DENSITY CHALLENGES OF HIGH-RISE RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT IN MALAYSIA

Although the term ‘urbanisation’ was first coined in the 19th century, the phenomenon experienced a significant impact and received a lot of attention in the 21st century. One of the major results is density, causing effects such as excessive demand for residential buildings. To cope with the increasing urban population and limited land availability, cities can no longer opt for horizontal development strategies. Going vertical seems a practical solution, but it can lead to convoluted problems if it is not done with proper planning and mitigation measures at the preliminary stages of planning. This article describes the challenges of residential planning density for high-rise development in Malaysia using a systematic literature review on three identified real cases which separated by pre-development, post-development, and development control. The findings show the major challenges in pre-development and post development related to dissatisfaction with the increasing numbers of high-rise residences due to the increase in population and residential density. As a strategic development control, there must be uniformity in the act or law to control the development of this highrise residential. Thus, this article led to a better understanding of density related to high-rise residential development in Malaysia.

The Impact of Physical Environment on the Cognitive Function of the Elderly: A Scoping Review of Cohort Studies

This review examined whether the physical environment can change the cognitive function of the elderly and categorized the specific environmental types. Four databases, CINAHL, Embase, PubMed, and PsycINFO, were searched for relevant literature published as of December 2020. The framework used was proposed by Arksey and O’Malley, which includes a 5-stage review process. A total of 12 studies were examined. The physical environments with similar characteristics, among all the environmental elements, were grouped together into 4 categories: residential density and road connectivity, limited living space, urban/rural, and care facilities. Residential density and road connectivity, limited living space, and care facilities were found to have a significant effect on the cognitive function of the elderly. However, there was no significant effect on the cognitive function of the elderly when comparing the urban and rural environments. Although studies on environments that affect the cognitive function of the elderly are still ongoing, the ones analyzing specific environments in detail are insufficient. With the increasing importance of the role played by the environment in the cognitive impairment of the elderly, detailed studies on specific environments among the various environmental factors surrounding the elderly, such as this study, should be conducted more actively.

The Association Between Geographic Information System-Based Neighborhood Built Environmental Factors and Accelerometer-Derived Light-Intensity Physical Activity Across the Lifespan: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background. Evidence on correlates of accelerometer-derived light-intensity physical activity (LPA) is scarce. The aim of this study was to examine associations between Geographic Information System (GIS)-based neighborhood built environmental factors and accelerometer-derived LPA, and to investigate the moderating effect of age group (adolescents, adults, older adults) on these associations. Methods. Objective data were used from three similar observational studies conducted in Ghent (Belgium) between 2007 and 2015. Accelerometer data were collected from 1652 participants, and GIS-based neighborhood built environmental factors (residential density, intersection density, park density, public transport density, entropy index) were calculated using sausage buffers of 500 m and 1000 m around the home addresses of all participants. Linear mixed models were performed to estimate the associations. Results. A small but significant association was observed between residential density (500 m buffer) and LPA in the total sample (B=-0.002; SE=0.0001; p=0.04), demonstrating that every decrease of 1000 dwellings per surface buffer was associated with a two minute increase in LPA. Intersection density, park density, public transport density and entropy index were not related to LPA, and moderating effects of age group were absent. Conclusions. The small association, in combination with other non-significant associations suggests that the neighborhood built environment, as classically measured in moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity research, is of limited importance for LPA. More research is needed to unravel how accelerometer-derived LPA is accumulated, and to gain insight into its determinants.

Influence of Built Environment on Bike Sharing Usage under COVID-19

ABSTRACTBike sharing, as an important component of urban public transportation, has played a more important role during the COVID-19 pandemic because users could ride bikes in open space and avoid the risk of infection. Leveraging the trip data of the Divvy bike sharing system in Chicago, this study sets to explore the change of ridership that COVID-19 has brought and the built environment factors that influence the spatial variation of ridership under the pandemic. Results show that the ridership declines by xx% in total. To account for the spatially heterogeneous relationship between the built environment and the ridership, the geographically weighted regression (GWR) model and the semi-parametric GWR (S-GWR) model are constructed. By comparing the model results, we find that the S-GWR model outperforms the GWR and the multiple linear regression model. The results of the S-GWR model indicates that education employment density, distance to subway, COVID-19 cases and ridership before COVID-19 are global variables. The ridership between residential density, office employment density and the ridership vary across space. The results of this study could provide useful reference to transportation planners and bike sharing operators to determine the high bike sharing demand area under the pandemic and to make adjustment on the locations and capacity of the stations and the rebalancing schemes accordingly.

REVIEW OF THE NATURAL PHENOMENON AND HUMAN INTERVENTION THAT AFFECT THE CONDITION OF RIVER PERFORMANCE AND INFRASTRUCTURE

The river's ability in flowing water has been there naturally. The benchmarks of river ability in carrying out the function are mentioned as the river performance; however, the benchmarks of river infrastructure ability in carrying out the function are mentioned as the river infrastructure performance. This study intends to review some aspects of the previous research related to river performance and infrastructure. The methodology consists of reviewing several acts and relevant previous research that some aspects have been proved to influence the river performance and infrastructure. The aspects are classified into two categories: 1) technical aspect that is directly affecting the river performance (come from the nature condition); and 2) non-technical aspect that is indirectly affecting the river performance (come from human intervention). The result shows that: 1) The technical aspects affecting the river performance and infrastructure are erosion, sedimentation, slope, infiltration, morphology, and vegetation surrounding the river; 2) The non-technical aspects that are affecting the river performance and infrastructure consists of land use, residential density, trash, operation and maintenance of river, human activity, and government policy.

