ABSTRACT
Recent decades have seen the emergence of hybrid models of living and working associated typologies. These developments have been analysed from the perspective of different disciplines, each with their own interpre-tation of this phenomenon. Planning and architecture have addressed hybridization as a specific form of inter-action between spatio-functional features (such as mixed use, multi-functionality and flexibility) and social features (such as formal and informal interactions and the spontaneous appropriation of spaces) or have sometimes simply focused on the spatio-functional dimension in urban spaces. Studies from other disciplines (e. g. mobility networks, transportation, sociology and information technology) have shown that hybrid spaces cannot exist without access to digitalization technologies. Such technologies are accelerating hybridization processes. This study examines the complex and layered phenomenon of hybridization as a possible combination of (or interaction between) spatio-functional, social and digital features within the planning debate and related fields. Most of the case studies explored by scholars so far have focused on interactions occurring between residential, social and recreational functions, but working functions are playing an increasingly important role. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the development of new forms of hybridity in cities. As a consequence, the rising use of hybrid (on-site and on-line) working practices, planners, policy makers and stakeholders, as well as scholars, have increasingly discussed the concept of hybridization. In this context, various hybrid typologies of urban spaces have materialized in forms such as new working spaces (NWS) which include co-working spaces, incubators, as well as some cafe ' s and multi-functional public libraries, which have recently provided working spaces. This paper focuses on the evolving concept of hybridity from the planning perspective. Based on five hybrid NWS including their surrounding neighbourhoods in Oslo, it provides empirical evidence for an understanding of the phenomenon that may support the development of hybrid spaces and buildings and develops suggestions for planning strategies.
ABSTRACT
The importance of indoor air quality (IAQ) to reduce infectious disease transmission has become clear during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to SARS-CoV-2, other diseases, including RSV and influenza, are spread by airborne transmission, and often indoors-where most people spend over 90% of their lives. Given the importance of indoor environments in the spread of infectious disease, ventilation and filtration to improve IAQ should play a major role in preparing for a global catastrophic biological risk event (GCBR). This study involves performing a review of peer-reviewed literature and reports about improving indoor air quality in public spaces and interviewing technical experts in the fields of indoor air, building ownership, IAQ policy, and disease transmission control. The goal of the study is to identify and develop near and long-term policy actions for improving IAQ aimed to reduce GCBRs and other infectious diseases at various levels, including local and national. © 2022 17th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate, INDOOR AIR 2022. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
This chapter brings attention to the ways in which street and market vendors were racialized and targeted by authorities and police during and after the COVID-19 quarantine in Quito, Ecuador. This took place as vendors insisted on occupying streets and public spaces to find a livelihood amidst quarantine prohibitions and declining economic conditions. This study uses social media analysis and interviews to identify how and why authorities, the media, and a section of the population understood vendor indiscipline as the result of class and cultural difference while obscuring colonial racial logics and structural inequality. The study data show that authorities and the public identify vendors as less educated, less cultured, less civilized, and as more Indigenous. Simultaneously, racist comments used to describe vendors included "angos, " a Kichwa word that means resilience and flexibility. In the context of the COVID-19 quarantine, this term was used to describe bodies inherently more resistant to COVID-19, and also as bodies more likely to spread it. This study argues that angos and other terms discussed respond to colonial racial logics that date back to the nineteenth-century, linking race, vulnerability, and hygiene. Thus racialized bodies are seen as out of place and as contaminating public spaces. Such understandings are deeply engrained in people's consciousness, not only justifying the use of force against street and market vendors, but also denying the double vulnerability vendors face on a daily basis. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.
ABSTRACT
Ventilation performance plays a significant role in distributing contaminants and airborne infections indoors. Thus, poorly ventilated public spaces may be at high risk due to the presence of both infectious and susceptible people. Adapting HVAC ventilation systems to mitigate virus transmission requires considering ventilation rate, airflow patterns, air balancing, occupancy, and feature placement. The study aims to identify poorly ventilated spaces where airborne transmission of pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2 could be critical. This study is focused on evaluating the ventilation performance of the building stock and the safety of using the facilities based on measured indoor CO2. The results revealed the spaces with the potential risk of indoor airborne transmission of COVID-19. The study proposes recommendations for utilising air ventilation systems in different use cases. © 2022 17th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate, INDOOR AIR 2022. All rights reserved.