Portfolio 2021

F E L I CIA JIANG s ele c te d wo r ks 2016 -2 0 2 1

MASTER OF CITY PLANNING CANDIDATE CONCENTRATION IN URBAN DESIGN

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY

FELICIA JIANG feliciaj@berkeley.edu | 540.577.2232 | www.linkedin.com/in/feliciajiang

EDUCATION

SOFTWARE SKILLS

University of California, Berkeley 2019-2021

GRAPHIC Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign

Master of City Planning Concentration in Urban Design

Princeton University 2014-2018

B.S.E Civil Engineering Certificates in Architecture, Urban Studies

University of Melbourne Jan-June 2017 Semester study abroad

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE BRIDGE Housing Corporation San Francisco, CA

Data Analyst Intern Jan 2020-Aug 2020

Bay Conservation and Development Commission San Francisco, CA Research Intern June 2020-Aug 2020

Institute for Transportation & Development Policy Beijing, China Planning Fellow July 2018-July 2019

Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis Architects New York, NY

Architecture and Urban Planning Intern July-Sept 2017

OnEarth Architecture Xi’an, China

Architecture Intern June-Sept 2016

MODELING AND DRAWING SketchUp, Rhinoceros, AutoCAD MAPPING AND ANALYSIS ArcGIS, Python, STATA OTHER Word, Excel, Powerpoint, HTML

LANGUAGES English (native) Mandarin Chinese (working proficiency) Spanish (beginner)

TEACHING EXPERIENCE UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design Berkeley, CA Graduate Student Instructor

Spring 2021 CP101Intro to Urban Data Analytics with Professor Karen Chapple Fall 2020 CP140 Urban Design: City-Building and Place-Making with Professor Zachary Lamb

Architecture + Design Thinking Camp The Linden Centre, Xizhou, China Teaching Assistant July 2019

SELECTED COURSEWORK University of California, Berkeley

2020-2021 Advanced Urban Design Studio, Hybrid Landscapes, Urban Informatics and Visualization 2019-2020 Introduction to GIS and City Planning, Plan Preparation Studio, Community Engagement for Planners, Race and the City, Research Methods in Environmental Design, Planning Histories and Practice, Planning Methods Gateway

Princeton University

2017-2018 Tall Building Design, Senior Thesis: Urban Village, Theories of Housing and Urbanism, Introduction to Digital Photography 2016 -2017 Architecture Junior Studio, A Social and MultiDimensional Exploration of Structures 2015 -2016 Introduction to Architectural Design, Introduction to Architectural Thinking, Structures and the Urban Environment 2014-2015 Introduction to Urban Studies

University of Melbourne 2017 Urban Design Studies

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FELICIA JIANG PORTFOLIO

HONORS & FELLOWSHIPS California Planning Foundation Merit Scholarship 2020-2021

Princeton-in-Asia Fellowship 2018-2019

Sigma Xi Scientific Research Honor Society June 2018

EXHIBITIONS Four Corridors: Foreseeing the Region of the Future New York, NY Regional Plan Association August 2017 https://4c.rpa.org/

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01 Owning the Green New Deal 02 Re-imagining the Center 03 Central Freeway Corridor Plan 04 Public Health during COVID-19

CONTENTS

05 Urban Village VER. MAR 2021

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01 OWNING THE GREEN NEW DEAL San Francisco, CA COURSE Advanced Urban Design Studio Zachary Lamb YEAR Spring 2021 (IN PROGRESS) PROJECT TYPE Planning/Urban Design Group Work PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The studio explores the potentials of urban design to reshape an urban district in response to the dual crises of climate change and inequality, analyzing and proposing interventions to advance the three core goals of the Green New Deal: decarbonization, jobs, and justice.

Our site in Southeast San Francisco is characterized by high levels of extreme heat vulnerability, influenced by minimal tree cover, lack of access to open space, and historically disinvested communities of color. In the first half of the studio, we proposed an intervention of Green New Districts, as an equitable adaptation of the city of San Francisco’s Green Benefit District program. The Green New District initiative targets nature-based cooling through tree planting, programming and sharing of quality green space.

