Quality Of Residential Environment Research Articles

Extraction of Ningxia Region New Rural Living Environment to Repair again

The merits of the rural human settlements environment is an important symbol of measuring the quality of peasants' living. Farmers begin to pay close attention to the quality of the rural residential environment, such as safety, comfort, convenience and a sense of belonging. This study with the Ningxia new rural as research object, from the living conditions, the new village construction situation, the living environment satisfaction in the process of optimization problems, explored the causes of problems of the rural residential environment, for the next phase of the new sformation to provide reference and help.

Comprehensive Promotion Measures of Urban Residence Acoustic Environment Quality

As the urban rapid development and the continuous improvement of people's living standard, residents put forward higher request for sound environment quality of residential building. By analyzing the main factors influencing the urban residence acoustic environment, in view of site selection planning, architectural design, structural measures and other appropriate measures, reasonable noise control measures are put forward to improve urban residential environment quality and provide residents with a quiet sound living environment.

거주성지표에 따른 아파트와 오피스텔 거주자의 거주후 평가 비교연구

Recently, in Korea, single- or two-person households (50.5%) are becoming the primary family type due to increasing divorce rates, population aging, personal code of values and so on. Hence, small families will lead to a sudden increase of single- or two-person households. People searching for small houses are increasing because of the provision of officetels, one room and urban-life housing as well as economic recession. However, this has led to habitability problems, such as parking, storage space and decline in safety. In this study, we obtain the proper contents from LQI indicators of advanced research and use the indicators to evaluate the residential environment quality. We conduct a post-occupancy-evaluation (POE) survey and compare the habitability satisfaction level of apartment and officetel residents. According to the survey, officetel residents' satisfaction levels are low for the following factors in the order listed: ventilation, storage space, management expenses and facilities for children and the elderly.

공동주택규모와 옥내외 물리적 주거환경만족도의 상관관계 연구

The purpose of this research was to analyze the correlation of residential satisfaction and the size of housing unit in apartment housing through the case study of 1,619 samples of 36 housing estates. The contents of this research consisted of two main parts. The first part was to identify the differences of residential satisfaction of dwellers, based on the size of housing unit, in apartment housing. The second part was to analyze the characteristics of residential environment, which might have an influence on the differences of residential satisfaction. the findings of this study were that the residential satisfaction of dwellers was proportional to the size of housing unit except <TEX>$39m^2$</TEX> under housing unit, and the size of housing unit was not proportional to the residential satisfaction of outdoor openness exactly, but the size of housing unit was proportional to increase of the distance between building and building, and decrease of the building surface coverage ratio to outdoor area. This research will contribute to the establishment of the site planning methods which increase residential satisfaction in apartment housing, while promoting the quality of residential environment in Korea.

Towards contextually sensitive urban densification: Location-based softGIS knowledge revealing perceived residential environmental quality

Urban consolidation projects aiming to support a more sustainable urban form are among the most controversial issues in urban planning. Although planning professionals have reached a rather consistent consensus on the structural characteristics of sustainable urban form, i.e. urban consolidation or densification policy, these goals are often not shared by inhabitants. The resistance by local residents towards densification is based on the fear of losing the environmental qualities that they appreciate without getting added value. We argue that a planning strategy that is sensitive to the local context and respects the inhabitants’ place experiences can help in finding unique solutions and in restraining conflicts. To realize the context sensitive strategy, new kind of location-based information from residents is needed: experiential knowledge that is tightly anchored to specific places. In this study, 3119 respondents from the Helsinki metropolitan area participated in a Web-based survey that helped define the quality factors meaningful to inhabitants. The softGIS method used is an example of public participation GIS that allows the study of inhabitants’ location-based experiences. The over 10,000 place experiences gathered were analysed in relation to the home locations of respondents and to the number of urban structural characteristics, including urban density, green structure proportion, and land-use patterns. The findings revealed that although green structure was experientially very valuable, densely built areas were also meaningful for inhabitants, especially in regard to social quality. We conclude that the ‘soft’, experiential information can be a welcome addition to the other layers of information in evidence-based planning.

