culture. In addition to assessing the morphological history of the city's core by reproducing a series of maps, the city's morphological history is analysed, particularly in terms of its spatial and block form, from a colonial to a modern context. This study therefore outlines the morphological evolution of an urban organism: the physical transformation of central Melbourne from 1835 until 2011. It gives special attention to the characteristics of the physical changes that have occurred; the socio- economic factors responsible; and the precise treatment of data sources which record those transformations. The compilation of data from state and institutional libraries, planning authorities and regulating agencies related to fire protection and water supply is described. The various types of physical changes undergone by the city centre, including functional alterations, plot division (or amalgamation), rebuilding and additions to existing structures, are analysed. The variations over time in the locations of these changes are examined in relation to the characteristics of contemporary social factors. Morphological mapping has been widely used in this research. The transformation of central Melbourne has been precisely documented and measured in its history through nine sets of figure-ground maps from 1837-2005, transcribed from historical block plans and maps. A thorough anatomical analysis depicts a vivid panorama at every stage of growth of central Melbourne. What is revealed is a city transformed from a singular civic vision to a layered and collaged image, and at the same time, the imprint of the original colonial street grid remains. This transformation signifies the morphological evolution of central Melbourne. This comprehensive morphological study is the first of its kind in relation to the historical transformation of an Australian capital city.