College of Architecture, Art, and Planning Honors Theses
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Undergraduate Honors Theses for the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning.
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Item Investigating Filtering Theory in U.S. Housing PolicyFrank, Stella Borovska (2025-05-16)This study investigates the concept of “filtering” as a process with the potential to lessen housing unaffordability in the United States. Through statistical analysis, the study compares the relationship between housing production and rent prices, while considering historical information and contemporary academic analysis. Using Python and Excel, data at the census tract level across the United States was analyzed, illuminating housing availability and affordability disparities while controlling for socioeconomic factors. Findings suggested that increases in the housing supply are associated with increases in the percent of rent charged on average across a neighborhood, which is antithetical to filtering theory. This paper does, however, find instances where the relationship is reversed. This suggests that for filtering theory to be effective, during the observed time range of approximately 15 years, on the neighborhood level, the percent change in supply must exceed a certain threshold.Item Fleeing Climate Hazards: Evidence From U.S. Domestic Migration 1990-2022Kwong, Russell (2025-05-15)Residential location choice is among the largest decisions in one’s lifetime, and decisions to move are complicated by a multitude of factors. Among these factors, environmental conditions are not often cited as the primary driver of location choice. This paper explores associations between the environment, especially climate hazards, and domestic migration using publicly available data from 1990-2022. This research combines data from the Internal Revenue Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Bureau of Economic Analysis, among other sources to present data-backed observations of climate-induced migration. Through a fixed effects model, households’ migration decisions are shown to be increasingly sensitive to hurricane disasters and extremely cold weather in recent years. This paper concludes with implications for urban planning and building resilience in the era of climate change.Item TABOR: Past and Present Implications of the Colorado Taxpayer's Bill of RightsRomero, Laura (2025-05-15)Item E Pluribus Unum (Out of Many, One): American Jewish Population Growth Since 1840Rosewater, Jacob Lucas (2025-05-13)This thesis presents novel estimates of the Jewish population of the United States from 1840 to 2023. It does so by adapting a simple demographic model (“the model”) to the specific circumstances of American Jewry, as informed by the work of Ira Rosenwaike and Sergio DellaPergola — even as it does not accept DellaPergola’s definition of “core” Jewry as the standard. The goal is twofold: [i] to create an accurate enough model of U.S. Jewish population growth so that historic estimates can be improved and made available; and [ii] to explore the past, present, and future trajectories of U.S. Jewish demography and identity. On net, the results suggest that some historic population estimates should be revisited or entirely replaced, and the author argues that a more pluralistic, fundamentally American stream of collective Jewish identity has emerged in the United States.Item New Roots: Community Gardens as a Socioecological Approach to Reducing Recidivism in New York CityDe Santiago, Cynthia (2025)This paper argues for the creation of community garden-based community violence intervention (CVI) programs in New York City to reduce recidivism and promote community development. Given their historical and relational ties to underserved NYC neighborhoods, these place-based interventions have the potential to address urban challenges while fostering participatory planning processes. First, I will discuss the history of both community gardens and the policing practices that have contributed to the hypercriminalization and overincarceration of New Yorkers living in these same neighborhoods. Next, I will examine the barriers to establishing and maintaining community gardens and CVI programs. Finally, I will propose solutions to overcome these barriers and offer a conceptual framework for the implementation of these programs.Item Organizing for Whole Child Education: The Role of Community Education Councils in the Movement Toward Urban Education ReformSmith, Ayana (2023-05-19)This research explores the role that community education councils have within the community schooling framework. Through conducting seven stakeholder interviews and archival data, I answer the following central research question: “How are community education councils influencing local civic and political participation within their service areas?” From this process, I find that (1) community leaders conceptualize whole-child education as contributing to initiatives that fall outside of traditional purviews of public education; (2) current and past initiatives from community education councils include supporting the improvement of low-income housing for tenants within the community, reducing food insecurity that was amplified by the Covid-19 pandemic, and