Mental Health and the Built Environment
The built environment can promote or hinder mental health. Place attachment refers to the psychological and social connections people feel with certain places—their homes, the settings in which they grew up, and others. The conditions of modern life place
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duction When Loretta found a three-bedroom apartment next to the highway interchange, she jumped at the chance to rent it. Moving there meant that her two children could go to school together and that her commute would be considerably reduced. But a year after the move, she has noticed worrisome changes in Trisha, who is twelve years old, and Ben, who is ten. Whereas last year both children were optimistic about life and excited about school, this year they are significantly less so. They have more trouble with their schoolwork, report that they have difficulty paying attention in class, and express worries about being able to do well in school. Loretta is an observant mother. Scholars who examine the impact of chronic noise—such as noise from a busy highway interchange—report that exposure to ambient noise A.L. Dannenberg et al. (eds.), Making Healthy Places: Designing and Building for Health, Well-being, and Sustainability, DOI 10.5822/978-1-61091-036-1_7, © Island Press 2011
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MENTAL HEALTH AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
is associated with negative classroom behaviors and decreases in the mental health of elementary school children.
The quality and characteristics of the settings we inhabit—the places in which we live, work, and play—influence our mental health. This chapter examines the extent to which built environments promote mental health and well-being, increase the development of social ties, facilitate recovery from mental fatigue, affect anxiety and depression, and contribute to aggression and violence. The environments we inhabit call on us to possess a wide variety of skills and abilities. By the same token, each of us requires certain essentials of life from our surroundings. The extent to which a setting supports mental health is dependent on the match between the person and that environment. The more successful the match, the greater the likelihood that the individual will experience higher levels of mental health and well-being; the greater the mismatch, the more likely it is that the individual will experience psychological distress.
Promoting Mental Health and Well-Being Some places have a salutary effect on mental health and well-being (Table 7.1). For instance, as discussed in Chapter 15, places that provide views of, or direct exposure to, trees and other forms of vegetation are associated with an increased sense of well-being (Day 2008; Kaplan 2001), higher levels of self reported peace and quiet (Day 2008; Yuen and Hien 2005), and greater satisfaction with home and neighborhood (Kaplan 2001; Kearney 2006; Lee et al. 2008). Similarly, proximity to open greenspaces in urban areas is associated with reduced levels of stress (Grahn and Stigsdotter 2003). A considerable amount of evidence suggests that exposure to greenspace on school grounds promotes healthy psychological development. Natural playscapes at schools have been found to benefit children’s creative play and their emotional and cognitive development (Evans et al. 2001; Mårtensson et al. 2009). Studies conducted on college campuses have
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