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With the rapid development of urbanization, children's health has been becoming one of the most prominent problems in many countries, of which the lack of friendliness in urban is a main reason. This paper, takes Children's Participation Work Camp of Changsha 2050 and Fengquan Furui child-friendly community as an example, systematically summaries the research and design methods of Chinese Child-Friendly City (CFC), evaluates its generalizability, and puts forward that conducting a regular and continuous survey of Children's Drawing Camp and transforming public environment and establishing connections between community residents based on children focus are referencable ways for building CFC in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Outdoor activity spaces have very significant influences on children's growth and development. While being one of the most important spaces for children, their living environments have differentiated with the urbanization process in China. This study aims to examine the territorial selection, territorial psychology and territorial behavior of children 8–12 years old when playing outdoors from the perspective of human territoriality theory by comparing two groups of children living in urban villages and residential areas in Beijing respectively. The results show that the overall territoriality of children in residential areas is greater than that of children in urban villages. Children's territorial psychology and territorial behaviors are closely related to their cognition and spatial use. Whether the territories are dominated by groups or individuals, children in residential areas generally consider them to be play spaces, while children in urban villages tend to express feelings in their territories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beyond the provision of affordable housing itself, planners and policymakers have raised concerns as to whether subsidized housing developments provide “suitable living environments” for the nation's poor. Despite numerous concerns regarding unfavorable living environments and the neighborhood context of subsidized housing, we have limited understanding as to whether built environments around subsidized housing ensure pedestrian safety. This study addressed this gap by examining how built environments around Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) sites affect pedestrian-vehicle crashes in Austin, Texas. We employed the two-level negative binomial regression to clarify the impacts of street segment-level and neighborhood-level built environments on pedestrian crashes around LIHTC complexes. We found that higher speed roads, traffic-generating land uses, higher transit stop densities, and higher four-or-more-leg intersection densities may hinder pedestrian safety. Conversely, local roads as well as single-family residential parcels and connected sidewalks along street segments may enhance pedestrian safety around LIHTC complexes. Our results may inform planners and policymakers on how to enhance pedestrian safety for subsidized housing by modifying surrounding environments and how to provide better site selection considerations for subsidized housing to ensure pedestrian safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of community design has evolved with the advancement of technology. City information models (CIM), urban digital twin (UDT), and the proliferation of communication technologies have transformed the way society operates and has led to the modernisation of traditional methods of inclusive decision-makings. However, creating a CIM that effectively aligns the diverse interests and capabilities of (non-expert) users like local inhabitants for active participation can be challenging. In this study, we aim to develop a virtual CIM and explore the immersive behaviours of (non-expert) users in the context of community design and policy decision-making. To do this, we use a combination of multi-objective programming and mixed-media prototyping to create the CIM, which includes LOD 300 spatial representation, what-if scenario implementation, geo-tagging feedback, and easy communication and exploration by stakeholders. The virtual CIM was tested in a real-life urban community design exercise in The Netherlands, the Blue Zone Malvalaan, in two phases by both expert and non-expert stakeholders. We evaluated the user experience through quantitative and qualitative data analysis, focusing on ease-of-use, usefulness, immersion, mental and physical comfort, and satisfaction. Our research shows how the virtual CIM can help local stakeholders contribute to community design optimisation and strengthen policy decision-making outcomes. • A virtual CIM is proposed as a tool to support community design and inclusive decision-making in urban environments. • The virtual CIM offers a user-friendly interface for community stakeholders to actively participate in the design process. • The virtual CIM allows for LOD 300 simulations of place-based design scenarios. • The virtual CIM leans to be an effective tool to collect data from stakeholders and generates geo-tagged urban design guidelines. • The virtual CIM usability test results indicate its affordances for facilitating inclusive urban digital twin ambition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction In the US people of color are disproportionately affected by pedestrian crashes. The purpose of this study was to examine the potential for racial bias in driver yielding behaviors at midblock crosswalks in low and high income neighborhoods located in the sprawling metropolitan area of Las Vegas, NV. Methods Participants (1 white, 1 black female) crossed at a midblock crosswalk on a multilane road in a low income and a high income neighborhood. Trained observers recorded (1) number of cars that passed in the nearest lane before yielding while the pedestrian waited near the