Graduation Semester and Year

2019

Language

English

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of City and Regional Planning

Department

City and Regional Planning

First Advisor

Jianling Li

Abstract

The rapid urbanization taking place in the 21st century poses its own unique set of public health concerns. In addition to changing lifestyles around the world, mental illness rates are higher in our cities. While the conversations surrounding public health usually focus on the physical, mental health has an equal impact on the overall wellbeing of individuals and populations. Just as the planning profession finds it crucial to be involved in efforts to improve the physical public health in cities, we must do the same for the public mental health. Like most professions, planning is guided by our theories. These are traditionally referred to as paradigms, and many of these are framed around idealized city concepts as a goal. However, our existing paradigms and ideal cities pay insufficient attention to the mental health issues facing us today. In order to better discuss the mental health issues facing urban planning in a rapidly urbanizing world, it is possible a new paradigm concept is needed to guide discussion in the planning profession. To assist in developing a new discussion framework, the biopsychosocial model of psychology is suggested. This perspective involves not only the social demographics of a population, but also the psychological needs and biological realities of humans, allowing urban planning to achieve a more complete picture of human perceptions and behaviors in our designs and public policies. When viewed through this lens, common urban design issues such as outdoor lighting, green spaces, and the design standards for built forms offer different strategies for designs that help mitigate risk factors for poor levels of public mental health. To better understand the current awareness of this issue, a survey was undertaken involving professional planners, professionals working in public health both physical and mental, and those in light pollution. The data from this survey measured planning’s awareness and understanding of the issues of public mental health and which further actions could potentially be taken first. In general, urban planners were found to be aware of mental health’s importance but discussed the topic infrequently and were unsure where to start. While planning cannot offer cures for mental illness through improvements to the built environment, changes can be made by planning to mitigate the city’s role as a risk factor contributing to high rates of mental illness.

Keywords

Urban risk factors, Environmental risk factors, Ideal cities, Planning paradigms, Mental health, Biophilia, Allostatic load, Planning, Greenspace, Urban form

Disciplines

Architecture | Urban, Community and Regional Planning

Comments

Degree granted by The University of Texas at Arlington

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