The Empathic City: An Urban Health and Wellbeing Perspective 3031328396, 9783031328398

Citation preview

S.M.A.R.T. Environments

Nimish Biloria Giselle Sebag Hamish Robertson   Editors

The Empathic City An Urban Health and Wellbeing Perspective

S.M.A.R.T. Environments Series Editor Nimish Biloria, Faculty of Design Architecture and Building, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Sydney, NSW, Australia

The book series will cover a broad spectrum of data-driven multivalence in the built environment. The individual volumes will set the stage for understanding multiple ways in which the exponential escalation of digital ubiquity in the contemporary environment is being absorbed, modulated, processed and actively used for enhancing the performance of our built environment. S.M.A.R.T., is used as an acronym for Systems & Materials in Architectural & Urban Research and Technology, with a specific focus on investigating the intricate relationship between information systems and associative material formations at variable scales within the built environment. This is deeply rooted in exploring multi-domain research and design strategies involving nonlinear processes for developing data-driven generative meta-design systems. This book series is relevant to the shaping our Built Environment and will explore novel design and research paradigms. Chief Editor: Nimish Biloria University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia Mobile: +61 (0) 434118426; Email: [email protected] Editorial Board: Jane Burry Swinburne University of Technology, Victoria, Australia Phone: +61 3 9214 4677; Email: [email protected] Jaz Hee-jeong Choi Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia Phone: +617 3138 7657; Mobile: +61 433 167 151; Email: [email protected] Marcus Foth Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia Email: [email protected] Tim Gammons Arup, London, UK Phone: +44 113 242 8498; Mobile: +44 7824 622 387 Michael U. Hensel AHO-Oslo School of Architecture and Design, Oslo, Norway Mobile: + 47 9179 1275; Email: [email protected] OCEAN Design Research Association; OCEAN | SEA - Sustainable Environment Association Email: [email protected] Rob Roggema University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia Phone: +61 2 9514 8852; Mobile: +61 4 2388 1377; Email: [email protected]

Nimish Biloria • Giselle Sebag Hamish Robertson Editors

The Empathic City An Urban Health and Wellbeing Perspective

Editors Nimish Biloria Faculty of Design Architecture and Building University of Technology Sydney (UTS) Sydney, NSW, Australia

Giselle Sebag The International Society for Urban Health New York, NY, USA

Hamish Robertson Faculty of Health Queensland University of Technology Brisbane, QLD, Australia

ISSN 2523-8469 ISSN 2523-8477 (electronic) S.M.A.R.T. Environments ISBN 978-3-031-32839-8 ISBN 978-3-031-32840-4 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-32840-4 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 Chapters 7 and 14 are licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). For further details, see license information in the chapters. This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland

Preface

Can and should cities be more empathic? How can we create physical and social urban environments that support our own families and neighbors to live healthier, more equitable, and prosperous lives? For the International Society for Urban Health (ISUH), these issues are at the core of our mission and some of the key motives that get us out of bed daily. Since I first discovered the concept of urban health as an architect and budding urban planner nearly 15 years ago, I’ve been wrestling with the notion that the evidence does, in fact, exist to create places that support greater empathy and reduce disparities. Yet, there is little knowledge or guidance on practical efforts to do just that. As the first-ever Executive Director of ISUH, I’m committed to building new innovative programs like our Accelerating City Equity Project and investing in partnerships like this one to help tell the empathic city story and share the learnings that the field of urban health has amassed over the last two decades detailing methods and approaches to developing improved health and wellbeing for all people, in all geographies, regardless of economic status, age, ethnicity, or zip code. When Dr. Nimish Biloria first contacted me about joining the editorial team and inviting presenters from our 18th annual International Conference on Urban Health (ICUH), among others, as contributing authors for this book, I jumped at the chance to amplify the lessons about city equity that our brilliant ICUH presenters were sharing. It has since been a great pleasure to get to know Dr. Biloria and Dr. Hamish Robertson since embarking on this journey together. We are collectively passionate about building a more empathic and just collective future through built environment transformation in cities. For the past 12 months, we have been scouring the globe for the best ideas, approaches, policies, and tools to plan for more equitable cities that equally support all citizens’ health and holistic wellbeing. We touch on four important themes that contribute to building more empathy, including health equity and the reduction of health disparities, nature as medicine, systems approaches, and transformative urbanism. Chapters highlight cutting-edge research, policy strategies, intervention examples, and critical multidisciplinary and intersectoral partnerships to enable v

vi

Preface

turning evidence into action and impact. Readers will get many rich theories, evidence, and practical tools to build healthier, more equitable, and more empathic cities, whatever their role in urban transformation. We hope you’re equally inspired to get out there together to build a better future for us all. New York, NY, USA

Giselle Sebag

Introduction

Cities have profound power to support or hinder human health and wellbeing in countless ways. Achieving greater health equity has emerged in recent years as a key priority and consideration when designing cities to promote health and wellbeing, although there is a dearth of evidence and practical examples of research translation to guide cities and communities. This book accordingly exemplifies a pluralistic approach to achieving urban health equity which recognizes and addresses critical aspects of geography, age, race, background, socioeconomic status, disability, gender, and more. With interdisciplinary science clearly pointing to the role of the neighborhood environment as one of the most important health determinants, this book leads the next generation of urban health leaders to build contextually responsive, equitable, empathic cities to benefit residents around the world. This book, rather than being focused purely on academic propositions for building equitable cities, offers a unique multi-stakeholder perspective by collaborating with contributors to the International Society for Urban Health’s 18th International Conference on Urban Health. This unique partnership allows access to hundreds of global scientists, architects, urbanists, multilaterals, policymakers, non-profit leaders, and grassroots organizers. This book captures the voices and concerns of such diverse cross-sectoral professionals and showcases findings that turn evidence into action and impact in communities around the world. This book will thus act as a platform for communicating trans-disciplinary research outcomes in a diversity of settings from academia, government institutions, policymakers, practitioners, and social organizations that work relentlessly to identify and meet the demands of an exponentially growing population in a constantly evolving urban context globally. This book is also a true global representation of challenges and opportunities that have been encountered, addressed, and critiqued from a wide variety of contributors rather than being limited only to academicians per se. In doing so, rather than focusing on techno-centric prowess and associated case studies of the west (as is the case in most similar titles), this book also equally emphasizes upon the vulnerabilities and mitigating solutions being developed and tested in the under-developed and developing nations. Besides vii

viii

Introduction

this, this book also acquires an ‘equity’-oriented focus and hints upon sustainable, inclusive modes of shaping our built environment throughout the contributing chapters. To cover the diversity of factors that determine urban health and wellbeing, this book is organized under four themes that outline multi-objective relationships between environmental justice, the built environment, socio-spatial equity, and the determinants of urban health and wellbeing. The selected themes for this book are the following: • • • •

Health equity and the empathic city Salutogenic natural environments Systemic pathways towards urban health Transformative urbanism

These themes have been particularly chosen to project a holistic view on dedicated efforts to achieve a nexus of sustainable development goals, specifically SDG 3: Good Health and Wellbeing, SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities, and SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions.

Theme 01: Health Equity and the Empathic City The first theme, Health Equity and the Empathic City, promotes health as a fundamental human right; in its simplest form, health equity is a state where everyone irrespective of their social, economic, demographic, geographic, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, and disability backgrounds can attain their full potential for health and wellbeing. Simultaneously, a growing body of evidence from around the world is pointing to neighborhoods being more important than genetics in determining our health and wellbeing outcomes. This complex relationship between health and the built environment has been further tested and proven during the Covid pandemic. Ease of access to civic infrastructure and mobility services, access to green/blue infrastructure, disability friendly access and inclusivity within all service offerings, access to spaces for promoting social interaction among others, irrespective of one’s zip code or socioeconomic status, are all vital aspects that can help pave the path towards realizing greater health equity. In this context, the equitable distribution of urban resources including empowering vulnerable populations, addressing health disparities, informality, environmental and health justice, to name a few, are critical to ensure healthy and inclusive urban environments for all residents. This book begins with this principal thematic and conveys five viewpoints from authors hailing from different geographic locations globally that systematically explore and dissect the urban context at multiple scales. The section begins with Lucinda Cash-Gibson, Eliana Martínez-Herrera, Ferran Muntane Isart, Julián Martínez Herrera, Maria-Mónica Salazar Tamayo, Júlia Tena, and Joan Benach suggesting an overarching conceptual framework to aid us understand ‘sustainability’ in cities in a systemic manner. Such a framework can be used

Introduction

ix

for exploring the role of political determinants, the design and analysis of public polices, and for implementing comprehensive assessments of how different urban settings are progressing towards becoming more equitable and sustainable. The framework challenges siloed thinking and suggests a systemic mode of operation that can be used by local governments to assess what they can realistically do to achieve more equitable and sustainable urban outcomes. Danielle MacCarthy, Cristian Silva, and Deepti Adlakha explore the idea of a conceptual framework and refine it by proposing a person-environment fit framework for enhancing active-aging wherein the urban context is promoted as a key health determinant globally. Here they identify the growing levels of sedentarism as a major risk-factor for non-communicable diseases and to respond to this phenomenon through incremental and tailored interventions, based on the ideas of complex adaptive systems (CASs). A different take on systemic thinking through the lens of CAS for embedding the internalized and individualized needs of older adults as concepts of fit between the individual and their surrounding neighborhood and environments is thus explored. The need and benefits of developing planned, managed, and inclusive urban environments to promote health equity rather than the business-as-usual focus on clinical approaches towards health and wellbeing outcomes are thus proposed. Chirag Sharma and Sayon Pramanik dive one step deeper into the physical urban form in search of equitable distribution of green infrastructure. They specifically focus on developing countries like India and grapple with the multitude of problems that are bundled with the term ‘rapid urbanization’ with ‘active aging’ being a crucial health and wellbeing issue that they further explore. The role of public parks and green spaces in promoting active aging is thus explored using analytical tools such as space syntax and geographic information systems and the findings are subsequently conveyed, confirmed, and debated via public surveys. Sustainable development and growth of the urban domain and its associated success rather than being measure from GDP figures is thus seen through the lens of ‘quality of aging’ and the conduciveness of urban areas to actively promote a healthy and nourishing lifestyle of inhabitants. Shreya Shukla and Tina Pujara, while still holding true to exploring the role of the urban context within the context of developing nations, zoom into an urban precinct scale and the specificity of building typologies, to explore the relationship between neighborhood outdoor shared spaces and the mental wellbeing of the elderly. They identify mental wellbeing as a critical aspect within a rapidly aging demographic and cast an enlightening view on the relationship between activities or daily living, physical and mental wellbeing, and the nature of the built environment. The context of high-rise development-based living, social isolation within such building typologies, and the reducing level of interaction and sociability within such vertical communes is interfaced with the critical role of outdoor spaces within such neighborhoods for promoting mental wellbeing of the elderly. Shreya and Tina suggest the mixed methods strategies used in their study, and their findings could certainly strengthen methods used to assess neighborhood design for mental wellbeing, especially for the elderly.

x

Introduction

The section ends with a contribution from Prerna V Mehta and Rajeev G Malag that showcases an attempt to formally explore and systematically attack the issue of equity, this time from the lens of adolescents. They elaborate their experience of the ‘Healthy Cities for Adolescents Program’ where they look at a vital chunk of the demographic (10–19 years old) that will essentially inhabit the future of the urban built environment. The universal benchmarking of urban users, a strategy followed by current planning systems versus the inclusive and participatory nature of urban development model, possible by the active inclusion and integration of voices and actions of this demographic is brought to the front via this initiative. Needs and opportunities to do so, and the act of creating a platform for showcasing the desires and ambitions of this demographic to create a healthy, safe, and vibrant urban ecology, are thus suggested by the authors.

Theme 02: Salutogenic Natural Environments The second theme is essentially a call for understanding the role that natural environments and green infrastructure play in enhancing our health and wellbeing. Rapid urbanization, population increase, and the frequent failures of policies governing sustainable urban growth are increasingly resulting in people spending most of their time within artificially constructed built environments supported by an ever-increasing stream of traffic. According to the World Health Organization, poor urban planning decisions are responsible for the top ten causes of death globally. Rampant increase in stressors such as air and noise pollution, inactivity owing to sedentary lifestyles and work culture, social isolation etc., results in a variety of detrimental health conditions ranging from chronic respiratory diseases, cardiovascular disorders, hypertension, diabetes, stroke, depression, and obesity to name a few. Exposure to green restorative environments reduces the psychophysiological stress and fatigue, promotes absorption of clean air, reduces urban heat, promotes physical activity, and reduces social isolation, thus acting as preventive and restorative salutogens countering the ill impacts of the aforementioned stressors with a range of success. It is thus critical to integrate, nurture, and retrofit our built environments with natural elements as a primary driver to mitigate the ills brought about by unchecked urban growth. As establishing the ever-important link between human health and planetary health is becoming increasingly vital, this thematic focuses on the potential for nature to promote health in cities, the adoption and creation of nature-based and nature-inspired solutions to improve health, protect biodiversity, contribute to sustainability, and mitigate climate impacts. A group of authors situated in different geo-locations and their associated spatial, political, social, and economic challenges explores the possibilities, strategies, hurdles, and opportunities for integrating salutogenic natural environments within the urban fabric in this section. Elizelle Juanee Cilliers, Sumita Ghosh, and Emeka Austin Nbaguba provide a fitting start to the section with an agenda for ‘reclaiming healthy cities through

Introduction

xi

nature-based planning solutions.’ Here, they argue that open and shared spaces in conjunction with socio-ecological systems must be recognized as competing factors in determining urban planning strategies that ultimately translate to attaining the healthy city dream. They bring forth the obstacles that exist in the implementation of nature-based solutions at the policy and the governance front owing to a lack of a universal understanding of the scale, scope, area, and location of nature-based solutions within the complex morphologies of our cities. An attempt to bring forth the challenges and considerations (at times politically and economically motivated) to be vital for the domain of urban land-use planning versus nature-based solutions is made for the wider audience to digest. The authors, considering the outlined differences between these coincidentally divergent modes of thinking (urban planning and nature-based solutions), examine the actual value attributed to green spaces and how and if their integration relates to cultural perceptions, health standards, density, and vulnerability of the users of the space. From this overarching agenda and in some ways mirroring the concerns raised by the first cohort of authors, Khadiza Tul Kobra Nahin, Hasna Hena Sara, Krishna Rani Barai, Zahidul Quayyum, and Jill Baumgartner pick up the mantle to factually map the spatiotemporal variability of urban greenspace and surface temperature in the context of a developing mega-city: Dhaka, in Bangladesh. They trace the loss of urban greenspace over a 30-year time frame owing to the lack of an integrated approach that stitches urban planning and nature-based solutions together. Accessibility and availability of urban green is thus assessed using census data and geographic information systems and interfaced with land surface temperature and humidity levels to provide an evidence-based outlook on the impacts of dwindling urban green conditions, a phenomenon that is becoming common in the developing world. Such studies that transparently outline the systematic reduction of urban greenspace could certainly create a strong basis incentivizing the public and the governmental organization to assign a sense of urgency in the management, insertion, and preservation of greenspaces within mega-cities. After the case of Bangladesh, and its multitudinal complexities, Peter Vervoort, Ann Pisman, Frédéric Vandermoere, and Ilse Loots expose us to the city of Leuven in Belgium. The authors outline an approach to determine not only why it is important to provide access to green space but more importantly how to avoid ill impacts on health due to overuse and overcrowding within such green spaces. Though the population and density factors between Dhaka and Leuven are poles apart, the logic of interfacing spatial differentiation of access to health promoting green space with dwelling density, from the perspective of the residents and the approach of green space provision, could be an interesting exercise to consider. Interestingly the methodology used also supports supplementing the aforementioned indicators with socio-economic, demographic, or health data. This scalability of the developed method could certainly be beneficial and should be tested within different geolocations globally. Interestingly, this approach of assessment and validation of green spaces, and the case for urban planning versus nature-based solution, is attempted to be addressed via a retrofitting approach in the contribution from Jeremy Chivas, Martin Bryant,

xii

Introduction

and James Melsom. They suggest the integration of technology and ecology to develop a green mesh network to be retrofitted into cities and their suburbs. A platform that maximizes simulation, analysis, and implementation potential as a supplement to business-as-usual urban planning strategies is accordingly proposed. Coming from a landscape architecture and geo-information systems perspective, the authors identify three interlinked enablers: micro-climate based simulated spatial surveys, human programmatic studies, and vegetation matrices for extrapolating accurate micro-climatic data, human narratives, and planting typology matrices as an integrated holistic system to determine green space development contextually and culturally. The contributions in this section question, propose, and externalize opportunities and hindrances in implementing nature-based solutions. It is but natural to conclude the section by understanding nature-based solutions as an evaluation tool for the overarching question of urban resilience. For doing so, Sarang Barbarwar, Saiba Gupta, and Akash Parmar take up the case of the Global South. In the light of the recent COVID-19 Pandemic, they put forth a case wherein resilience and sustainability become central to urban development, thus integrating nature-based solutions and urban planning. This, they argue, shall result in sustainably fighting the impacts of climate change, uplift health, and wellbeing, while generate economic and social value simultaneously. An intriguing framework to quantitatively evaluate the impact generated through such integration is showcased through their contribution and can potentially aid in countering the shortcomings for mainstreaming nature-based solutions.

Theme 03: Systemic Pathways Towards Urban Health The third thematic specifically focuses on the drivers of urban health and wellbeing from an analytical systems science lens for understanding the potential benefits, hindrances, and opportunities that cities exhibit for enhancing health and wellbeing. The theme aims to fill urban health evidence gaps to advance knowledge and future practice while outlining the benefits of developing novel conceptual tools and studies to identify gaps, and visualization techniques, and the development of new policies. Establishing interrelations, networks, and feedback loops to decode the complexities behind urban health and its intertwined determinants will thus be established in the chapters dedicated to this theme. Understanding the components of built environment and its operations that account for the complexity forming the triggers behind dynamic relations between policies, environments, and people to improve health and reduce inequalities will become the quintessential focus of this theme. Two contributions from completely different geolocations contribute their vision in this section. Abhishek Sharma, under this section, presents a novel comparison between one’s place of living and medicine adherence or non-adherence patterns. A unique take on relating urban context and health and wellbeing, the contribution is a refreshing take

Introduction

xiii

on understanding how the built environment, socio-economic context, demographics, and behaviors (in this case medication non-adherence) are interlinked. Furthermore, Abhishek also captures a time-series analysis (2004–2017) to conduct a detailed analysis of the differences in rural versus urban medicine non-adherence, thus tracing the improvements or deterioration in non-adherence behavior in the context of India. Keeping in line with the urban context and issues of inequity, Enrico Calandrini, Lorenzo Paglione, Anna Maria Bargagli, Nera Agabiti, Marina Davoli, and Laura Cacciani highlight the context of Rome where they systematically dissect the local health unit Roma 1, to showcase the geographic inequalities in health within the public housing districts. An observational study, their contribution explores the urban and social stratification of areas governed by the municipality of Rome, identifying disparate urban morphologies and governance-based differences that lead to varied perceptual associations and dissociations with different parts of the city. They specifically study the difference in access to primary and secondary health services and hospitalization rates and analyze the results while keeping in mind the evolutionary state of the urban fabric. Such studies could certainly pave the way for supporting urban health-based planning initiatives by means of providing evidencebased epidemiological support.

Theme 04: Transformative Urbanism The last theme of this book focuses on turning evidence into practice and action through implementation science, policy and governance strategies, urban interventions, and multidisciplinary innovations, partnerships, and networks needed to achieve urban health goals. This theme highlights global scenarios for improving urban health and wellbeing from the physical, digital, policy, mobility, social, and economic perspective, while integrating honest discussions around limitations, hurdles, and realistic opportunities that were experienced during the transformation. Importantly, geo-spatial and socio-cultural conditions and specificities that contextually impact health and wellbeing transformation pathways in both developing and the developed world are uncovered by the chapters constituting this thematic. Two contributions, one from Australia and one from Colombia, present two distinct approaches for enhancing livability and integration of health in land-use planning. The third contribution serves as a fitting end to the section by serving as a critique to the promises, ambitions, and visions that are set in motion by the creation of precincts. A reality check followed by a manifesto to actualize social good rather than lip service in the context of the development of precincts is thus strongly conveyed via the concluding contribution to this section. Christopher Browne and Jennie Pry present their vision and experience in adopting an intersectoral partnership approach for embedding the concerns of public health within land use planning for the development of healthy places in the Australian context. An unusual yet long awaited partnership between public health

xiv

Introduction

professionals and urban planning professionals is materialized in their study wherein multi-disciplinary approaches and co-creation became the fundamental guiding approach to attain their healthy city vision. Understanding how partnerships between multiple disciplines could be created, how conceptual frameworks that arise out of such collaborations, and how implementation of the outcomes of such partnerships could be successfully materialized are some of the lessons to be learned from this vital contribution. A mixed-methods approach to study the nature of transformation in Bogota, Columbia, brought about by a novel transport infrastructure addition: the cable car, is elaborated by Rubio, María Alejandra, Sarmiento, Olga L, Guevara, Tomás, O’Donovan, Gary, Muñoz, Anamaría; Guzman, Luis A, Arellana, Julián, Molano, Lucy, Huertas, Bernardo, Indvik, Katherine, Segura, Ethel, King, Abby C, and Diez Roux, and Ana V. A true experiment in uplifting livability of otherwise underserved communities in Latin America, through this unifying and equitable transportation solution, is studied in great detail in order to project different facets of livability enhancements brought about by this urban insert. A unique combination of participatory mixed-methods ranging from household surveys, citizen science, and ripple effects mapping interfaced with quantitative analysis methods to presenting a robust methodology for analyzing urban transformation is presented by the authors. The broader idea of initiating multi-sectoral engagements, engaging with local stakeholders and local communities to holistically understand the nature of transformation, is thus offered as a template for learning and adopting. The final contribution to the section and this book itself comes from Evelyne de Leeuw, who presents a strong argument for re-assessing the promises sold under the garb of tags associated with precincts (health precinct, technology precinct, etc.). Evelyn’s contribution, though picks up on the Australian context and Precinct nomenclature culture prevalent therein, resonates with a global audience and allows one to draw similarities behind market mindsets that predominantly rally behind such dreams that are sold to citizens. Evelyn cautions us to read between the lines and decipher how the framing, marketing, and materialization of precincts could serve as hollow rhetoric where spoken words versus the reality in terms of impact on ground differ significantly. Tendencies for promoting individual gain versus social gain, a phenomenon that persists even after multiple attempts to bring transparency and co-creation into the more extensive planning and governance processes have been initiated, are exposed through this contribution. A manifesto for re-thinking, re-evaluating, and re-starting the process of conceiving and implementing a healthy and empathic future of our cities is presented as a suiting conclusion to this book.

Contents

1

2

Towards a Systemic Understanding of Equitable Sustainability in Cities: A Conceptual Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lucinda Cash-Gibson, Eliana Martínez-Herrera, Ferran Muntané Isart, Julián Martínez-Herrera, Maria-Mónica Salazar Tamayo, Júlia Tena Mena, and Joan Benach Assessing the Person-Environment Fit Framework for Active Ageing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Danielle MacCarthy, Cristian Silva, and Deepti Adlakha

1

21 41

3

Role of Public Parks and Spaces in Creating Age-Friendly Cities . . . Sayon Pramanik and Chirag Sharma

4

Neighbourhood Outdoor Shared Spaces and Mental Well-Being of the Elderly: The Case of a High-Rise Neighbourhood in Delhi . . . Shreya Shukla and Tina Pujara

73

Healthy Cities for Adolescents: Learnings and Reflections From Bhubaneshwar and Jaipur City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rajeev G. Malagi and Prerna V. Mehta

97

5

6

Reclaiming Healthy Cities Through Nature-Based Planning Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Elizelle Juanee Cilliers, Sumita Ghosh, and Emeka Austin Ndaguba

7

Spatiotemporal Variability of Urban Greenspace and Surface Temperature in Dhaka City: A Public Health Aspect . . . . . . . . . . . 143 Khadiza Tul Kobra Nahin, Hasna Hena Sara, Krishna Rani Barai, Zahidul Quayyum, and Jill Baumgartner

8

Access to Health Promoting Green Space in Relation to Population Density: A Case Study of Leuven (Belgium) . . . . . . . 171 Peter Vervoort, Ann Pisman, Frédéric Vandermoere, and Ilse Loots xv

xvi

Contents

9

Technology and Ecology in a Green Mesh: A Healthy Alliance for the Smart City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 Jeremy Chivas, Martin Bryant, and James Melsom

10

Evaluating Nature-based Solutions (NbS) as a Tool for Urban Resilience in the Global South . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219 Sarang Barbarwar, Saiba Gupta, and Akash Parmar

11

Differentials in Medication Non-adherence in India: Does Place of Living Matter? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241 Abhishek Sharma

12

Geographical Inequalities in Health in Public Housing Districts in the Context of Rome: An Observational Study on the Territory of Local Health Unit Roma 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257 Lorenzo Paglione, Enrico Calandrini, Anna Maria Bargagli, Nera Agabiti, Marina Davoli, and Laura Cacciani

13

A Case Study: An Intersectoral Partnership Approach to Embedding Health in Land Use Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287 Christopher Browne and Jennie Pry

14

The Impacts of an Urban Cable Car System on Liveability: A Mixed Methods Study in Bogotá, Colombia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311 María Alejandra Rubio, Olga L. Sarmiento, Tomás Guevara, Gary O’Donovan, Anamaría Muñoz, Luis A. Guzman, Julián Arellana, Lucy Molano, Bernardo Huertas, Katherine Indvik, Ethel Segura, Abby C. King, and Ana V. Diez Roux

15

Precincts and Promises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347 Evelyne de Leeuw

16

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367 Hamish Robertson and Nimish Biloria

Contributors

Deepti Adlakha College of Design, NC State University, Raleigh, NC, USA Nera Agabiti Department of Epidemiology, Lazio Regional Health Service, ASL RM1, Rome, Italy Julián Arellana Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universidad del Norte, Barranquilla, Colombia Krishna Rani Barai BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh Sarang Barbarwar Independent Urban Researcher, Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh, India Anna Maria Bargagli Department of Epidemiology, Lazio Regional Health Service, ASL RM1, Rome, Italy Jill Baumgartner Institute for Health and Social Policy and Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada Joan Benach Johns Hopkins University—Universitat Pompeu Fabra Public Policy Center (UPF-BSM), Barcelona, Spain Research Group on Health Inequalities, Environment, and Employment Conditions (GREDS-EMCONET), Department of Political and Social Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain Ecological Humanities Research Group (GHECO), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria de Cantoblanco, Madrid, Spain Nimish Biloria University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, Australia Christopher Browne Wollondilly Shire Council, Picton, NSW, Australia Martin Bryant University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia

xvii

xviii

Contributors

Laura Cacciani Department of Epidemiology, Lazio Regional Health Service, ASL RM1, Rome, Italy Enrico Calandrini Department of Epidemiology, Lazio Regional Health Service, ASL RM1, Rome, Italy Lucinda Cash-Gibson Johns Hopkins University—Universitat Pompeu Fabra Public Policy Center (UPF-BSM), Barcelona, Spain Research Group on Health Inequalities, Environment, and Employment Conditions (GREDS-EMCONET), Department of Political and Social Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain UPF-Barcelona School of Management, Barcelona, Spain Jeremy Chivas University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia Elizelle Juanee Cilliers School of Built Environment, Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building (DAB), University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, Australia Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa Marina Davoli Department of Epidemiology, Lazio Regional Health Service, ASL RM1, Rome, Italy Ana V. Diez Roux Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Dornsife School of Public Health, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA Sumita Ghosh School of Built Environment, Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building (DAB), University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, Australia Tomás Guevara School of Medicine, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia Saiba Gupta Sustainable Water Programme, Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), New Delhi, India Luis A. Guzman Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia Julián Martínez-Herrera Johns Hopkins University—Universitat Pompeu Fabra Public Policy Center (UPF-BSM), Barcelona, Spain Departamento de Derecho, Derecho Mercantil, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain Bernardo Huertas School of Medicine, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia Katherine Indvik Urban Health Collaborative, Dornsife School of Public Health, Philadelphia, PA, USA

Contributors

xix

Ferran Muntané Isart Johns Hopkins University—Universitat Pompeu Fabra Public Policy Center (UPF-BSM), Barcelona, Spain UPF-Barcelona School of Management, Barcelona, Spain Abby C. King Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA Stanford Prevention Research Center, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA Evelyne de Leeuw Healthy Urban Environments (HUE) Collaboratory, Maridulu Budyari Gumal, UNSW, Sydney, NSW, Australia Ilse Loots Department of Sociology, Centre for Research on Environmental and Social Change (CRESC), University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development (IMDO), University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium Danielle MacCarthy Queen’s University, Northern Ireland, UK Rajeev G. Malagi Sustainable Cities & Transport, WRI India, New Delhi, India Eliana Martínez-Herrera Johns Hopkins University—Universitat Pompeu Fabra Public Policy Center (UPF-BSM), Barcelona, Spain Research Group on Health Inequalities, Environment, and Employment Conditions (GREDS-EMCONET), Department of Political and Social Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain Epidemiology Research Group (Research Line on Epidemiology and Urban Health), National School of Public Health, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia Prerna V. Mehta Sustainable Cities & Transport, WRI India, New Delhi, India James Melsom University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia Lucy Molano District Institution of Urban Planning, Bogotá, Colombia Anamaría Muñoz School of Medicine, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia Khadiza Tul Kobra Nahin BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh Emeka Austin Ndaguba School of Built Environment, Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building (DAB), University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, Australia Centre for Development Support, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa Gary O’Donovan School of Medicine, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia

xx

Contributors

Latin American Brain Health Institute (BrainLat), Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago, Chile Lorenzo Paglione Department of Civil, Constructional and Environmental Engineering, Sapienza – University of Rome, Rome, Italy Department of Prevention, ASL Roma 1, Rome, Italy Akash Parmar National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), New Delhi, India Ann Pisman Department of Civil Engineering, Centre for Mobility and Spatial Planning (AMRP), Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium Sayon Pramanik Department of Architecture, National Institute of Technology, Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India Jennie Pry Population Health, South Western Sydney Local Health District, Liverpool, NSW, Australia Dr. Tina Pujara Department of Architecture and Planning, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India Zahidul Quayyum BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh Hamish Robertson Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia María Alejandra Rubio School of Medicine, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia Hasna Hena Sara BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh Olga L. Sarmiento School of Medicine, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia Ethel Segura Development Planning Unit, University College London, London, UK Abhishek Sharma International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai, Maharashtra, India Chirag Sharma Department of Architecture, National Institute of Technology, Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India Shreya Shukla Department of Architecture and Planning, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India Cristian Silva Queen’s University, Northern Ireland, UK

Contributors

xxi

Maria-Mónica Salazar Tamayo Johns Hopkins University—Universitat Pompeu Fabra Public Policy Center (UPF-BSM), Barcelona, Spain Research Group on Health Inequalities, Environment, and Employment Conditions (GREDS-EMCONET), Department of Political and Social Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain Júlia Tena Mena Johns Hopkins University—Universitat Pompeu Fabra Public Policy Center (UPF-BSM), Barcelona, Spain UPF-Barcelona School of Management, Barcelona, Spain Frédéric Vandermoere Department of Sociology, Centre for Research on Environmental and Social Change (CRESC), University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium Peter Vervoort Department of Sociology, Centre for Research on Environmental and Social Change (CRESC), University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development (IMDO), University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium

Chapter 1

Towards a Systemic Understanding of Equitable Sustainability in Cities: A Conceptual Framework Lucinda Cash-Gibson, Eliana Martínez-Herrera, Ferran Muntané Isart, Julián Martínez-Herrera, Maria-Mónica Salazar Tamayo, Júlia Tena Mena, and Joan Benach

Abstract Urgent committed and collective action is required to address current socio-ecological crises and injustices and prioritise sustainable improvements in planetary and human health and wellbeing. Working towards this goal in different urban settings and for different social groups is a major challenge for society. Theoretical frameworks are useful to guide the understanding of the interconnected L. Cash-Gibson (✉) Johns Hopkins University—Universitat Pompeu Fabra Public Policy Center (UPF-BSM), Barcelona, Spain Research Group on Health Inequalities, Environment, and Employment Conditions (GREDSEMCONET), Department of Political and Social Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain UPF-Barcelona School of Management, Barcelona, Spain e-mail: [email protected] E. Martínez-Herrera Johns Hopkins University—Universitat Pompeu Fabra Public Policy Center (UPF-BSM), Barcelona, Spain Research Group on Health Inequalities, Environment, and Employment Conditions (GREDSEMCONET), Department of Political and Social Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain Epidemiology Research Group (Research Line on Epidemiology and Urban Health), National School of Public Health, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia F. Muntané Isart · J. Tena Mena Johns Hopkins University—Universitat Pompeu Fabra Public Policy Center (UPF-BSM), Barcelona, Spain UPF-Barcelona School of Management, Barcelona, Spain J. Martínez-Herrera Johns Hopkins University—Universitat Pompeu Fabra Public Policy Center (UPF-BSM), Barcelona, Spain Departamento de Derecho, Derecho Mercantil, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 N. Biloria et al. (eds.), The Empathic City, S.M.A.R.T. Environments, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-32840-4_1

1

2

L. Cash-Gibson et al.

relationships between factors associated with systemic challenges, hypothesise causal pathways and mechanisms, help formulate new research questions, and imagine innovative ways to tackle complexity. They can also provide greater clarity for prioritising different types of interventions and can be used to influence the design and implementation of policies. This chapter presents a novel conceptual framework that aims to offer a systemic understanding of what local governments can realistically do to achieve more equitable and sustainable outcomes in urban environments. We discuss some of the main processes, relations and dynamics at play, placing particular emphasis on the role of political determinants. This framework can be used to guide the design and analysis of public policies as well as the implementation of comprehensive assessments of how different urban settings are working towards becoming more equitable and sustainable. Moving away from siloed thinking towards more systemic approaches is necessary for contemplating how to create innovative, fair, and inclusive interventions. This should be combined with greater social and political participation, co-responsibility and commitment towards coordinated action and should be supported by theories as well as comprehensive monitoring and evaluation approaches, in order to drive the necessary transformational change. Otherwise, we will continue to fall short in addressing both our society’s and our planet’s needs and will further increase the likelihood of collapse. Keywords Sustainable wellbeing · Social equity · Conceptual framework · Policy evaluation · Ecological crisis · Urban policy

1.1

Introduction: Global Socio-ecological Challenges

Over the past decades, humankind has been experiencing significant social and ecological transformations at an unprecedented and accelerated rate (O’Brian & Williams, 2005; Steffen et al., 2015). Today, we are simultaneously confronting a M.-M. Salazar Tamayo Johns Hopkins University—Universitat Pompeu Fabra Public Policy Center (UPF-BSM), Barcelona, Spain Research Group on Health Inequalities, Environment, and Employment Conditions (GREDSEMCONET), Department of Political and Social Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain J. Benach Johns Hopkins University—Universitat Pompeu Fabra Public Policy Center (UPF-BSM), Barcelona, Spain Research Group on Health Inequalities, Environment, and Employment Conditions (GREDSEMCONET), Department of Political and Social Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain Ecological Humanities Research Group (GHECO), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria de Cantoblanco, Madrid, Spain

1

Towards a Systemic Understanding of Equitable Sustainability in Cities:. . .

