Sub themes on this page: Social & Mental Wellbeing, Safety, Comfort, Pollution
Offer spaces, services, and activities where the promotion and development of human vitality and wellbeing is materialised. As social and mental wellbeing are outcomes of good urban planning and design, there are several general and context-specific principles that can be considered and applied towards urban reconstruction efforts in post-crisis cities and neighborhoods for this purpose.
Strategies
Alignment with WorldGBC principles:
Stakeholders to involve:
Provide integrated safety and disaster risk mitigation/prevention planning and management measures over the life cycle of the reconstruction process of cities whilst maintaining the wellbeing of all stakeholders. Explore effective measures which priorities safety for all stakeholders at all development levels, in the context of a health pandemic.
Strategies
Alignment with WorldGBC principles:
Stakeholders to involve:
Encourage occupant wellbeing by ensuring thermal, visual, auditory, and olfactory comfort. Encourage beneficial lifestyle practices which include good nutrition, hydration, and social connectivity.
Strategies
Alignment with WorldGBC principles:
Stakeholders to involve:
Approach pollution mitigation and prevention through a comprehensive, integrative, and multi-disciplinary design approach, and elaborate on the preservation of air, water and soil quality to minimise health risks.
For optimum protection against harm which also encapsulates human wellbeing, the theme provides mitigation strategies for other sources of pollution such as noise and light.
Strategies
Alignment with existing WorldGBC principles:
Stakeholders to involve:
Theme Tools:
Sub theme: Social & Mental Wellbeing
Astell-Burt, T., Feng, X., & Kolt, G. S. 2013. Does access to neighborhood green space promote a healthy duration of sleep? Novel findings from a cross-sectional study of 259 319 Australians. BMJ Open, 3, e003094.
Beatley, T. 2016. Handbook of biophilic city planning and design. Springer.
Blackmore, R., Gray, K. M., Boyle, J. A., Fazel, M., Ranasinha, S., Fitzgerald, G., Misso, M., & Gibson-Helm, M. 2020. Systematic review and meta-analysis: The prevalence of mental illness in child and adolescent refugees and asylum seekers. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 59(6), 705–714.
Mykletun, A., Bjerkeset, O., Øverland, S., Prince, M., Dewey, M., & Stewart, R. 2009. Levels of anxiety and depression as predictors of mortality: The HUNT study. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 195(2), 118-125.
Mytton, O. T., Townsend, N., Rutter, H., & Foster, C. 2012. Green space and physical activity: An observational study using Health Survey for England data. Health Place, 18(5), 1034-1041.
Peen, J., Schoevers, R. A., Beekman, A. T., & Dekker, J. 2010. The current status of urban-rural differences in psychiatric disorders. Acta Psychiatria Scandinavia, 121(2), 84–93.
Powdthavee, N. 2008. Putting a price tag on friends, relatives, and neighbors: Using surveys of life satisfaction to value social relationships. The Journal of Socio-Economics, 37(4), 1459-1480.
Rashid, T., & Baddar, M. K. A.-H. 2019. Positive psychotherapy: Clinical and cross-cultural applications of positive psychology. In L. Lambert & N. Pasha-Zaidi (Eds.), Positive psychology in the Middle East/North Africa: Research, policy, and practise (pp. 333–362). Springer.
Roe, J., & Aspinall, P. 2011. The restorative outcomes of forest school and conventional school in young people with good and poor behavior. Urban Forestry and Urban Greening, 10(3), 205-212.
Roe, J., Aspinall, P., & Ward Thompson, C. 2017. Coping with stress in deprived urban neighborhoods: What is the role of green space according to life stage? Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 1760.
Schwanen, T., & Wang, D. 2014. Well-being, context, and everyday activities in space and time. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 104(4), 833–851.
Taylor, M. S., Wheeler, B. W., White, M. P., Economou, T., & Osborne, N. J. 2015. Research note: Urban street tree density and antidepressant prescription rates – A cross-sectional study in London, UK. Landscape and Urban Planning, 136, 174-179.
Troy, A., Grove, J. M., & O’Neil-Dunne, J. 2012. The relationship between tree canopy and crime rates across an urban–rural gradient in the greater Baltimore region. Landscape and Urban Planning, 106(3), 262-270.
Umberson, D., & Montez, J. K. 2010. Social relationships and health: A flashpoint for health policy. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 51(Suppl), S54–S66.
Veronese, G., Pepe, A., Cavazzoni, F., Obaid, H., & Perez, J. 2019. Agency via life satisfaction as a protective factor from cumulative trauma and emotional distress among Bedouin children in Palestine. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 1674.
Veronese, G., Pepe, A., Sala, G., Yamien, I., & Vigliaroni, M. 2019. Positive experience, psychological functioning, and hope for the future as factors associated with mental health among young Sub-Saharan internally displaced people (IDP): A quantitative pilot study. International Journal of Mental Health, 48(3), 165–187.
Villeneuve, P. J., Jerrett, M., Su, J. G., Burnett, R. T., Chen, H., Wheeler, A. J., & Goldberg, M. S. 2012. A cohort study relating urban green space with mortality in Ontario, Canada. Environmental Research, 115, 51–58.
Walther, L., Amann, J., Flick, U., Tam Ta, T. M., Bajbouj, M., & Hahn, E. 2021. A qualitative study on resilience in adult refugees in Germany. BMC Public Health, 21, 828.
Weinstein, N., Przybylski, A. K., & Ryan, R. M. 2009. Can nature make us more caring? Effects of immersion in nature on intrinsic aspirations and generosity. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 35, 1315-1329.
Zelenski, J. M., Dopko, R. L., & Capaldi, C. A. 2015. Cooperation is in our nature: Nature exposure may promote cooperative and environmentally sustainable behavior. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 42, 24-31
Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 by UNDRR outlines seven clear targets and four priority areas for actions that can prevent new disaster risks and reduce existing risks
Sub theme: Safety
UNDDR. (2015). The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030. UNDDR
UNISDR. (2017). Build Back Better in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction. UNISDR
WELL Health and Safety Standard. 2021. International WELL Building Institute
Sub theme: Comfort
BCO. 2018. ‘BCO Wellness Matters’. http://www.bco.org.uk/HealthWellbeing/WellnessMatters.aspx
European Commission. 2019. ‘Health Effects of Noise’. https://ec.europa.eu/environment/noise/health_effects_en.htm
GSAS Construction Management Guidelines and assessment. 2016 V2.1-issue 2.0.
USGBC. (n.d.). Neighborhood Development Plan. https://www.usgbc.org/credits?Version=%22v4%22&Rating+System=%22Neighbor…
Laaidi, K.,et al. 2013. ‘Cold spells and health: prevention and warning’. Public health, Vol. 127(5). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2013.02.011
USGBC. (n.d.). LEED Communities. https://www.usgbc.org/credits?Version=%22v4.1%22&Rating+System=%22Cities…
Meng, X.W: & Setoguchi, T. 2010. Development of Urban Design Guidelines with Wind Tunnel Simulations for Downtown Districts in Winter Cities – New Urban Design Approaches for Cold Region Cities. Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering, Vol 9(2). DOI: 10.3130/jaabe.9.355
Public space site-specific assessment Guidelines to achieve quality public spaces at neighborhood level, UNHABITAT For Better Urban Future. https://unhabitat.org/sites/default/files/2020/07/final_pssa_v.1_reviewe… pressed.pdf
USGBC, LEED v4.1 Cities and Communities: Planning and Design, April 10, 2020
Renner, R. 2018. Urban Being: Anatomy & Identity of the City. Niggli Verlag.
Lydon, M., & Garcia, A. (2015). Tactical Urbanism: Short-term Action for Long-term Change.
EPA. (n.d.). Heat Island Cooling Strategies. https://www.epa.gov/heatislands/heat-island-cooling-strategies.
WELL. (n.d.). Thermal Comfort. WELL Communities. https://v2.wellcertified.com/community/en/thermal%20comfort#
WELL. (n.d.).
Thermal Comfort. WELL Communities.https://v2.wellcertified.com/community/en
Sub theme: Pollution
Everything Connects. ‘Noise Pollution’. https://www.everythingconnects.org/noise-pollution.html
Hurley, et al. 2014. ‘Light at night and breast cancer risk among california teachers’. Epidemiology, Vol 25(5). Doi:10.1097/EDE.0000000000000137
Legates, at el. 2014. ‘Light as a central modulator of circadian rhythms, sleep and affect’. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, Vol 15(7). Doi:10.1038/nrn3743
World Health Organization. 2013. https://www.who.int/health-topics/air-pollution#tab=tab_1
Hurley, et al. 2014. ‘Light at night and breast cancer risk among california teachers’. Epidemiology, Vol 25(5). Doi:10.1097/EDE.0000000000000137
Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) and International Dark Sky Association (IDA). 2011. Model Lighting Ordinance (MLO) User Guide for information on determining the project’s lighting zone. https://www.darksky.org/light-pollution/
Legates, at el. 2014. ‘Light as a central modulator of circadian rhythms, sleep and affect’. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, Vol 15(7). Doi:10.1038/nrn3743
World Health Organization. 2013. https://www.who.int/health-topics/air-pollution#tab=tab_1
