High-rise Housing Research Articles

Formation of System of Indicators for the Evaluation of Design Solutions in High-Rise Housing Construction

Описана последовательность разработки и апробации методики оценки проектов многоквартирных жилых домов на основе системы показателей. Разнообразие предложений для тех, кто планирует улучшить свои жилищные условия, сильно затрудняет выбор. Действительно, сложно остановиться на одном варианте, когда вокруг столько заманчивых альтернатив. Нами предпринята попытка разработать методику, которая позволит оценивать проектные решения на основе комплекса показателей и выбирать оптимальный вариант с точки зрения покупателя с помощью экспертного опроса. Подбор экспертной группы проводился способом взаимных рекомендаций («снежного кома»). Недостатком метода считается отсутствие гарантий в достоверности оценок. Групповая экспертная оценка может считаться объективной лишь при условии достаточной согласованности ответов экспертов. Нами выбран метод проведения исследования - индивидуальное интервью, которое проходит в виде свободной беседы и позволяет получить от респондента подробную информацию по обсуждаемой проблеме, проводится в удобное для специалиста время, позволяет исключить влияние авторитетов и подавление других мнений. По результатам экспертного опроса была составлена модель оценки, в которой характеристики проекта размещены на четырех уровнях: 1) цена и надежность застройщика; 2) характеристика квартиры; 3) характеристика дома; 4) характеристика района строительства. Каждая характеристика проекта описана несколькими показателями. На основе рангов экспертов были рассчитаны весовые коэффициенты (коэффициенты значимости) каждого показателя. Для апробации методики были взяты два проекта, похожих по объемно-планировочному решению и месту расположения. Перечень показателей по блокам, указания по расчету, весовые коэффициенты и расчет интегральных показателей представлены в табличной форме.

A Causal Analysis of the Sense of Community for High-rise Residents in Bangkok Metropolitan Area

This multidisciplinary research focuses on investigating the environmental-psychological causality of the sense of community among high-rise housing's residents. The cross-sectional survey had been conducted in six different zones of Bangkok metropolitan area by employing the multi-stage sampling technique. Correspondingly, the 1,206 participants living in eighteen residential high-rises responded to the personal and environmental psychological (PEP) questionnaire, whereas, the physical conditions of the buildings were examined and evaluated by utilizing a non-participant observation along with the physical environmental (PE) assessment. The multiple linear regression analysis was a major approach applied for analyzing and endorsing the causal effects of the independent variables on the sense of community of the respondents, which was measured in a rating-scale type. The set of independent variables were classified into five categories, namely, (a) urban and community factors, (b) architectural factors, (c) personal attributes and dwelling behavioral factors, (d) personal psychological factors, and (e) environmental-psychological factors. The predictive model identified ten determinants that significantly dominated the variance of the sense of community at the 95% confidence interval (significance level of .05). Regarding the final regression equation, it revealed that the communal character of the building, social capital and participation, mental health condition, relationship with neighbors, and privacy satisfaction were the factors that enhanced the high-rise residents' sense of community. On the contrary, population density, the defensible character of the building, the privacy-supportive character of the building, introvert personality of the residents, and the average of safety concern were the factors that negatively influence their sense of community.

Location-based measurement and visualization for interdependence network on construction sites

Appropriately assigning workers to tasks is vitally important in project management. To do this, project managers need to objectively and effectively measure and visualize the spatiotemporal orders of real construction process as well as coordination structure of the workforce. However, currently there is no method/tool available to project managers to represent spatiotemporal orders of construction processes. To address this issue, this paper presents a novel approach to measuring the real spatiotemporal order of onsite tasks as well as the task interdependence by an interdependence network. This approach extracts the distance of workspace distributions as a key interdependence indicator from historical location tracks across different construction stages according to the area-restricted nature of construction activities. It then integrates generated interdependence into a network over time, to imply the cooperation patterns in stages and a task delivery across stages with a holistic view. To validate the approach, location data were collected from 31 workers working in a high-rise housing construction project for one week to construct the interdependence network of this project, which was used to quantitatively evaluate the performance of construction schedule, assignments and cooperation. Results show that the interdependence network is able to provide insightful information on how workers perform individual tasks onsite and it is also an effective tool to identify and display the interactions among site workers.

