Semi-public Spaces Research Articles

Creating Agoras in Buenos Aires: Time, Ritual, and Sociability Among a Spanish Ethnic Group

The aim of this article is to provide an ethnographic investigation on how community consciousness is forged through daily rituals of encounter and sociability among the Calós of Buenos Aires. The research method used was ethnography based on participant observation. The daily encounters and the intensive frequency of repetition are posed as ritual actions that create agoras in public and semi-public spaces of the neighbourhood. The logic of socialisation expresses the very life of the Calós and their capacity to transform spaces into places. Social rituals and the use of time and tempo are tentatively addressed, as well as the relevance of gift exchange and reciprocity.

Cruising Europe in World War II: Epistemological Challenges of German Vernacular Trophy Photography

The Nazi regime outfitted the Wehrmacht with the best photographic technology and its soldiers were far better equipped than their allies or nemeses. More than ten per cent of the eighteen million German combatants possessed a fast-shutter 35-mm camera. German soldier-photographers documented their wartime activities extensively, in turn leaving behind a gigantic, private and largely underexplored archive that poses multiple epistemological and ethical challenges. Military historians and Holocaust scholars approach soldierly photographs primarily as sources of information, including proof of crimes. This article shifts these lenses and argues that reading them as visual images, and not solely as historical sources and circulating artefacts, reveals a medium that equally affects its practitioners as well as the observers. Drawing upon public archives and private collections, I focus on highly performative images of victory and conquest over enemy countries and peoples and conceptualise them as ‘trophy photographs’. I examine recurrent motifs within this genre, in particular sexual encounters with enemy women and photographs of male bonding, which arguably constitute the most prevalent images snapped by soldier-photographers who ‘cruised’ Nazi-occupied Europe. Borrowing from Queer Studies, the concept of cruising allows me to probe soldiers’ mobility in semipublic spaces and also acknowledge the voyeuristic and visually alluring quality of their photographs. Seductive, exciting, these trophy photographs lure in their audience(s) with sexually charged, often (homo)erotic overtones. In turn, these images provoke diverse ways of seeing and interpreting their content: how can we best frame the soldier-photographer’s gaze and capture the polysemic quality of the images, especially when dealing with violence, racism, sexism and/or homoeroticism? What effect do trophy images of conquest potentially have on the historical actors who shot and circulated those photographs and what impact do they have on contemporary observers? Finally, acknowledging multidirectional and fractious lives of images, how do we understand the complex relationship between public history and the ethics of seeing? Because photographic images are historically contingent and open-ended, this article casts light on the complexity of mediation and competing visions between diverse publics of the past, present and future.

Rollercoasters and research: applying data-enabled design to a semi-public context

IntroductionData-enabled design (DED) is a design approach where research data is integrated with design praxis in an iterative and hands-on fashion, and it has been successfully applied to design for people in the healthcare domain. However, how to utilise DED as a more broadly applicable approach that facilitates design for larger populations in semi-public spaces remains an open question. Understanding the advantages and challenges of applying DED in various contexts is crucial to guide design researchers further and prevent methodological mismatch.MethodsIn this article, we report on applying DED in an open, semi-public context with a large population of visitors. Here, DED was applied in projects with student design researchers who had limited control over the data gathered from people in the context.ResultsWe share the results of a two-week design workshop that involved sixteen student design researchers and was organised in collaboration with Särkänniemi, one of Finland’s largest theme parks. Using design proposals and reflections from five teams, we investigate the use of DED in this context, reporting on perceived challenges, barriers, successes and future directions for taking the DED approach into similar (semi-)public contexts.DiscussionsWe conclude with reflections from the workshop organisers’ point of view and share the feedback from our industry collaborator, highlighting challenges and opportunities in translating the DED approach to a new domain.