AUSTRALIAN PLANNER DECEMBER 2007

Urban regeneration is increasingly used by Australian governments as a means of physically upgrading ageing public dwelling stock, but little is known about the social implications of regeneration projects. For public tenants involuntarily relocated for urban regeneration, relocation risks added stress and disruption for an already disadvantaged population. However, it also has the potential to improve residential satisfaction. Moving may provide an opportunity to improve the quality of housing in terms of room size, space and other physical characteristics, the opportunity to live in a better or safer neighbourhood, access to better services and a broadening of social networks. This paper reports on the findings of a research project investigating the comparative influences - quality of housing, residential environment, and social networks - on residential satisfaction after relocation. Tenants were interviewed before and after relocation from Ferryden Park in South Australia as part of The Parks Urban Regeneration Project, to date Australia's largest regeneration project. The study found that in determining the self perceived success of relocation, at least for this group of tenants, the quality of the post relocation housing was the most important factor. The implication for planners is that although familial and friendship networks are still important, the quality of post relocation housing is likely to have a greater influence on whether or not tenants are satisfied with moving as part of urban regeneration projects.

Call for Humanity - Reflection on Landscape Design of Urban Residence Public Space

Environmental landscape in a residential area plays an increasingly important role. With about two-thirds of the time spent in residence community for city dwellers, residential environment and landscape quality have direct impacts on their psychological, physical and spiritual life. Artistic characteristics from creative design in some public spaces,like walking trails and plazas, where there are a lot of human activities, can give a comfortable, cozy home feeling.

高齢者居住施設居室の「もの環境」とその印象

Along with continued graying of society, we have seen growing interest in residential facilities for the elderly and how these facilities can be upgraded and improved from a design standpoint. The purpose of this study is to gain insight into how the quality of life can be supported by enhancing and improving the physical design of the rooms in which they reside. Because many elderly tenants are vulnerable and frail, they predictably find it hard to evaluate their own living environments. This led us to consider the possibility of assessing the quality of residential environments in a way that does not rely on subjective feedback of residents themselves. This can be done by determining whether a room satisfies a certain comfort level for the occupant based on the appearance of the room. We conducted impressionistic assessment trials by objective third-party observers of rooms actually occupied in residential facilities by elderly tenants. Next, we inventoried the number and variety of the furnishings and objects in rooms that serve as an index of a comfortable everyday life of the residents, and compared these findings with the results of the impressionistic assessment trials. The results suggest that it is indeed possible to predict to a degree what furnishing and objects have the greatest effect in creating a well-designed environment and should be incorporated in rooms to house the elderly.

SOCIAL INEQUALITIES IN CHILDREN’S ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY: THE IMPACT OF INDIVIDUAL SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS AND FACTORS OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD SOCIOECONOMIC CONTEXT

Background: Social disparities in housing conditions and environmental exposures have increasingly been recognized as major contributing factor for health inequalities. Aim: To simultaneously assess the impact of individual and neighbourhood socioeconomic factors on children’s environmental quality. Methods: Data on perceived exposures to air pollution and noise, impairment due to lack of access to green space, and socioeconomic position were collected by self-administered questionnaires during three consecutive cross-sectional surveys 2004-2007 in the city of Munich, Germany. In total, the study population comprised 3700 children aged 5-6 years living in 19 school districts. Data on neighbourhood socioeconomic factors of the resident population of these school districts were obtained from Munich’s statistical office. Adverse environmental quality was defined as parental report of at least 2 out of the 3 items moderate to very strong impairment due to air pollution, noise, or lack of access to green space in the residential environment. Multilevel analysis was applied to analyse the association of individual (level 1) and neighbourhood socioeconomic factors (level 2) with adverse environmental quality. Results: Bivariate analyses yielded significant relations between individual indicators of low socioeconomic position (parental unemployment, low household income, low parental education, single-parent family, foreign nationality) as well as contextual socioeconomic characteristics of socially disadvantaged residents (high percentage of low-income households, low education) and adverse environmental quality. In multilevel analyses, among the individual indicators only household income was associated with children’s adverse environmental quality (low income: OR 1.71, 95% CI 1.23-2.39). Even controlled for the individual characteristics high percentages of low income households in the neighbourhood (OR 2.50, 95% CI 1.24-5.05) and of single parent families (OR 0.39, 95% CI 0.19-0.78) were related to adverse environmental quality. Conclusions: Parent’s perceived adverse residential environmental quality of children is associated with small-area socioeconomic characteristics of the residential population independently of individual socioeconomic position.

