Long-Term Maintenance Strategies after Pulmonary Rehabilitation: Perspectives of People with Chronic Respiratory Diseases, Informal Carers, and Healthcare Professionals

Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is an effective intervention for people with chronic respiratory diseases (CRD); however, its effects fade after 6–12 months. Community-based strategies might be valuable to sustain PR benefits, but this has been little explored. People with CRD, informal carers, and healthcare professionals (HCPs) were recruited from pulmonology appointments of two local hospitals, two primary care centres, and one community institutional practice and through snowballing technique. Focus groups were conducted using a semi-structured guide. Data were thematically analysed. Twenty-nine people with CRD (24% female, median 69 years), 5 informal carers (100% female, median 69 years), and 16 HCPs (75% female, median 36 years) were included. Three themes were identified: “Maintaining an independent and active lifestyle” which revealed common strategies adopted by people with “intrinsic motivation and professional and peer support” as key elements to maintain benefits, and that “access to information and partnerships with city councils’ physical activities” were necessary future steps to sustain active lifestyles. This study suggests that motivation, and professional and peer support are key elements to maintaining the benefits of PR in people with CRD, and that different physical activity options (independent or group activities) considering peoples’ preferences, should be available through partnerships with the community, namely city councils.

City Elections in Kuban (Spring — Autumn 1919)

The article is devoted to the elections to the city councils of the Kuban Territory, which took place in the spring and autumn of 1919. The author dwells in detail on the Kuban electoral law, according to which, for the first time in Russia, a rather rare electoral system — раnаchage — was used, and on the results of its application. Election campaigns in Yekaterinodar and other cities of the region are considered, the results of voting and the composition of councillors are analyzed. By the example of Yekaterinodar, the difference in electoral preferences of residents of “bourgeois” and “proletarian” regions is shown, as well as the influence of the educational and property level, occupation on the political preferences of the townspeople. Special attention is paid to the story of the murder in the editorial office of the newspaper “Utro Yuga”, which was caused by the struggle between moderately socialist electoral associations, and one of the immediate reasons was S. Ya. Marshak's election poems. The general results of the elections show that in most cities of the region the victory was won by the “right” homeowners' lists, but the author believes that the reason for this was not so much a change in the mood of the masses as the absenteeism of the left and centrist electorate.

LAND CONVERSION PROCESSES AND LOCAL COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT IN THE DISTRICT OF PETALING

Land use planning is part and parcel of both land development and town planning. In Malaysia, these two areas are steered independently, the former by a state or district’s land office and the latter by the state’s local authority. This study looks at the aspects of land development where land use conversion plays a crucial part, where it brings significance to land revenue. As the leading district in Malaysia, the district of Petaling is undeniably the busiest land office in the nation, working hand-in-hand with three city councils. Land premium that is imposed on approved applications for land use conversion has been one of the main contributors to the district and state’s revenue as a whole. Given the hefty charges that have been imposed by the consultants for land use conversions, it is found that the application charges that are imposed by the land office are minimal. An assessment study on land conversion has been conducted and the result shows that the local community assessment score on familiarity, collectively stands at only 40%. It is recommended that an awareness on land use as basic knowledge should be given priority as it may contribute to more efficient land development and town planning, as a whole.

Standing Tall: the evolution of habitable room height limits in New Zealand building controls

Although it is often thought that the 3 February 1931 Napier earthquake led to the first New Zealand building codes, they have a far longer history. Often developed by the local town, city or borough engineer, these codes or by-laws covered a wide range of topics, not just structural safety. Two surveys of local government building bylaws undertaken to support the development of national building controls, have created digests of details from a number of these codes. The 1924 survey of 37 municipalities supported the development of the first national code for timber buildings, while the 1938 survey of 84 municipalities was used to develop NZSS 95 Model Building By-law during the 1930s and early 1940s. The digests provide an opportunity to explore the 1930s development of building by-laws by geographical and topic coverage, as well as the impact on building controls since that time.These local building bylaws often included requirements that affected the interior architecture of buildings, such as the requirement for minimum dwelling or bedroom room heights. In 1924 these minima ranged from 8 ft to 10 ft (2.4 m to 3.0 m) for either a dwelling or an attic room. However, by 1938 while the height range for dwelling rooms was unchanged for attic rooms the range was reduced by 1 foot (0.3 m) to 7 ft to 9 ft (2.1 to 2.9 m). Although the 1992 New Zealand Building Code does not specify minimum habitable room heights, the House Improvement Regulations 1947 are still in force. These initially set the habitable room height requirement to 2.1 m, increasing in 1975 to 2.4 m.The paper explores the development of minimum dwelling height requirements in New Zealand using these two surveys with analysis of Wellington and Dunedin City Councils from the 1870s to the 1930s. These requirements will be compared to UK codes, exploring both the international evolution of room height requirements and the relationship to New Zealand.

