Biophilic Design: Exploration of Health Impacts on Future Cities
The cities are increasingly adopting biophilic design as a solution to address the issues of growing health and wellbeing. Given our innate association with nature for a long time, biophilic elements and processes, if integrated well into our built environment, have the potential to contribute to health and well-being. We argue that biophilic design induces benefits of well-being through its rejuvenating and therapeutic effects. We also argue that ecological services of natural infrastructures are crucial for creating a sustainable and healthier habitat. We conclude that integrated and accessible biophilic elements on diverse scales in the built environment are beneficial for human health and well-being.
BIOPHILIC DESIGN
Human beings, as part of the living ecosystem, evolved over millennia through interaction with the natural environment. Humans have developed a diverse set of innate inclinations towards nature and natural processes, known as biophilia. The symbiotic relationship with nature is crucial for human health and wellbeing.1 The application of biophilia for the design of human habitats, including buildings and cities, is known as 'biophilic design'. Consequently, every sphere of human invention prior to the industrial revolution, including tools, buildings, and cities, was guided by biophilia. Human-nature co-existed in a harmonious relationship promoting the health and wellbeing of each other.2
Nevertheless, human pursuits of urbanization and associated technological advancements in the few centuries have conquered and exploited natural ecosystems. Technology-driven cities have isolated people from natural systems and processes, resulting in physical and emotional distress. People started suffering from nature deficit disorder.3 The human biological systems are yet to adapt to technologically modified conditions devoid of nature. The destiny of human beings is trapped in the dilemma of its own construction.4
In the last few decades, there has been increasing recognition of the value of maintaining a built-nature balance in cities to address health and wellbeing concerns. The key players in the field of urban planning and development are beginning to explore alternate models of development with nature as a central piece. Biophilic designs in buildings and cities involve the direct, indirect, and symbolic elements and characteristics of nature, including but not limited to natural lighting and ventilation and natural elements.5 Albeit in the early stages, researches show the positive impact of biophilic designs in restoring and strengthening the connection between humans and nature to solve the problems of sustainability, resilience, health, and wellbeing.
DESIGN FOR HEALTH
As Colomina and Wigley argue in their book ‘Are We Human - Notes on the Archaeology of Design’, humans design, and design, in turn, reshapes humans. Human beings today are like spiders, trapped in the environment they have created, unable to extricate themselves.9 The environments we design shape our existence and affect our physical and mental health.
In modern times, the impact of the living environment on human health began with the recognition of tuberculosis. Modern medicine has identified the causes of tuberculosis as lack of exercise, sedentary indoor living, poor ventilation, lack of light and depression among others.10 The state of life of a new generation of young people who stay indoors, have fewer opportunities to explore nature, are held hostage by mechanized buildings, and electronics. Disconnected from nature, they suffer from "nature deficit disorder." A sedentary life has become the modern man's destiny.11
Biophilic design is based on the biophilic nature of
human beings, with a deep understanding of the impact of the natural environment on health, to reorganize and develop contemporary design practice. In the field of architecture, modern architects strengthen people's experience of nature through direct and indirect means, such as introducing natural elements such as sunlight, light and ventilation into the interior, and installing plants and sports facilities on the roof terrace to restore and strengthen the intimate connection between humans and the natural environment. Architecture is no longer a vessel to hold the body, but a means to provide health and promote human well-being and happiness.12
In the field of urban design, biophilic city that is centered on nature and seeks opportunities for restoration through nature-based solutions that creatively integrate nature into urban infrastructure as much as possible.13 A biophilic urban environment helps residents communicate, generate and share information, and it is a platform for building self-awareness and group identity.14 Residents care about nature, improve
mental health and quality of life, and work for a healthy natural environment, while enhancing social cohesion and fostering a wider network of social interactions. The future building is above all a health machine, a form of healing.15 The future city is a healthy city that cares about a greener, more active and healthier lifestyle, a city of nature that is interested in human well-being and happiness.
of nature through direct and indirect means, such as introducing natural elements such as sunlight, light and ventilation into the interior, and installing plants and sports facilities on the roof terrace to restore and strengthen the intimate connection
Part 2: Articulation of argument ( 100 words)
We argue that biophilic design contributes to human health and wellbeing through two intricately linked pathways. First, nature-induced effects of therapeutic and rejuvenating effects contribute to mental wellbeing. Secondly, the ecosystem services of natural infrastructures through processes such as photosynthesis, evapotranspiration and nitrogen fixation contribute to creating a sustainable and healthier habitat.
