Design – Â鶹ĘÓƵ Mon, 17 Nov 2025 22:05:10 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 /wp-content/uploads/2019/04/cropped-favicon_logo-32x32.jpg Design – Â鶹ĘÓƵ 32 32 Planning for a New Mobility Future /projects/planning-for-a-new-mobility-future/ /projects/planning-for-a-new-mobility-future/#respond Wed, 01 Nov 2023 03:38:43 +0000 https://portal.epicn.org/case-stories/planning-for-a-new-mobility-future/ Read More... from Planning for a New Mobility Future

]]> With advances in technology, new forms of mobility are emerging and entering our cities. These new modes are driving the need for plans and policies that direct how they will operate in cities, where they can operate and park, and who can use them. The cities of Eugene and Gresham would like to prepare for these new modes of mobility.

Transportation Planning students were tasked with gathering data on current parking and micro-mobility usage and infrastructure, analyzing these data, and issuing recommendations to address new mobility. Students also researched how other U.S. cities are addressing issues such as high parking occupancy, bicycle infrastructure, the emergence of transportation network companies (TNCs) like Lyft and Uber (also known as ride-hailing services), and new forms of micro-mobility such as e-scooters. Taking into consideration research from other U.S. cities and the goals of Eugene and Gresham, students recommended the following policy approaches.

]]> This project was completed as part of the 2018-2019 Resilient Communities Project (rcp.umn.edu) partnership with Ramsey County. The Riverview Corridor is a proposed modern streetcar line along a 12-mile route that will connect the Union Depot in downtown Saint Paul and the Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport and the Mall of America, as well as the neighborhoods in between. Business owners along W. 7th Street have raised concerns about the streetcar’s impact on on-street parking, disruption to businesses during construction, pedestrian/bike safety, aesthetics, noise, and long-term impacts on the affordability of commercial-retail space along the corridor. Ramsey County project lead Frank Alarcon worked with a graduate to conduct focus groups and interviews with affected business owners to acquire a deeper understanding of their issues and concerns early in the planning process, and inform an upcoming Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and future planning for construction and operation of the modern streetcar line. The student’s final report is available.

]]> Create a branding strategy and public art policy to promote and foster a positive community image.

]]> As part of the Sustainable City Year Program, students in Rebecca Lewis’s Growth Management course were asked to assess the comprehensive plans of the cities of Eugene
and Gresham, Oregon. Students sought to determine each city’s readiness for the deployment of new mobility services and autonomous vehicle and the continued growth of
e-commerce deliveries, along with accompanied changes to warehousing and brick-and-mortar retail.

Students analyzed city comprehensive plans, focusing on the cities’ commercial and residential land use patterns. Each group compiled written reports detailing their research, analysis, and findings. In the reports, students noted positive steps that the cities are taking to create pathways for these new technologies and provided recommendations for areas of improvement. In addition to the reports, the teams presented their findings to representatives from both cities.

Students were divided into four different teams to analyze the comprehensive plans. Two teams each assessed the comprehensive plans of the cities of Eugene and Gresham. For
each city, one group focused on the topic of new mobility and the other analyzed e-commerce.

The class evaluated the two cities’ comprehensive plans through initial independent research on e-commerce and new mobility. Students also looked at case studies of other cities and steps they are taking to address the issues. Then, students reviewed Envision Eugene Comprehensive Plan and Gresham Comprehensive Plan for policies and regulations that were conducive to allowing new mobility technologies within their city limits.

]]> As a way to commemorate Springfield’s proud history and bright future, design
students were assigned to create a new wayfinding signage design. The
previous wayfinding design had many redundancies and inconsistencies, so to
address this, design students created new and consistent wayfinding design
systems. The new signage systems are meant to help citizens and tourists learn
all Springfield has to offer. A new system can help re-brand the city to focus on
all its wonderful aspects.

]]> Significant changes in transportation technology will change the way cities collect revenue and fund infrastructure projects. Forward thinking cities like Eugene, Oregon and Gresham, Oregon are already considering what may happen when residents rely on electric cars, autonomous vehicles (AVs), fleets of shared cars, bikes, and e-scooters. Given cities’ current reliance on revenue from gasoline taxes, parking fees and fines, and vehicle registration fees, cities will face a significant decrease in revenue.

]]> Identify opportunities for making the Village Creek neighborhood more walkable, increasing access to transit and other neighborhood amenities, and improving public spaces in the the area.

]]> Town+Gown:NYC

Websites |

Created in 2009-2010, Town+Gown:NYC (Town+Gown) is a city-wide university-community partnership program, resident at the New York City Department of Design and Construction (DDC), that brings academics and practitioners together to create actionable knowledge in the built environment.


Town+Gown is also an open platform research program that uses service (experiential) learning and faculty-directed research to facilitate partnerships between academics and practitioners on applied built environment research projects through the collaborative inquiry model of systemic action research.


Town+Gown aims at increasing evidence-based analysis, information transfer, and understanding of the built environment, using, in many instances, New York City’s built environment as a laboratory for practitioners working in the city’s physical spaces, and academics in the built environment disciplines, with the ultimate objective of making changes in practices and policies based on research results.


Town+Gown’s unique mission and services facilitate partnerships across the academic-practitioner divide, which involves negotiating differing expectations, motivations, understanding and language to produce work of benefit to both sides. Town+Gown provides initial links between practitioners working on projects as equal partners in knowledge creation with academics and provides support to these projects until completion, bridging the academic/practitioner divide that can make such projects challenging.

