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Innovation, institutions, and the importance of large land parcels: drivers of urban expansion in San Diego, CA, 1986-2017

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dc.contributor.authorMolder, Edmund Boyd, author
dc.contributor.authorLeisz, Stephen, advisor
dc.contributor.authorLaituri, Melinda, committee member
dc.contributor.authorJohnson, Merrill, committee member
dc.date.accessioned2020-01-13T16:42:12Z
dc.date.available2020-01-13T16:42:12Z
dc.date.issued2019
dc.description.abstractUrban expansion and its drivers are an increasingly important focus for land change scientists. Expansion of built-up land cover reduces native plant and animal habitat, increases surface water runoff, and impacts local and global climate. However, an increasing proportion of the world's population is moving to urban environments and the demand for housing, commercial services, and employment in these environments is rising. Understanding where urban expansion occurs and the underlying drivers responsible for it is thus critical for social and environmental policy. This thesis utilizes spatial analysis to quantify urban land use change in two case areas of San Diego County, California between 1986 and 2017. The first case study, focusing on the University of California, San Diego and surrounding communities, examines the economic drivers of urban expansion in the context of recent growth in the area's innovation economy. Sectors in the innovation economy are primarily research-driven, technology-based, and include industries like biotechnology, telecommunications, and aerospace engineering. This case study examines the role of the university in establishing this economy and quantifies the rapid urban expansion that occurred during the innovation economy's growth over the past 31 years. The second case, focusing on the Otay Ranch community of Chula Vista, has a long history of agricultural land use linked to the Spanish Alta California Rancho system, and rapid residential development in recent years occurred as a direct result of this land tenure system. Expansion of industrial districts in this case study occurred along the U.S.-Mexico border as a result of NAFTA and subsequent international trade relations, while planning efforts to encourage a research-based economy in the region have so far failed. The relative roles of land tenure, planning institutions, economic growth, and physical geography are discussed in both case studies, and the results of both case studies' spatial analysis indicate the differing power of proximate causes of urban land change in different places.
dc.format.mediumborn digital
dc.format.mediummasters theses
dc.identifierMolder_colostate_0053N_15833.pdf
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10217/199853
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherColorado State University. Libraries
dc.relation.ispartof2000-2019
dc.rightsCopyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright.
dc.subjectinnovation economy
dc.subjectOtay Ranch
dc.subjectCA
dc.subjectdrivers of urban expansion
dc.subjectSan Diego
dc.subjectland change science
dc.subjecturban expansion
dc.titleInnovation, institutions, and the importance of large land parcels: drivers of urban expansion in San Diego, CA, 1986-2017
dc.typeText
dcterms.rights.dplaThis Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights (https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/). You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
thesis.degree.disciplineAnthropology and Geography
thesis.degree.grantorColorado State University
thesis.degree.levelMasters
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Arts (M.A.)

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