Spatial deprivation of children with autism spectrum disorders in the arctic city

The inclusion of children with autism spectrum disorders in society is an urgent social task that, due to its complexity, requires new perspectives of scientific research for the sound regulation of inclusive processes. The problem of the study was determined by the contradiction between the social significance of the development of inclusion and the risks of including children with ASD in the urban space existing in the Arctic city. We have introduced the category of spatial deprivation of children with autism spectrum disorders into the research field, and proposed its author's interpretation. The empirical study was aimed at identifying the state of inclusion of children with ASD in the space of the Arctic city. The results of the study showed their significant spatial deprivation in the Arctic city. It manifests itself in relation to public, semi-public spaces, spaces for movement, expressed both in their insufficient accessibility and in a significant limitation of forms of development. The conclusion is made about the low social status of children with ASD in the Arctic city, as well as about the presence of obstacles to their realization of their universal needs. This situation is mainly determined by socio-psychological and organizational factors and objectifies the difficulties of developing inclusive processes.

Revisiting the impact of public spaces on the mental health of rural migrants in Wuhan: an integrated multi-source data analysis

Current research on public spaces and mental health often focuses on the independent relationship of one or more social mediators, neglecting the nuanced implications and serial mechanisms inherent in the progressive social process. Using Wuhan city, China, as a study case with multi-source data, this research applies Multilevel Generalized Structural Equation Modeling and deep learning techniques to explore the differential effects of public spaces with varying degrees of publicness (i.e., typical, semi-, and privately owned) on rural migrants’ mental health. Crucially, this study scrutinizes both explicit (social interaction) and implicit (perceived integration) social mechanisms to revisit the relationships. The findings reveal that not all public spaces equally influence mental health, with typical and privately owned public spaces conferring profound benefits. Notably, public spaces impact mental health chiefly through perceived integration instead of through direct social interaction. Social interaction improves mental health primarily by enhancing perceived integration, suggesting that meaningful connections beyond superficial encounters are critical. In particular, we observed significant social effects in typical and privately owned public spaces but limited social functionality in semi-public spaces. This evidence contributes to the knowledge required to create supportive social environments within public spaces, integral to nurturing inclusive urban development.

Increasing demand for urban community gardening before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic

Community gardens are growing in popularity worldwide, especially in densely populated urban areas. They provide semi-public spaces for joint gardening activities and serve as social and ecological retreats. The COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions in movement and leisure activities led to a changed demand for urban green spaces, but it remains unclear how it affected the overall trend in demand for community gardens. We measured interest to participate in community gardening between 2018 and 2022 based on a combination of counted application numbers and qualitative responses from garden coordinators. Out of 373 contacted community gardens, 70 replied, distributed across 43 cities in Switzerland, Germany, UK, USA, Canada and New Zealand. We find an increase in demand for participation in community gardens from 2018 to 2022, both based on counted application numbers and memory-based interest in participation. A generalized linear mixed model shows significant increases in applications from 2018 to 2019 (19 %), 2020 to 2021 (25 %) and 2021 to 2022 (16 %), but not from 2019 to 2020 (−0.32 %). These results confirm an ongoing trend of increasing demand for community gardens, with momentary reduced activity during 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions, followed by a subsequent surge in demand. The peak increase in application numbers in 2021, along with the overall rise from 2018 to 2022, underscores the crucial role of community gardens in an urbanizing world, especially during challenging times. It is essential for urban planners to prioritize meeting this increasing demand as part of their efforts to make cities more sustainable.