IMBY: Creating a model for density that maintains suburban values

<p>With Greenfield approaches becoming less popular among city councils, forms of densification are being sought out, the most common yet unprecedented form being infill housing. On grounds of this, other methods including apartments are being considered the best solution. For suburban cities, this runs the risk of ignoring fundamental suburban qualities that have been highly desired in New Zealand since settlement, such as open space, autonomous land ownership, and control over one’s own property. Considering ‘the state house’ as a foundational suburban housing model for New Zealand, the Hutt Valley becomes the focus of study for this thesis. This thesis proposes using infill as a viable solution and means of exploring suburban living to produce a model of densification that offers both continuity with and transformation of cultural and architectural traits of suburban living. It argues for more compact and affordable models that are easily applicable to current New Zealand suburbia and are more responsive to current households. By exploring suburbia at different scales and exploring the current housing layout, new forms of suburban density are formed, where flexibility and neighbourliness are prioritized. The resulting dwelling is arranged based on the varying social needs of humans, allowing inhabitants to define private, shared and public areas both internally and externally.</p>

IMBY: Creating a model for density that maintains suburban values

<p>With Greenfield approaches becoming less popular among city councils, forms of densification are being sought out, the most common yet unprecedented form being infill housing. On grounds of this, other methods including apartments are being considered the best solution. For suburban cities, this runs the risk of ignoring fundamental suburban qualities that have been highly desired in New Zealand since settlement, such as open space, autonomous land ownership, and control over one’s own property. Considering ‘the state house’ as a foundational suburban housing model for New Zealand, the Hutt Valley becomes the focus of study for this thesis. This thesis proposes using infill as a viable solution and means of exploring suburban living to produce a model of densification that offers both continuity with and transformation of cultural and architectural traits of suburban living. It argues for more compact and affordable models that are easily applicable to current New Zealand suburbia and are more responsive to current households. By exploring suburbia at different scales and exploring the current housing layout, new forms of suburban density are formed, where flexibility and neighbourliness are prioritized. The resulting dwelling is arranged based on the varying social needs of humans, allowing inhabitants to define private, shared and public areas both internally and externally.</p>

Japanese Garden Houses: Strategies for creating an interface with nature in New Zealand's urban dwellings

<p>New Zealanders have a proud tradition of living close to nature (clean and green). This high interface with nature in traditional New Zealand dwellings is referred to as the “quarter-acre dream” by Mitchell (1972). However, the recent intensification of New Zealand cities has resulted in higher-density, multi-unit dwellings that have little interface with nature. As Auckland alone is expected to require an additional 400,000 homes within the next 30 years, a medium-density housing model that has a high nature-dwelling interface is potentially useful in reducing urban sprawl. In contrast, many Japanese houses are effectively integrated with nature. The number of case studies available through books, journals and on websites suggests that it is possible to group these dwellings under the heading “garden houses”. For the purpose of this research, the term “Japanese Garden House” refers to Japanese houses in which the garden is an integral part of the architecture, as opposed to a separate spatial entity. New Zealand walk-up apartments are analysed to show how this New Zealand housing model relates to nature in addition to revealing typical design elements. Thereafter, the adaptation of the Japanese Garden House for the New Zealand context is proposed as a mechanism to further connect urban dwellings with nature, thus increasing the interface between nature and inhabited space. The significant benefits this mechanism provides, including a positive effect on psychological and physiological wellbeing, are discussed. In order to adapt the features of Japanese Garden Houses to the New Zealand context, a detailed analysis of Japanese Garden Houses is undertaken to reveal design principles and strategies that characterise this type of dwelling. The analysis is limited to houses built in the last 15 years. An investigation, through design, is carried out to determine whether the Japanese Garden House models could be used to reconnect walk-up apartments with nature. The investigation is tested on a typical Auckland site. In a case study design, principles and strategies discovered through analysis of Japanese Garden Houses are applied and, adapted to fit walk-up apartments and the New Zealand context. The outcome is a valuable new New Zealand housing model and a set of guidelines presented as a matrix including key principles, strategies and a menu of solutions with the potential to be applied more broadly by other architects, developers and city councils.</p>

