Nakhara : Journal of Environmental Design and Planning

Perceptions of Landscape Quality in the Historic City Center of Konya, Türkiye: A Multi-Site User Satisfaction Analysis

Ahmet Akay — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0700

This study aims to assess user satisfaction regarding the landscape design of public spaces in historic city centers. The design of these spaces, particularly within the context of historic city centers, plays a pivotal role in preserving local identity and fostering harmonious living environments. The existing literature generally focuses on single areas or broader concepts, whereas this research stands out with its comparative examination of four different public spaces in the historic city center of Konya, filling a critical gap in user-oriented evaluations of landscape design in such environments. To provide a comprehensive user experience analysis, the study systematically determined user perceptions and satisfaction levels in terms of perceptual, visual, and functional criteria related to landscape design through a survey administered to 400 participants. Survey data were analyzed using statistical tests to examine demographic and usage impacts. The findings clearly reveal users' assessments of landscape design in these areas, highlighting specific features that need improvement. Users expressed high satisfaction with plants' added visual appeal but voiced dissatisfaction with traffic density, noise pollution, pedestrian road occupation, and accessibility issues (e.g., disabled ramps, tactile surfaces). Satisfaction levels towards landscape design varied significantly due to age, employment status, and frequency/duration of usage. The study, based on user feedback, identifies the strengths and weaknesses of the landscape design in these areas and provides recommendations and practical insights for improving the design and management of these urban landscapes. This approach offers a valuable practical application to the existing literature from a user-oriented perspective.

Prescriptive-Based Building Regulations: Challenges and Recommendations for Modernization in the Case of Bangkok

Mon, 22 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0700

Prescriptive building codes have long structured urban development by offering rule-based standards that ensure safety, uniformity, and ease of enforcement. Despite widespread reliance on prescriptive codes in developing countries, there is limited empirical evidence guiding their modernization or hybridization. This research investigates the challenges of prescriptive-based building regulations in the context of Bangkok, Thailand, and explores pathways toward more effective and modernized regulatory frameworks. Through regulatory review, focus groups, and public discussions with professionals, government officials, and private sectors, the study identifies four core problems: complexity, inconsistency, redundancy, and obsolescence. It then proposes a hybrid approach that improves existing prescriptive systems while integrating performance-based elements to enhance regulatory flexibility, clarity, and efficiency. Key recommendations include simplifying legal structures, ensuring regular updates, resolving overlapping provisions, and introducing visual legal tools and digital platforms. The findings contribute to both academic and practical discussions, serving as a foundational reference for regulatory reform, particularly in developing urban contexts where institutional capacities and resources may vary. Future studies are recommended to test proposed reforms empirically and explore their applicability in diverse legal and administrative settings.

Urban Land Expansion and Economic Development in Thailand from 2000 to 2020

Nutchapon Prasertsoong, Nattapong Puttanapong — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0700

This study utilizes information gathered from satellites and economic sources spanning two decades (2000–2020) to estimate the effect of income shocks from industrialization on urbanization at the provincial level in Thailand. To measure urbanization, the study relies on the observable increase in urban land area as seen from space, serving as a proxy for the country's urban growth. Four regression models—fixed-effects, spatial autoregressive, spatial error model, and dynamic panel—are employed to assess the short-term impact of income shock on urbanization. The results suggested that increased productivity from industrialization positively affected urbanization in Thailand. This study also revealed that natural factors such as water accessibility and rainfall played a role in driving city expansion. A higher proportion of educated workers was found to strongly influence urban growth. Moreover, the expansion of urban land in one province spurred land growth in neighboring areas, demonstrating the spatial spillover effect of urban land expansion throughout Thailand.

