Architecture, Building and Planning - Theses
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ItemBeyond transport duality: Extending the instrumental rationality of kelotok transport in Banjarmasin, Indonesia( 2023-12)Banjarmasin, the ‘City of a Thousand Rivers’ in the South Kalimantan province of Indonesia, offers a unique empirical context for this PhD thesis. The city’s vibrant inland waterway transport (IWT), particularly the kelotoks –the city’s traditional riverboats– provides a rich case study for exploring transport beyond its mere economic and utilitarian functionalities. Kelotoks are not just modes of transport; they serve as the city’s source of cultural vitality, which is deeply rooted in Banjarmasin’s urban fabric and socio-economic life. This study investigates why kelotok drivers persist in Banjarmasin’s IWT sector amidst the challenges imposed by urbanisation and modernisation. This thesis offers a critical examination of the prevalent dualistic framework in transport literature, wherein traditional transport systems such as Banjarmasin’s kelotoks are often relegated to the ‘informal’ category, primarily based on the metrics of efficiency and formality. Challenging this paradigm, the study expands the conventional boundaries of instrumental rationality, a foundational concept in transport analysis, to encompass the socio-cultural dimensions intrinsic to kelotok transport. Departing from traditional quantitative methodologies, this research employs a qualitative approach, employing storytelling as an interview strategy with 22 kelotok drivers. This method facilitates a richer, more nuanced exploration of the socio-cultural complexities within Banjarmasin’s IWT sector, aspects that are often sidelined in mainstream transport discourse. As a result, this thesis broadens the traditional confines of instrumental rationality, typically preoccupied with economic-centric measures, to unpack a more comprehensive understanding of traditional transport systems. In extending the confines of instrumental rationality, this thesis integrates the theories of ‘satisficing,’ ‘access,’ and ‘transport indigeneity.’ These theoretical lenses facilitate the examination of the multifaceted motivations, strategies, and perceived roles of kelotok drivers that influence their interpretation of instrumental rationality. In turn, this nuanced instrumental rationality explains their continued engagement in the declining IWT sector. The study finds that kelotok drivers’ motivations, strategies, and self-conception extend beyond mere economic considerations. Their persistence is also attributed to non-monetary factors, such as familial values, cultural heritage, and social coherence. Building on these findings, the thesis introduces an advanced ‘Indigenous transport’ framework. This context-aware perspective acknowledges the sociocultural imperatives that underpin the provision and continuity of traditional transport systems. In summary, this research calls for a paradigmatic shift in the conceptualisation of traditional transport sectors, calling for more inclusive and culturally sensitive transport evaluation. The research transcends existing knowledge boundaries by introducing empirical depth through the unique context of Banjarmasin’s IWT sector and proposing a new conceptual framework. It establishes a pathway for interdisciplinary research that integrates social, cultural, and psychological dimensions of traditional transport systems, thereby filling a critical gap in the literature and suggesting areas for further inquiry.
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ItemImpact of Globalisation on the Construction Supply Chain: Challenges and Responses in Victoria( 2023-11)Low trade barriers and increased access to global markets allow Australian contractors to procure foreign construction materials and products easily. Domestic manufacturing industries struggle to compete if these imported goods are cheaper or of superior quality, resulting in job losses and business closures. Job losses trigger government intervention in the market to preserve the local industry. Despite previous academic research in this area, there is no comprehensive investigation of the responses of different categories of firms and the government to the globalisation of the construction supply chain. This research aims to establish a framework that will clarify the procurement strategies of firms in the construction supply chain in view of globalisation and economic nationalism in Victoria. Five research objectives were articulated: (1) To analyse the drivers of offshore procurement of materials, (2) To analyse the drivers of local procurement of materials, (3) To model firms’ responses to the import of materials, (4) To model the responses of the local manufacturing industry (including the Victorian Government) to the import of materials and (5) To develop a framework that will explain the rationale behind firms’ procurement strategies. Data was collected through 46 semi-structured interviews with a cross-section of industry professionals and an in-depth analysis of 28 regulatory and legislative documents. The findings indicate that developers, head contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers leverage the global market to import lower-cost construction materials, leading to price pressure and import competition for local manufacturers grappling with high