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This paper aims to illustrate the extensive benefits of qualitative data analysis as a rarely undertaken process in post-occupancy evaluation surveys. As a result, there is limited evidence of what occupants say about their buildings, especially for operational parameters, as opposed to how they rate them. While quantitative analyses provide useful information on how workers feel about workplace operational factors, qualitative analyses provide richer information on what aspects of the workplace workers identify as influential to their comfort, well-being and productivity.

The authors analysed 6,938 comments from office buildings worldwide on workers’ perception of workplace operational factors: design, storage, needs, space at desks and storage in their work environments. These factors were analysed based on the buildings’ design intent and use, and the associated comments were coded into positive, negative and balanced comments. The authors used a combination of coding, descriptive analysis, content analysis and word cloud to dissect the comments.

The findings showed that whereas workers rated these operational factors favourably, there were significantly more negative comments about each factor. Also, the Chi-square test showed a significant association (p < 0.01) between the satisfaction scale and the type of comments received for all the operational factors. This means that when a factor is rated high in the satisfaction score (5–7), there were fewer negative and more positive comments and vice versa. The word cloud analysis highlighted vital aspects of the office environment the workers mostly commented on, such as open plan design, natural lighting, space and windows, toilets, facilities, kitchens, meeting room booking systems, storage and furniture.

This study highlights the importance of dissecting building occupants’ comments as integral to building performance monitoring and measurement. These emphasise the richness and value of respondents’ comments and the importance of critically analysing them. A limitation is that only 6,938 comments were viable for analysis because most comments were either incomplete with no meaning or were not provided. This underlines the importance of encouraging respondents to comment and express their feelings in questionnaire surveys. Also, the building use studies questionnaire data set presents extensive opportunities for further analyses of interrelationships between demographics, building characteristics and environmental and operational factors.

The findings from this study can be applied to future projects and facility management to maintain and improve office buildings throughout their life cycle. Also, these findings are essential in predicting the requirements of future workplaces for robust workplace designs and management.

The authors identified specific comments on the performance of workplaces across the globe, showing similarities and differences between sustainable, conventional, commercial and institutional buildings. Specifically, the analysis showed that office workers’ comments do not always corroborate the ratings they give their buildings. There was a significantly higher percentage of negative comments than positive comments despite the high satisfaction scores of the operational factors.

The purpose of this paper is to determine water availability, sanitation and hygiene (WSH) services, and healthcare waste management in Jordan healthcare facilities.

In total, 19 hospitals (15 public and four private) were selected. The WSH services were assessed in hospitals using the WSH in health facilities assessment tool developed for this purpose.

All hospitals (100 percent) had a safe water source and most (84.2 percent) had functional water sources to provide enough water for users’ needs. All hospitals had appropriate and sufficient gender separated toilets in the wards and 84.2 percent had the same in outpatient settings. Overall, 84.2 percent had sufficient and functioning handwashing basins with soap and water, and 79.0 percent had sufficient showers. Healthcare waste management was appropriately practiced in all hospitals.

Jordan hospital managers achieved major achievements providing access to drinking water and improved sanitation. However, there are still areas that need improvements, such as providing toilets for patients with special needs, establishing handwashing basins with water and soap near toilets, toilet maintenance and providing sufficient trolleys for collecting hazardous waste. Efforts are needed to integrate WSH service policies with existing national policies on environmental health in health facilities, establish national standards and targets for the various healthcare facilities to increase access and improve services.

There are limited WSH data on healthcare facilities and targets for basic coverage in healthcare facilities are also lacking. A new assessment tool was developed to generate core WSH indicators and to assess WSH services in Jordan’s healthcare facilities. This tool can be used by a non-WSH specialist to quickly assess healthcare facility-related WSH services and sanitary hazards in other countries. This tool identified some areas that need improvements.

The case concerns sustainability and social entrepreneurship.

The case is relevant for teaching sustainability and social entrepreneurship to MBA students as well as for executive training programmes for middle- and senior-level employees.

The Dignified Mobile Toilets (DMT) case describes how the innovative idea of Isaac Durojaiye, popularly known as Otunba Gadaffi, yielded a lot of socioeconomic and environmental impact and changed the face of sanitary health in Nigeria as well as glamorized what he called “shit business.”

The case gives an account of how Isaac Durojaiye – a graphic artist and a credit card fraud investigator – conceived and built the first mobile toilet in Nigeria by using a 40-feet container. Initially, he had to battle with the lack of patronage, as not a single order came in for the first four years that the wagon toilet was displayed. But Durojaiye was not discouraged because he was involved in security consulting along with the sanitary job. The case recounts how the Founder/CEO of DMT mobile toilets identified social issues (lack of public toilet facilities, poverty, disease, unemployment, crime and so on) in the society and turned it into business success; his efforts helped the development of the social sector in Nigeria. The case also narrates the growth of the mobile toilet market in Nigeria and DMT's market share of this sector.

