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Whilst Hong Kong is suffering from a limited supply of developable land in its major urban areas, some open spaces are frequently criticized as inconvenient for users, consequently leading to an ineffective use pattern. How to enhance the performance of open space is therefore a critical issue faced by city planners. As the conventional accessibility model, which is mainly described with respect to maximum walking distance or service radius, is inadequate to give an account of the issue, this paper accordingly indicates an alternative approach and seeks an explanation from the urban configuration and the way it conditions pedestrian movement pattern. Through investigating the relationship between urban configuration, pedestrian movement and accessibility and use of open spaces based on the Wanchai District of Hong Kong, which particularly epitomizes various urban grids that may have different consequences on the utilization of open space, this study aims to examine whether there is a consistent relationship existing in different spatial grids or whether the relationship varies from different layout patterns. It is hoped that the findings can be employed to improve the performance of open spaces in the urban areas of Hong Kong, in addition to other similar urban environment.

This study examines the relationship between quality and quantity of open space in residential areas and the sense of community of Chinese older adults in Hong Kong.

A survey was conducted with 257 adults aged 55 and over in Kwun Tong, Hong Kong. The quality of open space was assessed from four dimensions: social and recreational facilities, entrance, location and environment. Geographic information system (GIS) was used to evaluate the quantity of open space in terms of size and amount.

The result shows that the environment has a strong influence on the sense of community, while the quantity of open space does not. The results provide urban planners with evidence for open space planning in the future. Urban planners should consider building more people-oriented environment; such as green areas instead of merely increasing the size, amount and facilities of open space. The Hong Kong Government also needs to review the current standardised planning guideline in order to maximise the social connection of older adults.

This cross-sectional study tried to understand the relationship between the quality and quantity of open spaces and sense of community in Chinese older adults in Hong Kong. It is one of the few studies to simultaneously examine both the quality and quantity of open spaces when studying its relationship with sense of community.

This study aims to examine the impact of relative importance of local characteristics, distance from the city centre and unobservable spatial relation in explaining values of constant‐quality apartment units in Vienna.

Drawing on recent developments in spatial econometrics and spatial hedonic house price modelling, the rent gradient hypothesis is examined by means of hedonic regression and spatial hedonic regression. Spatial autocorrelation tests are applied in order to assess possible presence of spatial dependence. The authors borrow Florax et al.'s specification search strategy in order to choose the most appropriate spatial model specification.

This research shows that local characteristics – or particularities – proxied by district and distance from the city centre are important location variables with regard to the Viennese apartment market. The spatial analysis suggests that the apartment prices are spatially autocorrelated and the Viennese apartment market has a distance‐based neighbourhood structure. The main finding is, however, that residents are willing to bid more for constant‐quality apartment units that are close to the centre of the city.

Rent gradient hypothesis is usually tested within non‐spatial hedonic frameworks: this study estimates a spatial hedonic model additionally in order to allow for comparison of results. This is also the first article to apply recent developments in spatial econometrics to examine explicitly rent gradient theory in the context of the Viennese apartment market.

The aim of this paper is to: study reviews of the urban renewal practices in Hong Kong and London; compare the perceptions of the design professions in both cities on the importance of different urban design considerations when defining urban renewal strategies; and verify the applicability of London's experiences in achieving sustainable urban renewal in Hong Kong.

A comprehensive literature review was conducted to compare the urban renewal practices in Hong Kong and London. Questionnaires were sent to design professions in both cities who were actively involved in Hong Kong's and London's urban (re)development projects. ANOVA was adopted to compare the perception patterns in both cities.

The survey and ANOVA analysis revealed that the urban design considerations short‐listed for this study could contribute towards the sustainability of economy, environment and social equity. It was noted that the distinctive features of cities of various locations do have impacts on certain perception patterns of the professionals.

This article adds to the limited literature in this area and will be of interest to those involved in urban redevelopment practices.

The editor of Open House International, Nicholas Wilkinson died on Thursday the 28th of September, at 6.15 am in Famagusta, Cyprus. He was 75 years old and owned and edited Open House International for 42 years, since 1975.