building community power; and (3) community education council representatives leveraged community resources, built relationships, and tapped into their own power to organize these initiatives. These findings underscore both theoretical and practical movements toward whole-child education being spearheaded by local leadership despite decades-long political struggles around collaborative governance over NYC Public Schools. From this research, I deepen our understanding of how communities are leveraging community education councils as critical social infrastructure in the movement toward urban education reformItem The 17th Sector: The Deathscape as Critical Infrastructure and Its Role in Emergency Preparedness and National SecurityRedmond, Elizabeth (2023-05-18)This paper argues for the creation of a 17th critical infrastructure sector–the Deathscape Services Sector (DSS), because of its foundational, yet obfuscated role in our country’s emergency preparedness (EP) and national security (NS). In this paper, we: (i) define the deathscape, (ii) offer a brief history of EP and NS, and note the benefits of operational consolidation, (iii) explore the foundational role the deathscape plays in EP, (iv) illustrate how deathscape actors already participate in the EP process, through the examination of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s five mission areas and explain why the deathscape is an entry point into EP for urban and regional planners, and (v) propose that to address current, and prevent further vulnerabilities, the deathscape should be designated the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency’s 17th critical infrastructure sector.Item Dreaming-on-Hudson: Spatial Pedagogies and Holistic Social Studies Education in Ossining, NYCooks, Kellen (2023-05-18)The Dreaming-on-Hudson project involved developing interactive mapping activities and place-based lessons that engage students’ spatial imaginaries and root sociological concepts in place and lived experiences. These activities and lessons constitute the Dreaming-on-Hudson curriculum, which was implemented at Ossining High School in Ossining, NY within the SUNY Racism, Classism, and Sexism (SUNY Race) course during the 2022-23 school year. The curriculum was co-developed and co-taught by the author, SUNY Race teachers Samuel North and Jillian McRae, and Joyce Sharrock Cole, the Ossining Village Historian. We began with activities that mapped and explored students’ own identities and communities, and widened towards understanding how sociological phenomena manifest within the town and region. At a time when attacks against critical race theory and educational equity initiatives are at a high, the Dreaming-on-Hudson project and SUNY Race provide a model for holistic social studies education that empowers students to shape the future of their community.Item "It Takes a Village?": Assessing Economic and Social Equity Outcomes Under Seattle's Urban Villages PolicyWostenholme, Lucien (2023-05-18)The coupling of rapid economic and population growth in urban areas around the world presents both opportunities and challenges, particularly within the realms of equity and sustainability. Over the last 50 years, the City of Seattle has witnessed this fast-paced growth firsthand; to manage it, the city implemented a novel planning policy in its 1994 comprehensive plan: the Urban Village Element. Originally designed to promote equitable and sustainable development in delineated villages, the plan has faced challenges in speeding redevelopment, spurring housing construction, and securing an equitable future for city residents. This paper centers itself around a qualitative and quantitative study of urban equity-determining factors, implementing a difference-in-differences approach to estimate the average treatment effect of Seattle’s urban villages policy on social equity relative to neighborhoods outside of villages. This paper concludes by extrapolating those findings to present-day conversations about urban densification and growth management, including the 15-Minute City.Item Digital Perceptions: Comparing the Perceptional Difference between Public Spaces and POPS (Privately Owned Public Spaces) Through Online ReviewsZhang, Yucheng (2023-05-16)This study explores the potential of an automated process in assessing the perceived quality of public spaces using Natural Language Processing (NLP) algorithms and online reviews. Over 1900 reviews were analyzed, revealing significant differences in perceptions influenced by factors such as user groups, amenities, space management, and visibility. This study found that public plazas are more welcoming and inclusive but lacking in safety and maintenance, while POPS are viewed as uninviting due to inappropriate physical design and rude personnel. In response, the study recommends policy remedies, such as stronger community relations, better design strategies, and improved information dissemination channels. While the use of the automated social media analysis method provides advantages in terms of time and labor input, improvements in accuracy require additional skill sets and data/labor input. Researchers and policymakers should still balance efficiency and accuracy while using novel methods as there is no one-size-fits-all solution to any urban issue.