Residential Planning Research Articles

How the establishment of community organizations can help improve newly resettled residential sites: A case study from the post-tsunami disaster in Japan

Establishing community organizations at newly resettled residential sites after a disaster is crucial because the management of the living environment and social communication are highly dependent on it, and are linked to social capital. However, depending on how people decide and choose to live, newly resettled residential sites influence the establishment of community organizations, namely, residents’ associations (RAs), in Japan. This study aims to understand these processes, including the successes and difficulties people have experienced before and after settling in their new homes. Interview surveys were conducted with residents and local government officials in charge of residential planning, community establishment, and the support division. Additionally, questionnaire surveys were conducted at three study sites. Consequently, some newly resettled sites were able to have a discussion when selecting the potential resettled sites; most people were essentially from the same original sites, were neighbors, and lived in the same temporary houses where they had already built up bonding social capital. These people established a core group and were able to coordinate with locally elected prefectural or city council members to reach out to city planners to participate in several decision-making processes for the newly resettled sites and houses, which link social capital. However, in some communities, people were gathered from different areas for many reasons, such as losing lottery selections at other sites, preferably selecting a location far away from the seashore, preferring to live with pets, and disadvantaged people who were not able to respond in a timely manner to lottery selection. In these areas, people had more difficulties establishing a new community organization because they had difficulty establishing bonds. Moreover, since this group of people is not able to participate in the decision-making stage of newly resettled sites, selection, and building-type planning, they are simply accepted as planned, which means that they lack both bonding and linking social capital. Each new settlement has different houses and residents, making it unique. Encouraging and recognizing community organization activities and the core group built up in the community must be involved from the very early stages of settlement planning. Both bonding and linking social capital are necessary for a smooth settlement plan. Since establishing RAs can help improve their living environment and plays an important role, consideration needs to be given when a new resettlement site is planned, involving a core group that knows each other to smooth the process.

Optimization of temperature prediction algorithms and simulation of future neighborhood-scale thermal environments in Chongqing

With climate change and urbanization, predicting the outdoor thermal environment of residential areas has become increasingly crucial, particularly during extreme weather conditions. Existing studies lack a comprehensive approach to optimizing temperature prediction algorithms for Chongqing and simulating extreme thermal environments at the neighborhood scale for future decades. This study employed various algorithms, including Levenberg-Marquardt optimization, Monte Carlo simulation, ARIMA modeling, and SARIMA prediction, to simulate and forecast temperature data for the central urban area of Chongqing from 2014 to 2023. By assessing metrics such as root mean square error (RMSE), R-squared (R2), and mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), the most effective prediction algorithm was identified. Results indicate that the Levenberg-Marquardt optimization algorithm, known for its nonlinear curve fitting capabilities, demonstrated superior performance in both the test and training sets, achieving an RMSE of 0.82 °C, MAPE of 1.81 %, and R2 of 0.75. This algorithm was subsequently used to forecast the outdoor temperature trend in Chongqing from 2024 to 2050, while also simulating the outdoor wind field, temperature distribution, building surface temperatures, and wind speeds in a residential district at neighborhood scale for 2030, 2040, and 2050 at a building density of 40 %. Findings reveal that peak pedestrian-level temperatures could reach 45.62 °C, and peak roof surface temperatures could reach 93.93 °C under extreme conditions. Furthermore, the study proposes practical recommendations for building layouts and cooling strategies. These findings are expected to improve residential planning in Chongqing, enhance residents' quality of life, and provide insights for other regions facing future temperature changes.

