For a long time, architecture and housing policy have been viewed through the lens of providing a product. But the pandemic showed that for certain people lacking space, with small children, or with complex families, housing can add to their ailments and cause ill mental health.
Cities often invest in infrastructure while overlooking what residents say truly shapes health. Drawing on community voices from Regina, this study shows that belonging, meeting basic needs, and valuing lived and Indigenous knowledge are essential for building healthier and more equitable cities.
Greenspace use can positively influence subjective wellbeing; but research often focuses on how nature as “part of self” affects this relationship. Instead, we should focus on both urban and natural place-related identities to enhance wellbeing for all greenspace users.
Food behaviours are associated with diet quality, a major risk factor for chronic disease. We compared the food behaviours of house residents and apartment residents, and apartment residents by characteristic. We found significant differences in meal purchasing behaviours and consumption of fruit and vegetables, which have short- and long-term implications for dietary health.
Our study wanted to know more about the relationship between neighborhood walkability and crime in New Orleans, generally finding that the relationship between the two depends on the level of walkability, type of crime, and socioeconomic conditions of the neighborhood. Walkability was related to less crime in economically impoverished neighborhoods. Improving walkability in economically disadvantaged areas may help reduce crime.
Cities increasingly rely on assessment tools to understand whether neighbourhoods and urban systems support health and wellbeing. Yet results can depend on which tool is used. We examined fourteen widely used health assessment tools using a structured analytical framework. Our study shows that divergence is not primarily about which indicators are included, but about how tools operate across multiple layers.
Unplanned and rapidly expanding urbanization, crowded living conditions, and air pollution pose serious threats to maternal health. Research shows that, contrary to expectations, traffic noise does not play a decisive role in preterm birth. Strategic actions to improve urban health can help babies start life healthier and stronger.
Across many cities, residents of informal settlements lack safe, nearby green space. Using Nakuru (Kenya) as a testbed, we show how opening schoolyards to communities outside school hours can rapidly expand walkable access at minimal cost. With basic security and governance measures, this dual-use model can advance health equity and resilience.
This study analysed thirteen neighbourhoods across four Israeli metropolitan cities from a cross-typological perspective to identify meaningful depression patterns and their links to neighbourhood design. The study suggests that while it is clear that urban planners cannot control all features associated with depression, they have at least the power to address the physical features associated with the neighbourhood, such as densities, street networks, building forms, and open spaces.
Deaths by suicide are the leading cause of violent death. Suicide is a silent plague that is killing people daily in different cities and towns of Spain. Is the type of settlement and air temperature affecting the probability of killing yourself? What we can deduce from statistical models.