Dissertations / Theses: 'Built environments'

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Yates, Heath. "Affective Intelligence in Built Environments." Diss., Kansas State University, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/2097/38790.

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Doctor of Philosophy
Department of Computer Science
William H. Hsu
The contribution of the proposed dissertation is the application of affective intelligence in human-developed spaces where people live, work, and recreate daily, also known as built environments. Built environments have been known to influence and impact individual affective responses. The implications of built environments on human well-being and mental health necessitate the need to develop new metrics to measure and detect how humans respond subjectively in built environments. Detection of arousal in built environments given biometric data and environmental characteristics via a machine learning-centric approach provides a novel and new capability to measure human responses to built environments. Work was also conducted on experimental design methodologies for multiple sensor fusion and detection of affect in built environments. These contributions include exploring new methodologies in applying supervised machine learning algorithms, such as logistic regression, random forests, and artificial neural networks, in the detection of arousal in built environments. Results have shown a machine learning approach can not only be used to detect arousal in built environments but also for the construction of novel explanatory models of the data.

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Rau, Andreas. "Interactive Play Environments : Digitally Augmenting the Built Environment to Mediate Play." Thesis, KTH, Medieteknik och interaktionsdesign, MID, 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-173935.

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This master’s thesis expands the field of research in interactive playgrounds by examining the role of the built environment that is augmented with digital technology for richer interaction possibilities in such playgrounds. Based on a literature study, this thesis distinguishes interactive play environments from interactive playgrounds, since these often do not reflect the impact of the environment on play very well. The research question being raised is then as follows: “How do children use the digitally augmented built environment in their play?” The thesis describes the process of designing and prototyping an interactive play environment that features communication and a tube to throw objects through as play concepts. Six different prototypes shape the interactive environment in close interplay with landscape and existing built environment. The prototyped environment is then evaluated in a 4-day study at a Swedish school with approximately 240 children during their recess times. This study uses observation as the predominant data gathering method. The gathered data are analyzed based on content analysis. As an answer to the research question, this thesis describes the play that happens in an interactive play environment and draws conclusions on the influence of such an environment on play. The results of the study indicate, that the digitally augmented built environment has an impact on play in stimulating certain new play patterns. It shows its potential mainly as a mediator between the children and the environment, thus stimulating children to explore their environment through play and discover dormant values of the environment. Although we found that the digitally augmented built environment influences play, this study can not confirm that the digital components embedded in the built environment actually improve the play. However, the increasing presence of digital technology in society in general makes it inevitable to think about how this presence should be reflected in children’s playgrounds in the future and this work can give some directions for that.

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Ploskic, Adnan. "Low - Temperature Basedboard Heaters in Built Environments." Licentiate thesis, KTH, Strömnings- och klimatteknik, 2010. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-25725.

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The European Union has adopted a plan to decrease 20 % of total energy consumption through improved energy efficiency by 2020. One way of achieving this challenging goal may be to use efficient water-based heating systems supplied by heat pumps or othersustainable systems. The goal of this research was to analyze and improve the thermalperformance of water-based baseboard heaters at low-temperature water supply. Both numerical (CFD) and analytical simulations were used to investigate the heat efficiency of the system. An additional objective of this work was to ensure that the indoor thermal comfort was satisfied in spaces served by such a low-temperature heating system. Analyses showed that it was fully possible to cover both transmission and ventilation heatl osses using baseboard heaters supplied by 45 °C water flow. The conventional baseboards, however, showed problems in suppressing the cold air down-flow created by 2.0 m high glazing and an outdoor temperature of – 12 °C. The draught discomfort at ankle level was slightly above the upper limit recommended by international and national standards. On the other hand, thermal baseboards with integrated ventilation air supply showed better ability to neutralize cold downdraught at the same height and conditions. Calculations also showed that the heat output from the integrated system with one ventilation inlet was approximately twiceas high as that of the conventional one. The general conclusion from this work was that low-temperature baseboards, especially with integrated ventilation air supply, are an efficient heating system and able to be combined with devices that utilize the low-quality sustainable energy sources such as heat pumps.
QC 20101029

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Handosa, Mohamed Hussein Hafez. "Supporting User Interactions with Smart Built Environments." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/87433.

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Before the recent advances in sensing, actuation, computing and communication technologies, the integration between the digital and the physical environment was limited. Humans linked those two worlds by collecting data about the physical environment before feeding it into the digital environment, and by changing the state of the physical environment based on the state of the digital environment. The incorporation of computing, communication, sensing, and actuation technologies into everyday physical objects has empowered the vision of the Internet of Things (IoT). Things can autonomously collect data about the physical environment, exchange information with other things, and take actions on behalf of humans. Application domains that can benefit from IoT include smart buildings, smart cities, smart water, smart agriculture, smart animal farming, smart metering, security and emergencies, retail, logistics, industrial control, and health care. For decades, building automation, intelligent buildings, and more recently smart buildings have received a considerable attention in both academia and industry. We use the term smart built environments (SBE) to describe smart, intelligent, physical, built, architectural spaces ranging from a single room to a whole city. Legacy SBEs were often closed systems operating their own standards and custom protocols. SBEs evolved to Internet-connected systems leveraging the Internet technologies and services (e.g., cloud services) to unleash new capabilities. IoT-enabled SBEs, as one of the various applications of the IoT, can change the way we experience our homes and workplaces significantly and make interacting with technology almost inevitable. This can provide several benefits to modern society and help to make our life easier. Meanwhile, security, privacy, and safety concerns should be addressed appropriately. Unlike traditional computing devices, things usually have no or limited input/output (I/O) capabilities. Leveraging the ubiquity of general-purpose computing devices (e.g., smartphones), thing vendors usually provide interfaces for their products in the form of mobile apps or web-based portals. Interacting with different things using different mobile apps or web-based portals does not scale well. Requiring the user to switch between tens or hundreds of mobile apps and web-based portals to interact with different things in different smart spaces may not be feasible. Moreover, it can be tricky for non-domestic users (e.g., visitors) of a given SBE to figure out, without guidance, what mobile apps or web-based portals they need to use to interact with the surrounding. While there has been a considerable research effort to address a variety of challenges associated with the thing-to-thing interaction, human-to-thing interaction related research is limited. Many of the proposed approaches and industry-adopted techniques rely on more traditional, well understood and widely used Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) methods and techniques to support interaction between humans and things. Such techniques have mostly originated in a world of desktop computers that have a screen, mouse, and keyboard. However, SBEs introduce a radically different interaction context where there are no centralized, easily identifiable input and output devices. A desktop computer of the past is being replaced with the whole SBE. Depending on the task at hand and personal preferences, a user may prefer to use one interaction modality over another. For instance, turning lights on/off using an app may be more cumbersome or time-consuming compared to using a simple physical switch. This research focuses on leveraging the recent advances in IoT and related technologies to support user interactions with SBEs. We explore how to support flexible and adaptive multimodal interfaces and interactions while providing a consistent user experience in an SBE based on the current context and the available user interface and interaction capabilities.
PHD
The recent advances in sensing, actuation, computing, and communication technologies have brought several rewards to modern society. The incorporation of those technologies into everyday physical objects (or things) has empowered the vision of the Internet of Things (IoT). Things can autonomously collect data about the physical environment, exchange information with other things, and take actions on behalf of humans. Several application domains can benefit from the IoT such as smart buildings, smart cities, security and emergencies, retail, logistics, industrial control, and health care. For decades, building automation, intelligent buildings, and more recently smart buildings have received considerable attention in both academia and industry. We use the term smart built environments (SBE) to describe smart, intelligent, physical, built, architectural spaces ranging from a single room to a whole city. SBEs, as one of the various applications of the IoT, can change the way we experience our homes and workplaces significantly and make interacting with technology almost inevitable. While there has been a considerable research effort to address a variety of challenges associated with the thing-to-thing interaction, human-to-thing interaction related research is limited. Many of the proposed approaches and industry-adopted techniques to support human-to-thing interaction rely on traditional methods. However, SBEs introduce a radically different interaction context. Therefore, adapting the current interaction techniques and/or adopting new ones is crucial for the success and wide adoption of SBEs. This research focuses on leveraging the recent advances in the IoT and related technologies to support user interactions with SBEs. We explore how to support a flexible, adaptive, and multimodal interaction experience between users and SBEs using a variety of user interfaces and proposed interaction techniques.

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Roe, Jenny. "The restorative power of natural and built environments." Thesis, Heriot-Watt University, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10399/2206.

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This thesis explores the relationship between environmental affect and mental health using restorative theory as an organising framework. Environmental affect can be described as how the physical environment (home, park etc) and social context (being with a friend) influence emotion and thereby various activities and outcomes. Three types of psychological experiences are explored, theoretically grouped under the rubric “restorative”: discrete (short-term) psychological restoration, instoration (longer term strengthening of internal resources) and person-environment fit conceptualised as niche environments supportive of 1) personal goals and 2) mood regulation. Mixed research methods (qualitative and quantitative) were used to elicit the affective dimensions of different settings (natural vs. built-external vs. built-internal) across several different groups within the population. A key aim was to explore whether restorative experiences would differ between settings in adults and young people with and without mental health problems. Five studies are presented, each exploring one or more aspect of the three part restorative framework outlined above, with one additional study focusing on social restoration. Two aspects of psychological restoration are examined: firstly, mood and secondly, cognitive reflection (defined as “changes in perspective” on life tasks over time1) using personal project analysis (Little 1983). Evidence of discrete restoration: the research supports existing empirical evidence linking activity in natural settings with mood restoration and adds to the evidence base by showing the benefits also extend to manageability of life tasks. New evidence is provided showing people with variable mental health differ in their potential for restoration, both in terms of the intensity of the experience and in response to the places in which the process occurs. People with poor mental health experienced more intensive restoration in a natural setting, but also responded more favourably to the urban setting than people without mental health problems. Natural settings promoted a mental equanimity2 across individuals with variable mental health as compared to the built setting where group outcomes diverged. 1For simplification this is referred to as “mindset” in the research 2 A levelling out of mood differences iii Evidence of instoration; the research supports the notion that activity in green settings can sustain longer term instorative benefits in adults and young people with mental health problems including increased capacity for trust and recollection, exploratory behaviour and social cohesion. Evidence of person-environment fit: a. niche environments supportive of mood regulation: the research extends existing evidence by showing natural and built settings support the continuum of good mood as well as the negation of bad mood in young people. b. niche environments supportive of personal goals: natural settings support age specific needs in young people for new experiences and community cohesion (in the form of societal projects), two dimensions supportive of well-being. Affect was found to be a significant discriminator between settings with positive affect aligned with the natural environment. Conclusions: results are consistent with a restorative effect of landscape and suggest differing states of mental health moderate in restorative processes. The research has also shown that the built environment is potentially restorative amongst certain health groups. The affective quality of environments varies and the ‘personal project’ research has shown the potential impact on well-being. Items flagged for further research include firstly, the need for further evidence on the relationship between the challenge of green activity and self-esteem in poor mental health groups; and secondly, the need to identify exactly what aspects of the built environment cause restorative differences to occur (i.e. the social context v. physical).

