Mental Well-Being and the Influence of Place: Conceptual Approaches for the Built Environment for Planning Healthy and Walkable Cities

Abstract

Promotion of healthy cities has prompted urban planners and designers to build new conceptual frameworks to improve the design of public spaces, in which mental well-being emerges as a fundamental concept. Mental well-being is related to spatial design, with increasing attention being paid to the built environment as an important predictor of mental well-being. The objective of this article is to advance and contribute new knowledge about the characteristics of the built environment and its potential benefits for mental well-being. A meta-analysis is carried out on various empirical and theoretical approaches from the literature. Using a WOS database as a case study, a methodology based on a bibliometric analysis is proposed to examine which elements of the built environment impact mental well-being in research between 1975 and 2020, using the HistCites and VOSviewer tools. The results show that there are six thematic axes related to the built environment that would favor greater mental well-being in public spaces: walkability, density, spatial design, environmental noise, green areas and social interaction. The six thematic axes are critically analyzed and integrated into a conceptual framework to address the impacts of the built environment on mental well-being in the planning of cities. It concludes with a discussion on the implications of these concepts for urban public policy and the promotion of healthier and more sustainable and walkable environments in Latin American cities.

Experiencing Public Spaces in Southern Chile: Analysing the Effects of the Built Environment on Walking Perceptions

“…In the axial connectivity analysis of Figure 2, the main streets, Pérez Rosales to the north and Calle Yungay, stand out as the ones with the highest connectivity in the sector, with a value of 15 (number of connections per segment). These are followed by the main streets within the neighbourhood, such as Clemente Escobar (12), Coronel Santiago Bueras (11), Pérez Rosales to the south (11), Lord Cochrane (10), and Baquedano (10). By contrast, interior passages and streets maintain low levels of connectivity.…”

“…This is recognized in Chilean public policy through the National Urban Development Policy, which defines the objective of promoting walking in cities as "a healthy and sustainable mode of transport" [9]. However, in Chile, people often face several barriers in public spaces while walking, with negative impacts on their mental and physical health [4,10]. Data from the latest mobility survey in Chilean cities [11] show that although intermediate cities register high modal quotas for walking, these have decreased in cities in southern Chile from 33.5% to 23.1% between 2002 and 2013.…”

“…Data from the latest mobility survey in Chilean cities [11] show that although intermediate cities register high modal quotas for walking, these have decreased in cities in southern Chile from 33.5% to 23.1% between 2002 and 2013. Similarly, a Chilean Chamber of Construction report notes that 32% of the sidewalks in the main cities of Chile are in a poor condition [12], evidencing the low maintenance of pedestrian spaces [10]. In lower-income neighbourhoods, sidewalks do not even exist or are not paved, and are of poor quality, without trees [13].…”

Measuring the Non-Linear Relationship between Three-Dimensional Built Environment and Urban Vitality Based on a Random Forest Model

“…However, the built environment is not only reflected in the horizontal dimension but also the vertical dimension [21][22][23]. Specifically, the built environment relates to the artificial facilities and structures in which people live, work, and play, including streets, open spaces, and buildings [24][25][26][27][28].…”

Correlation Study between Rural Human Settlement Health Factors: A Case Study of Xiangxi, China

“…With the increased emphasis on health performance in settlements, how to build a living environment that meets the needs of human health in the era of Industry 4.0 remained unclear, especially on environmental factors that affect health in different settings. Existing research on healthy architecture and living environments is valuable and involves multidimensional and multilevel fields, such as medicine, psychology, society, and planning [ 18 – 21 ].…”