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The international conference on Architectural Education, was held at the Faculty of Architecture, Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU) in Famagusta, North Cyprus, on April 3-4, 2014. This conference has been organized in collaboration with the European Association for Architectural Education (EAAE), under the title of “Unspoken Issues in Architectural Education (UIAE)”.

With the increasing number of universities in the country, research on urban form and architecture—with a focus on historic settlements—has accelerated in Cyprus in the last fifteen years. Lefke, a small traditional medieval town located on north-west Cyprus, warrants a detailed urban morphological study, as its traditional urban pattern has been shaped by a medieval character. Within its overall organic urban pattern, there are well-scaled narrow streets, a number of public buildings and irregularly shaped public spaces at the intersection of streets and/or in front of public buildings. Lefke's morphological characteristics, which have developed throughout many years, have been significantly impacted by British influences, as the Cyprus Mines Corporation (CMC), established in 1916, turned Lefke into an industrial town. The CMC district, which is the first industrial mass housing district in Cyprus, has uniquely impacted Lefke's urban patterns and still defines the morphological characteristics of the town today. Accordingly, this paper first explores urban morphology based on two pioneering morphological studies: Gianfranco Cannigia's theories of typo-morphological understanding, and the evolutionary insights of M.R.G. Conzen. The ultimate goal is to set up a typo-morphological basis for the CMC industrial mass housing district, which will drive future interventions, design and planning policies towards its conservation and sustainability.

Various approaches and algorithms have been proposed since the 1950s to solve the assembly line (AL) balancing problem. These methods have established an AL configuration from the beginning. However, a prebalanced AL may have to be rebalanced in real life for many reasons, such as changes in the cycle time, production demand, product features or task operation times. This problem has increasingly attracted the interest of scientists in recent years. This study aims to offer a detailed review of the assembly line rebalancing problems (ALRBPs) to provide a better insight into the theoretical and practical applications of ALRBPs.

A structured database search was conducted, and 41 ALRBP papers published between 2005 and 2022 were classified based on the problem structure, objective functions, problem constraints, reasons for rebalancing, solution approaches and type of data used for solution evaluation. Finally, future research directions were identified and recommended.

Single model, straight lines with deterministic task times were the most studied type of the ALRBPs. Eighteen percent of the studies solved worker assignment problems together with ALRBP. Product demand and cycle time changes were the leading causes of the rebalancing need. Furthermore, seven future research opportunities were suggested.

Although there are many review studies on AL balancing problems, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, there have been no attempts to review the studies on ALRBPs.

This study¹ seeks to identify and propose a model for measuring and assessing the level of sustainability in housing environments based on a range of indicators. With this intention, the article is composed of four main parts. In the first part, the relationship between sustainability and housing is presented based on previous research; in the second part, a theoretical framework is put forward for sustainable housing. Then in the third part, sustainability indicators are discussed thoroughly within the context of indicator frameworks. In this section, the development, selection and measuring processes of indicators are also introduced. Finally in the fourth part, the model for measuring and assessing the level of sustainability in housing environments is presented. It is believed that this model will be used as a tool in the decision-making processes for the future development of existing housing settlements and their environments.

With the release of headsets such as HTC Vive and Oculus Rift in 2016, fully immersive virtual reality (VR) technology has become available for industrial designers to represent and communicate design ideas. However, how this development will affect industrial design education practice is not clear enough yet. The purpose of this study is to reveal and discuss the current status of using VR in industrial design education and potentials of it.

In the first part of the study, the use of computer technology in industrial design education and how VR can be positioned in the existing system is discussed by the acceptance of “design” as “representation”. In the second part, the literature review carried out to unveil and analyse the efforts for using VR in industrial design practice and education is presented. The results of the review are interpreted together with the design process in industrial design education.

VR has the potential for changing the operating ways of not only sketching, visualising, modelling, prototyping, presenting, demonstrating and evaluating design ideas, but also getting inspiration and collaborating in industrial design education. However, it is first necessary to solve the issue of how it will be integrated into industrial design education.

This paper presents the preliminary presumptions regarding the integration of VR into industrial design education that can contribute to future studies.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the key sources of poor urban households’ relative success (or failure) in reducing poverty by income generation activities. It specifically investigates the conditions of informal employment in order to understand how and to what extent they affect households’ chances of success.

The data were drawn from interviews with 17 low-income households randomly selected from an informal gecekondu settlement based in the capital city of Turkey.

The research challenges the dominant viewpoint, which attributes success to having fewer dependants or more resources. It shows that success depends more on the benefit delivery capacity of resources and this depends largely on wider structural factors. Informal employment is found to constitute one key structural factor, which limits households’ chances of success to a greater extent than formal employment not only through condemning them to low pay but also through imposing more restrictions upon their access to state welfare.

The case study has significant implications for poverty research and measurement since it reinforces the idea that an improved understanding of poverty and its causes requires a multi-dimensional approach that takes into account the conditions of work extending beyond pay.

The study shows that substantial improvement upon the lives of poor households requires changes at the macro-level, and the adoption of an employment-centred approach where the priority is given to the creation of jobs with decent working conditions, tighter labour market regulation and effective enforcement of these regulations.

Through a qualitative as well as quantitative exploration of low-income households living in the periphery of the Turkish capital, the study empirically challenges the conventional wisdom about urban survival which overemphasises the resilience of poor people. It also contributes to the less developed parts of the research literature on informal employment through demonstrating its poverty-inducing effects. Furthermore, the study makes a theoretical contribution by developing a new conceptual framework that places informal employment within the wider context of household resources, livelihoods and poverty.