3

growing climate emergency, an energy crisis, social and health inequalities, and the degradation of freedoms and democracy, as well as the rise of techno-social control and surveillance due to digitalization and authoritarianism, the commodification of basic human and social needs (e.g. health, education, housing, social welfare), and the emergence of new pandemics, amongst other challenges (Steffen et al., 2015; Whitmee et al., 2015; Benach, 2020; Fanning et al., 2021; Biloria, 2021; Turiel, 2021; Romanello et al., 2022). There is mounting scientific evidence and concern about how human activities have been harming the Earth’s systems (Rockström et al., 2009; Steffen et al., 2015; Schot & Kanger, 2018). This is clearly visible through climate change, ocean acidification, water scarcity, loss of biodiversity, and land-system change (Steffen et al., 2015; Rockström et al., 2009), with human consumption of material resources overshooting the estimated sustainable levels (Hickel, 2018, 2020; Fanning et al., 2021). Given the interdependent nature of environmental, animal and human health, environmental degradation also causes changing patterns of disease, water and food insecurity, inadequate shelters, population migration, which have negative impacts on human health and wellbeing (Steffen et al., 2015; Whitmee et al., 2015; Romanello et al., 2022). Underlying these trends are inequitable, inefficient, and unsustainable patterns of resource distribution, consumption, transformation and waste production/disposal (Romanello et al., 2022; Taibo, 2020; Turiel, 2021). At the same time, there are ever more critiques of the current hegemonic model of economic growth, measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP), based on a growing recognition that humanity’s pursuit of “infinite” growth, and so-called “development” and “progress”, is incompatible with the achievement of both social justice and environmental sustainability (Pieterse, 1998; Bensimon & Benatar, 2006; Steffen et al., 2015; Ward et al., 2016; Kallis, 2018; Hickel, 2020a, b; Taibo, 2020; Benach, 2020; Biloria, 2021; Barnett & Parnell, 2016; Sovacool et al., 2020). These processes in fact create and perpetuate socio-environmental injustices, whereby the most socially vulnerable populations – those who contribute the least amount of carbon emissions, both within and between countries worldwide – are often the most negatively impacted (Whitmee et al., 2015; Agyeman et al., 2016; Chancel, 2022; Pineo, 2022; Sovacool et al., 2020; Voskoboynik & Farrugia, 2022; Andreucci & Zografos, 2022). As a result, it is becoming indisputable that collective wellbeing depends on safeguarding the Earth’s life-supporting systems, whilst ensuring everyone has the opportunity to have their basic needs met and has the means to reach their full potential regardless of their social position (Whitehead, 1990; Raworth, 2012; Gough, 2015, 2017; O’Neill et al., 2018). These complex and interconnected challenges must be tackled urgently through novel approaches, which will need to be based on transdisciplinary knowledge and collective action (Whitmee et al., 2015). Conceptual understanding of the interplay between social and ecological phenomena and dynamics is a necessary first step. Theoretical frameworks and models are useful for understanding the interconnected nature of things, hypothesising causality, and guiding research questions on how to potentially deal with complex challenges (Diez Roux, 2012). In response to emerging global realities, they can also serve as heuristic tools to contemplate and guide new trajectories,

4

L. Cash-Gibson et al.

configurations, interventions and policies (Diez Roux, 2012; Barnett & Parnell, 2016; Schot & Kanger, 2018). The Doughnut economics framework is an example of a theoretical framework that visually depicts how human development and ecological sustainability are interconnected, and simplifies some of the complexity to ensure widespread understanding (Raworth, 2012, 2017). This work is aligned with the planetary boundaries framework (Rockström et al., 2009) and illustrates how we are overshooting the planet’s ecological boundaries (the maximum human consumption of natural resources possible without causing ecological destruction or collapse), whilst also emphasising how we are failing to meet social needs, evidenced in terms of hunger, illiteracy, ill health, energy poverty, etc. (Raworth, 2017; Fanning et al., 2021; Hickel, 2018; O’Neill et al., 2018). The proverbial “Doughnut” emphasises the need to establish a sustainable balance and create a ‘safe and just space’ for society to ensure fair living standards across generations without surpassing the Earth’s biophysical limits (Raworth, 2012; Gough, 2015, 2017). This concept has become widely accepted and is reflected in the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) (UN, 2015). Researchers have attempted to apply the Doughnut framework to countries’ economies, and have found that currently “no country meets basic needs for its citizens at a sustainable level of resource use” (O’Neill et al., 2018; Hickel, 2018). In addition to national and regional governments, city-level authorities are now widely thought to play a decisive role in working towards more sustainable ways of living. This is due to their growing demographic weight, and intense energy and material resource consumption, production and transformation (Seto et al., 2014; Crane et al., 2021; Barnett & Parnell, 2016; European Commission, 2021). Urban planning is considered key for driving transformations aimed at achieving the SDGs, with SDG11 specifically marking a commitment to “Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable” (UN, 2015). However, whilst the SDGs rightly emphasise the interconnectedness of urban health, equity and sustainability, how this can be achieved in practice still needs to be better defined (Barnett & Parnell, 2016; Schot & Kanger, 2018; Pineo, 2022).

1.2

Cities: Challenges and Solutions

The global population has reached 8 billion, and by 2050 it is estimated to reach 9,7 billion (UN, 2022). Currently, 56% of the global population lives in cities, and by 2050 it is estimated to reach 68% (UN-Habitat, 2022a). While there are advantages in terms of economies of scale, the high density of populations and infrastructure in urbanised areas contribute to numerous societal and ecological challenges. Cities across the world are struggling with increased risk and rapid spread of infectious diseases, housing unaffordability, traffic congestion, lack of security, poor air quality, lack of sufficient public space, poverty, urban inequalities and social isolation, among other phenomena (WHO & UN-Habitat, 2016; European Commission,

1

Towards a Systemic Understanding of Equitable Sustainability in Cities:. . .

5

2021; Giles-Corti et al., 2020; Biloria, 2021). In addition, despite significant differences between cities (and countries), they all actively contribute to climate change, accounting for 70% of global greenhouse gas emissions, two-thirds of global energy consumption and 50% of global solid waste production (Seto et al., 2014; OECD, 2019; Chancel, 2022). At the same time, many cities (as well as rural areas) directly suffer from the effects of climate change, by experiencing more frequent and severe floods, droughts, and extreme heat (Seto et al., 2014; Giles-Corti et al., 2022; Crane et al., 2021; UN-Habitat, 2011; Romanello et al., 2022). For example, in 2018, approximately 60% of cities worldwide were at high risk of at least one type of natural disaster (United Nations, 2022). Despite these challenges, cities are major agents for intersectoral socio-ecological action that may bypass national-level policy making (Hoornweg & Pope, 2016; Crane et al., 2021; Sheehan, 2023). The concept of planetary health prevention (Benach et al., 2022) needs to be operationalised in cities, which includes the design and implementation of proactive, as well as reactive, urban climate mitigation and adaptation plans and efforts (Benach et al., 2022; Romanello et al., 2022; Giles-Corti et al., 2022). Cities have a moral responsibility to plan for their citizens’ health and wellbeing, focusing on current societal challenges as well as urban challenges of the future (Biloria, 2021). In general, local governments must balance the design and implementation of public policies that support the city’s functioning, meet social needs and address environmental risks, whilst responding to other competing interests and regulatory constraints. In addition, urban planning for environmental sustainability must act to avoid exacerbating existing urban inequalities or creating new ones (WHO & UN-Habitat, 2016; Giles-Corti et al., 2022; Pineo, 2022; Anguelovski et al., 2022). This is not always the case: for example, certain new or restored urban greening interventions in Europe and North America have been found to be associated with the displacement of local residents from neighbourhoods via green gentrification processes (Anguelovski & Martínez-Alier, 2014; Anguelovski et al., 2018, 2022). Given the heterogeneity of urban settings, many international goals and frameworks require local interpretation to guide appropriate design, implementation and evaluation of interventions and policies (Barnett & Parnell, 2016; Pineo, 2022). Over the last decade, many cities worldwide have actively developed their own locally-led voluntary review of their progress towards achieving the SDGs, with the purpose of supporting context-specific policy design and implementation (UN-Habitat, n.d.). Alongside this, the UN has developed a Global Urban Monitoring Framework, which promotes the use of harmonised urban indicators to support and streamline city efforts in monitoring SDG progress (UN-Habitat, 2022b). Nevertheless, creating appropriate indicators and measuring and monitoring equitable and sustainable progress is still a challenge, particularly in contexts where high-quality, relevant and disaggregated data may not be available at the local level (Cash-Gibson et al., 2021; Giles-Corti et al., 2022). In addition, a growing number of committed cities have been working beyond the national climate change targets to try to achieve more resilient, liveable and healthy

6

L. Cash-Gibson et al.

cities, and have been participating in various international urban networks (e.g. 100 resilient cities, C40, Healthy Cities Movements, etc.). The Thriving Cities Initiative is one such collaborative network, which has developed flexible tools to assist committed cities, such as Amsterdam, Barcelona and Brussels, amongst others, in adapting the Doughnut framework to their individual urban contexts and working towards achieving sustainable urban wellbeing (Doughnut Economics Action Lab, n.d.; Fanning, 2020). These flexible tools can help to guide cities in their assessment of their local socio-ecological foundation and ceiling, based on their specific context and data availability. However, the tools lack standardised indicators, which makes it challenging to compare and contrast progress made in different cities. In general, whilst such efforts are encouraging and contribute to the creation and standardisation of routinely collected indicators, theoretical and methodological limitations and inconsistencies in approach often make it challenging to accurately assess, monitor and compare progress made within and across diverse urban contexts (Tan et al., 2019; Barnett & Parnell, 2016; Pineo, 2022; Giles-Corti et al., 2022). Indicators are needed that allow cities to better monitor the implementation and outcomes of transformative policies and interventions, and identify social and spatial inequalities which, in turn, can also be used to assess each city’s progress towards achieving sustainable and equitable outcomes (Giles-Corti et al., 2022). For these reasons, calls and proposals have been made for more comprehensive approaches to benchmarking, monitoring and evaluating policies designed to achieve healthy and sustainable city outcomes (Giles-Corti et al., 2022).

1.3

Towards a Systemic Understanding of How Cities Can Become more Equitable and Sustainable

Cities can be conceptualised as complex, evolving ecosystems, with inter- and intradependent relationships, their own metabolic processes and dynamics, and social and ecological attributes (Hoornweg et al., 2016; Barnett & Parnell, 2016; Ulgiati & Zucaro, 2019; Iyer et al., 2021; Sovacool et al., 2020). Transdisciplinary efforts are required to develop appropriate solutions to growing socio-ecological challenges. To inform these efforts, more systemic thinking and integrated knowledge of the ecology of cities is needed, which acknowledges its nonlinear processes, causal pathways, power relations and determinants. This type of information can help to understand what local governments can feasibly do to create more sustainable, resilient, inclusive, healthy and equitable urban environments (Crane et al., 2021; Biloria, 2021). In this chapter we discuss a new conceptual framework that can be used to support such thinking and understanding (Cash Gibson et al., 2023). The framework can serve as a general tool to emphasise and comprehend the interconnected nature of the socio-ecological challenges that we are currently facing, and how cities can develop appropriate solutions in response. It can also be used to guide the design and

1

Towards a Systemic Understanding of Equitable Sustainability in Cities:. . .

7

evaluation of public policies that aim to contribute to achieving more equitable and sustainable urban environments. This novel approach integrates diverse disciplinary literature and theoretical frameworks that focus on planetary wellbeing, sustainable development, public policy analyses and evaluations, urban planning and social determinants of health. Figure 1.1 depicts the conceptual framework. To explain the framework in more detail, we start with the outer boundaries and work our way inwards towards the urban ecosystem, covering the main pathways, dimensions, determinants, and dynamics potentially involved in these processes.

1.3.1

Outer Boundaries

Cities must strive towards meeting human needs, which includes ensuring social, environmental and intergenerational justice, whilst respecting planetary boundaries (Rockström et al., 2009; Gough, 2015, 2017; Marí-Dell’Olmo et al., 2022; Raworth, 2012, 2017; Biloria, 2021). As such, the conceptual framework emphasises the fundamental boundaries of the ecological ceiling and the socially just foundation within which cities must operate and function. Bearing in mind that cities can influence and are influenced by the wider global context, they must also continuously work to create a resilient, regenerative, self-sufficient and inclusive urban environments (Crane et al., 2021; OECD, 2020; Pineo, 2020, 2022; Iyer et al., 2021; Geng et al., 2019; Biloria, 2021). This requires more moderate levels of consumption and transformation of natural resources, guided by fairer and more efficient distribution of resources and practices at both the global and local level (Ulgiati & Zucaro, 2019; Pineo, 2022; Biloria, 2021; Turiel, 2021; Cash Gibson et al., 2023) (see Figs. 1.1 and 1.2).

1.3.2

Structural Determinants

Similarly, as it is recognised that there are structural (upstream) and intermediary (downstream) determinants that condition people’s opportunities to live a healthy life (Solar & Irwin, 2010), the conceptual framework proposes that within any given urban context there are combinations of structural and intermediary determinants that shape and influence the opportunities for cities to meet social needs, live within ecological limits, and therefore to become more equitable and sustainable (Raworth, 2012, 2017; Gough, 2015, 2017; Galea et al., 2005; Fanning et al., 2021; Diez Roux, 2020). This has also been discussed recently in the context of Mediterranean urban areas (Marí-Dell’Olmo et al., 2022). (See Figs. 1.1 and 1.3). Structural determinants are partially shaped by historical legacy and path dependencies, which include underlying systems of privilege and oppression, all of which are at the roots of climate change, ecological degradation, emerging pandemics, and growing social inequalities in health (Krieger, 2019; Benach, 2020; Marí-Dell’Olmo

Fig. 1.1 A guiding conceptual framework to understand how cities can work towards becoming more equitable and sustainable Note: Arrows indicate the potential pathways, relationships and directions involved. (Source: Taken from Cash Gibson et al. (2023))

8 L. Cash-Gibson et al.

Towards a Systemic Understanding of Equitable Sustainability in Cities:. . .

Fig. 1.2 Emphasising the outer boundaries of a guiding conceptual framework to understand how cities can work towards becoming more equitable and sustainable Note: The green boxes indicate the outer boundaries. Arrows indicate the global and local relationships. (Source: Adapted from Cash Gibson et al. (2023))

1 9

Fig. 1.3 Emphasising the structural and intermediary determinants of a guiding conceptual framework to understand how cities can work towards becoming more equitable and sustainable Note: The green boxes and arrows indicate the different determinants. (Source: Adapted from Cash Gibson et al. (2023))

10 L. Cash-Gibson et al.

1

Towards a Systemic Understanding of Equitable Sustainability in Cities:. . .

11

et al., 2022). These upstream determinants consist of macroeconomic and public policies, as well as socio-cultural values, which exist within certain political and socio-economic configurations and interact with axes of inequalities to generate, configure and maintain social structures, distribute power and resources, and create urban inequalities (Whitehead, 1990; Solar & Irwin, 2010). This is an important element to consider when working towards climate justice (Marí-Dell’Olmo et al., 2022; Amorim-Maia et al., 2022). The framework also highlights how local governments’ legal competencies, power, resources and interactions with civil society affect the scope of what can be realistically achieved within a city in terms of addressing certain social and ecological needs (Solar & Irwin, 2010; Gough, 2015, 2017; Muntaner et al., 2012; Crane et al., 2021; Marí-Dell’Olmo et al., 2022). These considerations are important to bear in mind when proposing policy recommendations for local governments. For example, certain legal competences may be restricted to the state, regional or international level according to the political-administrative organisation of a country, which can limit local authorities’ ability to directly address urban needs and challenges in the same way. Nevertheless, strong arguments have been developed in support of power decentralisation during the last decades. These arguments have influenced an acceleration of decentralisation processes in governments across the world, which have been significant both in terms of the number of countries affected and the depth of their implications regarding the nature and quality of governance (Faguet, 2014; Rodden, 2006). Local governments’ proximity to their communities can make them more aware of citizens’ needs, as well as more transparent, accountable and responsive (Faguet, 2012). It can also contribute to improving political stability by giving minorities more opportunities to influence local governance regarding issues that affect them directly, and increasing competition through creating smaller institutions that political actors aim to control (Faguet, 2014). Some studies suggest that giving more power to local authorities may even lead to more efficiency in the management of their resources (Balaguer Coll et al., 2010). In this regard, the UN Global Urban Monitoring Framework considers increasing local powers (i.e. legal competences of city councils) and other good governance practices to be important for building a sustainable agenda throughout all stakeholders in the municipalities (UN-Habitat, 2022b). However, due to the complex and multi-layered nature of some issues (i.e. air quality or water availability), they require intervention from higher tiers of government in order to guarantee coordinated actions for their resolution (Homsy & Warner, 2015). Following this, an essential part of the design and evaluation of public policies and complex interventions is a theory(ies) of change, as this explains how interventions are expected to lead to specific change(s), drawing on a causal analysis (Ivàlua, 2009; OECD, 2020; Breuer et al., 2015; Ling, 2012; Rogers, 2014). The framework therefore highlights that describing and analysing the eco-social theory(ies) of change of a given intervention or set of interventions can help to systematically think through the underlying root causes and interactions of the eco-social challenges that are being addressed. This allows agents to prioritise and maximise policy

12

L. Cash-Gibson et al.

effectiveness, and to test their assumptions against evidence. This approach can enable improvements in the design of interventions to be made before their implementation, and facilitates their readjustment once implemented, by anticipating risks both in light of changing circumstances and regular monitoring (Ivàlua, 2009; Harguindéguy, 2013). Finally, the process of constructing a theory of change presents an opportunity to confront different views and assumptions amongst programme planners and beneficiaries. It can help to: (i) foster consensus and motivate stakeholders by involving them in the planning process; (ii) strengthen beneficiaries’ and others’ understanding and support of the intervention; and (iii) strengthen collaboration with other organisations committed to the same outcomes, leading to more complementary and coordinated efforts (Breuer et al., 2015; UN Sustainable Development Group, 2017). Furthermore, this conceptual framework acknowledges that different institutional, collective and individual views, values and ideologies can frame the type of evidence created, the decisions made and the scope of political action taken to address global and urban eco-social challenges (Muntaner et al., 2012; Barnett & Parnell, 2016; Cash-Gibson et al., 2021). This includes the selection and use of terminology, frameworks, and indicators, as well as the data collected, analysed and presented, none of which are neutral or value-free since they are always embedded within political, cultural and social systems. For example, there are diverse institutional and individual views and ideologies on the existence and causes of the current social and ecological crises, on what needs to be done and by whom to reduce material and energy dependencies and use, and on what is considered to be “just” in terms of creating more equitable and sustainable urban environments (Bambra et al., 2005; Muntaner et al., 2012; Barnett & Parnell, 2016; Biloria, 2021; Cash-Gibson et al., 2021; Sovacool et al., 2020; Benach et al., 2022). There are also divergent opinions and ideologies regarding the role and responsibility of the state and local governments in addressing population and planetary health and well-being needs (Bambra et al., 2005; Muntaner et al., 2012; Krieger, 2019; Sovacool et al., 2020; Cash Gibson et al., 2023). As such, reporting of the theories of change process and outputs needs to be explicit, as this not only ensures a thorough understanding of the work and allows the validity of the approach to be assessed, but also makes the ideologies and frameworks that guide such actions more explicit (Breuer et al., 2015).

1.3.3

Intermediary (Downstream) Determinants

As mentioned, the framework proposes that within any given urban context, upstream structural determinants exert influence at intermediary levels through other downstream determinants, shaping the opportunities for cities to create certain healthy and equitable living and working environments (Barton & Grant, 2006; Pineo, 2020, 2022; Gough, 2015, 2017; Geng et al., 2019; Diez Roux, 2020). This includes shaping the opportunities for neighbours, communities and households to

1

Towards a Systemic Understanding of Equitable Sustainability in Cities:. . .

13

access material and social resources, which in turn can influence behavioural and lifestyle choices, as well as health and wellbeing outcomes (Pineo, 2022; Solar & Irwin, 2010; Marí-Dell’Olmo et al., 2022). For example, research has found that in Barcelona, manual workers, migrants from low- and middle-income countries, and women aged 65 years and older tend to live in inadequate housing conditions and experience more energy poverty. This increases their exposure to changes in temperatures and reduces their capacity to adapt to these changes, and is associated with worse health outcomes and increased use of health services and medication (Oliveras et al., 2020). In addition, the framework considers that certain context-specific needs satisfiers (i.e. adequate access to water, food, protective housing, sanitation, sufficient public space, participation, and security, etc.) shape the opportunities to meet universal human needs, i.e. opportunities for individuals to actively participate in society and achieve their full potential (Gough, 2015, 2017). These need satisfiers can be thought of as some of the social and ecological dimensions of equitable and sustainable cities that need to be assessed and monitored, and where fairness and inclusiveness are cross-cutting principles (Pineo, 2022; Raworth, 2012, 2017; United Nations, 2015; Biloria, 2021). (See Figs. 1.1 and 1.3).

1.3.4

Goals and Desired Outcomes

The ultimate goals are to ensure planetary and human health and wellbeing, enabling people to mutually support each other to develop their full potential and perform all functions of life, whilst respecting ecological limits and avoiding ecological catastrophe (Whitehead, 1990; Geng et al., 2019; Pineo, 2022; Crane et al., 2021; Bensimon & Benatar, 2006; Biloria, 2021). However, achieving this in an equitable and sustainable manner will be an iterative, reflexive, regenerative, and co-creational process (Pieterse, 1998; Iyer et al., 2021; Rydin et al., 2012; Whitmee et al., 2015; Crane et al., 2021; Pineo, 2022; Benach et al., 2022). Current and future generations will need to continuously strive to work towards achieving this by building urban resilience, democratic participation and supportive social movements and networks (Crane et al., 2021; Biloria, 2021; Marí-Dell’Olmo et al., 2022; Thiri et al., 2022), whilst promoting inclusiveness practices and more moderate rates of resource consumption, transformation and production (Cash-Gibson et al., 2021; Turiel, 2021; Pineo, 2022; OECD, 2022). In addition, institutional design and power distribution across governmental tiers become important when acknowledging the capacity of action and response. Moreover, collective consciousness needs to be fostered throughout the various levels of society, consisting of widespread recognition and concern for addressing current global and local socio-ecological challenges (Cash-Gibson et al., 2021). Furthermore, greater public participation is required in policymaking alongside a co-responsibility for committed and coordinated action, as well as robust legal tools to protect the rights of all inhabitants, present and future (WHO-UN Habitat, 2016).

14

1.4

L. Cash-Gibson et al.

Conclusion

In sum, urgent committed and collective action is required to address the current socio-ecological crises and injustices, and prioritise sustainable improvements in planetary and human health and wellbeing. Working towards this goal in different urban settings and for different social groups is another major challenge. Theoretical frameworks and models are useful to guide understanding of the interconnected relationships associated with systemic challenges, hypothesise causal pathways and mechanisms, help formulate new research questions, and imagine innovative ways to tackle complexity. Such tools must strike a balance between radically simplifying reality in order to improve comprehension and reduce bewilderment, whilst inspiring new insights, trajectories, configurations, and practical next steps. They can also provide greater clarity for prioritising different types of interventions and influencing the design and implementation of policies. This chapter discusses a novel conceptual framework that aims to contribute a more systemic understanding of what local governments can realistically do to achieve more equitable and sustainable urban outcomes. It considers some of the main processes, relations and dynamics at play in urban contexts, placing particular emphasis on the role of political determinants, such as the decentralisation of legal competencies, power relations, resources and interactions with civil society. It also explains how the framing of problems and solutions through theories of change has implications for both the design of interventions and the capacities of policymakers to readjust to changing circumstances. This work can be used to guide the design and analysis of public policies, as well as the implementation of comprehensive assessments of how different urban settings are working towards becoming more equitable and sustainable. This is especially valuable when applied to situations where policies have seemingly failed to some extent to create the expected effects. Local adaptation of this framework to specific urban settings could also help to identify place-based priorities, and potential entry points for future interventions and policies aiming to achieve more equitable and sustainable urban outcomes. In addition, complex-systems models could complement this by exploring how outcomes might change if different distal factors or interventions were to be modified, allowing for the identification of unintended effects and/or potential interventions that might not otherwise be identified. Moving away from siloed thinking towards more systemic approaches is needed to contemplate how to create innovative, fair, inclusive solutions aiming to achieve equitable and sustainable-oriented urban outcomes. This should be combined with greater social and political participation, co-responsibility and commitment, and supported by theories and comprehensive benchmarking, monitoring and evaluation approaches in order to drive transformational change. Otherwise, we will continue to fall short in addressing both our society’s and our planet’s needs and will further accelerate the likelihood of collapse.

1

Towards a Systemic Understanding of Equitable Sustainability in Cities:. . .

15

Acknowledgements Joan Benach is a recipient of an ICREA Acadèmia (Generalitat de Catalunya). ICREA did not provide direct financial support for this study. The authors would like to thank Aeve Ribbons for her valuable review of this chapter. Conflict of Interest The authors declare they have no competing interests. Funding This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

References Agyeman, J., Schlosberg, D., Craven, L., & Matthews, C. (2016). Trends and directions in environmental justice: From inequity to everyday life, community, and just Sustainabilities. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 41(1), 321–340. https://doi.org/10.1146/ annurev-environ-110615-090052 Amorim-Maia, A. T., Anguelovski, I., Chu, E., & Connolly, J. (2022). Intersectional climate justice: A conceptual pathway for bridging adaptation planning, transformative action, and social equity. Urban Climate, 41, 101053. ISSN 2212-0955. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim. 2021.101053 Andreucci, D., & Zografos, C. (2022). Between improvement and sacrifice: Othering and the (bio)political ecology of climate change. Political Geography, 92, 102512. https://doi.org/10. 1016/j.polgeo.2021.102512 Anguelovski, I., & Martínez-Alier, J. (2014). The ‘environmentalism of the poor’ revisited: Territory and place in disconnected glocal struggles. Ecological Economics, 102, 167–176. Anguelovski, I., Cole, H., Connolly, J., & Triguero-Mas, M. (2018). Do green neighbourhoods promote urban health justice? Lancet Public Health, 3(6), e270. https://doi.org/10.1016/S24682667(18)30096-3. PMID: 29884433. Anguelovski, I., Connolly, J. J. T., Cole, H., et al. (2022). Green gentrification in European and north American cities. Nature Communications, 13, 3816. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-02231572-1 Balaguer Coll, M., Prior, D., & Tortosa-Ausina, E. (2010). Decentralization and efficiency of local government. The Annals of Regional Science, 45, 571–601. Bambra, C., Fox, D., & Scott-Samuel, A. (2005). Towards a politics of health. Health Promotion International, 2005(20), 187–193. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/dah608 Barnett, C., & Parnell, S. (2016). Ideas, implementation and indicators: Epistemologies of the post2015 urban agenda. Environment and Urbanization, 28(1), 87–98. https://doi.org/10.1177/ 0956247815621473 Barton, H., & Grant, M. (2006). Testing time for sustainability and health: Striving for inclusive rationality in project appraisal. Journal of the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health, 128(3), 130–139. https://doi.org/10.1177/1466424008089800 Benach, J. (2020). We must take advantage of this pandemic to make a radical social change: The coronavirus as a global health, inequality, and eco-social problem. International Journal of Health Services, 51(1), 50–54. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020731420946594 Benach, J., Zografos, C., Cash-Gibson, L., et al. (2022). The case for planetary health prevention. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 76, 105–106. Bensimon, C. A., & Benatar, S. R. (2006). Developing sustainability: A new metaphor for progress. Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics, 27(1), 59–79. Biloria, N. (2021). From smart to empathic cities. Frontiers of Architectural Research, 10(1), 3–16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foar.2020.10.001

16

L. Cash-Gibson et al.

Breuer, E., Lee, L., De Silva, M., et al. (2015). Using theory of change to design and evaluate public health interventions: A systematic review. Implementation Science, 11, 63. https://doi.org/10. 1186/s13012-016-0422-6 Cash Gibson, L., Martinez-Herrera, E., Muntane, F., et al. (2023). Towards a systemic understanding of sustainability wellbeing for all in cities: A conceptual framework. Cities, 133, 104143. Cash-Gibson, L., Pericàs, J. M., Martinez-Herrera, E., & Benach, J. (2021). Health inequalities in the time of COVID-19: The globally reinforcing need to strengthen health inequalities research capacities. International Journal of Health Services, 51(3), 300–304. https://doi.org/10.1177/ 0020731421993939 Chancel, L. (2022). Global carbon inequality over 1990–2019. Nature Sustainability, 5, 931–938. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-022-00955-z Crane, et al. (2021). Transforming cities for sustainability: A health perspective. Environment International, 147, 106366. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S01 60412020323205 Diez Roux, A. V. (2012). Conceptual approaches to the study of health disparities. Annual Review of Public Health, 33, 41–58. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031811-124534. Epub 2012 Jan 3. PMID: 22224879; PMCID: PMC3740124. Diez Roux, A. C. (2020). Urban Health Inequities. In G. S. Lovasi, A. V. Diez Roux, & J. Kolker (Eds.), Urban public health: A research toolkit for practice and impact (online ed.). Oxford Academic. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190885304.003.0004 Doughnut Economics Action Lab. (n.d.). Website. Available: https://doughnuteconomics.org European Commission. (2021). Increasing importance of cities. Available at: https://knowledge4 policy.ec.europa.eu/foresight/topic/continuing-urbanisation/increasing-importance-cities_en Faguet, J. P. (2012). Decentralization and popular democracy: Governance from below in Bolivia. University of Michigan Press. Faguet, J. P. (2014). Decentralization and governance. World Development, 53, 2–13. Fanning. (2020). Methodological guide. A methodological guide from the thriving cities initiative: Downscaling the doughnut: From global compass to city portrait. Available: https://www. circle-economy.com/resources/creating-city-portraits Fanning, A. L., O’Neill, D. W., Hickel, J., et al. (2021). The social shortfall and ecological overshoot of nations. Nature Sustainability, 5, 26–36. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-02100799-z Galea, S., Freudenberg, N., Vlahov, D., et al. (2005). Cities and population health. Social Science and Medicine, 60(5), 1017–1033. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2004.06.036 Geng, et al. (2019). Accelerating the transition to equitable, sustainable, and livable cities: Toward post-fossil carbon societies. Journal of Cleaner Production, 239, 118020. https://doi.org/10. 1016/j.jclepro.2019.118020 Giles-Corti, B., Lowe, M., & Arundel, J. (2020). Achieving the SDGs: Evaluating indicators to be used to benchmark and monitor progress towards creating healthy and sustainable cities. Health Policy, 124(6), 581–590. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthpol.2019.03.001 Giles-Corti, B., Vernez Moudon, A., Lowe, M., et al. (2022). What next? Expanding our view of city planning and global health, and implementing and monitoring evidence-informed policy. The Lancet Global Health, 10(6), e919–e926. ISSN 2214-109X. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214109X(22)00066-3 Gough, I. (2015). Climate change and sustainable welfare: the centrality of human needs. Cambridge Journal of Economics, 39(5), 1191–1214. https://doi.org/10.1093/cje/bev039 Gough, I. (2017). Heat, greed and human need: Climate change, capitalism and sustainable wellbeing. Edward Elgar Publishing. ISBN: 9781785365102. Harguindéguy, J. B. (2013). Análisis de políticas públicas. Tecnos. Hickel, J. (2018). Is it possible to achieve a good life for all within planetary boundaries? Third World Quarterly, 40, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2018.1535895

1

Towards a Systemic Understanding of Equitable Sustainability in Cities:. . .

17

Hickel, J. (2020a). The sustainable development index: Measuring the ecological efficiency of human development in the Anthropocene. Ecological Economics, 167, 106331. https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2019.05.011 Hickel, J. (2020b). Less is more: How degrowth will save the world. Windmill Books. ISBN:9781786091215. Homsy, G. C., & Warner, M. E. (2015). Cities and sustainability: Polycentric action and multilevel governance. Urban Affairs Review, 51(1), 46–73. Hoornweg, D., & Pope, K. (2016). Population predictions for the world’s largest cities in the 21st century. In Environment and urbanization (Vol. 29, Issue 1) (pp. 195–216). Sage. https://doi. org/10.1177/0956247816663557 Hoornweg, D., Hosseini, M., Kennedy, C., & Behdadi, A. (2016). An urban approach to planetary boundaries. Ambio, 45(5), 567–580. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-016-0764-y. Epub 2016 Feb 20. PMID: 26897006; PMCID: PMC4980311. Ivàlua. (2009). Guía práctica 3. Evaluación del diseño. Colección Ivàlua de guías prácticas sobre evaluación de políticas públicas. Ivàlua- Institut Català d’Avaluació de Polítiques Públiques. Iyer, N., DeVille, V., Stoddard, O., et al. (2021). Sustaining planetary health through systems thinking: Public health’s critical role. SSM – Population Health, 15, 100844. https://doi.org/10. 1016/j.ssmph.2021 Kallis, G. (2018). Degrowth. Columbia University Press. ISBN: 9781911116806. Krieger, N. (2019). Measures of racism, sexism, heterosexism, and gender binarism for health equity research: From structural injustice to embodied harm-An ecosocial analysis. Annual Review of Public Health, 41, 37–62. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth040119-094017 Ling, T. (2012). Evaluating complex and unfolding interventions in real time. Evaluation, 18(1), 79–91. https://doi.org/10.1177/1356389011429629 Marí-Dell’Olmo, M., Oliveras, L., Barón-Miras, L. E., et al. (2022). Climate change and health in urban areas with a Mediterranean climate: A conceptual framework with a social and climate justice approach. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19, 12764. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191912764 Muntaner, C., Chung, H., Murphy, K., & Ng, E. (2012). Barriers to knowledge production, knowledge translation, and urban health policy change: Ideological, economic, and political considerations. Journal of Urban Health, 89, 915–924. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-0129699-1 O’Brian, R., & Williams, M. (2005). Global political economy: Evolution and dynamics. Palgrave macmillan. ISBN: 033368963. O’Neill, D. W., Fanning, A. L., Lamb, W. F., & Steinberger, J. K. (2018). A good life for all within planetary boundaries. Nature Sustainability, 1(2), 88–89. OECD. (2019). Organisation for economic co-operation and development (OECD). Principles on Urban Policy de 2019. Available: https://www.oecd.org/cfe/Brochure-OECD-PrinciplesUrban-Policy.pdf OECD. (2020). Improving governance with policy evaluations. Lessons from country experiences. OECD Public Governance Reviews. OECD. (2022). Implementation toolkit of the OECD principles on urban policy (OECD Regional Development Papers, No. 31). OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/630e0341-en OECD. (n.d.). Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Resilient cities. Website. Available. https://www.oecd.org/cfe/resilient-cities.htm Oliveras, L., Artazcoz, L., Borrell, C., Palència, L., López, M. J., Gotsens, M., Peralta, A., & Marí-Dell’Olmo, M. (2020). The association of energy poverty with health, health care utilisation and medication use in Southern Europe. SSM – Population Health, 12, 100665. Pieterse, J. N. (1998). My paradigm or yours? Alternative development, post-development, reflexive development. Development and Change, 29, 343–373. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-760. 00081

18

L. Cash-Gibson et al.

Pineo, H. (2020). Towards healthy urbanism: Inclusive, equitable and sustainable (THRIVES) – An urban design and planning framework from theory to praxis. Cities & Health, 6, 974–992. https://doi.org/10.1080/23748834.2020.1769527 Pineo, H. (2022). Health urbanism: Designing and planning equitable, sustainable and inclusive places (Planning, Environment, Cities). ISBN: 978-981-16-9647-3. Raworth, K. (2012). A safe and just space for humanity: Can we live within the doughnut? Oxfam. Available at: https://www.oxfam.org/sites/www.oxfam.org/files/dp-a-safe-and-just-space-forhumanity-130212-en.pdf Raworth, K. (2017). A Doughnut for the Anthropocene: Humanity’s compass in the 21st century. Lancet Planet Health, 1(2), e48–e49. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(17)30028-1 Resilient Cities Network, website. Available: https://resilientcitiesnetwork.org/what-is-urbanresilience/ Rockström, J., Steffen, W., Noone, K., et al. (2009). Planetary boundaries: Exploring the safe operating space for humanity. Nature, 461, 472–475. Rodden, J. A. (2006). Hamilton’s paradox: The promise and peril of fiscal federalism. Cambridge University Press. Rogers, P. (2014). Theory of change (Methodological briefs-impact evaluation No. 2). UNICEF Office of Research. Romanello, M., et al. (2022). The 2022 report of the lancet countdown on health and climate change: Health at the mercy of fossil fuels. Lancet, 400(10363), 1619–1654. Available: https:// www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(22)01540-9/fulltext Rydin, Y., Bleahu, A., Davies, M., et al. (2012). Shaping cities for health: Complexity and the planning of urban environments in the 21st century. The Lancet, 379, 2079–2108. https://doi. org/10.1016/S0140-6736(12)60435-8 Schot, J., & Kanger, L. (2018). Deep transitions: Emergence, acceleration, stabilization and directionality. Research Policy, 47, 1045–1059. Seto, K. C., Dhakal, S., Bigio, A., et al. (2014). Climate change 2014: Mitigation of climate change. In Contribution of working group III to the fifth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge University Press. Sheehan, M. C. (2023). Urban agrobiodiversity, health and city climate adaptation plans. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 101(2), 121–129. World Health Organization. https://doi.org/ 10.2471/BLT.22.288857 Solar, O., & Irwin, A. (2010). A conceptual framework for action on the social determinants of health (Social Determinants of Health Discussion Paper 2. Debates, Policy & Practice, Case Studies). World Health Organisation. Sovacool, B. J., Hess, D., Amir, S., et al. (2020). Sociotechnical agendas: Reviewing future directions for energy and climate research. Energy Research and Social Science, 70, 101617. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2020.101617 Steffen, W., Broadgate, W., Deutsch, L., Gaffney, O., & Ludwig, C. (2015). The trajectory of the Anthropocene: The great acceleration. The Anthropocene Review, 2(1), 81–98. https://doi.org/ 10.1177/2053019614564785 Taibo, C. (2020). Colapso. 4ª edición: Capitalismo terminal, transición ecosocial, ecofascismo. ISBN: 978-84-9097-891-7. Tan, D. T., Siri, J. G., Gong, Y., et al. (2019). Systems approaches for localising the SDGs: Co-production of place-based case studies. Globalization and Health, 15, 85. https://doi.org/ 10.1186/s12992-019-0527-1 Thiri, M. A., Villamayor-Tomás, S., Scheidel, A., & Demaria, F. (2022). How social movements contribute to staying within the global carbon budget: Evidence from a qualitative meta-analysis of case studies. Ecological Economics, 195, 107356. Turiel, A. (2021). The energy crisis in the world today: Analysis of the World Energy Outlook 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/10230/52600 Ulgiati, S., & Zucaro, A. (2019). Challenges in urban metabolism: Sustainability and well-being in cities. Frontiers in Sustainable Cities, 1, 1. https://doi.org/10.3389/frsc.2019.00001

1

Towards a Systemic Understanding of Equitable Sustainability in Cities:. . .

