Douglas, J C (1994) Aesthetic-based conflict in highway planning: Federal highway administration putting planners at risk. PhD thesis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA.
Abstract
The Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration aesthetic-based legislation, policies, regulations, guidelines, and procedures as well as their implementation are not only inadequate and inappropriate for avoiding conflict, but they actually contribute to conflict. The exploration of this hypothesis included: a comparison of urban/regional planning and street and highway planning; a review of aesthetic-based conflicts in street and highway projects in San Francisco, California, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Carbondale, Illinois; a definition of aesthetics; an identification of specific aesthetic-based legislation, policies, regulations, guidelines, procedures, and litigation; and development of a questionnaire. The definition of aesthetics developed in this dissertation includes sensory, formal, and symbolic components. In addition, an aesthetic model indicates that these components intersect and are inter-related. Section 4(f) of the Department of Transportation Act of 1966 and the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) are the aesthetic-based legislation reviewed in this dissertation. The aesthetic definition and model were used to determine if Section 4(f) and NEPA legislation, policies, regulations, guidelines and procedures were adequate or appropriate. Although Section 4(f) and NEPA legislation and policies include all three components of the aesthetic definition and model, the related regulations, guidelines, and procedures do not. While the regulations do not include an aesthetic definition, the guidelines for complying with Section 4(f) and NEPA redefine aesthetics as visual impact. A questionnaire was distributed to 360 environmental officials at state's department of transportation. There were 188 useable returned questionnaires. Results of the questionnaire indicate 72% of the respondents agree with the aesthetic definition and model developed in this dissertation. However, only 40% of the respondents indicated aesthetic issues were always considered while complying with the requirements of Section 4(f), and only 26% indicated that aesthetics are always considered while complying with NEPA requirements. The results of this investigation suggest that until the Federal Highway Administration revises its regulations and guidelines to provide a definition of aesthetics that includes sensory, formal, and symbolic components, aesthetic-based conflicts in street and highway project development will continue.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Forrest Jr., C W |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | highway; conflicts; legislation; litigation; policy; regulation |
| Index terms: | litigation, aesthetic, dissertation, implementation, investigation, planner, highway construction, legislation, environmental policy, questionnaire, regulation, exploration, regional planning |
| Subjects: | profession, research dissemination and communication, data collection methods, dispute resolution, environmental resource management, public policy, contractual arrangements, legal systems, factor and component analysis, civil engineering, urban design, political science |
| Topics: | Sustainability, Governance, Procurement, Roles and Professions, Engineering Principles, Research Practice, Urban Studies, Design Practice, Legal Issues |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here