Eleventh International Conference on The Constructed Environment

Abstract

In 2011, the UN General Assembly adopted the resolution “Happiness: Towards a Holistic Definition of Development”. Happiness and wellbeing came into light following a tremendous increase in the numbers of mental health-related problems worldwide. Studies show a direct link between mental health-related issues with people living in cities. Existing research confirms that urbanization is one of the main health-relevant changes humanity is facing today. Globally urbanization is at peak level, and there is an urgent need to adopt efficient solutions, for new and existing urban areas. There are researches related to the ‘built environment and mental wellbeing’; ‘the social environment and mental wellbeing’; ‘the built environment and the social environment’; separately. This paper focuses on the impact of the urban environment on mental wellbeing and includes all the three concepts (the physical environment, the social environment and mental wellbeing). Furthermore, it highlights the main domains and indicators of the physical environment and the social environment and their interrelationship with the mental wellbeing aspects. While developing the groundwork for a theoretical framework, hundred scholarly articles and literature reviews in English on the connection between urban environment domains and mental wellbeing were studied based on two criteria: 1) the relationship of at least one indicator of the physical environment and mental wellbeing 2) the relationship between the urban social environment resulting as the perceived environment and mental wellbeing.The primary outcomes pertain to opportunities to assess both objective and subjective measures of the urban environment that affect the mental wellbeing.

Presenters

Asesh Sarkar
Student, PhD Candidate, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Uttaranchal, India

Tina Pujara
Assistant Professor and Founder of Happiness by Design Research Group, Department of Architecture and Planning, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee, India