19

UN. (2015). United Nations sustainable development goals. Official Website. Available: https:// sdgs.un.org/goal UN. (2022). United Nations World Population Prospects 2022: Summary of Results. Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. UN DESA/POP/2022/TR/NO. 3. UN-Habitat. (2011). Cities and climate change: Global report on human settlements. United Nations Human Settlements Programme. HS Number 001/11E, 003/11E. ISBN 978-92-1132296-5. Available: https://unhabitat.org/global-report-on-human-settlements-2011-citiesand-climate-change UN-Habitat. (2022a). World cities report. Envisaging the future of cities. HS Number HS/004/22E). ISBN 978-92-1-132894-3. UN-Habitat. (2022b). The global urban monitoring framework. United Nations Human Settlements Programme. Available at: https://unhabitat.org/the-global-urban-monitoring-framework UN-Habitat. (n.d.). UN Habitat website. Voluntary Local Reviews. Available at: https://unhabitat. org/topics/voluntary-local-reviews United Nations Sustainable Development Group. (2017). Theory of change. UNDAF Companion Guidance. Available at: https://unsdg.un.org/resources/theory-change-undaf-companionguidance Voskoboynik, D. M., & Farrugia, J. D. (2022). The nickel nexus: Mapping the frontiers of carbon neutrality. Universitat Pompeu Fabra. Available: http://hdl.handle.net/10230/54138 Ward, J. D., Sutton, P. C., Werner, A. D., Costanza, R., Mohr, S. H., & Simmons, C. T. (2016). Is decoupling GDP growth from environmental impact possible? PLoS One, 11(10), e0164733. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0164733 Whitehead, M. (1990). The concepts and principles of equity and health. WHO Regional Office for Europe. Available at: http://whqlibdoc.who.int/euro/-1993/EUR_ICP_RPD_414.pdf Whitmee, S., Haines, S., Beyrer, C., et al. (2015). Safeguarding human health in the Anthropocene epoch: Report of The Rockefeller Foundation–Lancet Commission on planetary health. Lancet, 386, 1973–2028. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(15)60901-1 WHO & UN-Habitat. (2016). Global report on urban health: Equitable healthier cities for sustainable development. World Health Organization and UN-Habitat. Available at: https:// apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/204715

Chapter 2

Assessing the Person-Environment Fit Framework for Active Ageing Danielle MacCarthy, Cristian Silva, and Deepti Adlakha

Abstract This chapter discusses the inclusion and integration of a preliminary analytical person-environment fit framework which recognises the urban context as a key health determinant worldwide. It has become necessary to respond to growing levels of sedentarism, identified as a major risk factor for non-communicable diseases, through incremental and tailored interventions, based on the ideas of complex adaptive systems. It is proposed that this framework can help to integrate and acknowledge the needs of older adults as a differentiated group where health models which concentrate on older adults as a unique and specialised demographic are called for in order to further research in understanding the pathways and mechanisms shaping their health behaviours, in particular highlighting internalised and individualised responses, understood here as concepts of fit between the individual and their surrounding neighbourhood and environments. As cities and urban centres grapple to respond to ageing populations, there is a heightened awareness that the urban environments we live in play a key part in improving people’s health and wellbeing. Environments that are planned, managed, and inclusive in terms of spatial and physical form can help to promote and encourage health equity and wellbeing beyond a traditional ‘pathogenic’ focus on health risks and can provide a baseline for placing cities at the core of a more embracing understanding of the relationship between health and urban environments for older adults. Keywords Physical activity · Person-environment fit · Older adults · Urban neighbourhoods

D. MacCarthy (✉) · C. Silva Queen’s University, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK e-mail: [email protected] D. Adlakha College of Design, NC State University, Raleigh, NC, USA © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 N. Biloria et al. (eds.), The Empathic City, S.M.A.R.T. Environments, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-32840-4_2

21

22

2.1

D. MacCarthy et al.

Introduction

Ageing populations across developed and many global south countries have heightened an interest in the relationship between the built environment, societal change and the public health of older people (Santinha et al., 2020). Empirical research that links population ageing and the competitiveness of cities, for example, has demonstrated that inaction will have significant financial consequences as it relates to the provision of health services, infrastructure and ageing facilities (Karl Kresl & Letri, 2009). Concern has been raised that the ‘burden on future taxpayers is looming both as an actual fiscal difficulty and as a potential taxpayer rebellion’ (ibid: 1), where alleviating the pressure on urban systems by creating healthier communities would ensure the social sustainability of the whole society (Artmann et al., 2017). Developing environments therefore that are responsive to the aspirations and needs of older people has become a major social and public policy agenda (Buffel et al., 2012). Beyond the fiscal imperative, there is arguably a moral obligation to address fair and equitable health outcomes for older adults. As such, the built environment has been placed at the centre of narratives around social justice considering the substantive body of research that highlights the distinct and unique role that urban environments can play in either producing or hindering equitable health outcomes for older people that can be highly uneven and non-representative (see Rigolon & Németh, 2020; Kerr et al., 2012; Mitchell & Popham, 2008; Hartig et al., 2014). While healthy ageing is understood to be influenced by a variety of interconnecting determinants within and outside the health sector (Lezwijn et al., 2011), a general trend has been to move away from a focus on individual behaviour change and towards one which undertakes a much broader multi-level and social determinant perspective (Glanz et al., 2008). In particular, and given the importance of physical activity (PA) in older age to prevent non-communicable diseases (such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, several types of cancer and depression inter alia), environments which support PA remain well-positioned on both research and public policy agendas (Verhoog et al., 2019; WHO, 2020). Indeed, interdisciplinary debates on how to improve PA have scrutinised the extent to which the planning and design of cities can either promote or impede active living (Perrin et al., 2016). On the one hand, there is sufficient evidence to argue that ‘people who live in walkable neighbourhoods that are densely populated, have interconnected streets, and are close to shops, services, restaurants, public transport, and parks, tend to be more physically active than residents of less walkable areas’ (Sallis et al., 2016: 2207). On the other hand, however, it is also argued that the design and planning of the physical environment in general terms is not enough, as declining rates of PA have become major public health risks (Cerin et al., 2014). This proves that a direct relationship between environmental neighbourhood improvements and higher rates PA in older adults is still debatable and inconclusive (Van Cauwenberg et al., 2011). The following section discusses this relationship between the characteristics of the built environment and how it promotes and improves PA. To do so, the following section discusses the preliminary application of a Person-Environment fit (PE-fit)

2

Assessing the Person-Environment Fit Framework for Active Ageing

23

framework, while recognising existing socio-ecological models of PA as explanatory frameworks. On this basis, the chapter aims to uncover underlying health disparities and thus, disproportionate and unevenly distributed health outcomes for older adults (Rönkkö, 2014). This would enable specific health issues – principally relating to older adults – to be fed into the design of more consistent and comprehensive policies to address the lack of inclusivity and ensuring an improvement of representation of older adults within spatial planning and the PA literature.

2.2

Moving from Urban Health Penalties to Salutogenesis

When planners and urban designers are interested in designing healthier neighbourhoods, they must wrestle with the consideration of two key aspects: firstly, how health is defined; and secondly the approach adopted to address it (Forsyth, 2020). Delineating differences in both the definitions of ageing and approaches utilised to address urban health can be beneficial in order to highlight the differing perspectives and outcomes they achieve, and at the same time, highlighting potential inherent limitations within these as singular approaches. Research has shown that older adults may have a different view of health from that of professionals, research scientists, and policymakers (Naaldenberg et al., 2012) Professionals can emphasise the problems and limitations that occur due to ageing, frequently focusing on negatively phrased topics such as disability, disease, loneliness, overweight, and falls (ibid). By contrast, older people have been shown to focus more on supportive social environments, their ability to use resources and manage restrictions, adaptation, meaningfulness, and connectedness (Jeste et al., 2010). Even though ageing and health describe a multifaceted relationship, historically this has been addressed through the creation and use of biomedical models of stimulus and outcome results. It is without dispute that a biomedical approach underlies many of the gains in public health during the twentieth century, and indeed continues to play an important role in much of the health-science advances in the twenty-first century. However, debates around ageing and health have increasingly been expanded to include broader definitions regarding the contributors to health. Definitions of health have been called for, in line with the WHO vision of health as ‘a state of optimal physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity’ (WHO constitution 1948). Three dominant approaches to study health in the urban environment are outlined by Glouberman et al. (2006) (see Fig. 2.1). An urban health approach (Fig. 2.1, left), is concerned with identifying deficits and diseases, quantifying and diagnosing and rooted in a biomedical model of health, e.g., diagnosing sedentarism as a major public health risk (Scriven, 2010). Comparatively, a health in cities approach (Fig. 2.1, centre) lays out the rationale required to understand the specific mechanisms for a range of multiple health needs within diverse groups. Lastly, a healthy cities model (Fig. 2.1, right) aligns more generally with a salutogenic orientation, concerned with social and environmental determinants of health where end goals

24

D. MacCarthy et al.

Fig. 2.1 Approaches to health in cities. (Glouberman et al. (2006). Source: Author’s diagram)

create healthy environments and achieve environmental and social justice in line with the WHO vision from 1948. All three approaches may be oriented toward the same goal of health equity, though stemming from different ontological foundations and theoretical positions and thus, different policy pathways. Urban health models (see Harpham & Molyneux, 2001; Freudenberg et al., 2005) view residents as being exposed to ‘urban health penalties’ (Wasylenki, 2001). More broadly, this approach posits that cities concentrate people and expose residents to unhealthy environments leading to a disproportionate burden of poor health and equate ‘urbanness’ with urbanness with issues of disadvantage (Freudenberg et al., 2005). In this context, this approach manages health through a deficit model, loss, and disadvantage. It links behaviours as outcomes of the built environment, and negative health impacts as resulting from poorly designed built environments, which ultimately contributes to the rise in non-communicable diseases (NCDs). At the other end of the scale, and representing a more general shift towards overall health promotion and salutogenic orientation, is the healthy city model with a focus on the wider determinants of illness and on fostering health potentials that support human flourishing. It recognises the needs of the most vulnerable – including the young, old, those with low incomes, with pre-existing health problems, or otherwise marginalised in society (WHO, 2018) – and looks at the city from a holistic point of view to address all needs of all residents. A major challenge of this approach, however, is consistency within and between the various settings that together form the ‘super-setting’ of the city (Maass, 2018). Where substantial progress has been achieved in developing universal approaches and inclusive design and infrastructure for all ages and abilities, in practice, conflicts can arise with competing needs for different populations when implemented (Froyen et al., 2009) that can also entail spatial unevenness (Hertz et al., 2020). It has been highlighted that ‘shared-spaces’, for instance, provide inclusive benefits that meet the needs of all populations while nevertheless benefiting certain groups rather than others (Forsyth et al., 2017). This includes settings for short commutes that become problematic for older people worried about being jostled on busy footpaths.

2

Assessing the Person-Environment Fit Framework for Active Ageing

25

These differences can be overcome, but there is a demand to understand the specific needs of groups through inclusive and representative practices before implementation. Thus, a health in cities approach can be considered as a crucial bridge between the two approaches, and a necessary step within the transition towards a salutogenic position. This is particularly significant with respect to older adults and cities and understandings of healthy ageing associated with living environments (as suggested by studies on health behaviours and healthy environments – see Beard et al., 2016; Clarke & Nieuwenhuijsen, 2009; Annear et al., 2014). Furthermore, a salutogenic perspective is most useful when focused on the needs of specific demographics where insights and overlaps can then be explored across the approaches. It provides a more dynamic picture of health determined by the quality of the interaction between the individuals and their environments, and highlights specific characteristics of individuals within populations who despite stressful situations stay well (Antonovsky, 1996). The next step can then be to foster and enhance these characteristics among wider populations. The diagram below (Fig. 2.2) illustrates a transition from biomedical to salutogenic approaches (X axis), and from individual to population focus (Y axis). This synthesises the idea of how the three approaches outlined in Fig. 2.1, can be ordered sequentially to highlight and articulate the important bridge in this transition in the study of environments and health promotion.

Fig. 2.2 Approaches to health in cities across biomedical and salutogenic dimensions. (Source: Author’s diagram)

26

2.3

D. MacCarthy et al.

Urban Neighbourhood Contexts for Older Adults and Physical Activity

At different stages in the lifecycle – such as later in life – there is a core assumption that as we age we become more sensitive to the physical space we live in (Thomése et al., 2018). Evidence from around the world also points to neighbourhoods as being more important in key ways that can be more influential than genetics to our health and wellbeing outcomes (Pickett & Pearl, 2001). Neighbourhoods can either prevent or conversely contribute to healthier and more active lifestyles (Sarkar et al., 2015). Ongoing efforts have been carried out to develop supportive urban communities that facilitate PA to counteract rising levels of inactivity and sedentarism in older adult populations (Wullems et al., 2016; Cunningham & O’Sullivan, 2020), where even small amounts of physical activity can have substantial health benefits in mitigating against NCDs (Shiroma & Lee, 2010) and regular physical activity (PA) has been shown to improve older people’s functional capability through enhancing muscle strength, aerobic capacity, balance, and flexibility; reducing the possibility of falling, which is a major cause of disabilities in later life (Skelton, 2001; Keysor & Jette, 2001). Research which has incorporated PA as a major health behaviour has commonly been developed in the context of socio ecological models (SEMs), a recognised analytical framework enabling us to link environmental resources, in interaction with social determinants, to health outcomes, i.e. PA as a direct and indirect activity outcome shaped by the surrounding urban environment and mediated by the individual (Sallis et al., 2006). This builds on the idea of healthy ageing as understood to be influenced by a variety of interacting determinants within and outside the health sector (Lezwijn et al., 2011). Over the last decade, several key social determinant domains have been identified as important for PA in older adults, among them including: macro built and natural urban environments objective and perceived walkability characteristics (Van Cauwenberg et al., 2018); interaction with social characteristics, self-efficacy and barriers (Mudrak et al., 2016; Smith et al., 2017) and urban nature and greenspaces (Gong et al., 2014; Richardson et al., 2013). The most reliable and consistent finding to support PA in older adults are individual and intrapersonal characteristics (Ericson et al., 2021; Lachman et al., 2018). Numerous studies have uncovered important findings for older adults and PA, revealing a complexity of relationships with regards to PA in relation to the personlevel determinants and PA. However, where studies have combined environmental and psychosocial factors together, they have generally been found to influence physical activity the most (Giles-Corti et al., 2019), i.e., high degree of objective walkability was more strongly associated with leisure time PA among older residents who experienced a more positive social influence compared with those who reported less social influence (Ding & Gebel, 2012), these results may involve thresholds for individuals who are already predisposed to carrying out PA and who may do it irrespectively. By contrast however, the presence of positive urban-form characteristics was found to contribute towards leisure time PA in residents with a less positive attitude towards PA (Beenackers et al., 2014), highlighting the salutogenic

2

Assessing the Person-Environment Fit Framework for Active Ageing

27

impact of the environment on those individuals not prone to take PA otherwise, but also the importance of the consideration of type of person-level characteristic. It is also recognised that the importance of person-level characteristics in interaction with the wider neighbourhood can change at different times as it has been suggested that different determinants may play greater or lesser roles at different stages of life (Maes et al., 2020; Hirvensalo & Lintunen, 2011; Cotter & Lachman, 2010). In general, however, where objective walkability in older adults has been explored in isolation, factors such as observable individual characteristics e.g. age and gender have been found to be relevant, such as positive associations for older men, but not for women (Koohsari et al., 2020), but overall there have been mixed findings in the literature, supporting the idea of more complex individual differences, based on experiences in relation to the world around them taking place (Kirkwood, 2008). Evidence of significant relationships have been found between objective measures and walking which emphasise that built environment interventions can increase the likelihood of walking (Lu et al., 2021; Dean et al., 2020). However, in other studies, no statistically significant or even contrasting relationships were detected (see Cerin et al., 2014; Christiansen et al., 2016; Foster & Giles-Corti, 2008; Hirsch et al., 2016; Cleland et al., 2019). Böcker and Meelen (2017) found that neighbourhood-level population density was shown to increase the likelihood of walking in older adults. This was also true in a study by Liao et al. (2018). But in a UK study by Hawkesworth et al. (2018) which looked at 100 indicators for built environments, such as street connectivity, traffic volume and pavement quality, across 20 towns, they did not find evidence for any of the physical environment domains captured by the neighbourhood environment audit tool -Older People’s Environments and CVD Risk (OPECR) audit tool with time spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity. In addition, while urban natural environments are generally endorsed as part of the wider environmental context that promotes health and well-being in cities (Gascon et al., 2016; Sugiyama et al., 2010; Kaczynski & Henderson, 2007; Tzoulas et al., 2007), in common with studies which have examined the built urban environment correlates of PA in older adults, studies have not always produced consistent results when considering older adults and PA and may be less reliable than younger age groups (Fontán-Vela et al., 2021). A large-scale study by Hino et al. (2020) examined pedometer data for 21,557 older adults in Japan over a three-year period and found that NDVI was not significantly associated with step counts in either regression analyses. Nonetheless, green environments are generally understood to be supportive of physical activity for older adults e.g. Dalton et al. (2016) examined 15,672 people over a 7.5 year period and found that neighbourhood greenspace may protect physical activity decline in older adults yet, and mechanisms which work on other pathways, still have multiple health benefits for older adults overall (Markevych et al., 2017) However, it is still not clear which aspects of green environments encourage physical activity and what mechanisms are at play for PA in particular. And while growing evidence of health benefits have looked at reduced risks of all-cause mortality and urban nature (Rojas-Rueda et al., 2019), stress relief (Jones et al., 2021); and as a part of a wider array of health benefits (Dempsey et al.,

28

D. MacCarthy et al.

2018), accounting for the variation and inconsistency may involve a different framework. This section has outlined with a snapshot of the existing scholarship that has taken established multilevel determinants involved in physical activity in place based theories and confirms that social determinants are influential for PA in older adults. Yet inconsistencies remain, where for some older adults, there is a suggestion that the person-environment interaction remains multifaceted and may highlight possible wider influences shaping older adults’ lives and consequently PA that either environment alone or person characteristics alone do not capture. The following section addresses a P-E fit which looks to adopt an integrated analysis to socioecological models.

2.4

Inclusion of Person-Environment Fit Framework

No one single set of place characteristics, meanings, or relations will make all cities and neighbourhoods healthy for every individual (Brossoie et al., 2022). In addition, there is a lack of understanding of existing heterogeneity among groups and perceptions of age-friendliness vary (Van Hoof et al., 2022). Context is important: something that can be a resource in one neighbourhood or some social groups, might not work as such in another neighbourhood or for other social groups (Maass, 2018). It is proposed here that an integration of a Person-Environment (P-E) fit framework can provide an additional level of analysis and add a critical dimension that until recently has not been well conceptualised in this body of research. This section explores the person-environment (P-E) fit construct, involving two distinctions of P-E fit categories; complementary fit and supplementary fit (Cable & Edwards, 2004). P-E fit has been conceptualised in gerontology studies and borrowed from early psychological work used to examine residential satisfaction for older adults (Kahana et al., 2003), ageing in place (Park et al., 2017), falls (Iwarsson et al., 2009). Murtagh et al. (2016) draws attention to its application in the Province of Ontario’s (2013) approach, Finding the Right Fit: Age-Friendly Community Planning. Little research however has used P-E fit as a model to examine determinants of PA, specifically in older adults. This may present an opportunity for PA and active ageing research. According to the P-E fit theory, attitudes and behaviours result from the congruence of personal and environmental attributes (Endler et al., 1976; Schneider, 1987). This interplay rests on an individual’s functional capacity, social environment, and their physical environment. A complementary fit is the traditional and popular application of this concept and is related to a concept of psychological need fulfilment (Edwards, 1991). Research on psychological need fulfilment characterises needs as the desired amount of an attribute. When we apply this in the physical environment setting, it becomes a question of how much of the physical environment is needed to fulfil the need to carry out physical activity. The second type of fit concerns a ‘supplementary fit’, operating on a different pathway and is less

2

Assessing the Person-Environment Fit Framework for Active Ageing

29

Fig. 2.3 Proposed P-E fit conceptual framework for examining PA for older adults in neighbourhood settings. (Source: Author’s own diagram)

concerned with the amount of attribute, but rather the importance that the attribute plays and in this respect may represent a more conscious ‘fit’ (Cable & Edwards, 2004). A supplementary fit is about value alignment and in this regards moves towards questions of quality for the individual. These two nuanced applications of fit can contribute independently and to different outcomes, but can also operate as integrated and within a coherent framework (see Fig. 2.3) where both concepts of fit are interdependent. The two P-E fits are important specifically in relation to person-level characteristics because it is these antecedent dimensions of the individual that can complement the transition towards a salutogenic approach (see Fig. 2.2). Maass et al. (2017) state that a salutogenic approach turns the focus towards an internalisation process, i.e., how does an environmental resource become a resistance resource? Broadly speaking, a salutogenic orientation indicates factors and processes within cities and urban planning that have been linked to favourable health outcomes (Maass et al., 2017). More specifically, a salutogenic theory engages with three key tenets: Sense of Coherence (SOC), Generalised Resistance Resources (GRR) and Specific Resistance Resources (SRR) (see Mittelmark et al., 2017). SOC reflects a person’s internalised view of life and capacity to respond to stressful situations, consisting of three elements: comprehensibility, manageability, and meaningfulness (Antonovsky, 1979), understood respectively as cognitive, behavioural and motivational dimensions. Where comprehensibility refers to the extent that the individual can anticipate stimuli they encounter to be predictable, ordered, and explicit, derived from both internal and external environments. Manageability is the extent to which a person perceives that resources are adequate. Lastly, meaningfulness refers to the extent to which a person feels that life makes sense emotionally. A SOC occurs in interaction with GRRs: resources that help a person to avoid or to combat a wide

30

D. MacCarthy et al.

variety of stressors (Antonovsky, 1979). GRRs can be found within people as resources bound to their person and capacity, but also within their immediate and distant environment and can be both material and non-material (Lindström & Eriksson, 2005). Finally, SRRs are optimised by societal action in which public health has a contributing role, i.e. to promote supportive social and physical environments. There has been a call for more knowledge around internalisation processes in the health field (Maass et al., 2017). In this sense, a P-E fit framework can build on these underlying key tenets of the salutogenic theory through ‘expanding the perspective from considerations of the functional capabilities of the landscape to values and socio-cultural meanings’ (Kaltenborn & Bjerke, 2002: 3) to address the gaps and inconsistencies in the knowledge. This may exist as one of the paramount challenges of future land use planning (ibid). Moving towards this aim, an inclusion of the proposed P-E framework (see Fig. 2.3) looks to address these concerns in two main ways. Firstly, in consolidating understanding in both quantitative and qualitative research where it relates specifically to fit across junctures, represented by ‘green’ arrows across the social determinant domains (see Fig. 2.3), constituting a complementary fit for older adults and ‘blue’ arrows across the social determinant domains through value led, supplementary pathways. This analysis can begin to draw out distinctions between concepts of ‘how much’ SOC, GGR and SSR represent health behaviours in relation to PA vs. non-fits in terms of an absence of PA. But importantly, drawing out underlying qualitative underlying values in relation to concepts around comprehensibility, manageability, and meaningfulness, which underpin the health behaviour, resting on the critical idea that the individual has the capacity to recognize, use, and reuse the resources for the intended purpose when there is a fit, which ultimately helps to increase health and well-being. In this sense, the inclusion of a P-E fit framework can build on previous research in public health and planning which calls for more conceptually precise analysis of the specific dimensions or mechanisms operating between individuals and environmental influences and how they affect PA. Secondly, an inclusion of P-E fit can incorporate the Sallis model of PA (2006), which conceptualises active living domains of PA. That is to say, a P-E fit framework can explore determinants of PA, in relation to different types of PA, i.e. leisure time PA, work PA, PA for transport and conceptualise them into distinct categories of fit, focussing attention on modified needs or values of individuals within different active living domains of PA. This can lend further insight in relation to existing evidence based salutogenic characteristics or GGRs and SSRs, already associated with different types of PA. Clarke and Nieuewnhuijsen (2009) state that a lack of understanding of community influences exists in healthy ageing. They argue that in spite of the increasing evidence that demonstrates the importance of place in respect to health, a lack of understanding of the dynamic processes by which neighbourhood characteristics operate to influence different health outcomes presents drawbacks in so far as it may prevent a translation of knowledge back into interventions to support PA. It is proposed that this understanding may be enhanced, in particular, through this application of an integrated P-E fit examination at the individual level.

2

Assessing the Person-Environment Fit Framework for Active Ageing

31

An integrated P-E fit centres around a complementary fit as contingent in some individuals with a supplementary, value alignment and highlights how these processes are interlinked, illustrated by the large blue and green arrows at the outside of the diagram below (see Fig. 2.3). To this effect, it consolidates an inclusive approach and representation by emphasising value congruence on an individual level and underscores previous scholarship which has highlighted the need for reflection on the ‘functional heterogeneity of this age group and their reasons for being active’ which may make older adults less influenced by their local physical environment, and more influenced by social personal level factors (Hawkesworth et al., 2018: 130). It can push frameworks to incorporate and display interrelatedness between complementary and supplementary fits to enable scaling up from individual differences to group differences, to achieve population effects and establish thresholds. The section has introduced an adapted ecological model of P-E fit framework by Lawton and Nahemow (1973) as a proposed analytical framework to further examine environmental and person-level determinants of PA, not as aspects of exposure alone, but crucially focussing on the individuals internalised and unique response to wider environmental factors and how this may shape PA. The inclusion of a P-E fit may also add explanatory value in understanding how different types of PA may operate on different pathways. Ultimately, by focussing on individual and group level analysis, a P-E framework can provide a detailed understanding and focus on the upstream conditions for experiencing good health and quality of life and highlight internalised barriers that prevent this. This next section discusses generalised findings and preliminary application of the framework.

2.5

Rationale for a Person-Environment Fit Framework

The application of a preliminary P-E fit framework within this field of study develops several key insights when examining how PA in older adults is carried out. Further details on the application of a P-E fit in a specific case study in Belfast is forthcoming. However, general findings emanating from this research may offer a greater understanding of the subject in the broader field at large. As outlined in the section above, a P-E fit framework can be designed to draw together and build on precedent strands of research agendas, namely healthy ageing and salutogenic theory (Antonovsky, 1996) and SEMs for PA (Sallis et al., 2006). But importantly, in consideration of how older adults are set apart from other age groups in terms of mobility constraints and experience limited functioning associated with ageing (Nordbakke & Schwanen, 2015; Sansano-Nadal et al., 2019), and acknowledging their representation and citizen involvement in the planning, design and research. As a key finding, an integrated P-E fit framework can enable an augmentation and richer understanding of group demographic patterns and proportions of supplementary and complementary fits among respondents. For some respondents, values were held important by some respondents and irrelevant for another. Fit in this respect remains highly variable, determining patterns within this variability may yield

32

D. MacCarthy et al.

greater efficacy in understanding older adults’ health behaviours. There are examples where appraisals of the built environment initially may be represented as value driven and thus, reflect concepts of supplementary fit, where after which, if interventions are implemented may become cases of ‘complementary’ fit. For example, Soraganvi (2017) argues that women, including older women are particularly deterred by poorly designed urban public spaces such as those with limited lighting, and lack of public toilets. It may be that before implementation, this issue impedes concepts around SOC, and reflects both value driven evaluations, thus supplementary ‘misfits’ in addition to complementary, ‘disfits’. After the implementation of public toilets, for some individuals it transitions to complementary fit, whereas for other individuals, remains a consideration of supplementary ‘misfit’. This inevitably rests on individual’s subjective perceptions of needs and exposure, on the premise that a person can respond to any ‘disfits’ between needs and supplies only when he or she is aware that such ‘misfit’ exists (e.g., Endler et al., 1976; French et al., 1982). Where value-based attitudes reflect patterns of values at group levels, this may then reflect threshold-level influences which can impact practice. Importantly at broader level yet, the application of a P-E framework consolidates the need for a wide and rich range of qualitative methodologies as integrated and core to uncovering value and internalised concepts of P-E fit; this is supported by Moran et al. (2014) who highlight how qualitative studies are a necessary to inform and complement quantitative research on environment-PA relationships by providing insight into how and why the environment influences participants’ PA behaviours including: co-creation methodologies (Fang et al., 2023); photo elicitation (Phoenix & Orr, 2014); focus groups (Campelo & Katz, 2020); PGIS (Brown & Fagerholm, 2015). As integrated methodologies, they can become core to underpinning population-level modelling and embedded within the research for PA in urban contexts, focusing greater attention on the heterogeneity and value driven motivations for engaging in PA in the built and natural urban environment. While there is some opposition by experts in the field of health and planning who advocate for working solely at larger scales because of the complexity surrounding macro–micro level issues, they argue that small scale studies with cross-sectional design fail to capture the aetiology and lack the power to influence policy (Sarkar & Webster, 2017). Developing robust P-E fit frameworks that include longitudinal research designs may be applied at different scales to overcome this. A second and key contribution of a P-E fit framework challenges concepts of ‘cities for all’ that emerge from balancing definitions of a demographic group at a population level to ensure widespread benefit, with holistic efforts to create inclusive spaces with places which work for ‘everyone’. Preliminary findings highlighted a sense of a lack of inclusion in spaces in the city that were not considered inclusive or representative. A P-E fit framework can enable an investigation of where values are contested and where they are shared, discovering the causes of health, and acting to strengthen them (Barton & Tsourou, 2013). In Belfast, Northern Ireland, work by Bridge et al. (2020) highlight that the city core has become gradually younger while the periphery is increasingly ageing and question how age- friendly Belfast city is, given the number of people over-65 has declined in real terms and as a proportion of

2

Assessing the Person-Environment Fit Framework for Active Ageing

33

the population by -20.6% in the urban core and -19.5% in the mid-city (NISRA 2020). Murtagh et al. (2022) acknowledge the combination of complex processes at play in shaping the out-migration, such as constrained housing supply in the centre, seeking out other older people and family members and services that will support them as they age. Research by de Haas et al. (2021) reveal that different groups of older adults may not have their voice represented in the city and that specific cultural and age dependent users’ needs should be considered more (Kabisch & Haase, 2014). Indeed adding to the idea that a P-E fit framework can provide an important bridge to salutogenic approaches, Mittelmark and Bull (2013) state, ‘mobilizing the capacity and assets of people and places, local development initiatives will make sense logically in the local context (comprehensibility), (. . .) practically realistic (manageability) and they will be motivating because they are meaningful, based on involvement in decision-making processes (meaningfulness) (171). Further to that, Maass et al. (2017), ask whether it is possible that being involved in these processes is beneficial for factors relating to internalisation, thereby enhancing health? Indeed, preliminary findings suggested that probing into underlying value held beliefs of engaging in PA in urban environments revealed something more prevalent is at stake for older adults. Menezes et al. (2021) contend that older adults are at risk of being denied their full ‘right to the city’ (Lefebvre et al., 1996) as an appropriation of the shared spaces and resources. This necessitates a much larger concern which remain outside the immediate scope of the chapter, but which tap into critical questions of justice in the city for older adults, and address contemporary urban models which studies have shown reflect forms of youthification that prioritises entrepreneurs and lacks real processes of inclusion (Moos et al., 2019). The application of the preliminary P-E fit analytical framework suggests that one overall precise and conclusive form for the urban context as a clear solution may not exist. Large scale cohort studies have the ability to determine overall population trends with accuracy, but that one catch-all solution will not reach all needs for an ageing demographic and fails to recognise the diversity of needs. As a result, city environments can remain hostile and lacking genuine inclusion for full participation for older adults and need to be carefully considered in future scenarios (Broo et al., 2021). A P-E fit framework has been proposed to integrate with existing socio-ecological models of enquiries to lend support to incremental ways of addressing spatial and equitable health in cities for older adults in this way and support findings which centre the specific needs of older age persons through questions of social equity and equal rights to the city (Liang et al., 2022).

