The growing importance of dogs in people’s lives and in high-density urban environments has increased demand for a place where people and their dogs can interact and exercise together. The recent increase in the number of dog parks across the country is evidence of these demands of dog owners and their companions. However, due to the absence of empirical study on dog parks and their attribute of non-market values, the benefits of dog parks are often underestimated and considered less in the decision making process regarding resource allocation. A post-occupancy evaluation at four dog parks was conducted to investigate use patterns of dog parks and user activities, to identify user preferences and the environmental factors influencing activities, to provide insights and guidelines in developing effective dog parks, and to estimate users’ willingness to pay for dog parks using contingent valuation method. A multiple-method approach was used to collect data including site observations and analysis, a questionnaire and behavioral mapping. The results indicated that dog parks received considerable use, served a variety of demographic groups and supported their exercise and social activities. Dog-park users were generally satisfied with dog parks but they expressed various preferences and needs. It is evident that dog parks are not only a place for dogs to exercise but a place for people to exercise, socialize, relax and enjoy greenery just like other parks. Proximity of dog parks was found to be a critical factor in encouraging frequent dog park use and satisfying users’ needs. Over eighty percent of survey respondents expressed that they were willing to pay an annual fee for dog parks, indicating the importance of visiting dog parks as outdoor recreation. Conservative estimate of average willingness to pay was $56.17/ household/ year. Satisfaction with maintenance and facilities, income, education and family size were found to be significantly associated with willingness to pay. These results could assist local governments and park planners in estimating aggregate monetary value of the dog parks and cost-benefit analysis to justify the development and maintenance of dog parks. Design guidelines and recommendations were generated based on the empirical findings for future design of dog parks.

The junior high schools and primary schools which are numerous and located in the equal distribution are the largest public facility lands in Taiwan. Under the circumstances that the urban area not only has high density of population and spends expensive cost but also has not enough public facilities, the campus which has the green land as well as open space is becoming the only chance of the neighborhood accessing to nature. Proper adjustment of campus planning or architectural design of school buildings is to make the best use of the limited resource of public facilities in the city and to bear the duties and responsibilities of improving the community environmental needs. Regarding ¡§Challenge 2008: National Development Program¡ÐThe Community Landscape Construction of the New Hometown¡ÐCommunity Landscape Construction Program,¡¨ we expect to build up a living space of high quality and humanization to make the best of the characteristics of the local nature, history and cultural landscape. We aim to reconstruct urban and rural landscape to push forward the improvement and to stimulate the potentials of the development of the Taiwanese society step by step; and ¡§the commuting networks of community school children¡¨ is the most urgent item to subsidize. In Kaohsiung City, there are already 5 commuting networks of community school children completed at the first phase. This research proceed beneficial evaluation on the commuting networks of Ling-Jou Primary School after it is put in usage to collect the empirical data. Hence, a significant feedback and improvement in this program can be achieved. The researcher selects three dimensions including the dimension of ¡¥functions¡¦, ¡¥psychologies¡¦, and ¡¥policies¡¦ of the commuting networks in the community as the evaluation of effectiveness based on literature review, the researcher also interviews students, inhabitants and teachers to collect the data of their feedback of every specific item including the safety of school trip, the convenience of pick-up students, the facilities of the commuting networks, recreational function, beautiful natural scenery, the levels of satisfaction, the whole environmental image, identification with schools, the creative potential of the public to resolve problems, the experience and ability of participating in public affaires, the buildup of the multiple space aiming to satisfy the human needs, and the effect of publicizing the facilities of the primary schools.¡@ The results of the present study reveal that: (1) The planning and use of the commuting networks in the community which leads to the interaction between school and community is an efficient method to combine school and community so as to help community inhabitants to build up identification and participation with schools. (2) The case of the commuting networks in the community helps the public to perceive the questions, to estimate the reality, to stir up the imagination, to create community features, and to reveal the meaning of community participation. (3) The commuting networks provide the green land, barrier-free pathway so that the inhabitants enjoy doing exercise and taking a walk to achieve the recreational function. The dimensions such as the construction will begin upon the integration of the public ideas can meet the demand of human nature; according to all the interviewees, it is believed that the effect of publicizing the facilities of primary schools provides with a platform for the interaction between school and community, merging the ideas of the inhabitants into the facilities of schools, combine public art to uplift the quality of recreational life of the public, etc. However, the utilization of the inhabitants also increases the burden on the maintenance management of the school. In the other hand, the relevant suggestions to improve the publicizing the facilities of the primary schools as well as urban space planning are provided.

