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PurposeDecisions taken during the early design of adaptive façades involving kinetic, active and responsive envelope for complex commercial buildings have a substantial effect on inclusive building functioning and the comfort level of inhabitants. This study aims to present the application of an analytic network process (ANP) model indicating the order of priority for high performance criteria that must be taken into account in the assessment of the performance of adaptive façade systems for complex commercial buildings.Design/methodology/approachThe nominal group technique (NGT) stimulating and refining group judgments are used to find and categorize relevant high performance attributes of the adaptive façade systems and their relative pair-wise significance scores. An ANP model is applied to prioritize these high performance objectives and criteria for the adaptive façade systems.FindingsEmbodied energy and CO2 emission, sustainability, energy saving, daylight and operation maintenance were as the most likely and crucial high performance criteria. The criteria and the weights presented in this study could be used as guidelines for evaluating the performance of adaptive façade systems for commercial buildings in planning and design phases.Practical implicationsThis research primarily provides the required actions and evaluations for design managers in accomplishing a high performance adaptive façade system, with the support of an ANP method. Before beginning the adaptive façade system of a building design process, the design manager must determine the significance of each of these attributes as high performance primacies will affect the results all through the entire design process.Originality/valueIn this research, a relatively innovative, systematic and practical approach is proposed to sustain the decision-making procedure for evaluation of the high performance criteria of adaptive façade systems in complex commercial buildings.

The construction sector’s significant energy consumption poses a substantial challenge to achieving global “Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality” goals. This study addresses this challenge by proposing a sustainable design framework to optimize atrium spaces in commercial complexes within severe cold regions, where the conflict between high heating energy demands and the pursuit of high-quality spatial experiences is acute. Our climate-adaptive method integrates parametric modeling (Grasshopper) with building performance simulation (Ladybug Tools and Honeybee) to form a multi-objective optimization process using the NSGA-II algorithm. The goal is to simultaneously minimize operational energy (by reducing the seasonal solar heat gain difference, D-RAD) and enhance occupant well-being (by improving useful daylight illuminance, SUMUDI, and thermal discomfort, SUMPPD). Results demonstrate that our framework generated design solutions that significantly improve environmental performance compared to a baseline model: aggregate useful daylight illuminance (SUMUDI) increased by 90.2%, the solar heat gain difference (D-RAD) was reduced by 40.8%, and thermal discomfort (SUMPPD) decreased by 22.7%. This research provides a quantifiable and replicable methodology for sustainable architectural design, contributing directly to the measurement and monitoring of sustainability in the built environment by balancing energy conservation with human-centric design.

As an emerging type of large commercial building, commercial complexes play an increasingly important role in contemporary urban development and construction trends. In order to better study the organization of public space relations in commercial complex buildings, this paper selects eight commercial complexes as sample cases to analyze their spatial design in terms of both content public space and external public space based on big data technology. Regarding the design of the commercial complexes’ internal public space movement, the highest accessibility degree reached 95.3%, while the average was 82.5%. Regarding visibility, the highest level was 96.0%, and the average was 83.3%. For large complexes, better spatial relationships can be designed to improve the circulation degree and thus enhance customers’ consumption experience. Regarding the convenience of traffic connection to the external space of commercial complexes, an average of 41.4% of customers consider it very convenient, 23.1% consider it relatively convenient, 27.9% consider it somewhat inconvenient, and 18.0% consider it very inconvenient. Commercial complexes can effectively attract more repeat customers if they can improve the convenient design of transportation connections. The study of public relations of commercial complexes based on big data helps to discover the defects of their public space design and plays a significant role in optimizing spatial design and relationship organization and strengthening their integrated functions.

In developing countries, especially China, large-scale commercial complexes are the current trend in commercial real estate. Compared with other similar buildings, scientific site selection is very important for the smooth construction and efficient operation of these complexes. However, there is still a lack of a targeted evaluation index system and quantitative evaluation methods. Therefore, this paper put forward the evaluation index system and method of large-scale commercial-complex location based on a projection pursuit model. First, this paper comprehensively considered the environmental, social, and economic factors, and used secondary and tertiary indicators to systematically establish an evaluation index system. This index system effectively dealt with the complex problem of its site selection. Compared with the traditional multi-attribute evaluation method based on expert advice, the evaluation method of the improved projection pursuit model based on a sparrow search algorithm constructed in this paper was to mine key information from the evaluation data, which could evaluate the site suitability of large commercial complexes more scientifically and objectively. In addition, this paper made a detailed empirical study of the Joy City project in Nanchang, China. The research results found the key factors affecting the site selection of the project and determined that the site-selection evaluation result of the project was medium. The research results of this paper provide the scientific and objective decision-making basis for the development enterprises of large commercial complexes to reduce site-selection risk and improve investment efficiency.

This study investigates the relationship between community commercial center spaces and elderly behavior, focusing on governance mechanisms that shape these spaces and their impact on enhancing elderly life and the community environment. Field research was conducted in the ‘Guohe 1000’ community commercial project in Shanghai, targeting individuals aged 60 and above with independent mobility, including wheelchair users. Through behavioral observation and interviews, both individual and group activities were examined, emphasizing behavioral patterns, spatial domains, and social interactions. Findings reveal that factors such as gender, age, and social networks are positively correlated with the spatial development of community commercial centers. To foster elderly-friendly environments, improvements are needed in utilization balance, secondary activity spaces, age-sensitive design, and operational management. The paper’s novelty lies in two aspects: first, it broadens research into community commercial centers by tracing the construction process of spatial forms; second, it applies environmental behaviorism and environmental gerontology frameworks to integrate individual and collective elderly behaviors into systematic data collection and quantitative analysis. Together, these insights contribute to more inclusive strategies for designing and managing community commercial complexes that support active aging and enhance urban social sustainability.

Limited studies have investigated pedestrians’ exit choices in an emergency in multi-level commercial buildings. In particular, the comparison between exit choices before and after awareness of an incident location is non-existent in the literature. Likewise, the influence of individual attributes, such as the presence of a child or a companion, on the individual’s exit choice in complex architectural layouts has rarely been studied in the literature. This paper aims to address these knowledge gaps by investigating pedestrians’ exit choice behavior in an emergency at a multi-level shopping complex considering exit choice behavior before and after awareness of incident location and the influence of personal attributes (e.g., presence of a child or companion). A survey of 1271 pedestrians for two hypothetical emergency scenarios in a multi-level shopping center in Tehran, Iran was conducted. A tablet-based simulator of a multi-story commercial complex was designed, and on-site interviews were conducted. In the first scenario, participants were asked to select their preferred exit door at the start of the emergency alarm without being informed about the incident location. In the next scenario, the scene of an incident (fire) was displayed without altering the conditions, and pedestrians were asked to choose their desired exit. The utility models investigated the differences in pedestrians’ behavior before and after awareness of the fire location. The models show differences in pedestrian decisions to evacuate and select the exit when the fire location information was available compared to when only emergency alarm information was available. Further, differences in evacuation strategy between the people who preferred to delay the exit and those who preferred to exit immediately were observed. Participants with children were more concerned about the ease of moving on the route and preferred a less congested route and exit area. Differences in evacuation behavior on the ground floor and other floors were also observed.

Building vertical greenery has become an effective measure to solve the contradiction between the shortage of urban greenery and the increasing demand for greenery. However, the lack of direct economic benefits dampens motivation for its development. As a vital development mode for high-density cities worldwide, commercial complexes are the most appropriate buildings to support greenery because of economic agglomeration and resource integration. An important reason for whether or not commercial complex greenery is constructed is the need for an evaluation system. To bridge this research gap, we propose a holistic evaluation guideline for commercial complex greenery. First, a list of related sustainable rating systems from the academic literature and official websites was compiled and reviewed to identify and compare their referential features. Second, the limitations of these evaluation systems in assessing the greenery of commercial complexes were explored using a case study. Third, the features of commercial complex greenery were introduced through field research and interviews. Finally, a holistic evaluation guideline for vertical greenery systems in commercial complexes was proposed, including logical thinking for the evaluation system of the dimension–indicator–quantitative method, the creation of innovative evaluation indicators, the establishment of a database, the assignment of weights to different dimensions and indicators, and the construction of an evaluation mechanism for the whole life cycle. This research demonstrates the significance of an evaluation process for commercial complex greenery systems, proposes a refined guideline for its development, and rationally grasps the development direction from a macro perspective.

