This paper analyses the An-chae with wings of the houses in the inland region of Jollanam Province to identify the architectural characteristics and to demonstrate the spatial differences. The findings are as follows. Firstly, the layout of the building has a significant impact on the external space. This is especially the case with the An-chae with wings, where the interior space affects the exterior space. While houses with a l-shaped An-chae have rather dull exterior spaces, houses with An-chae with wings have diversified external spaces, such as a public space in the front and a private space in the rear. Secondly, the most important characteristic of the An-chae with wings is that it is integrated with a building plan adapting the changes in the architectural requirements of the early modernization era. The spatial division of the An-chae has given rise to its function as both a private space, centring on the master bedroom, and a public space, centring on the Geonneon-bang. And lastly, the number of rooms and the area of the An-chae with wings of Boseong are proportional. The number of rooms and the area of the An-chae with wings of Hwasun are inversely proportional. Additionally, houses in Boseong are not very different in terms of private, public, and buffer zones, whereas houses in Hwasun show significant differences in terms of the zones.

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Ultimately, in addition to socio-economic transformation according to a low-rise residential policies paradigm, an overall comprehensive physical improvement is essential. Hence, this research discussed the status of residential environment renewal amid discharged public bodies and community organizations in housing re-development districts, as well as the challenges and characteristics, in order to propose a modular system for future improvement.
From Seoul′s 15 designated areas for residential environment improvement projects and residential renewal districts, reformation districts with the most potential are narrowed to ten (1 to 10) residential areas that have the most need for improvement. From this field, Case number (7) Bon-Dong (number 434-3) and (8) SangDo-3-Dong (number 286) were targeted as ideal representatives based on their conditions.

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One of the critical issues in housing is to develop and adopt effective strategies for enhancing a ″sense of community″ among residents, eventually revitalizing contemporary housing complex communities. Based on the assumption that the characteristics of contemporary communities might differ from those of traditional communities, this research aims to reinterpret strategies for the activation of communities in a current context. By incorporating a ″smart paradigm″, this paper introduces the concept of the smart community and considers the potential of mobile augmented reality as a strategy for activating communities. Mobile augmented reality is expected to extend people′s interactions within the virtual world, combining with social networks to enable sustainable relationships among housing complex residents and producing collective intelligence that will contribute to a new type of community. This research conducted a questionnaire survey to investigate the conditions in current communities, residents′ perceptions and demands on a smart community. Based on the results of the survey, persona scenarios were developed and a smart community model was then constructed by proposing applicable technologies and services extracted from the persona scenarios.

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Recently, several studies pertaining to the measurement and analysis of construction productivity data have been attempted using image-processing technology. However, these studies have mainly focused on the recognition of individual labor and the materials at construction job sites. This research develops a new system model, which automatically analyzes and accumulates a construction work crew′s productivity data using image processing technologies. It includes the three modules as follows: 1) the acquisition of a construction job site′s video images and calibration for their recognition, 2) measurement and analysis of the construction work crew′s productivity data, and 3) creation and utilization of a productivity database. New algorithms are proposed for each module. YCbCr settings are used to develop a calibration algorithm for improving the rate of recognition. Work sampling and video editing are used to develop an algorithm for measuring and analyzing the crew′s productivity data. Then, an algorithm for productivity data accumulation and its utilization is proposed by utilizing the integration of the BIM Model. This developed system model is applied to a real construction site and validates its feasibility through two case studies.

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With the expansion of urban areas, many traditional villages with high heritage values in the urban fringes in China are being destroyed. This study proposes a resilient method for renovating traditional villages in the urban fringe in Guangzhou, China. The authors begin with an analysis of two existing renovation models from the constitutional, economic, and social perspectives. Based on our reorganization of the advantages and disadvantages of the two models, the authors suggest the application of the co-evolution model, which entails the establishment of an intermediate space supporter between the urban area and the village. Consequently, urbanization capital can be accumulated and effectively distributed into relevant fields. The goals of this process include protecting cultural heritage, maintaining social networks, eliminating hidden social dangers, and creating new employment opportunities. The co-evolution model respects the development needs of both urban and rural areas, and seeks a win-win situation, wherein each party could adapt and renew themselves gradually and positively. Thus, this model has significance in the renovation of traditional villages in the urban fringe.

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Though apartments are often criticized for their homogeneous nature, they are being actively adopted as an efficient method of providing houses for developing countries. In this paper, the authors argue whether such phenomenon can be seen simply as cultural identity giving in to internationalism. That is, apartments can indeed reflect locality within their spatial structure. To support this argument, apartment units from Korea, Vietnam, and Kazakhstan, three countries from dramatically different climate zones and cultural backgrounds, are analyzed. In doing so, Space Syntax, a quantitative analysis method widely used to interpret the cultural aspects embedded into a spatial structure is utilized. Each country′s apartment units had different functions at the topological center, which should not be seen as a mere coincidence since they were consistent with the spatial characteristic found in their respective traditional houses. Therefore, it can be said that apartments, in their unit plans, do reflect locality, a direct contradiction to the general belief.