Japanese Garden Houses: Strategies for creating an interface with nature in New Zealand's urban dwellings

<p>New Zealanders have a proud tradition of living close to nature (clean and green). This high interface with nature in traditional New Zealand dwellings is referred to as the “quarter-acre dream” by Mitchell (1972). However, the recent intensification of New Zealand cities has resulted in higher-density, multi-unit dwellings that have little interface with nature. As Auckland alone is expected to require an additional 400,000 homes within the next 30 years, a medium-density housing model that has a high nature-dwelling interface is potentially useful in reducing urban sprawl. In contrast, many Japanese houses are effectively integrated with nature. The number of case studies available through books, journals and on websites suggests that it is possible to group these dwellings under the heading “garden houses”. For the purpose of this research, the term “Japanese Garden House” refers to Japanese houses in which the garden is an integral part of the architecture, as opposed to a separate spatial entity. New Zealand walk-up apartments are analysed to show how this New Zealand housing model relates to nature in addition to revealing typical design elements. Thereafter, the adaptation of the Japanese Garden House for the New Zealand context is proposed as a mechanism to further connect urban dwellings with nature, thus increasing the interface between nature and inhabited space. The significant benefits this mechanism provides, including a positive effect on psychological and physiological wellbeing, are discussed. In order to adapt the features of Japanese Garden Houses to the New Zealand context, a detailed analysis of Japanese Garden Houses is undertaken to reveal design principles and strategies that characterise this type of dwelling. The analysis is limited to houses built in the last 15 years. An investigation, through design, is carried out to determine whether the Japanese Garden House models could be used to reconnect walk-up apartments with nature. The investigation is tested on a typical Auckland site. In a case study design, principles and strategies discovered through analysis of Japanese Garden Houses are applied and, adapted to fit walk-up apartments and the New Zealand context. The outcome is a valuable new New Zealand housing model and a set of guidelines presented as a matrix including key principles, strategies and a menu of solutions with the potential to be applied more broadly by other architects, developers and city councils.</p>

Examining the Effects of Electoral Systems on Minority Representation in U.S. City Councils Using a Large Sample

In recent decades, reform movements have lobbied to remove at-large elections from local governing bodies and replace them with elections by district—in which a city’s electorate is divided into geographic regions that each elect their own council member. Prior social science research has somewhat concluded that in most cases, district elections more reliably elect non- white city councilors than at-large elections. However, these studies are limited by their use of small samples of municipalities, usually only the largest ones (pop. > 25,000) or those from a single state. I hope to overcome this limitation by employing a massive sample of more than 15,000 municipal governments across 49 states. My findings are consistent with and build upon previous research in that I conclude that as the proportion of non-white residents within a city’s population increases, district elections are predicted to elect higher proportions of non-white council members than wholly at-large elections.

The Right to Have Digital Rights in Smart Cities

New data-driven technologies in global cities have yielded potential but also have intensified techno-political concerns. Consequently, in recent years, several declarations/manifestos have emerged across the world claiming to protect citizens’ digital rights. In 2018, Barcelona, Amsterdam, and NYC city councils formed the Cities’ Coalition for Digital Rights (CCDR), an international alliance of global People-Centered Smart Cities—currently encompassing 49 cities worldwide—to promote citizens’ digital rights on a global scale. People-centered smart cities programme is the strategic flagship programme by UN-Habitat that explicitly advocates the CCDR as an institutionally innovative and strategic city-network to attain policy experimentation and sustainable urban development. Against this backdrop and being inspired by the popular quote by Hannah Arendt on “the right to have rights”, this article aims to explore what “digital rights” may currently mean within a sample consisting of 13 CCDR global people-centered smart cities: Barcelona, Amsterdam, NYC, Long Beach, Toronto, Porto, London, Vienna, Milan, Los Angeles, Portland, San Antonio, and Glasgow. Particularly, this article examines the (i) understanding and the (ii) prioritisation of digital rights in 13 cities through a semi-structured questionnaire by gathering 13 CCDR city representatives/strategists’ responses. These preliminary findings reveal not only distinct strategies but also common policy patterns.