Assessment of regenerative design practices for residential housing: a case study in Awka, Nigeria

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 8238
Author(s):  
Noemi Bakos ◽  
Rosa Schiano-Phan

To transform the negative impacts of buildings on the environment into a positive footprint, a radical shift from the current, linear ‘make-use-dispose’ practice to a closed-loop ‘make-use-return’ system, associated with a circular economy, is necessary. This research aims to demonstrate the possible shift to a circular construction industry by developing the first practical framework with tangible benchmarks for a ‘Circular University Campus’ based on an exemplary case study project, which is a real project development in India. As a first step, a thorough literature review was undertaken to demonstrate the social, environmental and economic benefits of a circular construction industry. As next step, the guideline for a ‘Circular University Campus’ was developed, and its applicability tested on the case study. As final step, the evolved principles were used to establish ‘Project Specific Circular Building Indicators’ for a student residential block and enhance the proposed design through bioclimatic and regenerative design strategies. The building’s performance was evaluated through computational simulations, whole-life carbon analysis and a circular building assessment tool. The results demonstrated the benefits and feasibility of bioclimatic, regenerative building and neighbourhood design and provided practical prototypical case study and guidelines which can be adapted by architects, planners and governmental institutions to other projects, thereby enabling the shift to a restorative, circular construction industry.


Erdkunde ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 75 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-162
Author(s):  
M. Belén Gómez-Martín ◽  
Xosé A. Armesto-López ◽  
Martí Cors-Iglesias

This paper seeks to contribute to existing literature by exploring the potential impacts of Peer-to-Peer (p2p) accommodation on a rural mountain area in the Pyrenees in Catalonia (Spain). The results indicate how widely p2p accommodation can penetrate areas of this kind. The findings suggest that this phenomenon has brought few benefits for local development and has created severe competition for conventional tourism accommodation, despite having a smaller economic impact in terms of job creation and tourist spending. In addition, the relative ease with which it avoids administrative and fiscal controls has negative repercussions for the tax revenues of local authorities. The growth in tourist rental properties is also having harmful effects on the study area in terms of its tourist load capacity, and the high pressure it puts on housing stock is causing shortages in residential housing and sharp price increases.


Author(s):  
Nwabueze, O.p.O ◽  
Onwuka, E.O ◽  
Uzomba, N.I ◽  
Ekeh, C.U.N ◽  
Akuesi, C.U

The high rate of migration, coupled with population increase triggered rapid urbanization. However, a great proportion of the population still lives in substandard and low quality houses in a deplorable unsanitary residential environment particularly in developing countries. Urban and Economic growth have brought about all typical problems associated with rapid urban development resulting in housing shortage both quantitative and qualitative, slums, illegal settlement and squatting as experienced in owerri municipality. These have resulted into many urban and housing problems within the state capital owerri. This study examined the nature of urban growth and housing problems in owerri municipality. Also it tries to examine residential housing stock, identity the nature of housing problems, government policies and programmes in other to address the problems. The pattern of growth was determined using spatial analysis, and the housing problems were identified through questionnaire and field surveys. Findings revealed that the growth of urban housing in owerri municipality increases by 1034.0 hectare which is equivalent to 38.5% which is in line with Maurice (2004). It was also discovered that over a period of time, new settlements have evolved. Also, the construction and expansion of road networks are evidences of urban growth in owerri municipality. KEYWORDS: Development, Urban growth, Housing problems, population, owerri municipality.


This article analyzed the use of rapid ethnographic methodologies to assess community concerns for urban design practices. Rapid Ethnographic Assessment Process (REAP) is a compilation of methodologies that produce ethnographic knowledge in a short time frame and is constantly used for public health and sustainability. The article is about a participatory case-study conducted in the historic city center of Santiago de Los Caballeros, in the Dominican Republic. REAP was used to understand its application for urbanism. The case-study revealed a spectrum of cultures from different groups within the study area, and how the project would impact their ways of life. It also depicted a gap between the pre-existing proposals and the aims and challenges of the community groups. If appropriately applied, REAP can produce valuable results, and help inform urban design practices while assuring that they are respectful to the populations they will influence.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Chelsea Kershaw

<p>Aotearoa New Zealand is a society with inequality deeply embedded in its culture, and this translates to the health of vulnerable members of the community. In its current state, healthcare infrastructure and rehabilitative landscapes are isolated from one another, creating physical and mental barriers for achieving well-being. Therapeutic landscape research suggests outdoor spaces can facilitate rehabilitative healing, community support, and self-empowerment. This form of preventive and rehabilitative health may bridge the gap between treatment at the institutional level, and day-to-day living, to better support the well-being, of people in transition.  The under-utilized interface between the residential landscape and Kenepuru Community Hospital in Porirua is used as a design case study, for testing how hospital infrastructure, residential housing, and therapeutic landscapes may coexist for mutually beneficial health and well-being outcomes. Results suggest that careful design of the interstitial spaces bridging housing with healthcare can form an important service for the well-being of vulnerable people.</p>


2008 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nigel Martin ◽  
Shirley Gregor ◽  
John Rice

This paper discusses results from a research study in the design and implementation of information documents and products in the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). It presents a composite ethnographic and case study analysis of user-centred information design practices at the ATO from 2001-2005, and shows that the ATO has been an active proponent of user centred design practices in developing business information documents and products for an extended period of time, while also identifying potential opportunities to improve business simulation, design and product construction. The article highlights that user-centred design principles may have broad based application in both the public and private sectors.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 2
Author(s):  
Shayan Naderi ◽  
Simon Heslop ◽  
Dong Chen ◽  
Iain MacGill ◽  
Gloria Pignatta

Air conditioning is responsible for a considerable proportion of households’ electricity bills. During summer afternoons when households usually run their air conditioners, the retail time-of-use electricity tariffs are highest, and there is a peak demand in the electricity network. Pre-cooling is a method to shift air conditioning demand from peak hours to hours with lower demand and cheaper electricity tariffs. In this research, the pre-cooling potential of nine different types of residential housing in Sydney constructed with different star ratings and construction weights is evaluated. Star rating is the method to represent the annual heating and cooling requirements of buildings in Australia. Results highlight that pre-cooling produces cost saving for most of the days in 6-star and 8-star buildings. For 2-star buildings, pre-cooling sometimes leads to higher electricity costs. Moreover, pre-cooling improves thermal comfort, especially in 2-star light and medium weight buildings.


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