Little attention has been paid to the impacts of institutional–human–environment dimensions on the outcome of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) abatement. Through the diagnostic social–ecological system (SES) framework, this review paper aimed to investigate what and how the multifaceted social, physical, and governance factors affected the success level of seven selected Asia-Pacific countries (namely, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, and New Zealand) in combatting COVID-19. Drawing on statistical data from the Our World In Data website, we measured the COVID-19 severity or abatement success level of the countries on the basis of cumulative positive cases, average daily cases, and mortality rates for the period of 1 February 2020 to 30 June 2020. A qualitative content analysis using three codes, i.e., present (P), partially present (PP), and absent (A) for each SES attribute, as well as score calculation and rank ordering for government response effectiveness and the abatement success level across the countries, was undertaken. Not only did the standard coding process ensure data comparability but the data were deemed substantially reliable with Cohen’s kappa of 0.76. Among 13 attributes of the SES factors, high facility adequacy, comprehensive COVID-19 testing policies, strict lockdown measures, imposition of penalty, and the high trust level towards the government seemed to be significant in determining the COVID-19 severity in a country. The results show that Vietnam (ranked first) and New Zealand (ranked second), with a high presence of attributes/design principles contributing to high-level government stringency and health and containment indices, successfully controlled the virus, while Indonesia (ranked seventh) and Japan (ranked sixth), associated with the low presence of design principles, were deemed least successful. Two lessons can be drawn: (i) having high number of P for SES attributes does not always mean a panacea for the pandemic; however, it would be detrimental to a country if it lacked them severely, and (ii) some attributes (mostly from the governance factor) may carry higher weightage towards explaining the success level. This comparative study providing an overview of critical SES attributes in relation to COVID-19 offers novel policy insights, thus helping policymakers devise more strategic, coordinated measures, particularly for effective country preparedness and response in addressing the current and the future health crisis.

Purpose Increasing overhang of serviced apartments poses a serious concern to the national property market. This study aims to examine the impacts of macroeconomic determinants, namely, gross domestic product (GDP), consumer confidence index (CF), existing stocks (ES), incoming supply (IS) and completed project (CP) on serviced apartment price changes. Design/methodology/approach To achieve more accurate, quality price changes, a serviced apartment price index (SAPI) was constructed through a self-developed hedonic price index model. This study has collected 1,567 transaction data in Kuala Lumpur, covering 2009Q1–2018Q4 for price index construction and data were analysed using the vector autoregressive model, the vector error correction model and the fully modified ordinary least squares (OLS) (FMOLS). Findings Results of the regression model show that only GDP, ES and IS were significantly associated with SAPI, with an R2 of 0.7, where both ES and IS have inverse relationships with SAPI. More precisely, it is predicted that the price of serviced apartments will be reduced by 0.56% and 0.21% for every 1% increase in ES and IS, respectively. Practical implications Therefore, government monitoring of serviced apartments’ future supply is crucial by enforcing land use-planning regulations via stricter development approval of serviced apartments to safeguard and achieve more stable property prices. Originality/value By adopting an innovative approach to estimating the response of price change to supply and demand in a situation where there is no price indicator for serviced apartments, the study addresses the knowledge gap, especially in terms of understanding what are the key determinants of, and to what extent they influence, the SAPI.

Little attention has been paid to the impacts of institutional–human–environment dimen-sions on the outcome of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) abatement. Through the diagnosticsocial–ecological system (SES) framework, this review paper aimed to investigate what and howthe multifaceted social, physical, and governance factors affected the success level of seven selectedAsia-Pacific countries (namely, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, andNew Zealand) in combatting COVID-19. Drawing on statistical data from the Our World In Data web-site, we measured the COVID-19 severity or abatement success level of the countries on the basis ofcumulative positive cases, average daily cases, and mortality rates for the period of 1 February 2020to 30 June 2020. A qualitative content analysis using three codes, i.e., present (P), partially present(PP), and absent (A) for each SES attribute, as well as score calculation and rank ordering for govern-ment response effectiveness and the abatement success level across the countries, was undertaken.Not only did the standard coding process ensure data comparability but the data were deemedsubstantially reliable with Cohen’s kappa of 0.76. Among 13 attributes of the SES factors, highfacility adequacy, comprehensive COVID-19 testing policies, strict lockdown measures, imposition ofpenalty, and the high trust level towards the government seemed to be significant in determiningthe COVID-19 severity in a country. The results show that Vietnam (ranked first) and New Zealand(ranked second), with a high presence of attributes/design principles contributing to high-levelgovernment stringency and health and containment indices, successfully controlled the virus, whileIndonesia (ranked seventh) and Japan (ranked sixth), associated with the low presence of designprinciples, were deemed least successful. Two lessons can be drawn: (i) having high number of P forSES attributes does not always mean a panacea for the pandemic; however, it would be detrimentalto a country if it lacked them severely, and (ii) some attributes (mostly from the governance factor)may carry higher weightage towards explaining the success level. This comparative study providingan overview of critical SES attributes in relation to COVID-19 offers novel policy insights, thushelping policymakers devise more strategic, coordinated measures, particularly for effective countrypreparedness and response in addressing the current and the future health crisis.

Public open space (POS) is central to the environment, and oftentimes spatial and architectural designs are emphasised in urban planning as part of creating quality POS. However, such initial design and planning of POS may not adequately encapsulate the sustainability dimensions of the complex social-ecological behavioural patterns of POS consumption and management, hence resulting in space mismanagement, underinvestment, and quality degradation. This phenomenon is particularly true and relevant in the context of government/state-owned POS. Therefore, an objective of this perspective paper, coupled with the concepts of the publicness levels, is to provide a different understanding of exclusivity and subtractibility natures of POS, primarily using the theory of common pool resources (CPRs), which subsequently helps explain and rationalise the perennial, adversarial POS management, quality and sustainability status quo. This paper reveals that, instead of being considered as pure public goods, scarce POS owns two inherent attributes of CPR, namely non-excludable and subtractive (rivalrous) that are ultimately susceptible to social/commons dilemmas, covering the Tragedy of the commons (overexploitation), management shirking, free-riding, underuse, disuse, and moral hazard, which lead to degraded, unsustainable POS. The commons or CPR theory can indeed offer a new paradigm shift, making urban planners and landscape managers to embrace that the unexclusive natures of CPR-based POS are truly finite and depletable and thus vulnerable to POS dilemmas. Hence, to achieve quality, sustainable POS commons, effective governance in terms of consumption and consistent management is vital. For future research, urban design as a necessary societal role is suggested, which has established the need for effective allocation of POS management via an adaptive institutional property rights design.

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