SUPER GREEN - the International Academy of Design and Health

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Design & Health Scientific ReviewStreet vendor concentration nodes scattered throughout the central business districtAn important part of the environmental design plan isto ‘pedestrianise’ several streets in the CBDand 11 years. Vendors choose to engage inthis type of street occupation• They work long hours – 10 hours a day,Monday to Sunday – and earn only aboutUS$20 a week.The research siteBaguio City’s central business district issituated in a deep valley with four arterialstreets leading to it. In the early 1900s thelocation was selected by the Americancolonialists as a resting and healing place fortheir troops. Documents written by militaryphysicians have chronicled the positiveimpact of this upland city on soldiers’ healthbecause of its high elevation and cool air.From a quiet convalescent place, Baguio Citytransformed throughout the centuries into abusy economic engine for the region.At the initial phase of this longitudinalstudy, the vendor spaces were measured,together with sidewalk widths and otherphysical attributes. The space metrics showthat 44% of vendors are located in relativelyfl at areas and 56% are sited on steepinclines 5 . Topography is an important factorin the entrapment of air pollution, which inturn affects health conditions.Another signifi cant feature of the centralbusiness district is the high traffi c volume thathas exceeded its streets’ carrying capacity.Major colleges and universities, governmentoffi ces, as well as the city market, aremagnets that draw people and diesel-runvehicles to its centre. Idling vehicles in theland basin and those running uphill on steepinclines contribute to the mix of polluted airand noise.Also important to this study of place andhealth is Baguio’s local climate. Elevatedat 5,000 feet above sea level, the cityexperiences temperatures ranging from10ºC during the cold months of December,January and February to around 30ºCduring the warm months of March, Apriland May. Cold temperatures often create aninversion effect that traps polluted air duringthe early mornings. Warm weather, on theother hand, often brings an onset of gastrointestinaldiseases because of food-bornebacteria found in non-refrigerated foodsthat vendors either sell or pack from home.It is also known for its prolonged monsoonseason in which rainy weather is evidentfrom June to early September. During thisseason, a rise in the incidence of fl u andother respiratory problems is common.Vendor sites & urban architectureThe local spaces that hold vendors’microbusinesses are varied, interesting andindicative of socio-economic factors. Forexample, the vendors who have establishedtheir territories for many years are locatedin spaces that are mostly fl at and have highpedestrian traffi c. Relative newcomers areleft with secondary spaces in minor streetswith moderate foot traffi c. Vendors selecttheir spaces based on the type of productssold, friendships and ethnic affi liation. Fruitvendors tend to settle in places adjacentto eateries while those selling hard goodslike t-shirts, DVDs and household productsare found close to banks and retail outlets.However, most, if not all, vendors use a partof the physical environment as a basis fortheir location decisions.The urban architecture found in centralBaguio City is characterised by diversebuilding types, uses and forms. Four- tofi ve-storied modern designed buildingsframe the main street. Other buildings aremodest, with only three stories withordinary architecture.Building architecture impacts on thequality of vendor sites. For example, only25% of vendors are located under buildingoverhangs that span the entire sidewalk.In fact, about 32% of vendors are in sitesthat are not under any overhang. They areexposed to climactic elements like themonsoon rains and cold mountain air.Integral to urban architecture is thepresence of sidewalks fronting the buildings.As the owners have responsibility forconstructing and maintaining sidewalks, the00 56 Summer October 2008 | WORLD HEALTH DESIGN
Urban Designinfrastructure is included in the overall designof the property. This results in varying heights,widths and quality of sidewalks throughoutthe central business district. Sidewalk widthsvary from seven to 16 feet 6 . Sidewalkdensity, as measured by pedestrian countsand sidewalk widths, has an effect on healthconditions. Higher sidewalk densities createenvironments that encourage the spreadof communicable diseases like infl uenza,bronchitis and pneumonia, especially duringthe monsoon season.Street vendors soften and personalisethe existing architecture by creating workspaces made of simple materials to displaytheir products and work ‘comfortably’ forten hours a day. Cartons and cardboardboxes make up fruit stands and tarpsare used to display special items. Othervendors use building walls as stands forposters and magazines. The colourful arrayof products contributes to the fi ner texturesof urban places.Air qualityIn 2004 the research team monitored andassessed the air quality in 30 populatedvendor sites and a fi xed site on the thirdfl oor of a building. Generally, the data showedelevated levels of pollution in many areasin the central business district. The data atthe fi xed site also indicated that particulatematter concentrations were higher than theNational Ambient Air Quality Standardsused in the United States.Environmental factors such as buildingheight, distance to a stoplight, street widths,number of street lanes and topography, aswell as vehicular and pedestrian volume,were added to a group of other variablesin a regression analysis model but werenot found to be statistically signifi cant. Thefactors that contributed signifi cantly tostreet level pollution were traffi c volumeand wind direction 7 .The built environment and healthIn his treatise On Airs, Waters, and Places,Hippocrates strongly links disease withplace, particularly, a community’s locationand local climate 8 . This observation, thoughdeveloped centuries ago, has come full circleas scientists today accept the connectionbetween the physical environment andhealth. We have based this study of streetvendors on Hippocrates’ fi ndings but thediscussion has been extended to includethe impact of the built environment and airquality on health. The variables considered inthe analyses were:Physical environment factors: slope;vehicular volume; vehicular movement(idling, moving uphill); pedestrian volume.Architecture and built environmentindicators: building height; building overhang;curb height; distance to a drainage hole;distance to a garbage disposal; and qualityof the sidewalk.Air quality: morning and afternoonmonitoring of: particulate matter 2.5;particulate matter 10; and carbonmonoxide.Health variables: number of healthproblems experienced in 2003; type ofhealth problems.ResultsUsing bivariate correlation tests, the resultsshowed the following patterns:Slope and health conditions: Acorrelation between slope and type ofhealth condition was found to be signifi cant(r=0.344, p
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ContentsEditorial DirectorMarc Sans
Page 6 and 7: Briefi ngWorld experts come to Sing
Page 9 and 10: iefingExperts call for actionon des
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Page 14 and 15: Uniting the disciplines of architec
Page 16 and 17: DialogueCultural challengesPhil Ned
Page 19 and 20: Dialoguebecause they act as a blott
Page 21 and 22: The debate about single hospital ro
Page 23 and 24: Dongtan City: An eco-exemplarClient
Page 25: Shenzhen HospitalShenzhen Hospital,
Page 28 and 29: Market Report: Eastern EuropeIt has
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Page 34 and 35: Technology Report: Palomar Pomerado
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Page 49 and 50: Birthing Unit Designlevels when nee
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Page 53: Birthing Unit DesignTechnical suppo
Page 59: Urban DesignTable 1 Research protoc
Page 62 and 63: Alan DilaniDesign & HealthLord Nige
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Page 67 and 68: Arts and CultureBiophilic Design:Th
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