Cabrio Teams, Primary Care for Homeless People In Belgium- Limburg

Cabrio aims to prevent homelessness with a cross-sector, multidisciplinary and autonomous team that establishes contact with homeless people in their living environment in an outreach manner, offers customized support and connects to social facilities. The team aims to help homeless people in finding sustainable housing. In the Belgian province of Limburg there are 3 Cabrio teams that serve 5 local authorities. The welfare organisation CAW Limburg coordinates the 3 Cabrio teams.
 Cabrio is active within the framework that is offered by the Flemish Action Plan to combat homelessness 2020-2024.
 https://www.departementwvg.be/welzijn-en-samenleving/welzijnswerk/dak-en-thuisloosheid 
 Objectives: 
 •Making contact in the social environment of homeless people and building a close relationship with homeless people.
 •Offer support in various life domains and realize a connection with services (network). Guarantee continuity in care.
 •Strengthening the personal network of clients.
 •Working on sustainable housing with social and other housing services.
 •Working on connection through small-scale projects with a high level of participation of the target group. This is part of the socialization of care.
 •Signalling structural barriers to local policy makers. 
 Methodical framework: Cabrio works in an outreaching and multidisciplinary way and uses methods from addiction care, counselling for people with psychological vulnerability and welfare work. Cabrio works from a shared vision of homelessness.
 Outreach work: Counsellors contact clients in the public space, at their home or in the semi-public space (e.g. institution, facility) with a participative basic attitude. They focus on making a connection with 'distrustful' clients
 Multidisciplinary work: To aim for care continuity the Cabrio team brings together different disciplines: general social work (CAW Limburg), addiction care (ZorGGroepZin), psychiatric home care (Beschut Wonen, Mobiel Herstelteam Psychiatrie), special youth care (CANO Pieter Simenon), outreach work (straathoekwerk).
 •Expertise of supervisors is shared in the Cabrio team.
 •Different perspectives and different expertise provides customized guidance.
 •The collaboration and sharing of expertise strengthens the communication and trust between the client and the team and improves the follow-up of specific cases.
 •Supervisors acquire new insights and methods in guiding homeless people to their own work setting.
 Special methods: Harm reduction (or harm-limiting work), motivational interviewing, circle of behaviour change Prochaska and Diclemente, making quarters, guideline for dealing with ethical dilemmas, Housing First.
 1.4.Registration by the Local Homeless Consultation
 The local authorities organize a Local Homeless Consultation (LDO) in which various welfare organizations participate that have contacts with homeless people through their daily practice. The LDO has 3 tasks: 
 •Making an inventory of homeless people in the work area.
 •Coordinating which service/counsellor takes care of the specific client.
 •Tackling signals or structural barriers.
 The LDO refers to the Cabrio team if the client:
 •Does not have stable housing (see Ethos).
 •Scores bad on several life domains and struggles with special problems (e.g. addiction, psychological vulnerability, medical problems, ...)
 •Has a disrupted personal network or does not have or has a few contacts with care services (also called care avoiders).

‘Downtown mosaics’ in revitalisation district in Szczecin (Poland). Reflections on the project

One of the most degraded areas of Szczecin is the city center with its three housing estates: Centrum, Śródmieście Zachud and Turzyn. The City Hall has been running a revitalisation program for this area since 2017. OSWAJANIE SZTUKI Association, which has been running the ŚRODEK Śródmiejski Punkt Sąsiedzki since 2018, located in the area covered by revitalisation, is implementing the artistic and social project ‘Downtown mosaics.’ The aim of the project is to create art objects in a degenerated semi-public space and to improve the attractiveness of places that the inhabitants of the area consider unattractive and/or dangerous. Mosaics are created in cooperation with local artists, urban activists and city residents in the courtyards of tenement quarters, outside the main walking trails. Designers present proposals for three mosaics, but the final choice is made by the residents of the nearest residential buildings or the direct owner of the facility. So far, five mosaics have been created on various topics – from ‘Cosmos’ behind the former Kosmos cinema to ‘Reading room’ on the garage wall of the owner of an informal antique shop. In addition to actively joining the mosaic, the residents can provide the material for the mosaic – e.g. tiles left over from home renovation. The mosaics became an attraction not only for the closest residents, but also met with a very positive reception from all Szczecin residents who began to visit the dark corners of the city center. The article presents the process of creating neighbourly mosaics in the spirit of participatory art.

