VTechWorks Repository :: Browsing by Author "Clements, Terry L."

Browsing by Author "Clements, Terry L."

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The Art of Designing a Meaningful Landscape through Storytelling
Garman, Keli L. (Virginia Tech, 2006-03-22)
Meaning in the landscape is a concept that is receiving attention from many landscape architects asking the questions: how is meaning found in the landscape, or what makes a landscape meaningful? While there are many design processes that incorporate meaning into the design, it is the art of storytelling that the thesis investigates. The research for the thesis and a comparison analysis is performed on three texts, which explore meaning in the landscape. The three texts are Marc Treib's "Must Landscapes Mean?"; Matthew Potteiger and Jamie Purinton's Landscape Narratives, and Mark Francis and Randolph T. Hester, Jr.'s The Meaning of Gardens: Idea, Place, and Action. Applying these approaches to case studies has resulted in the finding of common ideas between the three texts. The commonalities led to my position that storytelling can be used as an approach to design, and that landscapes designed as a story narrative can be meaningful. The design project investigated the strength of the position on a site in the West Potomac Park in Washington DC. The story for the project is a Japanese folktale that communicates the culture of Japan. The project is a case study that explores if the set of design principles within the storytelling approach can invest meaning into a landscape.
Behavioral scripts of urban park offenders: a rational choice perspective on influences of the park setting
Michael, Sean Edward (Virginia Tech, 1997)
This study examined the influence of Iocational factors on offender behavior in four serious and common park offenses: auto burglary, drug sales, indecent exposure by homosexual males, and robbery. Specifically, the study sought 1) to develop prototypical script(s) for each of the four study crimes, and 2) to support or contradict the influence of effort, risk and reward on offender behavior. Using the theoretical bases of opportunity, rational choice, and scripts, behavior of study offenders in 6 U.S. Park Service reservations in Washington, DC was interpreted. A case study strategy was chosen, utilizing participant observation, direct observation, archival records, physical artifacts, and interviews. Data collection occurred between January and March, 1996, with law enforcement personnel serving as the primary information source. Following qualitative analysis that relied upon pattern-matching and explanation-building, results suggested that 1) offenders follow logical sequences of behavior consistent with concept of a script, 2) offenders were found to act rationally, appearing to consider effort, risk and reward, 3) that offenders weight the importance of effort, risk and reward differently across offense types and across the different Acts of the same offense script, 4) that Iocational factors do influence the behavior of offenders, and 5) that offenders utilize Iocational factors that serve to decrease effort and risk, and increase reward.
The Biocentric Landscape Architect: Designing the Public Landscape, Benefiting the Natural World
Ashby, Linda (Virginia Tech, 2005-05-11)
Owing to the author's interest in and concern for earth's processes, healthy ecosystems, and environmental decline and devastation, this thesis examines the human – nature relationship, as it relates to landscape architecture, through spiritual, mathematical, geometrical, historical, economical, ecological, philosophical and ethical perspectives. Sustainable design and eco-revelatory design methods are also explored in order to aid in the development of a personal design ethic that defines and produces ecologically responsible works of landscape architecture. The goal is to establish a personal framework for design that results in built landscapes that are ecologically more benign, holistically more functional, and culturally more significant than standard practices. Research methodologies include literature review, case study analysis, project site analysis, and personal interviews. Findings suggest that despite a longstanding and growing call for a more harmonious relationship between nature and anthropogenic changes on the land, the green movement remains a loosely defined alternative undercurrent. The field of landscape architecture is uniquely poised to be a leader in the sustainable revolution; this is especially true when its practitioners, researchers and theorists are dedicated to ideals and activities that bring about true ecological value. For the individual designer, the experience of developing and committing to a personal design ethic can be empowering, and can produce work that has more mettle, veracity and purpose than the designer has previously known.
City Infrastructure and Fractured Space: Creating Continuity in a Fractured Urban Fabric
Jalaian, Yasaman Rose (Virginia Tech, 2015-08-12)
The changes in technology and cultures of mobility within dense North American cities have resulted in a space that intervenes between one thing and another which often generates seemingly uninhabitable zones and problematic discontinuities in the physical and social fabric. Over time, the pattern of cities has changed; movement spaces have fractured the social spaces. The social dimension in the design of movement spaces has been neglected and thus these spaces have primarily become products of the functional dimension, i.e. traffic flow, circulation, and access for vehicles. These approaches to developments and prioritizing the movement space over the social space have contributed to the creation of fractured people spaces in between the fabric of cities. This thesis proposes to reconnect the broken fabric of cities that are shaped as result of the juxtaposition of movement infrastructure. Furthermore, the research studies the methods by which such spaces can become transformed into successful people place through literature review of what constitutes a successful urban space. Case studies of successful places adjacent to roads, waterfronts, and in between the fabric of cities were studied to understand the methods by which underused, and fractured spaces were transformed to successful urban places. This thesis further implements the methods of place making into creating the new physical, visual, cognitive, and ecological connection between the fractured spaces.
