Digital twins are virtual renditions of the actual world that include real-world assets, connections, activities, and processes. Recent developments in technologies play a key role in advancing the digital twin concept in urban planning, designing, and monitoring. Moreover, the latest developments in remote sensing technology have resulted in accurate city-scale light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data, which can be used to represent urban objects (buildings, vegetation, roads, and utilities), enabling the creation of digital twin of urban landscapes. This study aims to build a digital twin of the University of North Texas (UNT) using LiDAR and GIS data. In this research, LiDAR point clouds are used to create 3D building and vegetation modeling along with other GIS data (bicycle racks and parking areas) in creating a digital twin model. 3D Basemap solutions of ArcGIS Pro and ArcGIS Online Scene Viewer, respectively, are used to create an initial 3D urban model and build the ultimate digital twin of UNT. The emergency management floorplans of UNT buildings are incorporated into the digital twin to increase emergency management efficiency. Moreover, solar power potential for individual buildings at UNT has been estimated using the Digital Surface Model (DSM) and integrated into the digital twin …

Just and equitable responses to the disparate impacts of climate change on communities and individuals throughout the world are at the heart of the concept of climate justice. Commodification, in the context of my research, is the process of monetizing nature and livelihoods for the purpose of surplus accumulation and profit maximization. In this study, my aim was to contextualize the concepts of climate injustice, disaster capitalism, and the commodification of lives and livelihoods in the specific setting of disaster vulnerability in southwest coastal Bangladesh. By conducting a case study in Kamarkhola and Sutarkhali regions of southwest coastal Bangladesh, I utilized discourse analysis and content analysis of livelihood interviews, semi-structured interviews, and policy documents to demonstrate the conceptual interrelation among global climate change, climate injustice, disaster capitalism, and capitalist expansion in environmentally precarious areas. I argue that in Southwest Coastal Bangladesh, the vulnerability to disasters stems from a complex and multifaceted layer of social hierarchies and inequalities, entwined with factors such as class and power relations. I also argue that Inequalities in the political, economic, and social realms have a key role in imposing vulnerability on disadvantaged people living in ecologically vulnerable areas. The perpetuation of inequality is sustained by …

The production of Hate, albeit a historical, long-existing, and relentless process, has been reinvigorated by the simultaneously globalizing and localizing power of cyberspace. Techno-capitalism, often perceived as the actuating force of neoliberal globalization, has emanated novel formations of social interaction, community formation, the dissemination of ideology, and political mobilization. Far-right ideology is being globalized throughout popular social cyberspaces like YouTube by thought leaders or ideological entrepreneurs, while users then localize within alternative social cyberspaces like Gab, wherein their beliefs are reaffirmed, identities are consolidated, and communities are formed. This process is integral to the materialization of far-right extremism, manifested as political action in real, physical space, and thus, illuminates new expressions of real virtuality, various politics of scale, and contemporary consequences of neoliberal globalization.

The Dallas-Forth Worth Metroplex (DFW) serves as a diverse resettlement location for globally displaced refugees. While research examines how the nation impacts refugee resettlement, studies that examine the role of the city and community in placemaking are still lacking. In city resettlement investigations, research often focuses broadly on advocacy and political movements rather than the impacts of local-level structures and policies. In this paper, I develop an evaluation model using Jenny Phillimore's categories for successful refugee resettlement that examines how structural barriers, community interactions, and resource accessibility affect space and place for refugee populations. Through an ethnography of Chin and Rohingya refugee communities in DFW, I explore the differences between community-settled and state-settled refugee groups and the idea of an integrated resettlement program. Additionally, I argue that refugees who choose their settlement location in the United States are empowered and thus have a stronger connection to their host community than state-settled refugees. For example, in interviews, the Chin emphasized their ownership of Lewisville and feelings of home, while the Rohingya expressed feelings of placelessness and dispossession in Dallas. As governments push towards an entirely privatized system of refugee resettlement, this research argues for an integrated method that draws upon federal …

Increasing PM2.5 (particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometers) poses a significant health risk to people. Understanding variables critical to PM2.5 spatial and temporal variation is a first step towards protecting vulnerable populations from exposure. Previous studies investigate variables responsible for PM2.5 variation but have a limited temporal span. Moreover, although land-use classes are often taken into account, the vertical environment's influence (e.g., buildings, trees) on PM2.5 concentrations is often ignored and on-road circle buffers are used. To understand variables most critical to PM2.5 concentration variation, an air pollution sensor and GPS unit were affixed to a bicycle to sample for variables over three seasons (spring, summer, fall). Samples were taken on a route during the weekdays at four targeted hours (7AM, 11AM, 3PM, and 7PM) and joined with meteorological data. 3D morphology was assessed using LiDAR data and novel wind-based buffers. Wind speed only, wind direction only, and wind speed and direction buffers were computed and compared for their performance at capturing micro-scale urban morphological variables. Zonal statistics were used to compute morphological indicators under different wind assumptions in seasonal ordinary least squares regression models. A comprehensive wind and buffer performance analysis compares statistical significance for spatial and temporal variation …

Texas is the leading producer of renewable energy in the U.S, and Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) is the largest metropolitan area in the state. Texas has a deregulated energy market, with three types of providers: privatized, public-owned, and co-operatives. Privatized providers compete in the deregulated market, and consumers choose between hundreds of electricity retailers. Public-owned providers are owned by the municipality, and electricity consumers that live within the city limits must use the municipal provider. Electric co-operatives operate similarly where customers within the region must use the co-operative, but instead of being owned by the city, co-ops are owned by the members (customers). To date, the availability, cost, accessibility, and outreach of renewable electricity among these provider types remains unclear. For this reason, my research examines the renewable energy market in DFW by asking: (1) Who has access to renewable energy and how do they understand it? (2) How do electricity retailers distribute and make renewable energy available? and (3) If consumers can choose their provider, why do they select certain electricity plans over others? My findings suggest that while many consumers want or are open to using renewable energy, uncertainties surrounding how to find or choose a provider, price, and …