Compact Urban Environment Research Articles

Daily life activities of young adults with obesity living in highly accessible and compact urban environments in Seoul, South Korea: a spatiotemporal qualitative study protocol

IntroductionAmid the growing global concern about obesity, young adults in South Korea are particularly affected, with 30.8% of people aged 19–34 classified as obese. Given the urban-centric lifestyle of Korean...

Public risk perception of covid-19 transmission and support for compact development

In the last few decades, there has been a definitive shift in public support for compact development – characterized by high densities, more multifamily residential use, and effective public transit. The allure of compact development is because, along with sustainability benefits, it offers multiple lifestyle benefits, such as more significant opportunities for socialization and easy access to amenities. Greater possibilities of frequent and longer interpersonal interactions attract residents to such communities. However, given the recent pandemic, it is logical to be concerned about how future public support for compact development may change. This study analyzes data from a national online survey (n = 1100) conducted in the United States toward the end of the COVID-19 pandemic (April 2022). This research aims to assess the relationship between perceived concern for COVID-19 transmission and public support for compact development. The results from SEM analysis suggest that people more concerned about COVID-19 transmission are less supportive of compact development policies. People from areas with higher density and more COVID-19 cases are likely to have greater concern for COVID-19 transmission, which may decrease support for compact development in these areas (mediated relationship). Individuals who rely on news, online media, friends or family for COVID-19 information and single-family residents are also less likely to support compact development. In contrast, while older adults are likely to have higher concern for COVID-19 transmission, they are likely to support compact development. Higher-income households are less likely to be concerned about COVID-19 transmission but are more supportive of compact development. These findings suggest that the perceived threat of disease transmission will likely result in decreased public support for compact development. To ensure continued public support, urban policymakers must allay public fear of virus transmission in compact built environments by incorporating public health measures for controlling virus transmission in compact urban environments.

Green Infrastructure and Biophilic Urbanism as Tools for Integrating Resource Efficient and Ecological Cities

In recent decades, the concept of resource efficient cities has emerged as an urban planning paradigm that seeks to achieve sustainable urban environments. This focus is upon compact urban environments that optimise energy, water and waste systems to create cities that help solve climate change and other resource-based sustainability issues. In parallel, there has been a long-standing tradition of ecological approaches to the design of cities that can be traced from Howard, Geddes, McHarg and Lyle. Rather than resource efficiency, the ecological approach has focused upon the retention and repair of natural landscape features and the creation of green infrastructure (GI) to manage urban water, soil and plants in a more ecologically sensitive way. There is some conflict with the resource efficient cities and ecological cities paradigms, as one is pro-density, while the other is anti-density. This article focusses upon how to integrate the two paradigms through new biophilic urbanism (BU) tools that allow the integration of nature into dense urban areas, to supplement more traditional GI tools in less dense areas. We suggest that the theory of urban fabrics can aid with regard to which tools to use where, for the integration of GI and BU into different parts of the city to achieve <em>both</em> resource efficient and ecological outcomes, that optimise energy water and waste systems, <em>and</em> increase urban nature.

Understanding the relationship between neighbourhood green space and mental wellbeing: A case study of Beijing, China

The past few decades have seen increasing academic interest in the association between green space and mental health. However, the existing studies have largely been undertaken in developed countries, while less attention has been paid to rapidly urbanizing countries. Based on a 2015 survey of 701 residents in 16 typical neighbourhoods of Beijing, this study aims to partially fill this gap by investigating the complex relationship between neighbourhood green space and residents' mental health in urban China. We developed multilevel regression models to test the associations among green space, social cohesion, physical activity, and mental health. The findings reveal the positive association between green space and mental health in a high-density and compact urban environment and suggest that physical activity and social cohesion might play a mediating role in the association. The study provides an empirical evidence for the potential benefit of green space on mental health from an Asian perspective and sheds light on the ways to promote public mental health through effective urban planning and design.

Investigation into the effect of upstream obstacles and hazardous sources on dispersion in the urban environment with LES model

The release of hazardous materials originated from industrial/natural accidents or intentional attacks within a compact urban environment can be disastrous. Once released, the hazardous pollutants will be dispersed through the atmosphere instantaneously and threaten human health. This study aims at evaluating the overall effect of upstream obstacles and hazardous sources on the downstream targets through parametric investigations. A complex building morphology composed of obstacle group, target group, one main street canyon and several subsidiary street canyons is proposed. The dimensional parameters along with the sources are set as variables. An orthogonal numerical test with Large Eddy Simulation (LES) model is carried out, indicating that the source conditions play a more important role than the obstacles dimension in pollutants accumulation around targets. The flow and dispersion structures are categorized into five patterns, which are strongly relevant to the dimension parameters. Due to the upstream perturbation, the sidewalls of targets are found to be contaminated more seriously than the obstacles, while both their windward and leeward walls have a lower concentration of pollutants.

