Negotiating spaces of exception

Urban enclaves have come to define the growth of many contemporary cities, subdividing society spatially into homogenous groupings. In the global south, this has been translated even more distinctly due to the excessive disparity among social classes. With their predisposition towards exclusion, urban enclaves are often portrayed as particular sites of unsustainability. However, a specific version of these enclaves, the Planned Unit Development (PUD) and its current manifestation of high-density mixed-use townships, has been championed as a concept that inculcates more sustainable practices due to its innate flexibility. Utilizing a localized actor-centric approach, this study uncovers how PUDs in Metro Manila are negotiated as spaces of exception. The study uses a representative case study of one of the pioneering PUDs in Metro Manila, Eastwood City, and applies a qualitative methodology to explore how relations of state-space-society creates and continuously shapes these spaces. Eastwood City is uncovered to be a legitimized space of exception, where dominant narratives have prioritized private over public interests, but crossed into the realm of acceptability due to its claims of sustainability, particularly of the "live-work-play" lifestyle. However, this study also reveals how the narratives of the dispossessed are exhibited in the margins and how this is continuously (re)shaping the development. These point towards the possibility of alternative futures for PUDs by shifting the power to negotiate to all stakeholders, not only in the creation but also throughout the lifespan of the project, which can then lead to more inclusiveness and equality in the process. By operationalizing the PUD concept, urban enclaves can cease to be purveyors of singular interests but become dynamic spaces of exception that are constantly negotiated by their actors.

Assessment of Influence of Land Use–Transportation System on Travel Behavior

An empirical assessment of the interaction between the land use–transportation system and travel behavior is presented. A methodology for identifying a range of land use–transportation systems by a clustering technique with network and land use inputs was developed. Twenty neighborhoods from Orange County, California, were considered in this process. Three groups, or themes, were found to best represent the neighborhoods in the sample area: one each associated with the conventional definition of traditional and neotraditional neighborhood design (TND) and planned unit development (PUD) neighborhoods and one representing neighborhoods that blend characteristics of TND and PUD. Conventional measures of individual travel behavior were compared with an analysis of variance between the themes to identify significant differences, controlling for socioeconomic characteristics. Research results include the development of (a) a systematic methodology to identify a more explicit land use–transportation dimension, (b) an estimate of the potential effectiveness of design-oriented solutions to reduce automobile congestion by using the developed themes, and (c) a preliminary assessment of the extent to which development themes can be used to improve the current modeling framework.