Award-Winning Research | Studios | Doctoral Dissertations | Theses | Publications | Applied Research Papers | Other Master's degree student research

Our students work on many applied planning problems in the Atlanta region and throughout the state of Georgia. The following is a list of research with links to Georgia Tech’s Smartech website or files where the projects can be downloaded and viewed.

Award-Winning Student Research

• "Artesano" received Honorable Mention in the 2012 Urban Land Institute (ULI) Gerald D. Hines Student Urban Design Competition with a redevelopment plan for a Houston Neighborhood. Students: Jessica Florez (MSUD), Ryan Hagerty (MCRP '12), Logan Tuura (M.Arch/MCRP), Christina Span (MCRP/MSPP), Audrey Plummer (M.Arch/MCRP). Advisor: Professor Ellen Dunham-Jones. Read the story.
• "Action Plan for the Fort McPherson Community" received the National APA Student Project Award in 2012 and an Outstanding Student Project award from the Georgia Planning Association in 2011. Students: Rati Akash, Zachary Adriaenssens, Kia Ball, Leslie Caceda, Carlos Campo, Chris Faulkner, Carolyn Knabel, Jenna E. Lee, Moki Macías, Drew Murray, Susan Prater, Neela Ram, Ruma Ram, Andrea Rattray, and Stephanie Wansley. Advisor: Professor of the Practice Michael Dobbins. Read the story.
• "Funding Supportive Housing in Georgia: Inspiration from Other States," winner of the 2010 ACSP Edward McClure award. Student: Troels Adrian (MCRP '10). Advisor: Associate Professor Dan Immergluck
• "Hacker-Spaces: User-Led Innovation and Economic Development," received honorable mention and a scholarship from the Economic Development Division of the American Planning Association in spring 2010. Student: Evan Robertson (MCRP '11). Advisor: Professor Nancey Green Leigh
• "Re-Envisioning the Market," Honorable Mention in the 2010 ULI Gerald D. Hines Student Urban Design Competition. Georgia Tech & Emory joint project. Students: Renato F. Ghizoni, Arman L. Tolentino, Reginald Tabor, Alex Curlet, and Trenton Smith. Advisor: Professor of the Practice David Green
• "The Stadium Neighborhoods Tad: An Urban Design Strategy for Stakeholder Decisions," an urban design studio completed in spring 2010 also received an Outstanding Student Project Award from the Georgia Planning Association. Students: Cassie Branum (MSUD & MCRP ’10), Jason Combs (MCRP & MSUD ’10), Dan Hawthorne (MARCH ‘10), Justin Chapman (MCRP ‘10) and three seniors: Hrach Burtoyan, Kristin Kellogg, and Taylor Smith (BS ARCH '10). Advisor: Professor Richard Dagenhart

More Award-Winning Student Research >

Studios

• Joel Anders, Tanya Bedward, Stefanie Brodie, Lauren Cardoni, Margaret Carragher, Rachel Cox, Aaron Gooze, Garrett Hyer, Amy ingles, Lydia Kalinke, Josh Levin, Sarah McColley, Eric Phillips, Landon Reed, James Wong, Wunwun Zhang. "Northside Drive as a Multimodal Developmental Corridor: Transformation from Utilitarian Auto Route to Grand Transit Boulevard," Fall 2012. Under the supervision of Michael Dobbins.
• Carnell Brame, Tasha Brooks, Travis Hampton, John Minter, and Dung Nguyen. "Agrarian Urbanism: A Low Energy Urban Agriculture System," 2012. Under the supervision of Perry Yang. Poster.
• Stefanie Brodie, John Kent, Eugene McGuinness, Alison Pienta, Maria Roell, and Kim Wadelton, "Ashram Road Corridor Plan," 2012. Under the supervision of Michael Dobbins.
• Emily Brown, Allison Buchwach, Ryan Hagerty, Mary Richardson, Laura Schultz, and Bin Yan, "Thaltej Village: An Incremental Approach to Urban Encroachment," 2012. Under the supervision of Michael Dobbins.
• Johanna McCrehan, Philip Schaeffing, and Elizabeth Ward  "Revitalizing Lithonia, GA," 2011. Under the supervision of Ellen Dunham-Jones.
• Brijith Alex, James Bikoff, Wesley Brooks, Michael Hellier, M. Avi Kimmel, Victoria Lee, Audrey Leous, Kevin Mahoney, Michelle Mondragon, Min Na, John Rhodes, Jr., Drew Swope, Hans Williams, Cara Woods, Keenan Yates, and David Yoke, "Planning and Development Strategies for Holy Trinity, Alabama," 2011. Under the supervision of Michael Dobbins.
• Ecological Urbanism Studio: Global Benchmarking for Low Carbon Urban Design, 2011. View report summary of presentation with graphics and report summary. Under the supervision of Perry Yang.

