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In large organizations, space planning relies on workgroup leaders to indicate spatial adjacency preferences. However, many factors affect workgroups’ adjacency preferences, and it is not clear how the choices are made. This paper aims to explore whether the adjacency preferences are influenced by the collaboration relationship or constrained by the organizational structure.

The authors studied a large company’s spatial adjacency planning with an in-depth analysis of its formal organizational structure and collaboration network. A sample of 183 managers was surveyed regarding groups with whom they want to be spatially adjacent and groups with whom they mostly interact. The data enabled us to test three structural factors related to adjacency preference: department affiliation, workgroup’s prestige and collaboration relation. The authors used the quadratic assignment procedure analysis to examine the correlations between network matrices.

The results suggest that department affiliation and collaboration relations are significantly correlated to adjacency preferences. The authors did not find evidence supporting the notion that a workgroup’s prestige affects the preference. Among the three factors, collaboration relation best predicts the preference, which echoes Pena et al.’s (1977) argument that space planners should look into how groups function, rather than merely following the organizational chart.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research was the first to explore the choice of spatially adjacent workgroup through a detailed network analysis of the formal structure, work collaboration relations and other group-level characteristics. The findings have noteworthy cross-disciplinary implications, given that spatial proximity can be taken as a human resource management strategy to facilitate the overall interactions between workgroups.

This research investigates the literature and perspectives of bilateral domains of experts, the facilities management (FM) and real estate management (REM) professionals. It provides insights towards a comprehensive understanding of office facilities relocation as organizational workplaces.

An investigation of the literature was conducted, to identify design aspects, drivers, challenges, and technical and functional considerations of the workplace relocation. A structured survey was utilized, as face-to-face interviews with 32 FM and 32 REM professionals, to explore and compare their perspectives and expertise.

The study identified key aspects for workplace relocation that were rarely focused on, holistically, in the literature. The research led to identifying the drivers, challenges, considerations, scenarios, and design needs pertaining to the implementation, acquisition, and occupation of the workplace in times of relocation. There is a dispersed view on workplace relocation between FM and REM, which requires alignment. FM and REM experts' perspectives were intrinsically discussed to ascertain the identified key areas.

Workplace relocation is a change that disturbs almost every workplace around the globe, at least once in its life cycle. This study enlists comprehension of the knowledge obtained from a review of the international literature, to provide a holistic guide for organizational decision makers, and interlink FM and REM professionals' perspectives, for enhanced decision-making.

This article reviews the literature on workplace relocation, covering FM and REM domains perspectives to advance the organizational workplace relocation practices.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a method for diagramming a base camp or space for emergency workers and a staging area to be used during sorting, storing, loading, and unloading of relief goods in a humanitarian logistics base airport.

A method is developed based on a synthesis of the relevant literature and current practices of airports. This provides a means for estimating the area required for each facility and visualizes the layout of the base through an adjacency diagram and a bubble diagram. The method is applied to the Shizuoka Airport in Japan as a case study.

The proposed method can be used to determine the approximate size and layout of a humanitarian logistics base in an airport based on the affected population and the number of emergency workers.

Airport operation regulations and mathematical models from architectural planning need to be reflected further.

The method provides potential operational improvements for policies and standards for airport operations and enables government officials and humanitarian logistics organizations to identify concerns in facilitating and managing constraints in existing airports.

This study addresses the detailed phases in a diagramming for a humanitarian logistics base airport by integrating an architectural approach and airport disaster management. The results highlight the importance of managing the flexible use of space to improve effective humanitarian logistics.

Practical needs in geographical information systems (GIS) have led to the investigation of formal, sound and computational methods for spatial analysis. Since models based on topology of R² have a serious problem of incapability of being applied directly for practical computations, we have noticed that models developed on the raster space can overcome this problem. Because some models based on vector spaces have been effectively used in practical applications, we then introduce the idea of using the raster space as our platform to study spatial entities of vector spaces. In this paper, we use raster spaces to study not only morphological changes of spatial entities of vector spaces, but also equal relations and connectedness of spatial entities of vector spaces. Based on the discovery that all these concepts contain relativity, we then introduce several new concepts, such as observable equivalence, strong connectedness, and weak connectedness. Additionally, we present a possible method of employing raster spaces to study spatial relations of spatial entities of vector spaces. Since the traditional raster spaces could not be used directly, we first construct a new model, called pansystems model, for the concept of raster spaces, then develop a procedure to convert a representation of a spatial entity in vector spaces to that of the spatial entity in a raster space. Such conversions are called approximation mappings.

Conventional approaches of evaluating spatial layout configurations typically involved universal understandings of aspects like connectivity, proximity and visibility, while possibly discarding both partially true solutions and ranges of parameters affecting detailed spatial relations. With the growing need to address spatial uncertainty and ambiguity, the incorporation of methods that embrace soft qualities in design is becoming increasingly significant in spatial layout planning.

