Since the beginning of civilisation, humans have used the land. As the population grew, so did the demand for land, which resulted in using land resources, referred to as "land use." In India, land use planning has become essential as land is scarce. Due to fast urbanisation, competition for multiple land uses exists, and severe shifts in land uses have been recorded, necessitating a thorough land-use planning procedure. Therefore, this paper focuses on land use, land-use history at the national (India) and international levels, and the selection of criteria based on the comments and views given by various authors to examine its effectiveness.The research seeks to determine how and to what extent the land use planning process is effective. The work has been executed by listing the four main criteria and various sub-criteria compiled through literature sources. The expert questionnaire survey was conducted and analysed with the help of AHP by calculating the weights of each criterion by using a pairwise comparison matrix to understand the significance level of each criterion for land use planning. Some solutions and dimensions of the land-use allocation process have also been framed. In broader terms, the paper's findings highlight the past and present systems of the land use planning process, its effectiveness, and unachieved goals and provide us with the set of criteria that can act as the basis for the systematic land use planning process in India.

The residential outdoor environment may not always appropriately meet the needs of the elderly. Compared to other age groups, the elderly spend more time in their surrounding residential and outdoor spaces. This is due to their lack of ability physically and energetically. The purpose of this study was to test the applicability of the Seniors’ Outdoor Survey (SOS) tool, which is an environmental assessment instrument, in terms of its ratings and reliability based on different ages and genders. Labour Square in Shandong Province of China served as the site study location. Raters of different ages were appointed to increase the experiment's reliability; 20-40, 40-60, and 60-80 years old. Two trained raters of different genders were selected for each age group. Then, the raters were assigned to evaluate on a scale of 1 to 7 for 60 instrument items of outdoor environmental factors for the elderly. The results showed that the mean ratings among raters were similar, while the mean raters’ reliability was excellent and applicable to the elderly for all three groups. The mean interrater reliability (ICC) was 0.826. Moreover, the T-test's significance (p-value) was 0.869. Despite rating differences across age groups, the high ICC suggested that this instrument might be helpful in a wide range of environmental settings. Furthermore, the research findings can be used as a guide for the Chinese government and design institutes to apply the SOS tool to solve the environmental factors of the residential outdoor environment for the elderly.

Using space syntax, this paper represents a possible move away from traditional characteristics of urban planning and toward a simulation-based, smart character for a given city, featuring effectiveness and better decision making. This helps in solving current problems and avoiding future issues related to walkability, for example. For this purpose, a comparative analysis between the 2020 and 2030 Master Plans of the study area of Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, is made through simulation of the street networks as well as spatial integration of different parts of the island in regard to it being an urban and dynamic system. Established on mathematical algorithms and geospatial computer technology using a program called ‘DepthmapX’, space syntax allows for interpretation of a variety of spatial configurations at different scales and is commonly used in the fields of architecture, urban design, planning, transportation, as well as interior design. The findings show a lack of walkable areas in the busiest areas of Yas Island and call for a revision of the currently vacant lands and rethinking of areas of high connectivity toward them being more public and social spaces. In addition, the street networks are spatially located deeply within the island which makes them difficult to reach by foot from other parts of the island. It was observed that the street network splits the island into two parts separated by the main highway, Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Road, which is proposed for reconsideration in future development and planning.

The interaction between high-rise and low-rise buildings in high-density cities can have an impact on the wind environment of surrounding streets and areas. In Hong Kong, a city with a large number of high-rise buildings, there are public open areas between these buildings that are potential sites for public facilities. However, there is a lack of research on the impact of linear or strip-shaped facilities on the wind environment in such areas. This study used computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation to analyze the wind environment of two different layouts of a plot in a dense district in the Kowloon Peninsula, with a focus on the impact of linear building blocks on the wind environment of streets between high-rise buildings. Wind speed measurements were taken at twenty-two points, including entrances and exits of residential areas, rest areas, and surrounding streets, based on the velocity ratio as an indicator. The study found that although linear-shaped low-rise buildings can have a minor negative impact on the overall wind environment, their shape can be adjusted to enhance the wind environment and improve the comfort levels. This research provides valuable insights into planning and designing public facilities in high-density cities, especially in Hong Kong, where street wind environment is essential for the comfort and well-being of pedestrians.

