Thailand has spent 16 years developing design guidelines for the elderly and people with disabilities. Still, accessible design for cognition remains inadequate for the impending super-aged society. This mismatch emphasises a critical failure in design planning that demands urgent improvement.
Our study investigated whether apartment dwelling and building design attributes influenced residents’ housing satisfaction in the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Multivariate models showed that residents’ perceptions of their apartment’s internal space and layout and the thermal comfort it afforded them in winter were independently associated with increased housing satisfaction.
High-rise apartment buildings are increasingly popular in large cities, however, urban land availability for outdoor communal spaces is limited. Creating communal spaces for high population density is a challenging task. Past research indicates the importance of the immediate environment in stimulating social interaction and the spatial organization for social activities can play an important role. One may ask whether the design of communal spaces within high-rise buildings can stimulate social interaction among residents.
Cold spells adversely impact the mental well-being of older adults, causing depression, sleep disturbances, and social isolation. This study highlights the failure of community services to address these issues, urging policymakers and healthcare providers to implement targeted mental health interventions for this vulnerable population.
Differences in walking behaviour among racial groups highlight systemic inequalities that affect how and why people walk, pointing to broader issues of transportation and urban planning inequities.
Well-planned cities and neighbourhoods are building blocks for health and wellbeing. Our study evaluated one approach that two English local government organisations took to facilitate healthier environments, in both ‘healthy places officers’ were employed to bridge the gap between planning and public health teams.
The high risk of death and disability from being struck by a car is unevenly distributed geographically and socially. Our analytics reveal a troubling pattern in that people from Black and Latino neighbourhoods facean especially high risk of crashes, both near and far from home.
Vision Zero leaders in the hundreds of participating cities across the world in planning departments, nonprofits, and community groups need to look at our approach.
Unveiling the hidden truth behind open defecation in Delhi, this study exposes the role of infrastructural incapacity and institutional failure. With 80% of surveyed households’ still practicing open defecation, the findings underscore the urgent need for comprehensive policies to address the inadequacy of public and household facilities, water availability, and coordination among governmental bodies.
Health impact assessments are a key tool to bridge the worlds of planning and health, but there’s a risk they become a ‘tick box’ exercise with little real-world benefit. Learning from recent practice in English local authorities can help maximise their effectiveness in producing healthier developments.
We took a significant step in identifying the existing gaps in knowledge translation for healthy cities and adopting a proactive approach to laying out opportunities for improvement. By developing a visual representation for a renewed conceptual framework, we provide a clear and insightful tool for planners, designers, and policymakers aiming to enhance knowledge translation processes. As a result, this study not only elevates knowledge translation as a field of study for urban professionals but also reinforces its importance in public health.