The purpose of this paper is to produce non-conductive copolymers of N-vinyl carbazole (NVCz) and methyl ethyl ketone formaldehyde resin (MEKFR) by the electroinduced Ce (IV) polymerization method and the electrochemical oxidization of the formed copolymer to produce their conductive green form. The non-conductive and conductive copolymers were characterized by using Fourier transform infrared, solid-state conductivity and spectroelectrochemical, chronoamperometric, cyclovoltammetric and electrochemical impedance spectroscopic measurements.

The chronoamperometric electropolymerization of white, insulator form of the copolymer of NVCz and MEKFR (copolymer 1) on to Pt electrode was carried out and the green coloured film of the MEKFR-ox-NVCz copolymer (copolymer 11) was produced in the doped and conductive form. All reactions were performed in dichloromethane containing 0.1 M B_U4NClO₄. Copolymer 11 films obtained on the surface of the working electrode were removed and washed in acetonitrile and dried at room temperature before characterization. The results were compared with the copolymer obtained by electrochemical oxidation of MEKF-R and NVCz (copolymer 2).

The insulating copolymer of NVCz and MEKFR (copolymer 1) was produced by the electroinduced Ce (IV) polymerization method and converted into the conductive form electrochemically on the surface of the Pt electrode (copolymer 11). The polymers were characterized by electrochemical, spectrophotometric and conductivity measurements. The ionization potentials, optical band gap, peak potentials Ep, doping degree and specific capacitance of the copolymer 11 were obtained. The conductivity of the copolymer 11 is lower than the PNVCz and higher than the copolymer obtained by electrochemical oxidation of MEKF-R and NVCz (copolymer 2). The copolymer 11 has a lower onset potential than PNVCz and the copolymer 1 and slightly higher band gap than PNVCz. The capacitive behaviours of the copolymer 11 were very close to PNVCz.

This study focuses on obtaining a green and conductive form of the copolymer of NVCz and MEKFR with the electrochemical method by using a white and insulator form of the same copolymer.

This work provides technical information for the synthesis of conducting copolymer of NVCz and MEKFR.

These copolymers may be in the field of PNVCz applications such as photoconductivity and corrosion inhibition.

Electroinduced Ce (IV) MEKFR redox system was applied for the polymerization of NVCz monomer to produce the copolymer 1. The conductive copolymer 11 was synthesized through electrochemical oxidative coupling of the carbazole groups of the copolymer 1.

The purpose of this paper is to define the sustainable university in Turkey, by considering perspectives of various stakeholders such as experts, intellectual, public, political parties and media using public opinion formation analysis. The paper aims to re-define the “sustainable university” with all dimensions including environmental, economic and social factors in Turkey.

In this study, the model of shaping the policy agenda and public opinion formation by certain groups, presented by Papadakis (1996), was used to determine the main characteristics of a sustainable university. Based on this model, the researchers collected data from intellectuals, experts, political parties, media and public simultaneously. Focus groups and archival search were used.

The results of the public opinion formation process presented that the definition of sustainable universities in Turkey includes the economic, ecological and social aspects and a holistic view of different groups. The findings of the study presented that the definition of sustainable universities in Turkey has many facets. Different groups in the public opinion formation process share almost similar views, though these points are usually mentioned under different headings. Thus, nearly each respondent in the public opinion formation process discusses the concept of being a “trade mark” as a university.

The research may lack generalizability, as it takes place in Turkey, which is a non-Western country.

The research sheds a light for universities, which are the major cornerstones of higher education, especially in the area of sustainability and sustainable development. Also, universities have a great impact in regional development, which stresses once again the importance of sustainability in higher education. They should modify their education programs and curricula in accordance with sustainability. University–industry cooperation should be provided. They should manage to become a trademark.

Universities being the major cornerstones of higher education play a vital role in regional development of countries; therefore, their sustainable development should be well handled to enable regional development.

The universities are the major actors which should pursue sustainability, as they affect society. The studies on sustainability and universities have been generally grouped under two main subjects in the literature. First group of studies highlights the support of universities for sustainability of corporations, whereas other studies stress the importance of becoming a sustainable university. There are not many studies on this subject which considers the public opinion formation process throughout the literature; therefore, this study contributes to the literature with this aspect. The study takes place in Izmir, Turkey, which is a non-Western country. Most of the studies on this subject take place in Western countries, so as the study is deployed in a non-Western country, it reflects a different point of view.

Hospitals have become competitive organizations striving to serve the needs of empowered consumers seeking positive experiences. As a result, the patient experience turns into a critical driver of performance for hospitals. Accordingly, the question “what are the critical dimensions for creating a well-designed patient experience?” has been drawing increasing attention from the industry and academia alike. This paper aims to contribute to the understanding of patient experience by using multiple source data obtained from experts and patients.

This study uses a qualitative research approach to examine the perspectives of both health-care experts and patients about the experience. A semi-structured interview series is conducted with health-care professionals, academicians, researchers, physicians and patients.

The results suggest a novel framework for the patient experience including five critical dimensions as follows: provider, physician, patient, personnel and periphery. This framework, 5Ps of patient experience, provides a holistic picture, which integrates the perspectives of patients, health-care providers and experts including scholars and researchers.

The 5P framework can be used by health-care professionals to better understand the driving factors of patient experience and to create a strategy to improve patient satisfaction.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the present study is the first qualitative study, which provides a holistic approach to patient experience independent from the branch and considers the perspectives of both health-care experts and patients.