input costs. In contrast, local procurement is driven by the regulatory impact of the Local Content Policy and buy-local sentiments, mainly in public projects. In response to increasing imports, manufacturers adopt a range of responses such as cost-cutting, product differentiation, import substitution and lobbying for local content. The findings of this research were summarised in a framework comprising procurement drivers, a description of alignment between institutional requirements and firms’ objectives, the extent of alignment between firms’ objectives and institutional demands, strategic responses at the firm level and institutional work at the field level. The procurement drivers were rationalised using institutional theory which revealed that the cost-cutting culture is endemic in private and public sectors. However, the Local Content Policy restricts the cost competition to local construction materials in public projects. Seven summary findings were deduced to show the rationale behind firms’ strategic responses for private and public projects, applicable to cases with a local content law in the construction supply chain. These summary findings indicated that firms’ strategic responses depend on the extent of alignment between institutional demands and firms’ objectives, and the strength of institutional requirements. Institutional work examined the collective and intentional response of firms, industry groups and the Victorian Government to the import of construction materials. In contrast to the categorisation of maintaining work in existing literature, the findings revealed that maintaining work for the local content law is divided into establishing and implementing. In addition to the seminal classification of disrupting work in the literature, two new sub-forms adopted by head contractors due to cost pressures and inconsistent implementation of the local content law were discovered. This research contributes to knowledge in construction management by clarifying the strategic responses of firms when faced with conflicting pressures from globalisation to import materials and economic nationalism to buy local. The findings also contribute to institutional theory and institutional work by adopting a bi-directional approach showing the influence of institutions on firms and the reciprocal effect of firms on institutions. The findings of this research have practical implications for key stakeholders in the construction supply chain – firms benefiting from access to the global market (head contractors, subcontractors and suppliers), those challenged by import competition (manufacturers), organisations that lobby for local content (industry groups and trade unions), and the Victorian Government and its agencies. Head contractors are vital because the Local Content Policy is mainly implemented through the construction sector. There is a conflict of interest for head contractors who prefer to import cheaper materials. Yet, regulators who enforce the Local Content Law may not fully understand the market challenges confronting head contractors, which leads to a preference for cheaper overseas materials. Besides, head contractors, subcontractors and suppliers have not engaged in previous inquiry panels, which strengthened the Local Content Act. Therefore, head contractors, subcontractors and suppliers that bid for public projects should participate more in manufacturing industry forums, such as panels of inquiry, to share information with those who set the rules. Manufacturers contend with price pressure, import competition and high input costs. Manufacturers who import a proportion of inputs and raw materials are more competitive against imports than those who do not. Thus, manufacturers should consider importing inputs or offshoring production tasks to improve their competitive advantage, especially in private projects. In addition, small and medium-sized (SME) manufacturers are the primary targets of the Local Content Act. Nevertheless, they cannot challenge and report non-compliant head contractors when their materials are swapped with imports due to fear of exclusion from future jobs. Therefore, the findings recommend that SME manufacturers join industry associations focused on supporting SMEs, which will provide a stronger platform for them to challenge non-compliance and protection from reprisal attacks. The findings indicate that head contractors are more likely to achieve the agreed minimum content if there is consistent monitoring, enforcement and audits by relevant public agencies. The LJF Commissioner is vital to achieving local content and is statutorily empowered to perform advocacy, monitoring, enforcement and audit functions. There is inconsistent monitoring, enforcement and audit, resulting in the replacement of local materials. Besides, the data suggests that the LJF Commissioner is under-resourced and lacks the political will and real power to confront large, non-compliant head contractors. Consequently, the LJF Commissioner should request more resources from the Victorian Government and seek the backing of the supervising Minister to enforce compliance robustly as mandated by the local content law. In turn, the Victorian Government should empower the LJF Commissioner to achieve its mandatory functions as specified by the Local Content Act. Without an effective regulator, the benefits of the Local Content Act will not be fully realised.
