The Impact of Health-Promoting Built Environments on Public Health
A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Health".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 September 2024) | Viewed by 1051
Special Issue Editors
Interests: physical activity and the built environment; links between physical activity, academic achievement, and cognition among youths
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
There is a large body of published research linking features of the built environment to improved health behaviors and health outcomes [1,2,3]. Such research has increasingly been applied in the design of communities that allow for increased walkability, access to public transportation, and access to green spaces. Increasingly, health-promoting features (access to natural light, communal spaces for gathering, attention to indoor air quality) are also being considered as key elements of a healthy indoor environment. Despite several decades of research on the link between built environments and health, data that will elucidate the pathways between features of a built environment and specific health outcomes are still needed. For example, what are the links between community green spaces, social cohesion, and measures of psychological well-being? Which specific features of a built environment are most impactful on physical activity behaviors? Additional examples of relevant topics are as follows:
Outdoor Built environments
Physical (built) environment
- Features: walkability, livability, access to alternate forms of transportation;
- Health Outcomes: cardiovascular health-related.
Natural environments (integration into built environment)
- Features: planned green spaces (biophilic environs) and health;
- Health Outcomes: mental health-related outcomes (well-being, QOL).
Social environments (integration into built environment)
- Features: built environment opportunities for social connection, shared green spaces for neighborhood gatherings, community amenities, design features such as front porches, mixed-use features;
- Health Outcomes: mental health-related outcomes (well-being, QOL).
Indoor Environments
Physical
- Features: ventilation/HVAC for infectious disease prevention. allergy/irritant reduction, odor reduction. Cleanliness and attention to upkeep.
- Health Outcomes: prevention of infectious dx (Legionnaires, COVID-19, etc.), reduction in respiratory symptoms (asthma, mucus membrane irritation), mental health-related outcomes (well-being, QOL).
Natural environments (integration into built environment)
- Features: natural light and circadian rhythms;
- Health Outcomes: mental health-related outcomes (well-being, QOL).
Social (integration into built environment)
- Features: social building layouts that promote community social connectedness;
- Health Outcomes: mental health-related outcomes (well-being, QOL).
We invite papers that examine the extent to which health-promoting features of a built environment have specifically impacted health- and well-being-related outcomes. We especially welcome papers that provide data examining links between features of a built environment (outdoor or indoor), health promoting behaviors, and health- and well-being-related outcomes (mental and/or physical).
References
- Bird, E.L.; Ige, J.O.; Pilkington, P.; Pinto, A.; Petrokofsky, C.; Burgess-Allen, J. Built and natural environment planning principles for promoting health: an umbrella review. BMC Public Heal. 2018, 18, 930, https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-5870-2.
- Evans, G.W. The Built Environment and Mental Health. J. Urban Heal. 2003, 80, 536–555, https://doi.org/10.1093/jurban/jtg063.
- Ortegon-Sanchez, A.; McEachan, R.R.C.; Albert, A.; Cartwright, C.; Christie, N.; Dhanani, A.; Islam, S.; Ucci, M.; Vaughan, L. Measuring the Built Environment in Studies of Child Health—A Meta-Narrative Review of Associations. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Heal. 2021, 18, 10741, https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182010741.
Prof. Dr. Julian A. Reed
Dr. Elizabeth W. Holt
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- green space
- health and well-being
- health-promoting environments
- indoor built environments
- outdoor built environments
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