This case also describes the poor state of public toilet facilities in Nigeria, which forced people to answer the call of nature in open places, thereby polluting the environment and jeopardizing public health.

The DMT marketing strategy and how the company made proper use of the area boys and widows to franchise their toilets was stated. The case also highlights the social and environmental impact of DMT toilets and the company's future direction.

The case will help student see opportunities in the social space and understand that there are business models that provide both social and economic benefits simultaneously.

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This paper aims to assess the progress in the provision of basic services in urban slums in Bangladesh during the transition period of millennium development goals (MDGs) to sustainable development goals (SDGs).

The study used a mixed method of research. The empirical part of the research was conducted in three Blocks of Rupsha slum in Khulna city. Randomly selected 120 households were interviewed through a structured questionnaire; three focus group discussion sessions (FGDs) were also conducted. Progress in the slum residents’ access to basic services during the transition from MDGs to SDGs is tacked based on primary data. The User Satisfaction Index (USI) and Network Analysis tools in ArcGIS are used to identify the gaps in service provision.

Findings show that a very significant proportion of families (56.67%) encounter an acute level of difficulties to gain smooth access to water services. About 89% of respondents have only access to a common or shared toilet facility where one common toilet is used by 20–25 persons. About 31% of families are unable to send their children to primary school even after four years of the adoption of SDGs. Achievements in most indicators of basic services in the slum are in general lower than the national level. Moreover, there exists spatial variability within the same slum. After four years of the transition from MDGs to SDGs, most of the services are poorly satisfying the residents of the Rupsha slum, and water service provision is in worse condition. The findings of this study have unveiled that while achievement in target areas is appreciable at the macro level, at the micro-level; however, good achievement in the provision of few basic services in the low-income settlement is more rhetoric than reality. Therefore, a lot more work needs to be done during the SDG phase to give the slum residents a decent quality of life as they have missed the MDGs’ train.

Study single-out works need to be done during the SDGs phase to give the slum residents a decent quality of life as they have missed the MDGs’ train.

This study aims to examine the environmental attributes relevant to older people's preferences for neighbourhood open spaces. It also aims to explore the association between the relative importance of different environmental attributes and personal and social characteristics in a sample of older people covering a range of geographic locations in the UK.

Choice‐based conjoint analysis (CBC) was used to obtain responses from a sample of 237 older people (60 years +) living in the UK. A total of 13 environmental attributes were identified from earlier qualitative and quantitative studies. Participants were asked to choose a preferred park from a pair of hypothetical neighbourhood parks differing on four of the attributes presented in a questionnaire. The questionnaire included 14 such tasks.

The results suggest that older people preferred a neighbourhood park which is without nuisance, has cafes and toilets, many trees and plants, light traffic en route, wildlife to watch, and is well maintained. Analyses also reveal that whether or not people live alone, and their functional capabilities in getting around, make a difference in the way they place importance on attributes.

The findings can assist those involved in designing and managing outdoor environments to identify salient environmental attributes and prioritise interventions aimed at improving access to, and use of, outdoor spaces for older adults. The approach aids understanding of what is likely to maximise preference and use of open spaces in different segments of the older population.

Conjoint analysis procedures are some of the best tools available for determining importance or relative value of attributes of complex environments from the user point of view. The CBC analysis has been employed for the first time in this study to explore the relative importance of such attributes of open spaces for older adults.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact on consumer behaviour/brand choice resulting in the relocation of communities from informal to formal settlements.

A survey conducted among a probability sample of 384 consumers comprising different “socio-income” groups, who were relocated from informal settlements as well as others who relocated voluntarily to Cosmo City, a state designed residential development, to explore their brand choice behaviour.

It was ascertained that households switch brands if the degree of social change is greater than the perceived strength of the current brand, and an improvement in the space or house size which impacted their lifestyle. There is also a significant relationship between the product format and brand switching; between brand choice and change in the place and type of residence.

It is evident that residential location, changes in social positions, inclusive of place of residence, lifestyle changes, and functional benefits, are essential factors for consideration in the development of a coherent brand strategy that seeks to adequately address the toilet-care product brand needs of consumers in the new democratic South Africa.

Marketers have to move beyond simple demographics and use multifaceted approaches to understanding brand switching behaviour, because consumers adapt quickly to changes in the market. Marketers also need to be cognisant of the rapid changes in consumers’ perception of their lifestyle change, and how they (consumers) relate to these changes.

The relocation was viewed as a “social disruption” which in this study was the “relocation” which changed the place of and type of dwelling/home ownership type. Marketers also need to be cognisant of the rapid changes in consumers’ perception of their lifestyle change, and how they (consumers) relate to these changes.

The concept of social disruption in the form or relocated customers has not been studied in South Africa, especially with respect to the impact on brand choice of toilet cleaning products.

