Journal of Contemporary Urban Affairs (JCUA - Alanya Hamdullah Emin Paşa Üniversitesi)
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Optimization Of Urban Street Lighting Conditions Focusing On Energy Saving, Safety And Users’ Needs
No full textThe outdoor lighting constitutes a significant part of the night activities of people in contemporary cities. Nevertheless, in many cases, this may result in the increasing and irrational use of it affecting the users of public areas, the environment and driving safety. The subject of this paper is to extend the discussion on the subject, to provide answers and to suggest methods for the improvement of the existing conditions in urban street lighting through the use of new technologies and smart lighting management systems, with the aim of achieving a smooth relationship between the user’s needs, safety, sustainability, quality of life and energy saving
A Discussion on Affordable Housing Projects; Case Study Mehr Housing, Iran
No full textHousing is one of the basic needs of humans. Families in different countries with various cultures, who have different lifestyles respond to their individual needs including physical and mental in a safe place that is called house. The world population is increasing day by day. In parallel to this population growth, housing demand increases rapidly. Iran is also a country, which has a rapid population growth and has developed a series of policies to solve the housing problems. Affordable housing is one of solution for providing the house by governments. These type of houses is the ways to answer the demand for low-income people or the people that their income is not sufficient to the owner a house. Since 2007, the government has built a new type of affordable housing in different cities of Iran. These houses are named as Mehr Housing, which is generally medium and high-rise buildings for low-income people. In this study, it is intended to make an evaluation of the strengthens and weaknesses of Mehr Housing projects in Iran in terms of housing quality. These analyses are mainly done based on location and accessibility, safety and security, public open spaces and recreational activities, plan layout of housing units and physical features. By this discussion, it is expected to create a guide for the policymakers, designers, users and other shareholders
Opportunities for Practicing Sustainable Building Construction in Kurdistan Region, Iraq
No full textThe construction sector of the Kurdistan region of the Republic of Iraq has witnessed a huge development in the construction sector last ten years. However, there is a lack of awareness and legislation regarding sustainable construction in the buildings sector. The aim of the paper is to find the required mechanism to introduce sustainable practice and implement sustainable construction in the buildings construction sector in Northern Iraq. The main objectives of this study are identifying the barriers in sustainable construction in Northern Iraq and investigate the law and regulations in dealing with these barriers
Catching Up With BIM: A Curriculum Re-Design Strategy
Get PDFBIM has been discussed widely for enabling collaboration in AEC professions. Its widespread benefits from efficiency to sustainability in design and construction converted it into a primary tool in most AEC education institutions in the last decade. However, Turkey, like a part of central Europe, remains hesitant in this concern. The majority of schools of architecture have conventional curricula based on fragmented areas of expertise studied separately with disconnected contents, teaching methods, and requirements. This separation not only prevents the students from building links between different contents of sustainable design but also increases their workload while decreasing their creative potential. Regarding the necessity for collaboration in the growing complexity of built environments, underdeveloped skills in building links between fragmented databases is eventually becoming a serious problem. This study is expected to demonstrate how provoking the skill to employ BIM can be to integrate creative educational experience in architecture, at the centre of which remains the design studio. The discussion concludes by suggesting pathways to catch up with the growing gap between the global evolutions of interdisciplinary and integral design thinking through the use of BIM in AEC education
Towards appreciating the importance of windowscapes: Evaluation and suggestion for improvement of New Zealand Building Code
Get PDFThe rapid intensification of Auckland has made our visual awareness of the outdoor environment (windowscapes) more confined and restricted. The recent changes of Auckland’s windowscapes have made the shortcomings of the New Zealand Building Code more apparent. This paper aims to demonstrate the importance of windowscapes in urban dwellers’ life and suggest some changes to the current building code to provide healthier and liveable indoor environments. First, evidence from the literature on the impact of views on building occupants’ wellbeing will be reviewed. Then, New Zealand Code Clause (G7 Natural light) and its Acceptable Solution will be critically analysed to identify areas that require improvement.Our literature review indicates that private views are more relevant for health and wellbeing than building and planning legislation in New Zealand currently considers them to be. Hence, this paper suggests that windowscapes should become an essential part of future building codes and standards. This paper concludes that providing strict requirements regarding windowscapes is essential to building a healthier indoor environment