A Collective Sense of Place and the Image of the City @ Urban Public Spaces: Analysis on People's Perception of User-Generated Image Content and Hashtags on Instagram
Lee, Hana (Virginia Tech, 2022-01-03)
Urban public spaces are constantly restructured with new meaning, reflecting their socio-cultural, political, historical, and technological influences. Over the last two decades, the rapid technological advancements and increasingly widespread use of mobile devices give people a chance to share their experiences of their immediate surroundings through various applications. As these platforms enable people to create and exchange various forms of User-Generated Content (UGC) has gained wide attention as an invaluable source of information on human-environment relationships including people's timely perception, emotion, preference, and sense of place in public space. This study employs quantitative content analysis to identify collective perceptions of urban public spaces and their characteristics as projected through a photo-sharing social media application, Instagram. A total of 1,200 users' photos and associated hashtags geo-referenced to three New York City urban public spaces, Bryant Park, Madison Square Park, and Union Square. This study begins with a qualitative phase, employing manual categorization techniques to identify the concepts in visual and textual data. The second phase applied a statistical analysis method, a set of descriptive analytics, and chi-square tests to answer the research questions for this study. Findings indicate physical attributes of urban squares are the most dominant type of geo-referenced users' photographs through the visual social media platform. People's immediate perceptions vary with time and place, while the patterns of hashtag usage found in this study show no difference across the three urban squares. people's perception of urban squares goes beyond the boundaries of the square itself, encompassing the streetscape, buildings, and local businesses adjacent to the square. While people rarely utilize hashtags as a method of emotional expression, findings show a clear connection between hashtags associated with users' photo content and the image of the city.
Community-based Mixed Method Research to Understand Rapidly Changing Cultural Landscapes
Alisan Yetkin, Aylin (Virginia Tech, 2018-09-21)
Tangible and intangible heritage values of cultural landscapes are becoming lost or transforming under the threat of rapidly changing landscapes. Researcher-oriented documenting methods are missing significant meanings of landscapes for local communities. Community-based methods can reveal both tangible and intangible heritage of landscapes without missing important values for local communities. This dissertation study proposed a community-based mixed method research to reveal and document cultural heritage or other values from the perspective of local community members in the case study area of Findikli in Rize/Turkey. Findikli's cultural landscape is under the threat of rapidly changing landscape due to newly introduced agriculture practice - tea production. To reveal lost or transformed tangible and intangible heritage meanings of the Findikli's cultural landscape, multiple community-based research methods were used for collecting data from local residents as well as those with family or community connections to the area. Community workshops, individual and group interviews, and surveys gathered information on the social and cultural relationships, as well as locations of past and present agricultural activities, land uses and built structures. Analysis of family and community photographs and aerial imagery, as well as community produced land use and cognitive maps helped place these in spatial relationship to the landscape. Results of this dissertation study made contributions to case study area with a rich archive of Findikli's traditional tangible and intangible landscape elements, and to cultural landscape studies with a method of discovering traditional cultural heritage and landscape values under the threat of change and a guidance to document them with the community-based methods to increase quality and quantity of information.
A Constructivist Model for Public War Memorial Design that Facilitates Dynamic Meaning Making
Norden, David Todd (Virginia Tech, 2003-04-14)
Many war memorials today face loss of relevant meaning to the members of their community over time, an inability to adapt to evolving historical perspectives, and a lack of ability to engage visitors in a deep and authentic way of creating meaning and understanding. New war memorials should provide opportunities for visitors to engage with them in an active, conscious, and dynamic relationship with the built site. Encouraging such a connection facilitates deep and authentic meaning making that continues beyond the site visit, and that allows the memorial's form to evolve over time in response to visitor interaction. The constructivist model for war memorial design incorporates ten strategies, and the Active Physical Interaction strategy in particular, that allow designers to create places that encourage visitors to have personalized interaction. These strategies are built on the constructivist philosophy that explains how individuals and groups of people understand the non-objective world through experience. This position was tested through the design of a Dutch World War Two memorial at Warm Hearth Village in Blacksburg, Virginia. This memorial's main features include community garden beds for cultivation by the Village's elderly residents. The concept of sharp contrast reflected in three distinct areas of the memorial recall the oppression under five-years of Nazi occupation, the celebration of liberation in 1945, and the efforts of Allied and Resistance fighters in making this liberation possible.
