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Sensing the Built Environment: Measurements, Correlations, and Implications
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Sensing the Built Environment: Measurements, Correlations, and Implications

A special issue of Buildings (ISSN 2075-5309). This special issue belongs to the section "Building Energy, Physics, Environment, and Systems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2025 | Viewed by 8950

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Chang Xia

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. School of Public Administration, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
2. Department of Urban Planning and Design, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China
Interests: environmental vulnerability; urban analytics; behavioral economics; mobility; spatial optimization
Dr. Huagui Guo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Urban Planning, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350116, China
Interests: urban environment and public health; application of GIS and big data
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The emergence of new data and the machine learning approach provide great opportunities to generate theoretical and empirical insights for built environment research. On the one hand, they promote high-quality measurements of the built environment, which are usually much more refined, comprehensive, and with high spatiotemporal resolutions of the data. On the other hand, the new data and methods advance a more systematic and in-depth understanding of the interaction between the built environment, psychological perception (e.g., safety, lively, beauty), and well-being (e.g., human emotion, physical health, mental health). Accordingly, it is hoped that the Special Issue on Sensing the Built Environment: Measurements, Correlations, and Implications, can advance an interdisciplinary dialogue between architecture, urban planning, social science, and computer science. The Special Issue not only invites manuscripts on literature reviews, but also theoretical, methodological, and empirical work. The topics may include, but are not limited to, the following areas:

(1) Measuring the built environment with new data and sensing technologies (e.g., street view images, wearable device);
(2) Understanding the complex interactions between the built environment, psychological perception (e.g., safety, lively), and well-being (e.g., emotion);
(3) Implications for urban planning and policy intervention (e.g., pathways, optimization).

Dr. Chang Xia
Dr. Huagui Guo
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Buildings is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • built environment
  • human perception
  • well-being
  • measurements
  • correlations
  • implications
  • interdisciplinary research

