Density

Density and distribution of Unfamiliar Lexical Items (ULIs) appear to influence learners’ Reading Comprehension Achievement (RCA). This study concerns the impact of these two variables on Iranian EFL learners’ RCA. For this, two groups of students timetabled for the experiments designed to assess learners’ RCA. To determine the participants’ levels of proficiency a Quick Proficiency Test was first given to the total population of 87 students and 60 selected as participants. They were then divided into four subgroups of 15, each of which took the pertaining text as the treatment. To do so, three short passages were administered, two for the density and one for distribution. Then, data were gathered from the questionnaires and answers analyzed by SPSS. The results revealed the participants in low density/distribution subgroups outperforming their counterparts in high density/distribution subgroups on tests devised to measure the learners’ inferencing of ULIs boldfaced in the texts. The selected method was a quasi-experimental, post-test only design and the procedures comprised short passages, multiple-choice tests, and statistics. To conclude, ULIs found detrimental to the learners’ successful RCA in the foregoing experimentation, where it can serve as a resource to the EFL development programs.

In Nigeria, crowded housing is one of the housing stresses that bother policy-makers and housing authorities.This study exامینes the crowding levels in seven marital status categories among the occupants of Lagos State Development and Property Corporation’s apartments. The focus is on the capacity of an apartment’s internal spaces to meet the sleeping needs of households in different marital arrangements. A case study of four housing estates was purposively selected among Lagos State Development and Property Corporation’s multifamily categories, with a population of 7,764 apartments. A sample of 7.5% (582) was chosen using stratification and systematic random techniques. A pretested questionnaire instrument was used to collect the relevant demographic data of occupants. The occupants in different marital arrangements were grouped into three: households that harboured one to two occupants; households that harboured three to five occupants; and households that harboured six or more occupants. The result shows that households containing three to five persons were the most dominant in all apartment types while households that contain six or more persons were very few. Generally, the result showed no substantial disparity in the incidence of crowding among households of various marital classifications in different apartment types. The link between “Separated” and “Divorced” was revealed, as both types were not found among respondents living in two-bedroom apartments. The number of occupants in the “just single” and “married” categories were high compared to others. These results are significant for policies regarding occupancy, crowding and design of Lagos State Development and Property Corporation’s apartments.

Density is a critical typology in determining sustainable urban built-form patterns. Built-form refers to the assemblage and arrangement of the building masses in a city reflecting the spatial layout of spaces. The relationship between density and urban character is also based on at certain densities (thresholds). In a wider sense, sustainable cities are a matter of density. Recent debates about the creation of more sustainable urban form, compact cities have led to a renewed focus on issues of density. The argument is that high density high-rise with low ground coverage or compact city form can offer a high quality of life while minimizing crime, possibility to provide adequate amenities, green and open spaces, accessibility and space consumption. However, the relationships of density and patterns built-form are not reasonably well developed and integrated into the urban design-planning processes in developing countries cities like Addis Ababa. On the hand, not many studies have been undertaken with regard to density in relation to patterns of built-forms. Therefore, this study aims to explore density in relation to patterns of built-form in the process of planning & design of urban spaces2. The analysis is based on the primary sources as well as secondary documents collected from the concerned agencies and related references. The findings illustrate that high density high-rise with low ground coverage patterns of built-forms can offer better possibilities for installing good spatial quality3 of urban spaces. It concludes with an overview of emerging thinking/implications where further efforts are required in the future