Working against green gentrification, it focuses on community employment to design and build greening projects in residents’ own neighborhoods, as well as strengthen local ownership of green spaces in the public, semi-public, and private realms.

PROJECT PARTNER Vanessa Lee All graphics are personal work, unless otherwise noted

VOTE!

A poster campaign to gain resident support for Green New District improvements in their neighborhood

SITE INVENTORY

Open space on the site is categorized into three types of uses: public, semipublic, and private, which are then targeted by the Green New District programs.

STREET SCIENCE

LOW COST DREAM-MAKER

In the public realm, the Low-cost Dream-maker program will upgrade underutilized parks and community gardens according to the vision of the local community, while the Street Science program will review heat vulnerability in street corridors and locate strategic planting spots for residential and commercial streets.

In the semi-public realm, the Cool Yards program will develop multi-benefit schemes with local institutions such as schools and churches in the community, to improve heat resilience and increase public access during off-hours.

public realm COOL YARDS

In the private realm, the Green Commons program will target residential block backyards to transform individual plots into a shared green space.

Existing conditions: hard paving and lack of street trees (credit: Vanessa Lee)

semi-public realm GREEN COMMONS

private realm

The site diagram above highlights the four types of programs on the site.

VISITACION & BAYSHORE PILOT DISTRICT Visitacion Valley has been long been nicknamed the “forgotten valley” due to the lack of attention it receives from city policies, including lack of linguistically and culturally appropriate programs and services to serve the majority Asian American resident base. We selected this area and the surrounding Bayshore Heights neighborhood as a pilot district to illustrate the proposed interventions.

credit: Vanessa Lee

The upper image on the left shows the reconfiguration of a residential block’s backyards into “Green Commons” while the lower image shows shows a proposed “Cool Yards” transformation for Visitacion Valley Elementary.

02 RE-IMAGINING THE CENTER Mare Island, Vallejo, CA COURSE Hybrid Landscapes Walter Hood YEAR Fall 2020 PROJECT TYPE Landscape Individual Work

Georgia Street in downtown Vallejo, once the center of the city’s life, was demolished by urban renewal in the 1960s.

Within the white racial frame, Black has always been seen as “other”. On Mare Island and Vallejo, this is reinforced through segregated barracks, separated alleys behind buildings, and large-scale urban renewal, paving over the significant contributions and sacrifices made by Black people.

In re-imagining the center, the commemorative landscape tells a different story, celebrating these forgotten and othered spaces as beautiful, vibrant, and alive.

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PROJECT DESCRIPTION The 23 blocks of downtown Vallejo erased during the 1960 urban renewal scheme are overlaid on the north side of Mare Island to return value to this erased landscape, and the part of it that is overlooked most, the alleys behind the buildings. Typically representative of the “other” and reserved for purposes other than those that would be seen on the main streets, the alley instead becomes the central route on Mare Island, a series of connected, elevated paths leading towards the water.

As the tide changes and water levels rise, the elevated network of alleyways becomes a place for human activity. The memory of this forgotten space comes alive as it is transformed into a green and vibrant place for people to come together.

VER. MAR 2021

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TIMELINE Located across the water from Mare Island, Vallejo’s history has always been interrelated with the former Naval base.

It was home to many soldiers and workers, who migrated to the area during World War II. Downtown Vallejo was a central destination during these times, with a multitude of bars, casinos, and liquor stores. The 1960 redevelopment of downtown sought to create “A New Era of Prosperity” but this was never realized. In stead, the waterfront was lost, and even today, it remains underdeveloped and vacant.

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VER. MAR 2021 11

DOWNTOWN VALLEJO MEETS URBAN RENEWAL

what was lost?

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giving back value

PROJECT PARTNER MUSEUM OF THE AFRICAN DIASPORA The mission of the Museum of the African Diaspora is to celebrate Black cultures, ignite challenging conversations, and inspire learning through the global lens of the African Diaspora and the themes of Origins, Movement, Adaptation, and Transformation.

