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As an important indicator of the quality of life of individuals, residential environments are continuing to evolve, due to the rapidly changing production–consumption relations. However, in this evolving process, the effect of the differentiated residential environments on the individuals' residential satisfaction remains unclear. This paper aims to measure the effects of the varying residential environments on the overall quality of urban life (QoUL) in Kayseri, one of the most developed cities in Central Anatolia.

It is based on empirical data on the quality of life in the different residential environments of Kayseri. The research method used stratified purposeful sampling, and the household survey data were analyzed using factor analysis, multiple regression and ANOVA statistical methods.

The most influential factors on the overall QoUL of individuals living in different Kayseri residential neighborhoods were satisfaction with neighborhood and city-level urban services, neighborhood relations and belonging factor groups. The critical finding obtained in this study is that residential satisfaction in low-rise and compact form housing areas in Kayseri is higher compared to residential satisfaction in high-rise neighborhoods. This result reveals that the high-rise building typology that is dominant in Turkey's big cities should be seriously questioned, and urban development policies should be re-evaluated.

The study was designed to produce baseline data so that future changes in residential conditions as perceived by the residents of Kayseri could be monitored to support decisions for residential areas.

Comparative case studies, particularly on low-rise versus high-rise environments, are scarce. As a result, this research contributes to the field of comparative studies on residential environments.

This study aims to evaluate sustainable investment policies for housing in Qatar.

This paper proposes a new model for analyzing sustainable investment policies for housing demand in Qatar via a hybrid quantum fuzzy decision-making model. The study processed the criteria with the facial expression-based Quantum Spherical fuzzy DEMATEL and ranked the alternatives with the facial expressions-based quantum spherical fuzzy TOPSIS. Four factors were determined due to a comprehensive literature review (Environment, Housing Design, Building Design, and Surrounding the building), with five sustainable investment policy alternatives (Electricity production with renewable energies, Recycling systems and materials in construction, Transport with less carbon emission, Biodiversity for residents, and Resilience to natural disasters).

The analysis indicates that the design of the building is the most important factor (0.254), while the environment is the most influencing factor (0.253) regarding housing demand in Qatar. Transport with less carbon emission and electricity production with renewable energies are the most critical alternative investment policies.

This study provides useful insights for regulators, policymakers, and stakeholders in Qatar’s sustainable investment policies for housing demand. The main motivation of this study is that there is a need for a novel model to evaluate the sustainable investment policies for housing demand. The main reason is that existing models in the literature are criticized due to some issues. In most of these models, emotions of the experts are not taken into consideration. However, this situation has a negative impact on the appropriateness of the findings. Because of this situation, in this proposed model, facial expressions of the experts are considered. With the help of this issue, uncertainties in the decision-making process can be handled more effectively.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of different levels of place understanding (primarily typo-morphological analysis) on the nature of interventions within historic urban setting and buildings within the City of Amman.

The research methodology depended on an extensive thematic survey and analysis. The typo-morphological analysis addressed several of Amman's residential hills and their connections with the downtown area. The thematic place survey tool included different units of analysis (e.g. buildings, public spaces, streets and sloped lands between streets) and addressed the values of these various buildings and spaces, their typology, typo-morphology and relation to the urban context, nature of change and transformations over time to mention a few. The extensive survey also included semi-structured interviews about these buildings addressing their emergence, historic context and values.

The paper presents an architectural typology for Amman's architecture and its relationship with the city's morphology stressing the specificity of Amman's historic core and residential hills. The paper also discusses the effect of this level of place understanding on the nature and levels of interventions within historic settings and buildings.

This level of place understanding (typo-morphological analysis) can have a positive impact on the practice of architectural and urban conservation by informing the nature of interventions within historic urban setting and buildings within the city. More specifically, this level of place understanding can, first, inform the development of urban and heritage guidelines within conservation areas in one of Amman's residential neighborhoods (Weibdeh) and, second, inform the nature of interventions to existing historic buildings based on respect of building typology.

This paper contributes to the disciplines of architectural and urban conservation illustrating how place understanding can inform practices of heritage conservation and future policies and strategies concerning new intervention within such heritage places.

Climate variability, accompanied by rapid urbanization and rising population disproportionality, impacts urban poor settlements. This paper aims to analyse the climate resilience for the urban poor in Ahmedabad through the lens of WASH development strategies. To assess the adaptive capacities of urban poor communities, a framework in the form of a vulnerability matrix has been used consisting of four key parameters – tenure, basic services, mobilization and partnership and disaster management capacities. The matrix implicitly recommends area-specific interventions to boost adaptive capacities and improve resilience based on WASH services.

This paper was designed to assess the climate resilience of WASH services in the urban poor settlements of Ahmedabad city. In all, seven slums were selected using a stratified sampling approach considering topography, access to WASH services and urban heat island effect. These slums were then assessed using a theoretical framework having four key parameters – tenure, basic service, mobilization and partnership and disaster management capacities. The data for the analysis was collected from both secondary and primary sources. For the latter, semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders, observational field visits and focused group discussions with the communities were done.

A ladder form of assessment matrix was derived from a thorough literature review and various pre-existing theories. This matrix consists of four key parameters – tenure, basic service, mobilization and partnership and disaster management capacities. The slums were evaluated by applying this framework, and direct and indirect relationships were established between the said parameters.