Navigating constraints, finding freedom: exploring asylum seekers’ access to urban arrival infrastructures

ABSTRACT This paper explores asylum seekers’ experiences of urban arrival infrastructures, illustrating how these provide asylum seekers with opportunities for familiarization with the reception location and its inhabitants. Drawing on two qualitative case studies in Augsburg, Germany, three different subsets of arrival infrastructures emerged as relevant to familiarization; infrastructures for information, for language learning and for social connection. The analysis shows how asylum seekers are differentially positioned towards accessing informational, language-learning and social infrastructures due the intersection of spatial, institutional and personal constraints. Public and semi-public spaces proved to be indispensable to asylum seekers’ informational, language learning and social infrastructures. The paper concludes by highlighting the ambiguity and political nature of urban arrival infrastructures: While state-provided, formal infrastructures often undermined the process of familiarization and contributed to asylum seekers’ differential access to opportunities and resources, informal, citizen-provided infrastructures were crucial in supporting asylum seekers’ needs during the periods of uncertainty.

Place-based community events and resistance to territorial stigmatisation

PurposePlace-based community events fulfil important functions, internally and externally. They provide opportunities for people from diverse communities and cultures to encounter each other, to participate in pleasurable activities in convivial settings and to develop mutual understanding. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the value of such events as a means of resisting or challenging the deleterious effects of territorial stigmatisation.Design/methodology/approachThe authors explore two place-based community events in areas that have been subject to territorial stigmatisation: Govanhill in Glasgow, Scotland, and South Dunedin, New Zealand. They draw on in-depth case study methods including observation and interviews with key local actors and employ inductive analysis to identify themes across the datasets.FindingsThe demonstrate how neighbourhood events in both Glasgow and Dunedin actively seek to address some of the deleterious outcomes of territorial stigmatisation by emphasising strength and asset-based discourses about the areas they reflect and represent. In their planning and organisation, both events play an important mediating role in building and empowering community, fostering intercultural encounters with difference and strengthening mutuality within their defined places. They make use of public and semi-public spaces to attract diverse groups while also increasing the visibility of marginalised populations through larger showcase events.Research limitations/implicationsThe empirical element focuses only on two events, one in Glasgow, Scotland (UK), and the other in South Dunedin (New Zealand). Data generated were wholly qualitative and do not provide quantitative evidence of “change” to material circumstances in either case study community.Practical implicationsHelps organisers think about how they need to better understand their communities if they are to attract diverse participation, including how they programme public and semi-public spaces.Social implicationsPlace-based community events have significant value to neighbourhoods, and they need to be resourced effectively if they are to sustain the benefits they produce. These events provide an opportunity for diverse communities to encounter each other and celebrate what they share rather than what divides them.Originality/valueThis paper is the first to examine how place-based community events help resist narratives of territorial stigmatisation, which produce negative representations about people and their environments. The paper draws on ethnographic insights generated over time rather than a one-off snapshot which undermines some events research.

How Does the Residential Complex Regulate Residents’ Behaviour? An Empirical Study to Identify Influential Components of Human Territoriality on Social Interaction

Although urbanisation and urban land limitations are prevalent, residential complexes are seldom discussed as a means of compartmentalising social interactions and contributing to residents’ social interactions. Due to the spatial orientation of social interactions, semi-public spaces in these buildings are unable to host residents’ interactions due to a lack of appropriate arrangements/establishment of tangible and visible objects. The influential components, however, have rarely been identified in residential complexes. To fill this gap, using the theory of human territoriality, the current study explores the influential physical components of human territorialities in semi-public spaces in four residential complexes and investigates whether a significant relationship exists between human territorialities’ physical components and social interactions. This study collected data from 264 residents of four residential complexes with different spatial configuration layouts. Pearson correlation and Spearman’s rank correlation are used to evaluate linear and monotonic relationships between study variables. The correlation between spatial configurations of physical components and residents’ interactions confirms that spatial configurations influence residents’ use of semi-public spaces. Social interaction can, therefore, be improved through green space, brightness, accessibility, and furniture in common areas. The findings prove that residential complexes with clustered arrangements have not performed well in creating social interaction due to the lack of defined spaces and territories for people, but multi-core, mixed, and linear complexes that define several open and semi-open spaces have been more successful in the amount of social interaction of residents. This study is one of the first to identify the influential components using the integration of residents’ perceptions and spatial configuration.