Part 3: Literature review and statement on the selection of the sources ( 1000words)
3.1 Statement on the Selection of the sources (500 words)
For the selection of primary sources, we first identified Stephen Kellert and Timothy Beatly as the prominent figures in biophilic design at the building and city scale, respectively. Kellert is a Professor of Social Ecology and Senior Research Scholar at the Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Whereas, Beatly is a Professor of Sustainable Communities at the University of Virginia and founder of Biophilic Cities network. We then reviewed their publications to select ones that are recent and relevant to our research field and arguments.
We selected Kellert’s ‘Nature by Design: Practice of Biophilic Design’ to understand the concept of biophilia and the importance of biophilic design in human health and wellbeing through the lens of human evolutionary process. In the field of biophilic design and human
health, buildings are the core area of intervention as humans today spend 90% of their daily lives indoors. To understand the theoretical and scientific underpinnings of biophilic designs at a building level, we have primarily referred to ‘Biophilic Design: The Theory, Science, and Practice of Bringing Buildings to Life’ by Stephen Kellert.Scaling up, biophilic design has to be adopted in an integrated and holistic manner across a range of scales in cities. ‘Biophilic Cities: Integrating Nature into Urban Design and Planning’ by Timothy Beatly delves into the aspects of provisioning accessible biophilic conditions and infrastructures, governance, and participation of urban residents. It also talks about incorporating biophilic elements ranging from green rooftops in buildings to riparian systems at a regional scale.
The key criterion for the selection of the secondary sources is relevance to our arguments, the prominence of authors and journals, sample sizes, and study periods. Given the two dimensional nature of arguments in our research, we have selected three journals of each argument.
3.2 Literature review (500 words)
The cross-sectional researches on parks and other green environments in cites shows that greater access to nature and green views leads to better cognitive functioning, more proactive patterns of life functioning and more self-discipline.20 Further, study on biophilic elements in buildings including plants, water, and daylighting states restorative values of biophilia on human health. However, most of the researches are focused on the healing benefits and with limited studies on wellbeing enhancement.
The research in the field of biophilic design mainly focuses on buildings, parks, and open spaces and their associated recuperative and restorative benefits in silos. It is yet to be ascertained the overall health benefits of adopting biophilic design in a systematic and integrated manner at a city scale. However, there are opportunities for synthesizing and triangulating the findings of various researches in the field of biophilic design, human health, and cities.
The natural infrastructure in cities includes street trees, remnant vegetation, parks, gardens, constructed wetlands, green roofs and walls, bioswales, and water bodies, among others. These natural elements perform diverse ecosystem functions with the potential to resolve current and emerging urban issues that have a direct bearing on human health. Plants, through the process of photosynthesis, reduce the amount of carbon dioxide and produce oxygen, in addition to providing a cooling effect through evapotranspiration. The ultraviolet rays of sunlight induce the production of vitamin D in the human body. The utilization of ecosystem functions by humans to enhance their health and wellbeing is known as ‘ecosystem services’. The natural elements have to be integrated with the built environment or located within an accessible distance, known as ‘serviceshed’, for their ecosystem functions to benefit people.6 For instance, trees situated in close proximity to buildings and spaces result in the cooling of habitable spaces without any side effects. Conversely, the use of conventional air conditioning systems results
in the emission of carbon dioxide and air pollutants. As opposed to the predominant practice of devising engineered and technology-driven solutions, the adoption of natural or green infrastructures for creating healthy cities through mitigation of the heat island effect, cleansing water, cleaner and cooler air, and flood risk reduction is effective and sustainable.
