Journal Log

Thesis Log

EXAMINATION OF UNIVERSAL DESIGN IN KITCHENS AND BATHROOMS OF THE HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM: ELDERLY COTTAGE HOUSING OPPORTUNITY

TITLE	EXAMINATION OF UNIVERSAL DESIGN IN KITCHENS AND BATHROOMS OF THE HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM: ELDERLY COTTAGE HOUSING OPPORTUNITY
AUTHOR	Jeannette Steeves
YEAR	2005
TYPE OF THESIS	PhD
DISCIPLINE	Housing, Interior Design, and Resource Management
URL	http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.psz.utm.my/docview/305407225/fulltextPDF /13B1CB88E931D8ECA60/7?accountid=41678
ACCESS DATE	20 Dec 2012
FULL PAPER	FOUND
INSTITUTION	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
KEYWORDS	Universal design, housing for the Aging, America, housing, gerontology
ABSTRACT	Appropriate housing for the aging American population is a timely topic of research in both housing and gerontology. Universal design is an innovation in housing design that is gaining interest from both industries. This research examines the effectiveness of universal design features that have been identified by experts in the field of aging, housing, and universal design as important to resident and caregiver participants of the ECHO demonstration housing program. A national survey was conducted that included all available current residents of the HUD ECHO houses and their caregivers. The relationships between age, effectiveness of universal design features, health and dependency were investigated. Quantitative results include some confounding relationships, and plausible explanations. A qualitative analysis, based on on-site and telephone interviews, and tape recordings of those interviews with residents and their caregivers, as well as architectural drawings, observation, and photographs of the ECHO houses provided additional details. The qualitative approach indicated that many of the universal design features recommended by the experts consulted satisfactorily met the needs of residents and/or their caregivers. It also revealed, however that some features were not considered important by residents and caregivers, some were not reported as present (when they were documented by the researcher as present), and at least one HUD-specified universal design feature was not provided by ECHO houses. Another aspect of the qualitative perspective addressed the health of the residents. Health characteristics are presented in the context of their effect on dependency. Phase II dependency task information was compared to that reported in phase I, and improvement and decline was noted. Conclusions, and Implications that elaborate on findings, and future research is recommended for taking this research to the next level.

Cultural Heritage Across Borders: Inclusive Tourism and barrier-Free Design in the Greater Mekong Sub-Region

TITLE	Cultural Heritage Across Borders: Inclusive Tourism and barrier-Free Design in the Greater Mekong Sub-Region
AUTHOR	Budsakayt INTARAPASAN
YEAR	2009
TYPE OF THESIS	PhD
DISCIPLINE	Architecture Heritage Management & Tourism
URL	http://www.thapra.lib.su.ac.th/objects/thesis/fulltext/thapra/ Budsakayt_Intarapasan_Doctor/fulltext.pdf
ACCESS DATE	14 Dec 2012
FULL PAPER	FOUND
INSTITUTION	Silpakorn University
KEYWORDS	Greater Mekong Sub-Region, Cultural heritage, Cross Borders, Inclusive Tourism, Barrier-Free Design, People with Disability
ABSTRACT	This paper will using regional the Greater Mekong Sub-Region case studies, highlight gaps in current regional heritage practices in respect of : heritage and development of heritage trails, revenue, the anchoring of tourist revenue, and development of the public consciousness of history. This paper describes cultural heritage tourism, according to the travelling to experience places and activities that authentically represent stories and people of the past and present. Inclusive Tourism is a global movement to ensure full social participation of all people with disabilities in travel, citizenships and cultural contribution and in the process, to assure the same for everyone else, writes Dr. Scott Rains. The discussion issues related accessible tourism to cultural heritage places to identify existing barriers as well as assessment and solutions approach to promote cultural-heritage-inclusive tourism and barrier free design. More important access increases the potential to enable people with disabilities to take part in almost any area of life, and to be aware of the impact and business opportunities that accessible tourism introduces. The forthcoming process of demographic ageing will lead to a growing number of tourists with needs for more accessibility and higher service quality also in tourism. The result of this study will provide guidelines on better practices of community engagement, community participation and community resource development in respect of the culturally appropriate management of heritage. In conclusion, good design improves accessibility for all users who may benefit from tourism services without discriminating factors. To ensure balanced recognition of the users’ interest, conservation planning is deemed necessary to eliminate disabled access. Access for all heritage areas is provided equally to all types of user who want to enjoy and appreciate leisure in a friendly environment depicting distinctive traditions. Universal design which offers equal accessibility to all types of user aims to upgrade heritage places and raise awareness on the significance and value of cultural heritage as well as inclusive travel and leisure holidays at an international level.