Effects and Environmental Features of Mountainous Urban Greenways (MUGs) on Physical Activity

The role played by urban greenways in supporting physical activity (PA) for public health benefits has been receiving increasing attention. Most studies on this topic have been conducted in plains, whereas studies in mountainous regions have been limited as a result of the complexity of these areas. To address this knowledge gap, this article aims to analyze the effects of the environmental features for a mountainous urban greenway (MUG) on PA, leading to better support for greenway practice in mountainous areas. A volunteered geographic information (VGI) method was applied through the mobile app KEEP to collect 1314 valid records of PA including its density (total PA distance per unit area within the buffer zone) and attributes (distance, duration and speed) in the Yuzhong Peninsula, Chongqing, China. Similar to those of the studies conducted in the plains, our results showed that PA density was affected by the MUG and its surrounding environment. The key environmental features included residential density, open-space POI, the slope, the transportation-MUG (T-MUG) ratio and the recreational-MUG (R-MUG) ratio. For the PA attributes, the MUG showed stronger effects than the surrounding environment. The key environmental features included the slope and type of MUG, of which the former was negatively associated with distance and speed. The T-MUG ratio was positively related to duration and speed, while the R-MUG ratio was positively related to duration and distance. No association was found between livelihood (L-MUG) and PA. Hence, to support both the PA density and attributes, the environmental qualities for recreation and the types of R-MUGs should be given more consideration in practice.

Environmental Factors Affecting Cognitive Function among Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Longitudinal Study

Although neighborhood environmental factors have been found to be associated with cognitive decline, few longitudinal studies have focused on their effect on older adults living in rural areas. This longitudinal study aimed to investigate the role of neighborhood environmental factors in cognitive decline among rural older adults. The data of 485 older adults aged ≥60 years who were living in Unnan City in Japan and had participated in two surveys conducted between 2014 and 2018 were analyzed. Cognitive function was assessed using the Cognitive Assessment for Dementia, iPad version 2. Elevation, hilliness, residential density, and proximity to a community center were determined using geographic information system. We applied a generalized estimating equation with odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of cognitive decline in the quartiles of neighborhood environmental factors. A total of 56 (11.6%) participants demonstrated a decrease in cognitive function at follow up. Elevation (adjusted OR 2.58, 95% CI (1.39, 4.77) for Q4 vs. Q1) and hilliness (adjusted OR 1.93, 95% CI (1.03, 3.63) for Q4 vs. Q1) were associated with a higher likelihood of cognitive decline. The second quartiles of residential density showed significantly lower likelihoods of cognitive decline compared with the first quartiles (adjusted OR 0.36, 95% CI (0.19, 0.71) for Q2 vs. Q1). Thus, an elevated hilly environment and residential density predicted cognitive decline among rural older adults.

Using Exploratory Spatial Analysis to Understand the Patterns of Adolescents’ Active Transport to School and Contributory Factors

Active transport to school (ATS) is a convenient way for adolescents to reach their recommended daily physical activity levels. Most previous ATS research examined the factors that promote or hinder ATS, but this research has been of a global (i.e., non-spatial), statistical nature. Geographical Information Science (GIS) is widely applied in analysing human activities, focusing on local spatial phenomena, such as distribution, autocorrelation, and co-association. This study, therefore, applied exploratory spatial analysis methods to ATS and its factors. Kernel Density Estimation (KDE) was used to derive maps of transport mode and ATS factor distribution patterns. The results of KDE were compared to and verified by Local Indicators of Spatial Association (LISA) outputs. The data used in this study was collected from 12 high schools, including 425 adolescents who lived within walkable distance and used ATS or MTS in Dunedin New Zealand. This study identified clusters and spatial autocorrelation, confirming that the adolescents living in the south of the city, who were female, attended girls-only schools, lived in more deprived neighbourhoods, and lived in neighbourhoods with higher intersection density and residential density used more ATS. On the other hand, adolescents who were male, attended boys-only schools, lived in less deprived neighbourhoods, had more vehicles at home, and lived in neighbourhoods with medium level intersection density and residential density used more ATS in the northwest of the city as well as some part of the city centre and southeast of the city. The co-association between spatial patterns of the ATS factors and the ATS usages that this study detected adds to the evidence for autocorrelation underpinning ATS users across the study area.

THE DYNAMICS OF LANGUAGE ATTITUDES OF THE TEENAGERS AT DESA BUDUK, BADUNG TO BALINESE LANGUAGE

This research has the background of the phenomena of local languages claimed to decrease in numbers these decades. It aims to explore the dynamics of language attitudes of the teenagers at Desa Buduk, Badung and the factors causing the dynamics supported by using theory of Language Attitudes of Ladegaard (2000). The methods applied in this research included survey and participative observation. The results of the research show that the language attitudes of the teenagers to Balinese language are dynamic. The quantitative analysis indicates that 80% of them strongly agreed to the statements of cognitive language attitudes about Balinese language and its speakers. Then, 80% of them also agreed to the statements of affective language attitudes language concerning with preference in using Balinese language, but they disagreed the statements of greetings using other language than Balinese language and news on TVs and radios using other language than Balinese language and news. They also had positive for the statement in conative language attitudes concerning with the transfer of Balinese language to their children, but in that component of language attitude they were negative for statements about responses of using Balinese language only, admonishing people using other language, and switching off TV or radio using languages other than Balinese. The qualitative analysis of this research shows that most teenagers at Desa Buduk, Badung had positive language attitudes to Balinese language indicated by their behaviors using Balinese language. But, some high class teenagers showed the use of Indonesian language. The dynamics of the language attitudes of the teenagers at Desa Buduk, Badung to Balinese language by language loyalty, language value, and residential density.