Recent studies on light shelves found that building energy efficiency could be maximized by applying photovoltaic (PV) modules to light shelf reflectors. Although PV modules generate a substantial amount of heat and change the consumption of indoor heating and cooling energy, performance evaluations carried out thus far have not considered these factors. This study validated the effectiveness of PV module light shelves and determined optimal specifications while considering heating and cooling energy savings. A full-scale testbed was built to evaluate performance according to light shelf variables. The uniformity ratio was found to improve according to the light shelf angle value and decreased as the PV module installation area increased. It was determined that PV modules should be considered in the design of light shelves as their daylighting and concentration efficiency change according to their angles. PV modules installed on light shelves were also found to change the indoor cooling and heating environment; the degree of such change increased as the area of the PV module increased. Lastly, light shelf specifications for reducing building energy, including heating and cooling energy, were not found to apply to PV modules since PV modules on light shelf reflectors increase building energy consumption.

While urban accessibility of museums plays a crucial role in the growth of a cultural city, in reality, an uneven distribution of museums exists in cities. In particular, museums are concentrated in certain regions or located in a place that is different from the cognitive experience of local residents. To solve this issue, this study quantified the urban space of Seoul, which has entered into the status of a cultural city since the 1990s, as its target city by using space syntax. Further, a suitability analysis was conducted by extracting the museums’ topological accessibility in the city structure as well as the accessibility by the travel angle and limit distance setting. The results showed that the physical locations of museums considering the minimum walking distance set in this study were somewhat separated or isolated from primary spaces where people travel. This indicates that determining museum locations by referring to the major travel routes throughout the city is a significant basis for securing physical accessibility. This study is meaningful as it establishes reference materials for determining museum locations in Seoul and will help form physical clusters of museums adjacent to each other.

We investigated the relationship between urban accessibility of museums in the urban spaces of Tokyo and Seoul within limited travel distances. Similarities and differences were identified in the museum accessibility between the two cities. The urban accessibility of museums was set as the dependent variable, calculated via space syntax. For the spatial accessibility of museums, five walking ranges (1000–2000 m) were set as independent variables, with a distance of 250 m as the basic unit. Data normality and independence of the derived data were checked, and polynomial curve fitting was performed to interpret the accessibility of museums in each city. A comparative analysis was conducted on museum accessibility. The results show areas with a high concentration of museums in Tokyo and Seoul partially deviated from the center of the urban hierarchy. The urban and spatial accessibilities of museums in both cities quantitatively correlated with limited travel distances. Museum visitors in Tokyo were more likely to have relatively free-flowing routes in the city. The museums in Seoul had a lower overall accessibility than those in Tokyo, and travel patterns and routes to these museums were likely to be restricted when located in urban areas and consequently resembled a forced movement pattern.

In the past, the utilization rate of public libraries in Seoul could be estimated based on their accessibility. However, several issues emerge if we apply this correlation to the present day. Therefore, we re-examined the causal relationship between accessibility and the utilization rate of public libraries to provide directions for improving the use of public libraries in densely populated cities with growing cultural demand. After investigating the utilization rate of public libraries in Seoul from 2015 to 2019, the degree of utilization activation (DUA) was set as the dependent variable, and the integration of public libraries (derived by the quantification of urban space with space syntax) was set as the independent variable. A hypothesis was established to examine the causal relationship using statistical techniques. According to the results, the derived index values had independence and normality, but the accessibility index of public libraries did not exhibit a causal relationship with DUA. It was verified that the causal relationship recognized in the past (where accessibility was the sole predictor of utilization rate) cannot be applied to public libraries in the present day. Modern factors affecting DUA may involve either user motivation or the recent developments in public libraries compared to the past.

This study examined the relationship between urban spatial hierarchy and crime rates in Busan using space syntax. This research study investigated the correlation between crime frequency and Busan’s urban space structure. The findings are as follows. Crime concentrated in areas near downtown Busan. High-control and globally integrated areas showed a strong link between city center crimes and spatial usage patterns and pedestrian routes. A weak positive correlation was found between Busan’s urban spatial hierarchy and crime frequency, indicating that urban spatial hierarchy influences crime patterns. However, the regression model’s independent variables had low explanatory power for the dependent variable, suggesting external factors influence crime occurrence beyond urban spatial hierarchy. This study provides an empirical analysis of the relationship between crime incidence and urban spatial structure in Busan, serving as essential data for future crime prevention policies.

The role of senior citizen centers is becoming more important, with a greater emphasis placed on ensuring that these establishments facilitate leisure and communication for older adults. These developments are taking place as population aging has now become an irreversible global trend. However, there is still a lack of systematic research on predicting the distribution density of senior citizen centers based on physical factors in urban planning. Therefore, this study set each administrative district in Busan as a unit and investigated physical factors affecting the distribution density of senior citizen centers around small apartment complexes to validate their effectiveness. First, the spatial hierarchy of each administrative district in Busan was examined. The city was divided into administrative districts while focusing on the distribution density of senior citizen centers (the dependent variable) around small apartment complexes where older adults live (within a 500 m radius). The spatial accessibility of senior citizen centers and the number of apartments in each administrative district were set as independent variables. This selection was made to verify the effectiveness of the physical factors by conducting an independent sample t-test, normality test, Friedman test, and two-way ANOVA. The chief findings of this study are as follows. (1) The spatial awareness of each administrative district was low, and there were large disparities in the land development density relative to the spatial scale of the administrative districts. (2) Regarding the physical factors affecting the distribution density of senior citizen centers, the spatial accessibility of senior residences was more significant than the number of small apartment complexes nearby. (3) Personal and social factors may have indirectly influenced the distribution density of senior citizen centers more than physical factors, depending on the type of house in which the older adults live. The findings will provide a theoretical basis for determining the location and distribution density of senior citizen centers in urban planning considering physical factors, as well as serve as a reference for public policy decisions related to the allocation of such centers in the future.