Creating a Multiple Intelligences Landscape
Dorminey, Sarah J. (Virginia Tech, 2003-10-17)
The built environment should facilitate a meaningful experience for a user by intellectually engaging their perceptual and cognitive abilities. In 1983, Howard Gardner published his cognitive theory of multiple intelligences. Gardner theorizes that human intelligence is not one single capacity, but is comprised of multiple capacities. Many teachers use the multiple intelligences theory as a tool to reach a larger number of students by engaging their unique learning styles. The theory of multiple intelligences is one way to interpret how an individual might understand, perceive or experience their surroundings. I used Gardner's theory as a framework to develop design criteria that can be used by designers to create landscapes or environments that engage people in an intellectual and meaningful way. By designing a site that will engage different individuals' unique methods of understanding, a landscape architect can create landscapes that will capture attention and promote a unique personal experience through the creation of sense of place. I believe that this in turn can also be used as a tool for articulating design ideas and analyzing current landscapes. My research begins with a review of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's theory of flow and what is needed to achieve this playful state. The answer is to engage a user with a challenge. This led me to Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences. After a review of his work, I used his theory to analyze several case study landscapes. Based on this research, I developed a set of preliminary design criteria that can be used as an outline or a starting point for designers. I chose the Joe L. Evins Appalachian Center for Crafts (ACC) in Smithville, Tennessee as my site for beginning my understanding of the range of uses that the multiple intelligences possess within a landscape. The ACC is a visual arts school whose mission is to preserve and educate people about the culture and techniques of Appalachian crafts. The mediums that are taught are clay, glass, metal, fibers, and wood. My design exploration lead me to concluded that the outcome of a multiple intelligences landscape will be shaped by several factors: the personal strengths and weaknesses within the multiple intelligences of the designer, the sites will determine which intelligences should be designed for, and that the design process should be a collaborative effort. Therefore, the design solution produced is not the strength of this research project, but rather the development, process, and conclusions that reveal a strong case for the inclusion of engaging users' intellectually.
Dante, VA: Community Design Charrette
Clements, Terry L.; Williams, Daphne; Shi, Xiaofei; Bohannon, C. L.; Bork, Dean R.; Jacobson, Wendy R.; Johnson, Benjamin C.; Katen, Brian F.; Kim, Mintai; McGill, David; Miller, Patrick A.; Proctor, Nicholaus; Gilboy, Elizabeth (Virginia Tech. Community Design Assistance Center, 2017-02-01)
The Virginia Tech Landscape Architecture (LAR) Program held the first Richard G. Gibbons Public Landscapes Planning and Design Vertical Charrette at the beginning of the spring semester 2017. All landscape architecture students from second through fifth year participated in the charrette as part of their required studio and senior project work. This endowed charrette was also supported with an Urban & Community Forestry grant from the Virginia Department of Forestry provided through the Community Design Assistance Center and funding from the town of Dante. The charrette addressed public landscape issues and opportunities in Dante, Virginia, a historic coal town located in far southwest Virginia. Students and faculty travelled to the historic coal and rail town to meet with Dante and Russell County representatives to learn about the town and its rich social, cultural, economic, and environmental heritage as well as its current challenges and opportunities. Student groups were tasked with identifying and investigating options for community revitalization using public open space. After a single week of intensive work, the student groups graphically and orally presented their ideas for Dante’s future.
