Journal Articles

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/7915

Browse

Start date: 2022Subject: search.filters.subject.built environment

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Perceptions of People with Disabilities on the Accessibility of New Zealand’s Built Environment
    (MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 2025-09-01) Flemmer C; McIntosh A; Frawley P
    Accessing the built environment poses many challenges for people with disabilities, severely affecting their independence and quality of life. A panel of experts with a lived experience of disabilities co-designed a survey capturing the challenges in New Zealand’s public places. There were 319 survey respondents with impairments related to mobility (66.5%), vision (18.8%), hearing (5.0%), sensory processing and cognition (8.8%). They perceived sports stadiums as the least accessible venue, followed by bars, boutique shops and public toilets. The most accessible venues were supermarkets, libraries and shopping malls. The type of disability affected the main accessibility challenges. Significant outdoor barriers included uneven and cluttered paths, inadequate provision of curb cuts, seating and accessible parking spaces, and obscure wayfinding. Entrance barriers included heavy doors, complex access control, remote ramps and narrow, obscure entrances. Interior problems included cluttered paths and poor signage. The top priorities for improvement were simplifying layouts, keeping paths clear, and providing clear, inclusive signage, communication and assistance for people with varying impairments. Providing lower counters, better colour contrast, hearing loop facilities and better control of lighting and acoustics also improve accessibility. This research contributes novel experiential data from people with disabilities that is critical to achieving an inclusive built environment.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Street redesign, active mobility and well-being for Pacific elders
    (Taylor and Francis Group, 2024-08-08) Garden E; Sa’u Lilo L; ‘Ofanoa M; Field A; Witten K; So’onalole TN; Tupou S
    This qualitative study uses Talanoa methodologies to explore the everyday experiences of Pacific elders travelling around Māngere Central, Aotearoa New Zealand. A suite of street infrastructure changes for walking and cycling took place in the area between 2015 and 2017. While the evidence linking attributes of urban street design to physical activity behaviour is strong, there is little research on the impact of the built environment on Pacific elders’ active mobility. The study seeks to address this knowledge gap by focusing on the impacts of streetscape changes on the active travel and social connectivity of this group of residents. Findings indicate that post-intervention, elders feel significantly safer while walking, with active travel increasing for some. All elders in the study feel that important amenities are now more accessible, with some of significant cultural and social importance. As such, opportunities for social connection appear to have increased. Furthermore, the enhanced look and feel of the local environment is important to the elders interviewed, enhancing feelings of community pride and well-being for some. Further desired changes to support active mobility are discussed, and a logic model highlighting factors theorised to be particularly important for achieving mode shift among Pacific elders is proposed.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Scientometric Analysis of the Global Scientific Literature on Circularity Indicators in the Construction and Built Environment Sector
    (MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 2022-12-31) Gomis K; Kahandawa R; Jayasinghe RS; Oladinrin OT; Pathirage C; Olanipekun A
    The circular-economy-related research has exponentially increased in recent years. The literature shows that circularity indicators represent a timely topic that requires an in-depth analysis. However, the trends and gaps in the literature in the area of the circular economy have not need analysed in depth. This study uses a scientometric analysis as the research methodology to examine the current literature on circularity and circular economic indicators. The publications were extracted from the Web of Science and were published until the end of the third quarter of 2022. The scientometric analysis was conducted using VOSviewer software to map the relationships between the 1117 articles selected on the topic. The findings revealed that the most productive author and university were Jorge de Brito and Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. The overlay visualisation of the keywords identified a notable shift in research themes from dynamics, frameworks, models, and design in previous years to economy, barriers, and strategies in the current research context. The overlay visualisation of the keywords identified trending research hotspots within the current research context. This study is the first holistic and global overview of circularity and circular economic indicators in the construction context and identifies a critical need for further research to understand circularity and circular economic indicators under co-occurrence analysis conditions. This study offers academics, policymakers, and other circularity activists a guide for future research and valuable insight into circularity and circularity indicator themes.