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PurposeThe paper aims to identify the critical constraints that impede heritage building (HB) facility managers from discharging their duties effectively and develop an index model to guide HB maintenance management (HBMM) practitioners to the critical constraints.Design/methodology/approachA literature review was conducted to identify HBMM constraints. Facilty management practitioners assessed the constraints' significance through an online survey. The factor analysis was used to shortlist and group the constraints, and the constraint clusters were analyzed by the fuzzy synthetic evaluation technique. A significant index cluster to determine HBMM constraints criticality was generated using the linear additive model.FindingsEmbracing a total of 16 HBMM constraints, the three clusters identified are: (1) managerial and inadequacy constraints, (2) pressure and bureaucracy constraints and (3) HB peculiarities constraints. Based on the generated significant index, the HB peculiarities cluster was identified as the most significant.Research limitations/implicationsThe study was conducted in a particular jurisdiction, limiting the generalizability of the result. Future research should address this limitation by covering more jurisdictions.Practical implicationsThe significant index model (SIM) developed enables HBMM practitioners to objectively assess the criticality of HB constraints and facilitates them to effectively strategize and allocate resources for HBMM.Originality/valueThe SIM, which transforms subjective judgment into the objective assessment of the HBMM constraints' criticality, can assist practitioners, policymakers and other HBMM stakeholders in implementing strategies for the sustainability of HBs.

AIM: To report the therapeutic outcomes of botulinum toxin A (Botox) and eyelid surgery in patients with hemifacial spasm (HFS). METHODS: Patients’ images and medical notes were retrospectively reviewed with subsequent analysis of both the therapeutic outcomes and complications of Botox injections. RESULTS: The information of 76 patients (female=58) with HFS who received a minimum of 4 Botox injections were included. The mean follow-up interval was 83±50 (20-112)mo with an average of 16±10 (4-34) injections. The peak incidence was between 55 and 64 years and the average age of onset was 66±11 (32-85)y. Up to 23% of patients with HFS had aberrant vascular structures (right=8, left=7) in close relationship to the facial nerve (MRI=14, CT=1), where the vertebral artery (n=6) was the most involved vessel followed by the anterior inferior cerebellum artery (n=5). Patients with primary HFS had a shorter effective duration (2.5 vs 3.1mo, P

This article reports the tolerance and long-term safety profiles of botulinum neurotoxin type A among Asian patients with benign essential blepharospasm (BEB) and hemifacial spasm (HFS). We performed a retrospective review of clinical documents and procedure records of consecutive BEB and HFS patients receiving onabotulinum toxin A (Botox) treatment in our clinic over the past 20 years. We reviewed the information of 105 patients diagnosed with BEB (n = 31) and HFS (n = 74). All of the patients were Asian. The mean age of disease onset was 59 (range 37–80) years old for BEB and 61 (range 31–83) for HFS. The mean follow up was 84 (range 12–240) months and the mean number of sessions per patient was 19 (range 1–61). The botulinum toxin dose per session increased significantly in both BEB (16.5 versus 21.6 units, p

Transfer of development rights (TDRs) is an attractive method in theory, contributing to a city’s conservation effort while balancing the need for sustainable urban development. Operationally, the ...

PurposePOSPD, as supplementation of public open spaces (POS), has become a common policy to moderate the intensification of urbanization. However, some access restrictions, both physical and information-wise, were deliberately designed by private developers to reserve the POSPD for their own gains, which further hampers POSPD’s publicness and leads to their failure to bear social responsibilities.Design/methodology/approachBy analyzing the current situation of the availability of public open space in private developments (POSPD) from the perspective of information justice, this research aims at proposing a policy framework for an “accessible and interactive platform” which advocates promoting informational justice by integrating public participation into the establishment of an interaction loop to promote the revitalization of POSPD. The methodology includes the review of previous solutions and platforms, the establishment of a POSPD database and geographic information system (GIS) analysis.FindingsThe POSPD in Hong Kong are unevenly distributed physically while the information about them is injustice and inadequate. Understanding the existing informational injustice associated with POSPD and revitalizing the stock spaces is timely and vital. Using the user-generated data from volunteers as the information flow, the proposed responsive POSPD platform will provide continuous positive feedback for policy improvement to help realize the collaborative management and sustainable development of the POS.Originality/valueMaking use of information and communication technology (ICT) to extend the “public” to the “internet-based”, the proposed framework regards the exploitation of ICT to enhance information justice as a novel way to revitalize POSPD. It involves collaborative operation among citizen participation and official POS management.