Becoming part of the city: local emplacement after forced displacement

For refugees, arriving in a new place is inherently emotional – fraught with experiences of disorientation and fear of the unknown – but it can also be liberating and result in new connections. This article explores a series of questions around how forced displacement is experienced and turned into local emplacement. It is argued that it is important to recognize that global migration is grounded through attention to the ways in which such processes are locally lived and produced. I acknowledge that, on arrival, forced migrants become entangled in an infrastructure – laid out for them as a special category of migrants – that is directing them towards certain institutions and places; however, at the same time, I argue that this is not the only infrastructure which they use and explore. Starting from the issue of how refugees themselves try to build connections and find their way in a new city enables the exploration of potential overlaps, gaps and tensions between the official response to arrival and the everyday lived experiences of refugees. The city as a whole is explicitly taken as the unit of analysis in this article, without limitations to specific places dedicated to refugees or specific neighbourhoods where it is known that refugees arrive and/or are housed. It is argued that a focus on public and semi-public spaces is important as it allows an exploration of spaces that are meaningful to refugees and might result in new insights on connections or disconnections with already existing infrastructures. This approach offers more room for the unexpected – but also the mundane and the everyday – which all play an important part in the production of a counter-narrative against the formal and institutionalized way of framing the arrival of refugees in which refugees’ own experiences are the more central focus.

Spaces for children's play and travel close to home: the importance of threshold spaces

ABSTRACT There is an increasing understanding of the role of the built environment on children's neighbourhood mobility and play and the importance of this for children's development. This has led to concerns over children's declining neighbourhood mobility and calls to see an increase in children's use of public space. This paper draws on findings from a research study working with 9 and 10 year olds living in inner London, England. The children participated in go-along interviews and a range of other qualitative methods, which explored how they used their neighbourhoods for getting around and play. Findings from the study demonstrate the importance of threshold spaces for children in supporting both their neighbourhood play and their wider neighbourhood travel and mobility. Threshold spaces are defined as a semi-public space that straddle the gap between the private space of the home and the wider public realm. Children's use of threshold spaces was influenced by a reduced movement function in these spaces, restricting vehicles and people passing through, and the presence of signals that it was ok to play, with girls being more sensitive to these features than boys. Threshold spaces were important as a start point for children's wider explorations of their neighbourhoods.

Spatial typologies in psychiatric facilities

AbstractA psychiatric facility represents a temporary home for its patients. Multiple studies have provided ample evidence that the built environment has the potential to support patients in their recovery process, in part by offering a homely surrounding. If their environment also succeeds in creating a therapeutic milieu in which the patients’ needs for protection, security, privacy, and orientation are met, the contribution of these surroundings can be even more significant. For example, clear, comprehensible building structures help patients to find their way around the new environment and further provide a feeling of security. To fulfill this goal, planners should pay special attention to the access zones and semi-public spaces in these types of buildings, as psychiatric patients often spend a lot of time there. Corridors should provide high spatial quality with daylight areas and places to sit down.Based on an analysis of more than 30 psychiatric facilities in Germany, three spatial typologies were identified within which the factors listed above have been explored.Firstly, the “Pavilion type”: square or slightly rectangular pavilion structures, generally with courtyards enclosed on four sides and multiple additions. This typology is found very often, especially on new build sites. The Pavilion type allows a useful combination of room functions and good lighting of all spaces. Secondly, the “L- or T-shaped type”: Linked L- or T-shaped, often appearing as comb-like buildings. These structures are particularly successful in integrating with the surrounding landscape. Thirdly, the “Block type”: Closed, block-like single-floor and two-floor typologies of different lengths. However, these building structures are increasingly rare as they often appear out of human scale and result in long, monotonous corridors.In building design it is crucial to consider the triad of “architecture/interior design/ and landscape design” and to emphasize the specifics of the site. Each of these typologies offer different opportunities to achieve this goal; yet, only when a unique atmosphere is created – one in which everyone feels accepted and is seen as an individual – can patients, staff and visitors feel the comfort and support of a successful homely environment.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