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ItemThe role of informal transport workers in tourism: A case study of tricycle guiding in Baler, Philippines( 2024-01)This thesis advances informal transport knowledge by reconceptualising it as a form of tourism transport from the perspective of informal transport workers. Informal transport and tourism have a reciprocal connection. Informal transport workers help tourism thrive by providing mobility and access, especially in developing countries’ tourism destinations. As the main providers of public transport in the region, informal transport workers enable tourists to reach the sites they intend to visit from their residences or places of origin. At the same time, tourism (a significant promoter of socio-economic growth in developing countries) supplements transport workers’ income and employment by generating additional demand for transport. Despite the clear link between these two industries, informal transport operation in tourism is understudied. Little is known about the extent of informal transport workers’ functioning and contribution to tourism. This thesis responds to this knowledge gap by examining the role of informal transport workers in tourism through a case study of tricycle guiding in Baler, Philippines. Tricycle guides are tricycle drivers who double as tour guides. Their transport and tourism services are particularly critical to Philippine provincial towns like Baler, which have limited transport alternatives. Drawing from Banks, Lombard, and Mitlin’s conceptualisation of urban informality as a ‘site of critical analysis’, which foregrounds the significance of the informal-formal continuum and the social dimension of urban informality, this thesis explores how tricycle guides begin, perform, and curate tricycle tours in Baler. Data were collected through qualitative interviews (with 34 tricycle guides, eight tourists, and a former government official), fieldwork observations, and document analysis of two government reports, five ordinances, and five statistical reports. Transcribed interviews were managed and analysed using the NVivo 12 software package. Study results reveal that multiple informal practices animate and sustain informal transport operation in tourism, and it is socially embedded. Partial legality and verbal vehicle rental agreements (which can be temporary) help informal transport drivers immediately begin tricycle guiding. People-led service production and relational passenger recruitment (which can overlap with formal procedures) allow them to perform tricycle guiding daily. Their shifting roles in guided tours and overall flexible approach to tricycle guiding manifest in how they curate Baler tour itineraries. The widespread acceptance and successful execution of these informal practices depend on various actors (including their family members, other tourism service providers in Baler, fellow tricycle guides, and tour passengers) and collective norms. These empirical findings reinforce the heterogeneity and complexity of informal practices in tourism transport provision and its embeddedness in the local community, which has received limited scholarly attention.
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ItemTransforming spatial governance High-speed rail planning and the regional integration of Hume( 2023-09)Australian governments and private consortiums have been planning high-speed rail since the 1980s by studying different corridor options and railway technologies to connect major cities along the eastern seaboard. Despite the introduction of government policies to promote land use and transport integration, recent proposals for intercity high-speed rail have obtained weak connectivity between station infrastructure and regional settlement systems. In Australia, justification for weak connectivity is typically based on a combination of transport planning and urban design considerations that are said to hinder integration between regional stations and established urban areas. However, recent studies of high-speed rail development overseas suggest that the problem instead has its origins in national systems of multilevel governance. This research takes the Hume Region in northeast Victoria as an illuminative case study to understand the influence of high-speed rail planning on regional governance in Australia between 2008 and 2017. A spatial governance perspective is used to explore the in-between spaces of state planning that embed infrastructure projects into regions to promote their economic and political integration. The conceptual framework draws on Raco’s (2005) understanding of regional integration as a political process that reconfigures power relations and gives rise to hybrid institutional forms. A mix of research methods, including geographic analyses of three high-speed rail proposals and qualitative analyses of interviews with national and regional actors (n=64), government policies and media reports, showed that high-speed rail planning is connected to processes of regional integration by its potential to restructure settlement systems and embed new institutional and political structures into non-metropolitan regions. The research found that regional institutions in Hume coevolved with the institutional structures that governed high-speed rail planning in Australia. This convergence between national and regional-level structures can be explained by the top-down nature of infrastructure planning and regional policy. However, the analysis identified ground-up moments of institutional reform that indicate greater reflexivity between territorial levels than is typically acknowledged in the domestic planning literature. In the case of high-speed rail planning in Hume, institutional reforms were instigated by localised struggles against the partisan structures that govern public investment in critical infrastructure. It remains to be seen if newly empowered regional actors highlighted in the research can secure broad-based outcomes from high-speed rail development because they lack the planning authority and fiscal resources needed to implement integrated planning solutions. In Australia, the forms of regional integration engendered by high-speed rail planning have limited potential to promote sustainable development outcomes in non-metropolitan regions because the strategic goals of the state and powerful non-state actors are privileged over the planning goals and development needs of regional communities. Consequently, high-speed rail planning is transforming spatial governance by reproducing national corporatist structures in non-metropolitan regions. These structures, however, do not engender a regionally integrated approach to spatial planning.