How Does the Built Environment in Compact Metropolitan Cities Affect Health? A Systematic Review of Korean Studies.

This systematic review aimed to examine the associations between health-related outcomes and the built environment (BE) characteristics of compact metropolitan cities in Korea using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) framework. Searching the three Korean academic databases and PubMed, two independent reviewers identified 27 empirical articles published between 2011 and 2016. Data extracted for review included the study characteristics, the variables and measurement methods related to the BE and health-related outcomes, and the findings on the associations between the BE characteristics and health-related outcomes. Vote counting was used to assess the consistency of associations and the direction of associations between the BE characteristics and health-related outcomes. All of the reviewed studies used cross-sectional designs. The objective BE qualities were commonly examined. The BE characteristics associated with health-related outcomes in the reviewed articles included land use, street environment, transportation infrastructure, green and open spaces, and neighborhood facilities. Street environment, transportation infrastructure, and green and open spaces had consistent positive associations with physical health. Mixed land use and neighborhood facilities, however, had inconsistent associations with physical health. Generally, insufficient findings were reported in the association between the BE characteristics and mental and social health. The accessibility of the BE in a compact urban environment was the prominent attribute related to health promotion, health challenges, and health equity. An international comparative analysis of compact cities with different urban contexts and scale is required. Interdisciplinary urban health strategies are recommended based on the associations between the BE characteristics and health-related outcomes.

Exploration of sustainable building morphologies for effective passive pollutant dispersion within compact urban environments

Air pollutants emitted within high-density urbanized areas have negative impacts on human health and quality of life and raise public concern. With the aim of creating a liveable environment and mitigating potential environmental problems, environmental scientists, architects and town planners have been working together to discover optimum building layouts and guidance principles for building morphology. These efforts have been consolidated via model simulations.Targeting an optimal design strategy, an improved SST k−ω model was first validated against wind and pollutant concentration data from a wind tunnel experiment at Tokyo Polytechnic University. The turbulence model was then applied to a variety of idealized city morphologies with different building permeabilities and building-height profiles. To confirm the findings from these idealized cases, further simulations were performed on two real conceptual cities.To facilitate pollutant dispersion within urbanized areas, at least 20% of the building permeability should be maintained, together with variations in building-height profiles. The innovative “Dragon Hole” design was also found to aid in pollutant dispersion. The study findings show that the pollutant concentration within the source canyon would be reduced by at least 40% for the idealized cases and by approximately 80% for the conceptual real case through incorporation of the abovementioned design features. Moreover, the recommendations resulting from this research are consistent with the requirements documented in the Sustainable Building Design Guidelines.

The problems and perspectives for the introduction of high-rise construction in Russian cities

The propose of academic affairs is discovery the principal areas of concern high-rise construction in Russia. Examples of modern Russian and foreign high-rise construction are considered in the work. The most important problems and their solutions for Russia are identified on their basis. The everyone area of concern is considered separately. Ecology problems and influence of high-rise construction for the healthy and psychological effect of people are considered special. High-rise constructions influence negative and positive for urban environment in Moscow and Samara cities. The experience lack, defects in requirements document, which don’t include all high-rise constructions specific, system problem of construction and often non-availability of proper control at the existing requirements document result for complexity of designing, construction and operation. At this moment, high-rise constructions temp is increasing in Moscow. Feasibility of high-rise buildings come up in regions of Russia. The reasons include high material inputs, irregularities of requirements network and utility lines and maintenance problems. The researching follow up of conclusions and recommendations for high-rise constructions development in Russia. The reasons of high-rise buildings are urbanization of people and necessary of concentration labor supply. The important tasks for organization are creating compact urban environment, decrease urban area for development, using an innovative technology for construction and properly maintenance. The balance between the preference of high-rise construction, inputs for construction and influence for ecology are resolve for this task.

Fine-Scale Spatial Variability of Pedestrian-Level Particulate Matters in Compact Urban Commercial Districts in Hong Kong.

