URBAN CONSCIOUSNESS, CULTURE, QUALITY OF LIFE AND TAMBOV RESIDENTS’ IDEA OF FAVORABLE URBAN ENVIRONMENT

В статье изложены результаты полевых социологических исследований по проблемам оценки горожанами градостроительных проблем и городской среды в г. Тамбове в 2008 и 2020 гг. Показано, что количественный состав жителей г. Тамбова в последние 30 лет остается стабильным, при возросшем жилищном фонде за это время на 1 жителя с 14,1 м до 29,6 м. Из 75 городов России г. Тамбов находится, на основании мнений тамбовчан, на 36-м месте по качеству жизни. Актуальность статьи обусловлена научным интересом к проблеме взаимодействия горожан со средой обитания и формирования комфортной городской среды. Целью статьи является срез субъективного мнения горожан о градостроительных проблемах и условиях формирования оптимальной среды проживания. По результатам опросов установлены основные негативные факторы городской среды, в частности, плохая экология, отсутствие благоустройства. Названы предпочитаемые и нежелательные районы города для проживания. На основе ответов респондентов сформирован «социальный заказ» по оптимизации городской среды, решению градостроительных проблем. Показано, что приобщение населения к решению городских проблем повышает социальную ответственность горожан за создание комфортной среды проживания. На основании эмпирического исследования делается вывод о том, что для создания благоприятной городской среды обитания в самих горожанах должны появиться градостроительное сознание и культура с человеческим измерением. The paper presents the results of field sociological research on the problems of assessing urban planning problems and urban environment in Tambov in 2008 and 2020. The research shows that the quantitative composition of Tambov inhabitants in the last 30 years remains stable, but the housing stock during this time increased from 14.1 m to 29.6 m per inhabitant. Tambov is ranked 36th out of 75 cities in Russia in terms of quality of life according to the opinions of Tambov residents. The relevance of the publication is due to the scientific interest in the sphere of interaction of citizens with the environment and comfortable urban environment formation. The purpose of the paper is to analyze the subjective opinion of residents about urban planning problems and the conditions of optimal living environment formation. Based on the results of the polls the main negative factors of the urban environment were identified, in particular, poor ecology, lack of landscaping. Preferred and undesirable areas of the city for living have been named. Based on the respondents' answers, a “social order” was formed to optimize the urban environment and solve urban planning problems. The authors suggest that involving the citizens in solving urban problems increases their social responsibility for creating a comfortable living environment. The empirical research allows us to think that in order to create a favorable urban environment, urban planning consciousness and culture with a human dimension must appear among townspeople. In this article according to sociological surveys, we have broadly subjectively revealed and assessed the quality of life of respondents in the non-production fixed assets of social consumption in Tambov.

Core Housing Strategy for Improved Urban Low-Cost Public Housing Delivery in Anambra State, Nigeria

Anambra state of Nigeria experiences acute housing shortage for urban low-income population owing to inefficient public housing delivery system principled on conventional full-provision house types. Insufficiency of funds for housing development is a major cause. Increased rate and scale of housing production and volume of housing stock have been stalled. Low-income households are adversely affected, being priced out of the limited stock. Core housing, a partial-provision strategy believed to require less financial resources has been neglected. This research focused on the potentials of core housing strategy in financial cost-saving and other aspects of public housing products’ performance. Components of public housing products’ performance and the measuring variables were first outlined; followed by a review of the relationship between core housing and the variables, which was apt and revealing. This study has widened knowledge and prepared grounds for empirical studies of core housing performance in Anambra State public housing sector.

Forensic Construction Investigation of Reconstructed Premises

The article addresses solving the issue of the possibility of preserving reconstructed premises or carrying out proposed reconstruction works in the course of in the course of construction forensic investigation. The significance of the problem attributes to the volume of the stock of residential and public buildings which are older than 40 years (according to statistics, the housing stock of Russia in 1980 was 1,861 million m2 , in 2015 – 3,581 million m2 ), outdated layouts of premises, and the evolved consumers’ idea of comfort.A construction expert’s task is to determine if there is a possibility to change the layout, the function of premises to improve living conditions, or reconstruction poses a threat to the state of the object, its further proper operation, the integrity of the installed engineering systems, the appearance of the facades, nearby buildings and structures. Using regulatory material, the authors consider the criteria for solving this problem, present the procedure for conducting studies of buildings or structures, building materials, structures, and relevant documents in this line of forensic construction examination. Finally, the article gives specific examples of the redevelopment of apartments, a proposed reconstruction of the kindergarten premises.It is noted that the reliability of experts’ opinions is based on a comprehensive, unbiased analysis of all the technical and economic characteristics of construction objects, verification of documentation, an inspection of structures for compliance with the requirements of federal laws, rules, and regulations.