Design Education Reconsidered: Faculty Perceptions of Community Engagement in Landscape Architecture
Bohannon, C. L. (Virginia Tech, 2014-12-05)
Colleges and universities have been linked to society since their inception. In recent times this linkage has come under scrutiny as society's expectations of higher education have become more expansive and diverse. Over the past decade, there have been various shifts in pedagogy and scholarship in higher education, including the shift towards increased civic responsibility. One such shift is the role of universities and the communities they serve. This shift toward partnership and reciprocity is termed engagement. Community engagement has emerged as an important academic strategy used to enhance and complement traditional learning methods in higher education. According to the Campus Compact, the number of faculty members who include community engagement as part of their teaching, research, and service has increased (Campus Compact, 2012). While faculty are encouraged to incorporate community engagement into their work (Colby, Ehrlich, and Stephens, 2003), nominal research focuses on the perceptions of faculty members in landscape architecture on community engagement. This research explores the current state of community engagement within landscape architecture and identifies the benefits and barriers that foster or inhibit faculty from using community engagement as part of their teaching, research, and service. This study employed a mixed methods research design. Two sequential phases were utilized. The first phase consisted of faculty responses to the Community Engagement in Landscape Architecture Education (CELAE), which consisted of 70 questions. The second phase consisted of in-depth interviews with faculty who self selected to participate in the qualitative phase of the study. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the quantitative data, and content analysis was used to analyze the qualitative data. Findings indicate faculty members in landscape architecture believe that community engagement has a positive impact on student's educational experiences, provides opportunities for research and scholarship. Faculty also reveal how faculty in landscape architecture define community engagement in regards to other terminology that is currently used in higher education to describe working with communities to solve problems. Findings from this study may be used to help landscape architecture faculty members design and develop efforts to help promote community engagement as part of their teaching research and service.
Designing for the Future: Promoting Ecoliteracy in the Design of Children's Outdoor Play Environments
Freuder, Tracy Grace (Virginia Tech, 2006-03-22)
Rapid development of U.S. cities and towns along with changes in society and technology are dramatically affecting childhood experience. Wild places and vacant lots for kids to play in are disappearing. Parents have limited time to spend with their children and fear letting them play outside alone. Traffic is a growing safety hazard and there is an increasing desire for entertainment in the form of TV and video games over outdoor exploration. As a result, children are becoming alienated from nature. They are growing up without developing a personal attachment to their natural surroundings or an understanding of their impact on the environment. The design of outdoor play areas can help reconnect children to their surroundings and lead to a more environmentally minded generation. Ecoliteracy suggests an understanding of ecological principles as well as appreciation for the environment and an attitude of stewardship. In addition to helping kids acquire factual knowledge, outdoor play spaces should cultivate a sense of wonder and delight and an emotional appreciation of the living world. Through research, observation and application, this thesis project identifies design criteria for promoting ecoliteracy in outdoor play environments.
Developing Inclusive Community Gathering Places Through Socially Driven Design Strategies
Brooks, Robert Allen (Virginia Tech, 2017-06-28)
As cultural diversity continues to increase in U.S. urban centers, and indeed throughout the country, it becomes increasingly important to promote interaction between people of different backgrounds. Many forms of interaction, from simply seeing, to intimate conversation can increase our familiarity and acceptance of cultural differences. In addition, a greater understanding of these differences can lead to communities with a strong sense of togetherness and a vibrancy of local place. As a means of achieving this outcome, this thesis identifies ways in which urban park spaces can promote social interaction between different cultural groups and how these methods can then be used to develop a community gathering place that is welcoming to all. This thesis has developed a unique Social Space Organizational Model based on literature review findings relative to multi-cultural urban park and social space development. The model serves as a foundational framework for the creation of a collection of social spaces that function to accommodate the diverse ways in which different cultural groups use urban park spaces, as well as to provide opportunities for shared experiences that encourage community gathering and interaction between groups. Additionally, the model suggests an interconnectivity of various park spaces that promote a unified social experience throughout the park. Case studies of urban parks designed for use as social gathering places were analyzed against the model. Literature review findings on character qualities associated with social spaces as valued by multiple cultural groups were also explored in the case studies to identify design elements that encourage social interaction and foster positive experiences. Ultimately, these findings led to the creation of a neighborhood social gathering place that is welcoming to many different cultural groups and encouraging of community gathering and togetherness. The design engages multiple community groups by creating a park that is accomodative to a range of needs and uses as valued by different groups. Additionally, the design incorporates a diverse range of social opportunities and experiences that maintain flexibility in their ability to provide for individual as well as community based social experiences.
