There is an increasing interest in outdoor play, both in research and in policy. However, in (re)designing, planning and managing the public space, there is still limited attention for children’s actual playing behavior. A lot of urban planning decisions are based on adults’ perceptions of children’s playing behavior and focus on formal play spaces, rather than on their actual behavior and on other, more informal, play places children might also use. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore where children play outdoors, with whom and what kind of activities they are performing there. Between February 2022 and March 2023 1,127 – mainly primary school - children were systematically observed after school in three post-war residential districts in three cities in The Netherlands. The majority of the children were between 5-8 years old (50%). Above the age of 8 years, substantially more boys (70%) than girls (30%) were playing outdoors. Most of the children (79%) were playing with other children, 8% were playing alone. The playground was the most popular play space (36% of the observed children were playing there), followed by public sports fields (14%) and sidewalks (13%). With respect to the type of activities, relaxing (21%) was the most common activity, followed by ball sports (14%), climbing or hanging (11%), swinging (10%), and riding on wheels (9%). This study showed differences in play behavior by gender, age, district and play space and stress the need for a broader definition of play, and for focusing on formal as well as informal play spaces.
The World Health Organization (WHO) strives to assist and inspire cities to become more ‘age-friendly’ through the Global Age-Friendly Cities Guide. An age-friendly city offers a supportive environment that enables residents to grow older actively within their families, neighbourhoods and civil society, and offers extensive opportunities for their participation in the community. In the attempts to make cities age-friendly, ageism may interact with these developments. The goal of this study was to investigate the extent to which features of age-friendly cities, both facilitators and hindrances, are visible in the city scape of the Dutch municipalities of The Hague and Zoetermeer and whether or not ageism is manifested explicitly or implicitly. A qualitative photoproduction study based on the Checklist of Essential Features of Age-Friendly Cities was conducted in five neighbourhoods. Both municipalities have a large number of visual age-friendly features, which are manifested in five domains of the WHO model, namely Communication and information; Housing; Transportation; Community support and health services; and Outdoor spaces and buildings. Age-stereotypes, both positive and negative, can be observed in the domain of Communication and information, especially in the depiction of third agers as winners. At the same time, older people and age-friendly features are very visible in the cityscapes of both municipalities, and this is a positive expression of the changing demographics. Original article at Sage: https://doi.org/10.1177/1420326X19857216
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Loneliness among young adults is a growing concern worldwide, posing serious health risks. While the human ecological framework explains how various factors such as socio-demographic, social, and built environment characteristics can affect this feeling, still, relatively little is known about the effect of built environment characteristics on the feelings of loneliness that young people experience in their daily life activities. This research investigates the relationship between built environment characteristics and emotional state loneliness in young adults (aged 18–25) during their daily activities. Leveraging the Experience Sampling Method, we collected data from 43 participants for 393 personal experiences during daily activities across different environmental settings. The findings of a mixed-effects regression model reveal that built environment features significantly impact emotional state loneliness. Notably, activity location accessibility, social company during activities, and walking activities all contribute to reducing loneliness. These findings can inform urban planners and municipalities to implement interventions that support youngsters’ activities and positive experiences to enhance well-being and alleviate feelings of loneliness in young adults. Specific recommendations regarding the built environment are (1) to create spaces that are accessible, (2) create spaces that are especially accessible by foot, and (3) provide housing with shared facilities for young adults rather than apartments/studios.
