Evaluating sense of community in the residential environment from the perspectives of symbolic interactionism and architectural design

The field of human building interaction for convergent research and innovation for intelligent built environments

Human-Building Interaction (HBI) is a convergent field that represents the growing complexities of the dynamic interplay between human experience and intelligence within built environments. This paper provides core definitions, research dimensions, and an overall vision for the future of HBI as developed through consensus among 25 interdisciplinary experts in a series of facilitated workshops. Three primary areas contribute to and require attention in HBI research: humans (human experiences, performance, and well-being), buildings (building design and operations), and technologies (sensing, inference, and awareness). Three critical interdisciplinary research domains intersect these areas: control systems and decision making, trust and collaboration, and modeling and simulation. Finally, at the core, it is vital for HBI research to center on and support equity, privacy, and sustainability. Compelling research questions are posed for each primary area, research domain, and core principle. State-of-the-art methods used in HBI studies are discussed, and examples of original research are offered to illustrate opportunities for the advancement of HBI research.

Application of Cognitive System Model and Gestalt Psychology in Residential Healthy Environment Design

The influence of the environment on people is very large. According to the general rules of people's daily routines, people spend at least half of their time in residential areas. Therefore, the environment of residential areas has a great impact on people's emotions, behaviors, and even the development of living habits. Residential area refers to a residential area where residents live in clusters and form a certain scale, including buildings where people live, public buildings and facilities for rest, education, fitness, work, and even communication between people, green space, and traffic roads. Usually, the environmental design of urban residential areas usually meets the requirements of diverse functions, strong compatibility, and convenient travel, so as to facilitate residents' living. In an ideal state, the environmental design of a residential area should not only meet the basic living conditions but also improve the living comfort of the residents. Because there is a close relationship between people's psychology and behavior and the living environment of the community, environmental design that is in line with people's positive and optimistic psychology helps residents maintain a happy mood. Therefore, from the perspective of environment to residents' living comfort, this paper introduces a cognitive system model and Gestalt psychology to optimize the design of residential healthy environment. A more harmonious and comfortable living environment is established by using the principle of bottom, grouping, and simplification in Gestalt.

Association of Environmental Elements with Respondents’ Behaviors in Open Spaces Using the Direct Gradient Analysis Method: A Case Study of Jining, China

Following rapid urban development, higher demands are now being placed on urban open spaces in China, and the relationship between environmental elements and respondents’ behaviors in open spaces has become a common concern for researchers. Current research using geographic information systems has yielded macroscopic portraits of the behavioral trends and outcomes of research subjects, but evaluating their actual needs is complex. This paper proposes a new method to analyze the relationship between open spaces and respondents’ behaviors from a detailed perspective. Direct gradient analysis was employed with stratified sampling to select sample points in open spaces. Environment quality, ancillary facilities, and canal culture were selected as subjective evaluation factors. The greatest advantage of the proposed procedure is that it produces a ranking diagram, which compensates for the shortcomings of research methods that cannot directly express the actual needs related to respondents’ behaviors. From a case study in Jining, China, a location’s environmental quality and ancillary facilities were found to have the greatest influence on the behaviors of those using open spaces. Finally, strategies for improving environmental quality in open spaces are proposed.

Brazilian Children's Understanding of the Quality of Life in Their Living Environment: A Qualitative Study

(1) Objective: To understand the perception of Brazilian children about the Quality of Life (QoL) considering their living environment. (2) Methods: This is a qualitative study conducted with children aged 6–10 years, from a medium-sized Brazilian municipality, recruited from public and private schools. An adaptation of the “draw, write, and say” method was used to collect data. At first, all children (n = 252) drew a “neighborhood with QoL”. On the same day, the researcher analyzed the graphic elements of the representations and intentionally selected the two best-detailed drawings from each class (n = 49) and the children were invited to narrate them. The narratives were analyzed through content analysis. (3) Results: Two major themes emerged from the content analysis, namely, the physical environment and social environment. The first included the needs to live in a community, such as housing, places of leisure, essential services, and natural elements. The second was relationships with family and friends. (4) Conclusion: The children presented the meaning of an environment with QoL, pointing out essential items to have this ideal environment. The social environment and the physical environment were perceived interdependently; that is, any change in one of these aspects may affect children’s QoL.