Building Sustainable and Inclusive Cities: Analyzing the Impact of Planning Paradigms in the US

The three papers in this dissertation study how different urban planning paradigms—normative ideas used by planners to shape the built environment—can support more sustainable development patterns. To investigate this topic, I analyze large-scale, high-resolution data using various analytical methods.

The first paper examines the sustainability implications of the 15-minute city model, which emphasizes local living. Using large-scale GPS data from US cities, the study examines the relationship between trip length, access to nearby amenities, and segregation. The results suggest that less restrictive zoning rules, such as allowing more mixed-use development, could make it easier for people to access nearby amenities without traveling long distances. However, such policies also run the risk of increasing the social isolation of the poor.

In the second paper, I investigate the consequences of developing suburban neighborhoods using the garden city model, a historical paradigm emphasizing urban form as a key driver of neighborhood well-functioning. I develop and validate a methodology to measure the key attributes of the garden city model at scale and over time by inferring it from neighborhood layouts. Combining neighborhood design measurements with data on individual mobility and emissions, I demonstrate that residents of neighborhoods designed using the garden city model are more sedentary, more socially isolated, and produce more greenhouse gas emissions due to longer commutes induced by the street network.

Finally, the third paper tests the idea that neighborhood form persists over time in the context of the United States Housing Corporation, the first housing initiative funded by the federal government in 1918. Comparing neighborhoods that were planned but canceled with others that were planned and constructed, the study shows that street shape and block configuration persist via path dependence, while other urban design features like the composition of blocks do not. Overall, these papers highlight the critical link between physical form and sustainability in urban planning.

Amelia Seabold

Thesis Advisor: Gabriella Carolini