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Hoyt, Kathleen Ann. "Physical environment socialization : development of attitudinal and aesthetic response towards built and natural environments." [Davis, Calif.], 1991. http://uclibs.org/PID/11984.

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Davis.
SPEC. COLL. HAS ARCHIVAL COPY; MICRO. ROOM HAS MICROFICHE COPY (2 SHEETS). Typescript. Degree granted in Psychology. Also available via the World Wide Web. (Restricted to UC campuses)

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Santo, Yasuhiro. "Co-adaptable environments: Ad-hoc technologies and the self-management of one's built environment." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2017. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/115117/1/115117_6489877_yasu-santo_thesis.pdf.

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This thesis argues that we can establish better relationships with our buildings by introducing more means to control and customise them to suit our needs and preferences. The study investigates contemporary office buildings and emphasises the importance of making our workplace environment more flexible, desirable, and durable by introducing cybernetic relationships between buildings and their users. The thesis concludes with a suggestion that the introduction of Co-adaptable environments, in which building users and their built environment positively affect and improve each other, is the key to achieving such environments.

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GOLBA, BRAD L. "SYMBIOSIS: THE HARMONY OF BUILT FORM AND NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2004. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1083015010.

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Golba, Brad L. "Symbiosis the harmony of built form and natural environments /." Cincinnati, Ohio : University of Cincinnati, 2004. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc%5Fnum=ucin1083015010.

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Geiß, Christian. "Seismic vulnerability assessment of built environments with remote sensing." Doctoral thesis, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät II, 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.18452/17104.

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Globale Urbanisierungsprozesse und eine Zunahme der räumlichen Konzentration von exponierten Elementen wie Menschen, Gebäude, Infrastruktur und ökonomische Werte induzieren ein ungekanntes Risiko in erdbebengefährdeten Regionen. Wenn keine Abschwächung des Risikos erfolgt werden dramatische Folgen in der Zukunft erwartet. Diese umfassen eine beispiellose Anzahl an Todesopfer, enorme ökonomische und ökologische Verluste und Ausfälle bezüglich kritischer Infrastruktur und Versorgung etc. Um derartige Gefährdungen abzuschwächen sind detaillierte Informationen über seismisches Risiko notwendig. Die seismische Verwundbarkeit von Siedlungsarealen ist dabei als zentrale, konstituierende Komponente von seismischem Risiko zu berücksichtigen. In diesem Zusammenhang ist es von besonderem Interesse das Verhalten von Gebäudeinventaren unter einem bestimmten Erdbebeneinfluss abschätzen zu können. Das Hauptziel der Arbeit war es maßgeschneiderte Methoden zu entwickeln, die eine Bewertung der seismischen Vulnerabilität von Siedlungsräumen, basierend auf Fernerkundungsdaten, durchführbar machen. Es wurden Methoden aus dem Bereich des maschinellen Lernens adaptiert, um Verwundbarkeitsstufen von Gebäuden und homogenen Siedlungsstrukturen zu bestimmen. Hierfür wurden Merkmale aus Fernerkundungsdaten abgeleitet und mit in situ Informationen verknüpft. Wir verwenden verschiedene Ensembles von Fernerkundungssensoren, um die urbane Morphologie umfassend zu charakterisieren. Empirische Ergebnisse, die für die erdbebengefährdeten Städte Padang (Indonesien) und Istanbul (Türkei) generiert werden konnten, bestätigen die Durchführbarkeit der entwickelten Verfahren. Zukünftige Arbeiten können daran anknüpfen und beispielsweise empirische Erkenntnisse in weiteren Fallstudien anzweifeln, eine Verbesserung der Methodik vornehmen, Konzepte und Ansätze auf andere Sensorsysteme oder Datenquellen übertragen oder Daten und Methoden im Rahmen von holistischen Risikobewertungsstrategien anwenden.
Global urbanization processes and increasing spatial concentration of exposed elements such as people, buildings, infrastructure, and economic values in earthquake prone regions induce seismic risk at a uniquely high level. This situation, when left unmitigated, is expected to cause unprecedented death tolls, enormous economic and ecological losses, and critical infrastructure and service failures, etc., in the future. To mitigate those perils requires detailed knowledge about seismic risks. As an important constituent element of seismic risk, the seismic vulnerability of the built environment has to be assessed. In particular, it is crucial to know about the behavior of the building inventory under a certain level of ground shaking. The main goal of the thesis was to develop and evaluate tailored methods and procedures that allow for a viable seismic vulnerability assessment of the built environment with remote sensing data. In particular, methods from the machine learning domain were adapted to estimate vulnerability levels of buildings and homogeneous urban structures based on features derived from remote sensing and by incorporation of in situ knowledge. To this purpose we deploy ensembles of earth observation sensors to exhaustively characterize the urban morphology. Empirical results, obtained for the earthquake prone cities Padang (Indonesia) and Istanbul (Turkey), confirm the viability of the approaches. Overall, this thesis provides some promising results, which show that remote sensing has a high capability to contribute to a rapid screening assessment of the seismic vulnerability of buildings and urban structures. Further work can build upon these results and may challenge empirical findings in further case studies, enhance developed and applied methods, transfer concepts and approaches to other sensor systems and data sources, or apply data and methodologies within integrative and holistic risk assessment strategies.

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Sexton, M. G. "Sustainable built environments and construction activity through dynamic research agendas." Thesis, University of Salford, 2000. http://usir.salford.ac.uk/14816/.

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There is a growing consensus that appropriate strategies and actions are needed to develop sustainable built environments and construction activity. This thesis contextualises this consensus within the broader sustainable development literature. First, the review of the literature culminates in the development of the Holographic Dynamic PSR (pressure, state, response) model as a holistic, system-orientated framework to better understand the focus of, and interaction between, stakeholders' worldviews and actions to progress sustainable development. Second, five systemically linked hypotheses are articulated to test the argument that the current body of research knowledge is not sufficiently focused and integrated to support progressive, significant and balanced sustainable development. The hypotheses are tested using built environment and construction activity specific literature, through a 'nested' research methodology comprising an interpretative philosophy, a soft systems research approach and literature review and synthesis research techniques. The thesis substantially supports the overall argument mapped out by the hypotheses, and proposes both a generic dynamic research agenda framework to progress sustainable development in general; and a UK prioritised research agenda for sustainable built environments and construction activity.

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Quan, Dennis A. (Dennis Arthur) 1981. "Designing end user information environments built on semistructured data models." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/29750.

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2003.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 206-214).
Today's information systems were not built to adapt themselves to personal needs. For example, assigning properties not envisioned by the database administrator or the software engineer such as "good music to listen to when I am in a bad mood" or "excellent sushi place for taking foreign guests" is difficult in most programs because schemas are often cast in stone by a compiler or database management system. Relationships between objects in the same program or different programs, such as "Bob is Mary's brother" or "this report is relevant to next week's meeting", are similarly difficult to specify, since programs either fail to expose their object models to each other, or their object models are not fine-grained enough. If computers cannot record connective meta-data-the "glue" we use for keeping track of things-information overload will eventually prevent users from taking full advantage of information technology.We claim that by using a semistructured data model, the system can capture the context and circumstances underlying information and not simply the information itself and thus help to elucidate the relevance of the information for the user and others. To demonstrate the efficacy of our semistructured data model (based on semantic networks) and explore its consequences to the user interface, a system named Haystack has been built that permits users to store their information in a flexible fashion that can adapt to their needs.
(cont.) Haystack also coalesces previously segregated sources of the user's information, describes the data found in these sources using our rich description framework, and explores new means and synergies for creating, displaying, and sharing this information. The thesis begins with a motivation of the problem space and a tour of our system and then delves into the details of our user interface paradigm and other higher level concepts we believe will be helpful for those designing future information environments.
by Dennis A. Quan, Jr.
Ph.D.

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Nurse, Monique M. "Built Environments and Childhood Obesity Epidemic in the Immigrant Population." ScholarWorks, 2019. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/7497.

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A lack of adequately built environments can negatively affect obesity rates among adolescents. The purpose of this quantitative cross-sectional study was to determine if there is a relationship between the presence of built environments and childhood obesity among the immigrant population living in Cobb County Georgia. The social ecological model was used to explain how environmental factors may influence behavior. The research questions addressed whether walkability and elements of built environments such as to healthy foods and access to parks and recreational areas of census tracts affect childhood obesity when adjusting for race/ethnicity and immigrant population in Cobb County. Data was collected from government websites. Student enrollment, school ethnicity, and free/reduced lunch data were retrieved from the website, School Digger, which gathered their information from the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau, and the Georgia Department of Education data sources. Average BMI data were gathered from the Georgia Department of Education 2016-2017 Georgia fitness assessment report. Data were analyzed using independent t-test, Pearson correlation and 1-way ANCOVA. Findings showed a statistical significance with the existence of farmer's markets and child obesity but no significance among the other built environment variables. The results from this study can help community leaders develop an inclusive plan to reduce the occurrence of obesity in adolescents within the target area.

