The purpose of this study was to investigate the natural ventilation potential in an apartment unit in a high-rise building. A corner unit of a two-bedroom apartment was selected for this study, where single-sided and cross ventilation occurred in the unit. This study employed a CFD simulation to model the indoor airflow of an apartment unit in West Jakarta. The units were modelled and simulated using CFD with a RANS k-ε turbulence model. The results were validated with the readings from the field measurements that had been conducted. Based on CFD results, the window position influences indoor airflow. In the case of cross ventilation, a windward opening is more beneficial, while in single-sided ventilation, a leeward opening creates more indoor airflow. Therefore, it is recommended that the characteristic of window design be considered in the early design stage not only to improve indoor air quality but also to maintain privacy and safety measures.

There has been a growing awareness to include passive design concepts in buildings as a design strategy for achieving energy efficiency and optimum indoor thermal comfort in workspaces as well. The challenging task for the building designers in the hot-humid tropics is the provision of indoor environmental thermal comfort for the occupants of the building while controlling energy use for the office space. This study has been conducted to investigate the post occupancy evaluation of occupants’ satisfaction in the working-spaces of two energy-efficient office buildings in a tropical country viz., Malaysia. Two office buildings, which have been classified as energy efficient buildings, in Malaysia were selected for the case study. One of them is a Low Energy Office (LEO) building, designed for low energy consumption and the second one is a Zero Energy Office (ZEO) building which was designed for demonstration of renewable energy applications. From the research it is seen that the thermal comfort parameters lie within the recommended comfort zone of Malaysian standards with the exception of air movement in the workspace of both buildings. The results also show that the occupants were satisfied with their work-spaces, with “slightly greater satisfaction” in the LEO building than in the ZEO building.

Traditional villages are the convergence points for rural tourism and cultural heritage, with their uniqueness deriving from their enduring cultural genes. Villagers serve as the continuators of traditional villages, the transmitters of cultural heritage, and active participants in rural tourism, all predisposing villagers to adopt key positions in these areas. However, villager-centered research has not been systematically explored. This gap may be due to the marginalization of villagers in developing rural tourism and cultural heritage, the challenges associated with measuring villager-centered impacts, and the lack of appropriate measurement tools. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a scale to assess the impact of rural tourism on villagers. Using Shangzhuang Village and Guoyu Village in China as case studies, a total of 305 samples were collected. Through construct dimensions, potential item generation, scale purification, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), and reliability and validity testing, a villager-centered tourism impact scale was established, encompassing 13 items across three dimensions: economic, social, and cultural. The findings provide a new tool for village leaders, tourism developers, and policymakers to effectively incorporate villagers’ perspectives into rural tourism and heritage preservation efforts, contributing to the sustainable development of traditional villages and their associated tourism.

This study aims to discover the factors that contribute to the continued success of street trading activities in Chinatown Kuala Lumpur and investigate how these informal economies remains relevant in a modern city. The street trading activities have sustained the place as a living cultural enclave through the robustness of street activities, high pedestrian traffic and the attractive street life experience. The objectives of this study is to find the success factors of the site as a guideline for streets to remain active public spaces and for similar cultural enclaves to be allowed to thrive as living heritage of a city. The mixed method approach through site observation and census-like survey captured an all-inclusive reading of the tangible and intangible aspects of the site. Based on the findings of this research, six emerging characteristics of the street trading activities were identified: high concentration of business activities, variety of choices, availability of food, lively outdoor atmosphere, promotes street walkability and extended business hours. This paper serves to offer a new perspective on sustainable urban planning approaches especially in parts of old city quarters as wells as cultural or ethnic enclaves where the organic place making, some haphazardness and a sustainable living community are recognised and celebrated as exciting characters in the urban fabric of the city.

Air pollution is one factor that contributes to serious health issues in developing countries. The Malaysian Environmental Department has measured that particulate matter in urban areas is significantly higher than other parts of the country. Thus, this study aims to assess the current level of indoor and outdoor air quality in a tropical city—Kuala Lumpur; and to understand the relationship between these two environments in high-rise buildings. Through a fieldwork study on two typologies of social housing in the city, particulate matters of PM10 and PM2.5 were found to be the most common substances in indoor and outdoor spaces. The first typology, which employs a compact design with light-wells, recorded a decrease in particulate matter concentrations, whereas the second, which employs atriums in its design, recorded an increase for the same substance. Therefore, a change in the ventilation concept should be implemented to address the problem of indoor air pollution using an integrated hybrid strategy of passive and low energy consumption techniques that should be explored in greater detail in the future.