2.6

Conclusion

This chapter discussed the inclusion and integration of a preliminary analytical P-E fit framework which recognises the urban context as a key health determinant worldwide (Nieuwenhuijsen, 2016), with individual heterogeneity of older adults, to necessitate incremental and tailored interventions, based on the ideas of complex adaptive systems. It is proposed that this framework will help to integrate and

34

D. MacCarthy et al.

acknowledge the needs of older adults as a differentiated group, where health models which concentrate on older adults as a unique and specialised demographic call for further research to understand pathways and mechanisms shaping their health behaviours and in the case of this discussion – PA in particular. How we plan for ageing population trends emerging in our cities will determine whether society can reap the benefits of the ‘longevity dividend’ (Olshansky et al., 2012). Cities and urban environments are positioned as sites for multiple pressures in the twenty first century, where population ageing is taking place in parallel with three other major mega trends: population growth, international migration, and urbanization (UN, 2019), where increasing rates of ageing population (Beard & Petitot, 2010) both influence the economy, but also the overall social and individual wellbeing. Rising levels of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), alienation, loneliness, intergenerational breakdown (Grant et al., 2017) can be seen, representing real threats to health as a fundamental right. There is a demand for solutions which can simultaneously characterise and provide answers for the rapidly ageing societies of Europe, USA and China (Sarkar & Webster, 2017). Interventions which work for ageing populations in one region however, may not necessarily be relevant or appropriate in other elderly neighbourhoods (Woolrych et al., 2022), applying a P-E fit may be one way to involve, include and recognise these differences within ageing populations to build better environments.

References Annear, M., Keeling, S., Wilkinson, T. I. M., Cushman, G., Gidlow, B. O. B., & Hopkins, H. (2014). Environmental influences on healthy and active ageing: A systematic review. Ageing & Society, 34(4), 590–622. Antonovsky, A. (1979). Health, stress, and coping. In New perspectives on mental and physical well-being (pp. 12–37). Springer. Antonovsky, A. (1996). The salutogenic model as a theory to guide health promotion. Health Promotion International, 11(1), 11–18. Artmann, M., Chen, X., Iojă, C., Hof, A., Onose, D., Poniży, L., et al. (2017). The role of urban green spaces in care facilities for elderly people across European cities. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 27, 203–213. Barton, H., & Tsourou, C. (2013). Healthy urban planning. Routledge. Beard, J. R., & Petitot, C. (2010). Ageing and urbanization: Can cities be designed to foster active ageing? Public Health Reviews, 32(2), 427–450. Beard, J. R., Officer, A. M., & Cassels, A. K. (2016). The world report on ageing and health. The Gerontologist, 56(Suppl_2), S163–S166. Beenackers, M., Kamphuis, C., Prins, R., Mackenbach, J., Burdorf, A., & van Lenthe, F. (2014). Urban form and psychosocial factors: Do they interact for leisure-time walking? Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 46(2), 293–301. Böcker, L., & Meelen, T. (2017). Sharing for people, planet or profit? Analysing motivations for intended sharing economy participation. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 23, 28–39. Bridge, S., Murtagh, B., & O’Neill, K. (2020). Understanding the social economy and the third sector. Bloomsbury Publishing.

2

Assessing the Person-Environment Fit Framework for Active Ageing

35

Broo, D. G., Lamb, K., Ehwi, R. J., Pärn, E., Koronaki, A., Makri, C., & Zomer, T. (2021). Built environment of Britain in 2040: Scenarios and strategies. Sustainable Cities and Society, 65, 102645. Brossoie, N., Hwang, E., Song, K., Jeong, J. W., & Young-Woo, K. (2022). Assessing age-friendliness: Individualistic vs. collectivistic cultures. Journal of Aging & Social Policy, 34(2), 311–334. Brown, G., & Fagerholm, N. (2015). Empirical PPGIS/PGIS mapping of ecosystem services: A review and evaluation. Ecosystem Services, 13, 119–133. Buffel, T., Phillipson, C., & Scharf, T. (2012). Ageing in urban environments: Developing ‘agefriendly’cities. Critical Social Policy, 32(4), 597–617. Cable, D. M., & Edwards, J. R. (2004). Complementary and supplementary fit: A theoretical and empirical integration. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89(5), 822–834. Campelo, A. M., & Katz, L. (2020). Older adults’ perceptions of the usefulness of technologies for engaging in physical activity: Using focus groups to explore physical literacy. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(4), 1144. Cerin, E., Cain, K. L., Conway, T. L., Van Dyck, D., Hinckson, E., Schipperijn, J., et al. (2014). Neighborhood environments and objectively measured physical activity in 11 countries. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 46(12), 2253–2264. Christiansen, L. B., Cerin, E., Badland, H., Kerr, J., Davey, R., Troelsen, J., et al. (2016). International comparisons of the associations between objective measures of the built environment and transport-related walking and cycling: IPEN adult study. Journal of Transport & Health, 3(4), 467–478. Clarke, P., & Nieuwenhuijsen, E. R. (2009). Environments for healthy ageing: A critical review. Maturitas, 64(1), 14–19. Cleland, C., Reis, R. S., Ferreira Hino, A. A., Hunter, R., Fermino, R. C., Koller de Paiva, H., et al. (2019). Built environment correlates of physical activity and sedentary behaviour in older adults: A comparative review between high and low-middle income countries. Health & Place, 57, 277–304. Cotter, K. A., & Lachman, M. E. (2010). No strain, no gain: Psychosocial predictors of physical activity across the adult lifespan. Journal of Physical Activity and Health, 7(5), 584–594. Cunningham, C., & O’Sullivan, R. (2020). Why physical activity matters for older adults in a time of pandemic. European Review of Aging and Physical Activity, 17(1), 1–4. Dalton, A. M., Wareham, N., Griffin, S., & Jones, A. P. (2016). Neighbourhood greenspace is associated with a slower decline in physical activity in older adults: A prospective cohort study. SSM-population health, 2, 683–691. De Haas, W., Hassink, J., & Stuiver, M. (2021). The role of urban green space in promoting inclusion: Experiences from The Netherlands. Frontiers in Environmental Science, 9, 618198. Dean, J., Biglieri, S., Drescher, M., Garnett, A., Glover, T., & Casello, J. (2020). Thinking relationally about built environments and walkability: A study of adult walking behavior in Waterloo, Ontario. Health & Place, 64, 102352. Dempsey, S., Lyons, S., & Nolan, A. (2018). Urban green space and obesity in older adults: Evidence from Ireland. SSM-Population Health, 4, 206–215. Ding, D., & Gebel, K. (2012). Built environment, physical activity, and obesity: What have we learned from reviewing the literature? Health & Place, 18(1), 100–105. Edwards, J. R. (1991). Person-job fit: A conceptual integration, literature review, and methodological critique. Wiley. Endler, N. S., Magnusson, D., Ekehammar, B., & Okada, M. (1976). The multidimensionality of state and trait anxiety. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 17(1), 81–96. Ericson, H., Quennerstedt, M., & Geidne, S. (2021). Physical activity as a health resource: A crosssectional survey applying a salutogenic approach to what older adults consider meaningful in organised physical activity initiatives. Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine, 9(1), 858–874. Fang, M. L., Sixsmith, J., Hamilton, A. P., Rogowsky, R., Scrutton, P., Pengelly, R., et al. (2023). Co-creating inclusive spaces and places: Towards an intergenerational and age-friendly living ecosystem. Frontiers in Public Health, 10, 996520.

36

D. MacCarthy et al.

Fontán-Vela, M., Rivera-Navarro, J., Gullón, P., Díez, J., Anguelovski, I., & Franco, M. (2021). Active use and perceptions of parks as urban assets for physical activity: A mixed-methods study. Health & Place, 71, 102660. Forsyth, A. (2020). What is a healthy place? Models for cities and neighbourhoods. Journal of Urban Design, 25(2), 186–202. Foster, S., & Giles-Corti, B. (2008). The built environment, neighborhood crime and constrained physical activity: An exploration of inconsistent findings. Preventive Medicine, 47(3), 241–251. French, J. R., Caplan, R. D., & Van Harrison, R. (1982). The mechanisms of job stress and strain (Vol. 7). Wiley. Freudenberg, N., Galea, S., & Vlahov, D. (2005). Beyond urban penalty and urban sprawl: Back to living conditions as the focus of urban health. Journal of Community Health, 30(1), 1–11. Froyen, H., Verdonck, E., De Meester, D., & Heylighen, A. (2009). Mapping and documenting conflicts between users and built environments. In In 5th international conference on inclusive design (Include 09). Royal College of Art. Gascon, M., Triguero-Mas, M., Martínez, D., Dadvand, P., Rojas-Rueda, D., Plasència, A., & Nieuwenhuijsen, M. J. (2016). Residential green spaces and mortality: A systematic review. Environment International, 86, 60–67. Giles-Corti, B., Gunn, L., Hooper, P., Boulange, C., Diomedi, B. Z., Pettit, C., & Foster, S. (2019). Built environment and physical activity. In Integrating human health into urban and transport planning (pp. 347–381). Springer. Glanz, K., Rimer, B. K., & Viswanath, K. (Eds.). (2008). Health behavior and health education: Theory, research, and practice. Wiley. Glouberman, S., Gemar, M., Campsie, P., Miller, G., Armstrong, J., Newman, C., et al. (2006). A framework for improving health in cities: A discussion paper. Journal of Urban Health, 83(2), 325–338. Gong, Y., Gallacher, J., Palmer, S., & Fone, D. (2014). Neighbourhood green space, physical function and participation in physical activities among elderly men: The Caerphilly prospective study. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 11(1), 1–11. Grant, M., Brown, C., Caiaffa, W. T., Capon, A., Corburn, J., Coutts, C., et al. (2017). Cities and health: An evolving global conversation. Cities & Health, 1(1), 1–9. Harpham, T., & Molyneux, C. (2001). Urban health in developing countries: A review. Progress in Development Studies, 1(2), 113–137. Hartig, T., Mitchell, R., De Vries, S., & Frumkin, H. (2014). Nature and health. Annual Review of Public Health, 35, 207–228. Hawkesworth, S., Silverwood, R. J., Armstrong, B., Pliakas, T., Nanchalal, K., Jefferis, B. J., et al. (2018). Investigating associations between the built environment and physical activity among older people in 20 UK towns. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 72(2), 121–131. Hertz, T., Garcia, M. M., & Schlüter, M. (2020). From nouns to verbs: How process ontologies enhance our understanding of social-ecological systems understood as complex adaptive systems. People and Nature, 2(2), 328–338. Hino, K., Usui, H., & Hanazato, M. (2020). Three-year longitudinal association between built environmental factors and decline in older adults’ step count: Gaining insights for age-friendly urban planning and design. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(12), 4247. Hirsch, J. A., Winters, M., Ashe, M. C., Clarke, P. J., & McKay, H. A. (2016). Destinations that older adults experience within their GPS activity spaces: Relation to objectively measured physical activity. Environment and Behavior, 48(1), 55–77. Hirvensalo, M., & Lintunen, T. (2011). Life-course perspective for physical activity and sports participation. European Review of Aging and Physical Activity, 8(1), 13–22. Iwarsson, S., Horstmann, V., Carlsson, G., Oswald, F., & Wahl, H. W. (2009). Person—Environment fit predicts falls in older adults better than the consideration of environmental hazards only. Clinical Rehabilitation, 23(6), 558–567.

2

Assessing the Person-Environment Fit Framework for Active Ageing

37

Jeste, D. V., Depp, C. A., & Vahia, I. V. (2010). Successful cognitive and emotional aging. World Psychiatry, 9(2), 78–84. Jones, R., Tarter, R., & Ross, A. M. (2021). Greenspace interventions, stress and cortisol: A scoping review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(6), 2802. Kabisch, N., & Haase, D. (2014). Green justice or just green? Provision of urban green spaces in Berlin, Germany. Landscape and Urban Planning, 122, 129–139. Kaczynski, A. T., & Henderson, K. A. (2007). Environmental correlates of physical activity: A review of evidence about parks and recreation. Leisure Sciences, 29(4), 315–354. Kahana, E., Lovegreen, L., Kahana, B., & Kahana, M. (2003). Person, environment, and personenvironment fit as influences on residential satisfaction of elders. Environment and Behavior, 35(3), 434–453. Kaltenborn, B. P., & Bjerke, T. (2002). Associations between environmental value orientations and landscape preferences. Landscape and Urban Planning, 59(1), 1–11. Karl Kresl, P., & Ietri, D. (2009). Ageing of the population: Good news for cities. Local Economy, 24(6–7), 625–636. Kerr, J., Rosenberg, D., & Frank, L. (2012). The role of the built environment in healthy aging: Community design, physical activity, and health among older adults. Journal of Planning Literature, 27(1), 43–60. Keysor, J. J., & Jette, A. M. (2001). Have we oversold the benefit of late-life exercise? The Journals of Gerontology, Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 56(7), M412–M423. Kirkwood, T. B. (2008). A systematic look at an old problem. Nature, 451(7179), 644–647. Koohsari, M. J., McCormack, G. R., Nakaya, T., Shibata, A., Ishii, K., Yasunaga, A., et al. (2020). Walking-friendly built environments and objectively measured physical function in older adults. Journal of Sport and Health Science, 9(6), 651–656. Lachman, M. E., Lipsitz, L., Lubben, J., Castaneda-Sceppa, C., & Jette, A. M. (2018). When adults don’t exercise: Behavioral strategies to increase physical activity in sedentary middle-aged and older adults. Innovation in Aging, 2(1), igy007. Lawton, M. P., & Nahemow, L. (1973). Ecology and the aging process. In C. Eisdorfer & M. P. Lawton (Eds.), The psychology of adult development and aging (pp. 619–674). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/10044-020 Lefebvre, H., Kofman, E., & Lebas, E. (1996). Writings on cities (Vol. 63). Blackwell. Lezwijn, J., Vaandrager, L., Naaldenberg, J., Wagemakers, A., Koelen, M., & Van Woerkum, C. (2011). Healthy ageing in a salutogenic way: Building the HP 2.0 framework. Health & Social Care in the Community, 19(1), 43–51. Liang, D., De Jong, M., Schraven, D., & Wang, L. (2022). Mapping key features and dimensions of the inclusive city: A systematic bibliometric analysis and literature study. International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, 29(1), 60–79. Lindström, B., & Eriksson, M. (2005). Salutogenesis. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, 59(6), 440–442. Liao, Y., Shibata, A., Ishii, K., Koohsari, M. J., Inoue, S., & Oka, K. (2018). Can neighborhood design support walking? Cross-sectional and prospective findings from Japan. Journal of Transport & Health, 11, 73–79. Lu, S., Liu, Y., Guo, Y., Ho, H. C., Song, Y., Cheng, W., et al. (2021). Neighborhood built environment and late-life depression: A multilevel path analysis in a Chinese society. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 76(10), 2143–2154. Maass, R. E. K. (2018). The neighborhood as a salutogenic setting: How can Salutogenesis contribute to the development of strategies for promoting health and strengthening SOC through a focus on neighborhood-resources? Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet. DOIntnuopen.ntnu.no. Maass, R., Lillefjell, M., & Espnes, G. A. (2017). The application of Salutogenesis in cities and towns. In The handbook of salutogenesis (pp. 171–179). Springer.

38

D. MacCarthy et al.

Maes, I., Ketels, M., Van Dyck, D., & Clays, E. (2020). The occupational sitting and physical activity questionnaire (OSPAQ): A validation study with accelerometer-assessed measures. BMC Public Health, 20(1), 1–10. Markevych, I., Schoierer, J., Hartig, T., Chudnovsky, A., Hystad, P., Dzhambov, A. M., et al. (2017). Exploring pathways linking greenspace to health: Theoretical and methodological guidance. Environmental Research, 158, 301–317. Menezes, D., Woolrych, R., Sixsmith, J., Makita, M., Smith, H., Fisher, J., et al. (2021). ‘You really do become invisible’: Examining older adults’ right to the city in the United Kingdom. Ageing & Society, 1–20. Mitchell, R., & Popham, F. (2008). Effect of exposure to natural environment on health inequalities: An observational population study. The Lancet, 372(9650), 1655–1660. Mittelmark, M. B., & Bull, T. (2013). The salutogenic model of health in health promotion research. Global Health Promotion, 20(2), 30–38. Mittelmark, M. B., Sagy, S., Eriksson M., Bauer, G. F., Pelikan, J. M., Lindström, B., & Espnes, G. A. (2017). The handbook of salutogenesis. Springer. Moos, M., Revington, N., Wilkin, T., & Andrey, J. (2019). The knowledge economy city: Gentrification, studentification and youthification, and their connections to universities. Urban Studies, 56(6), 1075–1092. Moran, M., Van Cauwenberg, J., Hercky-Linnewiel, R., Cerin, E., Deforche, B., & Plaut, P. (2014). Understanding the relationships between the physical environment and physical activity in older adults: A systematic review of qualitative studies. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 11(1), 1–12. Mudrak, J., Stochl, J., Slepicka, P., & Elavsky, S. (2016). Physical activity, self-efficacy, and quality of life in older Czech adults. European Journal of Ageing, 13(1), 5–14. Murtagh, B., Grounds, A., McKay, S., & Palmer, S. (2016). Ageing in place in Ireland North and South. Institute of Public Health. Murtagh, B., Cleland, C., Ferguson, S., Ellis, G., Hunter, R., Rodriguez Añez, C. R., et al. (2022). Age-friendly cities, knowledge and urban restructuring. International Planning Studies, 27(1), 62–76. Naaldenberg, J., Vaandrager, L., Koelen, M., & Leeuwis, C. (2012). Aging populations’ everyday life perspectives on healthy aging: New insights for policy and strategies at the local level. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 31(6), 711–733. Nieuwenhuijsen, M. J. (2016). Urban and transport planning, environmental exposures and healthnew concepts, methods and tools to improve health in cities. Environmental Health, 15(1), S38. Nordbakke, S., & Schwanen, T. (2015). Transport, unmet activity needs and wellbeing in later life: Exploring the links. Transportation, 42(6), 1129–1151. Olshansky, S. J., Beard, J., & Börsch-Supan, A. (2012). The longevity dividend: Health as an investment. Global Population Ageing: Peril or Promise?, 57. Park, S., Han, Y., Kim, B., & Dunkle, R. E. (2017). Aging in place of vulnerable older adults: Person–environment fit perspective. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 36(11), 1327–1350. Applied Gerontology, 31(6), 711–733. Perrin, A. J., Caren, N., Skinner, A. C., Odulana, A., & Perrin, E. M. (2016). The unbuilt environment: Culture moderates the built environment for physical activity. BMC Public Health, 16(1), 1–8. Phoenix, C., & Orr, N. (2014). Pleasure: A forgotten dimension of physical activity in older age. Social Science & Medicine, 115, 94–102. Pickett, K. E., & Pearl, M. (2001). Multilevel analyses of neighbourhood socioeconomic context and health outcomes: A critical review. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, 55(2), 111–122. Richardson, E. A., Pearce, J., Mitchell, R., & Kingham, S. (2013). Role of physical activity in the relationship between urban green space and health. Public Health, 127(4), 318–324. Rigolon, A., & Németh, J. (2020). Green gentrification or ‘just green enough’: Do park location, size and function affect whether a place gentrifies or not? Urban Studies, 57(2), 402–420.

2

Assessing the Person-Environment Fit Framework for Active Ageing

39

Rojas-Rueda, D., Nieuwenhuijsen, M. J., Gascon, M., Perez-Leon, D., & Mudu, P. (2019). Green spaces and mortality: A systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies. The Lancet Planetary Health, 3(11), e469–e477. Rönkkö, E. T. (2014, October). Actions on urban health enhancement in the Arctic: Salutogenic planning concept. In Proceedings of the annual architectural research symposium in Finland (pp. 134–147). Sallis, J. F., Cervero, R. B., Ascher, W., Henderson, K. A., Kraft, M. K., & Kerr, J. (2006). An ecological approach to creating active living communities. Annual Reiew of Public Health, 27, 297–322. Sallis, J. F., Bull, F., Burdett, R., Frank, L. D., Griffiths, P., Giles-Corti, B., & Stevenson, M. (2016). Use of science to guide city planning policy and practice: How to achieve healthy and sustainable future cities. The Lancet, 388(10062), 2936–2947. Sansano-Nadal, O., Giné-Garriga, M., Brach, J. S., Wert, D. M., Jerez-Roig, J., Guerra-Balic, M., et al. (2019). Exercise-based interventions to enhance long-term sustainability of physical activity in older adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(14), 2527. Santinha, G., Wolf, J., & Costa, C. (2020). Aging and the built environment: Is mobility constrained for institutionalized older adults? Journal of Urbanism: International Research on Placemaking and Urban Sustainability, 13(4), 431–447. Sarkar, C., & Webster, C. (2017). Urban environments and human health: Current trends and future directions. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 25, 33–44. Sarkar, C., Webster, C., Pryor, M., Tang, D., Melbourne, S., Zhang, X., & Jianzheng, L. (2015). Exploring associations between urban green, street design and walking: Results from the greater London boroughs. Landscape and Urban Planning, 143, 112–125. Schneider, B. (1987). The people make the place. Personnel Psychology, 40(3), 437–453. Scriven, A. (2010). Promoting health: A practical guide-E-book: Forewords by Linda Ewles & Ina Simnett; Richard Parish. Elsevier Health Sciences. Shiroma, E. J., & Lee, I. M. (2010). Physical activity and cardiovascular health: Lessons learned from epidemiological studies across age, gender, and race/ethnicity. Circulation, 122(7), 743–752. Skelton, D. A. (2001). Effects of physical activity on postural stability. Age and Ageing, 30(suppl. 4), 33–39. Smith, G. L., Banting, L., Eime, R., O’Sullivan, G., & Van Uffelen, J. G. (2017). The association between social support and physical activity in older adults: A systematic review. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 14(1), 1–21. Soraganvi, S. (2017). Safe public places: Rethinking design for women safety. International Journal on Emerging Technologies, 8(1), 304–308. Sugiyama, T., Francis, J., Middleton, N. J., Owen, N., & Giles-Corti, B. (2010). Associations between recreational walking and attractiveness, size, and proximity of neighborhood open spaces. American Journal of Public Health, 100(9), 1752–1757. Thomése, F., Buffel, T., & Phillipson, C. (2018). Neighbourhood change, social inequalities and age-friendly communities. In Age-friendly cities and communities: A global perspective (pp. 33–50). Policy Press. Tzoulas, K., Korpela, K., Venn, S., Yli-Pelkonen, V., Kaźmierczak, A., Niemela, J., & James, P. (2007). Promoting ecosystem and human health in urban areas using green infrastructure: A literature review. Landscape and Urban Planning, 81(3), 167–178. UN. (2019). World population prospects 2019. Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 141. Van Cauwenberg, J., De Bourdeaudhuij, I., De Meester, F., Van Dyck, D., Salmon, J., Clarys, P., & Deforche, B. (2011). Relationship between the physical environment and physical activity in older adults: A systematic review. Health & Place, 17(2), 458–469. Van Cauwenberg, J., Nathan, A., Barnett, A., Barnett, D. W., & Cerin, E. (2018). Relationships between neighbourhood physical environmental attributes and older adults’ leisure-time physical activity: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Sports Medicine, 48(7), 1635–1660.

40

D. MacCarthy et al.

van Hoof, J., van den Hoven, R. F., Hess, M., van Staalduinen, W. H., Hulsebosch-Janssen, L. M., & Dikken, J. (2022). How older people experience the age-friendliness of The Hague: A quantitative study. Cities, 124, 103568. Verhoog, S., Gubelmann, C., Guessous, I., Bano, A., Franco, O. H., & Marques-Vidal, P. (2019). Comparison of the physical activity frequency questionnaire (PAFQ) with accelerometry in a middle-aged and elderly population: The CoLaus study. Maturitas, 129, 68–75. Wasylenki, D. A. (2001). Inner city health. CMAJ Open, 164(2), 214–215. Woolrych, R., Sixsmith, J., Duvvuru, J., Portella, A., Fang, M. L., Menezes, D., et al. (2022). Crossnational perspectives on aging and place: Implications for age-friendly cities and communities. The Gerontologist, 62(1), 119–129. World Health Organisation. (2018). Global action plan on physical activity 2018–2030: More active people for a healthier world. World Health Organisation. World Health Organization. (2020). WHO guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour: Web annex: Evidence profiles. World Health Organisation. Wullems, J. A., Verschueren, S. M., Degens, H., Morse, C. I., & Onambélé, G. L. (2016). A review of the assessment and prevalence of sedentarism in older adults, its physiology/health impact and non-exercise mobility counter-measures. Biogerontology, 17(3), 547–565.

Chapter 3

Role of Public Parks and Spaces in Creating Age-Friendly Cities Sayon Pramanik and Chirag Sharma

Abstract People migrate to urban areas for future growth and to improve livability. In developing countries, there are many challenges associated with rapid urbanization such as urban well-being, health, conveyance, and quality of life among a few. Through systematic planning and execution, many urban areas are trying to adapt to the rapid developments and changes occurring every few years, which has a longterm impact on the inhabitants. In developing nations, a multitude of problems exist almost simultaneously and when there is an attempt to rectify one factor, multiple new problems arise from the solution itself, therefore it is due to poor urban planning and execution that we witness several new problems arising constantly in the present-day context. A rigid plan can never work in dynamic developing conditions. One such inherited problem of rapid urbanization is the problem of ‘active aging’. It has been observed in many cities that the needs of people from all walks of life are not being taken care of. Children and old people struggle to adjust to the harsh and rigid urban life. A child and an older person, both need spaces such as public parks and public spaces to age actively. The urban youth also requires such spaces to rejuvenate their urban life. Public parks and spaces are an important contributing factor to the notion of urban well-being. Through this study, we attempt to analyze the importance and impact of public parks and spaces on the problem of aging in cities. Through space syntax analysis, we try to understand the user priority based on the ‘social logic’ of public spaces and parks in the cities. Parks and public spaces are also of various categories and in order to study them, we take the help of urban fabric and network analysis through GIS to determine the ‘accessibility’ of public parks from various residential areas in the city. The results obtained through systematic analysis are compared and analyzed through public surveys. The study is conducted for the Tier-I cities of India, which are considerably well-developed in the context of the developing nation. The results demonstrate a dynamic connection between public parks and spaces and active aging. Through surveys, we understood the

S. Pramanik · C. Sharma (✉) Department of Architecture, National Institute of Technology, Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 N. Biloria et al. (eds.), The Empathic City, S.M.A.R.T. Environments, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-32840-4_3

41

42

S. Pramanik and C. Sharma

people’s perspectives which are in resonance with the findings of the research. In this research, we study the problem of ‘active aging’ in cities and how it impacts the urban health and well-being of the inhabitants and the prospects of life expectancy based on active aging of the people. Through this, we follow to understand the notion of sustainability of cities based on the quality of aging of the inhabitants and the ability of the urban area to actively support and nourish the age-friendly liveability of the people. Keywords Urban active aging · Public parks · Space syntax analysis · GIS

3.1

Introduction

Cities are the center of growth in the present context of developing countries. India is rapidly urbanizing and the population is growing at an incremental pace from 17 percent (1951) to 28 percent (2001) and approaching 41 percent by 2030 (Misra, 1998). Due to a lack of economic prospects in rural areas, we are witnessing a large-scale rural-urban movement, which not only contributes to rapid urban growth but also creates new housing issues as well as economic and social issues (Nath, 2007). Due to this condition, cities have high population densities, high land prices, and limited land availability (Bharath et al., 2018). In India, these challenges are primarily being addressed by top-down planning and policy execution through geographical information system (GIS) maps, which largely ignore the subtle elements related to the real issues facing urban residents. These growth choices don’t adequately address the varying demands and circumstances of the present. Rapid urbanization created multifaceted issues (Nath, 2007) neglecting the well-being of the people living in the City. The lifestyles are sedentary and the urban construct creates a focus on a higher degree of wealth generation as compared to the quality of life. As population density is very high in urban areas (Misra, 1998), little is valued for health conditions, leading to the chances of the spread of epidemics. Postpandemic mantra for the wealthy to the healthy city (Corburn, 2009) remains prioritized. Poor urban planning and development decisions have a long-lasting impact on the city, which subsequently affects the day-to-day lives of the people. As a consequence, important factors which define the quality of life of the people (WHO, 2002) are neglected, such as health, well-being, and aging. The current city development, planning, and transformation should be re-investigated concerning a better people-centric approach or a more bottom-up approach. According to the United Nations, the current decade of 2021–2030 is marked as the decade of healthy aging, defined by the World Health Organization. This implies a global shift of perspective in the perception and development strategies of cities, and we must adapt to this shift and progress in a constructive manner, to a healthy city. A rigid development plan derived from a top-down approach cannot fully function in dynamic developing conditions. Thus, the nature of the

3

Role of Public Parks and Spaces in Creating Age-Friendly Cities

43

solution must be dynamic as well and any such solution must be targeted toward improving the livability of the inhabitants. One important problem of rapid urbanization in India and other developing nations is the problem of active aging. Active aging is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as ‘the process of optimizing opportunities for health, participation, and security to enhance the quality of life as people age’ (WHO, 2002). The Active Aging Index as proposed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) (Active Ageing Index (AAI) In Non-EU Countries and at Subnational Level Guidelines, 2018) for non-European countries takes into consideration certain factors such as actual experiences of active aging and the capability to age actively. There are certain merits of this proposed AAI (Active Aging Index), such as consideration of factors such as ‘independent, healthy and secure living’, and ‘participation in society apart from economic conditions’. Such factors are essential to determine well-being, which gives a better means of truly determining the degree of Active Aging. This system of determining active aging, however accurate it might be for certain situations, will fail in the context of developing countries because it does not take into account the spatial parameters unique to the context of highdensity cities in the global south. Therefore, it is non-inclusive of the problems and their implications as there is an immediate need for devising a certain means to determine the active aging index or a similar parameter in the contemporary development of urban areas. Further, regarding the evaluation aspects, we lack the tools necessary to gauge and consider the quality of aging in India. Determining and articulating the significance of public parks and spaces in this context becomes a challenging undertaking. Therefore, we must adopt a bottom-up strategy, incorporating the residents of the concerned urban areas through open surveys. In densely populated urban regions of India, it might not be an accurate assessment, but it is sufficient to reflect the significance and necessity of public parks and spaces (Schnell et al., 2019). As implied from previous studies a change (Corburn, 2009; Misra, 1998; Nath, 2007) in identifying and evaluating specific parameters that are crucial to resolving the issue of active aging in a city is needed urgently. This study presents a comprehensive methodology for addressing active aging issues through an evaluation of the impact and equity of urban public parks, for which we highlight several key elements related to urban well-being and overall quality of life. In various studies, the importance of public parks and spaces or green spaces in a city has been defined and established (Chiesura, 2004; Corburn, 2009; Schnell et al., 2019). Since there are fewer green spaces in highly populated metropolitan areas, there is less interaction between humans and the natural world (Marchettini, 2004; Nath, 2007). Public parks have been found to improve people’s urban well-being and close this disconnection which in turn encourages healthier aging and promotes the progress toward a sustainable city (Chiesura, 2004). This mixed-approach paradigm, which combines a top-down and bottom-up approach for understanding, offers an effective option for the holistic development of cities in harmony with the goals of the residents, giving

S. Pramanik and C. Sharma

44

them a higher priority in city development. The space syntax methodology (Hillier, 2007; van Nes & Yamu, 2021), which attempts to characterize the place phenomenology (Hillier, 2007; Hillier & Hanson, 1984) is also used in this assessment, through which it is attempted to bridge the gap between the top-down and bottom-up approaches of GIS and Public Surveys, leading to a robust means of assessing the importance of parks and spaces on the problem of active aging.

3.1.1

Study Area

The research is performed in India’s two largest cities, Mumbai, Maharashtra, and Kolkata, West Bengal which are developed during the colonial period. These cities acted as the urban cores for the then India, creating a lot of influx of people migrating to these cities. The selection of the cities is mostly based on their urban development density and high population density. Additionally, these cities are considered as Tier 1 cities based on their population. GIS-based data was incorporated with other relevant data related to public parks and open spaces in this research (Figs. 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3).

Fig. 3.1 Map of India

3

Role of Public Parks and Spaces in Creating Age-Friendly Cities

45

Fig. 3.2 A street network map of Kolkata, West Bengal, India

3.2

Materials and Methods

Accessibility of a public park and space is an important aspect to assess while we proceed further to determine parks’ equity and their role in creating the notion of age-friendliness in the city. The method which was followed is depicted in the given Fig. 3.4. Close contact with green spaces in an urban area is known to have a positive impact on the physiological well-being of people living in dense urban areas (Chiesura, 2004; Schnell et al., 2019). There are various kinds of open green spaces in cities (Taylor & Hochuli, 2017), and specifically, in developing countries, they are not usually classified based on the people’s choice to visit them, their affinity to different age groups, and their frequency of visits. These spaces must be classified into a common typology that fits both the selected case study areas (Kolkata and Mumbai). Therefore, it is required to conduct a pragmatic urban fabric assessment along with public surveys and broadly determine various types of public parks and spaces available in the cities. It was found that both cities can have four common public park typologies, namely domestic gardens close to residential areas which serve people from all age groups, public playgrounds which are specific to the youth, public parks which have older and younger people visiting more frequently, and

46

S. Pramanik and C. Sharma

Fig. 3.3 A street network map of Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

green spaces close to a famous social attraction majorly visited by young and middleaged people. These park typologies can be useful for conducting a holistic catchment analysis based on the ‘network’ and ‘location’ of the parks. This analysis will go handin-hand with the network analysis that is conducted later in this work in order to determine the movement and proximity of the urban street network for both cities. These assessments of catchment and accessibility are further assessed and validated through public surveys and user perception is analyzed, which helps to know the user priority while accessing any type of park and its impact on park equity.

3.2.1

Space and Aging

Aging and urban green spaces have a direct correlation based on well-being and health factors, but green space equity and its link with people from various age groups determine the ability of urban space to be age-friendly. Spatial parameters

3

Role of Public Parks and Spaces in Creating Age-Friendly Cities

47

Fig. 3.4 Methodology

largely determine the city’s age-friendliness and the ability of the urban green pockets to increase walkability and other physical activity to break the stagnant halt in active aging in dense urban areas. This study has been devised to account for these neglected spatial parameters of accessibility and network, which are crucial for the urban space to encourage active aging, by supporting the spatial needs of people from all walks of life. Such subtle factors are determined through public surveys, where respondents were asked questions that relate these factors of well-being and aging to spaces and their impact at large.

48

3.2.2

S. Pramanik and C. Sharma

Catchment Analysis

Each public park and space can be accessed by the people through three major means, walking and using private or public transport. Some previous studies have tried to explore the catchment area of certain urban areas based on population density and land use maps (Bharath et al., 2018). A similar method won’t accurately determine the pedestrian-specific needs and therefore, again falls under a top-down approach. In order to have a more informed way of determining pedestrian walkable catchment of the concerned public parks and spaces, public surveys were conducted in both cities. The survey recorded 291 individual responses out of which 142 respondents are from Kolkata and 149 respondents are from Mumbai. From this survey data, it is possible to determine the comfortable walkable distances for the respondents, as shown in the following Fig. 3.5. It was found that 28.2% of respondents find it suitable if the park is within 200 meters of walking distance, while 31.3% of the respondents are also willing to walk a distance equivalent to 800 meters or more. 19.2% of respondents and 21.3% of the total respondents vouch for 400 meters and 600 meters of walking distance respectively. These values of comfortable walking distances opted by the public living in the cities (Kolkata and Mumbai) are used as key inputs to analyze the catchment area of selected public parks. All the entry points are identified for the concerned public park and subsequently, the catchment area is determined. The assessment is done using QGIS, an open-source GIS (Geographical Information System) tool. The required street network data and the maps of the cities are obtained from Open Street Maps (OSM) dataset, also an open-source forum.

3.2.2.1

Catchment Analysis: Kolkata

The map of Kolkata (Fig. 3.6) used for this assessment is of the public parks and spaces within the region of the Kolkata Metropolitan Area (KMA). The overall catchment of the four selected sites has been highlighted for ease of reference. These sites have been selected depending on the four previously identified park typologies and their location in the ‘urban fabric’ (Oliveira, 2016; van Nes & Yamu, 2021). Fig. 3.5 Survey data showing comfortable walking distance

3

Role of Public Parks and Spaces in Creating Age-Friendly Cities

49

Fig. 3.6 Map of Kolkata showing the overall study region along with catchment areas of each site

These parks and spaces are integral elements of the urban form of Kolkata and are widely used by the inhabitants within the vicinity of the parks and the city at large.