Abstract Police stations are located nationwide, deeply involved with people¡¦s daily life and can be seen everywhere. Whenever people encounter problems, they can easily access to the police stations where the police offer the most prompt services to help solve problems. The scope of police station services often involves urgent matters, and the police are expected to deliver services to the general public to alleviate their anxiety and to provide safety. Hence, the rebuilding of service environment should be appropriately planned to meet these ends. The rebuilding plan begins from external architecture, interior design, to layout should give warmth to people who will have no fear and will not be reluctant to access the police service. To the aspect of improving internal customer-relations, the station should be designed as a comfortable working place to inspire the police officers to have a change of attitude and willingness to render better services for the people. Police administrators should update their knowledge and professionalism when working on a suitable precinct (police) station rebuilding plan. They should also take into consideration police duties, operations, and daily needs. Meanwhile, the public¡¦s needs for space, facility, business-conduct convenience and practicality, reasonable service facility update and upgrade, and warm and friendly environments should also be accommodated in order for them to contact the police and to place trust in them. This research is based on the viewpoints of post-occupancy evaluation, (abbreviated as POE). Focus is placed on the present conditions of Penghu County Police Precinct/Stations after the service environment rebuilding was completed. The study subjects are police officers and the general public. Through analyses of data collected through questionnaire survey and in-depth interviews, the post-occupancy satisfaction level and recognition level are found. Moreover, the open-ended opinions are reviewed for the reference in the future construction and reconstruction of police stations. The study findings show: 1.The satisfaction level of the general public towards police station service environment rebuilding: high satisfaction levels are achieved at the overall environment perceived satisfaction level, technical aspect satisfaction level, functional aspect satisfaction level, and behavior aspect satisfaction level. However, the satisfaction level for case filing through the Internet is the least satisfactory aspect for the public. 2.The satisfaction level of police officers toward police station service environment: the overall environment perceived satisfaction level, technical aspect satisfaction level, functional aspect satisfaction level, and behavior aspect satisfaction level have all achieved high satisfaction levels. 3.Differential comparison between the satisfaction level toward police station service environment rebuilding for the public and the police: in terms of the functional aspect of environment satisfaction level, it is found that the public and the low-rank police officers show significant differences in ¡§convenience of single window application processing.¡¨ In terms of the behavioral aspect of environment satisfaction level, it is found that the people and the low-rank police officers show significant differences in ¡§the recreational furniture laid out in the police station help bring the general public closer.¡¨ 4.The awareness level of the public towards police station service environment rebuilding, on average, is 3.83: It shows that the general public regards the overall environment highly; thus, environment-rebuilding works in this item are supported. 5.The awareness level of police officers toward police station service environment rebuilding, on average, is 3.91: It shows that the police officers have a high recognition level for the overall rebuilding. This study sums up the thorough analysis and conclusions, and proposes valuable policy recommendations for Penghu County Police Bureau in its efforts to promote service environment rebuilding, suggestions are also made for future research.