Ecological Infrastructure: A Framework for Planning and Design: "Addressing Landscape Connectivity and Wildlife Resources for Interstate Highway Systems"
Baker, John Garrett (Virginia Tech, 2005-04-19)
For the last century, automobiles and the roads they require have been a dominant force shaping the modern American landscape. An unrivaled interstate highway system connects major metropolitan areas and is the basis of our transportation infrastructure. Unfortunately, many roadways were not planned or designed with wildlife in mind. As long linear features in the landscape, interstates can function as landscape barriers and cause significant impacts to adjacent wildlife populations. While an aggressive transportation system is being carried out, researchers have only marginally demonstrated the relationships between roadways and wildlife. In such cases, twinned interstate roadways have proven to be the greatest obstacle for wildlife resources. By incorporating ecological design theory into highway planning and design, the transportation community has an opportunity to reassess the short comings of existing highway infrastructure and improve functions of wildlife passage and landscape connectivity. Through system level approaches and analysis applied within an eco-region context, practical solutions can be developed. The following document provides a process for landscape level analysis, wildlife passage structure design and implementation for future planned interstates projects. As a collaborative effort among professionals, we can work towards improving interstate highway systems and retain the relationships occurring within the landscape. The following I-81 design and planning project offers an exceptional opportunity to reassess the inadequacies of the existing interstate infrastructure in terms of landscape connectivity, wildlife resources and public safety, and demonstrate how system level design approaches can give our roadways new shape and form.
Embodying the City: Identity and Use in Urban Public Space
Dougherty, Dana (Virginia Tech, 2006-03-22)
Certain urban public spaces seem to embody the cities in which they are found, helping to make those cities the vibrant places they are. This project explores how urban public spaces can be created to reflect the vitality of the city by embracing the culture and the people who reside in it. Through literature review and case studies, a framework is developed focusing on the areas of identity and use in the design of public spaces. Identity is looked at in terms of place attachment, spatial identity, and how surrounding uses affect the identity of a space. Use is explored in terms of designing a public space to encourage a diversity of uses at different times. Identity and use are inevitably linked: much of a space's identity depends on the uses that take place there and whether or not the space meets the needs of its users. In the same way, a space will not be used unless potential users can identify with it and feel a connection to it. A design project is carried out in an urban neighborhood based on this framework to create a space that is connected to its users and its city.
an end to the 'other' in landscape architecture: poststructural theory and universal design
Orens, David M. (Virginia Tech, 1997-04-30)
Accessibility in the landscape has gained increased attention in recent years, and the practice of Universal Design, rather than providing ‘accessible’ accommodations as separate, distinct elements within the landscape, attempts to address social issues such as segregation by proposing an integrated accessibility and design for a diverse society. However, while proposing integration, it can be criticized as designing to the lowest common denominator and clinging to the idea of a ‘disabled’ population which must be designed down to. It frequently fails to address the complexities arising from conflicts between the needs of individuals with different disabilities and lacks a theoretical framework which would place the philosophy’s ideals within a broader social and cultural context. The poststructural project is posited as such a theoretical framework, and a means for evaluating the principles of Universal Design along with the social and cultural beliefs upon which the accessibility issue rests. Poststructuralism is used to challenge the idea of separate ‘able’ / ‘disabled’ populations on the basis that this dichotomous opposition is based on limiting conceptions of disability and fails to acknowledge the complexities which comprise the diverse fabric of society. The project is explored here as an alternative means for advancing the ideals of Universal Design within the realm of landscape architecture. Using a matrix of poststructural practices, social concepts such as normality and disability are examined and ‘deconstructed.’ Ultimately a reconstruction of the paradigm, a Critically Integrated Design, is proposed based upon the reconceptualization and resituation of accessibility and social conditions.
Factors in Choosing Landscape Architecture as a Major: A National Student Survey
Powers, Matthew Neal (Virginia Tech, 2000-05-05)
The profession of landscape architecture is expected to experience expanded growth in the future while at the same time student enrollment in landscape architecture programs is thought to be declining. This dilemma could lead to a decline in services and growth due to a lack of qualified landscape architects available to meet demands. This study's research objectives include providing baseline information regarding current landscape architecture students decision to major in landscape architecture and to describe influential factors and reasons associated with the decision to major in landscape architecture. The design of this study is descriptive with data obtained from a questionnaire. The questionnaire design was based on a review of literature, faculty consultation, and pretesting. The questionnaire was distributed with the help of contact instructors who volunteered to aid in this study. The questionnaire was given to students and collected by the contact instructors before being mailed back by mail to the researcher. Several statistical tests have been used to evaluate the data. This study will present the findings from the data analysis and outline implications for students, landscape architecture programs, and the profession.
