Perception of the Residential Environmental Quality of Yenagoa Metropolis,Nigeria

Residential environmental quality(REQ)affects human health and quality of life(QoL).Therefore,this study as­sessed residents’perception of the REQ of the Yenagoa metropolis.Data for the study were sourced from the 400 ad­ministered questionnaires,which required respondents to rate their REQ based on seven selected indicators(air quality,drinking water quality,housing location,sanitation,waste management,housing accessibility and noise pollution).The respondents were sampled using the multistage sampling technique.The data were analyzed using frequency,percent­age,t-test,ANOVA and REQ model.The findings show that the overall calculated REQ of Yenagoa was classified as“good quality”.The best-rated indicator was drinking water quality,while the least-rated was noise pollution.Ratings based on respondents’sex,income and educational status recorded similar results.Also,the respondents’perception of the REQ across the four zones was similar as the calculated ratings of all the zones fell under the“good quality”classification.Furthermore,the hypotheses tested revealed that there were no significant differences in the perception of the REQ by sex and income status,while significant variation exists by education status.Despite the general“good quality”rating,there is still room for improvement,especially in the areas of noise pollution,sanitation and housing location,which received relatively low ratings.

Residential environmental evaluation of local cities considering regional characteristic and personal residential preference—a case study of Saga City,Japan

Questionnaire surveys and subjective evaluations on residential environment were performed in order to grasp the main factors of residential environment of small local cities. The suitable evaluation index system was established, and the regional residential environment characteristics and personal residential preference types were analyzed, so that their influence on residential environment evaluation could be grasped. The results can be applied to the residential environment planning, construction and monitoring of local cities.

A Study of the Guidelines for the Planning and Design of Circular Buildings

Circular building is one of the key turning points in the movement of the construction industry towards sustainable development.It is a“circulation”and“human”idea aimed at balancing the construction and design of the residential environment with the responsibility and values of environmental resources and ecology.This study was focused on the formulation of planning and design guidelines that comply with the current circular building centred economy.Input from industry operatives was collected using semi-structural interviews and a pyramidal approach was employed using logical reasoning to set up planning and design objectives as well as specifications in 4 dimensions covering 12 items.The results provide substantial references for the promotion of current environmental codes compliant with circular building.They can also be used to shape up resource circulation in the construction industry,and help to meet the many needs of sustainable development in the planning and design of circular buildings.

An analysis of 15 years of trends in children’s connection with nature and its relationship with residential environment

Intruduction:We assessed recent trends in children's connection with nature over the period of 2000-2015,using indices of wildlife awareness that focus on changes in wildlife abundance and the level of apathy among children.We used data from a survey conducted in 63 junior high school districts in the city of Sendai in Japan.In these surveys,children were asked whether they had seen 12 species groups within the past year.To examine changes in children's connection with nature,we used observed frequencies as an indicator of both the abundance of the species and children's apathy toward it.Results and Discussions:Results indicated an increase in children's apathy toward species that had low popularity regardless of residential environment.Our results suggest that regular exposure to wildlife would be effective in preventing the loss of children's connection with nature,particularly by reducing children's apathy toward less-popular species.

城市住区环境如何影响老年人的情绪健康:基于感知调查视角

The daily emotional experience of the elderly is not only related to their mental health,but also influenced and restricted by the urban residential environment.Existing studies have discussed the correlation between residential environment and emotional health from the two perspectives of built and social environment,and a variety of theoretical explanations have been developed.However,it has no explicit and reliable empirical basis.In order to explore how residential environment influences the emotional health of the elderly,this paper conducts targeted empirical research on the issue.Based on the perception survey,the paper adopts the self-assessed health status,living conditions,and mobility capacity to reflect the emotional experience level of the elderly,and explores the statistical correlation between residential environment factors and the emotional health in combination with an analysis on built and social environment factors.It is found that the built and social environment factors have remarkable differences in their effects on the emotional health.In terms of the social environment,neighborhood involvement has wide positive effects on the self-assessment of all three aspects of health status,living conditions,and mobility capacity;while in terms of the built environment,the landscape of leisure places have positive effects on the self-assessment of both living conditions and mobility capacity.In the end,guided by the concept of active health,the paper puts forward the evidence-based planning strategy from the perspectives of leisure landscape,neighborhood involvement,and travel safety,with the hope to improve the residential environment of the elderly.