This paper was adapted in the light of various obstacles put forward by the Covid-19 pandemic. Some of the interviews with the bureaucrats and external researchers were conducted online, while the engagement with the slum dwellers was in-person, considering appropriate social and/or physical distancing norms. Implications of the Covid-19 second wave restricted the involvement of researchers with the communities at an ethnographic level.

The ladder form of vulnerability assessment framework has been developed and contextualized using the insights from literature review, field visits and multi-stakeholder consultations. It was helpful in identifying aspects that require suitable interventions for improving and imparting resilience among the urban poor settlements. The learnings from this paper are significant for planners and decision-makers in identifying and prioritizing context-specific future projects for a city.

This study aims to conduct a geographical analysis of the distribution and type of activities developed by social enterprises in rural and urban areas of Ireland.

The study analyses data of more than 4,000 social enterprises against a six-tier rural/urban typology, using descriptive statistics and non-parametric tests to test six hypotheses.

The study shows a geographical rural–urban pattern in the distribution of social enterprises in Ireland, with a positive association between the remoteness of an area and the ratio of social enterprises, and a lack of capital-city effect related to the density of social enterprises. The analysis also shows a statistically significant geographical rural–urban pattern for the types of activities developed by social enterprises. The authors observe a positive association between the remoteness of the areas and the presence of social enterprises operating in the community and local development sector whereas the association is not significant for social enterprises developing welfare services.

The paper shows the potential of using recently developed rural–urban typologies and tools such as geographical information systems for conducting geographical research on social enterprises. The findings also have implications for informing spatially sensitive policymaking on social enterprises.

The merging of a large national data set of social enterprises with geographical tools and data at subregional level contributes to the methodological advancement of the field of social enterprises, providing tools and frameworks for a nuanced and spatially sensitive analysis of these organisations.

Despite the quantity of collaborations, the vocational network of the housing production in Ankara during its first five years (1923–1928) remains dispersed. The aim of this study is to identify all the actors of housing production and their collaborations which shaped Ankara's urban development as the new capital city.

The study engages with the literature and archival documents to identify the actors of the housing production, i.e. architects, master-builders, public institutions, private companies, contractors and entrepreneurs, and their resultant vocational network in the housing production in Ankara during 1923–1928.

Due to different agendas, such as speculation, financial interests or patriotism, the construction industry in Ankara had become an arena where many paths intersected, forming an intertwined vocational network. The profession of contractor became popular, and local architects, engineers and even individuals of various other professions began to work as mediators for foreign companies and public institutions, which required support especially in large-scale projects.

The dispersed information revealed that the actors of the housing production remained mostly anonymous, or only the famous architects were commemorated; however, others could be found within the lines of the established literature on Ankara and/or in archival documents. This research not only focuses on “salient” actors but also highlights the “silent” actors of the housing production and prepares charts to clarify the vocational network in Ankara during its first five years to contribute to the future studies on Ankara and its housing.

This paper aims to study the Zabdah housing project residents’ satisfaction on both dwelling and neighborhood levels. In addition, the determinants of residents’ satisfaction are studied.

A mixed methodology approach was used, merging quantitative and qualitative methods. The questionnaire was developed and filled out through structured interviews. Descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression were used to understand the residents’ satisfaction levels. In addition, the chi-square test of independence was used to determine whether demographics and dwelling type were related to residents’ satisfaction.

It was found that the residents’ satisfaction level with Zabdah housing was moderate on both dwelling and neighborhood levels. On the dwelling level, the tiny dwelling areas were a fundamental problem. On the neighborhood level, good neighborhood services were crucial to the success of this project, while the lack of green spaces negatively affected the quality of life of its residents. In addition, the number of family members and dwelling types were critical determinants of residents’ satisfaction.

The findings can be developed into guidelines to govern the creation of better affordable residential environments. Furthermore, the successful dwelling typologies in this project can be modified to be adopted in the future.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study of its kind to explore the relationship of demographics and dwelling type with residents’ satisfaction in affordable housing in Jordan.

The common language behind vernacular architecture only seems to be maintained in societies that preserve a traditional way of life. Changes in these societies can threaten their cultural heritage, while research may be a tool for its conservation and enhancement. In this paper, the habitat of a Mossi community is therefore studied as a first stage in analysing the possibilities of its maintenance.

After a previous study, data collection from a stay in Baasneere (Burkina Faso) and the analysis of 32 traditional residential units were completed. The research showed some common features which, when compared against the bibliography reviewed, could be defined as characteristic of the traditional architecture of this culture.

The home for a family unit consisted in an enclosure formed by the grouping of adobe constructions around a courtyard. As the family grew so did the compound, in a relationship directly linking the scales of architecture and the levels of kinship. The main daily activities took place in the courtyards while the individual interior spaces were understood as private shelters. Other typologies such as granaries, kitchens, warehouses and sheds were also analysed.

Some features of Mossi architecture already described in the existing bibliography were verified in the Baasneere case studies, showing that this tradition is still preserved. With a multidisciplinary approach, the house was examined not so much from the perspective of construction, but of its cultural configuration.