Architecture + Health

The Role of Human Scale and Healthy Urban Planning on Health and Wellbeing

"First life, then spaces, then buildings - the other way around never works." 1

-Jan Gehl, Life Between Buildings

Abstract

In recent decades there has been an increasing recognition of, and action centred on, the role and importance of the built environment in influencing a population’s health. This dissertation seeks to examine and develop a deeper understanding of the role of human scale architecture and healthy urban planning on public health and wellbeing.

With a focus on Copenhagen, a city which consistently ranks as one of the happiest and healthiest in the world, and where cycling is ‘the norm’ for the majority of the city’s commuters, the research encompasses 3 main areas:

1. Investigation of Copenhagen’s post-WWII urban planning. This research examines the history of the city’s urban plan which was initially shaped by the welfare state, before drifting towards conforming with the modernist movement and the domination of the car, but ultimately seeing its overall general direction being shaped more by chance than careful planning

2. Exploration of the theory and research informing today’s human scale and healthy urban planning. This includes an examination of the healthy urban planning ‘movement’organisations and networks - currently working both independently and in partnership to ensure its inclusion in all urban planning. Also included is close consideration of 3 interventions chosen from Copenhagen’s existing urban plan:

• Strøget – Copenhagen’s first pedestrianised street

• Supercykelstier - Copenhagen’s worldclass cycling network

• Superkilen Park - Copenhagen’s flagship multicultural and multifunctional public space

3. Exploration of student perceptions regarding aspects of Copenhagen’s healthy urban planning on their health and wellbeing – conducted through use of an on-line questionnaire

The findings of the research clearly demonstrate that careful consideration of healthy urban planning as part of the design process can influence and have a marked positive effect on the health and wellbeing of a population.