Catchment Analysis: Site 1 The site shown above (Fig. 3.7) is located in the Bidhannagar area flanked by residential and commercial areas of Salt Lake, Sectors I-V, Lake Town, Rabindrapally, Krishnapur, and Kestopur. This site has an interesting urban fabric, in which the green spaces are interspersed at regular intervals, with Central Park at its epicenter. It has by far the largest catchment area of all the other selected sites in both Kolkata and Mumbai. An important observation in this region is that the whole region gets covered within the 400-meter comfortable walkable catchment area. Multiple parks existing in this region have overlapping catchments as we slightly increase the walkable catchment to 600 meters, 800 meters, and more, which implies there are more parks available to choose from nearby, giving people incentives and motivation to extend their daily walking distance.

50

S. Pramanik and C. Sharma

Fig. 3.7 Catchment analysis of Site-1, Kolkata

Catchment Analysis: Site 2 This location (Fig. 3.8), which displays organic patterns of the urban fabric, lies in Panchanantala, one of the older districts of the city. Domestic playgrounds and sporting venues can be found in the vicinity of the green spaces. Due to the limited number of green spaces in this section of the city that is heavily populated, even at a 1000-meter walking distance, it has a relatively smaller catchment area. The people living in the surrounding housing societies and residential communities are the parks’ main users. This area is near to the Bidhannagar site (Fig. 3.7), and both locations exhibit a striking difference. In contrast to Site-1 (Fig. 3.7), where the catchment area is larger at the shortest walkable distance, Site-2 (Fig. 3.8) has a smaller catchment area even at the longest comfortable walking distance.

Catchment Analysis: Site 3 The historic Maidan Area in Kolkata was chosen as the third location (Fig. 3.9). This Urban green park is noteworthy and deeply ingrained in the city’s past. One of the city’s last colonial remnants, this district along the Hooghly river is a sizable piece of land with a number of popular tourist destinations. Contrary to its magnitude, it has a small catchment area. This location can serve as a good illustration of the drawbacks of having a sizable public park in a densely populated neighborhood. This restricts the park’s use more to tourists and less to making use of the vast land resource for the

3

Role of Public Parks and Spaces in Creating Age-Friendly Cities

Fig. 3.8 Catchment analysis of Site-2 Kolkata

Fig. 3.9 Catchment analysis of Site-3, Kolkata

51

52

S. Pramanik and C. Sharma

needs of the park’s regular pedestrians. However, although the park may not directly serve the needs of pedestrians, it is nonetheless important as a green space that benefits the entire city’s population.

Catchment Analysis: Site 4 The fourth site (Fig. 3.10) for catchment analysis in Kolkata is chosen to be Eco-Park. It is situated in the New Town neighborhood, a newly emerging area on the outskirts of the city. As is evident, of the four areas chosen for Kolkata, this public park’s catchment area is the smallest. It only records a small number of nearby residential areas. The establishment of a natural retreat on the outskirts of the city’s New Town area appears to be the primary goal behind the development of the park. Presently, transportation is the main means of accessing the park from various areas of the city. Currently, the park mostly serves as a destination for ecotourism for the inhabitants of the city and does not cater much towards pedestrian usage. As a green space on the edge of the city’s present boundaries with an opportunity for development, this park may have some future promise.

3.2.2.2

Catchment Analysis: Mumbai

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region, depicted in the accompanying map (Fig. 3.11), is where the catchment analysis for Mumbai is conducted. As opposed to the Kolkata

Fig. 3.10 Catchment analysis of Site-4, Kolkata

3

Role of Public Parks and Spaces in Creating Age-Friendly Cities

53

Fig. 3.11 Map of Mumbai showing the overall study region along with catchment areas of each site

54

S. Pramanik and C. Sharma

Metropolitan Region, this area has more longitudinal networks that follow the city’s geographic boundaries. Mumbai has more social attractions than Kolkata does while having less expansive parks or eco-retreats. The sites selected for catchment analysis are indicated by the catchment areas that are depicted in the above map (Fig. 3.11).

Catchment Analysis: Site 1 The Marine Drive region in Mumbai (Fig. 3.12) is chosen as the first location for the assessment of catchment since it is a significant expanse of land with many different social attractions. The catchment area along the curvilinear profile grows as we get closer to the corners of the area, where the Juhu Chowpatty beach and the Hanging Gardens are on the northern side and the Wankhede Stadium, Nariman Point, and the Gateway of India are on the southern side, along with a few other smaller parks and public areas. Unique to Mumbai in both cities is the observed “split” in the catchment area toward the social attractions.

Catchment Analysis: Site 2 The area between Dadar West and Wadala West in Mumbai (Fig. 3.13) is the location of the second site selected for the catchment analysis. The Dadar Chowpatty, a popular social gathering spot, Chhatrapati Shivaji Park, a sports

Fig. 3.12 Catchment analysis of Site-1, Mumbai

3

Role of Public Parks and Spaces in Creating Age-Friendly Cities

55

Fig. 3.13 Catchment analysis of Site-2, Mumbai

venue, and Five Gardens, a radially organized green area with a central circular garden flanked by four other domestic gardens, are all simultaneously located in this study area. Out of both cities, this study area is the most diverse. When one increases the walking distance, the Five Gardens and the neighboring domestic gardens form an overlapping lattice of the catchment area. This location’s catchment resembles Kolkata’s Bidhannagar region (Fig. 3.7) in some ways as is visible in the above map, but it is not built on a normal gridiron street network; instead, it is more linear and has a radial street network around it. Other public parks and areas have simple catchment area growth trends, with some overlaps with other parks’ catchments at varying distances, as indicated in the analysis map above.

Catchment Analysis: Site 3 The third location is situated in Mumbai’s Andheri neighborhood (Fig. 3.14). Domestic public gardens and smaller-scale public parks are the main types of green space in this area. It is clear from the catchment analysis depicted in the accompanying map that the parks only extend into the nearby catchment region. The public parks and domestic gardens in this neighborhood primarily serve the many residential communities and apartments that are located there. As a result, it might be considered a private network of parks with catchment areas that are more concentrated in nearby residential neighborhoods.

56

S. Pramanik and C. Sharma

Fig. 3.14 Catchment analysis of Site-3, Mumbai

Catchment Analysis: Site 4 Mumbai’s fourth site comprises a variety of places, including the Sector 1 & Sector 5 areas, Satya Nagar, Kandivali, and Kandivali East (Fig. 3.15). These residential communities depict a gridiron layout and each locality’s catchment area is fairly exclusive of the catchment areas of neighboring parks because of the overall relative locations of corresponding neighboring parks and spaces. This can be considered as a more ‘privatized’ layout of parks in the region and is intended for global accessibility only when the walking distance goes beyond 800 meters. In this study area, the Kandivali and Kandivali East regions show more organic patterns of catchment areas as compared to Sector 1 & Sector 5, and Satya Nagar regions.

3.2.3

Space Syntax Analysis

In order for people to access public parks, the streets are the leading routes toward urban green spaces. There can be several different pathways that a person might use to access a particular public park and space. This opens up the possibilities of various pedestrian routes that can be potentially used by the people. These routes are embedded within the street network of the urban area. In order to study this aspect, the street network data of both the cities of Kolkata (Fig. 3.2) and Mumbai (Fig. 3.3) were extracted from the Open Street Maps (OSM) and later processed to rectify

3

Role of Public Parks and Spaces in Creating Age-Friendly Cities

57

Fig. 3.15 Catchment analysis of Site-4, Mumbai

geometrical anomalies and enhance the quality of the data for analysis purposes using the geographical information system techniques (GIS) in QGIS. These refined networks along with the building footprint data define the spatial organization and its ‘logic’ in terms of spatial connectivity and configuration. These spatial networks have in themselves ingrained the relationships between the built environment and the associated activities (Hillier & Hanson, 1984; van Nes & Yamu, 2021). This characterization of the phenomenology of place has been attempted in ‘space syntax’ (Hillier, 2007; Hillier & Hanson, 1984; van Nes & Yamu, 2021). The street network configuration is mathematically analyzed through the space syntax method, in which the street network is analyzed through three major measures of space syntax necessary for determining the accessibility to parks and spaces. The street network is quantified using an axial map, in which the network’s longest and least set of straight (axial) lines are used. The space syntax measures which are used in this study are ‘choice’, ‘control’, and ‘mean depth’ (Hillier & Hanson, 1984). Choice is defined as the likeliness of a path to be the shortest path in the system and is analyzed globally for the complete axial maps of both cities (Hillier & Hanson, 1984). Control is defined as the extent to which a space control access to immediate neighboring areas without taking into account the number of alternative connections that each of these neighbors has and is a local measure (Hillier & Hanson, 1984). Mean Depth is defined as the measure that determines the average depth of a space to all other spaces in the system, which means the least number of steps required to reach one space from the other in the whole system (Hillier & Hanson, 1984). These measures can be implemented to assess pedestrian movement and are analyzed for both cities using DepthmapX. an open-source tool.

S. Pramanik and C. Sharma

58

3.2.3.1

Choice Analysis: Kolkata (Fig. 3.16)

Fig. 3.16 Choice analysis map, Kolkata

3

Role of Public Parks and Spaces in Creating Age-Friendly Cities

3.2.3.2

Control Analysis: Kolkata (Fig. 3.17)

Fig. 3.17 Control analysis map, Kolkata

59

S. Pramanik and C. Sharma

60

3.2.3.3

Mean Depth Analysis: Kolkata (Fig. 3.18)

Fig. 3.18 Mean Depth analysis map, Kolkata

3

Role of Public Parks and Spaces in Creating Age-Friendly Cities

3.2.3.4

Choice Analysis: Mumbai (Fig. 3.19)

Fig. 3.19 Choice analysis map, Mumbai

61

S. Pramanik and C. Sharma

62

3.2.3.5

Control Analysis: Mumbai (Fig. 3.20)

Fig. 3.20 Control analysis map, Mumbai

3

Role of Public Parks and Spaces in Creating Age-Friendly Cities

3.2.3.6

Mean Depth Analysis: Mumbai (Fig. 3.21)

Fig. 3.21 Mean Depth analysis map, Mumbai

63

64

3.2.4

S. Pramanik and C. Sharma

Correlation

In the space syntax analyses conducted for the three measures of ‘choice’, ‘control’, and ‘mean depth’ (Hillier & Hanson, 1984) of both the cities, individual measure reveals a unique perspective of the city’s otherwise hidden ‘logic’. In order to determine the relationship between the variables, the Pearson correlation coefficient is calculated and the results are given in the Tables 3.1 and 3.2. For the parameters of ‘choice,’ ‘control,’ and ‘mean depth,’ (Hillier & Hanson, 1984) the Pearson Correlation Coefficient of Accessibility yields a result that all the parameters are not correlated for both Kolkata and Mumbai. This implies that the locally and globally examined space syntax measurements have to be determined separately to study the spatial organization since there is no correlation.

3.2.5

Public Surveys

Public online surveys were conducted in both Kolkata and Mumbai. A total of 291 responses were collected of which 142 people (48.8%) reside in Kolkata and 149 people (51.2%) reside in Mumbai. This sample size provides us with varied reliable data derived directly from the people living in the cities subject to the assessment. The survey questions were asked taking into consideration the various urban well-being factors, the active aging index (AAI), and certain analysis-specific measures. Out of the total respondents, 29.6% of people do not frequently visit a public park, which states that the frequency of visits to a park is low among the people, as only 21.6% of the respondents regularly visit the parks (Fig. 3.22). However, 77.7% of the respondents feel that public parks play an active role in rejuvenating their urban life thereby improving their quality of life. Maximum Table 3.1 Pearson correlation coefficient of accessibility for Kolkata Pearson correlation coefficient (r) of accessibility – KOLKATA Choice Control Choice 1 0.031957575 Control 0.031957575 1 Mean depth -0.085222074 -0.001869285

Mean depth -0.085222074 -0.001869285 1

Table 3.2 Pearson correlation coefficient of accessibility for Mumbai Pearson correlation coefficient (r) of accessibility – MUMBAI Choice Control Choice 1 0.010666441 Control 0.010666441 1 Mean depth -0.072950662 4.74E-06

Mean depth -0.072950662 4.74E-06 1

3

Role of Public Parks and Spaces in Creating Age-Friendly Cities

65

Fig. 3.22 Survey data showing the role of parks in rejuvenating urban life

Fig. 3.23 Survey data showing time spent in a public park by the people

Fig. 3.24 Survey data showing respondent’s frequency of visits to a public park based upon its typology

respondents feel closer to nature, healthier, and physically joyful after visiting the parks (Figs. 3.23, 3.24, 3.25 and 3.26). People like to spend one or more hours in a public park for the purpose of health and physical exercises (67.7%), attaining mental relaxation (48.8%), getting away from the rigid urban lifestyle (38.1%), and socializing (32.6%). This implies the benefits offered by the parks and their importance in enhancing the quality of life of the inhabitants of the urban area.

66

S. Pramanik and C. Sharma

Fig. 3.25 Survey data showing the maximum distance people are willing to cover in order to access a park

Fig. 3.26 Survey data showing reason for visit to public parks and spaces

3.3

Results

The equity of a public park or space depends upon the accessibility of the public parks through the urban street networks and the catchment area of the park or space (Iraegui et al., 2020; Koohsari et al., 2014; Sharmin & Kamruzzaman, 2018). This dynamic relationship directly impacts the user’s priority to visit a public park or space (Koohsari et al., 2014; Siregar et al., 2021) and affects the urban well-being of the people, impacting the age-friendliness of the region and the city at large (Caro & Fitzgerald, 2016; Fitzgerald & Caro, 2014; Koohsari et al., 2014). Through public surveys, it is inferred that domestic gardens have a higher frequency of visits than parks and spaces located closer to social attractions. This implies that the catchment area of such domestic gardens and parks should be more encroached within the residential areas of the city, with a greater ‘choice’ and ‘mean depth’ (Hillier & Hanson, 1984). ‘control’ being a local measure in space syntax methodology (Hillier & Hanson, 1984; van Nes & Yamu, 2021), should also be high for such gardens in order to ensure maximum park equity by the people living in the vicinity of the park’s catchment area. This can be observed in the catchment and space syntax analysis of Site-1 of Kolkata, the Bidhannagar area (Fig. 3.7) and a contrasting difference can be observed in Site-2 of Kolkata, the Panchanantal area (Fig. 3.8). Furthermore, it can be said that Site-3 (Fig. 3.9) and Site-4 (Fig. 3.10) in Kolkata, which have much smaller catchment areas for the parks in question, nonetheless

3

Role of Public Parks and Spaces in Creating Age-Friendly Cities

67

have high equity due to their global connection, which was evaluated by space syntax metrics (Hillier & Hanson, 1984). These parks can be roughly categorized as social attractions and mixed-use places. They do not necessarily need to be near to residential areas, but they must be located along the city’s most widely accessible street network (Figs. 3.16 and 3.17), allowing for easy access by the public. Newer aspects of park equity are revealed by similar case-specific observations concerning the chosen analysis locations in Mumbai, such as the ‘split’ shown in Site-1 of Mumbai (Fig. 3.12), the Marine drive area. Despite the region’s short catchment area along its curved shape, there is a bigger alteration in catchment patterns in the northern and southern ends, which are home to many infamous social attractions of the city. As observed in the space syntax analysis maps, this can be linked to the higher “mean depth” (Fig. 3.21) and greater “control” (Fig. 3.20) values (Hillier & Hanson, 1984). This illustrates the significance of space syntactic measurements in establishing the equity of the spaces. A moderate catchment was found in Site-3 of Mumbai (Fig. 3.14), the Andheri region, which covers the study region within a 600-meter walking distance, in the case of increased urban area density. Additionally, the street network in this area has increased “mean depth” (Fig. 3.21) and is more connected (Hillier & Hanson, 1984). As a result, the parks selected for this area have moderate equity. The local catchment area of each domestic park in Site-4 of Mumbai (Fig. 3.15) is high, but it is not reachable within a range of 600 meters, as was previously noted in the Site-3 zone (Fig. 3.14). Local catchment is higher and there are more parks in this area with high equity, but because of poor interconnection, the user priority in terms of global accessibility (Figs. 3.19 and 3.20) decreases, lowering the equity of the entire park. A thorough examination of these variables reveals that the user priority established through accessibility measures has been validated and, to some extent, quantified in terms of the number of comfortable walking distances as well as the distances that people are willing to travel to reach the parks by using some form of transportation. Many other studies that use GIS and other tools to try to figure out how accessible a public park is are somehow constrained to the top-down method (Iraegui et al., 2020; Koohsari et al., 2014; Middle et al., 2014; Mithun et al., 2021; Nicholls, 2001; Taylor & Hochuli, 2017). Some studies, that employ space syntax analysis for determining the accessibility of the parks and spaces (Koohsari et al., 2014; Sharmin & Kamruzzaman, 2018; Siregar et al., 2021) take into account the place phenomenology, hence can be considered as hybrid approaches. However, is clear that developing countries face complex issues; as a result, a more all-encompassing strategy that involves the city’s residents is needed (Fig. 3.27). Residents of the urban areas should be involved for the purpose of determining public park equity and its consequent impact on aging and well-being. The relevant data collected from the respondents are located and their corresponding places of residence have been marked in the maps that follow, which were created for the cities of Kolkata (Fig. 3.28) and Mumbai (Fig. 3.29). These maps illustrate the numerous responses we received from residents of both cities. Due to the small number of actual places in both cities that are directly inside the catchment areas of

68

S. Pramanik and C. Sharma

Fig. 3.27 Survey data showing user priority of park visit based on its typology

Fig. 3.28 Map of Kolkata with study areas showing catchment and location of residence of the survey respondents

3

Role of Public Parks and Spaces in Creating Age-Friendly Cities

69

Fig. 3.29 Map of Mumbai with study areas showing catchment and location of residence of the survey respondents

70

S. Pramanik and C. Sharma

the chosen study zones, these maps more fully corroborate the research’s conclusions.

3.4

Analysis

By merging the evaluation of the spatial organization and comprehending its logic using local and global measures of the space syntax methodology (Hillier, 2007; Hillier & Hanson, 1984), this combined approach bridges the gap between the top-down and bottom-up approaches. This provides proper comprehension of the equity of the parks through user priority based on different park typologies according to their function and further, their respective “choice,” “control,” “mean depth,” (Hillier & Hanson, 1984) and catchment area. These measurements are evaluated throughout the two cities in various areas, and the observations are drawn from the four sites selected within each city according to the location and purpose of the parks. A mislocated public park or space might be either underutilized or overutilized, both not desirable as seen in the catchment analysis of both cities. The results depict a people-place relationship between the different public parks and spaces, which corresponds to their active aging requirements deduced from the urban well-being indicators. The impact of public parks and spaces on the problem of active aging primarily depends upon the park’s equity depending upon the functional typology, like a residential area requires a greater number of domestic gardens, therefore the park equity of such public spaces would be much higher than that of public social attraction parks. This calls for specifically curated measurements of accessibility through space syntax analysis (Hillier & Hanson, 1984; van Nes & Yamu, 2021) and catchment area analysis depending upon park typology, which would further determine the qualitative as well as quantitative aspects specific to the problem of active aging.

3.5

Discussion

The study through the case-specific analyses of two selected densely populated Tier1 megacities of India reveals major issues with the current state of the public parks and spaces in the cities and its plausible reasons. Rapid urbanization enforces constrained development conditions and therefore a novel model utilizing both top-down and bottom-up approaches should be synthesized and utilized as is demonstrated in this research through the space syntax assessment as well as public surveys. Such a model for creating and assessing the impact of public parks and spaces on the factor of age-friendliness can be explored further, and the notions of life expectancy, health, and sustainability through park equity and active aging and urban well-being indicators can be understood and employed for creating more

3

Role of Public Parks and Spaces in Creating Age-Friendly Cities

71

inclusive and empathic cities in the future and improving the design and policy level decisions concerning the contemporary state of the cities. Acknowledgments Open-source GIS application QGIS was utilized to carry out the study, and pertinent open-source datasets from Open Street Maps (OSM) were also employed. Using DepthmapX, a free software program created by the space syntax laboratory at UCL, the analysis of Space Syntax was carried out. We would like to thank Mr. Soham Banerjee and Ms. Kajal Kabdal for their assistance in conducting public online surveys and validating the research. Funding No funding was received for conducting this research.

References Active Ageing Index (AAI) In Non-EU Countries and at Subnational Level Guidelines. (2018). https://statswiki.unece.org/display/AAI/VII.+About+the+project Bharath, H. A., Chandan, M. C., Vinay, S., & Ramachandra, T. v. (2018). Modelling urban dynamics in rapidly urbanising Indian cities. Egyptian Journal of Remote Sensing and Space Science, 21(3), 201–210. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrs.2017.08.002 Caro, F. G., & Fitzgerald, K. G. (Eds.). (2016). International perspectives on age-friendly cities. Routledge. Chiesura, A. (2004). The role of urban parks for the sustainable city. Landscape and Urban Planning, 68(1), 129–138. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.LANDURBPLAN.2003.08.003 Corburn, J. (2009). Toward_the_healthy_city. The MIT Press. Fitzgerald, K. G., & Caro, F. G. (2014). An overview of age-friendly cities and communities around the world. Journal of Aging and Social Policy, 26(1–2), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/ 08959420.2014.860786 Hillier, B. (2007). Space is the machine. Space Syntax. Hillier, B., & Hanson, J. (1984). The social logic of space. Cambridge University Press. Iraegui, E., Augusto, G., & Cabral, P. (2020). Assessing equity in the accessibility to urban green spaces according to different functional levels. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information, 9(5). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi9050308 Koohsari, M. J., Kaczynski, A. T., Mcormack, G. R., & Sugiyama, T. (2014). Using space syntax to assess the built environment for physical activity: Applications to research on parks and public open spaces. Leisure Sciences, 36(2), 206–216. https://doi.org/10.1080/01490400.2013.856722 Marchettini, N. (2004). The sustainable city III: Urban regeneration and sustainability. WIT. Middle, I., Dzidic, P., Buckley, A., Bennett, D., Tye, M., & Jones, R. (2014). Integrating community gardens into public parks: An innovative approach for providing ecosystem services in urban areas. Urban Forestry and Urban Greening, 13(4), 638–645. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. ufug.2014.09.001 Misra, R. P. (1998). Urbanization_in_India. Mithun, S., Sahana, M., Chattopadhyay, S., Johnson, B. A., Khedher, K. M., & Avtar, R. (2021). Monitoring metropolitan growth dynamics for achieving sustainable urbanization (Sdg 11.3) in Kolkata metropolitan area, India. Remote Sensing, 13(21). https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13214423 Nath, V. (2007). In S. K. Aggarwal (Ed.), Urbanization_urban_development_and_metropolitain cities in India. Concept Publishing Company. Nicholls, S. (2001). Measuring the accessibility and equity of public parks: A case study using GIS. Managing Leisure, 6(4), 201–219. https://doi.org/10.1080/13606710110084651 Oliveira, V. (2016). The elements of urban form. In Urban book series (pp. 7–30). Springer. https:// doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32083-0_2

72

S. Pramanik and C. Sharma

Schnell, I., Harel, N., & Mishori, D. (2019). The benefits of discrete visits in urban parks. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 41, 179–184. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.UFUG.2019.03.019 Sharmin, S., & Kamruzzaman, M. (2018). Meta-analysis of the relationships between space syntax measures and pedestrian movement. Transport Reviews, 38(4), 524–550. https://doi.org/10. 1080/01441647.2017.1365101 Siregar, J. P., Surjono, Rukmi, W. I., & Kurniawan, E. B. (2021). Evaluating accessibility to city parks utilizing a space syntax method. A case study: City parks in Malang city. In IOP conference series: Earth and environmental science (Vol. 916, Issue 1). IOP Publishing Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/916/1/012015 Taylor, L., & Hochuli, D. F. (2017). Defining greenspace: Multiple uses across multiple disciplines. Landscape and Urban Planning, 158, 25–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2016. 09.024 van Nes, A., & Yamu, C. (2021). Introduction to space syntax in urban studies. In Introduction to space syntax in urban studies. Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3030-59140-3 World Health Organization. (2002). Active ageing: A policy framework. World Health Organization.

Chapter 4

Neighbourhood Outdoor Shared Spaces and Mental Well-Being of the Elderly: The Case of a High-Rise Neighbourhood in Delhi Shreya Shukla and Tina Pujara

Abstract Urban lifestyle has largely affected the mental well-being of people. The impact is severe for vulnerable populations like the elderly, as they are more likely to experience loneliness and distress. There is a focus on the improvement of the Quality of Life of people worldwide; however, mental well-being aspects require more attention, especially for the elderly as the urban society is progressively aging. Physical and cognitive capabilities of the elderly decline with time, which affects their Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) and their physical and mental well-being gets dependent on the local built environments. Thus, it is vital that the neighbourhood spaces are designed such that the elderly feel at ease in their neighbourhoods. Moreover, with the pressure of living in a pandemic, the need to address mental well-being with respect to the urban spaces has become much more significant, as according to WHO, mental health concerns have increased tenfold during the Covid-19 pandemic. In the Indian context, most elderly seem to prefer high-rise neighbourhoods, possibly because of the availability of services, maintenance, safety, and security. However, they also feel socially isolated in these neighbourhoods. In studies, mental well-being has been found directly linked to interaction and sociability. To combat social isolation, the elderly spend a substantial amount of time in the outdoor spaces of neighbourhoods, which makes these spaces highly significant for the mental wellbeing of the elderly. The elderly prefer to ‘age in place’ and high-rise developments are going to increase significantly in the coming times, hence, the focus of this study is on high-rise neighbourhoods. The design of such neighbourhoods needs to focus on holistic development, which can improve the mental well-being of the elderly. The focus of this study was to find what attributes of high-rise neighbourhood outdoor spaces influence the mental well-being of the elderly. This research studies the case of a high-rise high-density gated neighbourhood of New Delhi, India, named SomVihar. This empirical study employed the use of a mix-method approach where the data was collected via qualitative and quantitative methods like structured S. Shukla · T. Pujara (✉) Department of Architecture and Planning, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 N. Biloria et al. (eds.), The Empathic City, S.M.A.R.T. Environments, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-32840-4_4

73

74

S. Shukla and T. Pujara

interviews and survey questionnaires. Elderly activities were mapped to further assess their perceptions regarding their well-being with regard to the use of outdoor shared spaces. The study results in strategies, regarding the high-rise neighbourhood spaces to facilitate mental well-being. SomVihar being a dense neighbourhood, the elderly residents reported insufficient outdoor green spaces. They suggested that there is a need for more green space as people from other age groups also use the common spaces and it hinders the elderly activities. The benefitting group from this study are primarily the elderly. This research attempts to focus on how neighbourhood spaces can improve the elderly mental well-being. The relevance of design of outdoor spaces is significant for any neighbourhood design. The strategies evolved for this study may contribute towards the development of methods to assess neighbourhood design for mental well-being, especially for the elderly. This will not only help in understanding collective wellbeing but will also contribute towards creating mentally healthy global cities. Keywords Neighbourhood design · High-rise · Mental well-being · Outdoor spaces · Elderly

4.1

Introduction

The world population is progressively aging. According to WHO, the global elderly population will be 22% by 2050. In addition, presently, more than half of the world population (55.7%) is residing in urban areas, and 70% is expected to live in cities by 2050 as per UN-habitat 2014. This clearly implies that we are headed towards an urban aging society. Urban lifestyle has led to the improvement in the Quality of Life (QoL) of people worldwide, however, it has largely affected the mental well-being of people (Hajrasoulih et al., 2018). The impact of urban lifestyle on mental well-being becomes severe especially for vulnerable populations like the elderly, as they are more likely to experience loneliness and social disengagement with age (Temelová & Slezáková, 2014; Wanka, 2018). This aging population creates an array of social and health concerns for society, including the psychological and cognitive wellbeing of the elderly (Waldman-levi et al., 2015). Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted in 2015 with 17 main objectives to be achieved by 2030 to make the world a better place for everyone. The goals 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11 & 16 directly or indirectly have an impact on creating an inclusive environment for the elderly and help cities and communities everywhere to become age-friendly (WHO, 2018). Goal 3: Good Health and Well-being, states ‘promote well-being for all at all ages’, with one of its 13 targets stating ‘promote mental health’. As we are headed towards a progressively urban aging society, this calls for an immediate focus on the elderly mental well-being. Research indicates that the elderly desire to “age in place” and live independently in the society. The idea of ‘aging in place’ has been promoted to help the elderly achieve economically, psychologically and physically healthy later life (Peng & Maing, 2021). The elderly tend to spend a substantial amount of time in public

4

Neighbourhood Outdoor Shared Spaces and Mental Well-Being of the Elderly:. . .

75

spaces like parks, shops, housing and pathways all the way through their neighbourhoods (Jelokhani-Niaraki et al., 2019). They tend to spend significant time in the neighbourhoods because of the decline in physical capabilities, reduced mobility, cognitive decline and shrinking social support (Lam et al., 2020). The effects of the significant physical and cognitive bodily changes are not just physical, but they also affect the elderly mentally, rendering them helpless, also particularly because of the several barriers they face in the built environment. Thus, reduced physical and cognitive capabilities of the elderly make their behaviour and wellbeing more sensitive to and dependent on their local environment (Reitzes et al., 1991) as their Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) such as walking, driving, socializing, performing daily chores, health maintenance and others are severely affected. It has been established through research that the neighbourhood environments impact the Quality of Life and satisfaction of the elderly by either supporting or hindering opportunities for independent, active and contented aging (Temelová & Slezáková, 2014). WHO suggests that societies need to acclimatize to the fastgrowing aging population and need to empower people to live healthy and long lives by investing in healthy aging (WHO, n.d.). The concept of ‘healthy aging’ has been rigorously researched, however, there is still a huge gap in how the design and planning of neighbourhood environments impact the ADLs of the elderly and how it can promote healthy aging. In addition, studies have established that mental wellbeing is directly linked to interaction and sociability. Thus, the neighbourhood spaces not only need to meet the elderly’s daily demands but also promote social and physical activities (Cao et al., 2017) for healthy and active aging of the elderly. There has been substantial research on elderly mobility in the context of age-friendly environments, focusing on which features facilitate the inclusivity of urban streets in the wake of Universal Design. However, mental well-being aspects have still been missing from the context when we talk about elderly-friendly or age-friendly streets/ cities. This study tried to fill this research void by focussing on the mental well-being of the elderly by attempting to explore what mental well-being of the elderly may mean at the neighbourhood scale and identify the challenges related to it. The world is rapidly urbanizing, and high-rise high-density developments are increasing in substantial numbers as they promote efficient land use, and have better access to services and facilities, which makes the lives of the residents convenient. Thus, the focus of this study is on high-rise neighbourhoods. Through empirical research, this study tries to explain how various attributes of the neighbourhood outdoor shared spaces influence the mental well-being of the elderly in the context of a high-rise neighbourhood. This study gives an understanding on how the behaviour and activities of elderly are influenced by various elements and qualities of neighbourhood outdoor shared spaces. As per the global standards, the elderly population is defined as people aged 65 or over (OECD, n.d.). However, this study has considered persons above the age of 60 as the stakeholder population, as per the Indian laws which defines persons over the age of 60 as ‘senior citizens’(Centre for Development of Advanced Computing, n.d.).

76

4.2 4.2.1

S. Shukla and T. Pujara

Literature Review Mental Well-Being of the Elderly

In the theory Social Production Function (SPF), given by Lindenberg in 1986, it is established that people tend to improve their life conditions by augmenting two universal goals – physical well-being and social well-being with the help of five contributory goals- stimulation and comfort for physical well-being, and status, behavioural confirmation and affection for social well-being (Nieboer et al., 2005). These goals are considered as the relevant factors of subjective well-being, which is an overall state of well-being and self-perception of people. Stimulation denotes to the activation of mental and physical sensors, while comfort is considered as an absence of harmful stimulation (Nieboer & Cramm, 2018). For the elderly, to achieve physical well-being, social and civic participation is very essential in a neighbourhood which helps in stimulating activities and leads to physical activity. One of the most important factors that encourages elderly to indulge in physical activities is comfort, which can be achieved by safer neighbourhoods, as they help in removing fearful feelings. In addition, according to the Activity Theory of Aging, there is a positive relationship between a person’s level of activity and life satisfaction (Diggs, 2008). This theory proposed by Gerontologist Robert J. Havighurst, states that staying active and maintaining social interactions causes happiness in the elderly. The SPF theory and the Activity Theory of Aging have been considered as the premise of this research, basing on the idea that physical and social well-being ultimately lead to mental well-being. Based on these theories, this study assesses how elderly in a high density high-rise neighbourhood tend to achieve their physical and social well-being goals which will ultimately lead to mental well-being of the elderly.

4.2.2

High-Rise Neighbourhoods

High-rise high-density developments are the way forward for this rapidly urbanizing world as they offer several benefits. In the Indian context, most elderly seem to prefer high-rise neighbourhoods, possibly because of the availability of services, maintenance, safety, and security. However, there are certain limitations of these neighbourhoods too. They are overcrowded, and congested, and have limited open and green spaces (Cao et al., 2019). In addition, elderly tend to feel socially isolated in these neighbourhoods, majorly due to high resident turnover and temporary residents (Temelová & Slezáková, 2014). High-rise high-density neighbourhoods are compact in nature, which leads to the dependency of elderly on the immediate outdoor neighbourhood spaces (Peng & Maing, 2021). Neighbourhood outdoor shared spaces become vital for the elderly activities, especially their daily social

4

Neighbourhood Outdoor Shared Spaces and Mental Well-Being of the Elderly:. . .

77

activities, which then facilitates their physical and mental health. There are very limited research studies focussing on the outdoor shared neighbourhood spaces in high-rise high-density neighbourhoods, especially from the perspective of elderly and focussing on their needs and preferences. Recent studies that have emerged in the context of high-rise high-density neighbourhoods have been conducted in the effluent Asian countries like Singapore, China and Japan. However, there is still limited research in terms of variability of neighbourhood spaces and their impact on the mental well-being of residents in Asian cities (Lam et al., 2020). This research is trying to contribute to the literature on designing high-rise neighbourhoods for elderly with regard to mental health, from an Indian perspective.