Home boundaries: a socio-spatial analysis of Cairo’s housing market. Using justified plan graph (JPG) theory

Purpose This paper aims to define the socio-spatial considerations of apartment users in Cairo, during their decision-making process. It provides a set of socio-spatial guidelines for professional architecture designers that are based on regionalist sociological theories and the evaluation of participant responses. These guidelines can also help users choose better plan configurations or make socially conscious adjustments as formal residential interiors in Egypt are not arranged based on social interaction at home or the cultural specificity of the region. On the other hand, users have little clue about choosing better plan configurations for sustainable social relationships. Moreover, the private housing sector has mostly neglected the social boundaries that traditionally shaped home interiors. This is because the designers focus on physical attributes to satisfy market demand and economic aspects. Design/methodology/approach The research reviewed past literature on the impact of different home arrangements relative to inhabitant and social relationships. Simultaneously, preliminary open-ended sorting surveys were undertaken at the Cityscape 2020 exhibition. Based on the results, a comprehensive online survey was developed to map the socio-spatial preferences of users. Finally, a sample of 150 apartment plans was analyzed by using the justified plan graph (JPG) theory to reveal the most common arrangements in the speculative market, measuring unit depth. Findings The findings of this study will benefit the following: practitioners, including architects and real estate developers, will be able to learn about end-user preferences and offer better products (residential units). Designers can rely on a reference that visualizes recommended home arrangements in the form of justified graphs. This research will expose the academic theories that currently shape residential plans and those that are overlooked and need to be applied. Academics, on the other hand, will learn about the market, and the extent of the influence of architectural theory. Originality/value The value of this paper lies in the gathering of theoretical recommendations on traditional home arrangements and investigating the preferences of both professionals and laypeople when choosing between apartments. The open-ended study in this research will test its efficiency in the Egyptian context and serve as a reference for future social studies. It highlights the importance of cultural adequacy and how to design homes related to local residents’ natural lifestyle, by doing so, people will be able to overview the options available in the market and how to manipulate their own houses to control or encourage different social interactions.

Acculturation Phenomenon in Vernacular Architecture between Vietnamese and Chams in the Kingdom of Cochin-China (16th–18th)–Southeast Asia

ABSTRACT This paper presents in general the remaining vernacular houses in the middle region of Vietnam, known as the Kingdom of Cochin-china (16th−18th). Accordingly, there are three common types of vernacular houses. Those are the “Nha Ruong” popular in the north-middle region, the “Nha La Mai” popular in the central and south-middle regions, and the “Nha Roi” popular in both the north and south-middle regions of Vietnam. This study mainly focused on the viewpoint of architectural typology and construction techniques through site investigations, comparative study, and analysis of the remaining vernacular houses. With the approach of indigenous culture, residential planning, spatial arrangement, carpenter’s tools, design methods, and construction techniques, the similarities and differences between the vernacular houses have been determined. In addition, this study also defined the acculturation phenomenon in architecture between the middle region Vietnamese emigrants and the indigenous Chams in the past. The study results are expected to help architects and students to create new architectural products that can be sustainable in the harsh climatic conditions such as the middle region of Vietnam, refining and inheriting the quintessence of traditional architecture to enrich the cultural identity of Vietnam in particular and of Southeast Asia in general.

Revealing connectivity in residential Architecture: An algorithmic approach to extracting adjacency matrices from floor plans

In today's world, various approaches and parameters exist for designing a plan and determining its spatial, placement. Hence, various modes for identifying crucial locations can be explored when an architectural plan is designed in different dimensions. While designing all these modes takes considerable time, there are numerous potential applications for artificial intelligence (AI) in this domain. This study aims to compute and use an adjacency matrix to generate architectural residential plans. Additionally, it develops a plan generation algorithm in Rhinoceros software, utilizing the Grasshopper plugin to create a dataset of architectural plans. In the following step, the data was entered into a neural network to identify the architectural plan's type, furniture, icons, and use of spaces, which was achieved using YOLOv4, EfficientDet, YOLOv5, DetectoRS, and RetinaNet. The algorithm's execution, testing, and training were conducted using Darknet and PyTorch. The research dataset comprises 12,000 plans, with 70% employed in the training phase and 30% in the testing phase. The network was appropriately trained practically and precisely in relation to an average precision (AP) resulting of 91.50%. After detecting the types of space use, the main research algorithm has been designed and coded, which includes determining the adjacency matrix of architectural plan spaces in seven stages. All research processes were conducted in Python, including dataset preparation, network object detection, and adjacency matrix algorithm design. Finally, the adjacency matrix is given to the input of the proposed plan generator network, which consequently, based on the resulting adjacency, obtains different placement modes for spaces and furniture.

