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EXPERIMENTING
WITH
THE
MARGIN
PARKLETS
AND
PLAZAS
AS
CATALYSTS
IN
COMMUNITY
and
GOVERNMENT
by
Robin
Abad
Ocubillo
A
Thesis
Presented
to
the
FACULTY
OF
THE
USC
SCHOOL
OF
ARCHITECTURE
UNIVERSITY
OF
SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA
In
Partial
Fulfillment
of
the
Requirements
for
the
Degree
MASTER
OF
LANDSCAPE
ARCHITECTURE
August
2012
Copyright
2012
Robin
Abad
Ocubillo
Object Description
| Title | Experimenting with the margin: parklets and plazas as catalysts in community and government |
| Author | Abad Ocubillo, Robin |
| Author email | robin.abad@gmail.com;robin.abad@gmail.com |
| Degree | Master of Landscape Architecture |
| Document type | Thesis |
| Degree program | Landscape Architecture |
| School | School of Architecture |
| Date defended/completed | 2012-07-05 |
| Date submitted | 2012-08-06 |
| Date approved | 2012-08-06 |
| Restricted until | 2012-08-06 |
| Date published | 2012-08-06 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Berney, Rachel |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Harris, Robert Pastucha, Simon |
| Abstract | Two related typologies of small-scale, experimental urban design have emerged in recent years as a synthesis of community action and progressive governmental experimentation: the Parklet and the Pedestrian Plaza. The Parklet occupies curbside parking spaces while the Pedestrian Plaza reclaims excess roadway, often at irregular intersections. While the typologies differ in physical form, both emerge from a common thrust of experimental action redressing the urban fabric and environment. Together, these two typologies – and the city programs created to facilitate their implementation – begin to define a process of Heuristic Urbanism: a collaborative practice that engages urban design through provisional programs and projects that are continually self-evaluating. This thesis illustrates how the Heuristic Urbanism of Parklets and Pedestrian Plazas necessitates innovation within city government through the assimilation of grassroots initiatives. ❧ A literature review outlines the theoretical and practical contexts from which Heuristic Urbanism emerges; suggests the evolutionary heritage of Parklets and Pedestrian Plazas; and examines the range of assumptions, expectations, and outcomes engendered by the new typologies and their relatives. The thesis then leverages interviews with over 65 individual stakeholders from government, advocacy groups, design and business communities in four California cities which are in various stages of advancing Parklet and Pedestrian Plaza programs. ❧ The findings outline the evolution of Heuristic Urbanism in California, critiquing the modes by which its contributing programs are initiated and implemented; conditions for viable projects; and the observed and anticipated impacts of those programs and projects. ❧ By profiling four case cities where urban design experiments are being institutionalized from grassroots actions into sanctioned planning objectives, the thesis develops a narrative of how this Heuristic Urbanism is being disseminated throughout California. While the study identifies some elemental commonalities across all four cities, it also reveals a great variation in the respective processes of each, illustrating how the process of Heuristic Urbanism adapts in unique contexts. ❧ The discussion then moves from overarching examination of program development to circumstances at the site and neighborhood scale; identifying common physical and social conditions as pre-requisites for Parklet and Plaza viability. This set of conditions is generated from stakeholder interviews and correlated with the literature review. Here the thesis articulates a coherent practical framework for evaluating future potential sites of intervention; engaging the dialectic between action, research, analysis, and refinement that characterizes Heuristic Urbanism. ❧ The study concludes with a discussion on the long-term implications of Heuristic Urbanism for urban design and planning practice. Significant and recurring themes emerge from the interviews; defining a territory which addresses public-private tensions, the role of design professionals in activism and governance, and the catalytic potential of Heuristic Urbanism for re-adapting both the urban fabric and modes of its management. |
| Keyword | urban design; urban planning; landscape architecture; experimental urbanism; heuristic urbanism |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Rights | Abad Ocubillo, Robin |
| Access conditions | The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright. The original signature page accompanying the original submission of the work to the USC Libraries is retained by the USC Libraries and a copy of it may be obtained by authorized requesters contacting the repository e-mail address given. |
| Repository name | University of Southern California Digital Library |
| Repository address | USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 7002, 106 University Village, Los Angeles, California 90089-7002, USA |
| Repository email | cisadmin@usc.edu |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume4/etd-AbadOcubil-1145.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 1 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Full text | EXPERIMENTING WITH THE MARGIN PARKLETS AND PLAZAS AS CATALYSTS IN COMMUNITY and GOVERNMENT by Robin Abad Ocubillo A Thesis Presented to the FACULTY OF THE USC SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE August 2012 Copyright 2012 Robin Abad Ocubillo |