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Rooke, C. N. "Improving Wayfinding in old and complex hospital environments." Thesis, University of Salford, 2012. http://usir.salford.ac.uk/27358/.

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Many hospitals have developed over a number of years in a piecemeal fashion. This has resulted in complex environments made up of long and confusing corridor systems with bends, turns, and confusing signs. Such settings challenge and frustrate those who visit them. The importance of wayfinding to building use, costs and safety and the growth in terms of theories, principles, guidelines, and methodologies over the years does not appear to have made an impact on wayfinding performance in complex hospitals. Thus, there remains a need to find more effective wayfinding solutions to the problems that continue to occur in complex hospitals. This research aims at improving methods for developing wayfinding systems and strategies in old and complex hospital environments. The study adopts a design science research approach informed by uniquely adequate observations of how wayfinders make sense of wayfinding information embedded in the complex built environments they have to navigate. The approach includes an extensive review of literature on wayfinding supported by that of the fields of knowledge management, design (architectural and industrial), and production and operations management. The research brings together the disciplines of design and knowledge management to sensitise designers to the varied needs and knowledge levels of wayfinders when designing wayfinding systems. Drawing on findings from both the review of literature and extensive ethnographic fieldwork the research has produced prescriptive and evaluative wayfinding frameworks to aid the design of effective and efficient wayfinding systems and strategies. The outcome of successfully applying the design science research approach to researching the problems of wayfinding and mapping the approach research process with the unique adequacy approach is the Wayfinding Conceptual framework. It represents a methodological contribution, aimed at helping to mitigate the problem of relevance often associated with academic management research.

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Manuja, Archit. "Total Surface Area in Indoor Environments." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/83384.

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Certain processes in indoor air, such as deposition, partitioning, and heterogeneous reactions, involve interactions with surfaces. To accurately describe the surface-area-to-volume ratio in a room, we have characterized the surface area, volume, shape, and material of objects in five bedrooms, four kitchens, and three offices. Averaged over all types of rooms, the ratio of surface area with contents to that without contents was 1.7 ± 0.2 (mean ± standard error), and the ratio of volume of freely moving air to volume of the entire space was 0.89 ± 0.05. Ignoring contents, the surface-area-to-volume ratio was 1.9 ± 0.3 m-1; accounting for contents, the ratio was 3.7 ± 1.2 m-1. Ratios were not significantly different between room types and were comparable to those measured for 33 rooms in a similar study. Due to substantial differences in the design and contents of kitchens, their ratios had the highest variability among the three room types. On average, the contents of bedrooms, kitchens, and offices increase their surface area by 70% and decrease their volume of freely moving air by 11% compared to an empty room. The most common shape of objects in a room was a flat plate, while each room also had many irregularly-shaped objects. Paint and wood were the two most common materials in each room, although the distribution of materials varied by room type. The results of this study can be used to improve understanding of the behavior of gases and particles in indoor environments.
Master of Science

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Adas, Yasser Ahmed. "Change in identity of Saudis' built environments : the case of Jeddah." Thesis, Heriot-Watt University, 2001. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/26291.

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Identity is an essential human demand for life. It is with the identity that human beings introduce a sense of meaning into existence. It can be demonstrated through many different human expressions. The built environment, however, is the main medium discussed in this research. Nevertheless the research traces the identity and the impact of its change in both physical and non -physical environments. This is to understand the expression of identity in Jeddah, as a case study that represents the Saudi community and that has been exposed to drastic changes since the 1950s which stretched the gap between the traditional and the modern. The main objective is to construct a means to evaluate the built environment according to how it conveys, interprets, expresses, enhances or confuses Saudi identity. The research follows a quantitative -qualitative approach in investigating the relationship between the identity and the built environment. This is conducted through a theoretical enquiry which addresses a definition of identity and its elements, natural environment, underlying factors and built environment, and an empirical investigation through the case study (Jeddah) which will include a documents review to trace the change and a questionnaire that aims at investigating Saudis' perception of their environment as a medium of presentation for their identity. The study therefore, probes the concept of identity in general, aiming to develop a theoretical understanding towards considering it in architectural and planning practices. On the other hand the research concentrates on Jeddah, to provide feedback for architectural design and planning that accommodates a Saudi identity.

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Chew, Lup Wai. "Passive enhancement of air flow at pedestrian level in built environments." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/111767.

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Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 2017
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 77-79).
A densely built environment has low wind speed at the pedestrian level due to flow obstruction induced by buildings. Urban street canyons, the outdoor spaces formed between buildings, often have much lower wind speed than the atmospheric wind above the roof level. In tropical regions, wind plays an important role to improve outdoor thermal comfort of urban inhabitants by increasing the convective heat transfer from body surfaces. This thesis explores four types of passive architectural interventions to boost pedestrian-level wind speed in urban street canyons, namely void decks (open ground level), the wind catcher, the reversed wind catcher, and step-up/ step-down canyons. The proposed interventions were first studied experimentally in a recirculating water channel, where an atmospheric flow across an array of two-dimensional canyons was simulated with reduced-scale models of buildings.
The velocity profiles in the third to sixth canyons were measured with Acoustic Doppler Velocimetry. Compared with the reference case, void decks enhance near-ground flows in all measured canyons by up to a factor of two, but the enhancement effect weakens in downstream canyons. The wind catcher enhances the flow in the target canyon by 2.5 times with no significant effect in other canyons. The reversed wind catcher and the step-up/ step-down canyons reduce flows in the downstream canyons. The experimental data was used to validate computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models. CFD simulation results agree well with the experimental results for all cases. The validated CFD models were then used to study the void decks and the wind catcher in three-dimensional canyons. Void decks double near-ground flows in all canyons. The wind catcher increases near-ground flow in the target canyon by only 50% due to leakage at the sides.
An improved wind catcher with sidewalls (to prevent leakage) triples near-ground flow in the target canyon. These findings prove the potential of void decks and the wind catchers as effective architectural interventions to enhance pedestrian-level wind speed and serve as a benchmark for future work to optimize the design of void decks and wind catchers.
by Lup Wai Chew.
S.M.
S.M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering

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Bigloo, Fay. "Walkabout, social and built environments, and quality of life in older adults." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/43731.

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The purpose of this multilevel exploratory study was to determine the effects of Walkabout, a community-based physical activity program initiated by Dr. Joy Butler of The University of British Columbia, on the quality of life (QOL) of older adult participants. This multifaceted study also explored the impacts of physical, built and created social environments on the amount of older adult participants’ engagements in physical activities. A total of 23 older adults participated in the study and 21 finished it. The study was primarily focused on two Walkabout teams, ten participants in total. The members of one team lived in the Richmond area of Metro Vancouver and the other team members lived in an independent living centre in Vancouver’s Westside. Both teams consisted of physically and cognitively independent individuals who were capable of performing their own Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL). The majority of the data were collected from the participants through private interviews and some anecdotal journals. A literature review was conducted. A separate examination of the two neighbourhoods under study was also performed using the Senior Walking Environmental Audit Tool-Revised (SWEAT-R) (Chaudhury, Sarte, Michael, Mahmood, Keast, Dogaru, & Wister, 2011). The findings through a qualitative method demonstrated the benefits of the Walkabout Program for health and life satisfaction, which the older adult participants identified as the most important contributing factors to their QOL. The social environment created through Walkabout was what the majority of the participants enjoyed the most. The older participants considered social networking and social capital as two important factors that contributed to their quality of life. In addition, the study also identified such factors as aesthetics, safety, convenience, distance, and diversity of physical and built environments as environmental attributes that impacted the level of older adult participants’ engagements in physical activity.

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Al-Lahham, Abeer. "Rights of power vs power of rights : synthesis of Muslim built environments." Thesis, Oxford Brookes University, 2000. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.325475.

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Hobson, Edward. "Conservation of the built environments : an assessment of values in urban planning." Thesis, University of Sheffield, 2001. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/10288/.

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The ethos and practical application of conservation has evolved from a concern with preserving isolated fragments of archaeological importance to enhancing the general urban fabric through land use planning. Responding to successive threats and pressures for change has furnished professional practice with a cumulative accretion of justificatory principles and values which are often taken as self-evident norms supporting the formation and application of policy. While some perceive this as a strength, others highlight the weakness engendered by such a diverse and potentially contradictory set of values. lt is the exposition of these underlying tensions which forms the basis for this thesis. Approaching the study of conservation planning holistically, a conceptual framework of ten themes was developed from the existing literature to provide both a theoretical and a practical strategy with which to analyse the subject. A two-tier empirical study explored the value directions underlying the national policy climate and those manifest in the practical implementation of conservation in two local planning authorities' practice. The findings challenge many of the assumptions supporting conservation. There is cogent evidence to suggest that conservation is suffering marginalisation in planning, through professional attitudes, procedural emphases and a lack of strategic support for conservation's added value. These perceptions are influenced by the interpretation of value in the built environment, whereby the recognition of environmental and cultural context remains under-developed against a concentration on valuing independent artefacts. Furthermore, whilst relying on widespread popular support for conservation, this focus divorces conservation from lay perceptions of broader environmental value. Such a relatively exclusive practice may have undermined active political support for conservation. Ironically at a time when national policy emphasises conservation's contribution to sustainability and urban regeneration, the practical exclusivity of conservation may actually hamper realising its wider potential.

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Van, der Jagt Alexander Petrus Nicolaas. "Restorative environments : why the saliency of natural and built scene content matters." Thesis, University of Aberdeen, 2014. http://digitool.abdn.ac.uk:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=203951.