The Adaptability of Residential Planning and Design to World-Changing Events

History has witnessed several events with different magnitudes that have served as catalysts for drastic changes in society, impacting people’s lifestyles and reshaping the prevailing civilizational paradigm [...]

HABITABLE CONDITIONS REQUIRED FOR SPACE SETTLEMENT

Space habitats have been among the most discussed topics for decades. Many models have also been designed to sustain humanity in space. Among them are The Bernal sphere, The ONeill cylinder, and The Stanford Torus. The Stanford torus being the most acceptable model, designed the settlement as a torus located in the L5 point between the earth and the moon. By keeping the basic structure and location of the torus similar to it, a few structural changes have been suggested here, aiming to create better living conditions in the space habitat: dividing the torus into two and providing a general residential plan. Along with it, some other essential living criteria are also highlighted, such as the waste and water management systems.

Spatial scale plasticity of urban residential areas: Lessons from Shanghai’s model in response to COVID-19

Shanghai’s measures to address the COVID-19 pandemic since March 2022 have attracted world-wide attention. The response to public emergency and pandemic in built environment has prompted a profound reflection in residential planning. This case study investigated an under-developed site located in Shanghai’s Huangpu River waterfront. Based on a site survey, interviews, the phased lockdown policies of different urban areas, and published data on the spatial distribution of infection cases, this paper analyzes the effectiveness of strategies for coping with different stages of epidemic spread at different spatial scales. In addition to ensuring the privacy of living quarters, our residential planning ensures the flow and social communication of people in different neighborhoods, achieving the resilience of local lockdown and flow. This study redefines the openness and reasonable scale of residential areas based on analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of gated and block residential areas facing pandemic. This paper analyzes the feasibility of a residential site plan based on the above conception, which has spatial scale composable features for the basic residential building groups. This study emphasizes that design should be considered to achieve the flexibility of spatial scale through the different assembling pattern of basic-living-space-unit.

Estimation of energy demand and greenhouse gas emission reduction effect of cross-laminated timber (CLT) hybrid wall using life cycle assessment for urban residential planning

The building and construction sector accounted for 36% of final energy use and 37% of energy and process-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in 2020. According to a recent study, if the global population grows to 9.3 billion by 2050, new infrastructure development will cause approximately 350 Gt of CO2 emissions, corresponding to 35–60% of the remaining carbon budget available up to 2050 if the average temperature increase is to be limited to 2 °C. Material substitution is one way to reduce embodied energy and CO2 emissions. Cross-laminated timber (CLT), a bio-based material, can be an alternative to concrete and steel, which are the most energy- and carbon-intensive materials. However, there is a limit to the immediate application of CLT to the entire building. This study confirmed greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and energy consumption reductions when CLT was applied to the exterior walls of 52 apartment building types. Substituting CLT for concrete in the exterior walls resulted in a 44.6% savings in GHG emissions and 49.3% in energy demand. GHG emissions per floor were reduced by −16,906 kg CO2-eq, while energy consumption per floor was reduced by −256,896 MJ. If CLT is used in 30% of the exterior walls of the 800,000 houses planned to be constructed in Seoul by 2030, the energy savings and GHG reduction effect are expected to be −11,495 TJ and −0.86 Mt CO2-eq, respectively.

The emergence and evolution of workers’ villages in early New China

ABSTRACT This paper focuses on the emergence of China’s workers’ villages, and their changes over time in the 1950s in terms of residential planning and housing design characteristics. The new socialist regime realized in the 1950s numerous workers’ villages around China. Along with the fluctuant Soviet impact and China’s domestic realities, workers’ villages built in different phases during this decade show diverse features in their plans and styles. In this article, the characteristics are analysed by selecting typical cases in each phase. The findings show the workers’ village in early New China was driven mainly by triple reason: realistic demand, political commitment, and ideological instruction. In the first years, before the design and construction were Sovietized, the neighbourhoods were realized by following a western way. Since 1952, Soviet models were applied in China’s workers’ villages. But quite rapidly Chinese architects nationalized the Soviet prototype. From the mid-1950s, workers’ neighbourhoods were gradually simplified due to political and economic policy adjustment. By analysing the evolution of worker villages impacted by multiple factors, this article sheds lights on China’s socialist architectural discourse and supplements the existing scholarship on the transnational socialist architecture.