Policy Mapping for Direction on Green Vertical Housing Development in Indonesia

Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0700

Indonesia’s rapid urbanization has accelerated the construction of vertical public housing as a state-led response to growing urban housing needs. Compared to the general housing sector, these projects hold strategic importance due to their large scale, policy alignment, and reliance on public financing. However, this expansion intensifies resource consumption and environmental degradation, particularly in the absence of mandatory green building (GB) standards. Although GB initiatives have been introduced across multiple sectors, their fragmented implementation and weak enforcement diminish their overall effectiveness. Vertical public housing, therefore, presents a key opportunity for policy innovation, where governmental authority can effectively institutionalize sustainability practices. This study aims to map existing GB-related regulations and develop strategic policy directions for sustainable vertical housing in Indonesia. The research adopts a four-stage framework: (1) a systematic review of 50 Scopus-indexed articles (1985–2023) to identify key aspects of GB policy, (2) regulatory mapping of 36 official documents analyzed chronologically to capture policy evolution and thematic coverage, (3) a comparative policy review involving six countries to extract relevant lessons, and (4) synthesis of results into actionable policy directions and strategies tailored to Indonesia’s vertical housing context. Findings highlight four priorities: enhancing stakeholder engagement and awareness; integrating technical standards and performance assessments; enforcing GB compliance for buildings over 5,000 square meters, and establishing financial and non-financial incentives. The resulting framework promotes stronger coordination, regulatory clarity, and practical enforcement. Ultimately, this study contributes to advancing coherent, context-specific green policies that support Indonesia’s transition toward sustainable and resilient urban housing.

Neighborhood Connectedness through Physical-Spatial Dimensions: A Case Study of Communities Near Eastern Industrial Estates in Thailand

Tipsuda Janjamlah, Peeradorn Kaewlai — Tue, 21 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0700

Neighborhood connectedness is a key dimension of community well-being and resilience, yet prior research has focused largely on social ties while under examining the role of physical–spatial environments. Drawing on place attachment theory, this study investigates how spatial features shape neighborhood connectedness in the context of urban transformation near a major industrial estate in eastern Thailand. Data were collected from 411 residents across four neighborhoods, categorized as long-established “old” communities and recently developed “new” ones. A second-order confirmatory factor analysis was employed to develop and validate a multidimensional model of connectedness, comprising proximal facilities, pedestrian friendliness, vibrancy, pleasantness, road network, and crime and safety. Results show that the overall model is robust across both old and new neighborhoods, indicating that fundamental links between physical environments and place bonding persist despite differences in settlement history and morphology. However, pedestrian infrastructure demonstrated a context-sensitive role: In new, high-density neighborhoods, walkability was more critical for fostering connectedness than in older neighborhoods with long-standing social ties. These findings advance theoretical understanding by positioning physical–spatial attributes as integral to place attachment while demonstrating their context-dependent effects. The validated model underscores how planning and design practices actively shape neighborhood connectedness, provides a transferable framework for comparative research, and offers practical guidance for planners and designers seeking to foster resilient, connected communities through context-sensitive spatial interventions.

Modeling Hydrological Impacts of Land- Use Change in the Sam Ngao Watershed Using SWAT and CA-Markov

Banchongsak Faksomboon, Nares Khamcharoen, Thipphaphone Keoviyavong — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0700

This study investigates the hydrological consequences of Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) transformations within the Sam Ngao Watershed (SNgW) from 2000 to 2020. Utilizing the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), the research simulates watershed hydrological responses to observed LULC dynamics. To forecast future hydrological conditions, LULC scenarios for 2040 and 2060 were generated using a hybrid Cellular Automata-Markov Chain (CA-Markov) modeling approach. A hybrid classification methodology enhanced the accuracy of LULC mapping from Landsat imagery, integrating multiple classification techniques. Results reveal that LULC alterations between 2000 and 2020 significantly influenced the watershed’s hydrological regime, including declines in dry season flow (7.36%), groundwater discharge (25.43%), and evapotranspiration rates (7.63%), and increases in average annual streamflow (9.85%), wet season streamflow (12.85%), and surface runoff (33.21%). These shifts are primarily attributed to agricultural expansion and deforestation. Projected LULC changes for 2040–2060 indicate a potential reversal in trends, with increases in dry season flow, groundwater recharge, and evapotranspiration, accompanied by decreases in annual and wet season streamflow as well as surface runoff. Hydrological impacts were notably heterogeneous across sub-watersheds, reflecting the spatially uneven distribution of LULC changes. These findings offer valuable insights for decision-makers, water resource managers, and local stakeholders toward creating adaptive strategies for sustainable water resource management in the SNgW and analogous catchments. The study supports international efforts aligned with Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) to secure universal access to clean water and sanitation through sustainable management, and with SDG 11 to create sustainable cities and communities through resilient infrastructure, inclusive urban planning, and climate-adaptive water management systems. The outcomes also provide a robust scientific foundation for researchers and policy developers engaged in hydrology, watershed management, and national land use planning frameworks.