Rationale: Primary adenocarcinoma of the lacrimal gland is rare, and its presentation as corneal perforation is even rarer. Corneal perforation is an ocular emergency that warrants urgent ophthalmic surgery, yet complete staging of lacrimal gland tumor pre-operatively is essential for optimal oncological management. Patient’s concerns: A 57-year-old man presented with left eye pain was found to have left eye proptosis and fleshy tissue mass around the eyeball. Uveal tissue was prolapsing over the perforated keratitis cornea, and the eye was full of discharge. Diagnosis: Bedside ultrasound B-scan confirmed vitreous haze, and emergency contrast computed tomography (CT) revealed soft tissue density mass (>40 mm) molding around the left globe and optic nerve without any rim enhancing abscess. Left exogenous endophthalmitis from exposure keratopathy secondary to proptosis caused by the bulky lacrimal tumor located in the confined orbital cone was diagnosed. Interventions: Emergency enucleation surgery of the left eyeball was done for this painful blind eye to control the infection from spreading. Orbital walls were biopsied intra-operatively, and tumor staging was completed by positron emission tomography- CT scan and magnetic resonance imaging. Without evidence of metastasis, left orbital exenteration was followed by adjuvant orbital chemoradiotherapy for the sake of close proximity of resection margin. Outcomes: Left exenterated orbit was fully epithelialized at around 2 months, and there was no recurrence of the disease up to present at the 1 year follow-up. Lessons: Thorough workup on the staging of the disease to minimize the number of operations for oncological patients is always a top priority, yet it may not always be possible as in our case presenting with corneal perforation.

Personality traits play an important role in pro-environmental behavioral heterogeneity. This study aims to explore the effects of Big Five personality traits on the energy-saving behavior of residents based on the extended theory of planned behavior (TPB). We employ the k-means algorithm to cluster 1119 respondents in Xi'an, China by their personality characteristics into four groups: (1) the positives, (2) the temperates, (3) the conservatives, and (4) the introverts. The research observes significant heterogeneity of energy-saving behavior among the four resident groups. We examine the behavioral pattern of each resident group, and the analysis indicates that TPB attributes bridge personality traits and household energy-saving behaviors. The extended TPB factors explain the best performance on household energy-saving intention and behaviors of the positives. Besides, the results present the different effects of psychological factors on the energy-saving behaviors of different resident groups. The positive and temperate groups’ energy-saving intention is more sensitive to subjective norms, while perceived behavior control plays a more critical role in other groups. This study could broaden the scope of pro-environmental behavior research and advance knowledge by untangling the intertwined relationship between personality traits and household energy-saving behavior. The findings can contribute to occupant typology development, which is important to capture the diverse energy effect of occupant activity in building energy simulation research as well as differential energy-saving intervention setting in residential buildings to achieve sustainable development goals.

The ageing population tends to be seen as a burden of cities’ future development. Thus, the public funds for older residents’ wellbeing are at risk of being cut back under the economic austerity due to the prevalent neoliberalism policy atmosphere. However, some cities set good examples to turn their older citizens into active contributors to sustainable urban development (SUD) by developing age-friendly cities and communities (AFCC). Taking Hong Kong as an example, this study aims to raise a strategy for policymakers, especially at the municipal level, to incorporate the concept of AFCC in SUD. Data were retrieved for our analysis from a published report of the Hong Kong Public Policy Research Fund project. A total of 15 AFCC and SUD policy factors were identified by using factor analysis. The correlations between these policy factors were evaluated and visualised in a synergetic effect network. According to the network, this study indicates that developing the silver hair market can be a suitable entry point to realise SUD by adopting an AFCC development. Isolation prevention, social sustainability and low-energy-consumption development are the supportive policy factors for the silver hair market. Specifically, respect, discrimination prevention, communication and information, age-friendly facilities, environmental safety and public transportation accessibility are five AFCC policy factors incorporated in the policy integration to enhance older residents’ wellbeing further. This study is an innovative attempt to develop a comprehensive model for the synergy between sustainable urban development and an age-friendly city and community using a correlation network. This study also provides a reference for other city governments to respond to population ageing positively.

Transfer of development rights (TDR) programs are introduced as an alternative institutional innovation to the traditional regulatory instruments for land development. They meet the demand for development and conservation while balancing the conflicts between public and private interests with minimal use of public funds. Most TDR literature is about nature conservation and there is little focus on the complicated process and diverse stakeholders’ interests of urban land use in dealing with built heritage conservation. Previous studies show that the success of TDR programs depends on various elements, especially policy design and implementation approaches. The design and implementation of TDR programs involves transaction costs that can reduce the efficiency and effectiveness of these programs. This paper aims at developing a framework for analyzing TDR programs. This proposed framework not only takes transactions costs into account, but also provides a basis for decision makers to decipher the process of informal TDR. Using Hong Kong as a case study, three TDR implementation modes are selected to examine how different informal institutional arrangements have resulted in specific transaction costs in practice and hindered TDR projects. Our findings, which are informed by transactions costs economics, provide practical insights in order to improving the efficiency and effectiveness of TDR programs, particularly in informal contexts.

Context-specific research are necessary to promote public transit by optimizing the built environment in the process of urban renewal. Using data of residential travel survey in Shenzhen, China in 2014, this paper investigated how built environment affected transit travel in urban villages where low-income group resided, and they are all tenants. Structural equations modelling was employed to express the effects of socio-economic, public transit service related and built environment variables on travel mode choice, travel time and distance, with control for residential self-selection. It is found that after considering the self-selection effect, the influence of density and transit availability on travel distance, travel time and transit mode choice in urban villages are still significant. For urban villages, transit availability matters greatest for transit promotion, but the negative effect of density on transit mode choice and none effect of mixed land use are unusual as previous findings. This is partly because of relatively low income, low car ownership, and less elastic travel demand of tenants living in urban villages. Our findings provide some insights into transit-oriented urban renewal that when transforming urban villages, emphasis should be put on enhancement of transit availability, and the mixed land use could be put in the last consideration when there is limited time and funds.