Assessing allergenic fungi in house dust by floor wipe sampling and quantitative PCR.

In the present study, we modified an existing surface wipe sampling method for lead and other heavy metals to create a protocol to collect fungi in floor dust followed by real‐time quantitative PCR (qPCR)‐based detection. We desired minimal inconvenience for participants in residential indoor environmental quality and health studies. Accuracy, precision, and method detection limits (MDLs) were investigated. Overall, MDLs ranged from 0.6 to 25 cell/cm2 on sampled floors. Overall measurement precisions expressed as the coefficient of variation because of sample processing and qPCR ranged 6–63%. Median and maximum fungal concentrations in house dust in study homes in Visalia, Tulare County, California, were 110 and 2500 cell/cm2, respectively, with universal fungal primers (allergenic and nonallergenic species). The field study indicated samplings in multiple seasons were necessary to characterize representative whole‐year fungal concentrations in residential microenvironments. This was because significant temporal variations were observed within study homes. Combined field and laboratory results suggested this modified new wipe sampling method, in conjunction with growth‐independent qPCR, shows potential to improve human exposure and health studies for fungal pathogens and allergens in dust in homes of susceptible, vulnerable population subgroups.Practical ImplicationsFungi are ubiquitous in indoor and outdoor environments, and many fungi are known to cause allergic reactions and exacerbate asthma attacks. This study established—by modifying an existing—a wipe sampling method to collect fungi in floor dust followed by real‐time quantitative PCR (qPCR)‐based detection methodologies. Results from this combined laboratory and field assessment suggested the methodology’s potential to inform larger human exposure studies for fungal pathogens and allergens in house dust as well as epidemiologic studies of children with asthma and older adults with chronic respiratory diseases.

거주성능관리시스템(RPMS)을 이용한 주거지 지속가능성 평가모형 연구

주거지에서의 지속가능성은 어메니티, 거주성, 건강 등의 주제와 밀접한 관련이 있으며, 지속가능성의 개념은 도시성장관리, 도시재생, 뉴 어바니즘, 압축개발, 스마트성장, 질좋은 주거환경의 개념과 상통하는 개념으로 사용되고 있다. 거주성능관리시스템(RPMS)은 다양한 도시성능을 판단하고 평가할 수 있는 시스템으로, 도시관련 계획가나 관리자의 측면에서도 활용할 수 있다. 본 연구는 서울시정개발연구원에서 개발한 거주환경의 질 지표를 주거지의 지속가능성 지표로하여 RPMS를 이용한 평가가능성을 과 적용방안을 모형으로 제시하였다. The concept of sustainability in residential area is closely related to the notion of amenity, livability, health and interchangeably used with the terms of urban growth management, urban regeneration, new urbanism, urban village movement, compact development, smart growth and the quality of residential environment. Residential Performance Management System (RPMS This system is developed granted by 'Korea Institute of Construction & Transportation Technology Evaluation and Planning' (KICTEP) during 2005-2008.)is a kind of decision making supportive program developed for the evaluation and assessment of various urban performances. It can be utilized for various purposes by many of urban related expert like planner, manager, etc. This study investigate the schematic model for the applying the indicators of quality of residential environment developed by SDI (Seoul Development Institute) using RPMS.

Existing zoning analysis for eco-community using structural equation model

Eco-community is an important vision of urban development in Taiwan. Nevertheless, urban development of Taiwan depends on zoning control that area become. For the sustainable urban environment, it should have review the relationship with eco-community indicators and zoning control factors, and understand the affection of each other. This research takes the method of structural equation model (SEM) to clarify the relationship with each other, which based on the actual development of residential blocks to analyze the current situation in Taipei city. According to the SEM model, “zoning” and “green infrastructure” factors is a positive value 0.17, “eco-environment” is negative correlation with “zoning” on -0.97, and “green infrastructure” and “eco-environment” factors also are negative effect generated -0.12. The result of this research wishes to improve residential environmental quality.