1 ORIGINS

2 MOVEMENT

3 ADAPTATION

4 TRANSFORMATION

PROJECT FRAMEWORK CRITIQUE

VISION

the white spatial imaginary

resistant Black geographies

the dominant narrative of blight and denigration

the alternative narrative of resilience and work

valuing land for its economic values

emphasis on community and history

the resulting erasure of the city center

neighborhoods that are beautiful, vibrant and alive

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PLAN

PERSPECTIVES The journey to Mare Island begins in downtown Vallejo.

Once a bustling scene of bars, shops, and restaurants, the streets today are empty. Many storefronts are shuttered, while some hint at a previous history untold.

As visitors approach Mare Island and look to the north, a series of elevated pathways, 30 feet above the water, comes into view. Each alley extends towards the water, while horizontal pathways cut across the landscape and connect the alleys.

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GEORGIA STREET Signs for each alleyway, named after the streets in downtown Vallejo, help to navigate visitors.

CITRUS GROVE A grove of orange trees appears, providing an unexpected burst of color and filling the air with the sweet smell of citrus.

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WILDFLOWER MEADOW The narrow path opens up into a meadow of wildflowers, and adults and children alike are filled with joy and awe.

VER. MAR 2021 17

THE BOULEVARD DISTRICT

THE PARK DISTRICT

STREETS

OPEN SPACE

PROPOSED BIKE INFRASTRUCTURE

LIVING ALLEY

PROPOSED BUS LANES

GREEN BOULEVARD

PEDESTRIAN IMPROVEMENTS

PROPOSED PARKS

SAFE CROSSING IMPROVEMENTS

PROPOSED GREEN ROOFS

PASSENGER/COMMERCIAL LOADING ZONES

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03 CENTRAL FREEWAY CORRIDOR 13TH AND DIVISION STREET AREA PLAN San Francisco, CA

SOMA/PDR DISTRICT

COURSE Plan Preparation Studio Elizabeth Macdonald YEAR Spring 2020 PROJECT TYPE Planning/Urban Design Group Work PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The Central Freeway Corridor is a transition zone between various neighborhood grids in Central San Francisco. Originally a working class industrial neighborhood, cycles of development and marginalization have created a fragmented area with pockets of vibrancy.

DEVELOPMENT PUBLIC LAND NEW ZONING AND HEIGHT LIMITS

The 13th and Division Street Area Plan envisions a corridor that is lush and vibrant; transit-, bike-, and pedestrian-friendly, home to long-time and new coming residents alike; and a center of production and creativity. Its neighborhoods are unified through nature, movement, and development in a way that preserves and enhances its uniqueness and cultural richness.

All graphics are personal work, unless otherwise noted

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SITE ANALYSIS: URBAN FORM The neighborhoods that converge at the Central Freeway vary widely in terms of block size and building footprint. Examples of different forms that emerge from the atypical urban fabric are highlighted in the 3D massing models and figure ground.

RESIDENTIAL

MIXED-USE

MISSION DISTRICT

SOUTH OF MARKET

101 & I-80 JUNCTION

MISSION BAY

Dense street grid of long and narrow blocks and small building footprints.

Street grid is fairly regular with medium sized blocks and a mix of building footprints.

Irregular street grid with large building footprints and open space due to large parking lots.

Street grid features a large proportion of unbuilt space due to infrastructure, parking lots, water, and parks.

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LIGHT INDUSTRIAL

BIG BOX

SKETCH DESIGN: freeway removal and redevelopment The CENTRAL FREEWAY CORRIDOR is a 189 acre stretch along and beneath Highway 101 in central San Francisco. At the intersection of Hayes Valley, South of Market, and The Mission, the area is defined by its “inbetweeness”, its notable precarity, and its unique contribution to the city’s overall eclecticism.