Vegetation provides significant benefits for urban thermal environments attracting people to open spaces. Especially in tropical climates, squares are more vulnerable to thermal discomfort due to surrounding buildings and increased hard surface coverage compared to urban parks. Since the space for planting is limited, a proper arrangement is essential to enhance the outdoor thermal comfort (OTC). Nevertheless, the impact of different planting arrangements on OTC has not yet been adequately discovered in tropics. This research conducts numerical simulations using ENVI-met software employing physiological equivalent temperature (PET) to understand how planting patterns affect microclimate and OTC at pedestrian level (1.5m) under clustered, scattered, and equally distributed planting arrangements. The methodology includes three stages; onsite measurements, assessment of existing OTC level, and comparison of the impact of planting arrangements on microclimate and OTC. The changes in the planting arrangements considerably affect OTC in urban outdoors altering the air temperature (Ta), wind speed (WS), mean radiant temperature (MRT), and relative humidity (RH). MRT and the WS are found as the most important parameters influencing thermal comfort, thus collaborating with previous studies. Equally distributed planting arrangement has a significant impact providing the highest comfort improvement (9.8 ℃ PET reduction) at the pedestrian level. Reduced canopy overlaps and planting densities, and improved homogeneous shade coverage and ventilation are suggested to overcome thermal discomfort. The cooling effect of native tree species should be assessed in future research. These results guide urban designers and landscape architects in improving microclimate and OTC in warm-humid cities.

Home to one-fifth of the world’s population, South Asian countries act as loci for interlinked sustainability issues owing to rapid urbanization. Given the context of formidable problems that threaten to overwhelm the region’s cities and towns, the localization of SDG 11 has become desirable for sustainability. This paper reviews the literature encapsulating the progress of developing economies such as China, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia towards SDG 11 and intends to extract substantiated strategies adopted for comprehensive localization of the goal through certain examples. The results conglomerate key enablers such as inclusive institutional and financial environment, stakeholder engagement for the reorganization of people-centered resource flows, efficient data ecosystems to promote social innovation, and adaptive policy reform measures for generating cross-cutting innovative solutions. These enablers serve as the initial step for informing the essential parameters required to prepare the contextual framework of SDG 11 for Indian cities and induce a paradigm shift with informed policy decision-making at the city level.

3D models of real-world scenes have become an important new tool in China, with widespread applications in cultural heritage preservation and restoration of ancient villages. However, due to the diverse and complex classical architectural forms and layout design in traditional Chinese gardens, the reconstruction of sophisticated digital models is challenging, and the integration of interior and exterior architectural models is unsatisfactory. In this paper, taking the architectural group model in Li's Manor, a major historical and cultural site protected at the national level in Lichuan City, Hubei Province, as an example, a spatial point cloud was generated by using oblique photography technology and virtual control points to accurately fuse multi-source image data, and a 3D model of indoor and outdoor real scenes of complex ancient buildings was constructed, to establish the entire real-scene 3D model of the manor and its garden. The technical solution can effectively fuse image data from different data sources and different resolutions organically, thus improving the precision and accuracy of the images and reducing blurring and distortion of the images. By fusing images from multiple sources, data duplication can be reduced, data storage can be reduced, and the efficiency of data utilisation and the accuracy of analysis results can be improved. With the approach, the cost of equipment use will be reduced, the efficiency of data acquisition will improve, and a reference for the reconstruction of complex digital models of ancient gardens can be provided.