Numerical Investigation of Indoor CO2 Concentration Distribution in an Apartment

In a residential kitchen, a number of pollutants are generated due to cooking and are released into the ambient air; these can significantly affect the indoor air quality of residential environment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the indoor environmental conditions via the velocity field, temperature field and CO2 concentration distribution during cooking in a kitchen in a typical Korean apartment. Numerical simulations were conducted using the computational fluid dynamics software FLUENT 6.3 for solving the continuity, momentum, energy and concentration equations in an unsteady state with the standard k—ε turbulence model. The parameters used for the simulations included: (1) the extraction flow rate of the range hood (0, 500, 750 and 1000 m3·h-1) and (2) the angle between the inlet airflow and the ceiling (90°, 45° and 22.5°). The findings illustrated that the temperature and CO2 concentration distribution could be greatly influenced by the extraction flow rate of the range hood. Also, by reducing the angle between the airflow and ceiling, the area-averaged temperature could be reduced in the breathing plane of the kitchen. The findings of this research could contribute to the reduction of energy consumption and the adverse effects caused by cooking.

주거지역 종세분화에 따른 주거환경 개선에 관한 연구 - 바람길을 중심으로 -

Various environmental problems due to rapid industrialization and urbanization have worsened to such an extent that they threaten the environmental restitution of the globe and become a critical international issue. Korean government has presented the concept of green growth as a new state vision for the next 60 years and is making efforts to solve these environmental problems. Daegu Metropolitan City has faced various environmental problems including overpopulation of the city, traffic pollution, household waste accumulation and the green zone problem because of the increase of urbanization over the last few decades. As such urbanization continues, the quality of residential environments is rapidly deteriorating and the intensive use of the land leads to an increase of building area, raising the temperatures of cities. There have therefore been demands for healthy, pleasant and satisfying residential environments and for the improvement of existing residential environments, and this demand has been fully recognized by society. Nevertheless, current residential complex developments concentrate only on raising the efficiency of land use. In related laws of the past (Daegu Metropolitan City, Urban Planning Municipal Ordinance as of October 10, 2003) an attempt was made to impose a standard to segmentalize the building-to-land ratio, floor area ratio and regulations of number of floors vertically. However, these laws have now been abolished and the regulations are being eased. The purpose of this study was to analyze the characteristics of the floating wind before and after the vertical segmentation of residential areas (Daegu Metropolitan City, Urban Planning Municipal Ordinance as of October 10, 2003) by using KLAM_21, a model that enables analysis and prediction of the flow and generation of cold wind. The purpose is also to present a plan to improve the quality of residential areas when developing a building lot and redeveloping housing areas.

Effects of User-initiated Extensions in Government-built Housing on the Urban Space: The Case of the Rambam Neighbourhood in Tirat Carmel, Israel

This paper considers the impact of user-initiated housing extensions on the use, function and appearance of the urban space. Interested in the urban tissue, rather than in single buildings, the paper, based on post-factum evaluation, examines the communal effect of user-initiated extensions, rather than the individual benefits to the household. It seeks to understand the dichotomy between the freedom of owners to transform their dwellings and the negative impact such freedom might have on the quality of the immediate residential environment and on the public domain. The findings indicate that had the residents understood the implications of their actions they would have readily chosen the more burdensome route of design control. This suggests the need to pre-plan and coordinate housing extensions to moderate the negative effects of individual extensions on the public space. Toward this, it is important to include residents in planning processes by involving them in decision-making, informing them about opportunities and drawbacks, while assessing their potential to absorb change.

Cross-Validation of Abbreviated Perceived Residential Environment Quality (PREQ) and Neighborhood Attachment (NA) Indicators

This article presents the validation by confirmatory factor analysis of abbreviated versions of instruments focusing on the neighborhood residential level, perceived residential environment quality indicators (PREQIs), and neighborhood attachment (NA). A sample of 1,488 residents in various neighborhoods of 11 Italian middle- and low-population cities filled in a questionnaire including 12 scales ( N = 158), 11 PREQ scales, and 1 NA scale. The sample was randomly split-half in a calibration sample and a validation sample. Results showed good fit indexes for factorial structures including overall 19 PREQIs and 1 NA indicators, each one composed of three or four items ( N = 66). Despite the high reduction of items, the shortened PREQIs and NA yield good or at least acceptable internal consistency, and fulfill convergent and discriminant construct validity criteria. Hence, they are well suited for use in research designs focusing on multiple measures of environmental quality of residential places.

