students

Congratulations, Korbin, on writing a strong thesis and building a dynamic application. Korbin's research is part of our urban design node.

The Community Design Tool: Unfolding Participatory Urban Design in a Dynamic Three-Dimensional Environment

Abstract: The Community Design Tool allows for community members to engage in a community controlled urban design process within a dynamic three-dimensional environment. The community members are guided by a methodology for participatory urban design adapted from Christopher Alexander’s work on generative codes and the process of unfolding. Community members and non-professionals understand spatial concepts and designs more naturally when viewed in three-dimensions and when they can interact with the environment dynamically. The Community Design Tool is a plugin for the simple yet robust modelling software Google Sketchup and walks community members through a step by step process to create urban design schemes for their community by using simple tools built into the Community Design Tool itself. The simplicity of the Community Design Tool’s individual steps allow for those with even limited technical knowledge to fully participate in the design process.

Had a nice visit with my former Masters, Sonja Klinsky, who is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Faculty of Economics and Politics, University of Cambridge, UK. Her research talk @ McGill:

Vinaigrette or Oil and Vinegar? Comparing Public Rationales for Justice in Mitigation and Adaptation Climate Policy Dilemmas

The ideal relationship between climate change adaptation and mitigation policy has been long debated. Are they substitutes for each other, in which case the policy task is to find the optimal trade-off between the two, or can they be integrated to take advantage of win-win overlaps?

Instead of proposing how these policies should relate to one another from an abstract policy perspective, this study examines public rationales about justice and burden-sharing in each case. What arguments about justice resonate from a mitigation perspective, which ones are dominant from an adaptation perspective, and what might this suggest about the contours of politically acceptable climate policy?

Congratulations to Yuan Jin for his Masters Thesis in Computer Science.

Andreanne Lussier and Patrick Quinn this semester are conducting research on the social construction of the Geoweb as different government agencies seek to engage a broader public in watershed management.