Intercultural universities in Mexico have been created since 2001, currently there are 12, the last one to be created is the Intercultural University of Baja California in San Quintin. These universities are governed by an intercultural model that states that they must incorporate linguistic expressions and manifestations and knowledge of indigenous peoples in their substantive functions as well as in their scientific activity, but some of them have also incorporated cultural and sustainable expressions in their architecture. In this sense, there are experiences of these universities that incorporate different cultural and sustainable elements in their architecture. Based on the above, this study presents some experiences of Intercultural Universities in Mexico that recover cultural and sustainable elements in their architecture. Methodologically, we resorted to reflexive ethnography by conducting several interviews with the architect of the UICEH. Some of the results obtained in the research show the importance of how, through the architectural spaces, elements of interculturality and sustainability are embodied, including some related to local cultures where the Universities have an impact.

Cities and towns are the social constructs in regional settings. They physically manifest and exist as power centres through various layers of culture, economy, politics, and religion. There was a symbiotic relationship between the ‘setting’ and the ‘construct’ in the past. With time and advent of technology, haphazard developments led to degradation of ecological systems and have become a confronted affair. Global warming, its adverse effects and the constant references to the words ‘sustainability’ and ‘resilience’ pose questions on the existing planning models. Small towns experiencing a tremendous pressure of urbanisation and rich in natural resources, coherence and identity are fast changing. An indispensable change in the planning models is necessary to mitigate this existential crisis and condition the emerging urbanism in small towns sustainably. This paper unearths the role and possibilities of bioregional planning as a sustainable urban development paradigm and suggests few indicative parameters for envisioning bioregionalism in small towns.

In the second half of the twentieth century urban landscapes were affected by heavy infrastructural development. With regard to streets, managing the growing fluidity and speed of motor vehicle flows has been a priority for most designers. Nowadays there are multiple driving forces behind a transition that could accommodate different uses within the streets, primarily the cultural, social and economic exchanges that streets faciliated in the past but that have been lost over time. In the spreading practice called “shared street” most signage and traffic lights can be removed to permit the self-regulated and spontaneous circulation of all users and vehicles. This paradigm is discussed with regard to its potential to strengthen urban landscape identity, ensuring accessibility, redefining uses and practices within the street, reducing injuries and misbehaviour, and offering real and perceived safety to all users. “Back to the street” is an ongoing design research project dealing with integration strategies for different kinds of urban streetscapes. Which design features are necessary to encourage a change in attitude, speed and hierarchy for street users? How can these features positively affect urban landscapes in general and the liveability of streets first and foremost? The research attempts to answer these questions by considering street design as a means of triggering the effective enhancement of urban public spaces. The paper is based on the case study of Via San Paolo in Prato (Tuscany) and presents a set of quality requirements for street design such as plant integration, water drainage, and comfortable paths for both cyclists and pedestrians. As the design for separate flows cannot fulfill all the quality features in Via San Paolo, mostly due to its varying width, it is assumed that the “shared street” can replace it in order to enhance community life within the streets while promoting local sustainable mobility. The research examines two options: sharing the street in narrow stretches or along its whole length. A preliminary comparison is proposed to discuss the earlier research outcomes.

Chaoshan vernacular house is an important branch of Lingnan traditional houses in South China, with a long architectural history and excellent climate responsiveness to the hot-humid climate. The modern rural houses learn the traditional experiences mainly in the form but fail to inherit the climate-responsive design and wisdom of the traditional houses. This study took the widely distributed Xiashanhu houses in Chaoshan as the object, generated 128 Xishanhu parametric models by combinations of various parameters on design factors of building, opening, shading, construction, and street layout, and investigated the climate-responsive design techniques by using the parametric methods. The results show that the hall width, room width, cornice height, orientation, and wall construction are the key climate-responsive design factors oriented towards thermal performance of Xiashanhu houses. The optimized designs are: the smaller hall width (4.05m,4.32m,4.59m), the smaller room width (2.7m,2.97m,3.24m), the larger cornice height (4.92m,5.1m), the orientation ranged from 30° north by west to 30° north by east, and the brick and concrete wall. The rationality and validity were verified by applying the optimized climate-responsive designs to the re-construction of a new rural house. Compared to the original case, the thermal performance is significantly improved by 5.18-9.98%. A detailed discussion was also provided on considering the actual situation and needs of the modern buildings in the process of "using the past for the present." This study is believed to provide valuable references for the research and modern applications of climate-responsive designs of traditional vernacular houses. It also contributes to the preservation of architectural and cultural regional characters and the inheritance of architectural climate responsiveness in contemporary times.