Although India has a number of health issues, the healthcare facilities in India are insufficient due to poor quality of care. The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors affecting the structural quality of healthcare facilities in India.

This study used the medical facility data from the India Human Development Survey-II, 2011–2012 (ICPSR 36151) (n=4,218). Logistic regression was conducted to predict structural quality of healthcare facilities.

The results suggest that it is difficult to have all standard resources available at health care facilities in India. Surprisingly, having a drinking water source inside the health facility appears to be an indicator of poor structural quality of health care facilities. Having a water source inside a health care facility is associated with not having a separate exam room and not having a sink to wash hands. A higher registration fee was associated with good structural quality and with having a separate exam room and having a sink to wash hands.

This study shows the complexity of providing quality health care to the poor, particularly in developing countries. Research on quality of healthcare facilities in India is needed to improve the health of the population. Little research has been done on the factors influencing the structural quality of the healthcare facilities in India. This study is an important contribution to the current knowledge of structural healthcare facility standards and its influences in India.

The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into traders' perceptions of and responses to environmental quality in markets of Ile-Ife, Nigeria.

Primary data were collected from 445 traders in five different markets (Odo-Ogbe, Olorunsogo Oja-Ife, Bonfo and Urban day) in Ile-Ife through questionnaire administration. Physical observations were also carried out for holistic and detailed assessment of the environment.

Results showed that most of the traders were married (64.6%), females (74.5%), who were young adults within the age bracket of 31–45 years (39.8%) while over half of them had secondary school education (55.2%) and spent between 8 and 9 h in the market on a daily basis. Using what is termed “Facility Condition Index” (FCI), it was shown that public toilet (FCI = 2.11), health centre (FCI = 1.76) and electricity supply (FCI = 1.43) were the three most deplorable facilities in the markets. Findings further showed that flooding, pollution and blocked drain, each with 22.1%, were the most common environmental problems.

The study extends the existing literature by examining traders' perceptions of environmental quality of open spaces (markets), which could be used as tools in proffering solution to the varying environmental problems of the markets by policymakers.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of integrated rural development scheme on livelihood and rural housing condition in selected rural areas in Osun state. This is prompted by the need to develop effective strategy for improving the rural housing condition in Nigeria.

The impacts of the scheme were measured through survey of 344 participants obtained from 28 active communities out of the 36 communities’ coverage by Rural Development Programme of Justice Development and Peace Makers’s Centre through a multi-stage sampling. Both qualitative and quantitative data were obtained from the respondents. The data were analyzed through descriptive statistics, frequency distribution, correlation and regression analysis.

The result revealed that the mode of operation of the integrated scheme is to educate farmers on best farming practices. The integrated scheme had contributed positively to the livelihood of the respondents by providing stable source of finance than any other available finance source options, and it increased assets and skill acquisition and ability to have more combination of livelihood options as a result of the intervention. In addition, the number of respondents without personal accommodation also decreased at a significant proportion after the intervention. Also, notable numbers of respondents have increased access to domestic housing facilities such as, well, pit toilet and electricity. The result of the correlation analysis showed further that respondents with more livelihood assets and larger household size most often have a better housing condition, whereas the regression analysis revealed that change in the household size and change in livelihood assets lead to change in the housing condition. The paper suggest that integrated scheme could be used as a self-financing strategy for both qualitative and quantitative improvement of rural housing in Nigeria if the scheme enjoys the requisite government support in terms of adequacy of finance and more government agency participation for wider coverage.

The paper is one of the pioneering studies in Nigeria.

There are several types of accommodation available to students of higher education institutions, and it is the responsibility of the institutions to focus on factors that can attract and retain students to their residences. This study aims to investigate satisfaction of higher institutions students with on-campus accommodation with an emphasis on the ethnicity of the students.

Using convenience sampling method, questionnaires were administered to students of selected residences in the study area. Mean item score was used to rank identified factors, whereas mean gap and Kruskal–Wallis K-test were adopted to examine the difference in opinion of students from various ethnic groups.

Overall, major features that make students dissatisfied with university-owned accommodations are enforcement of rule that compels all students to move out with their belongings during each recess, the effectiveness of the lift system, the size of wardrobe and closet, laundry service in the residence, numbers of electrical sockets and window quality. Considering dwelling unit features, neighbourhood, environmental, building quality and services provided by residence management, this study reveals that there is a significant difference in the satisfaction of students of diverse ethnic groups with their accommodation.

The study was limited to on-campus residences owned by higher education institutions in South Africa. However, the findings of the study can be adopted for off-campus residences, and such owned by private individuals, agencies and other bodies provided are approved by the institutions.

The findings of this study will help management of higher education institutions to improve quality of services in their residences for the satisfaction of their students. Developers, contractors and other stakeholders involved in construction of these residences will also find the findings useful in designing and construction of the facilities.