Adrian Pitts

The rise in energy-efficient building strategies, driven by the intensifying energy crisis, has encouraged the development of the passive house (PH) approach. However, existing research highlights a potential downside, the perception of the overheating risk in hot periods, particularly when design and construction methods fail to incorporate adequate mitigation strategies. This study examines the pressing necessity of addressing overheating risks in PHs through a systematic review. The aim is to identify key factors reported as contributing to overheating, to evaluate recommended solutions across diverse global regions, and to identify methods to reduce the risk. This review indicates that PHs are considered at risk of overheating in the hot periods of the year across many climatic regions, exacerbated by the impacts of climate change. Architectural features, climate conditions, inhabitants’ behaviors, and perceptions of the quality of indoor spaces are important factors affecting PH overheating and should be considered at the design stage. It is concluded that the urban context, building envelope characteristics, and their impacts require greater attention. Based on the knowledge gaps identified, green walls are proposed as a nature-based solution with good potential for mitigating overheating in PHs. More integrated consideration of all factors and solutions can minimize current and future risks.

This study explores the changes in the relationship between the built and natural landscapes in Kunming city since it was established as a military settlement during the Han dynasty (202 BCE to 220 CE). Over the intervening period, Kunming has grown to be a large metropolis and provincial capital with an urban area population of about 6 million inhabitants. Although Kunming is landlocked in the centre of the Yunnan province, water has been critical in its development. The evolution of the local landscape has been dominated as much by lakes, canals and rivers as by government buildings, temples and other large-scale construction activities. Historical records of decisions regarding changes to the water bodies and their transformation in the local landscape were accessed for this study. Analysis established how these decisions sought to assign meanings to those sites during the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties (1279 to 1912). The records demonstrate that the lakes, rivers and artificial canals transformed the cityscape over a long period. The study also examined how the water bodies declined after the 1950s and how, more recently, their influence on city development regained attention and created potential for new actions. The research included a resident survey with 150 responses. This study establishes how the traditional meanings of water in the city, as manifested within the particular urban grain of Kunming, still inform contemporary urban practices. There are also close relationships with the understanding of health and well-being associated with the natural environment.

Living walls are a nature-based strategy to enhance climate resilience in urban areas. There is a need to study the possible influence of living walls on the thermal performance of building façades, given the rising temperatures in 2022 across the UK. This study aims to analyze the impacts of living walls on façade temperature based on orientation variation through simulation Envi-met 5.0.3. software. The living wall studied is attached to a multistory building located in Manchester city center consisting of seven evergreen plants. An environmental simulation was carried out linked to the 2022 climate, including extremely hot and cold days. Four scenarios of façades with and without greening on the northwest and southeast orientations in summer and winter were analyzed. The results highlighted the living wall’s ability to reduce the surface temperatures on both the northwest and southeast façades on a hot summer day. There is no significant evidence of improvement for the northwest façade in the winter climate, but a modestly increased temperature is shown in the southeast compared to the bare wall. These findings indicate that living walls provide measurable advantages in the building envelope, leading to energy saving.

Improving the sense of community (SOC) in Chinese traditional villages is crucial to preventing population loss and conserving the cultural heritage of China’s rural areas. These factors are important components of China’s rural revitalization policy, and thus, it is necessary to measure the SOC of villagers as part of the process. This study has developed a new SOC scale for Chinese traditional villages based on McMillan and Chavis’s four-factor theory involving membership, influence, need fulfillment, and emotional connections. An initial proposed sense of community scale for Chinese traditional village (SCSCTV) was structured as a four-factor scale with 28 items, including items from existing SOC studies and new items created by considering the features of Chinese traditional village communities. The scale was tested in the studies of three traditional villages in Chongqing by using two different methods. The findings provide guidance for the study of villages in the context of Chinese rural societies and a reliable scale for measuring villagers’ SOC.

The literature on neighborhood sense of community (NSOC) has undergone a period of rapid growth in recent years. The purpose of this paper is to explore the current state of knowledge on NSOC by mapping the knowledge domain and identifying the development trends of this field. A total of 1214 articles that were obtained from the Web of Science core collection between the years 1986 and 2022 served as the data sample, and Citespace was used as the tool for bibliometric analysis and visualization for this study. The results indicated: (1) NSOC research continued to attract the attention of scholars in recent years; (2) NSOC research covered a wide range of subject categories, including urban studies, public health, environmental studies, social work, and urban planning; (3) the Journal of Community Psychology appears to be among the most influential journals, with the greatest infiltration in NSOC research; (4) the collaboration networks of authors and institutions need to be strengthened, and the USA is the country that had the most publications and the strongest influence; (5) the knowledge framework was mainly based around 10 clusters, including place attachment; social life; urban form; community organization; exploring adolescents’ sense; psychological sense; cultural capital; Perth, Western Australia; mental well-being; and neighborhood planning. The scope of existing NSOC research covers a wide range of subject areas, including the concepts of NSOC, the measurement scales of NSOC, the impact of the neighborhood built environment on NSOC, the meditating role of NSOC between the built environment and residents’ mental health and subjective well-being, and the relationship between NSOC and other social factors. NSOC research in rural areas, NSOC research of immigration populations, NSOC research in the context of smart communities and cites, and the relationship between NSOC and health will be the focuses in future studies.

