Applied Research in Urbanism
A fundamental aspect of the Dallas Urban Laboratory is the ability to bring to each research endeavor, faculty and students of various disciplines within the environmental design professions. The School of Architecture at The University of Texas at Austin houses professional programs with expertise in: Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Community and Regional Planning, Historic Preservation, Urban Design and Sustainable Design. The range of disciplines within the school enable faculty and students engaged in applied urban research to bring diverse sets of expertise to each
undertaking. While the Dallas Urban Laboratory is specifically focused on factors contributing to the urbanizing future of the city, each initiative has the ability to draw from the knowledge base within the school and bring a distinctive set of skills to the table.
As part of the applied urbanism agenda of the research studio, students participating in the Dlab©, under faculty guidance, are charged with the task of evaluating and visualizing the potential for urban development in areas of the city that are under pressure. By testing a series of
hypothetical futures, exploratory in nature, and working togetherwith the various constituencies in Dallas to evaluate the relevant development parameters, the Dlab© hopes to enhance the quality of future urban growth. We do this by devising tactics and methodologies for an emergent sustainable future. These tactics are grounded in demographic research and are tested against the potential of urban systems to establish an integrated approach to the urban environment, systems that include: new patterns of higher density urban living, the role of landscape ecology in providing
for an enhanced quality of life, a diverse and sustainable system of transit related infrastructure, and the appropriate mixture of programs and economies necessary to establish a true urban life across a range of lifestyle choices. Research studios focus on aspects of: urban morphology, systems of open space for recreation and health, infrastructural improvements that enhance connectivity within the urban environment and patterns of density that propose new urban paradigms. Each of these research components is understood to take place within a
framework of economic development potential.
This website demonstrates examples of a wide range of architectural, planning and landscape strategies undertaken during the last few years of the Dallas Urban Laboratory. These are a small sampling of the range of work the Dlab© has been producing as we work toward enhancing the quality of life in the future city.
Urban Morphologies
Among the important design components contributing to our urban research is the study of urban morphology, a technique for analyzing both existing and latent urban spatial structure and for evaluating its transformational potential for future development. Urban morphological analysis is a technique used to establish an understanding of the factors embedded in the city’s development patterns while revealing the potential transformative potential of the urban structure. Our research into Dallas’ morphological structure is meant to help evaluate the contribution of each potential development project to the city’s evolving identity and culture. As part of our research, we investigate questions of
programmatic use, conditions of urban density and the positioning of building typologies within the context of the city’s development ordinances. From our academic vantage point, we are able to investigate the connective strategies and linkages that facilitate the integration of urban systems and typologies, harnessing the true potential of an urban area.
Much of the history of development patterns in the city has been established by individual land ownership and development parcels. Applied research methodologies are used by the Dlab© to evaluate these determining factors for potential land use and development.
Demographic transformations,
global economic shifts, changes in lifestyle preferences, and the increasing importance of sustainability, all contribute to the demand for new urban patterns. Reconciling these new typologies and hybrids systems, together with those embedded in the existing urban structure is central to our effort to direct future development patterns in the central city. The scale and structure of land patterns are measured against potential development typologies. This then leads to the development of alternative strategies that are projected out onto future development scenarios and back into the discussion of development strategies impacting the future city.
Landscape Systems
Within the context of American city building, landscape systems are once again establishing their significance in the construction of the urban environment. Today, landscape systems transcend the traditional urban taxonomies of parks and avenues, and are now encompassing the entire framework of urban ecology. Landscape systems, embedded within the infrastructure of the city, operate as programmatic surfaces for the structuring of urban development. Whether a network of green corridors or a condition of infrastructure, the role of landscape systems in mediating the relationship between life, architecture, and the environment is central to the construction of a sustainable city.
The ongoing construction of the Trinity River Park in Dallas, and the proposed bridge infrastructure traversing it, has repositioned development pressure toward the river. In addition, a number of ongoing initiatives have planned for the reactivation of the Trinity meanders and other stream bed corridors as part of a program to establish and link hike and bike trails throughout the city. As an integral component of the applied research program, the Dlab©, has been developing a deeper approach to landscape systems within the urban core. Analysis of surface hydrology, along with the integration of sustainable landscape technology, has informed our approach to the construction of a
more interconnected and performative landscape structure within the city. New typologies of open space that support programs for health, recreation, and play have been proposed in order to transform the metropolitan core into an area appropriate for families. Many of these proposed urban spaces are dispersed as a means of distributing social equity throughout the city. Some are meant to mediate between the enormous scale of transportation infrastructure, and the urban neighborhoods they bifurcate.
This integrated approach, embedding development strategies within a landscape infrastructure, hopes to reconnect the fragments of the
city and its infrastructure, while providing an enhanced and sustainable quality of life for future residents of the central city. The work of the Dlab© considers the importance of landscape systems for each development scenario and evaluates potential strategies to link development together with the existing structure of the urban landscape.