A livability rating system of a high-rise housing and its computer simulation

Aiming at the problems in housing choosing and purchasing in the high-rise residential buildings, this paper considers the factors that affect various livable degrees and analyzes the important degrees of the factors through the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), quantifying the various factors by 10 point scoring system. Accordingly, this paper puts forward a habitable housing index, validating the correctness of the indicators by simulating the process of housing choosing through computer program.

Vitamin D deficiency awareness among African migrant women residing in high-rise public housing in Melbourne, Australia: a qualitative study.

The aims of this study were: 1) to explore the individual perceptions, experience and understandings of vitamin D deficiency (VDD) amongst African migrant women residing in high-rise public housing, 2) to identify the most useful sources of information about VDD among this population, and 3) to document the barriers and enablers to addressing VDD. The Health Belief Model was used to guide the study. Convenience sampling was used with women living in particular high-rise public housing. Five focus group discussions were conducted (n=30). Thematic analysis was used to code and categorise the data to develop a deeper, conceptual understanding of the issue. We found that participants were aware of VDD and could identify the impacts that VDD had on their health. Barriers to addressing VDD included the women's: 1) living conditions in Australia, 2) risk of skin cancer, and 3) cultural roles in the family. The most positive strategy for preventing and addressing VDD was peer information sharing. This study has highlighted the significant need for health promotion strategies to combat VDD in this population. Future health promoting public health strategies for this population should encompass community based peer education programs. This study demonstrates the critical role of qualitative inquiry in gaining a deeper understanding of VDD in a particular migrant community. It is clear that this issue requires a coordinated solution that must involve the community themselves. Health care professionals must take into consideration the multiple barriers that exist to address VDD which is a significant public health issue.

Rekindling the kampong spirit: Fostering a sense of belonging through community theatre in Singapore

Abstract When Singapore embarked on its high-rise public housing scheme post World War II, citizens often bemoaned the loss of the ‘kampong spirit’, a colloquial term describing the sense of community felt while living in villages. More than 50 years on, the kampong spirit continues to inform Singapore’s nation-building plans. This article considers a community theatre project in Singapore aimed at reigniting the kampong spirit among residents from low-income neighbourhoods. The theatre project, which relied primarily on Boal’s (1974) Theatre of the Oppressed, sought to initiate conversations within the community in order to foster greater agency among residents. Examining the work through relevant frameworks on belonging revealed how the project enabled the community to build and maintain connections beyond the immediate space of the theatre performances, thereby deepening the emotional and affective dimensions of belonging. Belonging becomes a force of agency when cultural citizenship is activated, and the community participants become agents for change.

Social Impact Assessment of Rebuilding an Urban Neighborhood: A Case Study of a Demolition and Reconstruction Project in Petah Tikva, Israel

The rebuilding of deteriorating residential areas is being replicated rapidly throughout Israeli cities despite limited assessment of the social consequences. This paper presents the findings of a social impact assessment (SIA) applied to a demolition and reconstruction case study carried out in a low-income neighborhood in Petah Tikva. The project represents a typical example of developer-led removal of low-rise, mixed tenure housing replaced by privately owned high-rise housing. A mixed-methods approach was used to explore the actual and potential social implications from different points of view held by the various public and private actors in the project. The research was based on the analysis of official documents, field observations, and semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders involved in the rebuilding process, and with affected community representatives. The case study was analyzed with regard to three components: the public engagement process, financial well-being, and community cohesion and stability. The assessment revealed insufficient public and municipal involvement, the displacement of the majority of low-income households, disregard for the provision of community infrastructure, and the weakening of community stability. The paper suggests various ways to improve the outcomes of the project for all the affected parties, and argues that incorporating the SIA mechanism in this particular form of urban renewal might improve strategic decision-making and promote urban sustainability.