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The present research addressed an assumption of Attention Restoration Theory (ART), which predicts that built scene content captures attention more strongly than natural content. Section І covers the findings of three pilot studies that were aimed at finding a suitable methodology for contrasting the saliency of natural and built content. An initial study in which use was made of a Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) did not provide evidence for divergent saliency levels between natural and built scene categories. Hence, a Go/No-Go paradigm with shorter exposure times was used in later studies. A second pilot study was carried out in order to determine which scene category labels are both comprehensible and interpreted consistently across respondents. A third pilot study was aimed at filtering out boundary case scenes from the set of images pre-selected by the experimenter. Section ІІ covers four studies, which addressed two aims: (1) To test whether built content is more salient than natural scene content, and (2) to test the effect of inconsistent built and natural elements on saliency. These studies supported the claim of ART that built scenes are more salient than natural scenes. In addition, they provided evidence for the assumption that a built element increases the saliency of a natural scene more strongly than a natural element increases the saliency of a built scene. The relationship between saliency of content and restoration is explored in Section ІІІ. The findings provided mixed evidence in support of ART. Restoration of alerting attention was more complete following non-salient than salient scenes. However, previous research indicating stronger restoration of executive attention and working memory span in response to natural than built content exposures was not replicated. Furthermore, restoration of orienting attention was more complete following salient than non-salient scene presentations. It is concluded that saliency of scene content is predictive of psychological restoration, albeit not necessarily in the way as predicted by ART.

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Gokhale, Medha. "Questioning the envelope concept : thermal simulation for urban and suburban built environments /." [St. Lucia, Qld.], 2002. http://www.library.uq.edu.au/pdfserve.php?image=thesisabs/absthe16814.pdf.

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Colley, Jacinta. "How does the built environment support inpatient neurorehabilitation? A situated analysis." Thesis, Griffith University, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/371956.

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Accumulating research evidence recognises the interaction between people and place, and demonstrates the potential for the built environment to provide a supportive influence on a person’s health status and recovery journey following illness or injury. However, the nature of the supportive influence of the healthcare built environment is not well understood, particularly within inpatient neurorehabilitation settings, where people experience prolonged admissions and due to the functional, cognitive and social challenges often resulting from serious injury, may be particularly dependent on the environment to support rehabilitation and recovery. Despite the relevance of the built environment during this critical stage in the rehabilitation process, there are no clear guidelines for the design of supportive neurorehabilitation settings. Design of these settings has often focused on functional and safety requirements as dictated by building codes and industry standards. This is not commensurate with the current healthcare focus on patient-centred approaches to practice, which has broadened the focus from safety, clinical efficiencies and cost-effectiveness, toward supporting user activity and experiences of care (Bate & Robert, 2007a; Gesler, Bell, Curtis, Hubbard & Francis, 2004). Further, the lack of research specific to neurorehabilitation populations and in-depth examination of user experiences limits the development of supportive settings that contribute positively to recovery and rehabilitation experiences following serious spinal cord and brain injury. The current study employed a multi-method, multiple-case study approach to explore how patients and staff interact with and experience the neurorehabilitation built environment at two sites, a spinal injury unit (SIU) and a brain injury unit (BIU). It aimed to address the central research question, how does the built environment support the inpatient neurorehabilitation experience? Each case (neurorehabilitation unit) included four embedded units of analysis to explore the potential supportive function of the built environment. This included 1) analysis of available archival data on the original building purpose and design, 2) independent surveys of physical features of the setting and the likely experiences they afford, 3) observations of user activity and 4) interviews and focus groups with patients and staff to understand user experiences. In accordance with the multiple-case study approach outlined by Yin (2009), results for each of the four types of data collected were first analysed independently for the SIU and BIU (within-case analyses). A cross-case thematic analysis of user experiences was then conducted to provide deeper insight into patterns and underlying themes in user experiences and further investigate similarities and differences across the two sites. Results from the within-case analyses identified a built environment focus on safety and processes, with limited inclusion of features to support positive user experiences. This environmental focus was in contrast with current patient-centred approaches to rehabilitation and was detrimental to positive user experiences of the setting. Patients and staff at both units described the settings as no longer supportive of current rehabilitation practice, describing a number of key challenges impacting activity and experiences within the current settings including a lack of space, issues with accessibility and functionality, a lack of privacy, poor aesthetics and sensory environment, and outdated buildings. In the absence of built environment support for day-to-day activities, users were able to adapt to operate within the limitations of the current settings. However, this adaptation was limited in scope and was often experienced as stressful and as placing unnecessary pressure on users, who suggested that a more supportive setting would be required for improved rehabilitation practice and experiences. The potential for more supportive, adaptive rehabilitation environments was identified in the cross-case thematic analysis of user experiences, which identified a number of important environmental considerations for neurorehabilitation settings. An adaptive environment was one that could better support rehabilitation by facilitating a balance between change and certainty. The process of change described the dynamic nature of rehabilitation and the need for a built environment to facilitate this development at two levels, namely, changes to rehabilitation practice and changes at an individual level. The process of certainty described the need for a predictable, reliable environment, which would allow users to understand the environment, facilitate users to retain control over the immediate environment, and support patients to regain or maintain their sense of self. The current study extends the current evidence-based design literature, highlighting the importance of environmental support that extends beyond safety and functionality and providing a model for holistic, patient-centred design of more supportive neurorehabilitation environments. Although the buildings for the sites studied were designed and constructed over 30 years ago, they were representative of buildings of this age designed for people with complex conditions. Findings can inform the development of future neurorehabilitation settings that actively contribute to rehabilitation, recovery and wellbeing following life-changing spinal cord or brain injury.
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Human Service & Social Work
Griffith Health
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Kielty, Daniel. "Haptic relations with built environments in the writings of Rebecca West, 1909-1941." Thesis, University of Leeds, 2017. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/18831/.

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This thesis examines representations of haptic relations with built environments in the writings of Rebecca West from 1909-1941. I explore the ways that depictions of this aspect of bodily engagement with the world significantly enables and shapes her public voice, with which she thinks through the situation of the modern subject. My project demonstrates that West’s portrayal of haptic experiences frame her approach to a range of modernist concerns and highlights the contexts which inform this. My first chapter examines how her depictions of painful experiences in the prison cell and reservoir critique representations of transformative suffering in suffragette fiction and modernist magazines. The second chapter considers how representations of tactile practice are used to subvert principles of aesthetic practice defined by Henry James’ ‘house of fiction’ and theories of the ‘house beautiful’. My third chapter explores how portrayals of ‘global touch’ in private and public structures frame West’s attempt to express a sensitive female awareness of patriarchal and celebrity culture. The fourth chapter traces how renderings of aesthetic empathy in the built environments of Paris and London shape her theory about the socially orienting and disorienting power of art. My fifth chapter maps how depictions of reach-touch in religious architecture elaborate West’s interest in ritual actions that transcend the influence of religious doctrine on subjectivity. I approach each of my chosen texts using a range of phenomenological theorists, supported by engagements with West’s journalism, archival materials and the work of other modernists. Each chapter uses an analysis of the haptic to situate West’s writings in relation to scholarship which addresses modernism’s relationship with violence, bodily confrontations with technology, sensuous geographies, empathy, aesthetic experience and religion. The project provides an extensive reading of haptic relations with built environments in West’s writings and asserts that this provides a richer understanding of her representation of modern subjectivity.

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Gu, Shuang. "Localisation in wireless sensor networks for disaster recovery and rescuing in built environments." Thesis, University of Bedfordshire, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10547/335751.

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Progress in micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) and radio frequency (RF) technology has fostered the development of wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Different from traditional networks, WSNs are data-centric, self-configuring and self-healing. Although WSNs have been successfully applied in built environments (e.g. security and services in smart homes), their applications and benefits have not been fully explored in areas such as disaster recovery and rescuing. There are issues related to self-localisation as well as practical constraints to be taken into account. The current state-of-the art communication technologies used in disaster scenarios are challenged by various limitations (e.g. the uncertainty of RSS). Localisation in WSNs (location sensing) is a challenging problem, especially in disaster environments and there is a need for technological developments in order to cater to disaster conditions. This research seeks to design and develop novel localisation algorithms using WSNs to overcome the limitations in existing techniques. A novel probabilistic fuzzy logic based range-free localisation algorithm (PFRL) is devised to solve localisation problems for WSNs. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm performs better than other range free localisation algorithms (namely DVhop localisation, Centroid localisation and Amorphous localisation) in terms of localisation accuracy by 15-30% with various numbers of anchors and degrees of radio propagation irregularity. In disaster scenarios, for example, if WSNs are applied to sense fire hazards in building, wireless sensor nodes will be equipped on different floors. To this end, PFRL has been extended to solve sensor localisation problems in 3D space. Computational results show that the 3D localisation algorithm provides better localisation accuracy when varying the system parameters with different communication/deployment models. PFRL is further developed by applying dynamic distance measurement updates among the moving sensors in a disaster environment. Simulation results indicate that the new method scales very well.

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Sjöholm, Jennie. "Heritagisation of built environments : a study of the urban transformation in Kiruna, Sweden." Licentiate thesis, Luleå tekniska universitet, Arkitektur och vatten, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:ltu:diva-25737.

