Journal of Urban Design and Mental Health

A Case Study of Urban Design for Wellbeing and Mental Health in Brighton, UK

2023-10-05T07:49:24-07:00

Brighton, a vibrant, densely-populated city on the south-east coast of the UK, has worse mental health outcomes than the average for UK cities. Despite this, there have been efforts made to rectify this through promising planning and policy actions and aspirations. Through interviews with councillors, planners, academics, and third sector and design practitioners living and working in the city, and a selection of case studies, we seek to better understand the relationship between urban design and mental health in Brighton. Relating interview data to the ‘Mind the GAPS’ framework, we conclude the following as vital for mental health promotion through design of public space: safe public and living spaces, enriched social infrastructure, accessible transport options, co-production of design, visual mapping of data and citizen involvement in urban planning.

The heating of buildings and the mental health of their inhabitants:

2023-10-29T04:53:42-07:00

Parisian buildings are concerned by work programmes undertaken within the framework of the Climate Plan initiated by the city. This renewal process affects the social life of the buildings, which has been consolidated over the years. While a building is built by materials and populations, it is also the result of history, from its construction to its daily maintenance or degradation. Our assumption is that people who have no control over their living space are likely to suffer more mental health problems, in most cases without knowing exactly why, due to lack of knowledge about the causes of these problems or lack of health literacy concerning their living space. The inability to adapt to housing makes us wonder: How can residents’ mental health be influenced by their ability to control their living space? To show this, we will study three buildings affected by the tension between factors that generate dissatisfaction. The research-action SAPHIR, (Health, Paris, History, Building, Residential), carried out after the Covid crisis and during a period marked by the energy transition policy, illustrates the stress experienced by the inhabitants faced with the necessity to save energy and have work carried out in their homes.

A Case Study of Urban Design, Wellbeing and Mental Health in Lapua, Finland

2023-05-01T17:02:56-07:00

According to the United Nations ' Sustainable development goals (SDGs) ranking list, Finland is one of the most sustainable countries. At first glance, Lapua: a town in the Southern Ostrobothnia region of western Finland, seems to be safe and sustainable, however, extensive interviews and observation revealed interesting points that demand a reflection and amendments of customary views. This study reviews existing literature and expands on experts’ and citizens’ opinions on mental health (MH) and well-being within Lapua’s urban design and planning. The reviewed literature examines the mental health status in Finland and the position of urban planning in Lapua, and its geographical significance. The semi-structured interview was conducted among 10 experts such as architects, psychiatrists, artists, etc. in Lapua. The qualitative data on their perception was obtained, transcribed, analyzed, and presented. The case study result suggests that some of the urban design factors that influence mental health are the availability of parks and green spaces, cultural heritage, housing, etc. Also, some opportunities identified for improving mental health-related urban planning and design in Lapua, include the concept of third space, age inclusivity in housing, integrating public art in urban design, etc.

Role of Urban Public Space in Sustaining Mental Well-being: Inferences from Pandemic Scenario

2023-06-15T11:00:29-07:00

People go to urban public spaces for their needs of social interaction. It has been established that social interactions in public places hosting various active and passive activities have multiple psychological health benefits. However, public spaces have ceased to be public during the pandemic. With the pandemic and the following lockdown, people have begun to acknowledge the significant role of the urban public spaces for their social needs. This paper attempts to understand this acknowledgement regarding the Indian context and relates to the stress level of citizens due to the restrictions in using outdoor spaces. The study tries to comprehend the difficulties of staying indoors and not being able to socially interact in the urban public spaces and infers to be negatively impacted the mental well-being. The study primarily attempted to analyze the connect between the use of urban public space, mental well-being and social interaction through a survey (n=277) referring to the stress level of the citizens during the first wave of Covid-19. This research infers a strong connect between the use of public spaces and the citizen's mental well-being with the further potential of using the inferences to formulate a healthy city urban public space design guideline.

Quality of Life and Self-Reported Common Mental Disorders: An Analysis of Patterns and Relationship in Ibadan Metropolis, Nigeria

2023-06-15T11:01:35-07:00

Quality of life (QoL) is a major measure of health and wellbeing. Studies that have examined the quality of life of urban residents from a geographical view in developing countries are still emerging. This present study examines the relationship between urban residents’ quality of life and its relationship with self-reported common mental disorders. The cross-sectional survey approach which entails data collection from 1200 respondents in Ibadan city, Nigeria. WHO-5 and SRQ-20 were adapted to obtain information on quality of life and self-reported common mental disorders respectively. Descriptive and inferential statistics were employed to establish associations and analysis were carried out at 0.05 significance- level. The spatial pattern of quality of life was found to be random although there are pockets of poor quality of life. Quality of life was found to be negatively related to self-reported common mental disorders (R = -0.396). The urban ecological conditions of the study area indicate poor quality of life and this may be responsible for the increasing risk of common mental disorder in the city. The study concludes that common mental disorders exist in the urban settings and its occurrence is closely related to poor quality of life.

Looking Back, Imagining Forward

2023-01-03T21:45:49-08:00