O uso do gesso acartonado é uma das estratégias para a racionalização do sistema de vedação vertical, porém ainda é usado em pequena escala no Brasil, se comparado com outros países como os Estados Unidos e a Austrália. Para que cada vez mais este sistema seja implantado é necessário saber como o usuário direto final o avalia. Sendo assim, o presente trabalho visa avaliar o nível de satisfação destes usuários em unidades comercias e institucionais que utilizam este sistema na cidade de Passo Fundo. Isso será realizado através do uso de métodos e técnicas de avaliação pós-ocupação. Deste modo, apresentam-se e discutem-se os problemas e qualidades apontadas pelos clientes em relação ao gesso acartonado, analisa-se o conhecimento dos consumidores sobre o produto e relata-se o que deve ser superado em termos de conhecimento e informação por parte dos agentes envolvidos: revendedores de chapa de gesso, construtoras e empresas de projeto, para total atendimento às satisfações dos usuários. Ao final, constata-se que o sistema de vedação vertical em gesso acartonado é bem aceito pelos usuários das tipologias analisadas na cidade de Passo Fundo. Porém, algumas adaptações e melhorias devem ser realizadas. Estas devem começar pelos projetos, especificações e detalhamentos das paredes, treinamento e capacitação de mão-de-obra especializada e desenvolvimento de meios de comunicação com os usuários de maneira a sanar suas dúvidas e apresentar claramente as vantagens, características e limitações do sistema. / The use of gypsum plasterboard is one of the strategies to partition rationalization but it is still used in small scale in Brasil if compared with other countries, like United States and Australia. For a larger implantation of this system is necessary to know how the final direct user evaluates it. The present work aims to evaluate the satisfaction level of users in commercial and institutional units that use this system in Passo Fundo city. It will be performed through post-occupancy evaluation technics. The research presents and discusses the problems and qualities pointed out by the clients concerning gypsum plasterboard walls. We analyze the consumers knowledge on the product and relate what must be overcome in terms of knowledge and information by the involved agents: gypsum plasterboard resellers, building and project companies for total assistance to users satisfactions. Finally, the research verifies that gypum plasterboard wall is well accepted in Passo Fundo city. However, some adaptation and improvement must be performed. These must begin by projects, walls specification and detailment, especialized workers training and qualifying and development of communication ways with users, healing their doubts and presenting system advantages, characteristics and limits.

abstract: A post occupancy evaluation (POE) was conducted at the Ngeruka Health Center (NHC) in the Bugesera District of Rwanda. The POE was limited to the education spaces within the health center, its participants, and staff. A POE is a combination of methods both quantitative and qualitative to determine user satisfaction and whether the design intent of the built environment was met. In rural Rwanda where healthcare facilities are scarce and people become seriously ill from preventable diseases, help is needed. The smallest injuries become life threatening. Healthcare facilities and providers must develop approaches that stop these minor illnesses and diseases from costing further problems. The healthcare facility is a healing environment. Healing environments nurture health and provide a sense of safety and security. The Ngeruka facility has incorporated education spaces within their facility to teach the community ways to prevent minor health problems from becoming major ones. The research that was conducted at this healthcare facility sought to answer the main questions: Does the built environment of the NHC contribute to healing by engaging education program attendees to learn about preventing illness and disease and other health promotion strategies? In addition, can you measure healing effects of the built environment? The research took measurements of the built environment and combined them with user satisfaction questionnaires. Site observations and a participant engagement questionnaire were used to determine the amount of engagement the participants put forth into the education programs within the designated design space. Measuring engagement is a tool schools use to find out if their facilities are producing their intended results. This same thought process was incorporated into this research. The participants did prove to be engaged, but it is not definitive that the built environment was responsible. It was a combination of many factors. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Design 2015

Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-14T12:09:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 3825029 bytes, checksum: a2215a7a4b8e11ccffe082d9e4276889 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-09-27 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The right to housing is not restricted to possession of a dwelling unit, it includes the right to quality of life through access to leisure and culture, urban infrastructure, goods and services, security, health, education and work. In this context, the neighborhood Gervasio Mayan, located in the southwest of the city of Joao Pessoa in Paraiba, was chosen as an object of study by entering into the government program to eradicate the country's housing deficit. The set houses low-income families enrolled in the program of assistance to housing the City of João Pessoa. The work consists in evaluating post-occupancy (APO Avaliação Pós-Ocupação) of that set, aiming to characterize this population access to leisure and culture, urban infrastructure, goods and services, security, health, education and work, through desk research, site visits and questionnaires. The questionnaires were administered on site, with users of 100 housing units, randomly distributed throughout the neighborhood. The main results are: a) high pass on the benefit to others homes, b) low security - perceived by the predominance of high walls and installation of guardrails d) reduced mobility due to low supply of public transport and the cost of tickets, variable that affects access to leisure and culture (nonexistent on site), as well as labor, goods and services, e) poor lighting and lack of mail service. / O direito à moradia não se restringe apenas à posse de uma unidade habitacional, compreende também o direito à qualidade de vida, traduzida no acesso ao lazer e à cultura, à infraestrutura urbana, aos bens e serviços, à segurança, à saúde, à educação e ao trabalho. Nesse contexto, o Conjunto Gervásio Maia, localizado na região sudoeste do município de João Pessoa na Paraíba, foi escolhido como objeto de estudo por inserir-se no programa governamental de erradicação do déficit habitacional do país. O conjunto abriga famílias de baixa renda cadastradas no programa de auxilio à moradia da Prefeitura Municipal de João Pessoa. O trabalho consiste na avaliação pós-ocupação (APO) do referido conjunto, tendo como objetivo caracterizar o acesso dessa população ao lazer e à cultura, à infraestrutura urbana, aos bens e serviços, à segurança, à saúde, à educação e ao trabalho, através de pesquisa documental, visitas in loco e aplicação de questionários. Os questionários foram aplicados no local, com usuários de 100 unidades habitacionais, distribuídas aleatoriamente em todo o conjunto. A pesquisa documental e as visitas in loco foram aplicadas a todo o conjunto. Como principais resultados destacam-se: a) elevado repasse de casas dos beneficiados a terceiros; b) baixa segurança - percebida através da predominância de muros altos e colocação de grades de proteção; d) mobilidade reduzida devida à baixa oferta de transporte público e ao custo das passagens, variável que afeta o acesso ao lazer e à cultura (inexistente no local), bem como ao trabalho, bens e serviços; e) iluminação pública precária e inexistência do serviço de correio.

O uso do gesso acartonado é uma das estratégias para a racionalização do sistema de vedação vertical, porém ainda é usado em pequena escala no Brasil, se comparado com outros países como os Estados Unidos e a Austrália. Para que cada vez mais este sistema seja implantado é necessário saber como o usuário direto final o avalia. Sendo assim, o presente trabalho visa avaliar o nível de satisfação destes usuários em unidades comercias e institucionais que utilizam este sistema na cidade de Passo Fundo. Isso será realizado através do uso de métodos e técnicas de avaliação pós-ocupação. Deste modo, apresentam-se e discutem-se os problemas e qualidades apontadas pelos clientes em relação ao gesso acartonado, analisa-se o conhecimento dos consumidores sobre o produto e relata-se o que deve ser superado em termos de conhecimento e informação por parte dos agentes envolvidos: revendedores de chapa de gesso, construtoras e empresas de projeto, para total atendimento às satisfações dos usuários. Ao final, constata-se que o sistema de vedação vertical em gesso acartonado é bem aceito pelos usuários das tipologias analisadas na cidade de Passo Fundo. Porém, algumas adaptações e melhorias devem ser realizadas. Estas devem começar pelos projetos, especificações e detalhamentos das paredes, treinamento e capacitação de mão-de-obra especializada e desenvolvimento de meios de comunicação com os usuários de maneira a sanar suas dúvidas e apresentar claramente as vantagens, características e limitações do sistema. / The use of gypsum plasterboard is one of the strategies to partition rationalization but it is still used in small scale in Brasil if compared with other countries, like United States and Australia. For a larger implantation of this system is necessary to know how the final direct user evaluates it. The present work aims to evaluate the satisfaction level of users in commercial and institutional units that use this system in Passo Fundo city. It will be performed through post-occupancy evaluation technics. The research presents and discusses the problems and qualities pointed out by the clients concerning gypsum plasterboard walls. We analyze the consumers knowledge on the product and relate what must be overcome in terms of knowledge and information by the involved agents: gypsum plasterboard resellers, building and project companies for total assistance to users satisfactions. Finally, the research verifies that gypum plasterboard wall is well accepted in Passo Fundo city. However, some adaptation and improvement must be performed. These must begin by projects, walls specification and detailment, especialized workers training and qualifying and development of communication ways with users, healing their doubts and presenting system advantages, characteristics and limits.

