Landscape Architecture Theses and Dissertations

Permanent URI for this collection

https://hdl.handle.net/1794/12485

Browse

Browsing Landscape Architecture Theses and Dissertations by Author "Russel, Kory"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Codesign: A New Framework for Landscape Architecture in Informal Settlements
    (University of Oregon, 2019-09-18) DeHeer, Adam; Russel, Kory
    Rapid urbanization is occurring inequitably, resulting in the proliferation of informal settlements. Lack of access to adequate sanitation, clean water, and other elements of a healthy human habitat, such as green space, are among the most frequent public health issues in informal settlements. Codesign, a collaborative design approach, is particularly well suited for landscape architecture in informal settlements. However, codesign in landscape architecture lacks a guide for its process and activities. Drawing on the traditions of collaborative design in public planning and product design, this research presents a new codesign framework for landscape architecture. During development of the framework, a version was used in a green sanitation infrastructure project in an informal settlement in Lima, Peru. Lessons learned were used to improve the framework. This research is intended to make it easier for landscape architects to facilitate codesign and thus make it easier for them to work in informal settlements.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    No Walk in the Park: Urban Green Space Planning for Health Equity and Environmental Justice
    (University of Oregon, 2023-07-06) Elderbrock, Evan; Russel, Kory
    Cities are complex socio-ecological systems where social, cultural, economic, political, and environmental factors influence health outcomes. With the global population growing increasingly urbanized, understanding how urban environmental conditions affect human health has become a topic of interest among researchers across multiple disciplines. Urban green space—which includes all vegetated land cover (e.g., trees, grass, shrubs, and woodlands), as well as any land uses with publicly available recreational amenities (e.g., parks, schoolyards, university campuses, and conservation areas) located within a city’s geographic boundary—provides multiple health and health-promoting benefits. As such, disparities in park access, park quality, and green cover exposure (i.e., tree canopy and all other vegetation) are considered environmental justice and health equity issues. A wealth of recent research has found that, in general, increased access to parks has been associated with greater likelihood that residents will participate in physical activities and meet physical activity guidelines, and increased exposure to vegetated land cover has corresponded with improved psychological well-being and reduced risk of some mental illnesses. Yet, urban green spaces, and the health benefits such spaces afford, are not distributed equitably, and disparities in urban green space access and exposure based on race, ethnicity, or income represent environmental justice and health equity concerns. In this dissertation, I build upon the existing body of knowledge to 1) investigate how issues of health have shaped urban landscapes in the United States and how the policies and decisions that have shaped urban landscapes have exacerbated health inequities, 2) build upon existing research at the nexus of health and urban green space to improve understanding of relationships between urban green space access/exposure, physical activity, and mental well-being, and 3) develop a method for identifying distributional justice concerns related to urban green space access/exposure to inform urban green space planning for health equity.