A critical analysis of urban regeneration programmes in Europe

Urban regeneration is informed and driven by the causes and effects of globalization, climate change, the global economic crisis, and lifestyle changes. In Europe, there is currently a pressing demand to redevelop brownfields areas, inner-city heritage sites, post-conflict and post-disaster areas, and large-housing estates. Housing regeneration strategies range from large-scale to micro-scale interventions that lead to a complete change to the physical features of neighbourhoods and the life of their residents. This paper presents activities and cases studied in the OIKONET Erasmus Lifelong Learning Project, by highlighting that regeneration is an important issue driving the production of contemporary housing in Europe. The presented review is part of wider research and pedagogical work aimed at identifying significant conceptual, contextual and policy changes affecting housing regeneration demand. Examples of urban regeneration programmes on different urban areas in selected European countries, i.e. the UK, Hungary, Serbia, Slovakia and Russia are examined. As a result of the comparison between the cases analysed, some conclusions can be drawn to inform future research and set up pedagogical programmes to be carried out within the OIKONET project

A critique of post‑occupancy evaluation in the UK

Architects are trained to design buildings and the subjective perception of building users may not be easy to translate into a designer’s language. In the UK, the design profession has not fully appreciated the significance of returning to the erected structure to appraise how well it was, and remained, fit for purpose. This paper presents a critique of the state of the art of post-occupancy evaluation (POE) in the UK building procurement process. It is established that despite the known benefits of POE, the culture of evaluating the perfor-mance of a building, after it has been built and occupied by users for a while, has not been successfully embedded in the design and procurement process. The authors advocate for a ‘forward feeding’ POE, which embraces early collaboration between end users and designers in the building procurement process, in order to co-create a liveable built environment

Evaluating the Nursing Practice Environment

Background: Nursing is a crucial part of the healthcare service delivery in the UK. However, an increasing number of ward nurses are leaving the profession prematurely, due to ill-designed hospital wards. Objectives: - Identify the typical ward elements in a hospital ward setting; - Establish the design features that have the greatest impact on ward nurses in their job role; and - Explore the personal constructs of nurses that should be supported by these design features through their embodiment in ward elements. Methods: A focus group was conducted with six staff nurses. This was followed by semi-structured interviews with 20 ward nurses. The study concluded by performing a post-occupancy evaluation of three hospital wards where these nurses worked. The results of the post-occupancy evaluation were triangulated against those of the focus group and semi-structured interviews. Results: The findings of this study: 1) Established a case for the periodic post-occupancy evaluation of hospital wards; 2 Identified the design features most essential for nurses in hospital ward setting; and 3) Illuminated the personal constructs of nurses that should be supported by these design features. Conclusions: A supportive nursing practice environment is essential for the therapeutic healing of patients in contemporary nursing. To ensure that ward nurses continue in gainful employment for longer, there is a need for periodic assessment of how the architectural design features of hospital wards support ward nurses in their job role

A framework for the assessment of nursing taks and environmental demands

The nursing profession is pivotal to the delivery of healthcare services within the UK National Health Service (NHS). However, studies have shown that an increasing number of older nurses are leaving the NHS as a result of the physical and cognitive demands of the nursing job. In particular, a growing body of literature suggests that ward nurses are at risk of sustaining work-­‐related injuries due to the demands of their job. Responding to these challenges, the aim of this PhD research project was to develop a framework to support NHS ward nurses in the ward environment, by exploring how the architectural design features of NHS hospital wards could be improved to create a better fit between ward nurses and their work environment, by applying the Person-­‐ Environment Fit theory. The Nursing Tasks and Environmental Assessment Framework (NTEA Framework) consists of two components. The Nursing Tasks Demand Matrix (NTDM), which provides a nuanced understanding of nursing tasks on wards and the Ward Environment Assessment Tool (WEAT), which is used to conduct Post-­‐Occupancy Evaluation of hospital wards. The two together forms the NTEA Framework, which offers a holistic approach to improving nurses’ quality of life in the workplace. The NTEA Framework may be used by facilities managers, human resource managers, occupational health advisors, ward managers and the NHS management, for refurbishments decisions, in drafting nurses’ job descriptions, to perform occupation health screening and for the assessment of the adequacy of NHS healthcare estates for ward nurses. The NTEA Framework is also a benchmarking information tool that could inform design of healthcare facilities

Neglected landscapes and green infrastructure: the case of the Limas Creek in Bogotá, Colombia

The landscape of Bogotá’s low-income informal settlements reveals intense and ongoing conflicts between political agendas, socio-environmental needs and everyday practices. This paper presents the results of an interdisciplinary research project that used semi-structured interviews with practitioners, academics and community leaders to critically investigate the interactions between people and landscape in Bogotá. The paper aims to deepen the understanding of the social and ecological processes that are constantly intertwined in the occupation and appropriation of the landscape. Using the Limas Creek as a case study, the paper explores the technological constraints, governance structures, cultural values and community agency around the restoration of rivers and the implementation of green infrastructure in low-income settlements in Bogotá. The research highlights the need to explore the demands of co-production and its relation to the challenges of sustainable development. The paper demonstrates that, in addition to sustainable solutions to water management, there is also a need to develop strategies around education, landscape attachment and environmental awareness. This is seen as a first step towards the re-articulation of the relationship between people and water in the urban realm to ultimately guarantee environmental justice

Global dwelling: Intertwining Research, Community participation and Pedagogy

This book summarizes the work carried out by OIKONET, an Erasmus Network project dedicated to promoting pedagogic innovation in the field of housing studies which was carried out from 2013 to 2016 with the support of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union. The network was structured into three sub-networks which became interwoven through the project activities: HOUSING RESEARCH was dedicated to identifying relevant research topics in the current debate about housing in a globalized world. COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION aimed at engaging local stakeholders in community action projects to address the planning and renovation of the built environment at various scales, from residential to public. PEDAGOGICAL ACTIVITIES was devoted to the collaborative design and implementation of learning activities to study contemporary housing issues