Nas últimas décadas, a qualidade dos empreendimentos de habitação de interesse social (EHIS) vem sendo muito discutida por pesquisadores brasileiros em virtude dos diversos problemas de ordem técnica e funcional relatados por seus moradores após a ocupação. Para identificar esses problemas e suas causas, utiliza-se de processos de avaliação pós-ocupação (APO), que têm mostrado, ao longo dos anos, a insatisfação dos moradores com diversos aspectos das construções e a consequente realização de modificações na casa, muitas vezes sem qualidade, comprometendo ainda mais o seu estado. Visando à melhoria da qualidade dessas modificações, é possível adotar alguns procedimentos. Entretanto, ainda há um grande desconhecimento dos profissionais em relação ao que ocorre no ambiente construído no decorrer do uso, sendo ainda necessário aprofundar os estudos nesse sentido. Assim, a pesquisa aqui apresentada tem como objetivo identificar as principais modificações realizadas pelos moradores de empreendimentos horizontais de HIS, suas causas e possíveis mecanismos para diminuir, controlar ou planejar essas alterações. Para o desenvolvimento do estudo proposto, foram realizadas pesquisas bibliográficas e avaliações pós-ocupação em três empreendimentos de HIS. Assim, analisando as experiências passadas e presentes, foi possível gerar conteúdo suficiente para embasar propostas de melhorias nos programas habitacionais voltados a HIS. / In recent decades, the quality of the housing projects of social interest has been largely discussed by Brazilian researchers due to several technical and functional matters reported by dwellers after occupation. To identify these problems and their causes, post-occupancy evaluation processes are applied, which have shown over the years, a lot of dissatisfaction with various aspects of constructions, resulting in house modifications, oftenly without quality, further compromising their state. In order to improve the quality of these changes, it is possible to adopt some procedures. However, there is still a great lack of knowhow from professionals about what happens in the built environment during its use, them, being still necessary to sharpen the studies in this direction. Thus, the post-occupancy evaluation research presented here aims at identifying the main changes made by the dwellers of horizontal housing enterprises, its causes and possible mechanisms to reduce, control or plan these changes. For the development of the proposed study literature research was conducted and post-occupancy evaluations was made in three housing enterprises. Thus, making an analysis of past and present experiences, it was possible to generate enough content to support proposals for improvements in housing programs.

O presente trabalho tem por objetivo verificar a percepção dos funcionários sobre a influência do ambiente de trabalho na produtividade e qualidade do trabalho em um escritório do setor público. No atual contexto econômico, o investimento no ambiente de trabalho como ferramenta para otimização da performance organizacional não é mais um diferencial competitivo, mas uma necessidade. No entanto, mesmo com o desenvolvimento intenso de pesquisas no tema por parte do setor privado, o setor público ainda vive sob premissas que minimizam a importância das condições espaciais nos resultados da gestão, ocasionando poucos estudos. Frente a este cenário, a atual pesquisa se desenvolverá nesta lacuna. O método da pesquisa se classifica como uma abordagem qualitativa de natureza aplicada com fins descritivos. O procedimento técnico foi pautado no método de Avaliação Pós-Ocupação pelo uso de um checklist pré-estruturado, walkthrough exploratório, entrevistas com personagens-chave, e questionário com os usuários do ambiente para coleta de dados. Os dados foram analisados com a aplicação de estatística descritiva e análise de conteúdo. A análise dos dados permitiu concluir que os usuários do ambiente de trabalho do estudo de caso acreditam que o ambiente influencia positivamente na produtividade. Também foi possível levantar fatores de sucesso e falhas do ambiente de trabalho. Os principais fatores de sucesso foram fluxos, distâncias, estações de trabalho, espaços de convivência e iluminação. As principais falhas encontram-se na segurança contra incêndio, acessibilidade, falta de espaço e desorganização do layout e armazenamento, falta de padronização, privacidade, ruído, ventilação e controle ambiental. A pesquisa vê este diagnóstico como recomendação de um projeto de mudança das falhas, valorizando os fatores de sucesso, para a otimização do ambiente de trabalho do estudo de caso. Acredita-se ter aprofundado o conhecimento sobre o tema no setor público, buscando