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This licentiate thesis is part of a larger case study that examines the built cultural heritage in Kiruna’s urban transformation. The research study presupposes it is necessary to address cultural significance of the built environment in urban planning practice. In Sweden, a conservation planning strategy emerged during the 1980s, in response to the extensive urban renewals that took place in many towns over the decades before. In spite of this, there are many examples of how demands for urban renewal challenge urban conservation.The aim of the thesis is to explore how the concept of built cultural heritage is understood in contemporary urban planning and how urban planning practice affects the built cultural heritage. The main research question is: how are buildings and built environments transformed into cultural heritage?The analysis draws on concepts such as ‘heritagisation’, ‘heritage’ and ‘authorised heritage discourse’. Heritagisation is defined as a process in which something, such as a built environment, turns into heritage. Heritage is perceived as a social and cultural construction in which values and meanings are attributed to, for instance, built environments. There is a distinction between official heritage that is authorised by legislation and unofficial heritage, which is not formally recognised. The authorised heritage discourse is characterised as a hegemonic heritage discourse favouring the monumental and aesthetically appealing, being a concern for heritage specialists.The research is performed as a qualitative, interpretative intrinsic case study of Kiruna’s contemporary urban transformation. The case study is triangulated using multiple methods and a variety of data. The main methods used are text analysis of records, planning documents and media coverage as well as semistructured interviews and observations.Kiruna was established in 1900, with the mining company LKAB as the main stakeholder, in order to provide housing for the large number of workers required in the iron ore industry. The hopes were very high for the design of the new town and some of Sweden’s most famous architects, planners and artists at the time were hired. From the 1980s until 2005, the town’s built environments were recognised as built cultural heritage. Local, regional and national authorities collaborated in protecting designated buildings. In 2004, it became publicly known that subsidence caused by mining activities would affect the settlement; the town would, therefore, be relocated. This has caused controversies around the management of the built cultural heritage in the urban transformation processes. The case of Kiruna illustrates the impact of legislation in defining built cultural heritage and the influence of the authorised heritage discourse on urban planning practice. There are, however, difficulties in implementing the notion of cultural heritage as socially and culturally constructed into urban planning processes; rather, the heritage is perceived as a fixed entity. It is suggested that also unofficial heritage should be recognised in the urban planning processes, in order to manage the long-term urban transformation process.
Godkänd; 2013; 20130428 (jensjo); Tillkännagivande licentiatseminarium 2013-05-06 Nedanstående person kommer att hålla licentiatseminarium för avläggande av teknologie licentiatexamen. Namn: Jennie Sjöholm Ämne: Arkitektur/Architecture Uppsats: Heritagisation of Built Environments : A Study of the Urban Transformation in Kiruna, Sweden Examinator: Professor Kristina L Nilsson, Institutionen för samhällsbyggnad och naturresurser, Luleå tekniska universitet Diskutant: Teknisk doktor Krister Olsson, Riksantikvarieämbetet, Stockholm Tid: Måndag den 27 maj 2013 kl 13.00 Plats: F1031, Luleå tekniska universitet

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Elif, Berna Var. "Conservation of Built Vernacular Heritage for Promoting Sustainable Rural Environments in Trabzon, Turkey." Kyoto University, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/2433/242784.

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付記する学位プログラム名: グローバル生存学大学院連携プログラム
Kyoto University (京都大学)
0048
新制・課程博士
博士(地球環境学)
甲第21934号
地環博第180号
新制||地環||36(附属図書館)
京都大学大学院地球環境学舎地球環境学専攻
(主査)教授小林広英, 教授柴田昌三, 准教授深町加津枝
学位規則第4条第1項該当

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Diep, Olsson Emelie, and Siri Lindersköld. "Establishment of play in Million program environments." Thesis, Malmö högskola, Fakulteten för kultur och samhälle (KS), 2012. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-21754.

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Utgångspunkten för denna kandidatuppsats är att den byggda miljön påverkar våra liv och vårt handlingsutrymme. Den byggda miljön kan möjliggöra eller begränsa olika typer av aktiviteter. Leken är en av de mest grundläggande aktiviteterna i vår sociala utveckling och är en del av den sociala interaktionen med andra människor. Leken förknippas ofta med barn, men leken förkommer och är viktig för alla ålderskategorier.Syftet med studien är att ta reda på hur den byggda miljön kan skapa möjligheter för leken att etableras. Vi undersöker om man kan planera och styra leken och vad leken kan tillföra i ett miljonprogramsområde.Många av de miljonprogramsområden som byggdes i Sverige under 1960- och 70-talet är ofta problemtyngda och den byggda miljön lider av ett eftersatt underhåll. Området Gårdsten i Göteborg är ett område som genomgått ombyggnadsprojekt med inriktning på hållbarhetsfrågor, med de sociala frågorna i huvudfokus. Vi har genomfört en fallstudie av området och genom analys utvärderat hur den byggda miljön skapar förutsättningar för lek.
The basis for this candidate essay is that the built environment affects our lives and our freedom of action. The built environment can facilitate or limit different types of activities. Play is one of the most basic things in our social development and is part of the social interaction with other people. The play is often associated with children, but the play is as important for all age groups.The purpose of this study is to investigate how the built environment can support the opportunity for play to establish itself in one place. We investigate to what extent you can plan and control the play and what play can supply to a Million Programme area.Many of the Million Programme areas that were built in Sweden during the 1960s and 70s are often problematic and the built environment suffers from deferred maintenance. The area Gårdsten in Gothenburg is an area that has undergone renovation projects with a focus on sustainability issues, with social issues in the main focus. We have conducted a case study of the area and through analysis evaluated how the built environment can create conditions for play.

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Foroughi, Mahsa. "Temporal Experiences of Architecture through the Lens of Cinema: Haptic Visuality and Built Environments in Andrei Tarkovsky's Films." Thesis, Griffith University, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/397642.

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This study takes an interdisciplinary approach to explore the temporal experience and character of built environments. While arguing against the dominance of visual means as the principal perception modality, this thesis also explores an alternative approach to the temporal experience of built environments based on the haptic and tactile perceptions. After examining literature that stresses ocularcentrism as a cause-and-consequence of the culture of speed, appeared in modernity, this thesis focuses on two key concepts of movement and memory. Viewing these two concepts through a phenomenological perspective, I elaborate the significance of haptic perception—the integration of senses such as movement, touch and embodied memory—in relation to the temporal experience of architecture. To offer an alternative model of experiencing built environments, I use cinema as the means to explore and illustrate how haptic experiences and epistemologies can shape our experience of the temporal in architecture. I select two exemplary works by Soviet filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky (1932–1986): Solaris (1972) and Nostalgia (1983). The aim is to elucidate how through a style of what is now commonly referred to as ‘slow cinema’ these two films trigger a sense of time, memory and history by appealing to haptic experiences. While the first chapter demonstrates that the perception of architecture through the complexities of sensations has been partly obscured by the dominance of vision, it also suggests that in extending this critique to all forms of visuality, the architectural theory fails to address the vision that is intersubjective. Retracing pathways across art history, architectural theory and cinema studies, the second chapter explains Laura Marks’s theory of ‘haptic visuality’ as an alternative model of seeing, in which the eye works as an organ that could produce haptic sensations through the body. While my use of Tarkovsky’s films is informed by the theory of haptic visuality, which also transforms the ocularcentric character that cinema shares with much of contemporary architecture, the third chapter considers Gilles Deleuze’s concepts in timeII image cinema to explore the temporal possibilities of the haptic. By focusing on Deleuze’s categories of images in time-image cinema and the way their temporal implications inform Marks’s theory of haptic visuality, this chapter illuminates how the durable engagement of the eye with the image/space is a temporal perception in itself. The fourth and fifth chapters examine Tarkovsky’s Solaris and Nostalgia to map a set of unique aesthetic strategies across the two films, which work as an analogue to haptic experiences of the temporal in built environments. As a whole, this thesis aims to outline the implications of considering haptic sensibilities in architectural thinking and, consequently, to place the discussion of temporal possibilities of the haptic within the so-called Slow Movement (coined in 2004). In this respect, the concluding chapter puts forth the aesthetic of slowness in architecture as something that in its opposition to the compression of temporality in today’s built environment aims to value haptic spaces that encourage a sense of ‘slowness’ necessary to experience the intensity of memory.
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Hum, Lang & Soc Sc
Arts, Education and Law
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Ryks, Tony. "Supportive Environments for Active Living?: A Case Study of Local Government Discourses of the Built and Social Environments and Physical Activity." The University of Waikato, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10289/2523.

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Lack of physical activity among New Zealanders is typically regarded as a serious public health concern. Surveys indicate that a considerable proportion of the population fail to engage in even modest amounts. As well as conferring health benefits, leading an active life can help to build social capital, achieve manual tasks, enhance enjoyment, and reduce traffic congestion and pollution. The research of physical activity in New Zealand is, therefore, important. Many factors influence physical activity behaviour, but traditionally there has been a focus on individual-level behaviour-change approaches. In recent years research has started to focus more on characteristics of physical and social environments, such as provision of cycle paths and development of community social cohesion. Concerned by what I observed to be an over-emphasis by New Zealand agencies on encouraging individual behaviour change, I set out to examine the factors that contributed to the shaping of built and social environments, and their effects on population physical activity. Identifying a gap in the research, I examined these factors via a case study of the Hamilton City Council (HCC). My study employed Foucauldian 'tools' to examine selected HCC documents and interview transcripts with a view to identifying the discourses underpinning local government action with regard to built and social environments and physical activity. In this process I interviewed seven HCC staff members from six relevant departments, including Parks and Gardens, Community Development, and Roading and Transportation. Data was gathered from the staff members using semi-structured interviews, based on pre-prepared guidelines, developed following a review of relevant literature. Relevant HCC strategy and planning documents were selected only after interviews were completed and included their urban design, transportation, creativity and identity and social well-being strategies. I adopted a Foucauldian perspective to analyse the data because I wanted to examine the phenomena of increased physical inactivity by questioning particular 'ways of knowing' and 'truths'. Such an examination, at the level of local government, could help reveal why some cities are more conducive to active living than others. This theoretical approach helped reveal a number of underpinning discourses, including discourses of economic rationality; the council as nurturer; safety and surveillance; participative government; and work efficiency. Key discourses of economic rationality and participative government were pervasive in both the interviews and documents, highlighting the degree to which economic considerations and consultative practices dominate local government actions. My four main findings were that HCC is shaped by and shapes certain discourses; HCC activities are contingent upon many factors outside their control; the creation of supportive environments for active living is a complex task; and, that dominating discourses can silence or obscure other equally valid discourses. These findings gave rise to discursive effects. Firstly, local authority planning, strategizing and action can promote population behaviour control by facilitating resident self-regulation. Secondly, factors outside the control of local authorities can impact on their ability to realise active living goals. Lastly, valid but silenced 'ways of knowing' about physical activity, health, and governance can constrain population physical activity participation. I found that HCC actions were reflective of the discourses identified, illustrating wider societal concerns regarding physical inactivity, obesity, citizenship, economic success, 'democratic' practices, and efficiency. This study contributes to population physical activity research by recognising the value of environmental approaches, but underscoring the need to consider the sources, mechanisms of maintenance, and effects of discourses circulating in local government using appropriate theoretical approaches.