This paper focuses on the fire risk assessment for commercial complex, as the variety of fire accidental triggers inside could be a big threat to the public fire safety, leading to catastrophic loss in human lives and properties. Both the qualitative and quantitative analysis were imposed on a typical large commercial complex to recognize the potential fire-causative factors in this paper. Applying the fault tree analysis, the basic events leading to fire are acquired, and they are then further reclassified based on the analytic hierarchy process. Taking the damage of the accident as the target layer and the fire-causative factors, the equipment operation factors and firefighting factors as the criterion layer, the assessment index is well established. The risk of each factor is quantitatively evaluated, and the effect of each factor on the target layer is analyzed. The result of the fault tree analysis and analytic hierarchy process shows good consistency, in which human behavior is the main factor leading to the fire occurrence, followed by the combustible material, the rescue speed and the staff assignment factors. The results are beneficial for general decisions and measures in public fire safety management.

Urban commercial complex is an architectural form formed in the high-density urban building environment based on the diversified concentration of human consumption behavior and the composite utilization of space. It can effectively cope with the problem of tight land resources and insufficient development capacity in urban centers and promote sustainable urban development. Additionally, the diversity of functions is the key to ensure its healthy operation. Based on the homogenization phenomenon of commercial complex development in some big cities in China in recent years, this study applies dissipative structure theory and synergistic effect theory to the study of functional diversity system of urban commercial complexes, and proposes a Shannon–Weiner biodiversity index model and calculation indexes based on the functional diversity measurement model. At the same time, correlation analysis and comparative analysis were conducted between the measurement results of spatial vitality and the calculation results of the diversity model to verify the scientificity and rationality of the proposed model. Finally, the SM City Plaza commercial complex in Xiamen was selected as a representative research object to measure the functional diversity of its weekdays and holidays and the coupling relationship between functional diversity and changes in spatial vitality. The calculation results show that although the comprehensive index of functional diversity of SM commercial complex is in a dynamic state of change, the overall level is high. The reasonable proportion of the six functional formats shows a high level of diversity, which effectively promotes the generation of commercial vitality and enhances the comprehensive benefits of the commercial complex; the change trends of functional diversity in time and space dimensions are in line with the actual situation, indicating that the proposed model has certain scientific and application values. On the basis of the completed empirical work, the scope of application and limitations of the calculation model and evaluation method, as well as the optimization of the index system are further pointed out.

Aiming at a critical gap in evaluating human-centered spatial quality during urban stock renewal, this study aimed to develop a quantitative methodology to evaluate emotional vitality in urban commercial complexes. Focusing on five representative Beijing complexes selected according to Beijing urban renewal best practices, the research establishes an integrated evaluation framework combining emotional attachment theory with multi-criteria decision-making method The methodology employs scales to measure emotional attachment, and implements an improved TOPSIS model integrating Entropy Weight and Grey Relational Analysis of Multi-Criteria Decision-Making method for comprehensive assessment. As a result, key findings demonstrate that small-scale built environment features significantly enhance spatial vitality through emotional attachment mechanisms. Material characteristics, including historical material reinterpretation and innovative structural elements, prove fundamental in fostering attachment, while non-material features exhibit dynamic influences that evolve with temporal and contextual factors. The study reveals that successful emotional attachment requires balanced integration of physical and social features, with material characteristics serving as the foundation for sustained emotional vitality. The research contributes an evidence-based evaluation system that bridges theoretical constructs from environmental psychology with practical urban design applications. By objectively quantifying emotional attachment and identifying specific spatial features that enhance these emotional experience, this methodology provides valuable tools for urban designers, planners, and governors seeking to create more engaging and humanized commercial environments. The framework further offers scientific support for decision-making in urban renewal projects and establishes a replicable approach for vibrant urban space evaluation.