fomentar pesquisas futuras. / The present work aims to verify the perception of employees about the influence of work environment on productivity and quality of work in a public sector office. In the current economic context, investment in the work environment as a tool for optimizing organizational performance is no longer a competitive differential, but a necessity. However, even with the increasing development of private sector research in the theme, the public sector still lives under premises that minimize the importance of spatial conditions in the management results, leading to few studies. Against this background, the current research develops in this gap. The research method is classified as a qualitative approach of applied nature for descriptive purposes. The technical procedure was based on the Post-Occupancy Assessment method using a pre-structured checklist, exploratory walkthrough, interviews with key characters, and a questionnaire with the users of the environment for data collection. The data were analyzed with the application of descriptive statistics and content analysis. Data analysis allowed to conclude that users of the case study work environment believe that the environment positively influences productivity. It was also possible to raise success factors and failures of the work environment. The main success factors were flows, distances, workstations, social living spaces and illumination. The main flaws are in fire safety, accessibility, lack of space and disorganization of layout and storage, lack of standardization, privacy, noise, ventilation and environmental control. The research sees this diagnosis as a recommendation for a project of change of the failures, valuing the success factors, for the optimization of the working environment of the case study. It is believed to have deepened the knowledge about the subject in the public sector, seeking to foster future research.

O uso do gesso acartonado é uma das estratégias para a racionalização do sistema de vedação vertical, porém ainda é usado em pequena escala no Brasil, se comparado com outros países como os Estados Unidos e a Austrália. Para que cada vez mais este sistema seja implantado é necessário saber como o usuário direto final o avalia. Sendo assim, o presente trabalho visa avaliar o nível de satisfação destes usuários em unidades comercias e institucionais que utilizam este sistema na cidade de Passo Fundo. Isso será realizado através do uso de métodos e técnicas de avaliação pós-ocupação. Deste modo, apresentam-se e discutem-se os problemas e qualidades apontadas pelos clientes em relação ao gesso acartonado, analisa-se o conhecimento dos consumidores sobre o produto e relata-se o que deve ser superado em termos de conhecimento e informação por parte dos agentes envolvidos: revendedores de chapa de gesso, construtoras e empresas de projeto, para total atendimento às satisfações dos usuários. Ao final, constata-se que o sistema de vedação vertical em gesso acartonado é bem aceito pelos usuários das tipologias analisadas na cidade de Passo Fundo. Porém, algumas adaptações e melhorias devem ser realizadas. Estas devem começar pelos projetos, especificações e detalhamentos das paredes, treinamento e capacitação de mão-de-obra especializada e desenvolvimento de meios de comunicação com os usuários de maneira a sanar suas dúvidas e apresentar claramente as vantagens, características e limitações do sistema. / The use of gypsum plasterboard is one of the strategies to partition rationalization but it is still used in small scale in Brasil if compared with other countries, like United States and Australia. For a larger implantation of this system is necessary to know how the final direct user evaluates it. The present work aims to evaluate the satisfaction level of users in commercial and institutional units that use this system in Passo Fundo city. It will be performed through post-occupancy evaluation technics. The research presents and discusses the problems and qualities pointed out by the clients concerning gypsum plasterboard walls. We analyze the consumers knowledge on the product and relate what must be overcome in terms of knowledge and information by the involved agents: gypsum plasterboard resellers, building and project companies for total assistance to users satisfactions. Finally, the research verifies that gypum plasterboard wall is well accepted in Passo Fundo city. However, some adaptation and improvement must be performed. These must begin by projects, walls specification and detailment, especialized workers training and qualifying and development of communication ways with users, healing their doubts and presenting system advantages, characteristics and limits.