Being and Pub

Despite the politically oppressive period of Normalization that followed the Prague Spring in the late 1960s and 1970s in Czechoslovakia, performance artists had to find a way of creating despite the heavy policing of cultural spaces. Křižovnická škola čistého humoru bez vtipu (Crusaders School of Pure Humour with No Jokes) found their creative sanctuary by making works in the semi-public spaces of pubs. The group of artists, performers, poets, philosophers, and photographers conceptualised of their meetings in pubs as a form of artistic practice. Their core materials became meeting, community, alcohol, and the pub atmosphere which they utilized to create often impromptu and satirical performance works. Their works such as Fando, nezlob se (Don’t Be Angry, Fando, 1969), which was an alcoholic version of ludo that the group regularly played, or Křižovnický kalendář (Crusader Calendar, 1972), in which the group met on the last Friday of every month to meet and capture themselves on camera, used meeting in the pub and drinking as both the site and the material for their performances. The group conceived of their meetings in the pub through phenomenology - drinking together in a pub functioned as an experiential epistemology for the group. The-pub became a stand-in for Heideggerian Da-sein and being-in-the-world was replaced by being-in-the-pub. This formulation anticipates pub as a prerequisite and a method for exploration of meeting. Their pub meetings were for them a free arena of artistic expression that relied on communal artmaking. As opposed to “the meeting” that defined the official sphere, Crusaders’ pub “meetings” were of the people – chaotic, loud, disorderly, and fuelled by alcohol. Crusaders’ shared practice illustrates how meeting can be a potent political and artistic tool to create and exercise freedom under political oppression.

Language, translocality and urban change

Abstract This article addresses the role of translocal interconnectedness between offline and online spaces by examining the varied presence of language displays in such spaces. Quantitative findings on language presence in the offline public spaces of four Gothenburg neighbourhoods are contrasted with the online presence found in three Swedish search portals, and the differences are interpreted in light of the broader socioeconomic processes of gentrification and segregation. The comparison between online and offline presence allows us to give a more holistic picture of the neighbourhoods; it reveals, among other things, the presence of semi-public spaces, with a multilingual presence of commercial enterprises and civil society organizations, and points out that some super-diverse neighbourhoods have more online than offline presence on search portals. Thus, the often-stereotyped mental picture of these neighbourhoods as being passive, static, ‘segregated’ and ‘problematic’ is challenged.

Exposing the private, engaging in the public. Asylum seekers, intimate publics and normative performances of public participation

By bringing together scholarship on affective (non)citizenship and critical geographies of public space, in this article we examine how the exposure of refugees’ intimate lives, private relationalities and personal histories mediate their conditional access to “the public”. Drawing on long-term ethnographic engagement in the field of asylum in Italy, we show how asylum seekers are confronted with changing patterns of obligation and dependency in both their private and public lives. On the one hand, the elicitation of multiple private life details is the only currency for them to negotiate with state institutions for a potential access to the “right to stay”. On the other hand, their conditional access to the “hosting community” is increasingly contingent on normative performances of public participation, which often involve domestic activities and intimate relations to be cultivated in public or semi-public spaces. These reconfigurations speak about broader redefinitions of the public sphere, oriented towards a rising importance of the intimate as a proper terrain of public legitimacy and inclusion. Yet, exposing the intimate self in the public does not guarantee recognition; rather, the normative incorporation of refugees in the public sphere most often naturalises their conditional belonging in the national space.