Evaluative structure of perceived residential environment quality in high-density and mixed-use urban settings: An exploratory study on Taipei City

The objective of this study is to identify the internal evaluative structure with which Taipei City's residents assess the quality of their residential environment in high-density and mixed-use settings. 16 residents were first interviewed and content analysis performed on interview typescripts to identify 45 key concepts of perceived residential environment quality. A questionnaire consisting of 45 corresponding items was further developed and the questionnaire survey administered to 240 residents randomly selected from 80 residential buildings in residential–commercial mixed-use zones. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was then conducted on the collected data sets to extract the major scales and factors of residents’ evaluative structure. The PCA result reveals a multidimensional evaluative structure of residential environment quality perceived by Taipei City's residents, which consists of six evaluation scales (i.e. Urban Planning and Design, Security and Social Relationship, Transportation and Commercial Services, Residential Atmosphere, Environmental Health, and Facility Management) with eleven underlying factors. Comparative analysis of this study and previous empirical studies shows that the evaluative structure of Taipei City's residents is similar to those of other citizens at the ‘aspect’ level, consisting of spatial, human, functional, and contextual aspects; however, the evaluative structure is rather different in ‘scales or factors’ such as ground floor access, mutual help, transportation and commercial services, sense of insecurity and pressure, possibly attributable to Taipei City's unique high-density and mixed-use urban settings.

Relationships Between Population Density and the Perceived Quality of Neighbourhood

Two overseas survey-based scales measuring perceived quality of neighbourhood were adapted and replicated in a New Zealand context. An Italian study (Bonaiuto, Fornara, and Bonnes. (2003). Landscape and Urban Planning, 65, 41–52) measuring Perceived Residential Environmental Quality (PREQ) and an American study (Carp and Carp. (1982). Journal of Environmental Psychology, 2, 295–312) using the Perceived Environmental Quality Indices (PEQI) were applied to a sample of Auckland residents, separated into low, medium, and high population density areas. The surveys measured attitudes towards subjects such as noise, neighbours, accessibility, green areas, welfare services, recreational services, safety, maintenance, environmental health, transport services, and characteristics of an ideal neighbourhood, and were completed by 369 respondents. Primary analyses examined differences in perception across the three density groups. The factor structures of both scales were replicated with the Auckland sample, and differences across densities were found for subscales of the PREQ. The results are discussed in relation to the cross-cultural similarities of perceived environmental quality, and the concept that environmental satisfaction is based on balancing aspects of the residential environment is proposed.

Mental health and quality of residential environment

There is increasing interest in the proposition that residential environment can affect mental health. To study the degree to which common mental disorder clusters according to postcode units and households. To investigate whether contextual measures of residential environment quality and geographical accessibility are associated with symptoms of common mental disorder. A total of 1058 individuals aged 16-75 years (response rate 66%) participated in a cross-sectional survey. The 12-item General Health Questionnaire measured symptoms of common mental disorder. Only 2% (95% CI 0-6) of the unexplained variation in symptoms existed at postcode unit level, whereas 37% (95% CI 27-49) existed at household-level, but the postcode unit variation was reduced to zero after adjustments. There was little evidence to suggest that residential quality or accessibility were associated with symptoms. There was substantial unexplained variation at the household level but we could find no evidence of postcode unit variation and no association with residential environmental quality or geographical accessibility. It is likely that the psychosocial environment is more important than the physical environment in relation to common mental disorder.

Residential Environment Evaluation Model and Residential Preferences of the Changjiang Delta Region of China

Residential environment quality is one of the basic elements for quality of life, as well as the main support for activities of economy, culture and society. In this paper, the authors selected the Changjiang Delta Region of China as the study area, which is in the fastest growing region of China and having a great influence on other cities. First, questionnaire surveys focusing on residential attributes, residential satisfaction, residential preferences and residential selection factors were carried out. Then through analysis, the authors established the residential environment evaluation system and models for this area. They also found the principal components for residential selection and residential preference of citizens. The results of this research not only can give direction to the development and improvement of the residential environment of Chinese cities, but also can contribute to other similar areas in Asia.