A Landscape-Led Multidisciplinary Residential Plan for the London Green Belt

Landscape architects have a responsibility to society, the environment, the client, and other professional organizations. Professionals that undertake landscape-led planning projects need to adopt a comprehensive approach in all the associated aspects. This article summarizes a unique experience in landscape-led planning practice in the UK where most projects are either town planning or architect-led: (1) the housing scarcity problem in towns and villages, land within the Green Belt in the UK is in strict governance by planning policies. In this article, a case study of exceptional infilling villages in East Hertfordshire is used to drive a landscape-led, multi-disciplinary planning process and to analyze all expertise assignments involved; (2) materials were sought from a variety of sources including council official online guidance, public open access materials, project team communication, and consultation results which covered local residents engagement and anonymous comments during the publicity period of the planning decision. Desktop studies, site visits, and the expertise of the multi-disciplinary team were applied throughout the case; (3) with a year of planning teamwork, the proposed development of the study site met the local sustainable growth that planning permission for high-quality residential dwellings was granted by the Local Planning Authority; (4) since known landscape-led planning examples are limited in the UK, the case study formed a good example for scholars and researchers who are interested in planning in the Green Belt.

Architectural space classification considering topological and 3D visual spatial relations using machine learning techniques

ABSTRACT The paper presents a novel method for classifying architectural spaces in terms of topological and visual relationships required by the functions of the spaces (where spaces such as bedrooms and bathrooms have less visual and physical relationships due to the privacy, while common spaces such as living rooms have higher visual relationship and physical accessibility) through machine learning (ML). The proposed model was applied to single and two-storey residential plans from the leading architects of the 20th century Among the five different ML models whose performances were evaluated comparatively, the best results were obtained with Cascade Forward Neural Networks (CFNN), and the average model success was calculated as 93%. The features affecting the classification models were examined based on SHAP values and revealed that width, control, 3D visibility and 3D natural daylight luminance were among the most influential. The results of five different ML models indicated that the use of topological and 3D visual relationship features in the automated classification of architectural space function can report very high levels of classification accuracy. The findings show that the classification model can be an important part of developing more efficient and adaptive floor plan design, building management and effective reuse strategies.

Effects of COVID-19 on Residential Planning and Design: A Scientometric Analysis

Coronavirus disease has caused city blockades, making people spend longer in residential areas than ever before. Human well-being and health are directly affected by the suppression of the epidemic through residential planning and design. In this regard, scholars from all over the world have made significant efforts to explore the links between COVID-19 and residential planning and design, trying to adjust the states in time to cope with the effects of COVID-19 in the long run. This study is based on Bibliometrix to conduct a scientometric analysis of the literature on “Effects of COVID-19 on residential planning and design (ECRPD)” published in Web of Science and Scopus from 2019 to October 2022. The aim of this study is to comprehensively present the scientific knowledge of ECRPD research through general characteristics’ analysis, citation analysis, and horizontal conceptual structure analysis, and try to summarize how residential planning and design responds to COVID-19, so as to provide support and advice for urban planners, builders, and policy makers. According to the results, ECRPD research is growing significantly, and the scientific productivity of it has increased exponentially. The main effects and feedback are characterized by three aspects: residential environment, residential building space and planning space, and residential traffic and community management. Generally, ECRPD research has expanded beyond the disciplines of architecture and planning. Environmental and energy concerns have attracted the most attention, though practical research into residential building space is relatively limited. To fully deal with COVID-19’s multiple negative facets, it is imperative to promote cross-disciplinary and multi-field collaboration, implement new technologies and methods for traditional disciplines, develop bioclimatic buildings to cope with environmental changes, and strengthen practical research in residential building and planning to ensure that a sustainable and resilient living environment is created in the post-pandemic era.

