This paper addresses urban parks and squares and their use(r)s, focusing on the subject from two different angles: What do users do in urban outdoor spaces? What do designers think they do? It focuses particularly on the comparatively level. Firstly, the paper discusses the actual uses mapped in places, using repeated observation on different days, times and weather conditions as applied to parks and squares in two European cities. Secondly, it addresses designers' views about usage of urban parks and squares, resulted from workshops with urban landscape designers. It shows that designers' beliefs and awareness about uses in places, in some aspects, differ from actual use and demonstrates the value of the methodology of behaviour mapping in revealing relationships between design and use that are based on empirical evidence. The value of the paper is in concretizing the gaps between use and design of urban landscapes, and particularly in suggesting an additional way in which urban landscape designers and decision-makers may be informed or trained to gain perception about the functional relationships between people and (designed) places to effectively address design, evaluation or re-design of places.
COBISS.SI-ID: 2760899
A well-designed open space that encourages outdoor activity and social communication is a community asset that could potentially contribute to the health of local residents and social harmony of the community. Numerous factors may influence the use of each single space and may result in a variety of visitors. Compared with previous studies that focused on accessibility, this study highlights the relationship between the utilization and characteristics of community open spaces in China. The Overseas Chinese Town community in Shenzhen is regarded as an example. The association between the number of visitors and space characteristics is examined with multivariate regression models. Results show that large areas with accessible lawns, well-maintained footpaths, seats, commercial facilities, and water landscapes are important characteristics that could increase the use of community open spaces. However, adding green vegetation, sculptures, and landscape accessories in open spaces has limited effects on increasing the outdoor activities of residents. Thus, to increase the use of community open spaces, landscape designers should focus more on creating user-oriented spaces with facilities that encourage active use than on improving ornamental vegetation and accessories.
COBISS.SI-ID: 2761411
The private rented sector (PRS) in Slovenia has operated since the end of the Second World War without being officially recognised and supported by government policy. This article explores why the responsible state institutions have persistently ignored this sector. The discussion starts with a brief review of the development of the country’s housing policy, which has been deeply entrenched in the “enabling approach” philosophy since the major housing reforms were introduced in the early 1990s. With the help of the findings of a survey conducted among the key state institutions responsible for housing care, the role of the state is examined in the development of the private rented sector since a market economy system was adopted in Slovenia in 1991. Although the responses received from the survey show that the state institutions investigated are generally aware of all the shortcomings of the current PRS, they have made no serious attempt to support its development. A suggestion is therefore made in the conclusion that the failure to introduce the measures necessary to support the development and formal operation of the PRS may be attributed to unfavourable attitudes of policymakers toward the sector.
COBISS.SI-ID: 288302080
This chapter addresses spatial statistics via an alternative perspective, focusing on evidence‐based people‐spatial relationships and related measures, quantifications and qualifications, and by this, it provides rather specific spatial information and spatial statistics about urban environments. It is based on time quality assessment (TQA), a time‐people‐place‐oriented approach for the analysis and simulation of the quality of living environments, back-grounded with the method of behaviour mapping. It shows that the quality of the time spent on a certain activity in a certain place indicates the quality of the living environment. It also shows that the quality of the time spent depends on what a person can afford, and it provides an evaluation of the quality of living environments with a measure of good/bad time. The practical value is in the provision of empirical knowledge to support planning guidance based on user‐centred small‐scale spatial statistics, which is able to inform top‐down and bottom‐up decision‐making processes for people‐friendly living environments.
COBISS.SI-ID: 2781635
The transition to a market economy in 1991 brought dramatic changes to the system of housing finance in Slovenia. The housing reforms that were introduced at the time included, inter alia, the abolition of the previous system of housing finance which, effectively, meant the termination of the previous role of the state as the key provider of housing. This article discusses the major developments in the area of housing finance in Slovenia during the last 25 years. We identify two principle actors that have played a dominant role throughout this period (i.e., the National Housing Fund and the banking sector) and describe the various approaches adopted by these finance institutions, the major impacts of their operations on the housing market and the characteristic housing tenure structure that has evolved. In the conclusion, we briefly discuss the effects of the global financial crisis on housing finance and the anticipated future developments.
COBISS.SI-ID: 22986726