According to environmental and behavioural theories, individuals in their early years of cognitive development enter a world full of environmental stimuli that motivate them to perceive and learn. As a result of many perception processes, people convert and transfer perceived information into cognitive patterns that inform their understanding of the surroundings in which they operate and navigate around them. This paper aims to better understand the processes involved in navigating the home-school journey for children and delve into the likely impact of gender and age group of children on their perception of the environment and attempt to identify some of the factors that may affect their spatial behaviour. In doing so, there is the intention to develop a new approach to investigating wayfinding for school age children during their home-school journey. The approach consists of combining the analysis of cognitive maps drawn up by children, observation of their travel routines and space syntax tools. After contextualising the research through a literature review covering issues such as children’s spatial perception, navigation, wayfinding, and imageability, the paper describes the methods used to carry out the research, presents the results of the research and discusses them in order to shed some light on children’s wayfinding on the school journey.

Recently, both the Makassar city government and its residents have encountered difficulties in anticipating and managing street vendors, due largely to unclear policies regarding location regulation. Meanwhile, the proliferation of street vendors has led to the occupation of unplanned trading areas, resulting in increased traffic congestion and a decline in the quality of the urban environment. The presence of street vendors should ideally contribute to the city's mosaic, shaping the city’s image and serving the community's needs, including tourists. This article attempts to address the pressing issues surrounding the creation of a productive and liveable city. The purpose of this study is to develop a model for suitably locating street vendors in Makassar. This article identifies various supportive and inhibiting parameters and subsequently develops them into rules for spatial analysis. These parameters were gathered through interviews with traders, community members, and government officials, and the data was structured using expert choice techniques. Each weighted parameter was used to assess the grid-based land surface using the ArcGIS program. The article proposes a model for suitably locating street vendors, which can be applied to cities similar to Makassar. As a result of spatial data input to the model, potential locations in three districts were identified, falling into three categories. In general, Category 1 comprises 114 grids of the high suitability potential locations that nearly meet all the principles of suitable street vendor workplaces, among 1164 grid locations. Category 2 represents suitable potential locations, and Category 3 denotes low suitability potential locations.

The Gotong Royong culture, which is the hallmark of the Bajo community, continues to experience changes due to interactions with mainland people. As a result, the cultural values of Gotong Royong have been abandoned. Efforts to restore local wisdom, such as the Gotong Royong culture, are urgently needed in this era. This research aims to innovate by reintroducing this culture, particularly in housing and housing development cooperation. The reapplication of local wisdom (Gotong Royong culture) in this study is intended to ensure that the characteristics and identities of the Bajo people remain the basis for building their social capital. The researcher used a qualitative descriptive method with inductive and deductive approaches, along with a Value Engineering approach. This research was conducted within the Bajo Tribe's location, situated in Kabalutan Village, Tojo Una Una Regency, Central Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. The results of the study found that the application of the Gotong Royong culture to the Bajo community in building houses and housing produced efficiency and effectiveness. It was efficient because it reduced development costs and effective because it took advantage of free time to construct houses, fostering a sense of togetherness among fellow Bajo tribespeople and strengthening cooperation. Thus, Gotong Royong activities serve as a means of building effective social networks that can reduce the cost of constructing houses and revive the culture of Gotong Royong.

The rural area of the southern slope of the ‘Aurès’ massif represents a significant model of a very particular way of life, which depends not only on the impact of its physical environment, but also on its own culture. That is to say that this rural community seems to be defined according to a dialectical relationship with the society that produced it. In this regard, this paper aims to identify, under the framework of a comparative study, the mode of spatial structuring of a vernacular corpus taken from this rural region. In this case, the village of ‘Beni Ferah’ as a conglomerate of very important traditional settlements, in order to investigate whether there are certain recurrences of spatial syntactic properties at the level of their modes of spatial structuring, i.e. to discover the underlying layouts of the space in question and to bring out, in depth, their socio-spatial structures. The repetition of these structural characteristics is considered as the genotypic index. It is therefore necessary to carry out an analysis process based mainly on the qualitative and quantitative data of the justified graphs of these settlements, in order to highlight the spatial genetic constants that are defined as genotypes. The qualitative analysis of these justified graphs is based on visual factors (distributedness/non-distributedness, symmetry/asymmetry), topological (occupation/movement) and analytical (permeability, segregation/sequencing). While quantitative data is based on mathematical formulas such as Mean Depth (MD), relative asymmetry (RA), integration (RRA), Base difference factor (BDF), control value (CV), and ‘Space Link Ratio’ (SLR). The results obtained revealed a recurrence of the ‘Annere’ plaza intended for the circulation of visitors, in the most integrative position. In second position, the male gathering spaces ‘Djemaa’ (located along the path crossing the mosque which contains a fairly large number of integrated convex spaces), then, the spaces of daily life ‘Thidder’, and of female gatherings (‘T'ssemerth’ and ‘Thessekifth’), being the most segregated and least controlled.