Evaluación experimental y análisis de la mejora con aislamiento para el caso del puente térmico en el frente de forjado

El presente artículo plantea su problemática a partir de la necesidad del mejoramiento de la calidad térmica de la envolvente en el complejo de muros, específicamente en hormigón armado (material predominante para edificación en altura en Chile). Considerar la opción de aislación por la cara interior del muro produce, como consecuencia, la interrupción del material aislante en el encuentro del forjado y los muros perimetrales, generando el puente térmico conocido como frente de forjado. Ante esto se propone conocer el impacto de dicho puente, evaluando su comportamiento como singularidad mediante ensayos experimentales (cámara térmica). Posteriormente los resultados se integrarán a un caso de estudio que permita establecer la influencia del puente en el comportamiento energético global de una edificación a través de simulaciones térmicas con el software Tas. Finalmente se concluye una baja incidencia en las pérdidas de calor interior, tomando relevancia el comportamiento de las temperaturas superficiales.

English

This study aims to study to examine the success of the condominium housing development program. The result of the study revealed that the housing development office is constructing and distributing condominium-housing units with slower pace. Settlement in high-rise residential condominium housing saves land from encroachment and improper utilization. The open space reserved at sites of condominium is not proportional to the number of residents, and it is not used properly. Residents of condominium are satisfied with their spatial accessibility to some selected social and infrastructural service centers. At some sites, the roads leading to or passing along sites of condominium is not paved or asphalted. Of residents, those who moved to their condominium unit before the proper functioning of the installation suffered from the problem of water and electric power for four to eight months. The strength of social interaction among residents of condominium is weaker. When residents move to their condominium unit, they quit their membership of Ekub and Iddir associations, to which they were member and the livelihood activities that they were practicing at their former residence. Sound disturbance and theft crime are common social problems at sites of such settlement.   Key words: Condominium, residents, housing.

Developing Residential Social Cohesion Index for High-Rise Group Housing Complexes in India

This study aimed to develop a social cohesion index for understanding the social relation between residents in high-rise group housing complexes through a self-reported questionnaire. As a background of the study, literature on social cohesion and related literature on residents’ social relation in high-rise housing were reviewed. Later, we selected different high-rise group housings of Kolkata, a city in the eastern region of India. We conducted few focus group surveys involving the residents of those high-rises and also conducted expert opinion surveys to identify a context-specific list of statements for evaluating residential social cohesion. Finally, based on the responses of interviews from 652 residents of the identified high-rise housings from the same city, followed by confirmatory factor analyses, three factors of residential social cohesion were identified with adequate reliability and validity. This index holds huge potential to explore residential social relation in high-rise housing and carry out empirical studies, across various disciplines, in other cities in the country and outside the country of similar socio-economic and cultural context.

Review On High-Rise Housing Projects in Istanbul: Toward A Sustainable Architecture

Emerging with population growth and developing technology as a result of industrial revolution, rapid and unplanned process of urbanization has led to rapid depletion of natural resources in the physical and biological environment. In consequence of urbanization, lack of urban land and accordingly excessive rise of land prices has resulted in vertical construction. In the phases of design, construction, use and demolition, high-rise buildings, consuming much more energy than low-rise buildings, have led to significant changes in the city skyline with increasing numbers of them. In this context, the concept of sustainability matters to efficiently benefit from high-rise structures and to minimize the degree of damage to the natural environment. With the rise of vertically dense structuring in the world, high-rise buildings have become more questionable and requested the answers of how the buildings can be designed to care of human needs. Therefore, green building practices paying attention to ecological data have entered as an important parameter of vertically dense building design. Resulting from such reasons as diversifying and increasing user requirements in recent years, developing construction technologies, increasing of the density in urban centers and the rise in the land values, the number of high-rise buildings has begun to increase rapidly. Green building designs, being important input for the vertically dense housing design and its derivatives are among the images and discourses used as a marketing strategy. A significant part of construction projects in Istanbul, claims that they place emphasis on the use of natural building materials and energy efficiency to associate themselves with sustainability discourses. The developers of these projects use LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) or similar international green building certifications as a tool of presentation and promotion of the project. For many segments of society, sustainability is transformed into a perception management gathering terms, such as green technology, renewable energy and smart building. In this respect, the paper aims to evaluate the development of high-rise buildings in Istanbul on Metrocity Millennium Towers (2001), Sapphire (2006) and Varyap Meridian (2009) projects in the context of sustainability principles and practices. These projects describe three different processes and applications of sustainability. The main aim of the paper to discuss the efforts of transformation from solid structures to sustainable buildings based on various images and discourses related to high-rise building projects.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.sace.18.1.16598

