First draft

What?

This thesis will propose a series of prototypes that seek to maximize the positive relationships between housing in the city and public transportation nodes. Thus, these prototypes will offer several ways to integrate the two into a series of solutions which benefit all; provide the residents with privacy, shelter and collective spaces for social life and simultaneously account for the expansion and redevelopment of the public transportation infrastructure needs of a growing community.

Why?

Cities nowadays expand in a growing rate mainly due to the increase in population. In order to provide for their healthy development and sustainable growth a Synergy between public transportation and housing in urban areas must be created.
Such Synergy will allow for better integration of the city’s additions to the overall infrastructure of the city, “normalizing” the urban expansions and establishing a continuous transition between old and new. Instead of emphasizing the development as a “quick fix” of a burning need, the new urban additions (housing) will better assimilate into its surroundings, offering a desirable solution for its residents.
Proximity to public transportation nodes will be then considered as a plus rather than a noisome limitation, and no longer be associated with the lower class of our society. Therefore, the main question which I will answer in my thesis is: what types of housing is appropriate in proximity to the different transportation types?

How?

I will investigate the impact of two methods: inserting public transportation within developed urban areas, vs. new neighborhoods that grow around transportation nodes.
By doing so I will later determine what range of housing is most suitable for each scenario and therefore will design a series of prototypes that succeed to create a positive integration of the two, supported by programmatic features.

Sources?

First, I will select several cities around the world as case studies. I will consider both “older” cities (e.g. Paris, Berlin, Chicago) which infrastructure have been laid-out long time ago, and more recent precedents, cities in constant growth (e.g. in China, India, etc) where rapid urban development dictates the nature of public transportation and urban expansion. Then, I will lay out criteria for judging the “success” of public transportation and housing, and then further deepen my understanding of the programmatic features the make these interrelationship work/ fail.

Why is it important?

I believe that my thesis offers a valuable contribution to architecture and urban planning. This is a very important problem that pertains to multiple areas: politics, urbanism, social studies, economics, etc. Understanding the relationship between public transportation and urban housing and consequently providing a solution, is vital to cities’ development.