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Hoogwaardig afvalhout van bewoners, bouwbedrijven en meubelmakers blijft momenteel ongebruikt omdat het te arbeidsintensief is om grote hoeveelheden ongelijke stukken hout van verschillende afmetingen en soorten te verwerken. Waardevol hout wordt waardeloos afval, tegen de principes van de circulaire economie in. In CW.Code werken Powerhouse Company, Bureau HUNC en Vrijpaleis samen met de HvA om te onderzoeken hoe een toegankelijke ontwerptool te ontwikkelen om upcycling en waardecreatie van afvalhout te faciliteren. In andere projecten hebben HvA en partners verschillende objecten gemaakt van afvalhout: een stoel, een receptiebalie, kleine meubels en objecten voor de openbare ruimte, vervaardigd met industriële robots. Deze objecten zijn 3D gemodelleerd met behulp van specifieke algoritmen, in de algemeen gebruikte ontwerpsoftware Rhino en Grasshopper. De projectpartners willen nu onderzoeken hoe deze algoritmen via een toegankelijke tool bruikbaar te maken voor creatieve praktijken. Deze tool integreert generatieve ontwerpalgoritmen en regelsets die rekening houden met beschikbaar afvalhout, en de ecologische, financiële en sociale impact van resulterende ontwerpen evalueren. De belangrijkste ontwerpparameters kunnen worden gemanipuleerd door ontwerpers en/of eindgebruikers, waardoor het een waardevol hulpmiddel wordt voor het co-creëren van circulaire toepassingen voor afvalhout. Dit onderzoek wordt uitgevoerd door HvA Digital Production Research Group, met bovengenoemde partners. HUNC heeft ervaring met stadsontwikkeling waarbij gebruik wordt gemaakt van lokaal gekapt afvalhout. Vrijpaleis biedt toegang tot een actieve, lokale community van makers met een sterke band met buurtbewoners. Powerhouse Company heeft ervaring in het ontwerpen met hout in de bouw. Alle drie kunnen profiteren van slimmere circulaire ontwerptools, waarbij beschikbaar materiaal, productiebeperkingen en impactevaluatie worden geïntegreerd. De tool wordt ontwikkeld en getest voor twee designcases: een binnenmeubelobject en een buitengevelelement. Bevindingen hiervan zullen leidend zijn bij de ontwikkeling van de tool. Na afronding van het project is een bètaversie gereed voor validatie door ontwerpers, bewonerscollectieven en onderzoek/onderwijs van de HvA.
De innovatiewerkplaats Campus Design (CD) richt zich op de duurzame ontwikkeling (SDG) van de campus door middel van praktijkgerichte oplossingen en onderzoek. Vanuit het lectoraat Facility Management van de Hanze, werkt CD samen met kennis- en onderwijsinstellingen, overheden en het bedrijfsleven, bijvoorbeeld om de kwaliteit, gastvrijheid en inclusiviteit te verbeteren zodat iedereen zich welkom voelt op de campus. CD streeft naar een betere aansluiting tussen de ruimte en organisatie op de campus; ook de vergroening en biodiversiteit rekenen we daartoe. Dit doen we door praktijkvragen van onderwijsinstellingen en het bedrijfsleven te koppelen aan praktijkgericht onderzoek van onze senior-onderzoekers, onderzoekers, docenten en studenten, onder meer in architectuur, facility management, gastvrijheid, kunsten en vastgoed. Onze multidisciplinaire aanpak is zeer actiegericht; we willen de campuspraktijk écht veranderen en laten zien dat het betaalbaar is én werkt. We zorgen er dus voor dat oplossingen niet alleen theoretisch en empirisch uitstekend onderbouwd zijn, maar vooral ook praktisch toepasbaar en bewijsbaar beter. Door de goede samenwerking met onze partners, genereert CD oplossingen die onderwijsinstellingen inspireren en hen helpen de SDG te implementeren.
The RAAK Pro MARS4Earth project focuses on the question of whether it is possible to develop a prototype of a modular and autonomous aerial manipulator (drone + robot arm) that can physically interact with a realistic outdoor environment, and what possibilities this creates to several application domains. In essence, the aerial manipulator acts as "arms and hands in the air", which can be used for both active interaction (maintenance of offshore windturbine) and passive interaction (selective plant treatment and firefighting). The modular aerial manipulator consists of four basic building blocks: • Mission-specific interaction module(s); • Intelligent surface exploration; • Adaptive interaction control algorithm(s); • Advanced on-board perception and decision module(s). In the meantime the first version of the aforementioned modular building blocks have been designed and realized by various consortium partners. However, due to the various measure of the COVID 19, consortium partners and researchers were not able to carry out the integration of various modules to realize the complete system. Moreover, it was not possible to conduct thorough tests in the operational environment to evaluate the performance of the first prototype. This is a crucial step tp realize the aerial manipulator with the envisaged modularity and performance. In this RAAK Impulse project, we will conduct integration of the first versions of the modules developed by the various consortium partners. Moreover, we will conduct thorough test in Emshave and Twente safety campus to investigate the functionality and performance of the developed integrated prototype. With this Impulse, we will be able to make up for the delay caused by the COVID -19 measures and conclude the project by realizing the original objectives of the MARS4Earth project.