Particulate matters (PM) at the pedestrian level significantly raises the health impacts in the compact urban environment of Hong Kong. A detailed investigation of the fine-scale spatial variation of pedestrian-level PM is necessary to assess the health risk to pedestrians in the outdoor environment. However, the collection of PM data is difficult in the compact urban environment of Hong Kong due to the limited amount of roadside monitoring stations and the complicated urban context. In this study, we measured the fine-scale spatial variability of the PM in three of the most representative commercial districts of Hong Kong using a backpack outdoor environmental measuring unit. Based on the measurement data, 13 types of geospatial interpolation methods were examined for the spatial mapping of PM2.5 and PM10 with a group of building geometrical covariates. Geostatistical modelling was adopted as the basis of spatial interpolation of the PM. The results show that the original cokriging with the exponential kernel function provides the best performance in the PM mapping. Using the fine-scale building geometrical features as covariates slightly improves the interpolation performance. The study results also imply that the fine-scale, localized pollution emission sources heavily influence pedestrian exposure to PM.

Spatial Variability of Geriatric Depression Risk in a High-Density City: A Data-Driven Socio-Environmental Vulnerability Mapping Approach.

Previous studies found a relationship between geriatric depression and social deprivation. However, most studies did not include environmental factors in the statistical models, introducing a bias to estimate geriatric depression risk because the urban environment was found to have significant associations with mental health. We developed a cross-sectional study with a binomial logistic regression to examine the geriatric depression risk of a high-density city based on five social vulnerability factors and four environmental measures. We constructed a socio-environmental vulnerability index by including the significant variables to map the geriatric depression risk in Hong Kong, a high-density city characterized by compact urban environment and high-rise buildings. Crude and adjusted odds ratios (ORs) of the variables were significantly different, indicating that both social and environmental variables should be included as confounding factors. For the comprehensive model controlled by all confounding factors, older adults who were of lower education had the highest geriatric depression risks (OR: 1.60 (1.21, 2.12)). Higher percentage of residential area and greater variation in building height within the neighborhood also contributed to geriatric depression risk in Hong Kong, while average building height had negative association with geriatric depression risk. In addition, the socio-environmental vulnerability index showed that higher scores were associated with higher geriatric depression risk at neighborhood scale. The results of mapping and cross-section model suggested that geriatric depression risk was associated with a compact living environment with low socio-economic conditions in historical urban areas in Hong Kong. In conclusion, our study found a significant difference in geriatric depression risk between unadjusted and adjusted models, suggesting the importance of including environmental factors in estimating geriatric depression risk. We also developed a framework to map geriatric depression risk across a city, which can be used for identifying neighborhoods with higher risk for public health surveillance and sustainable urban planning.

The Development of Urban Areas and Spaces with the Mixed Functional Use

The article examines the principle of a mixed-use urban areas. It analyzes the historical development of multifunctional areas and considers the historical development of multifunctional areas. The article gives the definition of mixed use areas and reviews the main studies relating to mixed use areas, and creation of a comfortable urban environment. It discusses the principle of the compact urban environment. The enumerated effects occur when the compactness of the urban environment is reached. It raises the issue of the principle of a mixed-use urban development in the modern Russian practice and the possibility of applying this principle for the development of a new master plan of Kazan. It also consider new areas of a mixed land use designed for the city of Kazan.

Cooling the Heat Island in Compact Urban Environments: The Effectiveness of Chicago's Green Alley Program

To build 21st century sustainable cities, officials are installing alternative infrastructure technologies to reduce atmospheric environmental problems such as the urban heat island (UHI). The purpose of this study is to further our understanding of how ground-level UHI mitigation strategies in compact urban areas impact air temperatures. The term ‘cool pavement’ refers to both reflective and porous pavements. While cool pavements are identified as UHI mitigation strategies, we evaluated their in-situ effectiveness on air and surface temperatures. Using a case-control research design, we measured the impact of these pavements on air temperature relative to conventional asphalt in alleys. In locations where high vertical walls constrained the release of solar radiation, reflective pavements increased air temperatures. In two neighborhoods, reflective concrete increased daytime 3-meter air temperatures by 0.9° C and 0.5° C respectively and had no influence on nighttime temperatures. Unlike reflective pavement, porous pavements permit percolation and may contribute to cooling through evaporation. However, our research illustrated that porous asphalt and porous concrete increased maximum daytime air temperatures by 0.8° C and 0.5° C and did not lower nighttime air temperatures. While porous concrete pavers had significantly warmer midday air temperatures, it was the only cool pavement strategy to yield lower early evening air temperatures relative to conventional asphalt. Even immediately after rain events, the air temperatures above the porous pavements were not significantly cooler. This research demonstrates our need to evaluate real world installations of cool pavement to determine their actual impact on decreasing summertime temperatures.