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The town of Koyasan has 1,200 years of history as a center of Japanese esoteric Buddhism (Shingon Mikkyo). Koyasan was registered as a World Heritage Site in 2004, and its town government established a new townscape act in 2008, and landscape districts were decided. Although it is thought that the traditional houses have the most significant effect on the townscape, modern Koyasan consists of various other types of buildings as well, including temples and stores. Presently, 3,000 people live in Koyasan and 1,200,000 visit it every year. Therefore, when considering the townscape of Koyasan and the preservation of traditional houses, the experience of both residents and visitors must be taken into account.
Here the author presents the results of a survey that was conducted in 2008 about the townscape of Koyasan and its traditional houses to show its conservation and possible relocation. The responses of Koyasan′s residents were distinguished from those of tourists and visitors; in fact, the survey helped clarify some differences of opinion between these two groups. The questionnaire was broken up into subsections consisting of questions on respondent characteristics, traditional houses, the townscape of Koyasan and the town itself. Completed questionnaires were received from 168 residents and 1,073 visitors.

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This study examines the regional characteristics and population trends in the Tokyo metropolitan area. A Leslie matrix model based on the cohort change rate between two time points was used to analyze local characteristics and the transformation of population trends. The study demonstrates that population decline and the aging process have accelerated in suburban residential areas recently. In contrast, the population of the city center has increased since 2000, and the aging rate is not remarkably different from that of suburban areas. The population change observed in the city center and suburban areas has become increasingly distinct over time.

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The growth potential of a corporation can be assessed in terms of its orders and sales. Because the management of a construction company starts with order-taking, orders received is directly related to corporate survival. New orders are impacted not only by construction business cycle, but also by a variety of external factors such as loan interest rate, legislation, and orders awarded in the public and private sectors, among other factors. These environmental factors have different impacts on companies and it is not easy to establish these relationships. However, it is possible to establish the impacts that particular environmental factors such as orders available from the public and private sectors have on orders received by companies in relative and qualitative terms, though it is still necessary to quantify such impacts. Nevertheless, no preceding research has attempted to quantitatively analyze the relationship between environmental changes and management performance of construction firms in Korea. Hence, the objective of this paper is to propose a regression model of the effect of management environment on contract amount of construction firms. The outcomes of this study will help forecast management performance in response to changes in business environment and provide basic inputs for corporate management strategies.

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This paper deals with community-based approaches to a low-carbon society in the UK and aims to clarify the types of community-based approaches, the factors involved in goal attainment, the roles of actors and the positive and negative points of community-based approaches. We divide community-based approaches supported by government into two types. We focus on a multiple-targeted approach and examine the case of Muswell Hill in London. We observe that the approaches encourage change in people′s behaviour and have an effect on promoting low carbon in homes and communities. These approaches use direct and intensive methods, and residents can be involved in several activities. Meanwhile, we point out that these activities are meaningless, if the low-carbon community activities are not continued and extended. In conclusion, we consider that this approach is significant in empowering communities instead of merely promoting low-carbon activities.

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Circuitous tourism helps to deepen the understanding of local cultures; however, the encouragement of circuitous movement by tourists through design is still under exploration. This study investigated the cultural area of Lukang in Taiwan through think-aloud protocols, behavioral observation, and circuitous movement planning to understand how tourists pre-plan and use the circuitous movement indicated on a site map. We then suggested a new map design that encourages circuitous movement and compared its effect on pre-planning and touring with that of the old map. This study found that in using maps for wayfinding people must rest. Site maps have always been a tool for tourists to plan their trips. When planning trips, tourists with maps relied on their past experiences; however, the existence of resting areas affected the planning of trips. Adding resting area icons effectively increased the touring periods and the number of attractions visited. Information on resting areas helped tourists independently arrange periods of repose, which aided planning and experiencing local specialties. Information on resting is thus an important factor for circuitous tours.

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This article examines recent high-rise developments in Tokyo that have reshaped the mega-city′s identity, and in particular defines the timeline of these drastic changes on the skyline. The research has focused on buildings over 150m tall¹ in Central Tokyo,² considering construction data in light of the city′s historical development, economic models, legal framework, and technological restrictions. The objective of this research is to explain the processes that have led to the current skyline, and in particular explain the historical reasons that have led to what is often described as Tokyo′s chaotic morphology.

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This study attempts to verify the validity of the neighborhood unit theory in Korea and interpret its meaning. In Korea, Perry′s neighborhood unit theory has been applied to new cities and housing block plans as a design principle since its introduction. While the theory has been actively applied to New Town developments throughout the world, it has also faced criticisms. This paper begins with the question ′Does Perry′s theory still have viability in Korea?′ First of all, this research reviewed the major contents and corresponding examples of Perry′s theory. In attempts to answer this question, major contents of the controversies were summarized historically, along with reviews on the background of how Perry′s theory was introduced. This is followed by examinations of applications of the neighborhood unit theory in Korea. Additionally, solutions regarding criticism of the theory were diagnosed. It was also pointed out that although there was a time that Perry′s theory was applied uniformly during socioeconomic changes in Korea, there were efforts to overcome the limitations of this theory. As a result, it was found that the neighborhood unit theory still viably suggests basic design principles for various types of planning from residential planning to life zone planning.

