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Targeting the common functions of the Zhejiang Library website, elderly individuals were invited to complete six experimental tasks on the improved website interfaces, and subjective data (PAD emotion scale and usability evaluation) and objective data (eye movement data) were recorded to verify the effects of graphic layout and navigation position on the information-seeking experience of elderly individuals.

This study analyzes the effect of the graphic layout and navigation position of the Zhejiang Library’s website interface on the emotional state, perceived usability and information-seeking time of elderly individuals, with the aim of providing guidance and suggestions for the elderly-oriented reform of the public library website.

The experimental results show that the graphic layout has a significant effect on the emotional state and perceived usability of elderly individuals, and the navigation position has a significant effect on the information-seeking time; the interaction between graphic layout and navigation position exerts a significant effect on the information-seeking time of elderly individuals. The eye movement data show that elderly individuals have a better information-seeking experience when the top navigation bar and image-text matched arrangement are used for the interface layout.

This study adopts a new approach combining subjective data and eye movement data to evaluate the effect of the public library website’s interface layout on the information-seeking experience for older people. The findings can provide a theoretical basis and methodological support for the elderly-oriented reform of public library websites. They can also provide scientific design suggestions for age-friendly interface layouts of other Internet products and service applications.

Under the impact of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), this paper contributes in the deployment of the Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT)-based system, namely AIoT-based Domestic Care Service Matching System (AIDCS), to the existing electronic health (eHealth) system so as to enhance the delivery of elderly-oriented domestic care services.

The proposed AIDCS integrates IoT and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies to (1) capture real-time health data of the elderly at home and (2) provide the knowledge support for decision making in the domestic care appointment service in the community.

A case study was conducted in a local domestic care centre which provided elderly oriented healthcare services to the elderly. By integrating IoT and AI into the service matching process of the mobile apps platform provided by the local domestic care centre, the results proved that customer satisfaction and the quality of the service delivery were improved by observing the key performance indicators of the transactions after the implementation of the AIDCS.

Following the outbreak of COVID-19, this is a new attempt to overcome the limited research done on the integration of IoT and AI techniques in the domestic care service. This study not only inherits the ability of the existing eHealth system to automatically capture and monitor the health status of the elderly in real-time but also improves the overall quality of domestic care services in term of responsiveness, effectiveness and efficiency.

The purpose of this paper is to respond to the need for comparative studies on methodologies for implementing Crime Prevention through Urban Design and Planning (CP-UDP) at the local level, particularly in peripheral Europe where CP-UDP’s top-down standards have poor dissemination and acceptance. This paper debates how local partnerships can help reduce crime and how a CP-UDP-based model can be introduced into municipal planning.

The paper discusses the challenge of CP-UDP in the framework of a post-crisis Europe and Europe 2020. Because there is a large gap between theory and practice, lack of a shared holistic approach, and scepticism, or lack of knowledge, of public authorities, at local-level planning professionals and the police have devised bottom-up initiatives based on interdisciplinary partnerships with the community. The paper describes, discusses and compares the implementation of such approaches in Lisbon (Portugal) and Vilnius (Lithuania).

The paper addresses the processes and challenges of establishing synergies and working relationships between police officers, public officials and the community, and it discusses six main causes for its (un)success. When these conditions were met, crime and social constraints reduced.

Lessons learned are deemed crucial to disseminate knowledge and best practices, paving the way for proper top-down policies and planning legislations in these and other countries.

This paper analyses the potentialities and shortcomings of local-level implementation of CP-UDP strategies as an alternative to failed top-down strategies in two realities mostly unknown of the international scientific community. The case study material is previously unpublished internationally.

The majority of South Africans were deprived of participation in the socio-economic activities in decades of the apartheid rule. The ANC government after coming to power in 1994 thus promised to improve the livelihood of people deprived of social intervention benefits by the apartheid regime through the provision of social housing. This research, therefore, sought to investigate if the expectations of the beneficiaries of the social housing scheme have been met by the government.

The research approach adopted for this study is a quantitative survey. Questionnaires made up of closed-ended and open-ended questions were used to solicit data from 1893 randomly selected government social housing inhabitants in Bloemfontein. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data collected.

The results indicate that the government has been able to meet the expectation of the social housing recipients in some aspects such as improved living conditions as compared to the shack structures, good sanitary surroundings and a comfortable environment. However, the inhabitant's expectations such as a safe environment, houses with good finishes and fittings, good roads network and adequate houses to accommodate the family sizes have not been met. More so, where respondents acknowledged expectation achievement, they were benchmarking the conditions to the informal settlement (shack) environments rather than being actually happy with what they currently have. Thus, meeting the expectations of the social housing recipients by the government is currently a myth rather than a reality.

The survey was limited to only government social houses inhabitants in communities around the periphery of Bloemfontein, the capital city of the Free State Province of South Africa.

The implication from these findings is that the government has been providing social houses that do not meet the expectation of the recipients since 1994. The government should, therefore, appraise the social housing scheme thoroughly and reconstitute the delivery strategy in order to supply houses that meet the need and expectations of the beneficiaries and thereby fulfilling the goal of improving the living standards of previously disadvantaged individuals through the social housing scheme.

The study has come up with recommendations that if followed by the government supply houses that meet the need and expectations of the beneficiaries and thereby fulfilling the goal of improving the living standards of previously disadvantaged individuals through the social housing scheme and make the programme sustainable.