Accessibility for wheelchair users in public parks : a comparison between Adelaide and Kuantan

TITLE	Accessibility for wheelchair users in public parks : a comparison between Adelaide and Kuantan
AUTHOR	Liyana Mohamed Yusof
YEAR	2010
TYPE OF THESIS	Master  Thesis
DISCIPLINE	Architecture & design
URL	http://umpir.ump.edu.my/2724/ or http://umpir.ump.edu.my/2724/1/LIYANA_MOHAMED_YUSOF.PDF
ACCESS DATE	14 Dec 2012
FULL PAPER	FOUND, but no access to full paper
INSTITUTION	University of Adelaide, Australia
KEYWORDS	Universal Design, Housing, Malaysia, Design, Case studies
ABSTRACT	This study investigated the accessibility of wheelchairs users in public parks in Kuantan, Malaysia and Adelaide, South Australia. Anthropology of wheelchairs users locally is identified comprehensively. The investigation takes into consideration the needs and difficulties of wheelchairs users to access public parks as well as fundamental facilities required by wheelchair user in public parks. An inclusive study on Malaysian legislation, The Persons with Disabilities Act 2008,  Australian legislation, Disability Discrimination Act 1992, Malaysian Standard MS 1184:2002, Australia Standard AS 1428.1-2001 and policies and guidelines used by Majlis Perbandaran Kuantan (MPK) and Adelaide City Council (ACC) when planning for people with disabilities specifically wheelchair users is undertaken. The effectiveness of these governments documents is analysed and compared by conducting observation and documentation on accessibility in selected public parks in Kuantan and Adelaide. Esplanade Park, Kerang Park, Karrawirra-Park 12 Parade Grounds Park and Elder Park are chose to serve as case studies. Comparison on the observations and documentations conducted between these four parks found that the Australian government document is more effective when compared to Malaysian government documents. The study also found, in providing accessibility for wheelchair users in public parks, common issues such as budgets, conflicts with infrastructure, conflicts with other disabilities, natural factors, effectiveness of government documents, and lack of awareness arise in both states. However the issues in Kuantan are more critical.

Assessing The Coverage, Adequacy and Accessibility of Selected Community Facilities For Malaysian Elderly Based on GIS Approach

TITLE	Assessing The Coverage, Adequacy and Accessibility of Selected Community Facilities For Malaysian Elderly Based on GIS Approach
AUTHOR	Che Kiong LIM
YEAR	2005
TYPE OF THESIS	Master  Thesis
DISCIPLINE	Engineering
URL	http://psasir.upm.edu.my/5980/
ACCESS DATE	14 Dec 2012
FULL PAPER	FOUND, but no access to full paper
INSTITUTION	Universiti Putra Malaysia
KEYWORDS	Access, services, facilities, data collection
ABSTRACT	The numbers of elderly in the population nowadays have grown tremendously and benefited from the modern development of better community services especially in countries where there are great advancement and progression in health technology. This emphasis on improvement of community facilities has undoubtedly provided a better quality of life to many of the older generation and undeniably help in increasing their life span, hence the increase in population. Contrary to this, many from the older generations are still faced with difficulties in getting access to the provided services because of problems in efficiency of facilities provision. In conjunction to this, many initiatives have been taken by the associated government agencies dedicated to meet the needs of the elderly. The dedications are in terms of easier access to the available facilities and without having to pay an astronomical fee. But the planning for the elderly is a complex issue because their needs are as varied as the population composition itself. On the other hand, conventional method of data collection (hardcopy based) has been found to be inefficient and ineffective in terms of producing qualitative results within a short time span. The two primary objectives guide this research which is analysis of the coverage, adequacy and the accessibility of selected community facilties for the elderly through the GIs technology, and second is to create an automated data collection technique by using the PDA. Methods in use involve PDA program customization, selection and surveymg of targeted sites in terms of accessibility to the selected community facilities. All collected PDA data are pooled and incorporated into the GIs database. This is followed by creation of elderly database for spatial analysis and accessibhty analysis. From the experimental results, the used of automated data collection PDA system is much more cost-effective and time saving. Besides, with the aid of GIs technology, the distributions of demographic of elderly in different characteristic are clearly determined based on several definitions. The study successfully demonstrated the application of GIs with the several methods in the facilities accessibility assessment of the targeted group, and it has been found that the community fachties are barely adequate in study area. As an addition, an automated data collection technique and complimentary spatial analysis procedures can help to encourage better decision modeling in the development of a better health care for the elderly. With this automated GIs system, it is hope that better planning and decision modeling can be done. Thus is to ensure that problems of specific needs of the target group, in relation of accessibility to social and health facilities, wil be reduced and finally overcome albeit slowly.