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Leka, Nikola. "Building, Reality, Caring: What Nurses in Three Australian Psychogeriatric Assessment Units Say about the Built Environment." University of Sydney, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/2806.

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Doctor of Philosophy(PhD)
Many people believe that ‘purpose-built’ facilities will diminish some of the challenging behaviours exhibited by older people with dementia or psychiatric conditions. This study aimed to explore and understand what hands-on nurses in psychogeriatric assessment units experience and think of the built environment as a part of their day to day work. Twenty-one unstructured interviews were conducted with nurses at three psychogeriatric assessment units. The units ranged in style from an ancient adapted building to a contemporary 'purpose-built' facility. A critical hermeneutics derived from Gadamer was used to explore the interviews. It found that nurses think of the built environment in relation to the care needs of their patients, and feel bureaucratic restrictions in using the built environment more keenly than the shortcomings of the built environment itself. Nurses saw themselves and their patients as 'outcasts' or victims of those with money and power. The study concludes with suggestions for challenging the status quo, but also considers that being regarded as 'outcasts' allows opportunities to avoid being overly impressed by technological marvels.

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Morgan-Brown, M. "Changes in interactive occupation and social engagement for people with dementia : comparing household to traditional nursing home environments in Ireland." Thesis, University of Salford, 2013. http://usir.salford.ac.uk/30253/.

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Aim: To understand and evaluate the effect of a change from a Traditional Model Unit (TMU) to a Household Model Unit (HMU) for people with dementia, using social engagement and interactive occupation of residents, staff and relatives as outcome measures, in order to make recommendations for future nursing home development. Methods: A mixed methods approach was adopted. Residents, staff and relatives were observed using a snapshot observational method for 11 days pre renovation and 14 days post renovation. Pre renovation interviews with staff (n=25) and relatives (n=22) were contrasted with 19 staff and 14 relatives post renovation interviews. Results: Residents spent more time in the HMU communal living spaces (p≤.001). They were more independently active (p≤.001), more socially engaged (p≤.001) and more involved in interactive occupations (p≤.001). There were significant increases in the time that staff spent in the room (p≤.001), being socially engaged with residents (p≤.001), and performing their work tasks (p≤.001). The data set for relatives was smaller and significance was only achieved in an aggregated grouping engaged and interactive category (p≤.05). Qualitative interview data was used to elaborate on this quantitative data. The interview data was condensed into a multi-component typology of HMU features for future comparison and research. Conclusion: Adopting an HMU environment created behavioural changes in interactive occupation and social engagement of residents, staff and relatives utilizing the main sitting areas. The physical, operation and social environments which created these changes are described in detail. Recommendations are made for nursing home environments and future research.

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Tseng-Chyan, Ding Yuan. "An alternative perspective on the mapping of built environments : space use within a college campus." Click to view the E-thesis via HKUTO, 2007. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record/B38835459.

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Tseng-Chyan, Ding Yuan, and 錢定媛. "An alternative perspective on the mapping of built environments: space use within a college campus." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2007. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B38835459.

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Alaeq, Rana Abdulrahim. "Factors Influencing the survival of pathogenic microbes in the built (i.e. hospitals) and natural environments." Thesis, University of Sheffield, 2018. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/19807/.

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Lee, Jiyeong. "A 3-D data model for representing topological relationships between spatial entities in built-environments /." The Ohio State University, 2001. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1486399451960626.

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Sjöholm, Jennie. "Heritagisation, re-heritagisation and de-heritagisation of built environments : The urban transformation of Kiruna, Sweden." Doctoral thesis, Luleå tekniska universitet, Arkitektur och vatten, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:ltu:diva-26065.

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This doctoral thesis presents research that aimed to contribute to the understanding of heritagisation in built environments and how heritagisation interacts with structural changes to an environment. The theoretical framework of the research was based on heritagisation, a concept defined by Harrison (2013) as the process through which objects, places and practices are turned into cultural heritage. The research was part of a single case study investigating conceptualisations of built heritage during the urban transformation of the town of Kiruna. Kiruna is a mining town in the northernmost part of Sweden that has plans to be relocated so that the mining company LKAB can continue mining the iron ore deposit that extends underneath the settlement. Kiruna is also a designated heritage site since the 1980s, and includes a large number of protected buildings. Hence, it is of interest how the built heritage is managed during the urban planning process. This is not only because the urban planning situation, which includes the relocation of an entire town, is special, but also because the town’s built heritage inevitably will change during the urban transformation. The research underlying this thesis has followed heritagisation during the urban transformation, from 2004, when the urban transformation was announced, until 2015. The empirical data used consist of planning documents, media reporting and observations, which together provide an overall view of the public discussions over the course of the urban planning process. Findings from the Kiruna case study show that the town’s officially recognised built heritage corresponds with the concept of an authorised heritage discourse (AHD). This heritage discourse was challenged by the urban transformation. Conservation goals are not clearly stated in the urban planning process and there are differing ideas for how to manage historic buildings during the urban transformation. These ideas shift both over time and between stakeholders, and the outcome of the urban planning process depends on a balance between the discourses of heritage conservation, urban development and architectural production. During the urban planning process some parts of the town’s official heritage have been reaffirmed as built heritage, while others have been dismissed. The concept of heritagisation was adopted and developed throughout the research presented in this thesis. This research also introduced the concepts of re-heritagisation and de-heritagisation, which refer to new heritagisation processes that occur when built heritage is contested and challenged during urban change. One of the main conclusions of the research was that the changes in meaning during the heritagisation process can be divided into four dimensions to analyse the complicated relationship between different interests and strategies in urban planning. Heritagisation can refer to: the addition of new heritage; reaffirmation of already designated heritage; re-interpretation of already designated heritage; rejection of previous designated heritage.
Godkänd; 2016; 20160314 (jensjo); Nedanstående person kommer att disputera för avläggande av filosofie doktorsexamen. Namn: Jennie Sjöholm Ämne: Arkitektur/Architecture Avhandling: Heritagisation, Re-Heritagisation and De-Heritagisation of Built Environments The Urban Transformation of Kiruna, Sweden Opponent: Professor Peter Larkham, Head of Resilient Environments Centre, School of Engineering and the Built Environment, Birmingham City University, Birmingham, Storbritannien, UK. Ordförande: Professor Kristina Nilsson, Avd för arkitektur och vatten, Institutionen för samhällsbyggnad och naturresurser, Luleå tekniska universitet, Luleå tekniska universitet. Tid: Fredag 13 maj 2016, kl 10.00 Plats: E632, Luleå tekniska universitet

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Cochran, Abigail Lynn. "The Urban Ecology of Gila Topminnow: A Case Study of Population Health in Built Environments." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/319988.

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Geiß, Christian [Verfasser], Tobia [Akademischer Betreuer] Lakes, and Günter [Akademischer Betreuer] Strunz. "Seismic vulnerability assessment of built environments with remote sensing / Christian Geiß. Gutachter: Tobia Lakes ; Günter Strunz." Berlin : Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät II, 2015. http://d-nb.info/1065301081/34.

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Cerny, Mark A. "Integrating the Built and Natural Environments Through Renewable Energy Technologies: supplying wind power to Kirkmont Center." Miami University Honors Theses / OhioLINK, 2006. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=muhonors1146540288.

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Li, Jingjing. "Understanding the Effects of Built Environments in Different Spatial Contextual Units on Individuals’ Health-related Behaviors." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin154410042185049.

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Codinhoto, R. "Evidence and design : an investigation of the use of evidence in the design of healthcare environments." Thesis, University of Salford, 2013. http://usir.salford.ac.uk/29294/.

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In construction many problems exist that lead to poor quality of the built environment, for example, lack of integration between service and facility design and poor requirements management. Aiming to mitigate these problems, academics and practitioners have engaged in debating ways of improving the process of designing new facilities. One of the approaches that has been investigated is the use of scientific evidence to support decision makers within the design process. This process is called evidence-based design (EBD). In this respect, a range of studies developed in healthcare sectors encourages the application of EBD in order to add value to the design of these environments and to produce better building outcomes for patients and staff. In this respect, this study was designed to address this issue and is aimed at better understanding how evidence supports design. The achievement of the aim was based on (a) revisiting the philosophical debate about the definitions of evidence and knowledge formation to propose a conceptual framework that can be used to classify evidence within the design domain; (b) investigating the proposed use of evidence within prescriptive design methods of design; (c) understanding how evidence has been used in design practice (specifically in the design of healthcare facilities) and to propose a taxonomy for different categories of evidence that support building design and their advantages and disadvantages; and (d) exploring the existence of opportunities to improve design practice with a basis on a better understanding of evidence. The focus of the research was the design process of healthcare facilities and the unit of analysis was the role of evidence within design. The findings of this research enhance our understanding of design as a knowledge formation system. In this respect, the use of this approach opens opportunities for future studies related to the interpretation and the development of tools that assist design. This research also provides insights related to analysis and synthesis as the proto-theory of design as well as distributed intelligence in design.

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Prince, Stephanie. "Neighbourhood Built and Social Environments and Individual Physical Activity and Body Mass Index: A Multi-method Assessment." Thesis, Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/22651.