6.O. Workshop: Urban design interventions for fostering mental health and mental health literacy

Abstract With roughly half of the global population living in cities and an expected rise up to 85 % by 2050, urban environments are central to public health. Yet, they are often perceived as health risk factors due to e.g., noise, pollution, crowding, and anonymity. Indeed, mental disorders show higher incidence in urban contexts compared to rural areas, generally increasing, e.g., due to the Covid19-pandemic as well as to climate change. However, we argue that there is also a rich potential of urban environments to act as resource for mental health and to address mental health issues in the public space. Design interventions such as urban furniture, art and information elements can act as perceived affordances, signifiers and situative stimuli to influence health behaviour, social discourse and individual mindsets regarding mental health. Furthermore, by considering their unique potentials and resources during the design process, the specific surroundings of these interventions can become an integral part of the actual design. As a result, this might change citizens’ perspective on the urban setting as such. While there exists a large body of literature as well as case studies focusing on physical health promotion by urban design interventions, evidence regarding its mental correlate is still scarce. This workshop aims at collecting and elaborating on features in the urban space as potential resources to foster mental health as well as mental health literacy. To that aim, first, three seven-minutes-presentations introduce different disciplinary perspectives on the topic: Starting from a psychological point of view, the relationship between urban environments and mental health will be outlined. Based on insights from human geography, social determinants of urban settings will be elaborated and participatory approaches will be presented as a crucial method for designing effective intervention. Synthesizing these insights, the role of design to influence health behaviour will be discussed and afterwards illustrated using the example of a trail-based design concept as the backdrop for the interactive part. In the second part of this session, first, co-creation methods (such as mindmapping and brainwriting) will be applied together with participants to brainstorm relevant categories, features and potentials of the urban space to foster mental health and mental health literacy. Participants will then be asked to contribute their expertise from their specific field of work particularly with regards to increasing mental health literacy in citizens. This exercise will be highly valuable for participants to acquire interdisciplinary knowledge regarding the influence of urban design interventions and mental health and broaden their perspective and knowledge regarding urban mental health and the built environment. Learnings and variations of this exercise could be also applicable in other settings such as rural communities or semi-public spaces. Key messages • This workshop aims at understanding how features of the urban space can be utilised to foster mental health and mental health literacy. • By co-creatively sharing and elaborating on insights from various disciplines, participants broaden their horizons regarding the interrelations between the urban built environment and mental health.

Environmental influences on affect and cognition: A study of natural and commercial semi-public spaces

Research has consistently shown differences in affect and cognition after exposure to different physical environments. The time course of these differences emerging or fading during exploration of environments is less explored, as most studies measure dependent variables only before and after environmental exposure. In this within-subject study, we used repeated surveys to measure differences in thought content and affect throughout a 1-h environmental exploration of a nature conservatory and a large indoor mall. At each survey, participants reported on aspects of their most recent thoughts (e.g., thinking of the present moment vs. the future; thinking positively vs. negatively) and state affect. Using Bayesian multi-level models, we found that while visiting the conservatory, participants were more likely to report thoughts about the past, more positive and exciting thoughts, and higher feelings of positive affect and creativity. In the mall, participants were more likely to report thoughts about the future and higher feelings of impulsivity. Many of these differences in environments were present throughout the 1-h walk, however some differences were only evident at intermediary time points, indicating the importance of collecting data during exploration, as opposed to only before and after environmental exposures. We also measured cognitive performance with a dual n-back task. Results on 2-back trials replicated results from prior work that interacting with nature leads to improvements in working-memory performance. This study furthers our understanding of how thoughts and feelings are influenced by the surrounding physical environment and has implications for the design and use of public spaces.

A REVIEW ON CLOUD LOAD BALANCING TECHNIQUES

Cloud computing simply means storing & accessing data and programs over the internet instead of your computers hard drive. The cloud is just a metaphor for the internet. An example of Cloud Computings process could also be Googles Gmail. Cloud computing is highly efficient, productive, safe & secure. Cloud computing consists of two terms One is Cloud which is a useful feature of computer technology to perform appropriate tasks. Computing may include computer hardware and software but must involve some form of a computer system. It is a type of operation of a computer that is fully dependent on exchanging computing resources rather than having local servers or personal devices to handle the appeal. Cloud refers to a public or semi-public space on transmission lines that exists between the endpoints of a transmission. Data that is transmitted across a WAN enters the network from one endpoint using a standard protocol.