2026 Theses Master's

Designing the Wait: Energy Transition and the Future of Urban Place

Zhang, Andy

As electric vehicle adoption accelerates, charging infrastructure is becoming a visible and consequential part of the urban landscape. Yet public and policy discussions often treat chargers primarily as technical utilities, measured by deployment counts, network coverage, and electrical capacity. This thesis argues that electric vehicle charging should instead be understood as a public-facing urban place. Unlike gasoline refueling, which is organized around speed and turnover, charging introduces dwell time, a period in which users wait, move, rest, consume, or remain isolated within the vehicle. The design and management of this waiting period shape whether charging infrastructure contributes to urban life or reproduces disconnected utility space.

Through comparative field observations in Shanghai, China, and Northern New Jersey, United States, this thesis examines how charging and legacy fueling sites function across different governance systems, development patterns, and urban contexts. Six case sites, including mixed-use charging hubs, municipal charging facilities, highway-oriented stations, and legacy gasoline parcels, are analyzed through user behavior, site design, operational reliability, surrounding land use, and patterns of movement during dwell time.

The findings show that charger technology alone does not determine urban performance. Sites with amenities can absorb waiting time internally without generating broader neighborhood activity; commercially well-located sites can fail when chargers are unreliable; highway-oriented facilities may serve mobility needs efficiently while contributing little to placemaking; and legacy automotive parcels may become important candidates for adaptive reuse in the energy transition. Positive outcomes depend on the alignment of reliable operations, pedestrian comfort, land use integration, and user purpose.

The thesis concludes that cities should evaluate charging infrastructure not only by quantity or capacity, but by its contribution to accessibility, public realm quality, economic activity, and neighborhood vitality. As refueling becomes waiting, infrastructure takes place. How cities design that place will help determine whether electric mobility merely powers vehicles or meaningfully improves urban life.