MWITI VICTOR KITHINJI

ABS211-0427/2016
ABA 2506 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY II

RESEARCH PROPOSAL

TITLE: SUSTAINABLE DESIGN ENANCING QUALITY OF

LIFE IN RESIDENTIAL HIGH-RISE BUILDINGS.

INTRODUCTION
With the increase of the population and the process of rapid urbanization, cities become a
weighty realm of human activities and interaction. There is a certain level of transformation
resulting either in suburbanization or densification of the city center or both. The Commission of
European Communities (CEC 1990) made a strong support statement for urban concentration
envisioning the sustainable urban form as a compact city (Zhang, 2000).

Before discussing the discourse about high-rises and sustainability in connection with quality
of life, it is helpful to clarify some terms. Quality of life has also been defined "as the satisfaction
of an individual's values, goals and needs through the actualization of their abilities or lifestyle"
(Emerson, 1985, p. 282 as cited by Felce and Perry, 1995). In general, it reinforces the notion
that satisfaction and wellbeing are related to how individual's perception of their objective
situation and their needs or aspirations fit together (Andrews & Wlthey, 1976; French, Rogers, &
Cobb, 1974 as cited by Felce and Perry, 1995).

PROBLEM STATEMENT
High-rises are a controversial typology in the any country; they persist in every big city and
noticeable neighborhood. Tower blocks, now accounting for 20 percent of the housing stock in
Kenya, are perceived as a salvation from poor living conditions. Therefore, architects always
struggle to adapt the high-rises characteristic to the features of the social capital and the social
needs.
Recent high-rise buildings have demonstrated an advancement in architectural designs in terms
of energy efficiency, façade design, architecture, and engineering. Old high-rises offer a lucrative
area for research quality of life of their inhabitants. The implementation of mixed use is not
researched enough: it is problematic in one article and praised in another, so the research will
trace the attitudes of professionals and residents to seek a common ground. The focus on how the
design affects the quality of life in the literature is insufficient. The architects should pay a
particular attention to the satisfaction of the occupants of living in high-rises, the meeting of their
actual needs and if a quality of life is successfully taking place on the premises.
To fill this gap in the existing research, this study aims at providing a methodological evaluation
of the quality of life in residential high-rises in Manchester and London, Britain, to inform the
parties involved in the development of high-rises in Britain. It will also make a theoretical
contribution to the quality of life in residential high-rises.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The presented research mainly seeks to develop a framework for professionals and authorities to
design residential high-rises with enhanced quality of life. It highlights the reason why the
features of the existing high-rise residential buildings need to be explored through the experience
of the users which is essential to achieve a better quality of life. To meet this objective, an
exploratory research methodology is required to arrive at new knowledge based on existing
research philosophies.

The research will adopt the interpretivist’s paradigm view to collect small samples of in-depth
information to understand the residents’ satisfaction with their high-rise buildings and attitude
towards improved design thus answering the research questions and fulfilling the aim of the
study. Hence, it will be imperative to qualitatively investigate residents’ comfort and quality of
life issues with their built environment as well as their preference of housing designs.

Case study is chosen as an appropriate methodology since case studies are invaluable for
revealing insights about complex phenomenon and assisting decision-making once the
phenomenon is well understood. The case study will include appraisal of the context (archival
and observations) and close attention to the opinions of the residents of the studied areas. The
purpose of the case study will be to gather information that will enable in-depth analysis of a
phenomenon, described in the literature: dissatisfaction with high-rise living and a margin for
improvement, consequently illuminating a course of actions that will lead to improvement of the
situation: enhanced quality of life in residential high-rises. The observations will hopefully
provide contextual information needed to frame the case study and to clarify the data collected
using the interviews. It will provide broader data: activities, interactions, environment, pointing
to issues requiring further exploration through interviews. They will provide a starting point for
the answering of the research questions.

REFERENCES
Ahmad, T., Aibinu, A., Thaheem, M., (2017), The effects of high-rise residential construction on
sustainability of housing systems, Procedia Engineering, [Online] Volume 180, Pages 1695-
1704.
Abdelbaset, M., 2015, Liveability of high-rise districts, Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities
Pillar.
Al-Kodmany, K., 2017, Understanding Tall Buildings: A Theory of Place making, Routledge,
New York, Page 56.
Brink, H., 1993, Validity and reliability in Qualitative research, Conference Paper, SA Society of
Nurse Researchers’ Workshop.