Aging-in-Place Model and Its Localization Study: A Case of Xi'an

Fang-Yuan Zhang, Lang Xu

Based on the study of aging-in-place models in representative Asian countries, this paper analyzes the aging process and the current situation of elderly care in Xi’an. It explores the major challenges related to planning, architecture, and operations in the implementation of the aging-in-place service system in Xi’an, and proposes corresponding solutions. It is suggested that accessibility and convenience should be the highest standards for allocating resources for elderly care. In terms of specific strategies, priority should be given to housing and communities. On the one hand, support should be provided for aging-friendly renovation of privately-owned residences; on the other hand, public rental housing and shared-ownership housing should incorporate more considerations for aging-friendly design. Additionally, efforts should be made to strengthen the service support functions of community-based elderly care facilities, addressing issues in planning, design, and operation. Diverse business models should be explored to improve professional service standards and optimize financial sustainability.

Research on the Strategy for Age-Friendly Transformation of Living Environments from the Perspective of Smart Cities

Lang Xu; Yi Li, Lian-Zheng Deng

With the intensifying global aging trend, creating a safe, convenient, and comfortable living environment for the elderly has become an important issue in the construction of smart cities. This paper, based on the perspective of smart cities, explores strategies for age-friendly transformation of living environments, including comprehensive planning, environmental renovation, technological application, and other aspects. By analyzing successful cases at home and abroad, a series of feasible transformation measures are proposed, aiming to provide references for age-friendly transformation in smart cities.

Analyzing the Impact of Landscape Architecture and Urban Heritage Preservation on Iraq’s Tourism and Economy from 2005 to 2020

Anfal A. Hamodat, Mazlan M. Tahir

The historical sites of Iraq face escalating threats due to increased urbanization, economic volatility, and inadequate planning measures. Notwithstanding their cultural and economic importance, scientific research connecting economic variables to the sustainability of urban heritage remains few.

This research combines economic and spatial analysis with heritage protection to provide a framework for long-term city planning.

The study creates a quantitative model that links economic success with urban design and landscape engineering. This gives policymakers useful information.

Time series data from 2005 to 2020 were used in a scientific way. With SPSS, descriptive statistics, correlation matrices, and linear regression were used to look at key variables like tourism income, tourism spending, GDP, inflation, and the political stability index.

The findings indicate a robust correlation between tourism income and expenditure, with GDP exerting a significant influence on tourism performance, thereby affirming that economic growth positively impacts heritage-related tourism. Political stability exerted minimal influence, especially in religious and historical cities, where cultural factors-maintained visitor traffic. Inflation exhibited a moderate impact. Economic expansion is positively correlated with increased tourism revenues, highlighting the role of urban design and landscape planning in enhancing site sustainability.

The research underscores the importance of integrating sustainable urban design within national tourism strategies and promotes interdisciplinary collaboration for the preservation of Iraq’s urban heritage.

PESI-LCA in Building Manufacturing: A Triple-Bottom-Line Framework for Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment in the Built Environment

Fredrik Lindblad, StallgårdSigrid, Ramona Axelstorm

Traditional Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) emphasizes environmental impacts but often omits critical social and economic dimensions, limiting its capacity for holistic sustainability evaluation in the construction sector. This paper introduces the PESI-LCA framework (Product Environmental and Social Impact Life Cycle Assessment), which integrates environmental, social, and economic metrics into a structured, industry-ready method for comprehensive life cycle sustainability assessment. Drawing on 38 interviews across two European companies involved in building manufacturing, this study compares LCA adoption and outcomes. Company Y, applying PESI-LCA, reduced CO₂ emissions by ≈15%, improved energy efficiency by 10%, and achieved ≈8% cost savings through sustainable sourcing and process optimization. In contrast, Company X, lacking a structured LCA approach, failed to realize similar gains. The PESI-LCA framework extends LCA's utility in building manufacturing by identifying synergies across the triple bottom line and enabling alignment with emerging policy standards such as the EU Green Deal and CSRD. The findings also highlight the role of digital tools, such as AI-based tracking and supply chain analytics, as key enablers for broader PESI-LCA adoption within construction engineering contexts.

Investigation of Elevated Temperature Strengths of Cold-Formed Austenitic Hollow Section Beams with a Web Hole

Andy Prabowo, Jonathan Chen

The steel structure is often used as a building structure because it makes the self-weight lighter than concrete while it has relatively high strength. However, the strength and performance of steel structures will deteriorate when caught in fire due to the rising room temperature. Such deterioration occurs in all types of metallic materials, including stainless steel. Until now, investigation on the performance of stainless steel structures at elevated temperatures is still limited, especially on the strength and performance of Square/Rectangular Hollow Section (SHS/RHS) beams. This study investigates the strength predictions for SHS/RHS beams at elevated temperatures dominated by pure bending failure. An additional web hole located at the mid-span was considered, which further deteriorated the SHS/RHS strengths. The investigation was limited to SHS/RHS beams fabricated from cold-formed austenitic (EN 1.4301) sheets. Data on cross-sectional strengths were obtained from numerical analyses using the finite element programme. Results from the numerical analyses exhibited strength deterioration as the temperature rose. Evaluation of the current strength predictions for the cold-formed SHS/RHS austenitic beams using the Direct Strength Method (DSM) showed conservative but not necessarily safe for the condition at elevated temperatures. The proposed modification led to more conservative and reliable, including for the condition at elevated temperatures.