Analysis of the condition of apartment buildings

These technical conditions of multi-apartment buildings are a huge digital array for making important management decisions both within the boundaries of individual territories of the municipality, and for planning budget expenditures within the municipality, the subject of the federation and the country as a whole. Aspects of the formation of data on apartment buildings in various information systems are considered. The basics of ensuring the reliability of the presented data are considered. It is noted in the work that for many years, during the transition from a planned economy to a market economy, the requirements of technical regulations and normative documents for the maintenance and operation of apartment buildings are not fully complied with by the operating organizations. The deadlines for replacing systems and equipment that have worked out the deadline are not met. It is noted that federal legislators and the Government of the Russian Federation have not determined a general procedure for monitoring the technical condition of apartment buildings and have not formed a general approach to assessing their technical condition, the obligation of owners of premises of apartment buildings to finance these works, their frequency has not been determined. It was revealed that the data obtained during the monitoring of the technical condition of apartment buildings combined in federal and regional information systems would be an objective marker in the formation of state and municipal programs in the field of reducing the housing stock unsuitable for living. financing of monitoring.

Decarbonization pathways for the residential sector in the United States

Residential GHG emissions in the United States are driven in part by a housing stock where on-site fossil combustion is common, home sizes are large by international standards, energy efficiency potential is large, and electricity generation in many regions is GHG-intensive. In this analysis we assess decarbonization pathways for the United States residential sector to 2060, through 108 scenarios describing housing stock evolution, new housing characteristics, renovation levels, and clean electricity. The lowest emission scenarios rely on very rapid decarbonization of electricity supply alongside extensive renovations to existing homes—focused on improving thermal envelopes and heat pump electrification of heating. Reducing the size, increasing the multifamily share, and increasing the electrification of new homes provide further emission cuts, and combining all strategies enables emissions reductions of 91% between 2020 and 2050. Construction becomes the main source of emissions in the most ambitious scenarios, motivating increased attention on reducing embodied emissions.

Matrix of Affordable Housing Assessment: A Development Process

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a multiracial society with diverse housing and a potential real estate market. This study focused on users’ perceptions of the designs of available and affordable private housing stock in Dubai, Sharjah, and Ajman, which are the most populated states (emirates) of the UAE. A literature review and case studies of low- to medium-rise residential buildings were used to determine the parameters defining affordable housing design, and a model was developed of 7 design segments (independent variables) with 39 dependent variables. The model consists of a matrix of 39 design variables, in which each variable is set in a survey tool with a Likert scale to evaluate user satisfaction levels with the designs of their respective buildings. Questionnaires were distributed among the inhabitants of several buildings at different locations in the emirates. This study found that 16 anomalous design factors failed to satisfy users. It is likely that the results of this study will provide a blueprint for dialogue between regional building designers and end users to improve the designs of new buildings. The resulting design assessment matrix can be used for the analysis of residential buildings in other parts of the Gulf Cooperation Council region.

House stock forecasting based on population growth. A case of Nur-Sultan City, Kazakhstan

Since the beginning of 2020, the "Nurly Zher" housing and communal development program for 2020-2025 came into force in Kazakhstan. Within the framework of this program there are tasks of capital repair and renovation of the housing stock. The passportization of the housing stock was adopted as one of the measures to solve this problem. At the same time there are some discrepancies in the statistical data between the Committee of Statistics of the Ministry of National Economy of the RK and Local Executive Authorities with a simultaneous increase in the volume of housing construction. This article examines the volume of residential buildings commissioned in Nur-Sultan depending on changes in the population of the city. It is assumed that as the number of people in the city will increase the volume of housing stock. To understand the volume of housing in Nur-Sultan in the period of the program "Nurly Zher" in the article gives a forecast increase in commissioned housing by 62% by 2025, compared with the value at the end of 2020. Based on the data obtained it is concluded that for a more effective solution to the problem of capital repair and renovation of housing stock an alternative approach or tool is needed.

Potential of Energy Savings in the Public Housing Stock of Comunitat Valenciana Region by Applying the MedZEB Cost-Optimal Methodology

Improving energy efficiency in buildings has a key role to play in achieving the ambitious goal of EU-wide climate neutrality by 2050, set out in the European Green Deal. This paper describes a cost-optimal analysis of residential buildings of Valencian Community, Spain. Thus, an assessment of the contribution of total primary energy savings per year (MW/h) of the social dwellings managed by EVha, Entitat Valenciana d’Habitatge i Sòl (eng. Valencian entity for dwelling and ground) towards the national contribution is presented in this paper. To assess it, the MedZEB cost-optimal methodology has been applied to optimise the performance of the building’s envelope. This means that Optimal Renovation Strategies through Life-Cycle Analysis have been applied to obtain the Packages of Optimal Solutions of the different reference buildings in a reference climate. First, the renovation scenario with 100% of the building stock being renovated has been calculated. Then, the renovation scenario of 1%, being the current European rate of renovation and, finally the renovation scenario of 2%, given that the objective of the Renovation Wave is to at least double the annual energy renovation rate of residential and non-residential buildings by 2030 and to foster deep energy renovations.