Lot size, garden satisfaction and local park and wetland visitation

Predicting and understanding home garden water use

“…Overall, household attitudes appeared to be as important as the socio-demographic variables in determining external water usage, and the interactions between them were minimal. Consistent with this, Syme et al (2001) also found a negligible interaction between block size and garden interest. It can therefore be inferred from the present findings that restrictions and drought management policies are associated with measurable and important social outcomes.…”

Space and scale: A study of development intensity and housing price in Hong Kong

“…It is equally possible that poor layout design can expose dwelling units to the noise and nuisance from swimming pools and other recreational facilities within a housing estate and thus offsets the premium effect (Chan et al, 1998). Another related question is to examine whether increasing congestion at home conditions may generate additional demand and visit to public open space and facilities (see Syme et al, 2001). This study does not discredit the large-scale, high-rise development model of Hong Kong but it suffices to show that there is a limit towards this form of development.…”

Outdoing the Joneses: Understanding community acceptance of an alternative water supply scheme and sustainable urban design

“…Such design features generally work towards developing a visually pleasing and aesthetically coherent neighbourhood. Housing has also moved towards medium density with the average size of the Australian family home growing despite a reduction in block size and growth in sub-division (Bishop & Syme, 1995;Forster, 2006;Johnson, 2006;Syme, Fenton, & Coakes, 2001). Australian culture is synonymous with the outdoor lifestyle and despite reduced block size the value of outdoor entertaining is still high with alfresco areas replacing the typical suburban backyard.…”

“…Despite smaller provisions of private green space, Australian household gardens have remained areas of expression, albeit within engrained and historic parameters of what constitutes an Australian garden (Syme et al, 2001). Gardens have been identified as providing sanctuary, escapism, power through ownership (Gross & Lane, 2001), recreation, an avenue for avoiding stress, and a means for expressing both personal and social identity (Syme, Shao, Po, & Campbell, 2004).…”