Dutch adults often use different food retailers than the geographically nearest, and distance to food retailers is not associated with snack food consumption. As such, policies to make cities healthier with respect to fast food outlets should perhaps not be distance-based.
COVID-19 altered our access to our communities, physical activity levels and social interactions. For people living with dementia, this was even more acute and problematic. This is the first study to center their perspectives in understanding how the neighborhood impacted their pandemic experiences and offers insights for future planning.
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.
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.
Our study explores how perceptions of urban green space quality and accessibility relate to loneliness in urban India. Findings show that subjective experiences, design features, and feelings of social exclusion shape engagement with green spaces. Inclusive, safe, and emotionally responsive green space design is crucial for reducing loneliness.Important to note; our study advances urban health and planning research by demonstrating that loneliness is shaped more by perceived quality and emotional experience of green spaces than by their physical presence alone.
We examined the factors that limit and enable the uptake of healthy diets among urban populations with multiple socio-economic vulnerabilities. By exploring the interconnected economic, social and environmental influences, we aimed to generate context-specific evidence that can inform effective and targeted action to support progress towards achieving global nutrition targets in the context of triple burden of malnutrition and increasing concern on high incidences of diet-related diseases in rapidly urbanizing areas.
Verhalenhuis Belvédère demonstrates how community-led, culturally rooted public spaces bolster neighbourhood resilience during urban renewal by combining participatory co-creation, flexible programming, recognition, and memory work. More broadly, examples like this show how a socio-spatial triad—spatial agency, networked solidarity, and identity grounding—can help protect neighbourhood identity and strengthen lasting social infrastructure in diverse communities.
Our study provides robust, localized evidence from Srinagar, India, linking road traffic noise exposure to increased hypertension risk, particularly among women and highly stressed individuals. It highlights the inadequacy of applying high-income country data to low- and middle-income country contexts.
The image of older people in China preferring to live with their children is not uniformly the case, particularly for those with the most resources, and with fewest. Not enough is known about preferences for what kinds of places older Chinese want to live in, including the design, location, and tenure of homes.