This chapter draws on analysis of the spatial and material configuration as well as analysis of use to establish whether and how open spaces contribute to an increased spatial justice in Comuna 13. Location, and visual and physical accessibility have been found to be limiting factors for the spaces’ usability by diverse user groups. Regulations and management issues have also been found to be highly influential on the sites’ usability, the diversity of its users or the regulation of behaviour deemed ‘inappropriate’, such as informal trade. On the other hand, design and spatial organisation into subspaces increased the spaces’ usability and accessibility for a diversity of user groups, thus increasing spatial justice. Analysis of use underlines the multifunctionality of people’s everyday spaces for pedestrian traffic, recreation and socialising as well as informal trade. It also shows that not all new spaces are accepted equally, and that new spaces fall into disuse especially if they fail to provide a design and functionality that relate to people’s everyday activities.

The purpose of this paper is to present a spatial decision support system (SDSS) to be used by the local authorities of a city in the planning and response phase of a disaster. The SDSS focuses on the management of public spaces as a resource to increase a vulnerable population’s accessibility to essential goods and services. Using a web-based platform, the SDSS would support data-driven decisions, especially for cases such as the COVID-19 pandemic which requires special care in quarantine situations (which imply walking access instead of by other means of transport).

This paper proposes a methodology to create a web-SDSS to manage public spaces in the planning and response phase of a disaster to increase the access to essential goods and services. Using a regular polygon grid, a city is partitioned into spatial units that aggregate spatial data from open and proprietary sources. The polygon grid is then used to compute accessibility, vulnerability and population density indicators using spatial analysis. Finally, a facility location problem is formulated and solved to provide decision-makers with an adaptive selection of public spaces given their indicators of choice.

The design and implementation of the methodology resulted in a granular representation of the city of Lima, Peru, in terms of population density, accessibility and vulnerability. Using these indicators, the SDSS was deployed as a web application that allowed decision-makers to explore different solutions to a facility location model within their districts, as well as visualizing the indicators computed for the hexagons that covered the district’s area. By performing tests with different local authorities, improvements were suggested to support a more general set of decisions and the key indicators to use in the SDSS were determined.

This paper, following the literature gap, is the first of its kind that presents an SDSS focused on increasing access to essential goods and services using public spaces and has had a successful response from local authorities with different backgrounds regarding the integration into their decision-making process.

Issues pertaining to accessibility and inclusiveness of public spaces are not explicitly discussed in developing nations. Thus, this study aims to explore how ease of access and socio-economic status of residents influence the use of city-centre public spaces in Ibadan, Nigeria.

A survey involving users (N = 427) of three different types of public spaces (shopping mall, park and recreational centre) was undertaken. Statistical analysis including Kruskal Wallis H-test and ordered logistic regression analysis were used in determining the differences in the public spaces attributes and predicting the determinants of use.

The analysis revealed that the use of a private car, income and gender significantly predict the frequency of use. It was observed that the determinants of public space use differ across the three categories. In particular, accessibility better predicted the use of the park than it did for the shopping mall or the recreation club.

It brings to fore ways through which city planning in developing countries can address social exclusion and spatial disparity within city-centres. Specifically, new proposals need to be sensitive to the walkability potentials when sitting parks whilst holistic efforts must be directed towards group-specific needs when planning shopping malls and recreation clubs. City management strategies, policies and incentives are required to encourage the use of public transportation systems within city-centre spaces as it presents a vital platform for improving access and inclusive use.

The study fills the gap in the literature by extending knowledge on certain aspects of city-centre’s public spaces in a unique cultural setting. The implications of socioeconomic disparity on public space use became apparent.

Despite its worldwide reputation as an effective solution to sustainable building development and energy efficiency, green roofs in Malaysian cities are rarely accessible. The architecture of the building primarily influences public accessibility, crime watch and safety level and events that encourage the public's engagement, which is evident in crowd density. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the social potential of highly accessible Malaysian green roofs as public space, initiated by the lack of local published material discussing on this topic.

This study reviews the current issues concerning limited public accessibility on Malaysian public institution green roofs by systematic literature review and thematic analysis by comparing the effectiveness of applicable public space strategies on the green roof.

The criteria that have been identified and considered as study parameters include architecture, safety and surveillance, and active functions. Through systematic review of available literature, these characteristics contribute positively to public participation within the public realm.

The exploration of the social potential would establish a green roof as a thriving public space that welcomes the public from all ages and backgrounds, addressing the general public accessibility towards outdoor recreational areas, especially within dense urbanisation with diminishing green spaces.

This research highlights the key characteristics of the highly functional public space that could be applied in developing a guideline for designing future green roofs with high accessibility potential for the public in the city area, in parallel with the anticipated future growth in demand for green roofs infrastructure surrounding public buildings.