More Studios >

Doctoral Dissertations

• Choi, Taelim. "Economic and Environmental Input-Output Modeling: Building Material Recycling." 2012.
• Lee, Dalbyul. The Impact of Natural Disasters on Neighborhood Change: Longitudinal Data Analysis. 2012.
• Sundquist, Eric. "Reducing Vehicle-Miles Traveled: An Argument for Land Use as a Policy Lever." 2012.
• Vargo, Jason. "Planning for the New Urban Climate: Interactions of Local Environmental Planning and Regional Extreme Heat." 2012.
• Ning Ai. "Challenges of Sustainable Urban Planning: the Case of Municipal Solid Waste Management," 2011. Under the supervision of Professors Nancey Green Leigh and Steven P. French.

More Doctoral Dissertations >

Theses

• Anders, Joel. "Future Paths for Regional Fare Collection in Atlanta: A Case Study Analysis of the Planning and Implementation of Next Generation Fare Collection Systems for Regional Transit in North America." 2012.
• Brodie, Stefanie. "Incorporating accessibility into environmental justice assessments: Applications in the Atlanta metropolitan region," 2012.
• McBurney, Andrew. "A glimpse of bike-n-bus: An exploratory survey of the United States," 2012.
• Pienta, Alison. "Planning for Multiculturalism: A Comparison of Approaches in Two Metro-Atlanta Cities." 2012.
• Roell, Maria. "The Use of Public Participation in the Design of Effective Internet-Based Advanced Traveler Information Systems." 2012.
• Sewell, Patrick. "Centers all the way down: A study of centrality in the modern city," 2012.

More Theses >

Publications

• Amekudzi, A., Smith, M., Brodie, S., Fischer, J. and Ross, C, Impacts of Environmental Justice on Transportation: Applying the Environmental Justice Maturity Model to Benchmark Progress. Transportation Research Record, Forthcoming, in press.
• B. Stone,  J. Vargo, and D. Habeeb. Managing Climate Change in Cities: Will Climate Action Plans Work? Landscape and Urban Planning, in press.
• N.G. Leigh, T. Choi, T. & N.Z. Hoelzel. Sustainable Urban Industrial Systems: New Insights into Electronic Waste Recycling in Metropolitan Areas.  Journal of Industrial Ecology, in press.
• Breznitz, Shiri M., and Neela Ram. "Enhancing Economic Growth? University Technology Commercialization." Creating Competitiveness: Entrepreneurship and Innovation Policies for Growth. Ed. David B. Audretsch and Mary L. Walshok. Northampton: Edward Elgar Limited, 2013. 88-115. Print.
• C. Ross, K. Leone de Nie, A. Dannenberg,L. F. Beck, M. J. Marcus, and J. Barringer. (2012). Health Impact Assessment of the Atlanta BeltLine. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 42(3): 203-213. doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2011.10.019
• F. Alexander, D. Immergluck, K. Balthrop, P. Schaeffing,  and J. Clark. (2012). Legislative responses to the foreclosure crisis in nonjudicial foreclosure states. Review of Banking and Financial Law.

