Conference Agenda

A lot has been written about sustainability and sustainable development in the recent times, but a clear meaning of the term still remains elusive. Socio-economic-cultural factors such as the prevalent world-view in a society greatly influence environmental behaviour of people. Materialistic consumer culture and the urge to consume resources without restraint to gratify personal desire have a negative correlation with pro-environmental behaviour. It is therefore, important to understand how socio-economic-cultural factors influence the need to consume resources. This study aims to assess the intensity of perception of needs in people in the context of their socio-economic-cultural conditions. Primary data was collected through a survey conducted in several cities, towns and villages in India across different socio-economic-cultural scenarios. The respondents were asked to rate the intensity of needs in various categories (adopted from Maslow’s need hierarchy) on a five-point scale ranging from very strong need to not essential. Scores for intensity of perceived need were calculated for each respondent for each need type. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was done to see if the different settlement types and economic classes showed statistically significant variance in the intensity of needs. Significant variance was observed between different settlement types and economic classes.

Pedestrian environment is the key to walking in the neighbourhood. Complex settings in Hong Kong creates both opportunities and challenges to walkability in urban areas. Urban planning and neighbourhood design are important elements to support walking as a means of active transportation. It therefore requires better understanding of the relationship between walking behaviour and the built environment in order to improve the walkability in Hong Kong. The present study examined the effect of built environment on walking behaviour at both neighbourhood and district levels. Initial findings showed that the number of walk trips is associated with road density, land use mix and the level of PM2.5. At district level, walking behaviour, in terms of walking time and percentage of long walking trips, is associated with road density and land use mix respectively. It suggests that neighbourhood characteristics are influential to walking behaviour and the design of neighbourhood environment can potentially promote active transportation. Further studies will focus on including more factors related to walking environment and behaviour. Studies with finer spatial scales will also be important for the design of the street environment which promotes walking and healthier lifestyle in high-density cities.

Healthy environments are essential to prevent disease while promoting health and well-being. Healthy people and communities substantially contribute to sustainability. The design of the built environment in an education context is of high priority, providing architecture students with a healthy and comfortable education environment could contribute to a better cognitive experience, less absenteeism, greater students and lecturers’ productivity and better social relationships. The methodology proposed here is called Nurturing Environments Assessment Method (NEAM), and focuses on the health and well-being of building users´. It is based on a POE methodology; however, the NEAM applied here includes: A Space Occupancy Survey, a Users’ Survey (mood and perception of the building) and physical measurements of the interior environment. 99 students and 19 staff members participated in the surveys. The NEAM proved to be a useful tool to assess the quality of a building. The case study building needs to be fully equipped with furniture for students to relax and work. Solutions must consider improving ventilation, acoustics and lighting levels inside lecture rooms. In addition, strategies to make this building safer during evacuation in case of fires or earthquakes are essential for the wellbeing of occupants.

In the winter of 2014-15 an estimated 43,900 excess winter deaths occurred, 85% of which were in older people. There is a clear link between cold homes and poor health, especially in older people, as sub-optimally heated homes increase the risk of health problems that are particularly prevalent in this demographic. By 2050 a quarter of the UK population will be aged 65 and over, with the greatest population increases being seen in the octogenarian and older categories. Investigating thermal comfort in the over 65 demographic is key to ensuring that older people are able to stay healthy and comfortable in their homes. To date, thermal comfort models are based on working age populations habiting office buildings throughout a working day. This paper seeks to validate how suitable current thermal comfort models are in predicting comfort levels of older people in their homes. In this study indoor temperature data from 30 homes occupied by people aged 65 and over, together with thermal comfort data was collected during the measurement period November 2016 to March 2017. This data enabled the theoretical outputs from Fanger’s model to be correlated with the measured temperatures to validate the model.