Residual San Francisco: Evaluating Identity and Creating Distinction for Bayview's PDR Districts

Abstract

This thesis explores rising inequality and the series of decisions leading up to San Francisco's intensifying social, economic, and digital divide. The decline of Production, Distribution, and Repair (PDR) land allocation reflect a shift in the city's values and serves as a framework to better understand the consequential effects of its conversion in proposed economic development plans. PDR is an overlooked employment sector with ambiguous definitions and perceived flaws that led to misunderstandings of its appraisal, particularly in a region predominated by an increasingly influential tech industry. Creating a data inventory is necessary to form digital representations that enable discussions about the challenges and opportunities facing Bayview's remaining PDR Districts. Recent advances in production and manufacturing management systems linked to middle-income wages are poised to challenge institutional arrangements regarding the perceptions of industrial activity within an urban context. Conceptual massing studies showing variations in density, form, and configuration further describe sets of distinctive characteristics as an adaptive visual strategy intended to evolve and advance PDR's position in writing San Francisco's future.