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Background: Obesity and physical inactivity rates have reached epidemic levels in Canada, but differ based on whether they are self-reported or directly measured. Canadian research examining the combined and independent effects of social and built environments on adult physical activity (PA) and body mass index (BMI) is limited. Furthermore there is a lack of Canadian studies to assess these relationships using directly measured PA and BMI. Objectives: The objectives of this thesis were to systematically compare self-reported and directly measured PA and to examine associations between neighbourhood built and social environmental factors with both self-reported and directly measured PA and overweight/obesity in adults living in Ottawa, Canada. Methods: A systematic review was conducted to identify observational and experimental studies of adult populations that used both self-report and direct measures of PA and to assess the agreement between the measures. Associations between objectively measured neighbourhood-level built recreation and social environmental factors and self-reported individual-level data including total and leisure-time PA (LTPA) and overweight/obesity were examined in the adult population of Ottawa, Canada using multilevel models. Neighbourhood differences in directly measured BMI and PA (using accelerometry) were evaluated in a convenience sample of adults from four City of Ottawa neighbourhoods with contrasting socioeconomic (SES) and built recreation (REC) environments. Results: Results from the review generally indicate a poor level of agreement between self-report and direct measures of PA, with trends differing based on the measures of PA, the level of PA examined and the sex of the participants. Results of the multilevel analyses identified that very few of the built and social environmental variables were ii significantly associated with PA or overweight/obesity. Greater park area was significantly associated with total PA in females. Greater green space was shown to be associated with lower odds of male LTPA. Factors from the social environment were generally more strongly related to male outcomes. Further to the recreation and social environment, factors in the food landscape were significantly associated with male and female PA and overweight/obesity. Results of the directly measured PA and BMI investigation showed significant neighbourhood-group effects for light intensity PA and sedentary time. Post-hoc tests identified that the low REC/high SES neighbourhood had significantly more minutes of light PA than the low REC/low SES. BMI differed between the four neighbourhoods, but the differences were not significant after controlling for age, sex and household income. Conclusions: Results of this dissertation show that the quantity of PA can differ based on its method of measurement (i.e. between self-report and direct methods) with implications for the interpretation of study findings. It also identifies that PA and BMI can differ by neighbourhood and recognizes that the relationships between neighbourhood environments and PA and body composition are complex, may be differ between males and females, and may not always follow intuitive relationships. Furthermore it suggests that other factors in the environment not examined in this dissertation may influence adult PA and BMI and that longitudinal and intervention studies are needed.

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Welch, Kim. "Custom-built environments for communities of online informal learning| An exploratory study of tools, structures, and strategies." Thesis, Pepperdine University, 2016. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10168612.

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This qualitative, exploratory study grouped together and explored custom-built environments for communities of online informal learning (COILs) with a special lens on the socio-technical relationship of platform tools, structures, and strategies that lead to social learning. The study was conducted through a three-phase process. First, a list of possible candidate sites was analyzed for appropriate fit based on the defining terms of a custom-built COIL environment. Second, an observational content analysis was implemented on 10 of the sites to aggregate a list of the tools, structures, and strategies used in the sites. Lastly, the same 10 sites and the lists of tools, structures, and strategies were researched through both pre-established codes for sociability, usability, and community-building designs and an open exploratory observation of their uses with a focus on the way these features support COILs. Social learning and informal learning were also purposefully scrutinized while themes regarding personalized learning and sustainability also emerged from the exploration. All design themes were found represented within the sites, as were social learning, informal learning, personalized learning, and efforts toward sustainability.

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Rooney, Kevin Kelley. "Vision and the experience of built environments: two visual pathways of awareness, attention and embodiment in architecture." Diss., Kansas State University, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/2097/20597.

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Doctor of Philosophy
Environmental Design and Planning Program
Robert J. Condia
The unique contribution of Vision and the Experience of Built Environments is its specific investigation into the visual processing system of the mind in relationship with the features of awareness and embodiment during the experience of architecture. Each facet of this investigation reflects the essential ingredients of sensation (the visual system), perception (our awareness), and emotions (our embodiment) respectively as a process for aesthetically experiencing our built environments. In regards to our visual system, it is well established in neuroscience that human vision divides into the central and peripheral fields of view. Central vision extends from the point of gaze (where we are looking) out to about 5° of visual angle (the width of one’s fist at arm’s length), while peripheral vision is the vast remainder of the visual field. These visual fields project to the parvo and magno ganglion cells which process distinctly different types of information from the world around us and project that information to the ventral and dorsal visual streams respectively. Building on the dorsal/ventral stream dichotomy, we can further distinguish between focal processing of central vision and ambient processing of peripheral vision. Thus, our visual processing of, and attention to, objects and scenes depends on how and where these stimuli fall on the retina. Built environments are no exception to these dependencies, specifically in terms of how focal object perception and ambient spatial perception create intellectual and phenomenal experiences respectively with architecture. These two forms of visual processing limit and guide our perception of the built world around us and subsequently our projected and extended embodied interactions with it as manifested in the act of aesthetic experience. By bringing peripheral vision and central vision together in a balanced perspective we will more fully understand that our aesthetic relationship with our built environment is greatly dependent on the dichotomous visual mechanisms of awareness and embodiment.

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Pawlik, S. "Methodology for assessment of cognitive skills in virtual environments." Thesis, University of Salford, 2001. http://usir.salford.ac.uk/2151/.

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The client briefing of the proposed building design is usually in the form of drawings and artistic impressions being presented to the client. However, very few clients are able to read a technical drawing and the artist impressions are limited and do not aid the client to visualise all aspects of the proposed building. During the client briefing process the client needs to have the experiential quality described, to be able to fully understand the design of the proposed building. Generally, humans perceive and directly experience architectural space by building qualities like texture, form, colour, light, scale, movement. A full-scale model of the proposed building would fully afford the experimental qualities. In reality it would be impractical and not cost effective. However, VR technology allows the creation of an inclusion of space in user's mind, through a minimum of means, but achieves a maximum impact, and affords all the experiential qualities offered by a physical model. A virtual model with a high degree of detail which can be explored by the designer and his clients will therefore be of significant help. However, to give clients the best possible impression of the proposed design it is important to understand how dimensions of those designed spaces are perceived. Therefore, a study was carried out focusing on fundamental investigations into the perception of basic architectural dimensions in order to assess the potential usefulness of VR technology in architecture and the client briefing process. In two experiments, subjects were required to estimate egocentric and exocentric dimensions in Virtual Environments and Real World Setting (RWS). The influence of stimuli orientation was also investigated. In estimating all dimensions a magnitude estimation procedure was employed using a modified free-modulus technique. All participants were pre-tested. Psychometric and visual tests were used for choosing an experimental group with a fair degree of homogenity. Two independent subject groups were used. In addition to dimension estimations recall of simple layout and feeling of space were investigated when evaluating the virtual interface. The general null hypothesis assumed that people perceive space in VE as well as in the real world. It has been shown that the results are statistically significant and therefore one was able to reject the general hypothesis. Overall participants underestimated the dimensions in both experiments by approximately 20%. Results and limitations of the study are discussed. The results of the experiments would indicate that VR technology can be used for simulations of architectural spaces because despite underestimations of dimensions it still performed relatively well if one compares it with results of experiments in the Real World Settings.

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Kilkis, Siir. "A Rational Exergy Management Model to Curb CO2 Emissions in the Exergy-Aware Built Environments of the Future." Doctoral thesis, KTH, Byggnadsteknik, 2011. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-42469.

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This thesis puts forth the means of a strategic approach to address a persistent problem in the energy system and in this way, to transition the built environment to a future state that is more exergy-aware to curb CO2 emissions. Such a vision is made possible by the six-fold contributions of the research work: I) An analytical model is developed, which for the first time, formulates the CO2 emissions that are compounded in the energy system as a function of the systematic failures to match the supply and demand of exergy. This model is namely the Rational Exergy Management Model or REMM. II) REMM is then applied to analyze the pathways in which it is possible to lead the built environment into addressing structural overshoots in its exergy supply to curb CO2 emissions. The cases that embody these pathways are also analyzed over a base case, including cases for sustainable heating and cooling. III) New tools are designed to augment decision-making and exemplify a paradigm shift in the more rational usage of exergy to curb CO2 emissions. These include a scenario-based analysis tool, new options for CO2 wedges, and a multi-fold solution space for CO2 mitigation strategies based on REMM. IV) The concept of a net-zero exergy building (NZEXB) is developed and related to REMM strategies as the building block of an exergy-aware energy system. The target of a NZEXB is further supported by key design principles, which address shortcomings in state-of-the-art net-zero design. V) A premier building that deployed the key design principles to integrate building technology in an innovative, exergy-aware design and received LEED Platinum is analyzed on the basis of the NZEXB target. The results validate that this building boosts net self-sufficiency and curbs compound CO2 emissions, which are then presented in a proposed scheme to benchmark and/or label future NZEXBs. VI) Based on the scalability of the best-practices of the NZEXB ready building, the means to realize a smarter energy system that has exergy-aware relations in each aspect of the value chain to curb CO2 emissions are discussed. This includes a target for such a network at the community level, namely a net-zero exergy community (NZEXC). As a whole, the results of the thesis indicate that the strategic approach as provided by REMM and the NZEXB target of the research work has the potential to steer the speed and direction of societal action to curb CO2 emissions. The thesis concludes with a roadmap that represents a cyclical series of actions that may be scaled-up at various levels of the built environment in a transition to be in better balance with the Planet.
QC 20111014

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Moen, Gjøran. "A Mobile Decision Support System for High Risk Environments : Built Using Heads Up Displays and Intelligent User Interfaces." Thesis, Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet, Institutt for datateknikk og informasjonsvitenskap, 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:no:ntnu:diva-26753.

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This thesis describes the design of a system for decision support on the individual and organizational level, intended for use in military and emergency agencies. The system is intended to contribute to the users' situational awareness and ability to solve given tasks cooperatively.This is achieved by considering the context, such as the user's spatial context and internal mental and physiological states.The system is based on an intelligent agent based user interface and heads up displays (HUD) in the form of wearable off the shelf hardware such as Recon Instruments HUD products.Research in relevant disciplines covering, among other things, themes like physiological responses to psychological states and limitations of human visual perception is used to support design decisions.