crosswalk at the curb (2) number of cars that passed through the crosswalk with the pedestrian in the same half of the roadway. Results The first car in the nearest lane yielded to the pedestrian while they waited at the curb 51.5% of the time at the high income and 70.7% of the time at the low income crosswalk. Two way ANOVAs found an interaction effect between income and race on yielding behaviors. Simple effects for income revealed that at the high income crosswalk, drivers were less likely to yield to the white pedestrian while she waited at the curb ( F(1,122) = 11.18;p = 0.001), and were less likely to yield to the black pedestrian while she was in the same half of the roadway at the high income crosswalk ( F(1,124) = 4.40;p = 0.04). Simple effects for race showed significantly more cars passed through the crosswalk while the black pedestrian was in the roadway compared to the white pedestrian at the high income crosswalk ( F(1,124) = 6.62;p = 0.01). Conclusions Bias in driver yielding behavior may be one influencing factor in higher rates of pedestrian crashes for people of color. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Housing orientation has an effect on the total heating and cooling loads that consumers pay for as part of their monthly utility bills. Often suburban developments lack consideration of the precise optimal solar orientation of each home, therefore, costing homeowners money over the life span of their tenure. This study aims to evaluate the effect of a home’s orientation at the community level evaluating energy use and annual energy costs. The scope of the paper simulates the effect of orientation for 7000 existing homes for four typical Midwestern suburban developments and the resulting annual energy costs. Appling the same housing sample to four different U.S. locations the study compares climatic differences. This analysis evaluates the cost and energy performance of existing suburban communities using optimal solar orientation. Results show that individual home orientation has minimal cost implications, whereas the aggregated suburban community house orientation has more significant total annual energy costs. In addition, results reinforce optimizing solar orientation for planning and design of suburban housing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Focus groups were utilized to explore community preferences and satisfaction. [•] Natural amenities were a primary motivating force to move to this exurban area. [•] Development of a master-planned community may impact natural and built environments. [•] Moving services to a planned community can adversely impact those not living there. [•] Resident perceptions of a planned community can harm the area's social cohesion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

If communities are to have a substantive role in the design and planning of their physical environment, then they must have the capability to do so. In this article, the meaning of capability is defined in terms of a normative framework for the evaluation of well-being known as the capability approach. A capability set for design is theorized from the field of design studies. This set serves as the informational basis for the assessment of government policy and practices toward participatory design. Illustrating the use of the capability set for design, the article compares policies surrounding Sydney's Kurnell desalination plant and the San Francisco Octavia Boulevard project. The comparison highlights differences in policy influencing capability to design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Both the and have declared the enormous social and economic burden imposed on society by injuries due to road collisions as a major global problem. While the road safety problem is not new, this prominent global declaration sends an important signal of frustration regarding progress to date on reducing road collisions. It is clear that governments, communities, businesses and the public must discover ways of reducing this burden, especially as it relates to vulnerable road users (VRUs), typically meaning pedestrian and bicyclist road users. Recent comparisons of global VRU collisions statistics suggest that, in addition to mixed land use density, the layout of neighbourhood roads plays a vital role in the encouragement of walkable, safe and quiet, yet accessible and sustainable communities. The purpose of this paper was to: [(1)] Review the literature concerning sustainable neighbourhood land use and transportation network patterns, increased VRU volumes, and road safety; [(2)] Present empirical research results on road safety related to VRU volumes; and [(3)] Present emerging research regarding more sustainable land use and transportation patterns, increased VRU volumes, and road safety. The Dutch Sustainable Road Safety (SRS) Program has produced a number of innovative land use and transportation initiatives for vehicular road users as well as non-vehicular VRUs. Following from the Dutch initiatives, these new 3-way offset, and fused grid neighbourhood patterns appear to not only have positive effects in encouraging mode split (i.e. increasing walking and bicycling, and transit), slowing traffic, and reducing energy consumption and GHG emissions; but also, to hold potential to improve road safety. To test the road safety hypothesis, UBCO researchers evaluated the level of road safety relative to five neighbourhood patterns – grid, culs-de-sac, and Dutch Sustainable Road Safety (SRS) (or limited access), 3-way offset, and fused grid networks. Analysis using standard transportation planning methodology revealed that they would maintain both mobility and accessibility. Analysis using standard road safety analysis methodology further revealed that these 3-way offset, and fused grid patterns would significantly improve road safety levels by as much as 60% compared to prevalent patterns (i.e. grid and culs-de-sac). It is important to note that these results ignore the road safety effects of providing convenient off-road trails along trip desire lines to shift mode choice from auto to non-auto VRU modes. Subject to further research, it is intuitive that shifting trips from auto to pedestrian/bike modes will lead to reduced auto collisions. Hence, these initial results should be considered as conservative estimates, subject to further research. In before and after studies to date, researchers have shown that increasing bicycle use does not lead to a commensurate increase in bicycle collisions, but no predictive relationship has been found in the literature. Therefore, the next steps in this research are to develop collision prediction models that provide insight on VRU mode split and overall road safety. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Urban dwellers perceive and respond affectively to the streetscape they live within everyday. Understanding the relationship between the visual elements and the aesthetic response that result from affective appraisal of the neighborhood becomes key to successful planning. This study investigates the underlying factors of community affective appraisal and identifies their predictive visual elements in the neighborhood of a Taiwanese suburban community. Consistent with previous findings, factor analysis reveals the two primary dimensions of affective appraisal to be pleasure and arousal. Various attributes of visual elements in the neighborhood, e.g. open space, buildings, community signage, trees, street furniture and pavement are significant predictors of affective appraisal factors. Specifically, the salience of trees and openness of open space may simultaneously induce pleasure and arousal, resulting in a positive emotion of high intensity. These findings shed light on the basis of residents’ affective appraisal of an established community and are instructive in the practice of community design. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Negative binomial regression models were used to assess the effect of street and street network characteristics on total crashes, severe injury crashes, and fatal crashes. Data from over 230,000 crashes taking place over 11 years in 24 California cities was analyzed at the U.S. Census Block Group level of geography. In our analysis we controlled for variables such as vehicle volumes, income levels, and proximity to limited access highways and to the downtown area. Street network characteristics that were considered in the analysis included street network density and street connectivity along with street network pattern. Our findings suggest that for all levels of crash severity, street network characteristics correlate with road safety outcomes. Denser street networks with higher intersection counts per area are associated with fewer crashes across all severity levels. Conversely, increased street connectivity as well as additional travel lanes along the major streets correlated with more crashes. Our results suggest that in assessing safety, it is important to move beyond the traditional approach of just looking at the characteristics of the street itself and examine how the interrelated factors of street network characteristics, patterns, and individual street designs interact to affect crash frequency and severity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Finding ways to increase trust may be one mechanism to overcome the alleged negative consequences of urban sprawl for neighborhoods. This study explores two relationships with community design and trust. First, is one benefit of some of the underlying concepts of New Urbanism design that they build trust? Second, can these design concepts overcome one undesirable feature of cities: the deleterious effect of income inequality on trust? This study uses survey data collected from 34 city of Boise neighborhoods and 2000 US census data aggregated to the neighborhood level to examine the effects of street design, sidewalks and open space on building trust and moderating the effect of income inequality on trust. The study finds that cul-de-sac designed streets, sidewalks and parks or open space increase trust. There is no evidence that design features actually moderate the effects of income inequality on trust. The findings suggest that local governments can influence the quality of life for residents in their communities through neighborhood design even if municipalities cannot use design to moderate the effects of income equality on trust. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Few studies have examined the relationship between micro-scale features of the built environment and street segment usage. Micro-scale features of the built environment include the width of the sidewalk, the presence of amenities such as benches and trash bins, and the presence of crossing aids such as stoplights and crosswalks. This study employs segment-level primary data collected for 338 street segments in close proximity to one of 71 bus rapid transit stations in Bogotá, Colombia. We also use secondary data to control for area-level characteristics such as density, socio-economic stratum, unemployment, and crime. Factor and regression analyses are to use identify two dimensions of the built environment that are associated with higher levels of pedestrian activity: pedestrian-friendly amenities, comprised of wider and higher quality sidewalks and the presence of amenities such as benches, garbage cans, and bike paths; and connectivity, comprised of higher levels of road density, three- and four-way intersections, and density. In addition, we find greater pedestrian activity on segments with higher development intensity, with more mix of land uses, and with more crossing aids. Although the relationships identified are not causal, they are suggestive in terms of planning successful built environment interventions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]