The natural infrastructure in cities includes street trees, remnant vegetation, parks, gardens, constructed wetlands, green roofs and walls, bioswales, and water bodies, among others. These natural elements perform diverse ecosystem functions with the potential to resolve current and emerging urban issues that have a direct bearing on human health. Plants, through the process of photosynthesis, reduce the amount of carbon dioxide and produce oxygen, in addition to providing a cooling effect through evapotranspiration. The ultraviolet rays of sunlight induce the production of vitamin D in the human body. The utilization of ecosystem functions by humans to enhance their health and wellbeing is known as ‘ecosystem services’. The natural elements have to be integrated with the built environment or located within an accessible distance, known as ‘serviceshed’, for their ecosystem functions to benefit people.6 For instance, trees situated in close proximity to buildings and spaces result in the cooling of habitable spaces without any side effects. Conversely, the use of conventional air conditioning systems results in the emission of
carbon dioxide and air pollutants. As opposed to the predominant practice of devising engineered and technology-driven solutions, the adoption of natural or green infrastructures for creating healthy cities through mitigation of the heat island effect, cleansing water, cleaner and cooler air, and flood risk reduction is effective and sustainable.
Given humans' innate inclination towards nature, people are naturally driven to expose themselves or interact with nature directly or indirectly. Natural elements in cities have the potential to resolve issues of physical and mental health by fostering active lifestyles. Parks
Nature-induced Benefits and natural elements in buildings and cities promote friendships and social relationships, providing avenues for more physical activities. People, including children, living in the vicinity of parks are found to engage more in physical activities such as walking and playing compared to neighborhoods with limited access to parks, resulting in lower incidences of chronic lifestylerelated diseases such as obesity, hypertension, and diabetes.7 Similarly, walkable streets with good tree canopy cover encourage people to walk and ride while commuting to work, contributing to good physical and mental health.
Further, exposure and interaction with nature lead to better cognitive functioning, psychological wellbeing and recovery. Human physiological systems are triggered to release hormones for good wellbeing when in contact with nature. The psychological systems also respond positively to the natural environment. The research shows that greater access to nature and green views leads to better cognitive functioning, more proactive patterns of life functioning and more selfdiscipline.8
Nature's Therapy: Urban Stress Relief Through Biophilic Integration Part
Argument 1: Nature-induced Benefits
The city itself is a stressful environment. The application of biophilic elements in urban spaces, as a partial solution, encourages recreation and alleviates the psychological punishment of the city. For example, in quiet environments like parks and natural areas with less noise pollution, stress levels can be reduced. Street trees can reduce noise, and the sense of belonging formed by access to urban parks and green spaces can promote communication between people and free the mind from repressed emotions or complicated affairs. 1
The researchers used four types of environmental exposure: Nature viewing, outdoor walking, outdoor exercise and gardening, and put the participants in different environments, conducted 43 studies to observe the stress response of the subjects, through seven stress outcome measures, including heart rate, blood pressure, saliva, blood, EEG and self-report, and finally found that after forest exposure, The length, depth, and quality of actual sleep were significantly improved. Studies using moving electroencephalograms to monitor
participants' emotional experiences during walking have found that positive emotions are an indicator of stress recovery. The improvement in mood and recovery was accompanied by a decrease in perceived stress and blood pressure, as well as a decrease in total and oxygenated hemoglobin, and a decrease in heart rate and cortisol concentration. While walking in an urban park, participants had higher levels of meditation, suggesting that they were likely to recover from stress.2
Healing Spaces: The Impact of Biophilic Design on Patient Recovery showed that patients assigned to rooms with Windows facing natural views spent less time in the hospital after surgery, received fewer negative reviews in the nurses' records and took fewer analgesics. 4
Biophilic design integrates natural elements into the built environment and can aid in recovery from illness.
Natural light regulates circadian rhythms and promotes sleep; Natural landscapes, such as biophilic artwork and green decorations, can ease anxiety and pain levels; Houseplants improve air quality by reducing pollutants and increasing oxygen levels; Some natural materials can be used to create a cozy, warm and healing environment. Incorporating water features such as fountains and miniature aquariums in indoor Spaces can create a peaceful atmosphere, while looking at the green outside through windows can have a positive impact on the patient's recovery.3
The researchers studied 200 beds of surgical patients at a suburban hospital in Pennsylvania and obtained records of patients on the second and third floors of three floors of the hospital between 1972 and 1981.
Patients who had undergone cholecystectomy were assigned to a room where they could see the natural environment through a window or a room where the window faced a brick wall. The results of the study
Cooling Canopies: Nature's Answer to Urban Heat Waves
Heat waves are major health concerns in cities and are responsible for thousands of deaths due to heat stress.5
In order to address the issue, we argue that natural infrastructures consisting of interconnected green space systems ranging from forests to parks and street trees are effective interventions in creating a cooler environment during hot summer days. Plants through the process of evapotranspiration release water which cools the air. Trees also provide shade to the buildings and outdoor spaces with their canopy.6
forest were 2.5–3.2 °C cooler than their surroundings with cooling effects extending up to 170 meters and 100 meters respectively. With regard to the street trees, the temperature is around 1.3 °C cooler than the first 10 m buffer of built-up area, and their influence is extended up to 30m from their borders.7
Our argument is substantiated by the findings of a research on the ecosystem services of natural infrastructures consisting of peri-urban forest, urban forest and street trees towards mitigation of urban heat island (UHI) effect in Rome, Italy. It found that UHI can be mitigated by natural infrastructures mainly during hot summer days. The peri-urban forest has the highest cooling potential followed by urban forest and street trees. The large peri-urban forest and the urban
Argument 2: Ecosystem services_Air Pollution/
Breath of Fresh Air: Harnessing Nature's Power Against Pollution
Heat waves are major health concerns in cities and are responsible for thousands of deaths due to heat stress.5
In order to address the issue, we argue that natural infrastructures consisting of interconnected green space systems ranging from forests to parks and street trees are effective interventions in creating a cooler environment during hot summer days. Plants through the process of evapotranspiration release water which cools the air. Trees also provide shade to the buildings and outdoor spaces with their canopy.6
forest were 2.5–3.2 °C cooler than their surroundings with cooling effects extending up to 170 meters and 100 meters respectively. With regard to the street trees, the temperature is around 1.3 °C cooler than the first 10 m buffer of built-up area, and their influence is extended up to 30m from their borders.7
Our argument is substantiated by the findings of a research on the ecosystem services of natural infrastructures consisting of peri-urban forest, urban forest and street trees towards mitigation of urban heat island (UHI) effect in Rome, Italy. It found that UHI can be mitigated by natural infrastructures mainly during hot summer days. The peri-urban forest has the highest cooling potential followed by urban forest and street trees. The large peri-urban forest and the urban
Figure 1: The river in Bishan Ang Mo Kio Park used to be a concrete drain that cut up the urban space and was unable to cope with the storm disaster event. The naturecentered biophilic design makes the park a part of the daily life of local residents. source:
Conversely, the use of conventional air conditioning systems results in the emission of carbon dioxide and air pollutants. As opposed to the predominant practice of devising engineered and technologydriven solutions, the adoption of natural or green infrastructures for creating healthy cities through mitigation of the heat island effect, cleansing water, cleaner and cooler air, and flood risk reduction is effective and sustainable.
Nature-induced Benefits
Given humans' innate inclination towards nature, people are naturally driven to expose themselves or interact with nature directly or indirectly. Natural elements in cities have the potential to resolve issues of physical and mental health by fostering active lifestyles. Parks and natural elements in buildings and cities promote friendships and social relationships, providing avenues for more physical activities. People, including children, living in the vicinity of parks are found to engage more in physical activities such as walking and playing compared to neighborhoods with limited access to parks, resulting in lower incidences of chronic lifestyle-related diseases such as obesity, hypertension, and diabetes.7
Similarly, walkable streets with good tree canopy cover encourage people to walk and ride while commuting to work, contributing to good physical and mental health. Further, exposure and interaction with nature lead to better cognitive functioning, psychological wellbeing and recovery. Human
physiological systems are triggered to release hormones for good wellbeing when in contact with nature. The psychological systems also respond positively to the natural environment. The research shows that greater access to nature and green views leads to better cognitive functioning, more proactive patterns of life functioning and more self-discipline.8
2: The Royal Park Hotel in Singapore designed by WOHA architects has widespread plantings on its exterior facade and interior spaces, sky gardens, natural materials and water features.