A growing body of research using the direct demand model has explored the impact of the built environment on transit ridership. However, empirical studies identified various significant factors in different cities with different datasets. This study adopts points-of-interest (POIs) data to identify the physical environmental factors affecting metro ridership in Shanghai. Independent variables in terms of the rail transit system, external connectivity, intermodal connection, and land use factors within 286 metro stations' catchment areas were selected. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to group POIs into 6 components for dimensionality reduction. The results from ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis emphasize the dominating role of commercial land use and rail transit system factors, together with bus stops, tourist spots and healthcare factors, positively impact both weekday and weekend metro ridership; however, the effect of job-related land use is significant only on weekdays. Distinctively, the variable of intersection density is not positively associated with ridership as expected, revealing that street network measurements may not explain walking to rail transit in the citywide Shanghai context, so we suggest a new requirement: a multilevel-based walkability index in dense cities. The latter finding also implied that residences in central locations are less reliable than those in suburban locations. Finally, we conclude with strategies to encourage balanced trip demands other than simply increasing ridership, which has potential implications on urban planning and transit-oriented development (TOD) in China.

Purpose Design teams have difficulties in assessing building carbon emissions at an early stage, as most building energy simulation tools require a detailed input of building design for estimation. The purpose of this paper is to develop a user-friendly regression model to estimate carbon emissions of the preliminary design of office buildings in the subtropics by way of example. Five sets of building design parameters, including building configuration, building envelope, design space conditions, building system configuration and occupant behaviour, are considered in this study. Design/methodology/approach Both EnergyPlus and Monte Carlo simulation were used to predict carbon emissions for different combinations of the design parameters. A total of 100,000 simulations were conducted to ensure a full range of simulation results. Based on the simulation results, a regression model was developed to estimate carbon emissions of office buildings based on preliminary design information. Findings The results show that occupant density, annual mean occupancy rate, equipment load, lighting load and chiller coefficient of performance are the top five influential parameters affecting building carbon emissions under the subtropics. Besides, the design parameters of ten office buildings were input into this user-friendly regression model for validation. The results show that the ranking of its simulated carbon emissions for these ten buildings is consistent with the original carbon emissions ranking. Practical implications With the use of this developed regression model, design teams can not only have a simple and quick estimation of carbon emissions based on the building design information at the conceptual stage but also explore design options by understanding the level of reduction in carbon emissions if a certain building design parameter is changed. The study also provides recommendations on building design to reduce carbon emissions of office buildings. Originality/value Limited research has been conducted to date to investigate how the change of building design affects carbon emissions in the subtropics where four distinct seasons lead to significant variations of outdoor temperature and relative humidity. Previous research also did not emphasise on the impact of high-rise office building designs (e.g. small building footprint, high window-to-wall ratio) on carbon emissions. This paper adds value by identifying the influential parameters affecting carbon emissions for a high-rise office building design and allows a handy estimate of building carbon emissions under the subtropical conditions. The same approach may be used for other meteorological conditions.

Statutory land-use planning allocates different uses of land resources. However, local governments may focus on economic development and financial revenue, leading to environmentally unfavourable o...

Highly dense cities' livability has long been debated in the urban planning field, particularly regarding vibrancy, walkability, and day-to-day service access. However, studies on density's effects on the provision of neighborhood community amenities and services are limited. In addition, urban form's effects on community facility distribution patterns under the constraints of pedestrian access to urban road networks remain poorly understood. Hong Kong, with an average population density of 68,500 persons/km2, has one of the world's densest urban environments. This study investigated community facility distribution through a comprehensive network analysis using fine-scale dataset. Results showed that highly dense urban form ensured access to certain facilities and services and that daily service and amenities provision was positively correlated to building density and performance of community spatial characteristics. The findings provide insights for planning and designing to provide better facility services to meet people's daily needs regarding amenities and services and for the configuration of a dense urban form.

As the global call to build sustainable cities becomes louder, the community resilience concept is also fast becoming popular in the global scientific and policy discourse. To put this concept in perspective, a lot of methodologies have been developed in the last two decades. This paper critically reviews 12 selected global community resilience assessment tools using content analysis. The results show that none of the selected tools use big data for their assessments, they mainly rely on literature review, stakeholders’ input, expert opinions and field testing. The results also show that the selected tools are mostly formulated using top-down approaches and only half of them provide action plans after their resilience assessment. Most of the tools also do not account for cross-scale relationships and temporal dynamism. The study concludes that new community resilience assessment tools need to employ iterative processes, encourage participation, and incorporate the use of big data, machine learning and artificial intelligence to take care of spatiotemporal dynamism.