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An ‘inbetween place’

Seismically unsound freeway structure

Car-centric environment

Intersection of neighborhoods, communities, and histories

Displacement risk and community sensitivity

Production, Distribution, and Repair (PDR)

A central gateway to the Bay Area region

Unsheltered communities

Lack of open space

PLAN AREA CONTEXT

credit: Carson Hartmann

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Foster a healthy living environment

FRAMEWORK PLANS

GOALS

HEALTH

PARKS AND OPEN SPACE LEGEND

Existing Parks Proposed Parks Green Roofs/Infrastructure

COMMUNITY Enhance community and sense of belonging

ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY LEGEND

Extreme Sea Level Rise Combined Sewer Lines Integrated Flood Management 100-Year Flood Risk Zone

CONNECTION Connect neighborhoods, streets, and people

STREET GREENING LEGEND

Living Alley Green Boulevard Small Tree

ANTI-DISPLACEMENT Provide improvements to the public realm without displacement

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COMMUNITY PLANNING

Large Tree

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

YEAR 1

CAPACITY BUILDING

YE 5

PUBLIC TRANSIT

PUBLIC LAND FOR PUBLIC GOOD

LEGEND

LEGEND

Existing Bus Lane

Public Land

Existing Bus Route Proposed Bus Lane

ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION

BUILDING HEIGHT

LEGEND

LEGEND

Existing Bike Lane Proposed Bike Infrastructure Pedestrian Improvements Safe Crossing Improvemens

New Heights New Zoning

CURB MANAGEMENT

VALUE CAPTURE

LEGEND

LEGEND

EAR 5-7

Commercial Loading Zone

Value Capture Area

Passenger Loading Zone

credit: Keira Thompson, Jazmin Amini, Felicia Jiang, Isa Gaillard, Carson Hartmann, Zachary McRae

EQUITABLE DEVELOPMENT PLAN IMPLEMENTATION

DESIGN

YEAR 10-12

DEVELOPMENT

YEAR 15-20 credit: Carson Hartmann

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ELEVATED FREEWAY PARK An elevated park repurposed from the freeway structure aims to be a focal point of the neighborhood, drawing residents together by offering a multitude of functions.

OPEN SPACE DESIGN GUIDELINES A place for people

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Support local community

Integrate with existing art and neighborhood character

Spaces to play

Arts programming

Ensure pedestrian safety and accessibility

Provide adequate lighting

Day and night functions

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% Residents Age 62 or Older

% Residents Earning <$60,000

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The demographic information above contains data provided by the 20132018 American Community Survey and was used to identify a COVID-19 testing center in Richmond.

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% Hispanic/Latino Residents

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04 PUBLIC HEALTH DURING COVID-19 Richmond, CA COURSE Introduction to GIS and City Planning John Radke YEAR Spring 2020 PROJECT TYPE Mapping/Analysis Group Work

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The COVID-19 outbreak has forced limited mobility for many people around the world. In the Bay Area, movement has been restricted to “essential” tasks, like grocery shopping, employment, medical appointments and physical exercise. Using food sources, health facilities and open space as metrics, we can see existing inequities and where future public investments must be made to meet the needs of lowincome communities and communities of color.

% Black Residents

RESEARCH QUESTION

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What areas of Bay Area cities are better equipped to handle the Shelter in Place orders because of the COVID-19 pandemic?

GROUP MEMBERS Asma Boutrik Zachary McRae

Each team member contributed equally to mapping and analysis. Methodology diagram by author.

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FOOD: SERVICE AREA ANALYSIS

FOOD: LOCATION ALLOCATION ANA

Grocery stores

Schools providing food

Schools providing food

Chosen Age group below 18 All schools

Walking (min) 2 5 10 15

Food distributors during COVID-19, shown within walking distance, are fairly evenly dispersed throughout the city.

A number of Richmond’s students depen The location allocation analysis shows th Richmond reach the most students.

HEALTH: SUITABILITY AND MARKET SHARE ANALYSIS

OPEN SPACE: SUITABILITY ANAL

Medical facilities

Weight +1 Weight +4 -2

Richmond does not have a COVID-19 testing center. This combined suitability and market share analysis shows where a new testing center in Richmond might be most effective.

