2020 Theses Master's

Design Methods and Planning Strategies to Enhance Street Safety in New York City

Xin, Zheng

Streets in the cities are a crucial element of human life. However, it is not safe enough that every year over 37,000 people die in road crashes in the US. The thesis aims to research as a planner, how could design methods and planning strategies enhance street safety in large cities. The research uses mixed methods that combine data analysis and site observation to explore how safety improvement present and influence the condition of streets. Several preliminary models have been conducted by data analysis. Site observation acts as supplementation of data analysis to merge the theoretical model into the practical world and observe the elements that could not be revealed by data. In the end, a framework has created for future improvement and development. Also, there are some limitations to the study that could be improved by future studies.