Third Places for Older Adults' Social Engagement: A Scoping Review and Research Agenda

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Neighborhood places that facilitate older residents to meet and interact (third places) receive an increasing research interest as studies have consistently shown the benefits of social engagement for older adults' health. This scoping review synthesized the findings of studies examining the role of third places in older adults' social engagement.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

Searching 5 databases (CINAHL, Medline, PsycInfo, Scopus, and Web of Science) in October 2021, this study identified quantitative and qualitative studies that examined the relationships between third places and social engagement (interaction and network) among older adults.

RESULTS

A total of 32 studies (12 quantitative and 20 qualitative studies) met the eligibility criteria. These studies examined 4 types of third place, namely, community facilities, local businesses, open/green spaces, and transition spaces. More than two thirds of the studies reviewed found that access to community facilities, local businesses, and open/green spaces were related to older adults' social interaction. For the relationships between third places and social networks, the importance of accessible local businesses and the quality of open/green spaces was supported by fewer studies.

DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS

The findings of quantitative and qualitative studies suggest that local places that are convenient to visit and comfortable to stay in for older adults are likely to enhance their social interaction and network. However, more specific evidence is needed to inform the planning and design of third places. The review discusses future research topics that address the gaps identified in the current literature.

Green roof and energy - role of climate and design elements in hot and temperate climates

In the past few decades, the air temperature of built environment and energy demand of buildings has been increased, particularly in summer. As a consequence, the number of heat waves, heat-related mortality and morbidity have increased. The wide application of air conditioning and high level of energy use are inevitable to save people's lives, particularly in hot and temperate climates. Under these circumstances, this study offers a scoping review of the articles published between 2000 and 2020 to evaluate the role of green roofs in building energy use in hot and temperate climates. Given the ongoing trend of urban overheating, the scope of this review is limited to hot-humid, temperate and hot-dry climate zones. This scoping review shows the benefits of green roofs for reducing the demand of building energy in different climate zones and highlights the higher magnitude of energy saving in temperate climates than hot-humid or hot-dry climates provided that the green roofs are well-irrigated and uninsulated. According to the review of the articles published between 2000 and 2020, the reduction in cooling load is maximum (mean 50.2%) in temperate climate zones for well-irrigated green roofs. The effectiveness in saving cooling load reduces in hot-humid and hot-dry climate zones with means of 10% and 14.8% respectively. Green roof's design elements also strongly influence the potential in saving energy, and the effectiveness is heavily influenced by background climatic conditions. The findings of this study assist building designers and communities to better understand the amount of energy savings due to green roofs and present the results in different climates quantitatively.

Review on the cooling potential of green roofs in different climates

The combined trends of urban heat island (UHI) intensification and global warming led to an increased tendency towards on the greening of cities as a tool for UHI mitigation. Our study examines the range of research approaches and findings regarding the role of green roofs in mitigating urban heat and enhancing human comfort. This review provides an overview of 89 studies conducted in three main climate types (hot-humid, temperate, and dry), from 2000 till 2020. All of the reviewed studies confirm the cooling effect of green roofs and its contribution to reduced heat island intensity regardless of the background climatic condition. However, dry climate has the highest (3 °C) median cooling effect of green roofs among all the climates investigated. Hot-humid climate presents the lowest cooling potential (median = 1 °C) of green roofs among all the climate types. Moreover, green roofs contribute a median surface temperature reduction of 30 °C in hot-humid cities. This value is relatively low for temperate climates (28 °C). Notably, no study has examined the impact of green roofs on surface temperature reduction in dry climates. This review can benefit urban planners and various stakeholders.

Verification of a bioclimatic modeling system in a growing suburb in Melbourne

Urban climate knowledge has been increasingly integrated into urban design and planning practices. Numerical modeling systems, such as climatic and bioclimatic tools, are currently more popular than onsite field measurements. This higher popularity is mainly due to the complicated interactions in 3D urban environments and the spatial distribution of various climatic parameters that cannot be captured thoroughly via on-site measurements alone. Such modeling systems also offer better solutions to overcome the nonlinearity of urban climate in forecasting different "what if scenarios." This paper provides an overview of different types of climatic and bioclimatic modeling systems and presents their main benefits and shortcomings. In the second part of this study, one of the most commonly used tools in urban climate studies, namely, ENVI-met, was selected, and its reliability in different contexts was investigated by reviewing past researches. The applicability of ENVI-met in accurately simulating the influence of future urban growth on one of the fastest growing suburbs in Melbourne, was tested by conducting a sensitivity analysis on inputs and control parameters, backed up with a series of field measurements in selected points. RMSE value was calculated for different runs of the initial ENVI-met model with adjusted control parameters (e.g., factor of short-wave adjustment, initial air temperature, relative humidity, roughness length, wind speed, albedo of walls, and albedo of roofs). The model achieved the optimum performance by altering the short-wave adjustment factor from 0.5 to 1; therefore, ENVI-met was considered a reliable tool for relative comparison of urban dynamics. The findings of this study not only help planners select the most practical modeling systems that address project objectives but also educate them on limitations associated with using ENVI-met.