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Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 4236 KiB  
Article
Automated Estimation of Building Heights with ICESat-2 and GEDI LiDAR Altimeter and Building Footprints: The Case of New York City and Los Angeles
by Yunus Kaya
Buildings 2024, 14(11), 3571; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14113571 - 9 Nov 2024
Viewed by 774
Abstract
Accurate estimation of building height is crucial for urban aesthetics and urban planning as it enables an accurate calculation of the shadow period, the effective management of urban energy consumption, and thorough investigation of regional climatic patterns and human-environment interactions. Although three-dimensional (3D) [...] Read more.
Accurate estimation of building height is crucial for urban aesthetics and urban planning as it enables an accurate calculation of the shadow period, the effective management of urban energy consumption, and thorough investigation of regional climatic patterns and human-environment interactions. Although three-dimensional (3D) cadastral data, ground measurements (total station, Global Positioning System (GPS), ground laser scanning) and air-based (such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicle—UAV) measurement methods are used to determine building heights, more comprehensive and advanced techniques need to be used in large-scale studies, such as in cities or countries. Although satellite-based altimetry data, such as Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat-2) and Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI), provide important information on building heights due to their high vertical accuracy, it is often difficult to distinguish between building photons and other objects. To overcome this challenge, a self-adaptive method with minimal data is proposed. Using building photons from ICESat-2 and GEDI data and building footprints from the New York City (NYC) and Los Angeles (LA) open data platform, the heights of 50,654 buildings in NYC and 84,045 buildings in LA were estimated. As a result of the study, root mean square error (RMSE) 8.28 m and mean absolute error (MAE) 6.24 m were obtained for NYC. In addition, 46% of the buildings had an RMSE of less than 5 m and 7% less than 1 m. In LA data, the RMSE and MAE were 6.42 m and 4.66 m, respectively. It was less than 5 m in 67% of the buildings and less than 1 m in 7%. However, ICESat-2 data had a better RMSE than GEDI data. Nevertheless, combining the two data provided the advantage of detecting more building heights. This study highlights the importance of using minimum data for determining urban-scale building heights. Moreover, continuous monitoring of urban alterations using satellite altimetry data would provide more effective energy consumption assessment and management. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sensing the Built Environment: Measurements, Correlations, and Implications)
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20 pages, 6677 KiB  
Article
The Impact of Cool and Warm Color Tones in Classrooms on the Perceived Emotions of Elementary School Students in Northwest China
by Yazhen Sun, Na Qi, Jie Zhan and Jie Yin
Buildings 2024, 14(10), 3309; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14103309 - 20 Oct 2024
Viewed by 799
Abstract
Although it has been shown that color can influence mental health and behavior, few studies have discussed the effects of cool and warm colors in classrooms on the perceived emotions of elementary school students. In this study, we investigated the emotional changes of [...] Read more.
Although it has been shown that color can influence mental health and behavior, few studies have discussed the effects of cool and warm colors in classrooms on the perceived emotions of elementary school students. In this study, we investigated the emotional changes of elementary school students in Yinchuan City, Northwest China in classrooms with cool and warm color tones. By using the Positive and Negative Affect Scale for Children (PANAS-C), the emotions of 123 third- to sixth-grade students in classrooms with cool and warm color tones were measured. We found the following conclusions: (1) Overall, the emotional responses of the subjects in both the cool- and warm-colored classrooms showed a tendency for positive emotions to be higher than negative emotions. (2) There was no significant difference between the effects of cool and warm colors on the overall emotion of elementary school students, but there were significant differences in specific emotions; Compared to warm colors, cool colors had a more significant effect on increasing feelings of calm (β = −0.365, p = 0.041). Compared to cool colors, warm colors were more likely to cause participants to feel mad (β = 0.186, p = 0.099). (3) The effects of cool and warm colors on students’ emotions differed significantly by gender and grade level. Cool and warm color tones had a significantly greater positive impact on females. In contrast, cool and warm colors had a more pronounced effect on males’ negative emotions. In addition, we found that grade level was significantly negatively correlated with overall emotion (β = −0.696, p < 0.001), with lower grades perceiving emotion more positively than higher grades. These findings provide important insights into the spatial design of elementary school classrooms and provide valuable comparative data for studies in different regional and cultural contexts, further enriching the empirical support of color psychology theory. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sensing the Built Environment: Measurements, Correlations, and Implications)
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21 pages, 914 KiB  
Article
Enhancing Elderly Well-Being: Exploring Interactions between Neighborhood-Built Environment and Outdoor Activities in Old Urban Area
by Na Guo, Feng Xia and Shiwang Yu
Buildings 2024, 14(9), 2845; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14092845 - 10 Sep 2024
Viewed by 659
Abstract
China has the world’s largest and fastest-growing elderly population, primarily living in outdated urban residential communities. These aging populations face challenges in outdoor activities (OA) and quality of life (QoL) due to deteriorating neighborhood-built environments (NBE). While upgrading these environments is essential for [...] Read more.
China has the world’s largest and fastest-growing elderly population, primarily living in outdated urban residential communities. These aging populations face challenges in outdoor activities (OA) and quality of life (QoL) due to deteriorating neighborhood-built environments (NBE). While upgrading these environments is essential for urban renewal, the specific NBE factors affecting OA and QoL for the elderly are not well understood, creating a gap in existing research. This study addresses this gap by investigating how NBE elements influence the OA and QoL of elderly residents in these communities. This study investigates these interactions by conducting a comprehensive literature review, followed by a questionnaire survey, with data analyzed using factor analysis, correlation analysis, and regression analysis. The results reveal that supermarkets and subways significantly impact the physical health of older adults. Psychological health is primarily shaped by daily activities, social relationships, and self-care ability, with roads, hospitals, and bus stops further affecting daily activities. Social relationships are largely influenced by social activities, which are impacted by grocery markets, subways, and parks. Additionally, self-care ability is affected by leisure and daily activities, as well as the accessibility of supermarkets, grocery markets, subways, and buses. These findings offer valuable insights for government-led initiatives aimed at implementing age-friendly retrofitting of NBEs, ultimately enhancing the OA and QoL of the elderly population. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sensing the Built Environment: Measurements, Correlations, and Implications)
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16 pages, 35809 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of Rural Healing Landscape DESIGN Based on Virtual Reality and Electroencephalography
by Hongguo Ren, Xue Wang, Jing Zhang, Lei Zhang and Qingqin Wang
Buildings 2024, 14(6), 1560; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14061560 - 28 May 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1144
Abstract
From the user’s perspective, emotional elements are increasingly being used in design. Researchers have indicated that healing landscapes in rural areas play a positive role in soothing human emotions. In this study, a landscape with healing functions was designed, and 32 subjects experienced [...] Read more.