4.2.3

Elderly and the Neighbourhood Spaces

In a study by Thompson (2013), it has been mentioned that one of the most important attributes in ‘neighbourhood design and planning’ is creating neighbourhoods that facilitate elderly activities. The elderly tend to spend more than 75% of their time at home and the immediate environments (Peng & Maing, 2021). Numerous studies have been done on age friendly built environments, which discuss about what aspects of built environments make it more age-friendly. These environments are supposed to promote physical and social activities of the elderly. In one such study, it was found that elderly people want safety, pleasurability and accessibility (Chen et al. 2020) in the areas that they reside in. Another study suggests that safety, comfort and legibility (Xiong et al., 2020) are the most important aspects for elderly in their built environment. In another study, it was suggested that safety, amenities, pedestrian-friendly spaces, transport infrastructure, and social and public spaces are significantly related to the elderly health (Bhuyan & Yuen, 2022). Research also suggests that elderly tend to be active in their neighbourhoods if daily infrastructure is available in neighbourhood environments (Temelová & Slezáková, 2014). Walkability and provision of parks at the neighbourhood level has mental health benefits to the elderly (Lam et al., 2020). Safety and security are most important considerations to sustain in predominantly elderly environments because of their vulnerability (Millas, 1980). In the WHO Global Age-Friendly Cities project consultation, older people and others describe a broad range of characteristics of the urban landscape and built environment that contribute to age-friendliness. The most significant features mentioned in cities around the world are Quality of Life, access and safety (WHO, 2007). All these studies highlight various aspects that are crucial for the physical and social activities of the elderly and influence their mental wellbeing. In absence of such affordances, elderly are discouraged to do outdoor activity (Thompson, 2013). Numerous research studies have indicated that engagement with public space decreases with age (Wanka, 2018). This scenario puts forth the need for an emphasis on social activities of the elderly, especially considering social networks and social contacts generally decrease with age(Cao et al., 2017). Understanding the social

78

S. Shukla and T. Pujara

needs of the older people is of the highest significance for built environment professionals so that they can decipher their requirements and translate it into planning and designing of neighbourhood spaces (Yung et al., 2016). In most of the neighbourhood studies, it has been observed that open green spaces are cherished more as they connect people with nature, and offer a place for various outside activities. Green spaces have both environmental and social benefits. A sense of community and belonging is built up when residents catch up in the open green spaces of the neighbourhood (de la Barrera et al., 2016). Same is true for the highrise neighbourhoods. In one study done in Prague, it was found that the elderly had a really high satisfaction with public green spaces in high-rise neighbourhoods (Temelová & Slezáková, 2014). In another study done in Singapore and Hong Kong, it was found that abundant parks are favoured in an high-rise neighbourhood by the elderly (Lam et al., 2020). Based on the literature review, the most important aspects of a neighbourhood that directly influence an elderly’s life have been found to be safety, access to services, presence of green spaces and walkability in their neighbourhoods, with safety being the most important factor. However, the connection between elderly and high-rise neighbourhoods has been understudied still, and there is need for research on the design of high-rise neighbourhood spaces with respect to elderly’s everyday life, especially from the lens of mental well-being. Developing on the above research gaps identified with the help of literature review, the research question that this empirical study tried to answer is that what elements and qualities of neighbourhood outdoor shared spaces are important for designing high-rise neighbourhoods that can facilitate the mental well-being of the elderly. In other words, this research tried to understand how the elderly perceive and interact with the outdoor shared spaces of their neighbourhoods to identify the various attributes and characteristics of a neighbourhood that directly or indirectly influence the mental well-being of the elderly.

4.3

Methodology

This empirical research exploited a mix-method approach. It has primarily utilized qualitative research methods like critical observation of the study area and interaction with the stakeholders in the form of structured telephonic interviews, and quantitative research method of survey. Study Area New Delhi, the capital city of India, was selected for this study. It has a population of over 19.6 million as per the projections by the Census 2011 and 9.3 per cent of the total population of Delhi is elderly (Central Statistic Office, 2016). As the capital of India, Delhi has substantial development and there is a focus on improving the QOL of its residents. The neighbourhood selected for this study is SomVihar Apartments, located in RK Puram, New Delhi. SomVihar is a high-rise and highdensity gated neighbourhood with an area of 36,000 sqm, consisting of 10 towers

4

Neighbourhood Outdoor Shared Spaces and Mental Well-Being of the Elderly:. . .

79

Fig. 4.1 SomVihar Apartments, New Delhi

and 422 flats (Fig. 4.1). It was developed by Army Welfare Housing Society (AWHO) in 1983 for retired army officers, however, currently, a significant proportion of civilians also occupy the neighbourhood flats. It was selected for this study as a substantial number of elderly reside in this neighbourhood and a significant percentage of elderly have grown old in the same neighbourhood, which helped in gaining a deeper understanding of the idea of ‘aging in place.’

Questionnaire Survey The questionnaire survey method is one of the most effective and commonly used methods to record the perceptions of stakeholders in any kind of research. In this study, the survey method was used to record the perception of the elderly regarding the outdoor shared spaces in their neighbourhoods, their mental well-being status and demographic details. The design of the questionnaire for this study referred questionnaires used in two studies focussing on elderly and built environments, (1) elder-friendly urban spaces questionnaire (EFUSQ) by Lak et al. (2019) and (2) questionnaire used by Yau (2013) based on WHO Age-Friendly Cities/Communities (AFC) characteristics. This research categorised the different parameters or aspects identified from the literature review regarding age-friendly built environments into six qualities of neighbourhood outdoor shared spaces. The six qualities of outdoor shared neighbourhood spaces are Comfort, Accessibility, Safety, Utility, Sociability and Pleasurability. Questions were formed/selected from the referred questionnaires covering the various parameters within each category of the quality of outdoor shared spaces. The questionnaire was divided into

80

S. Shukla and T. Pujara

three sections, section A covered demographic details (age, gender, marital status, educational level, occupation, living arrangements and monthly expense, length of stay in the neighbourhood), section B covered questions related to the qualities of the neighbourhood outdoor shared spaces (three types of questions – descriptive questions (reason-based), Likert scale questions with a 7-point scale and objective questions), and section C comprised of WHO Well-being Index to record the mental well-being status of the respondents. The WHO Well-being Index has five subjective questions which are answered on an ordinal 6-point Likert scale with a range from 0 to 5. The well-being index score is then calculated by adding the figures from all 5 questions together, a well-being index score below 13 indicates poor well-being and indicates testing for depression with ‘0’ representing the worst-case scenario and ‘25’ representing the best possible well-being. A total of 47 survey responses were collected. The collected data from the questionnaire survey was then analysed using central tendency measures and correlational analysis in SPSS. Correlation analysis was done for each quality of the neighbourhood spaces and the WHO well-being index. The mean of all the questions under each quality/aspect of neighbourhood spaces was calculated and then the correlation with the WHO well-being index score was generated. In addition, for assessing the impact of various elements of outdoor shared space (like streets, and parks), individual Likert scale questions were analysed by correlating them individually with the WHO well-being index score. Structured Stakeholder Interviews The stakeholders for this study are the elderly. During the course of this study, the second wave of COVID-19 hit India, thus, keeping the safety and health of the elderly participants in mind, telephonic interviews were considered as the most suitable form of stakeholder interaction for this study. From the list of survey respondents (n = 47), ten elderly individuals from SomVihar were selected for the structured telephonic interviews, based on their positions in the neighbourhood, well-being index score and age group (refer Table 4.1 for the participant profile). The interview questions were designed to Table 4.1 Profile of varied participants interviewed

Participant 1 Participant 2 Participant 3 Participant 4

Age 88 87 63 85

Gender M M F M

Participant 5 Participant 6 Participant 7 Participant 8 Participant 9 Participant 10

70 61 67 80 61 68

M M F F M F

Designation/occupation Retired colonel Chairman of society Doctor Ex-elected member of the society Elected member of the society Resident Resident Yoga teacher, NGO worker Doctor Elected member of the society

Well-being score 19 17 18 16

Residency 20 years 28 years 20 years 34 years

18 20 18 21 18 14

36 years 15 years 17 years 34 years 31 years 30 years

4

Neighbourhood Outdoor Shared Spaces and Mental Well-Being of the Elderly:. . .

81

capture the perception of the elderly about the various outdoor spaces in a high-rise neighbourhood. There were 9 questions in the interview, in which they were asked to elaborate on what physical and social activities the elderly indulge in, what outdoor spaces they use at what times, what spaces they prefer and why they prefer them. The interviews were conducted in the month of April and each interview was approximately 30 minutes long. The interview gave the elderly a chance to tap into their personal experiences and stories. The anecdotes from the elderly helped in understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the neighbourhood shared spaces as perceived by the elderly. In addition, the barriers and issues they face in their daily living in the neighbourhood could be understood. The recorded data from the interviews were translated and visualized in the form of activity maps. It was also instructed to the interview participants (n = 10) to respond to the questions based on their experiences from the pre-pandemic times, as COVID-19 had extremely reduced the elderly activities in their neighbourhoods. Activity Mapping SomVihar was visited twice to take a note of all the spaces and elderly activities happening in the neighbourhood. To develop a deeper understanding of engagement of the elderly and the neighbourhood shared spaces, detailed structured interview was done, as mentioned above. The participants (n = 10) were prompted to elaborate on various elderly activities happening during morning and evening in the different outdoor shared spaces of SomVihar on weekdays and weekend. The most active time window as suggested by the elderly on weekdays was from 6:30 AM – 8:00 AM (weekday morning) and 6:00 PM to 7.30 PM (weekday evening), and on weekends from 7:00 AM to 8:30 AM (weekend morning) and 6:00 PM to 7.30 PM (weekend evening) during the summer season. Thus, the activity maps have been represented for these specific times.

4.4 4.4.1

Findings and Results Activity Mapping of SomVihar Apartments

SomVihar Apartments has compact area and limited number of open shared spaces. There are 10 towers arranged around a central area, which contains a central lawn, bank, office, basketball court and tennis court (refer Fig. 4.1). SomVihar is accessible from two entry points from main roads. All the towers are G + 7 floor high with stilt parking. There is also a separate park for small children and small green patches are also present. Besides the green areas and patches, the rest of the site is hardscaped with either roads or concrete tiles. Many services are present inside the campus itself, a beauty parlour, paediatric clinic, fruit/vegetable stalls and a dairy shop. There is an adjacent park right next to the SomVihar complex known as the Major Somnath Park, which is a public park.

82

S. Shukla and T. Pujara

The most used and frequently visited spaces in the neighbourhood are the central lawn (Fig. 4.2) and peripheral road around the 10 towers inside the complex, as reported by the elderly residents. For activity mapping, these two spaces were focused on. On weekday mornings, maximum elderly activity takes place in the central lawn, peripheral road around the lawn and peripheral road around the 10 towers. Weekdays are usually busy for other age groups; hence, the elderly tend to indulge more in various activities at this time as they seem to prefer less crowded spaces. In addition, mornings are the most active time for most elderly and a morning routine has been established that they rigorously follow. Some elderly prefer to walk on the peripheral road along the boundary. While some elderly, mostly above the age of 80, prefer walking either inside the lawn or on the peripheral road along the lawn as they do not want to walk for longer distances (Fig. 4.3). The elderly indulge in various physical and social activities in the outdoor shared spaces of SomVihar. Walking, yoga, other exercises, are some of the major physical activities that takes place in these spaces. The elderly also walk their pets on the jogging track along the neighbourhood boundary. Sitting and chatting in groups, get-together, board games, tea sessions, festival celebrations, Diwali mela (fair), sitting alone, sunbathing, and winter lunches are some of the social activities elderly indulge in (Fig. 4.4).

Fig. 4.2 Section through the central lawn

4

Neighbourhood Outdoor Shared Spaces and Mental Well-Being of the Elderly:. . .

Fig. 4.3 SomVihar apartments – Weekday morning activity map (6:30 to 8:00 AM)

Fig. 4.4 Detail A of elderly activities in and around the central lawn

83

84

S. Shukla and T. Pujara

This central Lawn is the epitome of elderly activities in SomVihar Apartments, possibly because it is the only considerably big green space in this high-rise neighbourhood. The elderly indulge in various activities in the central lawn like sitting in groups on grass, yoga classes, and talking in groups, even prefer walking inside the lawn itself. When asked about their favourite spot in the outdoor spaces of society, most of them said they love sunbathing and spending time with friends in the central lawn during winter. Not all the flats receive ample amount of sunlight, which makes the elderly gather in the lawn. Casual gatherings transform into lunches and tea sessions. Below is the recorded number of elderly indulging in various activities on different days and at different times of the day. Weekday morning: 25–30 elderly Weekday evening: 20–25 elderly Weekend morning: 20–25 elderly Weekend evening: 15–20 elderly

Elderly are most active during weekday mornings. Elderly activity during weekday evenings is comparatively reduced. The major reason behind this scenario could be that the elderly are more active in the morning and mornings are usually quiet and less crowded. The Elderly engage in activities with children (ages 2–5) during the evening time, usually watching over them or playing with them (Fig. 4.5). The

Fig. 4.5 SomVihar apartments – Weekday evening activity mapping (6:00 to 7:30 PM)

4

Neighbourhood Outdoor Shared Spaces and Mental Well-Being of the Elderly:. . .

85

elderly tend to walk with friends, neighbours, family members or spouses and talk throughout the way, so walking becomes a social activity too along with being a physical activity. Elderly activity during weekend mornings is more or less similar to weekday mornings. However, other age groups are more active on weekend mornings compared to weekdays (Fig. 4.6). Elderly activity in the outdoor shared spaces of the neighbourhood on weekend evenings was less, compared to other days. The most probable reason can be the presence of crowds. However, it was also found via the interviews that some elderly also visit other public spaces with their families on weekends (Figs. 4.7 and 4.8). SomVihar being a dense neighbourhood with an area of 36,600 sqm and 422 units, the elderly residents reported insufficient outdoor green spaces. They suggested that there is a need of more green space as people from other age groups also use the common spaces and it hinders the elderly activities. However, there is an adjacent part to SomVihar but the elderly residents of SomVihar did not prefer using it. It is bigger in size than the central lawn, accessible with a ramp, pavement for walking and outdoor seating is also available. The park is only used by just 5–10% of elderly residents of SomVihar as reported in the interviews. The reasons reported for this are that they do not feel safe in Somnath Park because of the presence of miscreants. This implies that safety is a very important factor for the elderly to

Fig. 4.6 SomVihar apartments – Weekend morning activity mapping (7:00 to 8:30 AM)

86

S. Shukla and T. Pujara

Fig. 4.7 SomVihar apartments – Weekend evening activity mapping (6 to 7.30 PM)

Fig. 4.8 Typical peripheral road section – SomVihar apartments

engage in any kind of outdoor shared space. Safety in the context of the elderly includes safety from traffic, safety from falling down, safety from getting hit by children playing and safety from crime. The park is also not maintained which

4

Neighbourhood Outdoor Shared Spaces and Mental Well-Being of the Elderly:. . .

87

discourages the elderly from using it. This implies that aesthetics also play a crucial role to the elderly in using a space.

4.4.2

Survey and Interview Analysis

Qualities of Neighbourhood Spaces and Elderly Mental Well-Being in High-Rise Neighbourhoods The questionnaire was based on six qualities of neighbourhood outdoor shared spaces, namely, comfort, accessibility, safety, utility, sociability and pleasurability, and the survey was conducted with elderly participants (n = 47). On doing a correlation analysis of these six qualities and the WHO Well-being Score (refer Table 4.2), it was found that the Well-being Score was correlated to accessibility (coefficient = 0.337, p < 0.05), sociability (coefficient = 0.351, p < 0.05) and utility (coefficient = 0.303, p < 0.05). This result may imply that outdoors shared spaces’ qualities of accessibility, sociability and utility lead to elderly mental wellbeing in the particular context of a high-rise neighbourhood. The utility aspect here

Table 4.2 Correlation analysis between the WHO Well-being Score and qualities of the neighbourhood outdoor shared spaces Correlations 1 Well-being Score 2 Comfort

3 Accessibility

4 Safety

5 Sociability

6 Pleasurability

7 Utility

*

Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed)

1 1

2 0.193

3 .337*

4 0.267

5 .351*

6 0.165

7 .303*

0.193

0.193 1

0.021 .521**

0.07 .463**

0.016 .460**

0.269 .453**

0.038 .517**

0.193 .337*

.521**

0 1

0.001 .644**

0.001 .563**

0.001 .423**

0 .578**

0.021 0.267

0 .463**

.644**

0 1

0 .756**

0.003 .742**

0 .540**

0.07 .351*

0.001 .460**

0 .563**

.756**

0 1

0 .727**

0 .511**

0.016 0.165

0.001 .453**

0 .423**

0 .742**

.727**

0 1

0 .410**

0.269 .303*

0.001 .517**

0.003 .578**

0 .540**

0 .511**

.410**

0.004 1

0.038

0

0

0

0

0.004

Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed) Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)

**

88

S. Shukla and T. Pujara

signifies the access to services, and the presence of public toilets and drinking water facilities. It was also found that all six qualities (comfort, accessibility, safety, utility, sociability and pleasurability) are significantly correlated to each other, which may infer that every quality influences the other qualities in some way. In terms of comfort, accessibility and utility had the highest significance. Safety was found to be most significantly correlated with accessibility, sociability and pleasurability. It may be inferred that safe spaces promote the chances of sociability and pleasurability in outdoor shared spaces and are more accessible in nature. Sociability and pleasurability have a highly significant correlation, it may imply that spaces in a neighbourhood that impart pleasure to the elderly, tend to be sociable too. In this correlation analysis, there was no significant correlation found between safety and the WHO Well-being Score. However, in the interviews, elderly expressed their concerns regarding safety and how safety in any outdoor space significantly determines the usage of that space by the elderly. As mentioned earlier, safety for the elderly can be translated into two aspects- safety from being injured (traffic, falling down, getting hit by children playing) and safety from crime. As elaborated by the elderly in the interviews, the emphasis on safety was more from the lens of crime and presence of miscreants, than the safety from being injured. In addition, SomVihar is a gated neighbourhood which has enough maintained spaces, thus, safety from the reference of being injured due to traffic or falling down was possibly overshadowed. In addition, the discrepancy in the correlation analysis may be because of the smaller data set and a significant correlation may be established with a larger data set. Green Spaces and Mental Well-Being of the Elderly The significance of green spaces for the mental well-being of people has been already established in numerous research studies. In this study, an attempt to identify the various aspects of green spaces that impact the mental well-being of the elderly has been made. WHO Wellbeing Score was found to be correlated with residents protecting the neighbourhood open spaces (coefficient = 0.315, p < 0.05). No significant correlation with other aspects of green spaces (e.g., maintenance of greens, sufficient availability of greens, well-lit green areas, and perception of green spaces as refreshing spaces) was found in this study. However, ‘green spaces as refreshing spaces’ was found to be strongly correlated to the maintenance of green spaces (coefficient = 0.676, p < 0.01), residents’ protecting the neighbourhood open spaces (coefficient = 0.665, p < 0.01) and sufficient availability of green spaces (coefficient = 0.564, p < 0.01). This suggests that the aesthetics and maintenance of green spaces influence the mental well-being of the elderly positively. ‘Green spaces as refreshing spaces’ was also found to be correlated with the presence of lampposts in green spaces (coefficient = 0.661, p < 0.01). The presence of lampposts in green spaces increases the safety of such spaces. Thus, this correlation may imply that aspects of green spaces that increase the safety of green spaces influence the mental well-being of the elderly positively.

4

Neighbourhood Outdoor Shared Spaces and Mental Well-Being of the Elderly:. . .

89

Social Aspect of Neighbourhood Shared Spaces Elderly tend to spend a substantial amount of time in their neighbourhood spaces. On performing a correlation analysis of various social aspects of neighbourhood shared spaces and the WHO Well-being Score, it was found that the Well-being Score was correlated with neighbourhood gatherings (coefficient = 0.311, p < 0.05) and cultural neighbourhood activities (coefficient = 0.351, p < 0.05). This result may imply that social activities and gatherings in neighbourhood outdoor shared spaces influence the mental well-being of the elderly. The Well-being Score was also found to be correlated to residents’ protecting the neighbourhood open spaces (coefficient = 0.315, p < 0.05), hence, it may be inferred that a sense of belongingness that manifests in protecting and maintaining the neighbourhood spaces has a positive influence on the mental well-being of the elderly. Neighbourhood gatherings (coefficient = 0.342, p < 0.05) and cultural neighbourhood activities (coefficient = 0.342, p < 0.05) were found to be correlated with the availability of outdoor seating. ‘Perception of open shared spaces as good meeting places’ (coefficient = 0.724, p < 0.01) was found to be strongly correlated with outdoor seating. These correlations may imply that the presence of outdoor seating influences the socialization of the elderly in various ways, hence influences their mental well-being. There is an interesting point to note about the demographic make-up of SomVihar. SomVihar was originally designed for the retired Army officers, however, currently a significant portion of the flats are occupied by the civilians. In the interviews, elderly were asked to elaborate on the social scenario in their neighbourhood. Residents shared their concerns about the lack of social relations amongst the army fraternity and the civilian residents in the neighbourhood. A certain percentage of the residents were temporary renters, the interview participants mentioned their reluctance to establish relations with the renters. These are some of the major reasons for the lack of social cohesion in high-rise neighbourhoods. Walking Routines of the Elderly Walking is essentially the most significant physical activity for the elderly, which is vital to maintaining their physical and mental health (Lam et al., 2020). To understand the perceptions of elderly regarding walking, they were asked about their reasons for walking in the surveys. The most common reason for walking was found to be health (39%), followed by accessing services (31%), recreation (25%) and walking the pets (5%). Through interviews, it was also found that walking is not just a physical activity for the elderly but also a social one as it gives the opportunity to interact with other people. Even though walking is an important part of the everyday life of the elderly, they do face certain challenges in carrying on walking smoothly, especially in terms of safety (falling down, being hit by children playing around, crime). The unmaintained infrastructure and undulations in the sidewalks are some reasons which discourage the elderly from walking because of their fear of falling. Another interesting point to note down is that elderly tend to prefer in the walking routes where seating are provided so they can rest in between their walks as walking a long stretch is physically draining for the elderly due to their declines physical capabilities.

90

S. Shukla and T. Pujara

Around 48% elderly prefer walking in the morning and 25% prefer walking in the evening and 22% walk during both morning and evening times. Interestingly, some elderly prefer walking at 10 AM during the autumn and winter season as it is a good source of Vitamin D. The most common reasons for walking in the morning are routine, less crowd and because they feel more the active during mornings. It has also been found that around 78% of the elderly participants (n = 47) prefer walking in the parks. SomVihar apartments has an adjacent park called Major Somnath Park, however, the park is not utilised by the elderly. The park is accessible via ramp and yet the elderly prefer not to use the park as it is not maintained. This compels the elderly to walk on the peripheral roads inside the gated neighbourhood of SomVihar. Many of them prefer to go to Nehru Park, which is 3.2 KMs from SomVihar, especially for walking as they prefer walking in parks. Around 42.6% of residents from the survey respondents prefer going to other green outdoor spaces for recreation than the ones present in their neighbourhoods.

4.5

Strategies and Discussion

Based on the premise of the Activity Theory of Aging and SPF Theory, this research assesses the high-rise neighbourhood outdoor shared spaces with respect to social and physical well-being, which together lead to mental well-being. Strategies based on the literature study and analysis from the activity mapping, questionnaire survey and the interviews are discussed below. • Elderly prefer high-rise neighbourhoods because of the availability of services and sense of security, which are the two most influential characteristics of a neighbourhood for the elderly. However, the desire for abundant green spaces in the high-rise neighbourhoods was expressed. It was found that 78% elderly prefer walking in the parks to the streets. The primary reasons for this preference maybe the availability of greens and more perceived sense of safety with respect to no traffic in parks. They also find outdoor greens very refreshing and relaxing as interpreted from the survey. It is a well-established fact in numerous researches that availability of neighbourhood green spaces positively influences the mental well-being. Thus, the availability and quality of neighbourhood green spaces should be improved and provided with safe walking pathways to promote elderly activity. Provision of more green spaces is necessary and spaces for socialization should be promoted in highrise neighbourhoods to provide the elderly with a better quality of living. • Elderly not only prefer parks for walking, they also perceive parks as a good place for meeting friends. Their social activities can be enhanced by the provision of different kinds of outdoor seating (shaded, non-shaded) at different locations as per the requirements and needs. For example, elderly prefer to sit out in green spaces on winter afternoons for sunbathing. This preference quickly becomes a social activity with elderly chatting, sharing lunches together and having tea sessions in winters. Thus, locating some outdoor seating in sufficient number in

4

•

•

•

•

Neighbourhood Outdoor Shared Spaces and Mental Well-Being of the Elderly:. . .

91

areas that receive ample amount of sunlight without restriction will promote elderly social activity, as some flats do not receive enough sunlight in the winters in the case of a high-rise neighbourhood. In addition, not only seating, elderly require sufficient areas for gathering for many of their social and physical activities. Specific to Indian context, they need lawn areas where they can perform yoga, which was found to be an important group activity in SomVihar. For elderly, walking becomes the most important daily activity. It is the most preferred form of physical activity for the elderly for both recreational and utilitarian reasons. Elderly tend to rest in between their walks and indulge in socialization and they like to walk with either their friends, neighbours, family or spouse, so walking also becomes an important social activity. Hence, the walkability of the neighbourhood streets become crucial to the elderly and measures should be employed to improve the walkability, which can further facilitate their walking. It was found that the location of benches in the walking route highly influences the walking behaviour of the elderly as they need resting time between the walking rounds. They tend to choose walking routes, which have presence of benches at considerable distances, so they can rest for a while before resuming their walk. Strategic location of benches in the neighbourhood outdoor shared spaces thus becomes vital for the elderly for both recreational and utilitarian reasons of walking. One of the most important aspects to create elderly friendly spaces in a neighbourhood is the provision of designated spaces for children, especially playgrounds. In the interviews, elderly emphasized their fear of being hit by a ball or falling in spaces where children are playing. Hence, they end up avoiding all kinds of spaces occupied by children playing various sports in groups. As there was just one central lawn in SomVihar, all age groups used that space, which somewhere discouraged the elderly from using the space if children occupied it. Some elderly also discourage children from playing in spaces they occupy, which reduces the activity of children. Therefore, designated playgrounds in sufficient numbers for children should be present so that they do not occupy lawns/gardens for playing. Safety in terms of crimes in outdoor spaces is significant to the elderly. They tend to avoid using the accessible spaces, if they do not feel safe and secure in those spaces, as was the case of Major Somnath Park. In addition, maintenance of outdoor shared spaces plays a major role in its usability. Outdoor shared spaces that are not maintained, discourages the elderly from using it; implying that aesthetics are also important to the elderly.

4.6

Conclusion

The progressively urban aging society is presenting enormous challenges to the world. The studies that talk about the interaction of elderly with their environments are usually concentrated on only the built environment aspects, but in the recent past,

92

S. Shukla and T. Pujara

researchers have been extensively working on well-being and on its relationship with urban design, which is crucial for creating better living environments especially for the vulnerable populations like the elderly. It is an ethical obligation for the society to provide its people with a certain quality of life. For achieving mental well-being, neighbourhood spaces should not only meet the elderly’s daily demands like services, travelling, but also promote social and physical activities of the elderly. Elderly tend to spend an ample amount of time outside in their neighbourhoods and indulge in various social and physical activities, which makes it crucial to study these spaces. Everyday ordinary spaces of the neighbourhood have a huge influence on the lives of the elderly, and there is a need to develop a deeper understanding of this influence. This research tried to understand the ways in which neighbourhood outdoor shared spaces become important places for an aging population and how it can influence the mental well-being of the elderly in the context of a high-rise neighbourhood. Elderly prefer high-rise neighbourhoods because of the availability of services and sense of security, which are the two most influential characteristics of a neighbourhood for the elderly. However, the desire for abundant green spaces in the high-rise neighbourhoods was expressed. It was found in this study that the availability and quality of green spaces in the high-rise neighbourhood has a strong influence on the mental well-being of the elderly. Parks or other green spaces are very important spaces for interaction and physical activities for the elderly, irrespective of the season. For example, elderly prefer using the parks in the early morning in summers but spend afternoons socializing and sunbathing in winters. 78% of participants suggested preferring to walk in the parks than streets. However, the usage of parks and other green spaces is highly influenced by factors like safety and maintenance. Parks that are not maintained discourage elderly activity implying that aesthetics are important to the elderly. Provision of more green spaces is necessary in high-rise neighbourhoods and they should be provided with safe walking pathways, along with spaces for socialization to promote elderly activity and provide the elderly with a better quality of living. Walking is not just a physical activity for the elderly, but also a social one as it gives the opportunity to interact with other people. An interesting point to note down is that elderly prefer the walking routes where outdoor seating are provided so they can rest in between their walks. In addition, location, number and type of outdoor seating also highly influences socialization of the elderly, as they tend to do a lot of activities in-group. Hence, the walkability of the neighbourhood streets and green spaces should be improved to facilitate this crucial activity. The WHO Well-being Score was found to be correlated to accessibility, sociability and utility. This result may imply that qualities of accessibility, sociability and utility of outdoor shared spaces lead to elderly mental well-being in the particular context of a high-rise neighbourhood. WHO Well-being Score was also found to be correlated with neighbourhood gatherings and cultural neighbourhood activities, implying that social activities and gatherings in neighbourhood outdoor shared spaces influence the mental well-being of the elderly. Interestingly, there was no significant correlation found between safety and the WHO Well-being Score.

4

Neighbourhood Outdoor Shared Spaces and Mental Well-Being of the Elderly:. . .

93

However, in the interviews, elderly expressed their concerns regarding safety and how safety in any outdoor space significantly determines the usage of that space by the elderly. The discrepancy in the correlation analysis may be because of the smaller data set and a significant correlation may be established with a larger data set. The limitation of this research is that it has used SomVihar as a case study, the extrapolation of the findings on the other neighbourhoods should be careful. However, this study has been based on surveys and structured interviews done to understand the relationship of neighbourhood outdoor shared spaces and the mental well-being of the elderly, the results may bring forth the needs and expectations of the elderly from their neighbourhood, which may be similar to other neighbourhoods. In addition, the relevance of design of outdoor spaces is significant for any neighbourhood design. The strategies evolved for this study may contribute towards the development of methods to assess neighbourhood design for mental well-being, especially for the elderly. This will not only help in understanding collective well-being but will also contribute towards creating mentally healthy global cities. Future Directions There are seemingly not explicit practical guidelines for designers/planners on how to include or avoid certain attributes or elements in the built environments for achieving public mental well-being. This gap exists because mental well-being with regard to built environments is an understudied topic. As the population is aging rapidly, it is crucial to work on how cities and communities can support the well-being of the elderly. Policy makers, built environment professionals (architects, planners, urban designers), and other service providers have to start working towards creating more efficient, accessible, effective and inclusive age-friendly cities. More detailed studies and more case studies in this area can be helpful for the future research. In addition, elderly suffer from varying physical and cognitive dysfunctions, studies to target specific groups of elderly with specific kinds of needs can be undertaken and strategies can be developed to cater to different target groups. In addition, there is a need of more studies on the high-rise neighbourhoods, specifically in the Indian context.

References Bhuyan, R., & Yuen, B. (2022). Older adults ’ views of the connections between Neighbourhood built environment and health in Singapore (pp. 279–299). Cao, Y., Kiang, H. C., & Chye, F. J. (2017). The impact of elevated neighborhood open spaces on the Elderly’s social interactions in Singapore public housing age-friendly Neighbourhood assessment framework view project (Issue October). 14th International Congress of Asian Planning Schools Association, Beijing, China. Cao, Y., Heng, C. K., & Fung, J. C. (2019). Using walk-along interviews to identify environmental factors influencing older adults’ out-of-home behaviors in a high-rise, high-density neighborhood. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(21), 4251. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16214251 Central Statistic Office. (2016). Elderly in India.

94

S. Shukla and T. Pujara

Centre for Development of Advanced Computing. (n.d.). Senior Citizens – Status in India -Vikaspedia. Retrieved September 3, 2020, from https://vikaspedia.in/social-welfare/seniorcitizens-welfare/senior-citizens-status-in-india Chen, C., Luo, W., Kang, N., Li, H., Yang, X., & Xia, Y. (2020). Study on the impact of residential outdoor environments on mood in the elderly in Guangzhou, China, Sustainability, 12(9), 3933. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12093933. de la Barrera, F., Reyes-paecke, S., Harris, J., Bascu, D., & Farías, J. M. (2016). People’s perception influences on the use of green spaces in socio-economically differentiated neighborhoods. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 20, 254–264. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2016.09.007 Diggs, J. (2008). Activity theory of aging. In Encyclopedia of aging and public health (pp. 79–81). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-33754-8_9 Hajrasoulih, A., Rio, V., Francis, J., & Edmondson, J. (2018). Urban form and mental wellbeing: Scoping a theoretical framework for action. Journal of Urban Design and Mental Health, 18, 1–17. Jelokhani-Niaraki, M., Hajiloo, F., & Samany, N. N. (2019). A web-based public participation GIS for assessing the age-friendliness of cities: A case study in Tehran, Iran. Cities, 95(August), 102471. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2019.102471 Lak, A., Aghamolaei, R., Baradaran, H. R., & Myint, P. K. (2019). Development and validation of elder- friendly urban spaces questionnaire (EFUSQ) (pp. 1–14). Lam, W. W. Y., Loo, B. P. Y., & Mahendran, R. (2020). Neighbourhood environment and depressive symptoms among the elderly in Hong Kong and Singapore. International Journal of Health Geographics, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12942-020-00238-w Millas, A. J. (1980). Planning for the elderly within the context of a neighborhood. Ekistics, 47(283), 264–273. Nieboer, A. P., & Cramm, J. M. (2018). Age-friendly communities matter for older people’s wellbeing. Journal of Happiness Studies, 19(8), 2405–2420. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-0179923-5 Nieboer, A., Lindenberg, S., & Boomsma, A. (2005). Dimensions of well-being and their measurement: The SPF-Il Scale. Social Indicators Research, 73, 313–353. https://doi.org/10.1007/ s11205-004-0988-2 OECD. (n.d.). Elderly population. https://doi.org/10.1787/8d805ea1-en Peng, S., & Maing, M. (2021). Influential factors of age-friendly neighborhood open space under high-density high-rise housing context in hot weather: A case study of public housing in Hong Kong. Cities, 115, 103231. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2021.103231 Reitzes, D. C., Mutran, E., & Pope, H. (1991). Location and Well-being among retired men. Journals of Gerontology, 46(4), 195–203. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronj/46.4.S195 Temelová, J., & Slezáková, A. (2014). The changing environment and neighbourhood satisfaction in socialist high-rise panel housing estates: The time-comparative perceptions of elderly residents in Prague. Cities, 37, 82–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2013.12.002 Thompson, C. W. (2013). Activity, exercise and the planning and design of outdoor spaces. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 34, 79–96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2013.01.003 Waldman-levi, A., Erez, A. B., & Katz, N. (2015). Healthy aging is reflected in Well-being, participation, playfulness, and cognitive-emotional functioning. Healthy Aging Research, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.12715/har.2015.4.8 Wanka, A. (2018). Special issue: Aging in context: Research article disengagement as withdrawal from public space: Rethinking the relation between place attachment, place appropriation, and identity-building among older adults. The Gerontologist, 58(1), 130–139. https://doi.org/10. 1093/geront/gnx081 WHO. (2007). Global age-friendly cities: A guide. WHO. (2018). The global network for age-friendly cities and communities: Looking back over the last decade, looking forward to the next.

4

Neighbourhood Outdoor Shared Spaces and Mental Well-Being of the Elderly:. . .