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ItemNational identity, Australian plants, and the natural garden in post-WWII Australia, 1945 to 1986(University of Melbourne, 2015)
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ItemCity agency in an urban age: a multiscalar study of migration city diplomacy( 2023-09)Over the previous two decades city governments have substantially expanded international engagement efforts, reflective of their potential to address major global challenges such as climate change, migration and even pandemics. This ‘city diplomacy’ encompasses a range of ways that cities are working individually and through formal transnational networks to become influencers of global agendas, as opposed to just implementors of national policy. Whilst there is broad academic consensus that city diplomacy is having at least some impact in international politics, the discipline of international relations (IR) has struggled to place cities conceptually in the milieu of international actors. Questions abound but answers do not. Are they non-state entities akin to NGOs and civil organisations, or unique socio-political units that require bespoke theorising to be understood? Are they coalitions of actors? Or is city agency on the global stage a function of mayoral priorities? In this thesis, carried out at the University of Melbourne via publication, I address the research gap related to the construction, sustainment and operation of ‘city agency’ on an international stage. This places my thesis between International Relations (IR) theory and urban studies and explicitly aims to strengthen their connection via a focus on urban politics. I do so by bringing together a sequence of published scholarly interventions into a cohesive study narrative. I firstly advance understanding of city agency by theorising that local governments and other urban actors are now operating in a context of ‘global urban governance’ wherein the governance of urban challenges has become infeasible without consideration of their global dimensions. Drawing from theories of group agency in political science and analytic philosophy, as well as collective urban governance in urban studies, I encourage the reader to look not only at local governments but also other urban actors who shape city agency. To explore these dynamics in action, the thesis presents findings from a multiscalar case study application of this theorisation, in which I analyse the emerging role of cities as actors in global migration governance. Migration has become an increasingly important domain for city diplomacy as the bulk of international migrants reside in cities and responsibilities for supporting these populations have increasingly been devolved to local governments. At the global scale, I explore the impact that cities have had collectively on global migration governance, demonstrating a causal link between migration city diplomacy and changes in global migration governance that have prioritised urban settlements. At the city scale, I analyse the way the migration city diplomacy of two internationally recognised cities in this domain, Bristol, UK and Montreal, Canada, has been shaped by the strong history of migrant inclusion from a range of actors within these cities. This is the first study to examine the link between local migration governance and migration city diplomacy at the international level. Finally, at the national scale, I highlight the importance of central–local relations and the underexplored link between city diplomacy and national foreign policy, drawing on the examples from the United Kingdom and Canada, but also other comparable contexts. Here I introduce models of the national governance of city diplomacy with relevance for migration policy and broader international efforts. This multiscalar view offers a new set of theoretical and empirical lenses through which IR and also urban studies scholars can understand the role of cities in global governance. A more enriched understanding of the type of international agent that cities represent offers new opportunities to study the tangible impacts of their international engagements. Through the case studies examined here, this thesis provides novel empirical insight into the emerging role of cities in global migration governance and uniquely links this city diplomacy with local dynamics. In the emerging context of ‘global urban governance’, where cities must increasingly work internationally and international actors must attend to the urban scale, the interplay between these scalar dynamics will shape the governance of major global challenges this century and likely beyond.
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ItemReimagining Climate Urban Comparison Through A ‘More Global’ Urban Science( 2023-12)Cities, as pre-eminent hubs of human activity, are one of the key frontrunners in tackling the climate crisis. As this recognition of the urban condition, we live in has become more and more widespread, interest in using ‘urban science’ to better understand cities has surged and has been widely applied to accelerate urban climate action. One of the growingly popular approaches in urban science is comparing cities based on extensive data sets, which this thesis terms ‘comparative urban science’. Comparative urban science is now commonly used by scholars and practitioners in urban climate governance to understand cities and accelerate their climate actions. Yet, this has to date incurred into two specific gaps of comparative urban science in urban climate governance that this thesis aims to redress. Firstly, large-scale studies, which primarily focus on quantitative and performance-based factors, often fail to comprehensively understand the diverse range of factors influencing cities’ climate actions. Secondly, these studies tend to reinforce city hierarchies and focus disproportionately on few often well-resourced, ‘global’ according to some, cities. These two limitations result in a biased understanding of smaller cities, perceived to be without global city status, especially in the Global South. This is doubly problematic as these more ‘intermediate’ cities are also, and in many cases principally, shaping the direction of urbanisation, and limited knowledge of these cities can be a critical gap and a missed opportunity for tackling climate change. The thesis proposes de-centring comparative urban science by incorporating a ‘more global’ urban comparison that strives to move beyond hierarchical comparisons based on size and economic status, connecting postcolonial critiques in urban studies to the development of urban science. The thesis aims to offer a bridging contribution across urban studies, particularly linking urban climate governance, comparative urbanism, and urban science approaches that at times have been at odds. Therefore, the main research question is, “To what extent can a ‘more global’ urban comparison be incorporated in comparative urban science to offer insights for research and practice in urban climate governance?”. The thesis deploys a mixed-method approach that combines quantitative and qualitative methods in three methodological steps. The first step includes two comparative approaches: one that is factor-based and one that is an action-based comparison. A range of factors are identified through a literature review to expand knowledge of diverse factors influencing climate actions for the factor-based comparison. The action-based comparison then builds on K-means clustering analysis of cities’ governance aspects of their reported mitigation actions (nature and finance-implementation) to identify distinct patterns of cities. In the second step, statistical tests of association examine the relationship between the identified factors and patterns and test if the clusters expand knowledge of diverse cities. Finally, in the third step of the thesis, a focus group discussion with climate city network experts is used to explore the practical application of these research findings. The thesis demonstrates the potential of a ‘more global’ and more explicitly relational approach using non-hierarchical K-means clustering as a pattern recognition method, expanding knowledge about diverse cities, as investigated in action-based comparison. Five clusters are identified based on mitigation actions’ nature and five based on finance-implementation. Importantly, this thesis finds no significant association between these clusters and cities’ population size and global city status. The findings highlight the need to move beyond simplistic quantitative measures and challenge the notion that population size and global city status determine cities’ climate action. Cities’ finance-implementation pattern is not found to be associated with most factors, denoting that cities implement their mitigation actions regardless of their national political economy, vulnerability to climate change, and perception of risk. Moreover, the thesis demonstrates that factors such as region, country-level GDP per capita, corruption index, cities’ climate responsibility, and vulnerability to climate change only partially explain some of the clusters of nature of actions. Overall, the thesis offers a novel approach to comparative urban science, providing valuable insights and seeking to contribute to a more inclusive and more effective evidence-based urban climate governance. It argues for collective climate action across diverse cities and calls for reimagining existing climate networking practices. Furthermore, the thesis illustrates how the conceptual framework of this thesis based on incorporating a ‘more global’ urban comparison into a relational approach to urban science could be applied, opening potential engagement into other research areas beyond climate to deepen our understanding of a greater diversity of cities when deploying urban science approaches. In conclusion, this thesis emphasises the need to move beyond simplistic measures and hierarchical comparisons, empowering cities to address climate change collectively.