Cumulative impacts of polluted urban streams on property values: A 3-D spatial hedonic model at the micro-neighborhood level

Urban streams could concurrently bring about both positive amenities accruing to the view of waterscape and negative disamenities associated with water pollution. In this paper, we focus on a specific question that has not yet been explicitly answered in the extant literature: how to estimate the cumulative impacts of urban streams (which refer to the combined impacts of amenities and disamenities of multiple sources) in high density and high-rise urban contexts. A typical residential apartment complex (comprised of a number of apartment units located in dozens of mid- to high-rise commercial apartment buildings on a contiguous land parcel) in Guangzhou, south China, is used as a case study. A detailed palette of natural amenities and environmental disamenities of two bifurcated streams are quantified via the generalized spatial two-stage least squares (GS2SLS) model. In this model, an originally constructed 3-D spatial connectivity matrix, cube contiguity, is applied to address, in a sophisticated manner, an array of endogenous, exogenous, and error interactions along both horizontal and vertical dimensions that inherently exist in the spatial context of high-rise housing markets. Our results from spatial hedonic models at the micro-neighborhood level demonstrate that homebuyers tend to evaluate urban streams’ chemical, physical, and ecological features holistically. A cumulative impact is also found, as homebuyers would like to pay an extra premium for an apartment located farther away from both polluted streams. This study advances the extant literature by contributing to a novel and effective extension of the conventional two-dimensional spatial matrix which can capture the long-ignored spatial correlation existing amongst apartment units located on contiguous floors, as well as a robust estimation of the demand of urban natural and environmental amenities in the gradually rising mid- and high-rise housing market in both developing and developed countries.

Energy efficiency evaluation for the water supply systems in tall buildings

High-rise housing, a trend in densely populated cities around the world, increases energy use for water supply and corresponding greenhouse gas emissions. With emphasis on improving the energy efficiency in the water supply systems, this paper proposes an energy efficiency evaluation measure for the water supply system designs and demonstrates its potential applications in a typical high-rise water supply system. In the proposed measure, the energy efficiency in a water supply system is defined as the potential energy required at the demand locations divided by the pumping energy of the supply system. The outcome of this paper provides useful benchmark references not only for the water supply system designs but also for the water demand management programmes in buildings. Practical application: An energy efficiency evaluation measure for the water supply system designs is used to establish benchmark references for not only the water supply system designs but also for the water demand management programmes in buildings.

Diffusion of a systemic innovation

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify factors that influence the diffusion of a systemic innovation in the Swedish construction sector. The focus is on high-rise multi-storey timber housing; the development of which was enabled by a change in building regulations. This allowed building higher than two stories in timber.Design/methodology/approachA longitudinal case study was used with multiple data collection methods to study the development and diffusion of a multi-storey timber house system by a case study organisation.FindingsThe findings contribute to understanding for a number of interacting factors influencing the diffusion of a systemic innovation related to the case study organisation.Originality/valueThe research provides a holistic view of interacting factors influencing the diffusion of a systemic innovation. The results have value to the Swedish construction sector and to the global community of construction researchers, as it provides empirical findings that further increase the understanding for diffusion of systemic innovations in a specific context.