Gathering Spaces: Designing Places for Adolescents
von Bredow, Kathryn Wing (Virginia Tech, 2006-04-26)
Research shows that adolescents use places in the natural environment much differently from the general population. Research also shows that, when asked, adolescents express environmental preferences that reflect these differences. These differences in use and preference reflect new design challenges. This paper and design project explores how to begin designing places that address the unique needs and preferences of adolescents.
A History of the Professionalization of Interior Design: Viewed Through Three Case Studies of the Process of Licensure
Whitney, Marilyn Corson (Virginia Tech, 2008-04-18)
Since the 1950s, interior decoration evolved into interior design. Throughout the 1970s, all of the components for professionalization were in place, but it was not until the 1990s that the final transformation made interior design into a profession. This dissertation documents these changes and posits that is the conflicts inherent in the process of licensure transformed it into a profession. The transformation of interior design is examined through the lens of the theory of professions, especially Andrew Abbott's delineation of transformation through conflict. The historical case studies of the legislative process were of the District of Columbia, which has practice legislation; the Commonwealth of Virginia; which has title legislation; and the State of Ohio, which has no licensing of interior designers as of 2007. Data collection was by interviews with participants of the process of licensure and with the leadership of the interior design community. In addition, primary and secondary documents examined include books, journals, trade magazines, and documents from professional organizations. Specifically, this dissertation addresses these questions: Is interior design a profession? If so, what forces transformed interior design into a profession? And, how is interior design different from architecture? This dissertation posits that interior design is unique from architecture because it developed in home economic programs at state universities during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. In this locale, the primary focus of interior design was the micro-environment based on the theory of behavior. This gives students and practitioners a unique viewpoint that allows for the consideration for each end user as integral to the design process. These attributes contribute to the unique qualities of the services interior design offers and separate it from those of architecture. A simplified definition of interior design that I developed is that interior design utilizes the theory of behavior to design spaces in a micro-environment that function at a safe and efficient level for every end user and are aesthetically pleasing. Finally, interior designers need to understand that the strength of their position in the built environment is in the unique services they offers and celebrate their qualities as outlined in this document.
In search of a new aesthetic
Freeman, Paul Murphey (Virginia Tech, 1995-07-28)
The study of ecology is having profound effects on society. It has begun to cause a shift in western culture. People are becoming aware of their impacts on the environment, and are changing their behavior. This shift is now affecting aesthetics in landscape architecture. The validity of the dominant landscape aesthetic in the profession of landscape architecture is being questioned on the grounds of its ecologic impacts. As a result, a new landscape aesthetic is being called for. Five articles published in Landscape Journal between 1986 and 1990 outline the argument for a new aesthetic. These articles provide a theoretical framework that is then applied to a body of artwork. The artwork is the result of a 1992 art exhibit that gathered together many "ecological artists". Just as the study of ecology is affecting change in landscape architecture, it is also affecting change in art. The theories from landscape architecture are applied to the physical forms in art to see if connections can be made between the idea and its implementation. "Art and landscape architecture are related so that they allow for this type of comparison. The results can be used to inform landscape architecture in its search for a new aesthetic.
Inner-City Children and Environmental Equity: Evidence from Philadelphia
Parsons, Ashley Elise (Virginia Tech, 2011-04-11)
Experts agree that children need access to green spaces. Many urban children live in degraded environments unsuitable for outdoor play. Children primarily play in school yards. Low-income and African American children are often the victims of social, economic, and educational inequalities leading to the under-allocation of resources for their public schools. Patterns of wealth, advantage and disadvantage are geographically visible in Philadelphia's urban fabric in the segregation of many black and low-income neighborhoods. This is a direct result of historic urban development . Revitalization has aimed at rejuvenating the inner-city economically, but has lead to the displacement of many poor black families and increased segregation of classes. There is a high population of low-income African American children attending public schools in the inner-city. Philadelphia is known for their public-private funding partnerships for community projects and services. Funding problems resulting from low-tax revenue and disinterest of private investors have lead to a disparity in achievement and curriculum between city public schools, private, and suburban public schools. Federal policies attempt to lessen this gap and provide incentives for environmental education programs, but poorer schools lack the funding to expand curriculum and improve or maintain playgrounds. Philadelphia's parks and recreation programs have tried to provide child playscapes to disadvantaged children and schools additional outdoor resources, but racial tensions and neighborhood segregation act as repressors to this success. Guidelines are needed to help create programs and policies that can mitigate disadvantaged children's environmental equity.

Browsing by Author "Clements, Terry L."

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