Transit and Infrastructure
Infrastructure plays an essential role in the process of urbanization. Infrastructural systems have the potential to provided the framework through which urban programs are connected and supported. In Dallas, however, the construction of roads and rails has been destructive to the cohesion of the city, creating barriers between neighborhoods and catalyzing a pattern of low-intensity land-use and sprawl that have created both a series of ecological, social and economic barriers. A lack of integration between transportation systems and the land-use they support have privileged an automobile dependent culture that is unsustainable.
The reconsideration of infrastructural frameworks, a tactic that is central to the ongoing Trinity River Corridor Project, continues to be a central part of the applied research methodology of the Dlab©. Working toward a network of sustainable street infrastructures will providing connectivity at the local and metropolitan scales. Supported by the city’s new emphasis in transit-oriented development, and by the implementation of a series of new TIF and MMD districts, a reconsideration of how mobility infrastructure is designed can change the purpose of streets from single use systems into a multi-functioning sustainable network, capable of encompassing all aspects of
mobility, from automobiles to pedestrians. A series of sustainable street studies have been undertaken to develop integrated strategies that mediate the diverse modes of transit with the mediation of groundwater pollutants. The intent is to implement a model infrastructure development for sustainable urbanism, providing for a greater density of land-use and to enhance the programmatic connectivity between districts of the city. Each of the new boulevard typologies is prepared for the eventuality of future public transit, while green corridors strategies provide large rights-of-ways for pedestrian connectivity.
Along the Trinity River Corridor, new bridges will not only re-brand the city, but, together with
the reconstruction of the park, they seek to reorganize the city around this newly reconsidered landscape. Central to the successful realization of these visionary proposals is the importance of infrastructural connectivity between the new park, its bridges, and the neighborhoods along its flanks. This is a situation made more difficult by the Army Corps of Engineers’ approach to the levees, effectively cutting off the new park from the city. We have been researching tactics to overcome this shortsighted understanding of infrastructure in order to contribute to possibility of infrastructural connectivity between the new park, its bridges, and the neighborhoods along its flanks.
Development Scenarios
The format of the applied research studio, central to the working methodology of the Dallas Urban Laboratory, brings the collective energy of the faculty and students at The University of Texas at Austin to bear on each successive urban development project we investigate. The lab is able to envision and analyze, multiple urban development scenarios in a way that tests the limitations and parameters that determine the potential for densification and programmatic use within the City of Dallas. Diverse scenarios are tested against political, economic, and performance criteria, in order to present development alternatives that
confront the status quo of development patterns in the city. These scenarios are then balanced against local, cultural and social conditions, and vetted through a process of public evaluation. The work of the Dlab© searches for a balance between the local qualities of a place, its livability and capacity for social equity, and the pressures of globalization inherent in the rapid population increase projected over coming decades. This approach is part of an ecological agenda to illustrate the potential for significantly increasing the population density of central Dallas while increasing the potential for a sustainable urban lifestyle.
Among the projects that the Dallas Urban Laboratory has been involved with over the previous few years are a number of initiatives that have been presented to city officials, developers and stakeholders - effectively changing the conversation about the direction of future development in the city. Sponsoring future research initiatives of the Dallas Urban laboratory will support the ongoing discussions of the urban potential of central Dallas, bringing a fresh perspective to the table.
As part of its mission, the Dallas Urban Laboratory strives to educate future urban designers in
the tactics and strategies of building compact, sustainable urban environments. Students are exposed to the significant potential of urban development possibilities, reframing their approach to architectural practice. Many of these students have continued to work in the city, having become professionally invested in its potential future.
Urban Simulation
The applied research services undertaken by The Dallas Urban Laboratory are supported by a philosophy of place and performance-based planning and urban design. A significant component of this work relies on the application of information technology and physical modeling to visualize the potential environmental impact of urban design and planning projects. We use GIS-based data to model, analyze and visualize the potential of urban development scenarios. The data is used to develop graphic representations in 2D and 3D simulation software; one of the most powerful methods for displaying and making informed planning and design decisions.
Design parameters, including legal frameworks, programmatic uses, densities and environmental impacts can be visualized and assessed as if they were actually built. Design tactics can be projected and refined using urban simulation techniques to help visualize the potential outcomes. By applying simulation technology to enable the design and decision-making process, research projects can be part of an interactive environment. The Dlab© can support citizens and stakeholders in their efforts to understand the impacts of diverse development scenarios on their communities. We have been working to develop a digital model of central Dallas that encompasses the
development of the Trinity River Corridor and visualizes the impact of zoning and infrastructure proposals along both sides of the river. We make are both physical and digital models to support our design research and use these tools as an important component of public discourse about the future city.