The process of absorbing villages into urban areas in China is of major significance and can follow several paths. Specifically, the dual urban and rural characteristics of villages located close to cities provide new opportunities and constraints for active community engagement. This paper examines two related options through case studies in Kunming, Southwest China, and the interface between the urban and the rural in peri-urban studies. One village was transformed from a collective landholding system into a village shareholding company. In this case, villagers’ self-construction and redevelopment activities significantly changed the built environment in the settlement. The second village was transformed into a new urban residential community by property developers. In this process, villagers also had their hukou [household registration] status altered from ‘rural’ to ‘urban’. The study illustrates the variable transition processes between rural and urban in this particular region and highlights the relationship between villagers and their surrounding environment. It is argued that peri-urban spaces in Southwest China retained their distinctiveness and certain rural characteristics despite the integration through the urbanisation process, and that the relationships between villagers and their surrounding built environment are constantly being re-appropriated and reinvented.

Kunming is the capital of Yunnan Province which shares borders with Vietnam, Laos, and Myanmar. The area of Yunnan province, accounts for only 4.1% of the area of the whole country, but within its boundaries can be found 50% of higher plants species found in China; the Province also hosts representatives of 25 different ethnic groups. Kunming is situated in a mountainous area so city development was constrained by topography but human endeavour was demonstrated to connect to the outside world. Many traditional trails and trading routes are connected to the ancient Southern Silk Road (or Tea and Horse Road) in the area of Yunnan province. The Yunnan-Vietnam Railway, built in 1910, promoted the vigorous development of trade in commodities and cultural exchanges with other countries, and had significant impacts on the transformation of Kunming city. In the contemporary era, the expansion and development of Kunming was promoted by the “New Silk Road Economic Belt” proposed in the region since 2013 and the United Nation’s 15th Biodiversity Conference was held in Kunming in October 2021. This links to the Government's 14th five-year plan for the region: to create a world-class ‘green energy brand’, taking advantage of existing green energy, green food, and large-scale health industries in the province. This project investigates historical and contemporary transformation of the urban form in Kunming city and explores how the current planning discourses such as green city and contemporary technology supported transportation and communication. These also combined with the reconstructed concepts of ‘Eternal Spring City’ and ‘Southern Silk Road’, in trying to address the needs of the development of the urban space.

The underestimation of population growth has resulted in the disruptive and uncontrolled expansion of settlements in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). The outcome is a complicated mix of new spontaneous dwelling areas featuring a number of distinct urban morphologies. Previous studies have shown the impacts of urban morphologies on comfort levels in outdoor environments. The paper examines the correlation of microclimatic conditions and constituents that create the urban spatial form of residential neighbourhoods, particularly around ‘shophouse’ buildings. Understanding that relationship is significant for improving the future planning and design of residential zones and the creation of a pleasant external environment. Seven urban dwelling patterns were studied. Thermal variables were measured on-site over a summer season, while meteorological data were recorded. Additionally, numerical studies of the microclimate around two sample sites showed variations owing to different urban contexts. During summer, the outdoor conditions for the types surveyed ranged from 29.5 to 38.0 °C air temperature, 41% to 79% humidity, and 0.1 to 0.9 m/s airspeed at the occupied level. Environmental variations averaged 1.5 °C, 7% relative humidity, and 0.3 m/s between the urban geometries. Occupant thermal satisfaction was found around formally planned dwelling blocks, while compact neighbourhoods were characterised by cooler temperatures, but poor airflow and daylight. The outcomes are significant for optimising urban and building design.

This paper addresses the need, established following consultation with stakeholders, for more detailed environmental design guidance to support construction of more sustainable and comfortable rural dwellings in Southwest China. Despite increasing focus on sustainable design in urban developments in China, there are considerable gaps in research and information dissemination for sustainable building in more diverse rural areas. Multiple methods of investigation and analysis have been utilized. Contextual research was undertaken in relation to location, ethnic group, site/location, and building construction options. Visits to typical villages allowed discussions with stakeholders and the gathering of data on existing and new dwelling types and their surroundings. This led to the conclusion that there is insufficient attention paid in understanding residents’ knowledge and skills related to design options; further specific accessible guidance is needed. Resulting from this, quantitative analyses using climate data for 46 locations in Southwest China were used to determine the value of design opportunities to create comfortable internal environments. A need for a more detailed level of guidance that can be used by the stakeholders is presented, and 15 exemplar locations were studied in parametric fashion for typical dwelling design configurations. Outcomes indicated the value of location-specific design optimization; something now recommended for all new/redeveloped dwellings. These findings impact across a wide geographical area and could benefit daily living conditions across many rural settlements in China.