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+2 +3 +4 +5

Opportunity factors of streets, parks, and determine which areas in Richmond have social distancing.

ALYSIS

HEALTH: SERVICE AREA ANALYSIS Medical facilities

Walking (min) 2 5 10 15

nd on meals provided by their schools. hat four schools on the east side of

There are only four health facilities in the city. Many residents are not within walking distance of a health facility and must rely on some form of vehicle transportation to receive services.

LYSIS

FINAL SUITABILITY ANALYSIS

population density were used to e the most access to open space for

Weight 1-3 4-5 6 7-8 9-10 11-13

The final suitability map illustrates the areas in Richmond that can best respond to the COVID-19 pandemic given our key metrics of food access, health facilities and safe open space.

VER. MAR 2021 29

05 URBAN VILLAGE Shenzhen, China

COURSE Thesis Project YEAR Spring 2018 PROJECT TYPE Environmental Analysis/Design Individual Work

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

photo: URBANUS

Urban Village: Evaluating an Alternative Future for China’s Cities explores a new direction in planning and design in China. Using methods of environmental analysis, the research presented in this thesis aimed to provide quantitative data towards an understanding of the urban village within the framework of sustainable planning principles.

RESEARCH QUESTION

HOW CAN IMPROV ORIENTATION, AND CURRENT CRITICIS MAINTAINING ITS O

EXAMPLE D

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BACKGROUND In 1979, Deng Xiaoping declared Shenzhen a “Special Economic Zone” opening its doors to foreign investment, trade, and a flood of migrant workers from all over China. Today, it is the country’s fourth-largest city, with a population of over eighteen million people.

However, a closer look into the city’s urban fabric reveals entire neighborhoods of older-looking mid-rise apartment buildings, crammed together with mere meters of space between them. These are the urban villages, chengzhongcun in Chinese, which literally translates to “village in the city”.

photo: David McLeod

MOTIVATION The urban village represents a unique form of urbanism in Shenzhen and the surrounding Pearl River Delta region. Today, its existence is critically threatened by ongoing pressures of top-down government planning, as the five percent of Shenzhen’s land area that urban villages still occupy is prime real estate in the evergrowing city.

photo: Lucien Long

VEMENTS IN BUILDING TYPOLOGY, D SPATIAL ORGANIZATION ADDRESS SMS OF THE URBAN VILLAGE WHILE ORIGINAL FRAMEWORK?

DESIGN PROCESS FOR THE “INFILL” BLOCK

Shenzhen, viewed from Hong Kong’s Crest Hill in 1964 and 2015.

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METHOD After visiting five urban villages in Shenzhen, Xiangnan village in Nanshan district was selected for a more detailed urban analysis.

The primary analysis component of this thesis involved comparing the environmental performance of potential design alternatives for the urban village block.

DESIGN PRINCIPLES Five alternative designs were created based on the following principles: 1. Maintain original built volume 2. Reduce building density 3. Increase open space 4. Maintain existing building vernacular A sixth alternative design was based on future plans to redevelop the village into high-rises.

SIX GEOMETRIES OF THE URBAN VILLAGE BLOCK

original

courtyard

checkerboard B

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infill

checkerboard A

high rise

ENVIRONMENTAL PARAMETERS

inputs selected sky matrix building geometry context geometry

outputs yearly radiation received by building surfaces

RADIATION ANALYSIS

inputs sun vectors building geometry context geometry

outputs hours of sunlight/day recieved by building surfaces and ground plane

SUNLIGHT HOURS ANALYSIS

inputs dry-bulb temperature relative humidity wind speed mean radiant temperature of surrounding buidligs

outputs spatial map of universal thermal climate index with associated thermal stress values inidicating outdoor comfort level

OUTDOOR COMFORT ANALYSIS VER. MAR 2021 33

35 MM FILM PHOTOGRAPHY

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