The value context in knowledge-based development: revealing the context factors in the development of Southern BrazilsVale dos Vinhedosregion

Leveraging Smart and Sustainable Development via International Events: Insights from Bento Gonçalves Knowledge Cities World Summit

During the last couple of decades, making cities smarter and more sustainable has become an important urban agenda. In this perspective, knowledge-based development is seen as a strategic approach for cities seeking to thrive through innovation and resilience. Accomplishing a knowledge-based development agenda is, however, challenging, and cities need support mechanisms to effectively develop and then incorporate such agendas into their decision-making processes. This study investigates the role of international events as one of these support mechanisms for the development and implementation of local knowledge-based development agendas. The study aims to address how international events contribute to the local knowledge-based development efforts. This study takes the Knowledge Cities World Summit (KCWS) series as the exemplar international event, and the Brazilian city of Bento Gonçalves as the case study city. The methodological approach of the study consists of semi-structured interview-based qualitative analysis and case study investigations. The findings of the study revealed the following: (a) international events can be fundamental drivers of local knowledge-based agendas; (b) these events contribute to host cities’ development, especially at an institutional level, by generating outcomes such as engagement in cooperation networks and leveraging local actors’ influence on the development process; and (c) KCWS was instrumental in placing the local university as a protagonist of the knowledge-based development movement of Bento Gonçalves. The study reported in this paper provides invaluable insights for cities seeking to use international knowledge-based development events for smart and sustainable city formation.

Perceived quality of built environment, service, satisfaction and value in use, in the context of residential buildings

Purpose

Post-occupancy evaluation (POE) demonstrates relevance nowadays. Because of the wide competition between construction companies, it is necessary to be assertive, so satisfied clients bring new clients through communication amongst the users. This paper aims to assist a construction company, evaluating apartment owner’s perceptions regarding the built environment, the perceived quality of services, the satisfaction and the value in use, in the context of multifamily buildings.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper presents quantitative research of POE, applying confirmatory factor analysis and multiple linear regression. These methods analyse how the attributes behave in each theoretical dimension and evaluate the relationship between the dimensions of the built environment and services including customer satisfaction and value in use.

Findings

The results demonstrate that the constructs associated with management aspects such as service, cause higher levels of satisfaction and, therefore, higher value in use. The results become guidelines for constructors, supporting management and project decision-making.

Research limitations/implications

This study’s limitation is related to the number of questionnaires applied. The survey was applied to the apartment owners in all five buildings from a constructor, considered as the entire population of the research. For that reason, there were not used a sample. Further studies are required to improve the results, even more, using the present research in a larger sample, seeking a better generalisation. Also, future studies might evaluate other types of constructions and environments.

Originality/value

This paper used marketing constructs related to satisfaction, value in use and service, applied in the construction field of multifamily residential buildings.