Spatial Identification, Prevention and Control of Epidemics in High-Rise Residential Areas Based on Wind Environments

The wind environment in residential areas can exert a direct or indirect influence on the spread of epidemics, with some scholars paying particular attention to the epidemic prevention and control of residential areas from the perspective of wind environments. As a result, it is urgent to re-examine the epidemic prevention response of residential spaces. Taking high-rise residential areas in Xi’an as an example, the article defines the air flow field area based on on-site wind environment measurements, crowd behavior annotation, and CFD simulation. Using the double-effect superposition of crowd behavior and risk space, the paper undertook a multiple identification strategy of epidemic prevention space. The identification methods and management and control strategies of epidemic prevention in high-rise residential areas are proposed. Additionally, the living environment of residential areas is optimized, and a healthy residential space is created. The transformation from concept and calls for action to space implementation is made to provide a reference for improving the space management and control capabilities in high-rise residential areas in China. The results of this study can be used as a guideline for future residential planning and design from the perspective of preventing airborne diseases.

A study on the design methods of “the garden city” planning by Yoshikazu Uchida: Focusing on the process of making his planning

AbstractYoshikazu Uchida—the famous Japanese architect and the director of Dojunkai—made a residential plan named the “garden city plan” just before the Great Kanto Earthquake. In this study, the authors report the design methods of his plan with focusing on the process done by Uchida from 1919 to 1922. By making a comparison between the three drawings, the following four design methods of his plan are found out. First, his plan has a graded configuration of the street system. Second, shops are placed around circular plazas and along a main road. Thirdly, there is a diversity in the arrangement of public buildings. Fourthly, specific open space is surrounded by buildings. These design methods share characteristics with those of Dojunkai's residential districts. Therefore, one of the reasons why Dojunkai realized the design methods of modern residential planning in its estates after the Great Kanto Earthquake is because Uchida had practiced the above‐mentioned design methods on his drawings through the “garden city plan.”

Impact of Soviet worker residential area design on Beijing No. 2 textile factory: Research of worker residential planning during the First Five‐Year Plan

AbstractThis paper aims to examine the contents of professional architectural books on worker residential areas in the Soviet Union, analyzing proposals based on the Northeast China's experience during the First Five‐Year Plan. Despite sharing a common source for residential design, differences in regional and situational conditions result in diversity between China and the Soviet Union. By considering the plan for worker residential areas in Beijing and analyzing the case of the planned Beijing No. 2 textile factory in 1953, it can be concluded that China had already developed original residential planning ideas and methods during that period.

Retraction Note: Residential planning and layout design method based on multi-sensor information fusion

Retraction Note: Residential planning and layout design method based on multi-sensor information fusion

1인 가구의 특성에 따른 주거공간의 부분공유에 대한 의식 및 요구

This study aims to present basic data of a residential plan that enhances the satisfaction of residents by grasping the consciousness and needs according to the degree of partial sharing of residential spaces that are suitable for the characteristics of single-person households. To this end, the consciousness was identified according to sharing of the spaces, living equipment and furniture in the residence, and classified according to the degree of consciousness of sharing spaces. Based on this, a detailed spatial plan was suggested by grasping the differences according to the characteristics of single-person households. The survey was conducted to collect data in this study, the results are as follows. 1) Based on the results of the consciousness of sharing in residential space, it was classified into 4 types through the combination of spaces, living equipment and furniture. As for the bedroom, the frequency of sharing was very low at 4.5%, indicating that individual use was desirable. In this way, the ranking of the consciousness of sharing of other residential spaces, equipment and furniture was applied to the spatial planning. 2) According to the characteristics of single-person households, males in gender and 29 years of age or younger in the age group showed higher consciousness than other groups about spaces, living equipment and furniture. 3) Since more than 50% of the cases were not willing to share any space or living equipment and furniture. In the plan, it is necessary to adjust the scope of sharing by type according to the size of personal space, the consciousness of sharing in residential space, and the characteristics of single-person households.