A tool-kit for lighting environment post-occupancy evaluation: Case study in a LEED Gold office

This paper presents a post-occupancy study of the lighting environment in a green office. A multiple-tool methodology was developed and tested, which included occupant surveys, interviews, illuminance measurements, sky view analyses by a fisheye-lens camera, examinations of the lighting control scheme, and user behaviour observations. Occupants reported an overall satisfied rating of the lighting environment. The dissatisfaction sources identified were reflected glare from other buildings and lack of individual lighting control. Two design suggestions were generated to inform lighting environmental design. First, effective glare control systems like shadings and thick blinds should be considered in daylighting design in a compact urban environment; secondly, individual task lights should be adopted to increase occupants’ comfort by enabling them to adjust the workspace to their individual needs. In sum, the tool-kit is proved to be able to identify satisfaction levels and dissatisfaction sources.

Space and scale: A study of development intensity and housing price in Hong Kong

Sustainable urbanization requires an intensive use of land for housing development to accommodate a fast-growing urban population. Large housing estates which comprise multi-storey housing blocks and a shared use of common facilities are often built to meet the housing needs. This study examines the relationship between development intensity of housing estate and housing price in the compact urban environment of Hong Kong. It posits that in addition to the internal flat size, the development intensity of housing estate can separately influence the value of individual housing unit. Housing development intensity in this study is theorized to involve both “spaciousness” and “scale” of the housing estate. The hypotheses are tested by a hedonic pricing model using 423 balanced transaction data of dwelling units from a random sample of 50 housing projects in a district of Hong Kong. The analysis has revealed that, while the buyers tend to pay more for a larger amount of internal and external housing space, there is an “ideal range” of development scale measured in terms of the total number of dwelling units in a housing estate. The policy implication to the hyper-dense cities like Hong Kong is that its urban planning and development control regulations should address the issues of development scale and neighborhood sharing of public space, rather than the level of total floor space, within a mass housing estate.

On natural ventilation and thermal comfort in compact urban environments – the Old Havana case

The Historical Centre of Old Havana in Cuba is currently undergoing a comprehensive preservation and urban recovering program. Housing units are built in existing vacant plots of the old city. The design of the new buildings should be integrated in the compact urban structure that has developed throughout the past centuries. This compact morphology, however, obstructs the breezes that are an essential component to achieve thermal comfort by passive means in warm and humid climates. New courtyard buildings should be designed in such a way that natural ventilation and thermal comfort are enhanced. Research on natural ventilation and thermal comfort in compact urban environments, however, is scarce. This paper first presents an historical overview of the typological evolution of the residential architecture in this part of the city and its relation to natural ventilation and thermal comfort. Next, it provides a partial study of the morphological characteristics of the Historical Centre. From this study, appropriate locations have been selected for field measurements and a limited comfort survey, from which a tentative summer comfort zone for residential buildings in Old Havana is suggested. Finally, based on the historical overview, the measurements and the survey, some preliminary design recommendations for residential buildings in Old Havana are provided.

An examination of residential preferences for less sustainable housing: Exploring future mobility among Dublin central city residents

The onus on the planning systems of most advanced capitalist societies to develop a more sustainable urban development pattern has resulted in an ever-increasing emphasis on policies to increase residential densities. As evident by rapidly sprawling development patterns which are now characteristic of most Western societies, individual residential preferences appear to be at variance with this policy agenda. Using quantitative and qualitative research data this paper examines the motives, behaviour and preferences of residents living in new relatively compact residential environments in the central area of Dublin city. This is a group who have made the choice to move into a relatively compact urban area and hence it will be revealing to assess the motives, preferences and future intentions of this residential population. Evidence presented in this paper would suggest that residential preferences are at variance with policy prescription emphasising the need for higher residential densities as, for example, even among those living in new compact urban environments in the central city, there is a clear aspiration for lower-density living. The preference of the majority of these residents to ultimately relocate to lower-density locations would suggest that urban planners and designers still have some way to go before they can claim to have created residential environments that meet liveability as well as sustainability criteria.