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ItemManaging the planning and implementation of greenways from top-down in the Central Zhejiang City-Region, China: who is in charge?( 2023-11)In 2010, China introduced the modern greenway concept, envisioning regional-scale greenway networks that serve multiple functions. The objectives were twofold: to alleviate the scarcity of urban green spaces without encroaching on land designated for development, and to strengthen the rural-urban physical and functional connections within city-regions. The planning and implementation of greenways at such a grand scale involves a diverse array of actors and a web of institutions. Given that China’s authoritative governance system is characterised by top-down decision-making along with the institutional complexities, it is important to understand who is in charge in Chinese regional greenway development. By integrating insights from institutional theories and organisational theories, this study develops a conceptual framework to examine the interactions between actors, institutions, organisational characters and resulting greenway outcomes. The Central Zhejiang City-Region, with its two successive greenway stages, was selected as the case study area. Data were gathered through thirty-nine semi-structured interviews, government documents, site observation, and spatial information from various sources. The main findings show that the regional government played a central role in regional greenway planning. However, its influence waned during the implementation phase since county governments dominated greenway projects as the capital suppliers, regulators and implementers. While the planning process was open to planning institutes, external consultants, and greenway user representatives, their presence mainly served to justify the aspirations of governmental actors. SOEs and sitting tenants were empowered to engage in the implementation process due to their access to funding or land resources for greenway construction. Nevertheless, their participation took place in the “shadow of hierarchy”, with the state taking a lead. Given that modern greenway was a new concept, greenway actors were inevitably confronted with existing regulative, normative and cultural-cognitive institutions, which raised transaction costs and posed constraints to greenway development. These institutional constraints were compounded by political pressures from the region and political leaders, driving actors to take strategic actions to develop greenways within a narrow timeframe. The key organisational actors, Local Greenway Coordination Offices (LGCOs), were also restructured to be more powerful, double-hatted, cross-agency and inclusive in order to overcome such institutional constraints. As reflected in the greenway outcomes, the Central Zhejiang Greenway Project does not appear to be an ongoing initiative that considers the long-term social and ecological consequences. Rather, it is treated as a political mission driven by campaign-style governance. The challenge still lies in establishing a complete set of supportive institutions and effectively enforcing them to safeguard the enduring value and sustainability of greenways for both communities and the natural environment. The findings from this study shed light on the complex institutional process underlying regional greenway development and its impacts on the urban and rural landscape.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableA data-driven investigation on urban form evolution: Methodological and empirical support for unravelling the relation between urban form and spatial dynamics( 2023-06)Investigating the patterns of urban development and transformation and unravelling the principles behind these processes are critical for understanding how cities evolve under different physical conditions. While socio-economic, political and cultural forces undeniably shape the patterns of spatial change and persistence, urban form should not be perceived as a passive resultant or a mere consequence of these processes. Quite the contrary, urban form plays a determinant role in establishing the spatial conditions that influence future development patterns by constraining some choices while facilitating others. Recognising the scarcity of systematic, diachronic and quantitative studies on urban form evolution, this thesis is driven by an interest in understanding the relationship between urban form and spatial change. It aims to develop theoretical, methodological and empirical support for unravelling the influential role of urban form in guiding spatial dynamics. The thesis develops a diachronic and quantitative methodological framework to investigate how urban form conditions created by plots, buildings, streets and land uses affect the patterns of change and persistence in three different grid cities: Midtown Manhattan, New York (US); City Centre, Melbourne (AUS); and Eixample, Barcelona (Spain). As part of the research, three longitudinal morphological datasets were generated, drawing upon a rich array of historical cartographic resources and geospatial databases to enable a comprehensive assessment of urban form evolution within each city between the 1800s and 2000s. Through quantitative analysis of urban form and its association with spatial dynamics, the thesis demonstrates that urban form conditions have a measurable impact on the patterns of physical and functional change. This understanding contributes further to the fact that design does not exclude the possibility of change but may even favour it under particular conditions. A rigorous and evidence-based understanding of the interplay between urban form conditions and patterns of spatial change empowers practitioners and policymakers to choose particular forms and structures over others, guide the long-term evolution of urban form and improve the adaptive capacity and resilience of the built environment.