THE STUDY OF SPATIAL ADAPTATION OF RESIDENTS TO RESIDENTIAL SPACES IN RUSUNAWA SERUWAI BELAWAN

This study examines the spatial adaptation of residents to residential spaces in the Rusunawa Seruwai Belawan. This study was made to observe spatial transformation, as mentioned by Russel and Moffat, namely flexibility, convertibility, and expandability that occur in residential spaces. This study intends to examine the spatial adaptation in residential areas in the Rusunawa Seruwai Belawan. This research uses qualitative research methods with a descriptive presentation. The research variables used in this study are flexibility, convertibility, and expandability. This research uses data obtained through observation, documentation, and informant interviews using purposive sampling. The results of the data collection are processed by means, namely making the mapping of the space in the Rusunawa Seruwai Belawan, making guidelines based on aspects of adaptation that occur in the Rusunawa Seruwai Belawan, and making a difference between the initial residential plan and the residential plan after being occupied by residents. Two study findings related to spatial adaptation in informants' residences in Rusunawa Seruwai Belawan: spatial transformation to narrow spatial planning and adaptation to private space. The study results found that residents occupied communal areas with corridors in front of the dwellings.

Co-operative Housing in Lithuania as a Field of Architectural Experimentation (1960s–1980s)

The paper is a study of house-building cooperatives in the Lithuanian SSR as a field of architectural experimentation in planning, design and construction of mass housing during the late Soviet period (1960s–1980s). The house-building co-operatives were re-introduced in the USSR in 1962 as a substitute for the cessation of private single-family houses in large cities. Politically and economically, house-building co-operatives were seen as a solution to the difficult situation posed by the well-known Soviet apartment shortage because co-operative apartment arrangements meant that residents contributed their own funds to the process of building their homes, thereby avoiding the waiting list. The important change that housing co-operatives offered was the possibility for better-to-do citizens to obtain housing luxuries that were previously available only to the privileged party nomenclatura. From an urban planning perspective such a concentration of previously single houses into multi-apartment buildings was meant to minimise the municipal land taken up for housing and reduce the cost of engineering infrastructure. At the same time the introduction of co-operative housing resulted in more varied residential building designs (including more comfortable apartment layouts and better selection of materials), engaging in the process departments of experimental design at the State Design Institutes. In this paper a hypothesis is proposed that the development of co-operative housing stimulated architectural experimentation for groups concerning both privileged residents (because the process of co-operative housing accelerated the concentration of more affluent urban dwellers) and architects, who wished to express more varied residential planning ideas.The paper is a study of house-building cooperatives in the Lithuanian SSR as a field of architectural experimentation in the planning, design, and construction of mass housing during the late Soviet period (1960s–80s). House-building co-operatives were re-introduced in the USSR in 1962 as a substitute for the stoppage of private single-family dwellings in large cities. Politically and economically, house-building co-operatives were seen as a solution to the difficult situation posed by the apartment shortage. The co-operative apartment arrangements meant that residents contributed their own funds to the process of building their homes, thereby avoiding the waiting list. The important change that housing co-operatives offered was the possibility for better-off citizens to obtain housing luxuries that were previously available only to privileged communist party elite. From an urban planning perspective, concentrating zones previously allotted to single-family dwellings into multi-apartment buildings was a means of minimizing the municipal land taken up by housing and reducing the cost of engineering infrastructure. At the same time, the introduction of co-operative housing resulted in more varied residential building designs (including more comfortable apartment layouts and better selection of materials). The departments of experimental design at the State Design Institutes were engaged in the process. In this paper, we suggest the hypothesis that the development of co-operative housing stimulated architectural experimentation for two groups of people: privileged residents (because the process of co-operative housing accelerated the concentration of more affluent urban dwellers), and architects, eager to implement more varied residential planning ideas.