Towards developing a design model for socially sustainable multi-storey housing in Vietnam: an environment-behaviour approach
Creators: name: Nguyen, Kieu
Publisher: name: RMIT University
Year: 2024
Subjects: classificationCode: 330102
subject: Architectural design
classificationCode: 330108
subject: Interior design
classificationCode: 330109
subject: Landscape architecture
classificationCode: 330411
subject: Urban design

description: Changing socio-economic conditions in Vietnam since the 1986 Economic Renovation policy have demanded a different approach to designing multi-storey housing. Existing socialist housing estates are not suited to current urban lifestyles. Much of the debate about new housing typologies in Vietnam has focussed exclusively on technological solutions, and social aspects of multi-level dwellings have been left behind in design practice. There is thus a need for an alternative approach to multi-storey housing that is responsive to the social context of Vietnam. Through the lens of environment-behaviour study, the present research examines how to effectively accommodate the living arrangements and social behaviours of middle-income people in Vietnamese urban multi-storey housing. The three key issues examined are:<br><br>How the design of multi-storey housing can improve the level of privacy in high-density living environment.<br>How the design of internal spaces of multi-storey housing can respond to the living arrangement of middle-income people.<br>How public spaces in multi-storey housing can be designed to support social interactions.<br>This thesis addresses these questions using three selected case studies, in Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). The data was collected by carrying out on-site observations and intensive, open-ended interviews with architects, planners, developers, residents and other related stakeholders. Surveys were also conducted with selected residents to statistically support the qualitative findings. The study used thematic analysis to identify the replicated features in the case studies.<br><br>The study identified design principles of multi-storey housing at three different scales, associated with three examined issues of residential privacy, living arrangements, and social interaction. At apartment scale, the organisation of internal spaces has a strong implication for the affordances of local living patterns. Through the patterns of internal space organisation across cases studies, two domestic codes were identified, functioning as the ‘rules’ for spatial sequence and integration. At building scale, physical and perceived density appeared to have impacts on privacy through the level of perceived crowding. For physical density, internal space density appears to have more influence on perceived crowding than has external space density. For perceived density, the group size, defined by the length of the access corridor, is strongly related to the perceived crowding. For enhancing family privacy, entrance doors were modified, functioning as a boundary control. At settlement scale, the settings of public spaces that support social interaction are identified. Internal streets with wide sidewalks appear to be the ground for social activities. The footpaths system, including pedestrian routes and pedestrian nodes, is also a place for social interaction.<br><br>The study contributes to understanding of the environment-behaviour relationship in apartment housing in Vietnam, laying the groundwork for further development of a design framework for socially sustainable multi-storey housing. In a broader sense, the study offers a new way to interpreted social sustainability, via the lenses of environmental studies, and develops a method of spatial analysis related to the user’s behaviour.