An Architectural Study on Spatial Configuration of Emergency, Out Patient Department (OPD) and Isolation w.r.t. Infectious Diseases-Focused on Secondary Level Hospitals of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa Province

Abstract

The objectives of this study are to explore the role of spatial configuration in the possible spread and control measure of infectious disease in the secondary hospitals of the province of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The healthcare delivery system has been challenged in the world on the onset of infectious diseases since many people faced life threatening situations during the pandemic. This paper used space syntax Method, a field of study on the impact of spatial configuration and human behavior, used in more than two hundred universities of the world as research tool. The results show that in case study more spaces to be traversed for reaching isolation room as compared to case study and the least number of spaces for reaching isolation rooms were found case study 2. Case study 3 shows highest number of spaces for reaching isolation rooms, indicating more spatial interaction leading to more spatial contamination.