On Heritage Site, Rural landscape & UNESCO

From the reading:


P. Gullino, F. Larcher, Integrity in UNESCO World Heritage Sites. A comparative study for rural landscapes, Journal of Cultural Heritage (2012), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.culher.2012.10.005

go to this link 



Outstanding Universal Value (OUV):
UNESCO standard for evaluating cultural heritage site suitability

"Integrity", the concept
- found in 2005
def: "a measure of the wholeness and intactness of the natural and/or cultural heritage and its attributes. Examining the conditions of integrity, therefore requires assessing
the extent to which the property:

• includes all elements necessary to express its outstanding universal value;
• is of adequate size to ensure the complete representation of the
features and processes which convey the property’s significance;
• suffers from adverse effects of development and/or neglect.” 
(UNESCO, Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of theWorld Heritage Convention, 2008 http://whc.unesco.org/archive/opguide08-en.pdf)


World Heritage Site

'Values to Have':

'Values to Maintain':


historical features,
traditional crops and local products, land-use and agricultural practice permanence, and the presence
of architecture related to agricultural activity

Universal Access to Heritage Buildings in Hong Kong

TITLE	Universal Access to Heritage Buildings in Hong Kong
AUTHOR	LOK So Fun, Rosa
YEAR	2003
TYPE OF THESIS	MSc Thesis
DISCIPLINE	Conservation
URL	http://hub.hku.hk/handle/10722/40036
ACCESS DATE	14 Dec 2012
FULL PAPER	FOUND
INSTITUTION	University of Hong Kong
KEYWORDS	Universal Design, heritage Building, Hong Kong, Conservation
ABSTRACT	Universal Access to heritage buildings is nothing new in the United Kingdom, United States or Australia. However, in Hong Kong, this is a relatively new concept. The public awareness of the equal right of the disabled person to access to buildings, whether such buildings are new or old, is scarce. In addition, the manager responsible for managing heritage buildings often sticks to the ideology of keeping authenticity of the building by having no change. Conservation is a dynamic process. A building loses its functional value if the use cannot meet the rising needs of the community. One of the responsibilities tasked onto a conservator is to enhance the perpetual value of the heritage building by fusing the contemporary needs into it while maintaining the significance. It is important that a framework is established to guide the change process. The stock of historical buildings in Hong Kong is huge although not in great number as compared with other parts of the world. They are the cultural assets of the society in which direct economic gains can be generated through cultural tourism or functional use. Providing universal access extends the life of these heritage building. The study attempts to unfold the experience in other parts of the world and address the issue by formulating a framework appropriate for application in local conservation practice. Taking the Burra Charter as the guiding principle in conservation, the framework starts with the most fundamental aspect of establishing the significance of the building, undertaking an access audit, evaluating the access requirements, exploring all possible solutions and implementing the selected options. One of the objectives in carrying out this study is to promote awareness of the universal access requirement in build design. If a building is designed right in the first place, alterations to suit later requirements can be minimized and conservation of the building becomes less burdensome.

Museum and monument : A study on the architectural features of heritage building for museum (with reference to preventive conservation)

TITLE	Museum and monument : A study on the architectural features of heritage building for museum (with reference to preventive conservation)
AUTHOR	Muhammad Ilmam Tharazi
YEAR	2011
TYPE OF THESIS	MSc Thesis
DISCIPLINE	Architecture, Planning and Surveying
URL	http://perpun.upm.edu.my/myTO/myto/1/paparthesis/167328.html
ACCESS DATE	12 Dec 2012
FULL PAPER	Not found
INSTITUTION	UiTM
KEYWORDS	Heritage Building, Adaptive Reuse, Conservation, Climate control
ABSTRACT	This research is about a study on the architectural features of heritage buildings that have been converted into museums. These buildings are known to be climate responsive, and its building materials were properly selected to attenuate exterior conditions. Museum, on the other hand need to have a stable indoor climate in order to safeguard collections it housed. This practice is part of preventive conservation, an approach to prevent objects from deterioration. The characteristics of heritage buildings which were built to response with the climatic conditions may help to contribute a better indoor environment for the collections. The aim of this research is to undertake an investigative study exploring the heritage buildings which currently have been converted into museums to find its architectural features that able to control indoor climate passively which in turn can used in preventive conservation. A proper methodology was adopted in this dissertation to fulfill the objectives. The methodology includes reviewing related books, journals, working papers, and articles from internet. Case studies were also applied in this dissertation and were analyzed through physical observation. Two museums were chosen; the Army museum in Port Dickson and the National Textile Museum in Kuala Lumpur. This study showed that the buildings, occupied by those museums were designed to deal with climate passively and have features that able to regulate the temperature and relative humidity, which in turn can be utilized by the museums. It showed that converting the heritage building into a museum requires only minimum changes and alterations to the building. This in turn helps to preserve and maintain the authenticity and characteristics the building has. The result of this study can provide answers and examples of architectural features of heritage buildings that can be incorporated into the decision-making process for museum projects. The process also can be used to promote building design that able to control climate passively, without relying heavily on the HVAC mechanical system which in turn highlight energy efficiency and sustainability in museum design. Apart from that, this research could also act as a catalyst for future research on the standards and practice of museum and also on the adaptive re-use activities in Malaysia.