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The purpose of this study is to understand whether the characteristics of users of long-term care (LTC) facility buildings affect their perceptions of the importance of environmental privacy and personalization of bedrooms. The building users in this study included managers of LTC facilities, residents living in LTC facilities for more than 3 months, and families visiting residents in LTC facilities. This study distributed questionnaires to the three groups of building users in order to understand their perceptions of the importance of ″visual privacy,″ ″conversational privacy,″ ″placement of personal furniture,″ and ″self-decoration of bedrooms″ with respect to the indoor environments of LTC facilities. The results showed that number of beds, operation type, and institution type affected the privacy indicators and personalization of bedrooms and the age and marital status of residents affected their opinions of privacy. For the family members, age, marital status, and length of residence affected their perception of the importance of privacy and the personalization of institutions.

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This study evaluates the flexural performance of precast concrete beams using ground granulated blast-furnace slag. A total of four specimens with various replacement ratios of ground granulated blast-furnace slag are cast and tested in flexure. The specimens under four-point loading had a shear span-to-depth ratio of 4 and a rectangular section with a width of 200 mm and an effective depth of 300 mm. It can be shown from experimental results that the specimens with ground granulated blast-furnace slag had a similar flexural performance to the specimen with natural aggregates, regardless of the replacement ratios of ground granulated blast-furnace slag.

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Masonry infill walls are frequently used as interior partitions or exterior walls for low-rise RC buildings. These infill walls are usually considered to be non-structural elements, and thus they are ignored in analytical models, because they are assumed to be beneficial to the structural behavior. In order to test this hypothesis, structural analyses were performed for a low-rise RC moment-resisting frame with and without masonry infill walls. From the analytical results, it has been shown that masonry infill walls can increase the strength and stiffness of a building structure, resulting in a decreased inter-story drift ratio. However, seismic forces applied to the structure are increased, because natural periods of the structure are shortened by the increase of stiffness. It should be noted that partial damage of infill walls between floor slabs can cause vertical irregularity of the strength and stiffness of the structure. It has also been shown that the inelastic deformation of a RC moment-resisting frame with a soft story is concentrated on the first story columns, and this partial damage may cause collapse of the entire system. To solve this problem, a structural design method has been proposed in this study.

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This paper presents a finite element procedure for the large deflection analysis of functionally graded (FG) beams resting on a two-parameter elastic foundation. The material properties of the FG beams are assumed to vary continuously in the thickness direction by a power-law distribution. Based on the strain energy expression, a shear deformable beam element, taking the effect of the material non-homogeneity and the foundation support into account, is formulated and employed in the analysis. An incremental/iterative procedure in combination with the arc-length control method is used for solving nonlinear equilibrium equations. The numerical results show that the convergence of the formulated element is fast, and the large displacements of the beams can be accurately assessed by using a few numbers of the elements. A parametric study is carried out to highlight the effect of the material non-homogeneity and the foundation support on the large deflection behavior of the beams. The influence of the aspect ratio on the large deflection response of the beam is also examined and highlighted.

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This study presents energy consumption prediction equations developed by conducting multiple regression analyses of data collected in surveys of actual states of energy consumption in apartment buildings in their operational stage.
Surveys of actual states of average energy consumption per unit show that 1) the largest component of energy consumption is room heating, followed by electricity, hot water supply, and gas, in that order; 2) energy consumption increases with household area; 3) among exposures, energy consumption is highest in households facing east or northeast and lowest in those facing south or southwest; 4) among height types, energy consumption is highest in super-high-rise apartment buildings (50 stories or higher), followed by semi-super-high-rises, high-rises, and medium-high-rises, in that order; and 5) among plan types, tower-type apartment buildings use approximately 17% – 20% more energy than flat types.
The goodness-of-fit criterion stated in the 2009 ASHRAE Fundamentals Handbook (SI) Edition is shown to be satisfied for the equations presented in this paper for the prediction of energy consumption of apartment buildings in their operational stage. These equations were developed through multiple regression analysis using the areas and heat transmission coefficients of structures as independent variables and using energy consumption as the dependent variable.

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Reducing energy consumption in the residential sector is crucial for addressing global warming. This study aims to evaluate the reduction in residential energy consumption owing to changes in residents′ awareness and lifestyle. First, the power consumption of home electronics and the low-impact lifestyle recommended in 2010 were reviewed, and the annual reduction in electricity consumption by practicing low-impact lifestyle was defined as low-impact lifestyle point. Second, a questionnaire survey was conducted in Tokyo′s Meguro Ward to investigate the relation between the residents′ lifestyle and energy consumption. Results showed that the annual energy consumption decreased as the lifestyle points of the households increased. Finally, the effect of the Great East Japan Earthquake on residents′ awareness regarding energy was examined. More than 85% of the respondents were found to have experienced a change in their awareness toward energy and the average reduction rate was found to be 13%.

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