Intergenerational Space

Book Reviews 187 Intergenerational Space Robert M. Vanderbeck and Nancy Worth, Editors (2015) London: Routledge, 342 pages $171.00 (hardback); ISBN 978-0-415-85531 Quoting the introduction of Intergenerational Space, this book aims to offer insight into the transforming relationships between younger and older members of society (p. 0). The book reveals how different generations negotiate access to each other’s lives, the tendencies toward increasing age segregation, and the ways that members of different age groups could be encouraged to keep in touch. The majority of contributions to the book come from the UK, with chapters from the US, Africa and Asia. No less than 35 authors are engaged in this volume. The collection originates from the conference Intergenerational Geographies: Spaces, Identities, Relationships Encounters at the University of Leeds (UK) in May 2012. In their introduction, the editors explain the urgency of the book. They refer to a widespread discussion on the “clashing’’ of the older and the younger generation. Worries about the lack of intergenerational solidarity are mentioned in reference to issues like social welfare, climate change and the housing market. In Geography, research thus far has mainly been focused on specific age groups, with the field of children’s geographies likely the most advanced. In addition, the number of studies on the elderly has increased. According to the editors, this “bookend” focus makes adulthood as a position and life stage somewhat underconceptualized , and more importantly the interrelationships between different age groups have been only marginally explored. Most of the geographical literature does not combine an interest in both the young and the old. This volume is meant to change that situation. The first of the book’s five sections starts with a focus on intergenerational spaces. How are intergenerational spaces experienced by both young and old, what problems occur, and how can these spaces be better designed? One of the empirical examples comes from a high-rise public housing estate in Singapore where shared venues for children and older people were built that stimulated new encounters between children and their grandparents. The second section treats intergenerational relationships through the lens of memories. Adults’ memories contain many examples of intergenerational contacts when they were young, but also of “missed” chances and barriers to meet people from another generation. Part three considers the negotiation of values and beliefs between different generations. This is, of course, daily practice in families, where parents and children are in a constant process of redefining each other’s positions. When children grow older they often “accuse” adults of “living in different times,” which can create some level of misunderstanding and prejudice. One of the book’s chapters concludes that it can be helpful to start dialogues between generations as this often reduces mutual prejudgments. Section four focuses on issues around education and care. These are domains in life where different generations meet and where the younger generations are frequently confronted with asymmetrical power relations. In their Book Reviews 188 position as adults, caretakers and educators are typically the ones who determine what has to be done by the youngest generation. However, it is also increasingly the case that younger people are taking care of their parents and other older members of society, which is accompanied by shifting power relations between age groups. The last section of this volume focuses on the world-wide process of aging. Elderly people are growing in numbers in many countries, which is challenging people to create better environments for the elderly. Like children, however, the elderly are often defined as out of place. They feel vulnerable in a world that places the greatest value on “being young.” The chapters in this last section reveal diverse solutions to the marginalization of aged people in today’s society from technology to housing. The book by Vanderbeck and Worth shows that it can be valuable to connect different age groups both in research and policies. It is empirically rich and offers some interesting theoretical concepts. It opens the reader’s eyes to the benefits of an intergenerational approach in urban planning. Building a child-friendly city can be very favorable for many older people as well as the other way around...

A STUDY ON THE CHANGE OF HOUSING RECOVERY OPINIONS BASED ON PUBLIC HOUSING REGISTRATION DATA

In the reconstruction from the Great East Japan Earthquake, some of the damaged areas were prohibited to live in due to large damage from tsunami. Therefore it was difficult for victims to decide the way of housing reconstruction as soon as disaster occured. Each local government decided to provide several direct supports for victims: prepare the sites for group relocation on high ground, and build the public housing. On this occasion, government had to know needs of victims so that they can determine number of public housing they build. The grasp of the housing demands of victims was important as a basic data source, however, the data can be flexible and difficult to settle while victims can't judge if they are able to reconstruct on their pre-disaster living sites or not, in this early stage of recovery. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to clarify the constitution of the housing demands of the victims, who finally selected to live in the public housing after the disaster, using statistical analysis of questionnaire for victims and their re-registration data for public housing. As a result, in around two years between the needs assessment of household's housing reconstruction plan and re-registration for moving in public housing, about 40 % of applicants changed their selection from the public housing to other options. The shift is related to the life style before the disaster and the living place after the disaster. Some applicants changed their choice from the new central area near a large shopping center to the district they lived before the disaster. It was related to two factors: the condition of pre-disaster living sites, wheather they are outside of uninhabitable zone; and the place of temporary living, wheather they could continue living in the pre-disaster living area during temporary living. Many households who selected to live in the public housing in seaside area lived there before the disaster. And in seaside areas, there's relationship between housing type and household type: young households selected detached houses and terrace houses, various type of households selected medium-height housing, and eldery households selected low-rise housing. In the historical central area of the city, on the other hand, various type of households selected low-rise housing and single-eldery households selected high-rise housing. In conclusion, first, to determine the number of houses for government to build in the planning phase, it is necessary to consider life-style and ability of self-reconstruction, not only simply referring the result of needs of the victims without details. Second, because some victims finally selected to resettle in their pre-disaster living area, it seems possible to strategically recreate the damaged area by deploying public housing considering the future land use. Third, various plans of housing, e.g., housing for elderly, housing for living with pets, were proposed, but it also caused aggregation of socially similar families in some cases. The method of planning for the social mix is necessary. Otherwise, self-government with only elderlies can be collapsed sooner or later.

