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The idea of retrofitting sprawl into something more sustainable has become an important part of current planning practice. This paper makes a contribution to the suburban retrofit/sprawl repair literature by targeting one dimension of sprawl: parking lots. I propose a pragmatic, spatially explicit series of steps whose end product is a phased plan for parking lot rehabilitation. The method emphasizes spatial context - who and what are near parking lots - combined with information about the level of parking need, public space requirements, and investment potential. Phoenix, Arizona, is used as a case study, but the method could be replicated in any city. The method is forward-looking in that it relies on a change of attitude about cities and their form, a deeper concern for urban space that would need to coincide with changing behaviors and attitudes, and the creative implementation of retrofitting strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper makes a contribution to the suburban retrofit/sprawl repair literature by suggesting a method that planners can use to evaluate the potential of some places to be catalysts for an improved—more sustainable—urban form. The strategy is aimed at evaluating and then promoting sustainable urban form in unsustainable places. The method puts sprawl retrofit projects into a larger planning framework, suggesting ways to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of places in relative terms, taking into account how different kinds of nodes—from light rail stops to parking lots— varying with respect to sustainable urban form characteristics. Overlaying data on accessibility, density, diversity, and connectivity reveals areas with varying levels of sustainable urban form. Intervention in potential retrofit locations consists of neighborhood and site-scale design, including suggestions for code reform, intensification of land use around nodes, public investment in civic space, traffic calming, and incentives for private development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban parks are usually studied as discrete, green public open spaces. Less studied is how parks are geographically distributed from a 'spatial logic' point of view, i.e. how they ought to be geographically distributed across the urban landscape. This paper evaluates the degree to which normative principles about park distribution are in evidence from the standpoint of three spatial goals: proximity, diversity and social need. Using Phoenix and Chicago as case studies, it offers an empirical example of how park distribution can be shown to conform (or not) to one or more distributive patterns. Descriptive measures show that Phoenix parks do not conform to any of these three distributional principles, while Chicago parks do somewhat better. In both cities, land uses surrounding parks heavily favour residential uses. In Phoenix, single-family homes are prioritized, making spatial distribution based on proximity, diversity or social need difficult. A strategy for acquiring a better spatial logic, within existing realities and constraints, is suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]