95

WHO. (n.d.). Ageing. Retrieved August 30, 2020, from https://www.who.int/health-topics/ ageing#tab=tab_1 Xiong, Y., Hu, Y., & Lu, Q. C. (2020). Elderly fitness-oriented urban street design: Case study in Nanchang, China. Journal of Urban Planning and Development, 146(1). https://doi.org/10. 1061/(ASCE)UP.1943-5444.0000547 Yau, Y. L. E. (2013). Social differentiation and age-friendly characteristics: A case study in Tuen Mun. Lingnan University. https://doi.org/10.14793/soc_etd.32 Yung, E. H. K., Conejos, S., & Chan, E. H. W. (2016). Social needs of the elderly and active aging in public open spaces in urban renewal. Cities, 52, 114–122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities. 2015.11.022

Chapter 5

Healthy Cities for Adolescents: Learnings and Reflections From Bhubaneshwar and Jaipur City Rajeev G. Malagi and Prerna V. Mehta

Abstract India is the youngest nation in the world with adolescents accounting for 20.9% (United Nations Population Fund India, 2014) of the total urban population. This presents an enormous opportunity to create an enabling environment for adolescents who can make a significant contribution to the economic development of the country. Their participation, however, continues to be underrepresented in policies, advocacy, programs, and laws, regarding matters of city development. Despite various missions, schemes, and initiatives that aim to improve the quality of life and empower youth, there is a paucity of youth participation in city development processes. In the bid to create inclusive and liveable cities, the current policy framework in India holds possibilities to bring adolescents into the ambit of city planning and design. Adolescents seek spaces that can fulfill their needs for safety, autonomy, and social interaction, and those which can help them perform their tasks associated with development, self-expression, and retreat. The Safe, Vibrant, and Healthy Public Spaces for adolescents project developed by WRI India, under the Fondation Botnar’s Healthy Cities for Adolescents (HCA) program, responds to this need by enabling the two Indian cities of Jaipur and Bhubaneswar for the development of adolescent-oriented safe, vibrant, and healthy public spaces. The phase 1 of the global HCA Program was managed by the International Society for Urban Health. In India, Phase 1 of the program was managed by local project partner, Ennovent. Initiated in 2021, the project seeks to create a foundational system for furthering long term actions for developing adolescent friendly public spaces. In this chapter, the authors discuss the opportunities in the pilot cities to develop safe, vibrant and healthy public spaces for adolescents by including them in the development process. They share the experiences and learnings from Phase I which

R. G. Malagi Sustainable Cities & Transport, WRI India, Bengaluru, India e-mail: [email protected] P. V. Mehta (✉) Sustainable Cities & Transport, WRI India, New Delhi, India e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 N. Biloria et al. (eds.), The Empathic City, S.M.A.R.T. Environments, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-32840-4_5

97

98

R. G. Malagi and P. V. Mehta

included secondary research on adolescents and public spaces initiatives, as well as engagements with local stakeholders and adolescents, that informed the formulation of draft public spaces assessment framework. The public space framework will be further validated on ground through relevant on ground engagements and interventions in Phase II of the HCA project. Keywords Adolescents · Adolescent health and Wellbeing · Public space · Placemaking · City planning · Healthy cities · City development · Urban development · Urban design · Youth empowerment · Public spaces · Youth development · Child-friendly cities

5.1

Background

Adolescents account for 20.9% (United Nation Population Fund India, 2014) of India’s total urban population. Youth with an age range of 10–19 years are in a transition phase as they are undergoing significant physiological, psychological, and sociological changes. The current planning systems focus on developing public spaces through a universal benchmarking of users (including age, gender, ability). The article discusses the need and available opportunity to develop healthy ecosystems for overall well-being of adolescents through safe, vibrant and healthy public spaces project for adolescents that enable them to contribute to public space development and also serve as public space anchors.

5.1.1

Adolescent Behavior and Characteristics in Cities

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines adolescents as those between 10 and 19 years of age. A great majority of adolescents are, therefore, included in the age-based definition of “child”, adopted by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as a person under the age of 18 years. In India, close to 30% of the population is in the age group 0–14 years and the working age group 15–59 years accounts for 62.5% of the population which indicates that India has entered a 37-year window of demographic dividend. India is the youngest nation in the world where youth accounts for 30% of the population (365 million) from 10-24 years age group. This presents an enormous opportunity to create an enabling environment for the youth so they can make a significant contribution to the economic development of the country. The success of this demographic dividend depends on creating healthy ecosystems for young people. Adolescence is a period of significant mental and social development, where critical issues involve influence from peers and development of a sense of belonging. It is also a time to develop knowledge and skills, learn to manage emotions and relationships, and acquire attributes and abilities that will be important for enjoying the adolescent years and assuming adult roles. As young people become more

5

Healthy Cities for Adolescents: Learnings and Reflections. . .

99

independent, they look for sites where they feel safe, and which can fulfil their needs for social interaction, helping them perform their tasks associated with development, self-expression, and retreat. This indicates the need for public spaces in the growth and development of adolescents. The New Urban Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) strive to create healthy, thriving, and liveable cities that cater to the youth and vulnerable groups by providing access to knowledge, education, skills, and opportunities to ensure their meaningful participation. Their challenges are often related to health and wellbeing, such as unsafe or inadequate infrastructure which include public spaces, as well as insufficient services and violence. As more people move to cities for a better life, the young population is growing up in environments that struggle to meet their needs. By 2030, SDG 11 aims to provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces, in particular for women and children, older persons and persons with disabilities. In India, the Smart City Mission recognizes children and youth as stakeholders in the urban development framework and aims to create future cities, which are sustainable and inclusive and would impact 11 million children and youth population. According to UNESCO, “A public space refers to an area or a place that is open and accessible to all people, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, age or socioeconomic level.” These include public gathering spaces such as plazas, squares, and parks. But public spaces are much more than just ‘space’ that can be used by citizens. They are the places of encounter and are environments for interaction and exchange of ideas that impact the quality of the urban environment. They bring economic value, promote togetherness, and often offer environmental as well as cultural benefits. Creating spaces friendly for adolescents allow them to have a firsthand experience of the everyday events and opportunities (such as social interactions including meeting with peers, performing extracurricular activities etc.) these spaces have to offer, and encourage them to lead an active lifestyle and make healthy choices.

5.1.2

Need for Inclusion of Adolescents in Public Space Development

India, despite being the youngest nation in the world does not have meaningful adolescent inclusion within the city development ecosystems. Their participation continues to be underrepresented in policies, advocacy, programs, and laws, regarding matters of city development. Up until now, the response to the needs of urban adolescents has been limited to policies for nutrition, education, and health. Despite various missions, schemes, and initiatives that aim to improve the quality of life and empower youth, there is a paucity of youth participation in city development processes. In the bid to create inclusive and liveable cities, the current policy framework holds possibilities to bring adolescents into the ambit of city planning and design.

100

R. G. Malagi and P. V. Mehta

Adolescents seek spaces that can fulfil their needs for safety, autonomy, and social interaction, and those which can help them perform their tasks associated with development, self-expression, and retreat. The Safe, Vibrant, and Healthy Public Spaces for adolescents project developed by WRI India, under phase 1 of the HCA program, responds to this need by enabling the two Indian cities of Jaipur and Bhubaneswar for the development of adolescent-oriented safe, vibrant, and healthy public spaces. Initiated in 2021, the project intended to create a foundational system for furthering long-term actions for developing adolescent friendly public spaces.

5.2 5.2.1

Safe, Vibrant and Healthy Public Spaces Project About HCA

The Healthy Cities for Adolescents (HCA) Program is a global initiative that aims to advance conditions in cities that promote and support the health and wellbeing of adolescents. The global initiative funded by Fondation Botnar actively promotes young people’s participation and voice in the program design, planning and implementation of innovative solutions. Phase 1 of the global HCA Program was managed by the International Society for Urban Health. In India, Phase 1 of the program was managed by local project partner, Ennovent. Phase 1 of the HCA India initiative aimed to achieve this through multistakeholder, community-led interventions focusing on a five-pillared country strategy which includes strengthening local governance; building life skills; improving gender equity; creating healthy environments; and knowledge building to drive a learning agenda and are rolled out through various projects on ground. The Safe, Vibrant and Healthy Public Spaces project developed by WRI India was selected under this initiative for implementation.

5.2.2

Principles and Objectives

The Safe, Vibrant and Healthy Public Spaces project intended to open a discussion around adolescent friendly cities with a focus on public spaces. It aimed to build knowledge and awareness about the importance of safe, vibrant and healthy public spaces for the overall wellbeing and development of adolescents and develop a foundational system for furthering long-term actions for public spaces in the target cities of Jaipur and Bhubaneswar. The core principles are defined as follows: • Safe: In this context it refers to a public space that provides an environment free from risk and harm. For example, provision of anti-slip flooring, safe crossings, functional lighting etc.

5

Healthy Cities for Adolescents: Learnings and Reflections. . .

101

• Vibrant: It refers to a public place which is lively and can engage different users and accommodate a wide range of activities. Such as art and wall murals, diverse play equipment, places for performances and play etc. • Healthy: It refers to a public space which actively or passively contributes to the physical and mental wellbeing of adolescents. Such as provision of hygienic public conveniences, clean and accessible drinking water, play equipment to encourage more physical activities etc. The Project had three-key objectives: • Convene stakeholders for peer learning and to explore effective collaborations to work on adolescent friendly public spaces • Capacity building of adolescents and stakeholders on safe, vibrant and healthy public spaces for adolescents and related infrastructure to build their skills to act as ambassadors for public spaces. • Formulation of draft framework that is applicable to all scales and types of city subsystems and can be a step towards institutionalizing development of adolescent friendly public spaces development within the city.

5.2.3

Intended Outcomes

The Project had three outcomes: i. Creating a space to convene multiple stakeholders from the target cities with an intend to learn from each other and explore collaboration opportunities for reimagining safe, vibrant and healthy public spaces in the long term ii. Understanding adolescent needs w.r.t Public Spaces while focusing on the principles of safe, vibrant and healthy. It focused on Enabling as well as empowering adolescents to become change agents by building their capacity and understanding about the importance of safe, vibrant and healthy public spaces. iii. Creating a mechanism to assess the Public Spaces by developing one of its kind public space assessment framework that is informed by background research, stakeholder consultations and adolescent interactions through Focused Group Discussions (FGDs) as well as workshops. The long term intent is to leverage this framework to guide development of safe, vibrant and healthy public spaces that caters to the needs of all users including adolescents.

102

5.2.4

R. G. Malagi and P. V. Mehta

Project Approach

The project was implemented in three stages as follows: Stage 1: Background Research The first stage of the project looked at understanding adolescents and public spaces and their impacts on one another. It also covered a secondary study on the city ecosystems and various youth and public space related initiatives which are ongoing in the target cities of Jaipur and Bhubaneswar. Stage 2: Engagement and Capacity Building This stage concentrated on identifying key stakeholders, engaging with them for building awareness on public spaces and exploring collaboration opportunities to further the public space agenda in the long- term. It also involved engaging adolescents to build their capacities and empower them as Public Space Ambassadors (PSAs) for their communities/ neighbourhoods. Stage 3: Knowledge Creation The third stage of the project focused on leveraging community driven knowledge to formulate a draft version of the public spaces assessment framework. The framework intends to help users determine the status of public space infrastructure through the lens of adolescent requirements as well as required interventions which can aid decision making by city authorities and other relevant stakeholders (Fig. 5.1).

Fig. 5.1 Project development process

5

Healthy Cities for Adolescents: Learnings and Reflections. . .

5.3 5.3.1

103

City Ecosystems Shortlisting Bhubaneswar and Jaipur Cities as Pilot Cities

Through preliminary research, HCA identified Rajasthan and Odisha as the focus states in India. Following this, a Rapid Assessment Study was conducted by Ennovent with ISUH to inform the HCA India program, with a special focus on Smart Cities. Further research and stakeholder mapping led to the selection of Jaipur and Bhubaneswar as target cities to advance youth-led city transformation due to the following reasons: • Presence of local youth-focused initiatives for transformative changes • Potential for technology use, with infrastructure and ability to deploy low-tech innovations and remote learning. • Potential to create learning opportunities for public, private, and civil society organizations focused on young people • Strong local government commitment to creating youth-friendly cities.

5.3.2

Understanding City Ecosystems

The ecosystems of the target cities – Bhubaneswar and Jaipur and their approach to youth and public spaces were studied to understand in detail the city’s administrative set-up, scenario of youth and public space development, organizations working for/with adolescents and the various city level initiatives for adolescents (Table 5.1).

5.3.3

Public Space Initiatives

When the Odisha government, declared its intent towards child and youth welfare in the 2020 budget, Bhubaneswar pushed itself strongly towards youth-led transformation in the communities. Following are some of the public space initiatives undertaken in Bhubaneswar. 1. Bhubaneswar earned the title ‘child-friendly city’, through child-led planning exercise led by BDA and Bernard van Leer Foundation and became the first Indian city to include children in the planning and monitoring of neighbourhood development. 2. The youth from urban slums are actively engaged in Smart City programs as community leaders for city development.

104

R. G. Malagi and P. V. Mehta

Table 5.1 A comparative study of city ecosystems of Bhubaneshwar and Jaipur cities About the city

Administrative set up

Public space development trends

Bhubaneshwar Bhubaneswar, the capital city of Odisha, is the largest city of the state and has become a hub for entrepreneurship and education in the region. It is one of India’s planned cities and is capital of Orrisa with approx. 12 lakhs + population and cover 422 sq. km. of area. In Bhubaneshwar city there are three key government entities who play a critical role in urban development sector namely: Bhubaneswar municipal corporation (BMC), Bhubaneswar development authority (BDA) and Bhubaneswar Smart City limited (BSCL). The key role of BDA is to plan and regulate city development through preparation of master plan, development plans and town planning schemes. BMC focuses on overseeing and managing civic infrastructure which includes facilities like street lighting, parks and recreation, vending zones, city bus services, parking services, waste management etc. BSCL’s purview lies in planning, implementing, managing, and operating the Smart City development projects in the area falling under jurisdiction of BMC. At the same time, BSCL also undertakes other programs for social awareness, capacity building and overall urban planning and design involving holistic improvement of living conditions in the city. According to the comprehensive development plan (CDP) 2030 for the Bhubaneswar development planning area (BDPA) formulated in 2010, there has been a critical decline in the proportion of parks and open spaces within the city from 3.02% in 1988 to 1.66% in 2010. For cities, the minimum per capita green urban space, as per WHO, is 9m2, while it is only 3.07m2 per capita in Bhubaneswar. The CDP targets to increase the proportion of parks and open spaces to 8.74% by 2030. It envisages to create

Jaipur Jaipur, the capital city of Rajasthan, is also known as the Pink City. Jaipur became the first planned city of India, and has grown in population to approx. 40 lakhs+ population and covers around 467 sq. km. of area.

The Jaipur city is administered by two nodal agencies namely Jaipur development authority (JDA) and Jaipur municipal corporation (JMC). The primary role of JDA is to look after preparation and implementation of the master plan along with development of commercial projects, residential schemes and basic amenities like community canters, parks, roads, flyovers, bridges, parking places etc. it also focuses on environmental development by planning and implementing green initiatives and by developing eco-friendly schemes. The JMC’s key role is to perform construction and maintenance of social infrastructure such as hospitals, schools, libraries, orphanages, rescue homes for women etc. it also looks after maintenance of public streets, public spaces, parks, roadside and other trees, etc.

According to the gaps identified in the Land Use Plan 2025, there is an increasing need for recreational zones to be developed in the city by 2025. To increase the recreational component, the Draft Master Development Plan has proposed Regional Parks, District Parks and Sectoral Parks on private land.

(continued)

5

Healthy Cities for Adolescents: Learnings and Reflections. . .

105

Table 5.1 (continued) Bhubaneshwar

Jaipur

an urban parkway system. Besides, service level improvement plan 2015 for Bhubaneswar identified parks as one of the 5 major sectors for implementation. It suggests rejuvenation of existing parks involving creation and upgradation of basic elements, especially for the youth, children, and the elderly. In recent years Bhubaneswar has been striving to achieve this by consciously involving youth and adolescents at various stages of urban development.

3. Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited (BSCL) has signed an MoU with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to concentrate on people-centric interventions for young people, girls, and women. 4. Through B-Active (Bhubaneswar active) initiative by NIUA, Bhubaneswar looked at empowering its citizens to co-create and manage their neighbourhoods and open spaces. 5. The Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) under its innovative community engagement and place-making project, named Bhubaneswar Public Spaces (BPS), involved 100 students from different institutions in and around the city to design 30 public spaces across the city. Although the master plan of Jaipur has identified an increasing need for recreational zones in the city, and the city has taken up various initiatives to meet this need, the initiatives, however, are not youth oriented like in Bhubaneswar. Besides, in both the cities, there are various organizations working to address the issues and needs of the young population. Sectors such as education, sexual and reproductive health, child marriage, women’s rights, nutrition, disability, skill development, technology, entrepreneurship, child labour etc. are their focus area of intervention. The association of youth through these local organizations has been observed to be strong enough in getting their voices heard to address several youth centric issues. This manifests an opportunity to channelize their knowledge and energy towards public spaces development initiatives in the city.

5.4 5.4.1

Engagement and Capacity Building Engagement with Local Organizations

The target cities were found to have various initiatives for adolescents by different kinds of organizations including, public organizations, non-profit or non-governmental organizations, private sector entities, academic institutions, and

106

R. G. Malagi and P. V. Mehta

field experts. Public entities were found to leverage the capacities of depend on non-profit or non- governmental organizations as they engage with adolescents directly, involve them in various initiatives and promote volunteering. Since, These organizations understood the context of adolescents and their immediate environments, consultations were held with them, to leverage their local knowledge and networks for reaching out to the target groups. The stakeholder engagement was conducted in the form of in-person workshops in both Jaipur and Bhubaneswar. The engagement process constituted three major steps namely, identifying organizations, workshop preparation and workshop execution.

Identifying organizations

Conducting workshops

Feedback and learnings

The intent of the workshop was to convene multiple stakeholders working in the domains of community/adolescent engagement, neighbourhood development and urban initiatives in the city for: • Understanding their work domains, establishing correlations with the project, and facilitating peer learning. • Introducing the relevance of safe, vibrant, and healthy public spaces in context of existing ecosystem. • Understanding adolescent needs and perspectives and their idea of public spaces. • Exploring collaboration opportunities for engaging adolescents. The first step of stakeholder engagement was to identify potential organizations – government, non-profit organizations, or private organizations, working in the target cities for adolescents or with adolescents. This was to engage, ideate and explore potential opportunities to collaborate. This was done in the following steps as explained below.

5.4.1.1

Conducting Workshops

Survey prior to workshop – The intent of this survey was to understand from organizations their background – work domain, target groups., perception of public spaces, relevance of public spaces in their current initiatives and their expectations from the workshop. This information guided the preparation of the stakeholder workshop structure and ensured a contextual interaction.

5

Healthy Cities for Adolescents: Learnings and Reflections. . .

107

Observations An online survey was conducted for the organizations in both the cities to understand their public space perceptions. However, considering low response to the survey, the information was strengthened during the workshop. Below is the glimpse of responses from the workshops participants both cities (Fig. 5.2). In both cities most of the organizations served towards health, education and skill development sector, women’s rights and other related fields. The youth volunteers staff age ranged from youths (21–30 years) to adolescents (10–20). The organizations were found to collaborate with private, public organizations, NGOs and institutions.

Documentation of Local Neighbourhood Prior to arrival at the city, a neighbourhood was selected based on the criteria of higher concentration of lower income population, diversity of public spaces, presence of NGO partners working with adolescents and potential of showcasing public spaces challenges. Team WRI India prepared a base map of the selected neighbourhood and went on ground a day prior to the workshop to document the existing and potential public spaces in the selected neighbourhood, for conducting an activity on it during the workshop. Stakeholder Workshop structure (Fig. 5.3) Organizing the workshop The workshops were organized in both the cities with adequate representation of organizations who engage with adolescents. The images below represent the different activities organized during the workshop (Fig. 5.4). Workshop learnings (Table 5.2)

Fig. 5.2 Observations from online and in-person surveys

108

R. G. Malagi and P. V. Mehta

Fig. 5.3 Stakeholder workshop structure

5.4.1.2

Overall Learnings

• The intent of building the need and potential for creating public spaces for adolescents was clearly established and met with a positive response. • The understanding of the definition of a public space by the participants was further elaborated and streamlined to those which are specific to adolescents needs.

5

Healthy Cities for Adolescents: Learnings and Reflections. . .

109

Fig. 5.4 Stakeholder activities during workshops

• Participants developed an understanding that improving the quality of a public space can address many of the challenges faced by adolescents and came to a consensus on the need for safe, vibrant, and healthy public spaces within the city. • Participants found the workshop extremely insightful, and the activities helped them look at cities from the lens of adolescents. • The workshops provided stakeholders a platform for interaction and peer learning and helped create avenues for them to contribute and utilize the existing public spaces in cities. • Bhubaneswar has many city-led initiatives on public space and neighbourhood development which collaborate and engage with stakeholders in similar formats as against Jaipur. Hence the experience was new among Jaipur participants, and they had a limited focus on public spaces. Whereas in Bhubaneswar the stakeholders were found to be well informed about the subject matter, making the discussions more wholistic. • Multiple organizations from the demonstration cities expressed interest in collaborating on the project and invited the team for holding workshops for adolescents.

5.4.2

Adolescent Engagement

The adolescent engagement was conducted in the form of workshops in both Jaipur and Bhubaneswar. The goal was to engage with adolescents to understand their perspectives towards public spaces and establish their needs with respect to these spaces based on gender, abilities, and age groups. Through different tools and interactive sessions, the aim was also to build their capacities on the concept of safe, vibrant, and healthy public spaces. The engagement process consisted of three major steps namely, identifying adolescents through local organizations, workshop preparation and workshop execution. Through developing a preliminary understanding of the public spaces, the workshop served as a steppingstone for adolescents to become Public Space Ambassadors of the city.

110

R. G. Malagi and P. V. Mehta

Table 5.2 Extraction of learnings from workshops conducted for local organizations Session and activities Who are we? Work area mapping and target audience mapping

Description

The intent was to understand the geographies in which the participating agencies engaged with adolescents within the city and the age group of the target youth. The participants were asked to mark the location of their work areas and adolescent age group they engaged with, under the three categories of ages – 10-14, 15–17 and 18–19; on printed maps of Bhubaneshwar and Jaipur cities. There were discussions on the reasoning behind engaging with specific age groups and their backgrounds. Adolescents needs and perspectives Adolescent need The intent was to understand the mapping needs and challenges of adolescent through the participants perspective. The activity was performed through an open mic session based on a series of questions.

Role play

This was followed by a role play activity where group members were different characters (adolescents, caretakers) in the scenario and were asked to discuss, evaluate and present the situation from the perspective of their characters and propose solutions in agreement by all.

Learnings A higher concentration of organizations’ work areas was observed in the north of Jaipur. Most of the participant organizations work with the 18–19 years adolescent target group in Jaipur. A higher concentration of organizations’ work areas was observed in the south and central regions of Bhubaneswar. Most of the participant organizations work with the 15–17 years adolescent target group in Bhubaneswar.

Some of the most evident needs mentioned were Space to play, Place to interact, Life skills, Need for spaces for recreational activities, Exclusive spaces, Safe space etc. Education on Mental and physical health As per participants, quality of public spaces can be improved through spatial solutions such as better access, lighting, aesthetics, cleanliness etc. proper accessibility, zoning, information, and behavioural strategies. Participants highlighted the aspects of safety through surveillance, road safety, traffic management etc. and of health through waste management, provision of services and spaces to play, cycle or relax. (continued)

5

Healthy Cities for Adolescents: Learnings and Reflections. . .

111

Table 5.2 (continued) Session and activities Description Adolescent engagement techniques Process mapping The intent was to understand the process of engagement with their target group through network mapping process and identify if there are any specific tools/techniques used by them to engage with their target audience.

Reflections on public spaces Mapping public spaces The intent was to understand the and activities different types of public spaces accessed by adolescents different activities performed within the city through the participants perspective. The activity was conducted through an open discussion.

Interrelation of public spaces vs activities

The adolescent participants were asked to match the public spaces vs activities, to help derive interrelationship of activities and spaces.

Learnings Each organization had a unique work strategy and process of engagement such as FGD’s, community engagements, campaigns, drives etc. public spaces such as parks, schools, religious places, open grounds etc. were used for engagement with target groups. Most of the organizations engaged with their target audience physically but have adopted digital medium owing to the pandemic. Spaces used by adolescents are inclined towards active and informal spaces of the city. This included bus stands, religious institutions, chaurahas, mohallas, empty grounds, parks, community hall, public parking, playground, bus stops, bridges, streets, café, fields, parks etc. These spaces are used for interactions and recreation which included meeting friends, sports, learning, entertainment, working, travelling, community building shopping, eating, playing, exploring, chatting, physical activities, shopping, studying, personal time, travelling etc. Participants could identify multiple activities that can be catered by a single space. For example, a park can be used to perform activities such as sports, meeting friends, entertainment, community building etc. they could also identify mixed use spaces like streets that can be used for eating, chatting, playing, exploring etc. (continued)

112

R. G. Malagi and P. V. Mehta

Table 5.2 (continued) Session and activities Identifying components of safe, vibrant and healthy public spaces

Description The intent was to extract from participants the various key elements that help determine a safe, vibrant, and healthy public space. This was conducted as an open discussion with participants.

Neighbourhood mapping activity

A neighbourhood map was provided to the participants with different types of public spaces such as parks, streets, pocket spaces, dead end streets identified. The participants were asked to identify activities that could be conducted in different public spaces shown and mark them on the map. The aim was to assess participants’ understanding of public space types, activities, and elements.

Identifying adolescents through organizations

5.4.2.1

Conducting workshops

Learnings Some of the key elements identified were as follows: Safe: Lighting, watchman, boundary wall, easy access, surveillance, information, connectivity, better accessibility, light, patrolling etc. Vibrant: Music, swings, landscape, recreation, cleanliness, events, art, play, meditation, diverse activities, commercial activities etc. Healthy: Clean, maintained, green, water, toilet, dustbin, shade, shelter, open, water availability etc. It was observed that a public space can offer greater value and opportunity for adolescents by accommodating different activities. For example, eat, play, study, socialize etc. can be accommodated in wider street edges.

Feedback and learnings

Identifying Adolescents Through Local Organizations

The first step was to identify organizations to do an in-kind collaboration with WRI India to bring target adolescent groups on board for their involvement in the project through an in-person engagement in the form of a workshop on public spaces. These organizations being locally present in the city and working towards various adolescent related issues were the best considered sources for the adolescent interactions. The collaboration involved various steps as mentioned below:

5

Healthy Cities for Adolescents: Learnings and Reflections. . .

113

• A Few organizations were identified in both the cities based on their expression of interest post the stakeholder workshops. Both, in person and virtual meetings were arranged with these organizations to explain the intent of collaboration and importance of the workshop for adolescents which focuses on building an understanding amongst them about public spaces in their city. • Adolescent groups were identified based on their association with the participating organizations, age, their economic backgrounds, geographies they come from and gender to help gather unbiased responses. The preference was to focus on adolescents from low-income groups.

5.4.2.2

Organizing Workshops

The organizing team conducted these on-ground consultations with the adolescent groups with the help of volunteers from the local organizations. The health and safety concerns of the pandemic also led to designing the workshops in hybrid versions through help of local volunteers to suit the situation on ground. Workshop Structure Through consultations and research, it was understood that the needs and characteristics vary among adolescents of age groups 10–14 years and 15–19 years. For the same reason the workshop was designed along two different formats with activities suiting the two age groups. The workshop for 10–14 years was designed for a duration of three hours and the one for 15–19 years was designed for five hours. The key intent of the workshops was to provide an understanding of public spaces for adolescents, through interactive activities, site visits, and hands-on exercises and to promote peer learning. Although, it was envisaged to engage the adolescents in on- site activities, due to COVID restrictions in the cities, WRI India had to change its strategy to integrate site work/ on-ground activities with the adolescent workshops. The below mentioned charts explain overall activities conducted in the two mentioned workshops. Most of the activities conducted were similar, however as shown in the charts below certain activities were modified to suit the two age groups but were conducted in the same order (Figs. 5.5 and 5.6). Workshop Summary (Fig. 5.7) Workshop learnings (Table 5.3)

5.4.2.3

Overall Learnings

• Due to imposed pandemic restriction at that time, WRI India adopted a hybrid model to conduct workshops in Bhubaneswar with a local organisation – Humara Bachpan Trust (HBT) through virtual mentorship by the core project team. Even

114

R. G. Malagi and P. V. Mehta

Fig. 5.5 Workshop structure 10–14 years

Fig. 5.6 Workshop structure 15–19 years

though the in-person interactions helped the core team develop a better bonding with the adolescents, in hybrid model the presence of volunteers from the HBT organization itself helped stimulate exhilarating interactions and conversations. By adopting the hybrid model, we were able to successfully test the “training of trainers (ToT) ” model which now holds great potential to be adopted in future as and when required.

5

Healthy Cities for Adolescents: Learnings and Reflections. . .

115

Fig. 5.7 Activities during adolescent workshops

• The gender distribution of workshop participants significantly varied in the two cities. While Bhubaneswar had a higher participation of girls, Jaipur witnessed a higher participation of boys. However, they collectively contributed to the group activities and communicated their perception towards public spaces. • People with disabilities and LGBTQIA+ communities have not been involved in this phase of the project. However, inputs from participants regarding inclusivity and universal access have been considered. Going forward there is a scope to explore this aspect in detail at a suitable point of time during the course of the project. • During the workshop the adolescent participants shared that the pandemic has reinforced their understanding of the importance of public spaces for the physical and mental well-being. • Socializing is a key component of the adolescent’s time spent outside their homes. Hence, the public spaces designed by them expressed their urge to develop such spaces where they can go, explore, relax and be themselves, at the same time have a sense of belongingness. • For the participants proximity, access, nature of activities and facilities were key determinants to choose public spaces. • The participants derived spatial, aesthetical, and behavioural considerations for public spaces which in turn helped establish their roles towards developing and maintaining public spaces in the city. Below mentioned chart showcases some elements for public spaces as listed by adolescents in one of the workshops.

116

R. G. Malagi and P. V. Mehta

Table 5.3 Extraction of learnings from workshops conducted for adolescents Session and activities

Description

Learnings 10–14 years

15–19 years

Who am I? This was designed as an icebreaker to provide a basic understanding of the spaces outside their homes and associated activities. Two different icebreaker activities like stepping in and step out of the circle based on choices, were conducted

Me and my neighbourhood Adolescent The intent was to understand the different spaces need mapping used by an adolescent in their neighbourhood and the various activities associated with these spaces. The participants were asked to map their day in form of a network diagram capturing different spaces they visit outside their home at different time intervals and mentioned various activities they perform in those marked spaces/places along with the preferred mode they use to access those spaces.

• Most adolescent participants like to play outside their homes but have limited or no access to these spaces. • Most adolescent participants are accompanied by their caretakers or friends when accessing public spaces. • Most adolescent participants are allowed to move independently at a walking distance (500-800 m) from their homes.

Not applicable (was modified to ‘me and my Neighbourhood’ Activity for 15–19-yearold adolescents)

Not applicable (was conducted as ‘who am I?’ Activity for 10–14-year-old adolescents)

• All participants have awareness of the different public spaces within their neighbourhood. • There was a clear consensus that they do not have public spaces specific to their needs within their city. • Places frequently used by adolescents were within 1-2 kms from their homes & they preferred to walk/ cycle independently. Boys are found to use two-wheelers as well. • There was minimal use of public transport owing to lack of its availability. • Socializing with friends after school, college etc. is common among all adolescents. • The adolescents travel longer distances to go to many city-based tourist places on weekends. (continued)

5

Healthy Cities for Adolescents: Learnings and Reflections. . .

117

Table 5.3 (continued) Session and activities

Description

Learnings 10–14 years

15–19 years • Girls aren’t accompanied by caretakers even in dark.

Public spaces and its types The intent was to gauge the adolescent’s understanding of public spaces and their typologies. Here adolescents were presented with a collection of images of different spaces and were asked to identify which according to them were public spaces (by clapping) and which are not (by blowing into whistles provided to them/ or clicking fingers).

Public space visit The intent was to make adolescents evaluate desirable and undesirable elements within a public space through their perspective. A public space visit was conducted to understand Its quality from an adolescent’s perspective. The adolescent groups, were taken to different site each to evaluate these public spaces and prepare a mental map of the space that they would like to envision for themselves Additionally, a process of using two frames (square

• The participants were able to identify public spaces and that can be accessed by everyone. • The participants were able to differentiate the spaces based on the activities, ownership, and accessibility, function etc. • The participants indicated an aspiration for different types of public spaces in the city.

• The participants indicated an aspiration for different types of public spaces in the city and for the existing public spaces to be used in different ways. • The participants were able to differentiate the spaces based on the activities, ownership and accessibility and could substantiate their answers based on them. • The participants pointed out that some spaces become public or not depending on its context. • The participants indicated an aspiration for more designated public spaces.

The activity helped facilitate the process of identification of key concerns and opportunities of public spaces. The adolescents highlighted concerns towards health managing waste and provision of systems to manage waste, better toilets and clean parks. They also indicated the lack of safety systems like lighting, dark streets, and absence of timely activities. Girls specifically talked about access to public

The activity not only provided an understanding about different aspects of public spaces but also helped trigger conversations around decisions makers, ownership, funding and implementation of the public spaces. The older adolescents stressed on need for well-designed and active spaces for the betterment of physical and mental well-being. They also highlighted that there is a need for privacy in public space. (continued)

118

R. G. Malagi and P. V. Mehta

Table 5.3 (continued) Session and activities

Description

Learnings 10–14 years

and circle), the participants were asked to identify aspects of the public space they liked, and they disliked and take pictures of them through the frames provided (square for likes, circle for dislikes)

spaces and the need to closer proximity of public spaces from their houses. They also highlighted the need for adequate facilities and free wifi which could help access the internet for educational and recreational purposes.

Girls expressed interest about having a separate space for a girl’s club. They also took ownership towards reaching out the local decision makers to express their needs towards public spaces.

• The participants had a clear understanding of the needs and challenges faced with respect to public spaces in the city. • The participants had different solutions to address, which included spatial (E.g., introducing lighting, shaded spaces, recreation facilities etc. and behavioural (E.g., security guard, CCTV etc.) • They expressed the need for the space to be inclusive and accessible by all especially the differently abled and elderly. • Some solutions suggested by participants pertained to the use of technology. • The participants were found to be very gender sensitive and had a clear picture of their needs for health, hygiene, and freedom of expression. E.g.: Napkin vending machines, Girl’s café

• Proximity and access, ownership and maintenance and the nature of activities and facilities are most important factors for them. • The participants talked about universal accessibility and sustainability. • Technological driven solutions were suggested E.g.: Provision of Wi-Fi and mobile charging points. • The participants had given solutions which were spatial, behavioural, and informational. • The adolescents had an awareness of the local administration, city authorities and community-based organizations. • The participants displayed a sense of ownership for their city.

Element mapping To understand the elements that are needed to perform the activities in the previously visited space. The elements participants had suggested in the site visit activity that they would introduce/use to create a public space for themselves were listed down through an open house discussion

15–19 years

• The adolescents in Bhubaneswar had an awareness of the local administration, city authorities and community-based organizations that work for the development and maintenance of public spaces within their city. In Jaipur this understanding was very limited.

5

Healthy Cities for Adolescents: Learnings and Reflections. . .

119

Through these stakeholder consultations, in-person discussions with 25+ local organizations and 150+ adolescents across both cities, team WRI India established the needs and issues associated with adolescents and public spaces in the cities. Besides, the knowledge gained from these adolescent interactions and background research eventually fed into the preparation of Public space assessment framework to evaluate and assess public spaces through the lens of adolescents needs and perspective (Fig. 5.8).

Fig. 5.8 Elements listed by adolescents in the workshops

120

5.5

R. G. Malagi and P. V. Mehta

Knowledge Creation

The understanding of the city ecosystems and documenting the needs of the adolescents led to streamlining of key elements of public spaces. This has in turn served as basis to begin the development of public space framework. The Public Space Assessment Framework will be designed keeping in view the needs of the adolescents. Through multiple consultations conducted with various stakeholders including adolescents and local organizations, the essential components for formulating public space assessment framework will be derived. The intent of the public space assessment framework is to act as a hands-on tool to assess or audit the public spaces with respect to adolescent needs and, in turn inform the development of adolescent friendly public spaces in cities.

5.6

Key Learnings from HCA Phase 1

The phase I of the HCA project served as a stepping stone towards understanding the adolescent needs for public spaces in chosen cities (Bhubaneshwar and Jaipur). The engagements with local organizations help strengthen our engagement on ground. A few key learnings of the phase I are listed below. • The research on adolescent and urban development initiatives in the target cities informed that most of them focus on addressing their primary needs like health, education, and livelihood but lack focus on spatial and infrastructural requirements that has significant contribution on their overall growth and wellbeing. • The various interactions conducted in the two cities showcased the distinction in stakeholder and adolescent awareness on the role of public spaces in the overall well-being of adolescents. It also established that, adolescents need social development platforms for peer interaction, leraning and self-expression. • The workshops emerged as an efficient tool for actively engaging stakeholders and adolescents to understand their needs and perceptions with respect to public spaces as well as helped in sensitizing and capacitating them about safe, vibrant, and healthy public spaces. • The participation of adolescents and stakeholders through locally present organizations in the two cities helped bringing in local knowledge and experience which in turn helped to establish better understanding about their context and immediate environments. • The approach of collaborating with locally present organizations in the two cities helped achieve better outreach on ground and create networks with adolescent groups, city authorities, institutions etc.