The authors introduce a fuzzy-based approach for the automated assessment of architectural spatial layout configurations while addressing ambiguity in layout design. The authors evaluate soft interdependent design qualities like connectedness, enclosure and spaciousness to satisfy multiple mutually inclusive criteria and account for all logical solutions without discarding likely or less likely solutions. The authors analyze spatial entities, parameters and relations and identify rulesets for logical configurations using linguistic variables, fuzzy sets, membership functions and descriptive rule blocks. As a case study, the authors use grasshopper and fuzzyTECH to represent four pilot layout alternates with varying attributes and a case study focusing on one specific spatial criterion.

Multiple complex and nuanced spatial relations were inferred by evaluating spatial outputs and their inherent discrepancies and correlations, thus confirming the assumption that fuzzy-based systems could potentially satisfy multiple mutually inclusive criteria and account for exhaustive logical solutions without discarding preferable, likely or less likely solutions.

Most precedent approaches focus on spatial layout design from an occupancy-centered perspective, where occupancy patterns and possibilities are identified in loosely defined spaces or behavioral usage patterns. The added value in this paper involves including a wide array of spatial inputs to describe soft spatial qualities using nuanced rule-based descriptors.

This paper aims to examine the potential for adjacent brands to influence sales of a focal brand. Specifically, this paper examines whether the type of adjacent brand (market leader or non-market leader competitor) and its promotion (featuring or discounting) have an effect on sales of a focal product.

Store-level scanner data supplemented with in-store audits are used.

It is demonstrated that adjacent brands and their specific marketing activities influence focal brand sales in specific ways, and that market leaders have a disproportionate and different effect than other competitors on the sales of adjacent brands.

Recent marketing research has suggested that brand activities such as featuring and discounting and in-store environmental stimuli such as shelf allocation and displays can have an important effect on category and individual brand sales. Prior work in this area, however, has not explicitly considered the potential influence of relative shelf positions (i.e. adjacencies) on brand and category sales.

The purpose of this paper is to discover user-generated visual merchandising (VM) directives that could guide VM in physical stores as well as shed light on future development of customizable virtual stores for online retailing.

Applying a facet theory approach, our research involved consumers (n=145) in co-designing VM directives in a 3D virtual store in collaboration with target corporation. In total, 67 virtual shops in three product categories, i.e., women’s ready-to-wear, boy’s Cherokee, and men’s swim wear, were content analysed, along with written reports.

The research findings focused on the three facets of VM: merchandising presentation (fixturing, product density, manner of presentation, and product adjacency), in-store environment (layout and interior), and in-store promotion (signage). The research revealed the elements that these facets contain and the relationships between the elements. The findings suggest that retailers should design an ecological instead of a merely utilitarian environment; clear section identity helps shoppers find a sense of ownership and boundaries; and stores should also present a lifestyle solution instead of a merchandise selection.

The research contributes both original creations of VM directives and a methodical framework that moves the subject of VM from the physical to the virtual environment and shifts the traditional in-house function of VM to an open innovation in which consumers participate.

The playground is a commonly advised means to integrate children into the public realm of “child-friendly cities”, yet research has tended not to examine it in relation to adjacent public space. This paper aims to understand the extent to which the playground – a socio-spatial phenomenon – facilitates children's integration into the public realm, enabling critical examination of the “child-friendly space” concept.

An ethnographic study was carried out across three sites in Athens, Greece, where typical neighbourhood playgrounds replicate features common across the global north. Methods combined observation (167 h; morning, afternoon, evening), visual-mapping and 61 semi-structured interviews with 112 playground users (including adults and children from the playgrounds and surroundings). Rigorous qualitative thematic analysis, involving an iterative post-coding process, allowed identification of spatial patterns and emergent themes.

Findings reveal perceptions surrounding the protective and age-specific aspects of child-friendly design, limit the playgrounds' public value. However, a paradox emerges whereby the playgrounds' adjacency to public spaces designed without child-friendly principles affords children's engagement with the public realm.

Reconceptualisation of the “child-friendly playground” is proposed, embracing interdependence with the public realm – highly significant for child-friendly urban design theory and practice globally. Researchers are encouraged to compare findings in other geographical contexts.

This original finding is enabled by the novel approach to studying the playground in relation to adjacent public realm. The study also offers the first empirical examination of child-friendly city principles – participation in social life and urban play – in a Greek context, addressing a geographical gap in literature on children's everyday spaces.

A visual based group decision‐making process used for office layout finalisation is described. While quantitative and computer based models can be used for planning alternative layout plans, considerations of qualitative and personal factors should be given during the layout finalisation phase. The visual evaluation of detailed architectural drawings of alternative layout plans, by a group of the office employees, can result in generating ideas for modifications. These modifications are incorporated in a new plan, which is sketched by a professional office planner. The process of evaluating a sketch for the office plan, generating‐ideas for modifications, analysing the ideas and re‐sketching the office plan results in an effective office layout. This can increase employee morale and productivity. The visual based group decision‐making process was successfully used for layout finalisation of a large engineering office. A detailed description of this case study is given.