Urban Growth, Liveability and Quality Urban Design: Questions about the efficacy of urban planning systems in Auckland, New Zealand
Get PDFPreventing sprawl and concentrating future urban growth at transit centres, typifies many urban planning strategies in a number of Australian, New Zealand and North America cities. Newer iterations of these strategies also argue that compact development delivers public benefits by enhancing urban ‘liveability’ through good urban design outcomes. Where neoliberal economic conditions prevail, achieving these aims is largely dependent on market-driven development actions requiring the appropriate urban planning responses to ensure these outcomes. However, there are growing concerns that urban planning approaches currently used are not effectively delivering the quality urban design outcomes expected and enhancing residents’ liveability. This paper reports on an evaluation of three medium density housing developments located in areas designated for intensification in Auckland, New Zealand. Examined is the extent to which the development outcomes are aligned with the statutory urban planning requirements for quality urban design. The results indicated contradictions and points to limitations of the statutory planning system to positively influence quality outcomes, leading to enhanced residents’ experiences
Evidence-Based Design of University Zoological Gardens: A Perception Study in South-west Nigeria
No full textEvidence-based design (EBD) has become an accepted paradigm in environment-behaviour endeavours in recent years with documented benefits, especially in healthcare facilities. However, little is known of its application to University Campus Open Spaces (UCOS) like University Zoological Gardens (UZGs) which accounts for the repetition of design mistakes. This study aims to assess the UZGs as a major component of UCOS in South-west Nigeria with a view to formulating EBD frameworks. It adopts a comparative post-occupancy evaluation (POE) approach through a Stratified Random Sampling protocol of users (n=3,016) of the gardens in Federal Universities in South-west Nigeria. Results of the quantitative data analyses suggest that while walk-ability is a primary satisfaction factor among thirty design considerations in the formulated model, legibility is the most primary cognitive factor for designing perceptible high-quality UZGs. The study argues in favour of the developed framework as design tool-kit and recommends its application as a feed-back input into the design process of UZGs
Aesthetics of Space Organization: Lessons from Traditional European Cities
No full textFor centuries the aesthetic significance of space organization has been one of the significant subjects of study for most artists, architects, urban designers and philosophers. Cities which experience diverse stages of growth transmit dissimilar aesthetic values due to their locations, culture, history and background. This research will try to take out the aesthetic values of the traditional European cities through the literature on aesthetic of the urban design. Accordingly, this study reflects the term urban aesthetics in spatial organization. It tries to answer the question of how space organization can lead to the aesthetic understanding of a place. The methodology for this study developed based on grounded theory study and qualitative assessments of European cities through the literature review. Overall, the study assessed integration, visual connectivity, vitality, spatial quality, as the main factors in shaping the aesthetic quality of the urban environment in European traditional cities. At the end, it proposed the findings to apply in contemporary urban designing
The Pedestrianisation and Its Relation with Enhancing Walkability in Urban Spaces
No full textThe study aimed to answer the question of how pedestrianisation can influence walkability to increase physical activity vitality and livability of urban spaces. Therefore, after the theoretical understanding of the framework of the research, the study will focus on experimental research on the Salamis rode of Famagusta to assess the problems of walkability in the street to propose a sustainable and human-friendly solution for this area. The main aim of the research is to find what is the interrelation between pedestrianisation in public urban spaces and walkability? Therefore, it concludes that walkability as a part of the pedestrianisation scheme will lead to an increase in the quality of the urban environment by increasing safety and organization in urban infra-instructors
Classical Chinese Gardens: Landscapes for Self-Cultivation
No full textThis paper examines the design philosophy of classical Suzhou gardens in China, with regards to their natural and architectural elements on the moral education of the inhabitants. Through studying the metaphorical connotations of garden elements, the author reflects on their propositions for contemporary environmental ethics, aesthetic appreciation, and moral education. As such, the article is structured around three themes: classical Chinese gardens cultivating environmental ethics, classical Chinese gardens cultivating an appreciation of aesthetics, and classical Chinese gardens cultivating moral characters. The essay finally suggests that classical Chinese gardens are landscapes for self-cultivation