The spatial diffusion theory and its patterns (expansion, hierarchical, contagious, and relocation) explain how phenomena disseminate from the origin of diffusion. By investigating the spatial pattern of specialist physicians' offices in the city of Mashhad, the present study showed that, contrary to common patterns, a new pattern of spatial diffusion was formed by increasing the number of phenomena but not diffusing them at the origin. This was a descriptive-analytical study and the sample included all specialist physicians' offices in Mashhad (including 27 specialist physicians and 2425 offices). To this end, a geographic database of specialist physicians' offices was created according to their type of specialty and addresses. Then, the diffusion pattern and origin of the offices were identified using spatial analysis models such as density profiles, mean center, and standard distance. Then, it was examined how each office diffused according to the type of specialty using spatial autocorrelation models, network analysis, and location-allocation. Finally, the diffusion rate of each specialty was determined using scatter diagrams and correlation coefficient. The results indicated that the distribution of offices in the city of Mashhad follows a new pattern called "inverse spatial diffusion". It is characterized by high mobility of phenomena at the origin, a high correlation between the number of offices in each specialty and their absorption rates, and non-diffusion of offices at the origin. This was resulted in high daily inflows and outflows of people to this area, low diversity of land uses, and isolation of this area from other parts of the city.

The Saudi Government has spared no effort to combat the COVID-19 outbreak since its declaration by the (WHO) as a worldwide pandemic on March 11, 2020. Many restrictive policy measures were deployed. They range from social distancing, to business shutdown, school and university attendance suspension, and lock-down, etc. The way the epidemic spreads in big cities and smaller towns within the region has not yet been examined within the Saudi context. This paper explores the differential spreading of the viral infection between the large city of Riyadh and its small towns in its vicinity. The main research question consists of unrevealing whether the pandemic follows a similar pattern of COVID-19 transmission within populations of urban settings of different sizes or not. To that end, the study used data provided by the Saudi Ministry of Health (MoH) and Google Community Mobility Reports to examine the spread of the virus and the effectiveness of the policies adopted to halt its transmission. For the purpose of comparison, the basic reproduction measure (R0) was calculated for both settings. For the efficiency of policies implemented, Google Mobility Data was used to reveal how Riyadh population mobility patterns were affected by these policies. Google Mobility Data was compared to the evolution of COVID-19 confirmed cases from March 9, 2020 to May 28, 2021.

Population displacement theory concerns settlements as a form of sociocultural action rather than a passive reaction to a sudden influx of refugees. The literature suggests that formal camp planning affects the efficiency of services, infrastructure, safety, and the health of refugees. The present study explains spatial patterns at the Zaatari Syrian Refugee Camp in North Jordan, Al-Mafraq, and the shifted emerging patterns and their influence on the efficiency of the settlement. The objectives of the study are first, to identify the influence of spatial settlement patterns on mobilizers’ reachability, which reflects the efficiency of the settlement; and second, to identify the influence of spatial shifts on the efficiency of the camp. Face-to-face interviews with camp mobilizers explained the shifted settlement patterns and their influence on mobilizers’ reachability to the residents. A cluster-stratified random sample was used to collect quantitative data through a structured questionnaire. Next, linear logistic regression and one-way analysis of variance tests were utilized to test the influence of the emerging settlement patterns on the total efficiency of the settlement. Spatial settlement patterns specifically affect accessibility and communication, while infrastructure and safety are unaffected. To increase accessibility to services and efficiency of communication between refugees and mobilizers, planners should consider emerging sociocultural patterns.