Fun Facts about Town+Gown

Public or Private Institution | Public
Year Program Established | 2009
Country | US

Town+Gown is the second Â鶹ĘÓƵ program established by a municipality. Although Ethekwini Municipality (Durban) established an Â鶹ĘÓƵ partnership with the University of KwaZulu Natal in 2018, Town+Gown has Their programming facilitates developing and supporting experiential learning projects generated from academic programs and other academic partners and practitioner partners, which include public agency staff. Among the academic institutions Town+Gown works with on experiential learning projects are the 15 academic institutions that form the Academic Consortium under Town+Gown’s Master Academic Consortium Contract, which supports its faculty-directed component.

Highlight Articles/Videos

University Partners under Town+Gown’s Master Academic Consortium Contract

Brooklyn Law School
City University of New York
Columbia University
Cornell University
Drexel University
Fordham University
Manhattan College
New York Institute of Technology
New York University
Pace University
Pratt Institute
State University of New York
The Cooper Union
The New School
Tufts University

Contact Details

Terri Matthews
Director
matthewte@ddc.nyc.gov
Office: (212) 313-3546
Cell: (917) 417-4637

]]> Undergraduate and graduate-level students refine Apache Junction’s land development planning /stories/undergraduate-and-graduate-level-students-refine-apache-junctions-land-development-planning/ Wed, 05 May 2021 20:30:58 +0000 /?post_type=case_stories&p=1479 Read More... from Undergraduate and graduate-level students refine Apache Junction’s land development planning

]]> A relatively young city with an abundance of natural assets, affordable housing, and located between Greater Phoenix and the rugged Tonto National Forest, is a crucible for prosperity. City officials eagerly wanted to catalyze each element into a profitable city worthy of the acclaim given to cities such as Flagstaff, Scottsdale, and Sedona.  

A member of the Â鶹ĘÓƵ, Arizona State University’s (ASU) Project Cities “connects higher education with local communities” (from ASU Project Cities site) to co-create sustainable solutions which progress cities toward a better future. ASU courses and students were invited by Apache Junction to participate and engage with the research and development of community projects concerned with creating suitable and sustainable urban land use.

The goal of ASU’s involvement was to “create overarching visions for Apache Junction” regarding all Project Cities projects and to “generate landscape architecture ideas” (from ASU PC Fall 2017 Guide) that would inspire and implement future city development.

ASU students from a mixed graduate-, undergraduate-level Landscape Architecture course conducted various forms of research to aid and improve Apache Junction’s current projects, which included:

  • Inventorying and analyzing data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and more to understand the human and natural factors on local land use.
  • Interacting onsite with the urban and natural land to study “the truth of the place from the ground”.
  • Attending and participating in community events where, using the Socratic questioning method, they would ask open-ended questions to induce enlightening conversations which would lead to insightful responses.

ASU students observed numerous characteristics within Apache Junction that could be utilized toward development that reflected the values of its citizens while remaining mindful of sustainability best practices. In particular, students were most interested in creating projects that wouldn’t “bifurcate the city into the “old” and “new” Apache Junction” (PC Fall 2017 Guide).

Recommendations for land-development projects focused on the theme of “sustainability, active and healthy living, and a strong community identity,” (PC Guide) which could be fostered by bringing attention to the city’s natural assets while marrying urban and natural land, creating communal spaces which celebrate Western culture and history with modernity, and reinvigorating the city as a health and recreation district by encouraging foot and bike traffic thanks to improved transportation pathways.

ASU’s courses and students helped Apache Junction calibrate their view on future developments that could generate communal growth within the city, from leveraging its natural assets to induce a reformation of health and recreation to designing city spaces that incorporate the city’s Western roots while imparting a sense of place. Through these and other ASU recommendations, Apache Junction can effectively provide residents and visitors with notable benefits to bestow the positive perceptions and acclaim onto the city that they have sought to foster.

CONTACT INFO

Project Cities
Steven Russell
Program Manager
steven.russell@asu.edu
480-727-2698

Arizona State University Faculty
Ken Brooks
Kevin Kellogg
Course Title: Landscape Architecture Design Studio, 361

Apache Junction
Larry Kirch
Director
Development Services
City of Apache Junction
lkirch@ajcity.net
480-474-5082

Read the full story of the partnership.

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]]> Graduate-level course identifies modifications to update Apache Junction’s tourism website. /stories/graduate-level-course-identifies-modifications-to-update-apache-junctions-tourism-website/ Fri, 24 Apr 2020 14:12:34 +0000 /?post_type=case_stories&p=1510 Read More... from Graduate-level course identifies modifications to update Apache Junction’s tourism website.

]]> While retail businesses maintain well-constructed websites using best practices in an ever-evolving field, many American cities might not have the capacity to develop the webpage functionality they desire. This is even more important for cities that rely on tourism revenue.

As travelers spend more time online researching potential destinations, it is increasingly important for cities to portray their community favorably online—a poorly constructed website might lead a traveler to ignore the potential a city has to offer. 

, rich with natural resources and assets bordering Phoenix, created the “Positively Apache Junction” marketing campaign to improve the image of its city. One facet of the campaign was to attract tourists with their website, but they were unsure if it was successful at doing so. 

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