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ItemEnvironmental Experience Design Framework for High Density Urban Housing of Middle Income Occupants in Bangladesh( 2023-06)The size of middle-income groups has steadily increased around the world. A Least Developed Country (LDC), Bangladesh's capital and hub of business, Dhaka, ranks as Asia's 11th fastest-growing megacity. The middle-income group in Dhaka drives economic growth, outpacing other income groups. Since housing in Dhaka is unaffordable and socio-economic constraints limit their choices, middle-income households usually live in compact or congested domestic environments (i.e., high-density housing). For housing affordability, housing providers develop small-sized dwelling units (flats or apartments) for middle and lower-middle-income groups instead of targeting upper-income groups, considering mainly physical design components (e.g., size, layout and configurations) in architectural design decisions. Architectural design solutions may not improve occupants' mental well-being without clear perceptions of users' physical and psychological responses. According to the initial survey and literature review, indoor environmental quality deteriorates in congested domestic environments and affects occupants' mental well-being (psychological responses, such as comfortable feelings). The literature review revealed that each element of a household living environment positively or negatively impacts occupants' physical perceptions and psychological responses. Thus, the design of a domestic indoor environment affects occupants' mental well-being which needs to be incorporated into architectural design decisions. Occupants' psychological response can be promoted by changing domestic indoor conditions and adjusting their subjective perceptions of household experiences. Knowledge about the household experiences of middle-income occupants (as users) is still elusive in Bangladesh. This study explores users' household experiences of psychological perceptions and physical responses in order to formulate customised design outcomes that can improve the mental well-being of occupants. To comprehensively understand middle-income occupants' domestic experiences, high-density urban housing has been selected for the study context in Dhaka. Mixed mode research design combining qualitative and quantitative strategies, incorporating literature reviews, structured questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, was conducted for numerical (association rules mining) and contextual (text mining) analysis and interpretation. Data was collected from fifty domestic units (flats or apartments) in urban housing in Dhaka. Therefore, in-depth data interpretation through machine learning algorithms (Association rules ‘Apriori’) has been conducted considering the correlation between twelve environmental design factors and ten spatial attributes, including occupants' preferences or restrictions aims to contribute to an architectural design methodological framework for middle-income occupants in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Occupants' narratives and photos serve as background evidence to extract design preferences or restrictions in domestic settings based on their socio-cultural aspects of environments. According to the study, different domestic spaces (e.g., master bedroom, child bedroom, attached toilet, common toilet, kitchen, dining room, living room, balcony and corridor) have different physical and psychological responses to their occupants. Considering the overall analysis, users' psychological perception determines design preferences. However, demand is also refined by the context in which users exist. It is pertinent to note that socio-cultural aspects of environmental factors influence occupants' perceptions in their domestic settings. Users continuously perceive their surrounding domestic living environments through physical responses and psychological perceptions. As a result, users' future design preferences differ from one space to another in a domestic setting. This study identified user behavioural patterns and concluded that seasonal changes, location, functionality, frequency of usage and attachment (i.e., user experience) of the spaces surveyed affect users' physical and psychological perceptions of comfort feelings (as mental well-being). It argues that environmental design solutions alone may not be sufficient to enhance occupants' physical and psychological response unless the users' socio-cultural context are considered. Occupants’ preferences are formed and decision-making is guided. Architectural design parameters can be prioritised by evaluating occupants' experiences in their domestic environments. Understanding such middle-income occupants' experiences within their residential environments is vital for determining and shaping architectural design parameters or factors. Not only that, but it states that only numerical data cannot accurately predict fundamental preference factors in architectural design decisions. The contextual analysis confirmed some numerical variations through users’ sentiments. From a users’ contextual perspective, occupants seem to view some spatial factors as more relevant to their psychological comfort than other environmental factors. This is because spatial factors such as functionality and usability directly influence how occupants interact with and use them. These preferences are also correlated with middle-income residents' complex socio-cultural contextual situations. These preferences can be applied to architectural design articulation to improve the association between users' physical and psychological needs and demands (subjectivity and objectivity) in their domestic living environment. This ‘Environmental Experience Design (EXD)’ framework combines three factors - user context, physical and psychological responses (as mental well-being i.e., moods/feelings/emotions) and design aspects (spatial and environmental) in the high-density domestic environment for middle-income occupants in Dhaka. EXD frameworks contribute to systematising architectural decision-making as tools and prioritising domestic environment design components by assessing occupants' physical and psychological needs and demands through their household experiences, which is the underlying motivation for this study. Consequently, these outcomes contribute to initiating a 'Customised Design Outcomes' approach in Bangladesh's housing sectors that may meet today's diverse housing market demands. Even though this methodological framework integrating machine learning algorithms is aimed at middle-income occupants of Dhaka, it may also contribute to other architectural design domains locally and globally. Implementing the EXD framework through occupant experiences can also be used to build state-of-the-art housing developments or retrofit high-density housing to improve occupants' psychological perception in their living environments.