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Ghani, Gonzalo Fatima Sayeda. "Gender and age differences in recreational and transport walking: The contribution of the neighbourhood social and built environments." Thesis, Australian Catholic University, 2018. https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/download/8ffd1489263cb4a3a0ac20a82acbf11b251a75f98e9096a27bdfe0b60df1e3c5/3829676/GHANI_GONZALO_2018_Gender_and_age_differences_in_recreational.pdf.

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Populations are growing and ageing globally, and they concentrate in urban centres, placing greater pressure on city infrastructure and resources. The burden of non-communicable diseases partly reflects the increasing inactivity trends in populations, possibly from living in environments primarily designed for private motor vehicle transportation rather than active transportation. Walking as regular physical activity (PA) is an important behaviour to facilitate active living in ageing communities. Compared to men and younger adults, women and older adults are less physically active, and favour walking rather than more vigorous PA. Research underpinned by social-ecological frameworks indicates that certain social and built neighbourhood features influence the walking patterns of residents. Therefore, the identification of specific environmental features that facilitate walking in populations, particularly in those demographic groups predisposed to inactivity, can inform the social and physical planning or retrofitting of urban forms that might potentially reduce the gender and age disparities in overall PA participation. Multilevel neighbourhood-based studies to date mostly reported the average neighbourhood effects of gender and age differences in recreational and transport walking, implicitly assuming that neighbourhood environments influence the walking patterns of men and women, and younger and older persons, similarly. However, this might not be a true reflection of what is actually happening. Through three multilevel cross-sectional studies underpinned by a social-ecological framework, this thesis explored the contribution of the neighbourhood built and social environments to explaining gender and age differences in recreational and transport walking. The thesis contains seven chapters outlined below. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the context, purpose and structure of this thesis, including a conceptual framework underpinning three studies within this thesis. This chapter highlights the important role that neighbourhood designs have in facilitating walking, and notes the benefits of using a social-ecological framework to inform multilevel interventions (targeted both at individuals and communities) which have the maximum potential to increase population walking levels. Chapter 2 presents the historical perspective of the influence of neighbourhoods on health behaviours such as walking, as well as an overview of the relevant policy and research frameworks supporting the investigation of the environmental correlates and determinants of recreational and transport walking. This chapter also presents an overview on the health benefits, recommendations and measurement of PA, with a focus on walking patterns, noting that it usually occurs within neighbourhoods, and that recreational walking has different environmental correlates than transport walking. Furthermore, the literature indicates that walking patterns vary by gender and age, and these differences are discussed within a social-ecological framework. A critical appraisal of the social and physical neighbourhood features influencing walking is also presented. Finally, this review provides a summary of the literature gaps which informed the research questions addressed within this thesis. Chapter 3 describes the methodology in two parts: the first part describes the sampling design, selection methods and data collection instruments of the How Areas in Brisbane Influence healTh And acTivity (HABITAT) survey, the multilevel study underpinned by a social-ecological framework used in this thesis; the second part provides more specific information on relevant measures as well as the analytic and statistical modelling strategies undertaken to address the research questions. Chapter 4 presents Study 1, which examined whether gender and age differences in walking for recreation (WfR) and walking for transport (WfT) were similar or different across neighbourhoods. This study used Wave 2 of HABITAT (collected in 2009), involving a sample of 7,866 residents aged 42-68 years living within 200 Brisbane neighbourhoods. On average, women were significantly more likely to engage in WfR at moderate and high levels and no gender differences in WfT were observed. Older adults were significantly less likely to walk for transport and more likely to walk for recreation at high levels. More interestingly, the relationships between gender and walking, and age and walking, were not the same in all neighbourhoods (i.e. the Brisbane average concealed important information), suggesting that neighbourhood-level factors influenced the walking patterns of men and women, and younger and older adults, differently. The subsequent two studies focused on identifying these neighbourhood-level factors. Chapter 5 presents Study 2, which investigated the contribution of the neighbourhood social environment (assessed through neighbourhood-level perceptions of social cohesion, incivilities, and safety from crime) to explaining the gender differences in WfR observed across neighbourhoods in Study 1. Study 2 used Wave 2 of HABITAT (collected in 2009), involving a sample of 7,866 residents aged 42-67 years living within 200 Brisbane neighbourhoods. On average, women were more likely than men to walk for recreation prior to adjustment for covariates. Gender differences in WfR varied significantly across neighbourhoods (as previously established in Study 1), and the magnitude of the between-neighbourhood variation for women was twice that of men, suggesting that women are more sensitive to their neighbourhood environments in regards to WfR. However, the social environment did not explain neighbourhood differences in the gender-WfR relationship, nor did it explain the observed between-neighbourhood variation in WfR for men or women. This is most likely due to the noted limited variation in social environments across Brisbane neighbourhoods, an urban setting where structural differences between neighbourhoods might not be as extreme as in other cities. Chapter 6 presents Study 3, which investigated the contribution of the neighbourhood built environment (objectively assessed through neighbourhood-level measures of residential density, street connectivity and land-use mix) to explaining the age differences in WfT observed across neighbourhoods in Study 1. Study 3 used Wave 1 of HABITAT, (collected in 2007) involving a sample of 11,035 residents aged 40-65 years living within 200 neighbourhoods. On average, older adults were less likely to walk for transport. Age differences in WfT varied significantly across neighbourhoods (as previously established in Study 1), and the magnitude of the between-neighbourhood variation for older groups was twice that of the youngest group, suggesting that older adults are more sensitive to their neighbourhood environment than their younger counterparts. The built environment played a limited role in explaining neighbourhood differences in the age-WfT relationship. Residential density and street connectivity (but not land use mix) partially explained the observed between-neighbourhood variation in WfT for across age groups. Finally, Chapter 7 provides the discussion and conclusions of this research program. Collectively, the three studies comprising this thesis confirmed that the walking patterns of men and women, and younger and older persons are differently shaped and circumscribed by different neighbourhood environments. In particular, women and older adults seemed more sensitive to their environments than their counterparts, suggesting that they might require more supportive environments to walk. While Brisbane’s social environment did not contribute to explaining gender differences in WfR across neighbourhoods, the age differences in WfT across neighbourhoods were partly attributed to the contextual effects of residential density and street connectivity. Thus, in designing neighbourhoods that facilitate active living and ageing communities, governments should consider denser and more connected urban forms which would produce more equitable increases in WfT across age groups. This body of evidence contributes to the literature investigating the important role that the neighbourhood design has in facilitating the healthy lifestyle of residents who are regularly exposed to it. More specifically, the findings from this thesis favour the ongoing multilevel analyses of demographic heterogeneity around the neighbourhood averages –rather than mean centric approach– as they more realistically reflect the impact of neighbourhood exposures on the walking patterns of different demographic groups. As cities vary widely in their social and built environments, such research –especially when undertaken in urban settings characterised by larger variation in their environments– is relevant for informing ecological interventions which facilitate walking opportunities everywhere for all demographic groups, particularly those predisposed to inactivity, resulting in sustainable public health, socioeconomic and environmental gains for the overall population.

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Eronen, Minna. "Aesthetic Affordances for Wellbeing Enhancing Atmospheres in Healthcare Environments." Thesis, Mälardalens högskola, Akademin för innovation, design och teknik, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-44575.

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This master thesis explores the relationships between the human being and the built environment in the context of healthcare and from the perspective of aesthetics. The aim is, by identifying the aesthetic experiences the built environment evokes, to enhance the understanding of how the design of the built environment can support and sustain wellbeing. The findings from previous studies show that the aspects of the attributes of the built environment can evoke sense-based aesthetic experiences and aesthetic experiences beyond senses. Furthermore, the empirical results of this thesis, gained by applying participatory research and research through design methodologies, indicate that wellbeing is related to rich experiences connected to nature, homeliness or the lack of homeliness as well as lack of maintenance. The tentative Aesthetic Design Framework for Atmospheresdeveloped in this thesis, based on the Affordance Theory and theTheory of Aesthetic Atmospheres, proposes that the built environment can be transformed into therapeutic aesthetic atmospheres by utilizing aesthetic affordances and applying Aesthetic Design Strategy. In order to test the framework, design proposals were created. The evaluation of the design proposals shows that the designed atmosphere is perceivable when distinct. The results also indicate that familiar aesthetic affordances are easier to perceive and relate to. Consequently, it is proposed that the Aesthetic Design Framework for Atmospheres can aid the design of atmospheres. The results of this study can enhance design processes and the design of built environments in general by clarifying aesthetic aspects, grounded both in empirical data and theory.
Denna masteruppsats utforskar förhållandet mellan människan och den byggda miljön i vårdkontext och utifrån estetik. Målet är att identifiera de estetiska upplevelser den byggda miljön framkallar och därmed öka förståelsen av hur design av byggd miljö kan stödja och bevara välmående. Tidigare forskning visar att aspekter av attribut i den byggda miljön framkallar både sinnesbaserade estetiska upplevelser och estetiska upplevelser bortom sinnena. Dessutom, indikerar empiriska resultat av denna uppsats att välmående hänger ihop med rika upplevelser relaterade till natur, hemtrevnad eller bristen på hemtrevnad samt bristen på underhåll. Det tentativa teoretiska ramverket, Aesthetic Design Framework for Atmospheres, utvecklat i denna uppsats och baserat på Teori om Affordance och Teori om Estetiska Atmosfärer,föreslår att den byggda miljön kan förvandlas till en terapeutisk atmosfär genom att använda estetiska affordancer och tillämpa Estetisk Design Strategi. Designförslag utformades för att testa ramverket. Utvärderingen av förslagen visar att en designad atmosfär kan varseblivs när den är pregnant. Resultaten indikerar även att bekanta estetiska affordancer är lättare att varsebli och relatera till. Därmed föreslås att Aesthetic Design Framework for Atmospheres kan understödja design av atmosfärer. Resultaten av denna uppsats kan främja designprocesser och design av byggd miljö genom att identifiera estetiska aspekter grundade både i empiri och teori.

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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Built environments'

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