From the user’s perspective, emotional elements are increasingly being used in design. Researchers have indicated that healing landscapes in rural areas play a positive role in soothing human emotions. In this study, a landscape with healing functions was designed, and 32 subjects experienced emotions in a virtual reality (VR) scene while their 32-channel electroencephalography (EEG) signals were collected. This study compared the brain responses with and without the presence of healing landscape elements and conducted correlation coefficient analysis using eight different regression prediction models to examine the relationship between security, comfort, positivity, and corresponding healing landscape elements. The results show significant improvements in emotions of security, comfort, and positivity post-exposure to the landscape design, especially with certain elements, such as seating, shrubs, and tree pools. EEG data indicate enhanced emotional and cognitive states, particularly relaxation, with increased activity in specific brain regions. The decision tree regression model is the most suitable for our data. It reveals strong correlations between specific healing landscape elements and emotional responses. In the comfort category, “shrubs” show the highest correlation (R² = 0.82), while in the security category, “trees” have the highest correlation (R² = 0.77). Similarly, in the positivity category, “trees” again exhibit the highest correlation (R² = 0.71) with EEG data, indicating their significant impact on these emotional dimensions. This study demonstrates the importance of using scientific methods, such as EEG technology, to validate the principles of emotional design and also underscores the role of green environments in enhancing psychological health and emotional comfort. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sensing the Built Environment: Measurements, Correlations, and Implications)
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16 pages, 4926 KiB  
Article
Architectonic Design Supported by Visual Environmental Simulation—A Comparison of Displays and Formats
by Juan Luis Higuera-Trujillo, Juan López-Tarruella Maldonado, Nuria Castilla and Carmen Llinares
Buildings 2024, 14(1), 216; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14010216 - 13 Jan 2024
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1170
Abstract
Visual environmental simulations are fundamental in understanding the relationship between the built environment and psychological perception. The remarkable evolution of virtual immersion displays over recent years has provided a series of advantages to the architectural discipline, one of which is that non-specialists now [...] Read more.
Visual environmental simulations are fundamental in understanding the relationship between the built environment and psychological perception. The remarkable evolution of virtual immersion displays over recent years has provided a series of advantages to the architectural discipline, one of which is that non-specialists now have the potential to better understand architectural spaces. This work aimed to analyse the adequacy of the main displays and formats currently used in environmental simulations. As the objective was twofold, two experimental studies were carried out (with a sample of 100 participants). The studies evaluated users’ responses to different environmental representations of two environments, using differential semantic scales to measure key underlying factors (utility, credibility, realism, accuracy, abstraction). The first study examined simulation displays: a PC, an HTC Vive Pro 2 head-mounted display, a PowerWall Screen and a CAVE. In the second, formats were analysed: normal image, 360° image, video and 360° video. The results of this work revealed that users perceived the space differently depending on the representation displays and formats used. Such comparisons of these new means of representing architectural spaces can be helpful to researchers, architects and urban planning professionals and might provoke debate in, and be extrapolated into, the design field. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sensing the Built Environment: Measurements, Correlations, and Implications)
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19 pages, 13426 KiB  
Article
Reflective Façades: Revisiting a Neglected Trait of Modernism in Contemporary Architecture with New Implications and Significance
by Zeinab Ahmed Abd ElGhaffar Elmoghazy and Hazem M. Nour Afify
Buildings 2023, 13(11), 2740; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13112740 - 30 Oct 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1660
Abstract
Reflection and transparency are two valuable properties associated with the use of glass as an architectural material. While proponents of modernism favored transparency over reflection, whether in its physical or conceptual implications, to justify the designs of façades of Modernist buildings and in [...] Read more.
Reflection and transparency are two valuable properties associated with the use of glass as an architectural material. While proponents of modernism favored transparency over reflection, whether in its physical or conceptual implications, to justify the designs of façades of Modernist buildings and in architectural criticism, contemporary architects are revisiting the neglected trait of ‘reflection’. Taking advantage of the technological advances in glass and other materials that have taken reflection to new limits, they are able to design reflective façades, providing new implications and significance. This paper aims to fill the theoretical gap that arises from the different conceptual ideas of using reflective façades. It will also explore the implications intended by architects to be perceived by viewers, thereby facilitating the future use of these façades in a way that satisfies architects and attracts beholders. The research methodology employed thematic analysis of various experiences of the use of reflective façades in different buildings with diverse functions and locations. The vocabulary used by architects and their intended implications were analyzed, coded, and categorized under three main themes: ‘Aesthetics of Disappearance’, ‘Games of Optical Illusions’, and ‘Mystery and Arousing Curiosity’. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sensing the Built Environment: Measurements, Correlations, and Implications)
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25 pages, 3628 KiB  
Article
A User’s Perspective on the Factors Influencing the Satisfaction of Assistive Technology Resources Centers’ Built Environment Services
by Tsen-Yao Chang and Shao-Wei Huang
Buildings 2023, 13(6), 1449; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13061449 - 1 Jun 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1590
Abstract
Taiwan will move into a super-aged society by 2025. The government is actively establishing assistive technology resources centers (ATR Centers) throughout Taiwan to provide assistive technology services such as display, evaluation, rental, and maintenance services; they also recycle unused assistive devices, disinfect and [...] Read more.
Taiwan will move into a super-aged society by 2025. The government is actively establishing assistive technology resources centers (ATR Centers) throughout Taiwan to provide assistive technology services such as display, evaluation, rental, and maintenance services; they also recycle unused assistive devices, disinfect and clean them, and then rent them to people in need to achieve sustainable development. This study investigates the users’ perceptions about receiving services from the ATR Center in Yunlin and explores their satisfaction. “Service convenience”, “service quality”, “user experience” and “corporate social responsibility (CSR)” were used as the overall research framework and hypotheses are based on the mediating role of “CSR”; data are collected through questionnaires, and structural equation modeling (SEM) is used to test the model and hypotheses. A total of 532 valid questionnaires were collected from the users and caregivers who had used the services of the center in the past two years. The statistical analysis was conducted in three stages: sample data analysis, measurement model validation, and structural equation model analysis. According to the research findings, service convenience, service quality, and user experience all have a significant positive impact on CSR. Additionally, service convenience, service quality, user experience, and CSR have a positive impact on user satisfaction. Moreover, service quality and user experience indirectly affect user satisfaction through CSR. Finally, based on the research results, suggestions are proposed for addressing issues related to assistive service promotion and future adjustments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sensing the Built Environment: Measurements, Correlations, and Implications)
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