Designing for Health
spiders, trapped in the environment they have created, unable to extricate themselves.9 The environments we design shape our existence and affect our physical and mental health.
In modern times, the impact of the living environment on human health began with the recognition of tuberculosis. Modern medicine has identified the causes of tuberculosis as lack of exercise, sedentary indoor living, poor ventilation, lack of light and depression among others.10
use of vegetation.
deficit disorder." A sedentary life has become the modern man's destiny.11
Biophilic design is based on the biophilic nature of human beings, with a deep understanding of the impact of the natural environment on health, to reorganize and develop contemporary design practice.
In the field of architecture, modern architects strengthen people's experience of nature through direct and indirect means, such as introducing natural elements such as sunlight, light and ventilation into the interior, and installing plants and sports facilities on the roof terrace to restore and strengthen the intimate connection between humans and the natural environment. Architecture is no longer a vessel to hold the body, but a means to provide health and promote human wellbeing and happiness.12 In the field of urban design, Timothy Beatley presents a vision of a biophilic city that is centered on nature and seeks opportunities for restoration through nature-based solutions that creatively integrate nature into urban infrastructure as much as possible.13
lifestyle, a city of nature that is interested in human well-being and happiness.
22 23 issues that have a direct bearing on human health. Plants, through the process of photosynthesis, reduce the amount of carbon dioxide and produce oxygen, in addition to providing a cooling effect through evapotranspiration. The ultraviolet rays of sunlight induce the production of vitamin D in the human body. The utilization of ecosystem functions by humans to enhance their health and wellbeing is known as ‘ecosystem services’. The natural elements have to be integrated with the built environment or located within an accessible distance, known as ‘serviceshed’, for their ecosystem functions to benefit people.6 For instance, trees situated in close proximity to buildings and spaces result in the cooling of habitable spaces without any side effects.
Human health has a great deal to do with the environment. As Colomina and Wigley argue in their book ‘Are We Human - Notes on the Archaeology of Design’, humans design, and design, in turn, reshapes humans. Human beings today are like
Timothy Beatley discusses that the state of life of a new generation of young people who stay indoors, have fewer opportunities to explore nature, are held hostage by mechanized buildings, and electronics. Disconnected from nature, they suffer from "nature
A biophilic urban environment helps residents communicate, generate and share information, and it is a platform for building selfawareness and group identity.14 Residents care about nature, improve mental health and quality of life, and work for a healthy natural environment, while enhancing social cohesion and fostering a wider network of social interactions.
The future building is above all a health machine, a form of healing.15 The future city is a healthy city that cares about a greener, more active and healthier
The key players in the field of biophilia and biophilic design are Edward O. Wilson, Stephen Kellert, and Timothy Beatley. Wilson synthesized the term "biophilia," referring to the close inclination of humans towards nature, in the early 1980s.16 Stephen and Timothy expounded biophilia in the field of architectural designs and cities respectively. Kellert in his book ‘Birthright: People and Nature in the Modern World’ calls humans innate connection to nature our "birthright," and biophilic design is about strengthening and restoring that connection. In other book ‘Nature by Design: The Practice of Biophilic Design’, he elaborates the concept and principles of biophilic design and the benefits of exposure to nature.17 He systematically explores specific strategies for incorporating three basic elements of biophilia in buildings. First, direct experience of nature, involving direct contact with natural features including light, air, water, animals and plants; Second, indirect experience of nature, involving the shape and form of color materials, the bionic representation of nature and so on; third, the experience of space and place, focuses on the ecological context of the setting of space and the context of how people manage and organize their spatial environment.18
Beatley’s ‘Biophilic Cities: Integrating Nature into Urban Design and Planning’ explores modern people's disconnect from nature, concerns about
Figure Figure 3: The Supertrees is inspired by the organic shapes and in addition to the extensive