This paper aims to explain the influence of facility design on urban quality of life from an educational perspective. The outcome of this paper is to determine the influence of facility management (FM) on the quality of life of citizens in the city of The Hague by actively using a facility design to positively influence the livability.
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In the context of public budget cuts and rural areas facing depopulation and aging, local governments increasingly encourage citizen engagement in addressing local livability issues. This paper examines the non-engagement of mid-aged and elderly residents (45+ years old) in civic initiatives that intend to improve the livability of their community. We focus on residents of depopulating rural areas in the North Netherlands. We compare their engagement with the behavior of residents in other, not depopulating, rural areas, and urban areas. Using logistic statistical analyses, we found that the majority of the aging residents did not engage in civic livability initiatives during the past two years, and one-third of this group had no intention to do so in the future. In all areas, the main reasons for non-engagement were that residents had other priorities, felt not capable of engaging, or felt that the responsibility for local livability belonged to the local government. Furthermore, it appeared that non-engagement was predominantly explained by the unwillingness to engage, rather than by specific motivations or lacking abilities.
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BackgroundIdentifying modifiable factors associated with well-being is of increased interest for public policy guidance. Developments in record linkage make it possible to identify what contributes to well-being from a myriad of factors. To this end, we link two large-scale data resources; the Geoscience and Health Cohort Consortium, a collection of geo-data, and the Netherlands Twin Register, which holds population-based well-being data.ObjectiveWe perform an Environment-Wide Association Study (EnWAS), where we examine 139 neighbourhood-level environmental exposures in relation to well-being.MethodsFirst, we performed a generalized estimation equation regression (N = 11,975) to test for the effects of environmental exposures on well-being. Second, to account for multicollinearity amongst exposures, we performed principal component regression. Finally, using a genetically informative design, we examined whether environmental exposure is driven by genetic predisposition for well-being.ResultsWe identified 21 environmental factors that were associated with well-being in the domains: housing stock, income, core neighbourhood characteristics, livability, and socioeconomic status. Of these associations, socioeconomic status and safety are indicated as the most important factors to explain differences in well-being. No evidence of gene-environment correlation was found.SignificanceThese observed associations, especially neighbourhood safety, could be informative for policy makers and provide public policy guidance to improve well-being. Our results show that linking databases is a fruitful exercise to identify determinants of mental health that would remain unknown by a more unilateral approach.
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Valuation of heritage buildings is usually performed by architectural-historical experts, who use a typology of heritage values based on conservation philosophy. Increasingly, social and spirituality values are included in heritage assessment frameworks.What happens to valuation systems when external events influence the chances of survival of heritage buildings, such as earthquakes induced by gas extraction in the Netherlands? While the mining company uses a narrow economic perspective on value, the public fears for loss of character of their historic towns. New safety regulations constitute a new and even stronger threat to heritage buildings. Recently, a heritage assessment framework was published, to help with value assessments in the affected region. In this paper, we compare experts’ and laypersons’ values by analyzing the new assessment framework as well as public documents. We conclude that heritage value assessments should incorporate social values, including memories and symbolic meanings, to create a balanced valuation system.
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Accessibility and connectivity are essential for livability and economic growth throughout the world. Improving the accessibility of physical transport is important for achieving the social and economic inclusion of rural areas. In reality, rural areas lag behind with respect to physical accessibility and connectivity. The ambition of the ITRACT project (Improving Transport and Accessibility through new Communication Technologies) was to use ICT to create smart mobility services to improve accessibility and connectivity in rural areas.
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Climate change and changing land use challenge the livability and flood safety of Dutch cities. One option cities have to become more climate-proof is to increase infiltration of stormwater into soil through permeable pavement and thus reduce discharge of stormwater into sewer systems. To analyze the market receptivity for permeable pavements in the Netherlands, this article focuses on the perception of end-users towards key transition factors in the infrastructure transformation processes. Market receptivity was studied on two levels: (1) on the system level, by analyzing 20 key factors in the Dutch urban water sector that enable wider application of permeable pavements; and (2) on the technology level, by analyzing 12 key factors that explain why decision makers select permeable pavements or not. Results show that trust between cooperating partners was perceived as the system level key factor that needs to be improved most to facilitate the wider uptake of permeable pavements. Additionally, the association of end-users with permeable pavement, particularly their willingness to apply these technologies and their understanding of what kinds of benefits these technologies could bring, was regarded the most important receptivity attribute. On the technology level, the reliability of permeable pavement was regarded as the most important end-user consideration for selecting this technology.
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Climate change and changing land use challenge the livability and flood safety of Dutch cities. One option cities have to become more climate-proof is to increase infiltration of stormwater into soil through permeable pavement and thus reduce discharge of stormwater into sewer systems. To analyze the market receptivity for permeable pavements in the Netherlands, this article focuses on the perception of end-users towards key transition factors in the infrastructure transformation processes. Market receptivity was studied on two levels: (1) on the system level, by analyzing 20 key factors in the Dutch urban water sector that enable wider application of permeable pavements; and (2) on the technology level, by analyzing 12 key factors that explain why decision makers select permeable pavements or not. Results show that trust between cooperating partners was perceived as the system level key factor that needs to be improved most to facilitate the wider uptake of permeable pavements. Additionally, the association of end-users with permeable pavement, particularly their willingness to apply these technologies and their understanding of what kinds of benefits these technologies could bring, was regarded the most important receptivity attribute. On the technology level, the reliability of permeable pavement was regarded as the most important end-user consideration for selecting this technology
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Contribution and presentation at the International Conference on Population Geographies - Groningen, June 2013.
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The number of light commercial vehicles (LCV) in cities is growing, which puts increasing pressure on the livability of cities. Freight vehicles are large contributors to polluting air and CO2 emissions and generate problems in terms of safety, noise and loss of public space. Small electric freight vehicles and cargo bikes can offer a solution, as they take less space, can maneuver easily and do not emit local pollution. There is an increasing interest in these vehicle, called light electric freight vehicles (LEFV’s), among logistic service providers in European cities. However, various technical and operational challenges impede large scale implementation. Within the two-year LEVV-LOGIC project, (2016-2018) the use of LEFV’s for city logistics is explored. The project combines expertise on logistics, vehicle design, charging infrastructure and business modelling to find the optimal concept in which LEFV’s can be a financial competitive alternative for conventional freight vehicles. This contribution to EVS30 will present the project’s first year results, showing the guideline for and the applied design of LEFV for future urban city logistics.
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Limited data is available on the size of urban goods movement and its impact on numerous aspects with respect to livability such as emissions and spatial impact. The latter becomes more important in densifying cities. This makes it challenging to implement effective measures that aim to reduce the negative impact of urban good movement and to monitor their impact. Furthermore, urban goods movement is diverse and because of this a tailored approach is required to take effective measures. Minimizing the negative impact of a heavy truck in construction logistics requires a different approach than a parcel delivery van. Partly due to a lack of accurate data, this diversity is often not considered when taking measures. This study describes an approach how to use available data on urban traffic, and how to enrich these with other sources, which is used to gain insight into the decomposition (number of trips and kilometers per segment and vehicle type). The usefulness of having this insight is shown for different applications by two case studies: one to estimate the effect of a zero-emission zone in the city of Utrecht and another to estimate the logistics requirements in a car-free area development.
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