• Gim, T-H and Ko, J. (2012). Practical relevance of planning theories according to the planner's characteristics. Journal of the Korean Urban Management Association 25(2).

• Gim, T.-H. (2012). A meta-analysis of the relationship between density and travel behavior. Transportation 39(3): 491-519.
• N.G. Leigh & N.Z. Hoelzel (2012) Smart growth’s blind side: Sustainable cities need to protect productive urban industrial land. Journal of the American Planning Association, 78(1), 87-103.
• N.G. Leigh & N.Z. Hoelzel (2012) Atlanta: How to remake cities as places for 21st century manufacturing. Progressive Planning, Winter (190), 35-39.
• Y.S. Lee and D. Immergluck. (2012) Explaining the pace of foreclosed home sales during the U.S. foreclosure crisis: evidence from Atlanta. Housing Studies, 27(8), 1100-1123.
• C. L. Ross, J. Yang, C. Fang and G. Song (2011) Assessing China’s Mega-Region Mobility: In a Comparative Context, Transportation Research Record, 2244: 61-68.
• Gim, T.-H. (2011). A comparison of the effects of objective and perceived land use on travel behavior. Growth and Change 42 (4): 571-600.
• Gim, T.-H. (2011). Influences on trip frequency according to travel purposes: A structural equation modeling approach in Seoul, South Korea. Environment and Planning B, 38(3): 429–446.
• Keysar, E. (2011). Implementing regional sustainability initiatives: Lessons from the Department of Defense. Environmental Practice 13(2): 90-100.
• Ko, J., Lee, S.H., and Gim, T.-H. (2011). Exploration of aggregated activity duration patterns in the Seoul Metropolitan Area. Journal of Transport Research 18(1): 39–52.
• Ross, C., Stiftel, B., Woo, M., and Rao, A. (Fall 2010/Winter 2011). Measuring Regional Transport Sustainability: An Exploration. The Urban Lawyer, Vol. 42(4)/43(1), pp. 67-89.
• Barrella, E., Amekudzi, A., Meyer, M., Ross, C., and Turchetta, D. (2010). Best Practices and Common Approaches for Considering Sustainability at 9 U.S. State Departments of Transportation. Transportation Research Record, Journal of the Transportation Research Board, Issue Number: 2174, pp.10-18.
• French, S., Lee, D., & Anderson, K. (2010). Estimating the Social and Economic Consequences of Natural Hazards: Fiscal Impact Example. Natural Hazards Review, 11, 49. doi:10.1061/(ASCE)1527-6988(2010)11:2(49)
• Pei, Y.L., Amekudzi, A., Meyer, M., Barrella, E.M., Ross, C. (2010). Performance Measurement Frameworks and the Development of Effective Sustainable Transport Strategies and Indicators. Transportation Research Record, Journal of the Transportation Research Board, Environmental and Economic Sustainability.
• Ross, C., Pei, Y. L., Amekudzi, A., Meyer, M., and Barella, E.M. (2010). Social, Environmental, and Economic Sustainability. Transportation Research Record, Journal of the Transportation Research Board, pp 73-80.
• Sahar, L., Muthukumar, S., & French, S. (2010). Using Aerial Imagery and GIS in Automated Building Footprint Extraction and Shape Recognition for Earthquake Risk Assessment of Urban Inventories. IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 48(9), 1-10. doi:10.1109/TGRS. 2010.2047260

Applied Research Papers

Applied research papers are completed by MCRP students as practice-oriented alternatives to theses. These papers utilize practice skills and draw conclusions related to professional planning practice. The following Applied Research Papers were recently completed. Links to papers are those available through Georgia Tech's SmarTech repository.

