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Neurourbanistic Perspectives on Public Space Design for Mental Health: University Campuses in Tromsø and Copenhagen
Malmö University, Faculty of Culture and Society (KS), Department of Urban Studies (US).
2024 (English)Independent thesis Advanced level (degree of Master (Two Years)), 20 credits / 30 HE creditsStudent thesis
Abstract [en]

This thesis is a reaction to rising mental health problems among young adults. Urban planning is asked toaddress this epidemic since cities are associated with a higher risk of developing mental diseases than in ruralareas. The ongoing urbanization stresses the need for corresponding approaches. In recent years, the new interdisciplinaryresearch field of neurourbanism has been emerging. Besides the disciplines of urban planning,urban studies, urban design and architecture, it also involves researchers and practitioners from sociology, philosophy,medicine, or psychology. Its research object is to understand the link between urban environmentsand health-related brain responses to develop prevention guidelines for urban planning in the long term. Asthere is hardly any transfer from neuroscientific findings to planning practice so far, this thesis aims to identifystarting points for urban planning in an explorative way. Besides a literature review about factors contributingto a higher risk of psychoses in cities, studies about the effect of different environments using neuroscientificmethods were reviewed. In doing so, more detailed parameters for beneficial public space features could beidentified. Since neurourbanism is still a very young research field, the findings from the theory chapter weresupplemented by expert interviews. Four researchers from different countries and one Norwegian landscapearchitect gave insights into current challenges, pathways between urban life and mental health, as well ashealth-promoting public space features. Based on that, a simplified framework of factors influencing the linkbetween urban environments and mental health was elaborated. Adding to that, an overview table about beneficialurban outdoor features combines the findings from the literature review and expert interviews. Boththe framework and the overview table are the basis for two case studies on the university campus in Tromsøand Karen Blixens Plads in Copenhagen. Since this is a first attempt to transfer neuroscientific evidence to theevaluation of public spaces, it is about exploring potential approaches for such a transfer. By conducting spatialanalyses and mental maps, their potential and needs for future approaches could be identified. Overall, thisthesis identifies starting points for public space design to address mental health among young adults, givesan overview of beneficial spatial characteristics and provides a framework for understanding the associationfrom an urbanistic perspective.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2024.
National Category
Public Health, Global Health and Social Medicine
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-69634OAI: oai:DiVA.org:mau-69634DiVA, id: diva2:1879583
Educational program
KS US Urban Studies
Supervisors
Examiners
Available from: 2024-06-28 Created: 2024-06-28 Last updated: 2025-02-20Bibliographically approved

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CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

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Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf