Green Urban Design: Potential for Implementing Superblocks and Miniblocks in the City of Saint Louis
Urbanization has led to a vehicle-centric approach to urban planning relegating public space to traffic. With an increase in urban population and decreased space available for green areas, noise, air, and water pollution and urban heating effects are exacerbated. Superblock design, a pedestrian centric city layout, has been successfully implemented in cities around the world and is shown to reduce traffic congestion and open more green spaces. This paper examines the potential to implement the superblock design in the city of St. Louis, Missouri. As St. Louis faces urban sprawl and increasing challenges stemming from pollution, a new green design is necessary for the city. We use ArcGIS and python to spatially model potential superblock and miniblock implementation in the city. This modeling is based on population and traffic data to not impede traffic flow. Furthermore, we evaluated the potential impact this implementation will have on NO2 production within the city. Through these practices, we hope to potentially implement the model to create a safer and cleaner city for future generations.
Riley Demo
Riley Demo is a senior from Kansas City, KS studying environmental science with minors in biology, English, and medical humanities. She is interested in the intersection of human and environmental health, particularly in urban spaces and, next year, plans to conduct research in this field particularly focusing on geospatial information sciences. At SLU she has been involved in the athletics as a cross country and track runner competing in the 10k. She is also involved in the honors department, conducts research in microbiology and public health, works as a part time tutor and teaching assistant, and fosters cats from a local shelter.
I would like to extend a warm thank you to my mentor Dr. Kenan Li. Dr. Li graduated from Nankai University in China and moved to the US to pursue a M.S. degree and eventual Ph.D. in environmental science at Louisiana State University. Dr.Li has provided continual support, mentorship, and guidance through this project. He has enabled me to cross multiple disciplines and explore very different realms of academia giving me a new lens to view the world. I am extremely grateful for his support in the project but also in his guidance through vocational discernment.