Increasing population causes Energy consumption and environmental pollution. It is essential to consider renewable forms of energy, especially solar power, to reduce energy consumption. This requires attention to energy issues in the early stages of urban design and practical and creative solutions for more efficient use of this type of energy. This study aims at calculating the annual solar radiation at a city scale through a novel process and methodology. In this regard, artificial intelligence algorithms and satellite data can help maximize the amount of sunlight in neighborhoods and urban blocks in neighborhood units during the development process. In the simulation process, location, and optimization of the urban form, it is necessary to consider the limitations and resources for field study and simulation of urban blocks. Therefore, in this study, Farhangian neighborhood in phase 1 of Kermanshah, Iran, which has a good level of structural diversity and lends itself to field studies, was selected and studied at neighborhood and urban block scales. The case study indicates the significant role of calculating and optimizing the patterns of urban blocks to achieve maximum solar energy. Estimates at different levels show that urban block variables effectively access solar radiation energy and, given various scales of development - from macro-scale spatial planning to micro-scale local design - can improve energy intake by 3 to 5 percent. Accordingly, the results show that to accelerate the calculation of energy at the planning scale, the use of 2.5D locating model and 3D optimization contribute to achieving the maximum or minimum solar radiation, respectively. On the other hand, this method can be used to organize calculations and planning for maximum absorption of solar radiation at different stages of development.

In the process of urbanization, various urban problems have become increasingly prominent, and the heat island effect is one of them. The expansion of urban land, the increase in construction intensity and the increase in population make the urban heat island effect even worse. The construction of park cities improves the ecological environment of the city and is considered to have a positive effect on alleviating the heat island effect, but it is not clear whether it has such an effect or not. This article explores whether the construction of Park City can help to improve the urban thermal environment effectively, and also, seek solutions for how to improve the construction of park cities so that the heat island effect can be better mitigated. Landsat8 remote sensing images in 2014 and 2019 were used to estimate the fractional vegetation cover (FVC) and land surface temperature (LST) in the Third Ring Road of Chengdu. Land use data were also introduced into the study to analyze LST changes in different surfaces and FVC.The results indicate that: (1) the area of the heat island zone in the Third Ring Road of Chengdu decreased by 0.91% from 2014 to 2019, and the area of the cold island zone increased by 17.89% ; (2) the urban blue-green space is conductive to mitigating the urban heat island effect, in which the water provides the best mitigation, while impervious surface and bare land may aggravate the urban heat island effect; (3) the FVC in the area of the Third Ring Road in Chengdu is on the rise as a whole, and there is a significant negative correlation between FVC and LST (p < 0.01). Based on the above results, this paper shows that Park City construction is beneficial to alleviate the urban heat island effect, and more attention should be paid to blue-green space layout and quality, along with urban ventilation and FVC control. Our results provide useful input for green space planning and the construction of Park City in the future.

Goal Three of the Sustainable Development Goals emphasizes the concept of “leaving no one behind”; a model for inclusivity and coherence. Amongst those that are often “left behind” are patients at the end stage of their life due to a terminal illness or a medical diagnosis. These are often left to die without thought to the quality of life that they receive before their demise, and many experience this stage at home due to fear of expenses, or in a best-case scenario at a hospital to help alleviate or manage pain. In many places worldwide, this is where palliative and hospice care come in and focus on the End-of-Life care provided to patients who fit the criteria. The number of architecture and design related studies in this field are not numerous, and those that are there do not focus on the patient as a user with rights, but merely as a patient that is there. The concept of a user-centered design is forgotten in midst of all the pain and suffering of all concerned, namely, the patient, his beloved, and his caregivers. However, focusing on this nexus at the core of the design project may help promote this painful and stressful time in life and induce serenity and acceptance in a time that is often dark and ominous. This research aims to develop a design framework for places that deal with End-of-Life care and how to provide a better quality of End-of-Life experience for terminally ill patients