Grants

This study builds on a transdisciplinary collaboration between the City of Omaha, University of Nebraska Medical Center, University of Nebraska – Lincoln College of Architecture, and Community-based Organizations to develop a Heat Action Plan to mitigate the disproportionate impacts of urban heat island effect in underserved communities in Omaha, NE.

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This study assesses the longitudinal impacts of the development composition and spatial patterns of green infrastructure on urban runoff in two Midwestern regions: Chicago-Naperville and Detroit-Warren-Ann Arbor combined statistical areas (CSAs). The major purpose of this study is to: 1) monitor the temporal and spatial patterns of floods and land use in association with demographic changes in both budding and depopulated regions, and 2) identify the longitudinal impacts of the quantity and quality of urban development and green infrastructure on runoff depth and peak flow. The research findings will contribute to policymakers, developers, water resource managers, and communities seeking to formulate strategies for future land development and green infrastructure plans in response to demographic changes, while also securing local flood storage capacity.

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Professor Volk from the Department of Landscape Architecture at University of Florida will lead an interdisciplinary research team to examine Landscape Architects’ roles in mitigating climate change impacts and alternative design and implementation practices in the state of Florida.  Using data from a recent survey on attitudes and perceptions of Florida landscape architects toward climate change, Professor Volk’s study will identify information gaps and possible barriers to adoption of landscape design practices that anticipate and plan for climate change, as well as potential strategies that can be used to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change on the built and natural environment.

Other members on the research team include: Professor Gail Hansen, Department of Environmental Horticulture, University of Florida, and Belinda Nettles, PhD Candidate, Center for Landscape Conservation Planning & Levin College of Law Conservation Clinic, University of Florida.

Professor Michael Volk commented that, “landscape architects have a significant role in addressing climate change in their work and practice, and many landscape architects are already doing so. We greatly appreciate the support of the CLASS Fund and CELA in this project, and look forward to continuing our work to advance knowledge in this area”.

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The award-winning proposal “will investigate the Land Transformation Model (LTM), a geographic information systems (GIS)-based model to explore the (land) vacancy issue in an effort to alleviate systems of urban decline. The LTM is generally accepted as one of the more accurate artificial neural networks (ANN)-based land-use/land-cover models.”

“We are extremely excited to receive such a prestigious award,” said Dr. Newman. “Our sincere appreciation goes out to CELA and the CLASS Fund Committee.  I will add that myself and a graduate student, Jaekyung Lee, have actually been hard at work testing the accuracy of existing land use prediction models and have developed a sound method for predicting vacant land to utilize in the research. I will also share that we currently have a paper submitted on our approach to forecasting decline. The funding provided by CELA and the CLASS Fund will significantly assist our capacity to continue this research, specifically in the ability to apply these predictions at the neighborhood scale, using appropriate case sites. We believe that the application of accurate vacant land use predictions in real cities effected by widespread vacancy and abandonment issues will allow us to assist designers and planners in developing more impactful design strategies/policies for dealing with the problem. In urban areas experiencing massive depopulation, our future research will greatly contribute to their ability to shrink smartly. We are greatly honored by this award and look forward to disseminating our results at future conferences, in journal publications and in other peer reviewed outlets.”

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Dr. Yang’s co-principal investigator is Dr. Shujuan Li, also of Utah State University. They will be assisted in their research by Hailey Ann Hall, a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture student at Utah State University. The award winning proposal “will monitor stormwater quality in Utah’s largest green infrastructure (GI) community development and develop a SWMM land use/hydrologic model that simulates climate change resilience of this community. The study contributes to the research portfolio of GI performance in a semiarid environment.”

“My sincere appreciation also goes to the CLASS Fund Committee”, said Yang.  “Thank you for your gracious support on this research project. I would share that Hailey Wall (BLA junior) already presented in Research on Capitol Hill in Salt Lake City last month, based on the preliminary results of this project.  We look forward to disseminating the results in conference presentations and journal publications. The CLASS Fund will greatly enhance our research capacity.”