• Alex, Brijith. "Patterns in Tree Canopy Cover in Georgia"
• Bikoff, James. "Conservation Subdivisions: Benefits and Barriers of Sensible Development"
• Brame, Carnell. "Comparative Spatial Analysis of Neighborhood Services in Raleigh, NC"
• Brookby, Sarah. "Leveraging the 'Creative Class' for Local Economic Development: Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee"
• Brooks, Wesley. "Going Green: Georgia Institute of Technology's Sustainability Plan and Its Failures in Land Use and Transportation"
• Buchwach, Allison. "Using Public Spaces Freely: Ownership and Management of Public Spaces"
• Garza, Jason. "Time-Variable Multi-Programmed Space Strategies for Designing in the Public Realm"
• Hagerty, Ryan. "Building Up while Building Out: Residential Infill and Smart Growth Development in Metro Atlanta"
• Hellier, Michael. "The Future of Atlanta's Housing Opportunity Fund"
• Kimmel, M. Avidan. "Implementing Electric Vehicle Usage in Atlanta, Georgia: Policy and Planning Approaches for Public Officials"
• Leous, Audrey F. "Variables that Influence Public Support for Transportation Referendums"
• Mahoney, Kevin P. "An Investment Product for the Times: The Case for Creating a Real Estate Investment Trust that Fosters Sustainable Cities"
• McCrehan, Johanna. "Atlanta Community Design Center"
• McGuinness, Eugene. "Decentralization and Recentralization: Changing Paradigms of the Narrative of Metropolitan Demographics and Historiography"
• Mills, Alecia. "Analysis of Georgia's Textile and Apparel Industries (2005-2010)"
• Minter, John. "Economic Gardening: Mapping Fertile Gardens"
• Mondragon, Michelle K. "Small Area Plan for Dekalb County's NE Expressway's Wetland Reserve and Green Corridor"
• Na, Min. "The Effect of Foreclosure on Vacancy at the Neighborhood Level"
• Richardson, Mary. "Future Considerations of the Maddox Park Greenhouse: An Exploration of Urban Food Production and Education as a Means to Community Revitalization in Atlanta's West Side"
• Schaeffing, Philip W., IV. "Transit-Accessible Workforce Housing Opportunities in Atlanta: An Analysis of Housing and Employment Characteristics Near Current and Future Transit Lines"
• Schultz, Laura. "A Changing Paradigm? Measuring Urban Decentralization through the Great Recession" | Featured Research
• Swope, Drew. "Quantifying Neighborhood Change in Little Five Points"
• Taul, Stephen. "Parking: Its Effect on the Form and the Experience of the City"
• Thompson, Kenny. "Green Infrastructure/Green Urbanism: Analyzing and Cataloguing Green Techniques and their Application to the City"
• Wadelton, Kim. "Indonesian Urban Sprawl"
• Woods, Cara. "Where Does Atlanta's NPU System Stand in the Changing Face of Community Engagement at the Municipal Level?"
• Word, Joshua. "Georgia Tech: The Evolution of an American Campus"
• Yan, Bin. "Land Values Impacts of Subway Stations: A Case Study of Beijing City"
• Yates, Keenan. "Privately Owned and Federally Subsidized: An Inventory and 10-Year Outlook on Atlanta's Affordable Multifamily Rental Supply"

    More Applied Research Papers >

Other Master's degree student research

• Northside Drive Vision Website
• 2012 GIS Day Poster Competition Gallery
• Emily Brown (MCRP class of '12) and Ted Ranney (MCRP class of '13) of the Social Justice Committee of the Student Planning Association completed the Community Land Trusts and Commercial Properties, a report produced for the Urban Land Institute Technical Assistance Committee for Atlanta Trust Collaborative.
• Local Economic Development Class Projects
• Project reports from the Growth Management and Law course taught in 2007 and 2008 with instructor Julian Juergensmeyer.The reports targeted issues that benefit growth management and planning for local governments, regional agencies and non-profits in the Atlanta region produced by students of Georgia Tech City and Regional Planning and Georgia State University.