Memorable, Legible, and Accessible Cities: Co-Stewarding Historic Preservation and Public Transportation Agendas in Boston and Hong Kong

Abstract

This thesis seeks to understand how planners, designers, and policymakers can identify and leverage shared goals between historic preservation and public transit planning to support a memorable, legible, and accessible public realm. Preservation and transportation agendas are often described as inherently opposed to one another, and are generally administered through separate bureaucracies. Rather than being in opposition, I argue that the goals of preservation and transit accessibility are well-aligned through a shared commitment to serving the public interest and fostering sustainable development. I explore this alignment by analyzing how two coastal cities, Boston and Hong Kong, have accommodated transit needs alongside the cultural legacy of their built environments—resulting in positive and negative impacts on achieving sustainable development goals. Insights from Hong Kong and Boston neighborhoods, gleaned through interviews, on-site observations, and mapping exercises, inform a set of opportunities for better fostering the synergies between historic preservation and transit planning. These recommendations, organized around opportunities for collaborative governance structures and processes, seek to improve the usability and enjoyment of public transit system and historic sites to create memorable, legible, and accessible cities for the long-term.