Istanbul: The Characteristics of Vertical Dense Structuring and Image Making in High-Rise Housing Architecture

Istanbul: The Characteristics of Vertical Dense Structuring and Image Making in High-Rise Housing Architecture

Does walkability undermine neighbourhood safety?

ABSTRACTWhile the public health and environmental benefits of walkable neighbourhoods have been widely studied, the safety effect of walkability is still unclear. Using a three-year crime incident dataset in the City of Portland, Oregon, this study tests the link between walkability and neighbourhood safety. It finds that after controlling for many other variables, walkability is significantly and positively associated with burglary rates, but its effect on robbery rates is not statistically significant. Everything else equal, residents in the bottom 25% of Portland neighbourhoods with the lowest levels of street walkability are safer from burglary than those in other neighbourhoods. However, once street walkability reaches a medium-low level, the association between street walkability and burglary incidence turns statistically insignificant. After controlling for walkability and other variables, compact neighbourhoods tend to have lower burglary and robbery rates. Neighbourhoods with more retail space, restaurants and public transit service are associated with higher robbery rates. While previous studies show that public housing, particularly high-rise public housing projects, are associated with high crime rates, this study does not find any significant effects of them on burglary and robbery rates, after controlling for other variables.

Lease it or lose it? The implications of New York’s Land Lease Initiative for public housing preservation

Urban scholars frequently call for equitable and inclusive growth to create more just cities but this vision has proven elusive in urban development – especially involving low-income communities and affordable housing. In 2013, the New York City Housing Authority proposed to leverage private development to benefit low-income residents by supporting market-rate residential construction on open space in public housing sites to pay for needed improvements to subsidised units. The Land Lease Initiative was a seemingly win-win plan but quickly faced backlash from multiple quarters. Using interviews with key housing authority officials and analysis of plan documents and media coverage, we show how the content and framing of the plan stoked fears of displacement, despite stated intentions. Our analysis reveals that criticism overlooked four unconventional ideas for preserving public housing, which are embedded in the plan: (1) retaining all public housing units and high-rise public housing towers on site, as opposed to demolishing them; (2) deconcentrating poverty by increasing residential density, instead of displacing poor residents; (3) adding affordable housing units to the site of low-income public housing; and (4) creating mixed-income communities around buildings, in addition to within them. The findings suggest that the future of affordable housing in the neoliberal era involves blurring the line between preservation and privatisation.

Mass housing in Lisbon: sometimes it works

Unlike some European countries, high-rise housing estates have been quite neglected within the Portuguese research agenda. This is partially explained by one of its main national specificities: as many of these estates were developed by the private sector, their major target was the broad spectrum of the middle classes. Therefore, it was not identified as a research priority in the same way as social or illegal housing. Nevertheless, as an emblematic housing type of Lisbon’s suburbanisation that boomed in the (1974) Revolution period, its longitudinal study is an important tool to further knowledge of the social and urban history of contemporary Portugal. This article explores high-rise housing in Portugal (the context of its appearance, development and specificities) through the study of a paradigmatic case: Portela in the north periphery of Lisbon. This case is a contrast with the most visible trajectory of high-rise estates, marked by decay and embraced by stigma: therefore the article also focuses on analysing the factors, dynamics and indicators of its positive trajectory. Here, the analysis explores the context in which the estate developed, the social profile of its inhabitants, their perceptions of it and their daily-life practices by means of both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies.