Abstract: Within the existing literature, transportation-related sites as travel and tourism attractions have been a neglected topic. In addition, the activities that traveller do at the starting and end points of their holidays, such as at train stations remain largely under-researched. Therefore, this study aims to identify the activities that travellers do at train stations, and the factors that may affect these activities. The setting of this study is Kyoto station, one of the most popular train stations in Japan – a country with a very developed railway system. By thematically analysing 344 reviews posted on an online platform in 2018, this study found that the main activities are sightseeing, eating, and shopping. The factors that can affect travellers’ activities include station architecture, restaurants, stores, signage, navigation, staff, and information centres, among others. Implications for station management are discussed based on these findings. Published on 2021-12-15 00:00:00
Abstract: The global pandemic outbreak, due to its nature of being transmitted through physical proximity, has created an immediate need for physical distancing and reinforcement of private and personal spaces of individuals. This need has caused a gigantic ‘kinopolitical’ event that has resulted in a drastic change in social, spatial and virtual borders. However, due to the sudden nature of this rebordering of space, there has been a movement to virtual spaces to meet the social, emotional, cognitive and economic needs that were left unfulfilled. This has forced a greater permeability to virtual spaces of interaction - a kind of de-bordering of virtual spaces.In this paper, we examine the emerging consequences of changing social order in India and Bahrain from the lens of the border theory. In the contexts of both countries, border theory has been used to offer insights into the following questions:- How can we use border theory to analyse and evaluate pandemic response strategies employed so far' - Who are the re-bordering and de-bordering processes serving and who are they excluding' - What needs to change with individual strategies that can make pandemic planning more inclusive' A qualitative approach has been used to analyse the newspaper coverage and the official announcements during the ongoing pandemic in India and Bahrain dating from March 2020 to September 2020. Through the examples of insights derived from the analysis of 3 case studies or instances, we conclude with a discussion on the different kinds of insights that analysis of pandemic response strategies through the lens of border theory can generate in order to facilitate restructuring pandemic response strategies to be more inclusive and holistic in both their planning & execution. Published on 2021-12-15 00:00:00
Abstract: Urban expansion is a complex spatial process that transforms non-constructed areas into constructed areas. Often, they occur in environmentally sensitive areas and may cause serious environmental issues. This study examines the urban expansions in the Central Fragile Area (CFA), of Sri Lanka in order to help manage the process. For this purpose, the built-up areas considered as indicators of urban expansion are extracted from Landsat images for 1997, 2010, and 2020. A set of landscape metrics are used for the purpose of revealing the magnitude and patterns. The study is divided into six concentric zones with eight directions by applying the gradient analysis. Each metrics was analyzed through concentric zones and the relationship between them were analyzed by Pearson Correlation Analysis. The results indicate that the urban expansion of CFA has continuously increased from 1997 and the patterns of density, distance, complexity and aggregation are highly significant with types of expansion (infilling, edge expansion and outlying expansion). This study offers information on the magnitude and patterns of the urban environment and directs towards sustainable urban developments. Published on 2021-12-15 00:00:00
Abstract: Urbanization has brought half of the world’s population into urban areas while transforming the way people live, work, travel and building networks. Similarly, urbanization made a significant impact on lifestyles in urban and suburban Sri Lanka. However, urbanization often brings stress to people's lives, and jogging has been found as one way of avoiding such busy environments. In Sri Lanka, there are few dedicated tracks for jogging in urban and suburban areas. Unfortunately, the absence of proper design and surroundings of a jogging track may result in increased stress of its users, i.e., joggers. This study examines the impact of design conditions and landscape features of jogging tracks in Sri Lanka towards the level of stress of joggers. We selected two jogging tracks in the capital of Sri Lanka, Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte as our case study. Further, we used online surveys and face to face interviews with joggers as data collection methods. We triangulated our data with experts’ opinions that are gathered from park managers and landscape architects in government authorities. Mixed methods are used to analyse the collected data. Our results identify six main factors that increase the level of stress of joggers, namely, temperature, seeing amphibians in the surrounding, excessive traffic noise, vehicle smoke, dust particles in the atmosphere, and level differences of the jogging tracks. This research further presents a set of recommendations for maintaining, restructuring, and developing jogging tracks in Sri Lanka in order to reduce the stress of joggers. Published on 2021-12-15 00:00:00
Abstract: Cities are dynamic and liveable places where people experience the phenomenon of life. The essence of Indian cities lies in the interrelationships between urban structure and human aspirations. Urban structure is not just the sum of development blocks, built entities, open spaces, streets and landscapes. It is a set of socio-cultural integration the inhabitants develop. COVID-19 affected urban structures by eliminating humanizing aspects to sustain life. The fundamentals of social integration: place making, flexibility and character, which together shape up the city are under stress. The pandemic has undermined the roots of humanizing aspects in shaping the urban structure as the key urban form determinant. Depending upon urban ways of life, during the pandemic, people have carved their own ways to sustain life. It has sparked a concern about how urban structure will remain humanized by tackling the contradicting values like social disconnection and community disintegration to enrich and enliven the new normal. This paper examines the case of capital of India, Delhi which has undergone a major shift during the pandemic. It deciphers the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic on humanizing aspects of Delhi by doing a comparative analysis between the compact and standard prototype of urban structure. First, the study adopts an investigative approach to record, document and analyse the impact on existing urban structure by examining their prototype. Then through physical observations, photographs and documentary evidences, it provides a toolkit useful for re-establishing and shaping the urban structures as humanized urban structures in making a resilient future. Published on 2021-08-12 00:00:00
Abstract: It is Important to understand how people perceive the world in which we live and imagine. In the Indian Cities, the organic slum settlement of Dharavi, Mumbai is a great example of spatialities created by people’s needs and demands. It has coherence of low rise-high densities, and socio-economic & cultural diversities in shaping the physical setting. Successful urban patterns facilitate cohesiveness in the communities. However, the impact of COVID-19 has altered this cohesion. Therefore, practicing social distancing has remained a notional norm. It is important to understand how people have adhered to social distancing norms in the organic settlements uplifting the community. The paper is divided into four parts. A theoretical premise is nurtured to understand the pre-requisite of space today which is the integration of threshold and cohesion. Threshold is defined as a "separation" while, cohesion is defined as "connection", resulting into the formation of cohesive threshold spaces. Such spaces involve the interpersonal dynamics and sense of connection among people. The idea is to decode cohesive threshold spaces, their character, types and significance. It also focuses on the types of spatial delimiters pulsating from micro, mesa to macro levels. The spatial delimiter is then supported to understand the spatial context of spaces in detail. It also examines the neighbourhood of Dharavi as a communal anchoring node. Cognitive perception is a method adopted to record, map and analyse such spaces. The paper evaluates a case of Kumbharwada model in Dharavi to understand the impact of the pandemic. The paper highlights how community participation in Dharavi has emerged as a concrete prototype for social distancing and contact tracing to curtail the impact at a large scale. Lastly, the magnitude of cohesive threshold spaces is understood by virtue of community participation to combat such pandemic today and in future accelerating a successful model. Published on 2021-08-12 00:00:00
Abstract: The number of people who are affected by urbanization has radically increased. However, the economic boom over the past decades has escalated the environmental problems. Among other solutions, environmentalists have proposed vertical greening, which refers to allowing vegetation to grow on the vertical surface of a building. With other sustainability-oriented strategies, vertical greening is thought to help resolve current environmental issues, as well as current health issues. It may prevent the cities from being unbearable during locked downs which impacts human’s mental health due to social distancing measures. Green walls are an option for cities for people to engage with Nature. Known for their pleasantness to the senses and earthy qualities, they boost human health and improve air quality. Plants can thrive on walls, making it a popular trend globally and also welcomes antidotes to stress and isolation. Plants which contain day-to-day supply of nutrition and anti-germ characters, could be incorporated with green walls. However, more knowledge is needed to reap the potential benefits from it. With the demand for sustainability, green walls are increasingly appearing on clients’ requirement lists but mostly as a visual and aesthetic representation of sustainability. This sensibility of clients, what architects provide, and what is eventually built, questions whether the current vertical gardens deliver the intended benefits. Are these walls environmentally-friendly or are they just being a trend that takes advantage of the concern for the environment and human fondness to Nature' In this research, certain measurements were used to assess the above gap. During the observation periods, for an example, number of utility bills were examined and thermometers were checked frequently. Structured interviews ascertained the people’s perceptions. Research shows that there is a gap between what is actually proposed and what is practiced in Colombo in green walls. The study identified the gaps, such as the lack of adaptation to the local environment, proposed what each individual needs to improve to curtail the shortcomings. Published on 2021-08-12 00:00:00
Abstract: Post 9/11 saw a shift in the way people behaved, used and even looked at the city of Lahore, although the transformation remained subtle and slow. Starting in 2006, Lahore saw malicious terrorist attacks which targeted government buildings, and public and religious places. “CIRCLe” reported that the attacks in Punjab account for only 18% of attacks in the whole of the country, yet in terms of deaths, Punjab is 18 percent of the casualty figure of KPK and 19 percent of the casualty figure of FATA The past decade has impacted the physical as well as the social fabric of the city. Terrorism has given rise to an environment of insecurity in Lahore. It is rapidly reshaping not only the fabric of the city but the everyday life of the residents and the socio-economic dynamics as well. This fear can be examined by understanding how people behave, move, interact, use and reminisce public spaces. In such conditions, fear and paranoia become one of the most important tools for its people to map the city and to understand society in its true form. It becomes imperative to understand the fabric of the city within such realm. The paper aims to understand violence and terrorism forms prevailing in the city, and their evolution. Mapping of the area of Mall road is used to understand the direct impact in terms of design elements that have altered the fabric of the place and photographic survey highlights the transformation in the built environment over the years. The paper will draw conclusions in the form of changes in the built fabric and the resulting behaviour of people in the environment. This will be read as a continuous process of change in the built and social fabric of the society. Published on 2021-08-12 00:00:00
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