5

Healthy Cities for Adolescents: Learnings and Reflections. . .

5.7

121

Conclusion

The phase I of Healthy Cities for Adolescents project served as a stepping stone towards understanding the need for adolescent public spaces in cities. The key focus was to understand the current status of public space development in respective cities and their suitability for adolescent needs. The process also focused strengthening relationships with local organizations who can serve as local champions to facilitate the adolescent engagement and public space dialog in cities. This has paved way for the Phase II of HCA project which focuses on development and testing of public space assessment framework in both cities. The Phase II aims to validate the need for public spaces for adolescents through on-ground testing and implementation in collaboration with local organizations, decision makers and adolescents. The long-term goal of the project is to create a systemic approach towards creating safe, vibrant and healthy public spaces for adolescents that in turn contribute towards creating inclusive cities.

Chapter 6

Reclaiming Healthy Cities Through Nature-Based Planning Solutions Elizelle Juanee Cilliers, Sumita Ghosh, and Emeka Austin Ndaguba

Abstract As society is becoming increasingly urbanized, environmental quality is degrading and natural values, values that are irreplaceable, are endangered more than ever. The results of such processes may be practically irreversible, unless preventive measures are embedded in planning and development. The recent Covid-19 pandemic further inflated the urgent need to emphasise the importance of our collective health and quality of life as part of spatial planning policies and decision-making approaches. Societies now have a better understanding of the role that nature-based solutions (NBSs) could play in creating a sustainable, resilient and just urban environment, yet we still see a disjoint between theory and practice, with limited evidence of how NBSs are successfully embedded in spatial planning approaches. This chapter departs from an overview of the notion of healthy cities, as well as the historical development and current state of our urban environment. Nature-based planning solutions for a healthier future is accordingly considered, contextualised in terms of the environmental, economic and social benefits related to such NBSs. This framed the scope to understand the respective opportunities, and the challenges, in quest towards reclaiming global healthy cities. The chapter concludes with recommendations pertaining to nature-based planning solutions that could support and reclaim healthy cities.

E. J. Cilliers (✉) School of Built Environment, Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building (DAB), University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, Australia Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa e-mail: [email protected] S. Ghosh School of Built Environment, Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building (DAB), University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, Australia E. A. Ndaguba School of Built Environment, Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building (DAB), University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, Australia Centre for Development Support, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 N. Biloria et al. (eds.), The Empathic City, S.M.A.R.T. Environments, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-32840-4_6

123

124

E. J. Cilliers et al.

Keywords Healthy cities · Nature-based solutions · Planning · Urban environment · Health · Sustainable development

6.1

Introduction

Following the recent Covid-19 pandemic, there is a renewed understanding of how ineffectual planning strategies can contribute to global catastrophes, increase the global climate death toll and enhance the spread of diseases, globally. At this same time there is a general agreement amongst environmentalists that NBSs should be an integral part of land use planning decisions, as it has the potential to shape the sustainability of our collective future. Within the philosophy of NBSs as a panacea to reclaiming healthy cities, open spaces, shared spaces, and the social-ecological systems are all recognised as competing factors for reaching the goals of reclaiming healthy cities, and in ultimately shaping the land use planning discourse. However, controversies exist in the implementation of NBSs, with hardly a general agreement on the scope of NBSs within the planning domain, the desirable planning criteria as to how much open space is needed, the location of green spaces that is heightened by spatial existences of the city (consisting of the city’s shape, landscape and structure), and the factors influencing such outcomes (Yunus, 2000). Urban morphology also plays a crucial part with urban form depicting the physical elements that shape and structure a city, such as buildings, street blocks, squares, plots, and streets (Oliveira, 2016). And on top of statutory planning challenges, the decision-making structures and political drivers further impact on the realisation of a nature-based planning approach in the broader framework. Hence, there are arguably distinctions in the implementation of land use planning and NBSs, despite, the international standards and codes for green space. However, with regulations placed on streets, blocks, and plots movement as a global response to the Covid-19 pandemic raised more questions about the role and value assigned to open spaces, since some countries recognised open spaces as an integral part to survive, thus encouraging access to open spaces, other countries put a full lockdown of movement in place, where no visits to open spaces, or recreational activities were tolerated under a national health order. This had several implications, and raises more questions relating to whether nations value green spaces differently, or if planning for green spaces is conjectural, or whether open spaces, shared spaces and socio-ecological systems (integral for advancing healthy living in cities) are directly connected to cultural perceptions, health standards, density, and vulnerability of the users of the space.

6.2

The Notion of Health Cities

The idea of a healthy urban ecosystem for sustainable future is embedded in the global liveability index (Giap et al., 2014), which also includes stability, healthcare, culture, environment, education, and infrastructure (Ndaguba et al., 2022). There are

6

Reclaiming Healthy Cities Through Nature-Based Planning Solutions

125

many factors that influences the estimation of what a healthy city entails (Stevenson et al., 2016). A healthy city can be referred to as a strong city, thriving city, good city, or a healthy place. It’s elements constitutes preventive medicine, adequate transport network, land use distribution and redistribution, population health, health maintenance, excellence in education, including accessible wellness activities and programmes, extreme happiness, and physical activities that encourages fitness. Thus, the concept of healthy cities are best perceived than defined. According to Travers (1997) and Farquhar and Fortmann (2005), a healthy city is perceived as the absence of poverty, crime, overcrowding, and the existence of educated and enlightened residents and organisations. Over the years, The Economist Intelligence Unit has ranked over 140 cities across the globe premised on their quality of life and life expectations. For instance, there are three underlying factors in understanding healthy cities: (1) Satisfaction, well-being, and happiness are in congruence with the personality and values of the habitants’ cultural environment, (2) the most liveable cities have a higher quality of educational systems, public health care, adequate public transport infrastructure and networks, and good housing regime, and (3) the lack of air pollution, green spaces, noise, and low neighbourhood safety that promote a higher frequency of depressive mood in urban enclaves. The Zagreb Declaration on healthy cities describes a healthy city as inclusive, sensitive, supportive, and responsive to the diverse demands and expectations for its citizenry (WHO, 2009). Healthy cities provide an avalanche of opportunities and conditions that enables, encourages, and support healthy lifestyle for its inhabitant. While offering quality built and physical environment that encourage daily healthy life, support recreation, safety, and wellbeing in the society. Including social stimulation by interaction, social mobility and accessibility helps to not only create a sense of pride, but also assist in cultural universalism and responsiveness in citizen action (WHO, 2009). The World Health Organisation also defines a healthy city as a city that is constantly producing and refining the physical and social settings, growing community’s social capitals to empower people to reciprocally sustain each other and supporting each other in carrying out all the functions of life at its fullest potential (World Health Organisation, 2022; Kamel Boulos & Al-Shorbaji, 2014; Goldstein, 1996). This definition gives credence or a buy-in to the typical definition of what a healthy city connotes: A healthy city is one that is continually creating and improving those physical and social environments and expanding those community resources which enable people to mutually support each other in performing all the functions of life and developing to their maximum potential (De Leeuw & Simos, 2021: 1).

It is common knowledge that discourse in health framing in the built environment almost exclusively fail to carter for the politics of planning (Corburn, 2017). Rather it overcompensates for the challenges and need for reconnection, open space, deterministic factors of urban health, attributes, and limitation to improving social conditions, fragmentation, professionalisation, and scientific rationality of the discipline. Based on the tripartite analysis of Tavers, MacIntyre, and Zagreb Declaration

126

E. J. Cilliers et al.

Fig. 6.1 Components of healthy cities. (Source: Adapted from the WHO European Healthy Cities Network (2022))

of healthy cities, and the claims of Corburn as a social justice concept, the core elements of a healthy city would include: people, participation, prosperity, planet, place, and peace (Fig. 6.1) (WHO European Healthy Cities Network, 2022). The discourse regarding a healthy city is thus clearly centred around its inhabitants. The people are nucleus of the relationship between public health character and built environment. Although built environment is in juxtaposition between physical place and where people live, work, and have there been. It does not exclude, homes, commercial enterprise, bicycle and multiple joggling paths, workout equipment to enhance physical exercise, social cohesion, and leisure to engender civic participation. Including interconnected streets, buildings, open spaces, and infrastructure that provides some levers of recreation and wellbeing. It is intricate to note that the provision of these facilities is to encourage movement of the inhabitants than foster sedentary habits. Thereby, increasing the general ecological wellbeing of those in residential areas is at the epicentre of the argument. Despite global research and a broad literature base on the importance of creating healthy cities, the current reality suggest a dire situation as highlighted in the next section.

6

Reclaiming Healthy Cities Through Nature-Based Planning Solutions

6.3

127

The Historical Developments and Current State of Our Urban Environment

As the industrial revolution created job opportunities in cities, huge population migration from rural areas to urban areas happened in search of jobs. With this significant movement of people, during nineteenth century cities were accommodating rapid population growth and the cities became overpopulated. This condition gave rise to problems such as congestion, lack of infrastructure, high levels of pollution and uncontrolled growth of cities. Lack of sanitation provisions, slum developments, poor housing and living conditions, air pollution increased by emissions from the industries, increased crimes created unsafe and unhealthy environments for people. These conditions had significant impacts on people’s health and well-being. Key widespread public health issues during industrial revolution were epidemics of infectious diseases such as typhoid, cholera, tuberculosis and smallpox. In 1900, London was crowded and unsanitary slums provided perfect ground for spread of diseases. Major urban health penalties and planning trends in developed countries from 1800 to 2000 was presented in a graph and divided the time into three phases industrial, modernisation and globalisation. During nineteenth century, industrialisation phase ‘Germ Theory’ was discovered and proved that microorganisms are the causes of disease and there is a link between hygiene, water, and disease. This discovery demonstrated the importance of planning for healthy cities and established a strong case for improving provision for adequate physical infrastructure for sanitation and social policies on Sanitation. Also during this time, policies such as creation of smoke control regulations to reduce air pollution, zoning for grouping of compatible land use activities and fines for not following laws were introduced. Twentieth century was the modernisation phase. Garden City Movement and New Towns Movement created healthy environments in cities and food safety and Clean Air Laws were implemented by mid-twentieth century, during the globalisation phase. However, the urban challenges continue to escalate and the world has witnessed unprecedented events this millennial, some natural, others self-inflicted. Starting from the Mozambiquan flood which claimed 800 lives, to earthquake in Gujarat where over 20,000 people died in 2001. Heat waves in India (2002) and Europe (2003) that claimed over 1000 and over 72,000 lives respectively. To the Indian earthquake and tsunami that witnessed the loss of over 227,000 persons. The Cyclone in India and Myanmar also claimed over 15,000 and 138,000 lives, respectively. The Haitian earthquake was symbolic, and called for global response on climate action, in the event over 316,000 persons lost their live and over a million lost their livelihood. Many countries and organisations are yet to recover from the financial meltdown of 2007–2009 till date, and terrorism alert had been upscaled since 2001 twin tower bombing and the 2006 train bombing in the United Kingdom. Further to the outlined also includes the transition between 2006 and 2007, where for the first time, the number of rural dwellers, matched those in urban centres. By 2019, the United Nations had projected that about 4.36 billion people in urban areas,

128

E. J. Cilliers et al.

Fig. 6.2 Global sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions by World regions. (Source: Klimont et al. (2013), Arias (2011), and OECD (2014))

and 3.40 billion in rural areas. Despite, the increase in urban population, there has been sizable reduction in open spaces, shared spaces, school infrastructures and playgrounds, and green areas, owing to gentrification, modernisation, globalisation, and property development. It contributed to a decline in air quality and increased the number of fatalities owing to air pollution (Fig. 6.2) and exponential increase to global temperatures (Fig. 6.3). The Covid-19 pandemic further complicated and inflated the challenges of our urban environment even more, and emphasised the challenge of vulnerability and equality. The importance of the environment to our collective health and quality of life has always been shaped in literature (De Groot, 1992; Naveh, 1997; Ward Thompson, 2002; Chiesura, 2004), ever more since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic as environmental concerns were now more closely aligned to health impacts. The inability to interact or engage in cities brought about several social hostility factors. The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) flagged mental health as a top concern associated with the Covid-19 outbreak. The halting of movement, the inability to visit open spaces, the rise of fake news from authority’s media and individuals, and the social media caused tremendous psychological damage to many, particularly those separated from family members. There was a renewed understanding of the value of nature, and open spaces in urban areas, and NBSs as a primary factor for creating a healthy environment.

6

Reclaiming Healthy Cities Through Nature-Based Planning Solutions

129

Fig. 6.3 Global warming: Temperature anomaly (Jan 15, 1880 – Sept 15, 2022). (Source: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA))

6.4

A Reflection on Nature-Based Solutions (NBSs) for a Healthy Future

NBSs is not a new concept within the planning profession and has been explored by international organizations, such as the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN, 2019) World Bank (MacKinnon et al., 2008), European Commission, as well as the United Nations Environmental Program (Kumar et al., 2019), amongst others, encapsulating various planning approaches, including ecological engineering techniques, green infrastructure planning ecology, ecosystem services approaches, and water sensitive planning approaches, amongst others (Cilliers et al., 2022). NBSs utilizes the multi-functionality of the natural systems and draws on linkages between the environmental, economic, and social dimensions of the city (Nesshöver et al., 2017), to enhance the ecological systems and associated myriad of services it provides to human societies. A number of definitions have been attributed to NBS with the most prominent being that of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) who defines NBSs as “actions to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural or modified ecosystems, that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, simultaneously providing human wellbeing and biodiversity benefits”. The pulse of the statement by IUCN requires unpacking to easier assimilation and referral. The predominant need of NBSs is the need to protect existing human society, while elevating human wellbeing, and at the same time, creating an atmosphere where humans could benefit from the multiplicity of nature’s ecosystem. The definition suggests that the need for sustainability maintenance of the existing human ecology,

130

E. J. Cilliers et al.

in which process the restored natural habitat and modified Eco chamber of society, do not negatively impact the present or our collective future. The European Commission further provided clarity to the definition of NBSs. They argue that it is a “solution to societal challenges that are inspired and supported by nature, which are cost-effective, provide simultaneous environmental, social and economic benefits, and help build resilience” (United Nations Environment Programme, 2020). From these definitions it is evident that healthy cities lies central to NBSs, which are costeffective and assist in community resilience. To expatiate on this notion further, we would explore the commonalities of both definitions, which includes, the benefits accruing from NBSs from three standpoints: Environment, Economics, and Social.

6.4.1

Environmental Benefits of NBSs

Trees and green spaces are elements of the ecosystems that clean air and surface water, provide, or renew potable water, and reduce energy consumption, thereby contributing to life support systems. The greatest environmental benefit derived from green spaces is the enhancement of biodiversity. The Center for Urban Forest Research scientists have conducted micro-scale studies, focusing on street tree costs (tree planting, irrigation, pruning and other maintenance) versus calculated benefits (energy savings, reduced atmospheric carbon dioxide, improved air quality, and reduced stormwater runoff). The economic data was mathematically combined to generate a per tree net benefits figure (McPherson et al., 2002). Similar environmental benefits modelling is often based on the economic principle of deferred costs, implying that if trees are not present, residents or authorities would have to invest in additional engineered infrastructure or equipment to remedy environmental problems (Wolf, 2004: 3). Conservation of natural values and environmental services (e.g., maintaining air and water quality, improving the local microclimate) are considered life-supporting systems (Green, 1985; Helliwell, 1985; De Groot, 1992; Naveh, 1997; Constanza, 2000; Saaroni et al., 2000; Bryant, 2006) and such services embody indirect economic benefits, yet these are difficult to quantify (Vatn & Bromley, 1995).

6.4.2

Economic Benefits of NBSs

The quality of life or ‘liveability’ which a city offers is important in ensuring its future economic performance. In this regard, environmental resources are assets to a city and green spaces contributes to the competitiveness and marketability of a property. For instance, a property or suburb with more human activities and greens are expected to be more expensive compared to other suburbs with lesser green fields, and open spaces for human activities. In that, nature reserves have a correlation with increased human footprint, which invariably increases leisure and may

6

Reclaiming Healthy Cities Through Nature-Based Planning Solutions

131

have an effect on the general economic wellbeing of the residents who owns farms, winery, and provide some tourism infrastructure. Also, climate financing and climate justice are twin benefits of the economic benefits of nature reserve (Matulis, 2014). Hence research that fuses humanity’s household (the economy), and nature household (the environment) are characterized by a multiplicity of factors, among them include, issues of sustainability, justice, wellbeing, and value. These factors are dynamic due to society and culture, including the wealth of nations. The more pronounced social benefit derived from green spaces is the aesthetic value it offers, creating a qualitative living environment.

6.4.3

Social Benefits of NBSs

Several studies (Hartig et al., 2011; Ward-Thompson, 2011; Bratman et al., 2012; Haluza et al., 2014; van den Bosch & Sang, 2017) have also concluded on the benefits of nature to address mental health issues, such as anxiety, stress, and paranoia in urban enclaves. Research using neuroscientific methods in urban and regional studies, demonstrated that a child that grew in urban centres are more likely to suffer from psychosis owing to conflict, competition and confrontation witnessed in urban areas (Ndaguba et al., nd). A series of studies (Kuo, 2003) has determined that having trees in public housing neighborhoods lowers levels of fear, contributes to less violent and aggressive behavior, and encourages better neighbour relationships. Other studies (Roger, 2003) confirm that hospital patients recover quicker and require fewer pain-killing medications when having a view of nature (stating therapeutic value). Various other studies proved that community cohesion is built using green spaces, as users are bound by location and common interest (Kazmierczak & James, 2008; Kuo, 2003; Cilliers et al., 2010). Social interaction is stimulated within the green spaces, contributing to cultural and historic values of the area itself. Human health and mental health are also part of the social benefits of green spaces. The perception of residents regarding urban green space values, concerning socioeconomic factors including income, occupation, and education, concluded that the lack of green space and the exponential increase of the population enhance physical, social, psychological, and environmental hazards, stressing the need to enhance current green spaces and plan for new (future) green spaces. NBSs are continuously recognised for its potential to support healthy environments and healthy cities, drawing on the extensive list of benefits as explained above. The success of planning healthy cities through NBSs varies depending on the context and the approach taken. While some global cities have made significant progress towards creating healthier environments for their populations, others still face significant challenges.

132

6.5

E. J. Cilliers et al.

Challenges of Realising Healthy Cities Through NBSs

The urban environment is complex. A deeper understanding of the inter-linkages in the way cities are designed, planned, built and governed and how this directly affects human health has evolved significantly in recent years. Two global milestones have pushed the idea that local decision-making processes that recognize urban policies are, in fact, key public health interventions. The first is the approval in 2015 of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda (United Nations, 2015), comprised of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets. The second milestone is the New Urban Agenda at Habitat III of 2016, presented at the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (UN Habitat, 2016). This was the first time that ‘health’ appeared as a cross-cutting issue, and was explicitly acknowledged as a central component of urban planning and governance (Ramirez-Rubio et al., 2019). Both the Sustainable Development Agenda and New Urban Agenda provided a clear perspective of the importance of global health as a critical part of spatial planning, but in practice, however, it remained more challenging to action (Zheng et al., 2021). One of the challenges relating to the complexity of health goals, which require a coordinated and comprehensive approach. For example, many cities struggle with issues such as pollution, inadequate housing, and limited access to healthcare, which can have significant negative impacts on health. These challenges require a concerted effort from multiple sectors to action change (Ramirez-Rubio et al., 2019). Similar to healthy cities being multi-dimensional and multi-sectional, the Sustainable Development Goals are also interlinked, which further contributes to the complexity. Dawes (2020) argue that linkages of the SDGs are in and of themselves complex, and that these goals to do not operate in isolation, but often overlaps to mutually enforces one another (Weitz et al., 2014; Hickel, 2019; Vladimirova & Le Blanc, 2015; While Diaz-Sarachaga et al., 2018). For example, health and well-being are explicitly addressed in SDG 3, but health is also present as a pre-condition of SDG 11, that aims at inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities, as illustrated in Fig. 6.4, referring to the multi-dimensional indicators of SDGs. The need for integrated and comprehensive strategies that address these determinants of health are thus crucial in quest of a sustainable and resilient future. It calls for collaboration across different sectors to improve the social and economic conditions that impact health outcomes (such as environmental pollution, inadequate housing, insufficient access to healthcare, and poverty). Recent research conducted by Ramirez-Rubio et al. (2019) introduced the paradigm of “Health in All Policies” (HiAP), to advance urban health in relation to the set Sustainable Development Goals. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines HiAP as “an approach to public policies across sectors that systematically takes into account the health implications of decisions, seeks synergies, and avoids harmful health impacts in order to improve population health and health equity”. The HiAP strategy provides a strong and effective “horizontal governance” (Kickbusch & Buckett, 2010) approach to complex health problems that involves the highest levels

6

Reclaiming Healthy Cities Through Nature-Based Planning Solutions

133

Fig. 6.4 Multi-dimensional indicators of SDGs

of government, political and executive leadership leading to effective priority setting, innovation in policy making and implementation of sustainable solutions (Ramirez-Rubio et al., 2019). The research of Ramirez-Rubio et al. (2019) identified the overlap between different goals, indicators and targets in terms of a direct link and indirect link (refer to Fig. 6.5). The relationship among these goals, indicators and targets is indicated by a continuous line (directly related to urban health and within the SDGs) and a dotted line (indirect relationship). The core of the figure is “urban health” as an intersectoral arena that links both the public health and the urban planning sectors, mainly captured by SDG 3 (Health and wellbeing) and SDG11 (inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities) (Ramirez-Rubio et al., 2019). Apart from the complex nature of health objectives, as well as the multidimensional nature of the SDGs, healthy cities also needs to be integrated into urban planning and design processes. While there is growing recognition of the importance of health in urban planning, there is still a need to prioritize health as a central component of urban planning and design, rather than as an afterthought. This requires a shift towards more collaborative and cross-sectoral approaches to urban planning that prioritize health and well-being (Ramirez-Rubio et al., 2019).

6.6

Opportunities for Reclaiming Healthy Cities Through NBSs

From the literature investigation it is evident that NBSs have multiple benefits across different scales and dimensions (social, economic and environmental) that are aligning to the objectives of healthy cities However, the strong theoretical underpinning does not translate to practice, with limited evidence and best practices of how NBSs are activated to enhance health. The following actions could steer the

134

E. J. Cilliers et al.

Policy coherence 17.16 International cooperation 17.14

17.18

1.1

Eradicate extreme poverty

3.1

Maternal mortality

1.2

Reduce nationally defined poverty

3.2

Infant mortality Infectious diseases

Social protection systems 1.4 Equal rights to economic resources, basic services, etc

3.3

1.3

High quality indicators

3.5

Non communicable diseases & mental health and wellbeing Drugs and alcohol abuse

3.6

Road traffic injuries

3.7

Sexual and reproductive health Universal health care coverage

3.4 2.2

Malnutrition (inc. obesity)

3.8 3.9 3.A 16.7

Participatory decision-making

2

15 13.1

Climate hazards resilience & adaptation

13.2

Climate change action

3

7 10

9

8 7.1 7.2

10.3 11.1

Housing

11.2

Transportation

11.3

Land planning

11.6

Air quality & waste

+ Noise + Physical activity

Health promoting education facilities

5.1

Gender equality

Health inequalities

8.8

6.1

Drinking water

6.2

Sanitation & hygiene

6.3

Waste water & water quality

Access to electricity Renewable energy

Safe employment

+ Social capital

Green and public spaces 11.8 Risk reduction 11.7

4.A

6

11

Fossil-fuel reduction

5

SDGS RELATED TARGETS

Sustainable production and consumption 12.3 Food waste 12.4 Hazardous waste

12.C

Health emergency preparedness

4

12.1

Waste generation reduction Sustainable tourism

3.D

life expectancy

URBAN HEALTH

12

12.B

Medicines & vaccines Health work-force

+ Quality of life &

14 13

12.5

3.C

3.B

1

17

16

Contamination related diseases Tobacco control

9.5

Scientific research

Sustainable & resilient infrastructure 9.C Information & communications technology 9.A

Directly related to Urban Health and Included in SDGs Indirectly related to Urban Health and included in the SDGs Not present in the SDGs

Fig. 6.5 Urban Health related SDGs within a HiAP approach. (Source: Adapted from RamirezRubio et al. (2019))

current ad hoc, unintentional approach, towards a more dedicated, formalised plan to embed NBSs as part of healthy city planning.

6.6.1

Reframe Sustainability Thinking to Position NBSs as Catalyst for Healthy Cities

The framework of “Health in All Policies” (HiAP) set forward by Ramirez-Rubio et al. (2019), this research calls for “Environment in All Policies” (EiAP) as a catalyst for enhanced health outcomes. Figure 6.6 below indicates all the identified health objectives presented in the SDGs, along with the specific objectives that could be supported through NBSs.

6

Reclaiming Healthy Cities Through Nature-Based Planning Solutions Eradicate extreme poverty Reduce nationally defined poverty

3.1

Maternal mortality

1.2

3.2

1.3

Social protection systems

3.3

Infant mortality Infectious diseases

1.4

Equal rights to economic resources, basic services, etc

3.4

1.1

Policy coherence 17.16 International cooperation 17.14

17.18

135

High quality indicators

2.2

Malnutrition (inc. obesity)

3.5

Non communicable diseases & mental health and wellbeing Drugs and alcohol abuse

3.6

Road traffic injuries

3.7

Sexual and reproductive health Universal health care coverage

3.8 3.9 3.A 16.7

Participatory decision-making

3.B

1

17

16

2

15 13.1

Climate hazards resilience & adaptation

13.2

Climate change action

3

12.B

Waste generation reduction Sustainable tourism

12.C

Fossil-fuel reduction

9

8 7.1 7.2

Health inequalities

11.1

Housing

11.2

Transportation

11.3

Land planning

11.6 11.7

Air quality & waste Green and public spaces

11.8

Risk reduction

4.A

Health promoting education facilities

5.1

Gender equality

6 7

10

+ Noise + Physical activity

Health emergency preparedness

5

SDGS RELATED TARGETS

11

10.3

3.D

4

12

12.5

Medicines & vaccines Health work-force

life expectancy

URBAN HEALTH

13

Sustainable production and consumption 12.3 Food waste 12.4 Hazardous waste

3.C

+ Quality of life &

14

12.1

Contamination related diseases Tobacco control

8.8

6.1

Drinking water

6.2

Sanitation & hygiene

6.3

Waste water & water quality

Access to electricity Renewable energy

Safe employment

+ Social capital

9.5 9.A 9.C

Scientific research Sustainable & resilient infrastructure Information & communications technology

Fig. 6.6 Specific areas where NBSs could enhance the HiAP approach. (Source: Adapted from Ramirez-Rubio et al. (2019))

NBSs, including green and blue open spaces in and around cities (e.g. green belts or urban riversides) can improve resilience to heat waves, prevent city residents from heat island effect, provide corridors of less polluted air, enhance biodiversity and promote physical exercise. Preservation of watersheds can reduce drinking water contamination, saving on the costs of water purification. Recycling, reusing and reducing solid waste can eliminate the need to burn or bury it, improving air quality, reducing water and soil contamination. Better wastewater and sewage management, in a context of rising temperatures and extreme weather events related to climate change, can also improve public health by reducing exposure potential illnesses and epidemics. Taken together, urban policies that are supported by NBS can thus significantly contribute to community health, while providing cost-savings for the health care systems (Ramirez-Rubio et al., 2019). These NBS should be embedded as part of spatial planning decision-making. In an attempt to reframe sustainabilitythinking to position NBS as catalyst for healthy cities, Table 6.1 summarises the

136

E. J. Cilliers et al.

Table 6.1 NBS actions and related health outcomes SDG 1.4 Equal rights to economic resources 2.2 Malnutrition 3.8 3.C 4.A 6.1 6.3

Universal health care coverage Health work-force Health promoting education Drinking water

7.2

Waste water and water quality Renewable energy

8.8

Safe employment

9.A 10.3

Sustainable infrastructure Social capital

11.3

Land planning

11.6

Air quality

11.7 11.8

Green and public spaces Noise reduction

12.3

Food waste

12.4 12.5

Hazardous waste Waste generation reduction Sustainable tourism

12.8 13.1 13.2 16.7

Climate hazards resilience Climate change action Participatory decisionmaking

NBS contribution Support a qualitative, liveable, just environment that is accessible and safe to all citizens Support access to urban food gardens, street trees and overall urban biodiversity to support food supply Environmental benefits relating to cleaner air, water, and social benefits pertaining to physical and mental health Evidence of better working conditions and productivity where NBS were included as part of the working space Support natural play and learning spaces to enhance cognitive and physical development Preservation of watersheds to reduce drinking water contamination Support storm water management processes and lower associated costs, overall better quality of urban water Support energy usage through lowering energy demands by providing natural shade, cooling and water retention Support the sense of place through green design strategies and green place-making approaches Support grey infrastructure with green infrastructure solutions such as permeable surfaces and green roofs Draw on citizens affinity to nature and the creation of a sense of community through green place-making Support strategic planning through prioritising nature as a solution to healthy, sustainable cities and regions Support corridors of less polluted air, leading to enhanced air quality, supported by greening initiatives Prioritise the function of green spaces to include the environmental, social and economic benefits Support the reduction of noise in urban areas through enhanced greening initiatives Support a circular economy through providing spaces where food waste could be reused for soiling Mitigate the impacts of waste through urban greening initiatives Support environmental consciousness through dedicated urban greening strategies and integrated NBS Enhance value of urban spaces, neighbourhood and public spaces through the inclusion of green place-making Prioritise open spaces in and around cities can improve resilience to heat waves Support change in broader urban environment to enhance urban greening and urban green infrastructure Enhance sense of community in areas where urban greening are prioritised

6

Reclaiming Healthy Cities Through Nature-Based Planning Solutions

137

specific contribution that NBS could provide into each of the following SDGs and health-related objectives: By including NBSs as a response to the respective SDGs would potentially result in better outcome of the respective goal, but also have a broader spinoff effect in terms of enhanced sustainability, resilience and overall health. Table 6.1 provides a point of departure to reframe sustainability-thinking and to position NBSs as catalyst for healthy cities. It is recognise that specific preventative measures would also be crucial to ensure the successful implementation of NBSs in practice.

6.6.2

Prioritize Preventive Measures Through Planning and Development

As society is becoming increasingly urbanized, the need for preventive measures which are embedded in planning and development is becoming more crucial. Measures that reduce socio-economic exposures, reduce the potential impacts and enhance the adaptive capacity would need to form an integral part of planning and development processes. NBSs could, in all three these areas, play a crucial role, and deliver health outcomes as a direct or indirect result as illustrated in Table 6.2. Cities are central to developing healthy environments for the people. Urban solutions should be co-dependent and interconnected, and action lies within the cities, as the drivers of change. Nature-based planning solutions could reclaim healthy cities, but it would call for (1) emphasising the benefits of NBS (economic, social and environmental benefits) as part of broader spatial planning approaches, (2) reframing sustainability-thinking to position NBSs as catalyst for healthy cities, and (3) prioritizing preventive measures through planning and development, drawing on the actions of NBS and the related health outcomes it is set to deliver. Table 6.2 NBS actions and related health outcomes NBS action Reduce socioeconomic exposure

Reduce the potential impacts

Sources Jiao et al. (2012) and Huang et al. (2012). Tscharntke et al. (2011) and Torralba et al. (2016). Bowler et al. (2010) and Ziter et al. (2019). Wairore et al. (2016) and Lunga and Musarurwa (2016).

Enhance the adaptive capacity

Munang et al. (2014) and Abdul-Razak and Kruse (2017).

Health outcomes Secure and regulate water supplies and reduce flood risks. Maintain and in some cases enhance yields in drier, more variable climates. Moderate the impacts of heat waves and regulate water flow. Provide diverse sources of income and degree of food security Reducing exposure to heat, drought, floods and erosion. Brings communities together to learn and experiment Education and governance to influence opportunities to implement NBS

138

E. J. Cilliers et al.

References 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, United Nations. (2015). https:// sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300. Accessed 25 Mar 2019. Abdul-Razak, M., & Kruse, S. (2017). The adaptive capacity of smallholder farmers to climate change in the Northern Region of Ghana. Climate Risk Management, 17, 104–122. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.crm.2017.06.001 Arias, S. (2011). Anthropogenic sulfur dioxide emissions: 18502005. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 11, 1101–1116. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-11-1101-2011. http://www.atmos-chemphys.net/11/1101/2011/ Bowler, D. E., Buyung-Ali, L., Knight, T. M., & Pullin, A. S. (2010). Urban greening to cool towns and cities: a systematic review of the empirical evidence. Landscape and Urban Planning, 97, 147–155. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2010.05.006 Bratman, G. N., Hamilton, J. P., & Daily, G. C. (2012). The impacts of nature experience on human cognitive function and mental health. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1249(1), 118–136. Bryant, M. M. (2006). Urban landscape conservation and the role of ecological greenways at local and metropolitan scales. Landscape and Urban Planning, 76(1–4), 23–44. Chiesura, A. (2004). The role of urban parks for the sustainable city. Landscape and Urban Planning, 68(1), 129–138. Cilliers, E. J., Diemont, E., Stobbelaar, D. J., & Timmermans, W. (2010). Sustainable green urban planning: The green credit tool. Journal of Place Management and Development. Cilliers, E. J., Timmermans, W., Rohr, H., & Goosen, H. (2022). Scaling up of nature-based solutions to guide climate adaptation planning: Evidence from two case studies. Frontiers in Sustainable Cities, 4, 624046. https://doi.org/10.3389/frsc.2022.624046 Constanza, R. (2000). Social goals and the valuation of ecosystem services. Ecosystems, 3(1), 4–10. Corburn, J. (2017). Equitable and healthy city planning: Towards healthy urban governance in the century of the city. In E. de Leeuw & J. Simos (Eds.), In healthy cities, the theory, policy, and practice, of value-based urban planning (pp. 31–41). Springer. Dawes, J. H. (2020). Are the sustainable development goals self-consistent and mutually achievable? Sustainable Development, 28(1), 101–117. De Groot, R. S. (1992). Functions of nature: Evaluation of nature in environmental planning management and decision-making. Wolters-Noordhoff. De Leeuw, E., & Simos, J. (2021). Healthy cities. In The Palgrave encyclopedia of urban and regional futures (pp. 1–6). Springer. Diaz-Sarachaga, J. M., Jato-Espino, D., & Castro-Fresno, D. (2018). Is the sustainable development goals (SDG) index an adequate framework to measure the progress of the 2030 agenda? Sustainable Development, 26, 663–671. Farquhar, J. W., & Fortmann, S. P. (2005). Community-based health promotion. In Handbook of epidemiology (pp. 1305–1323). Springer. Giap, T. K., Thye, W. W., & Aw, G. (2014). A new approach to measuring the liveability of cities: The global Liveable cities index. World Review of Science, Technology and Sustainable Development, 11(2), 176–196. Goldstein, G. (1996). A healthy city is a better city. World Health, 49(1), 4–6. Green, B. (1985). Countryside conservation. E&FN Spon. Haluza, D., Schönbauer, R., & Cervinka, R. (2014). Green perspectives for public health: A narrative review on the physiological effects of experiencing outdoor nature. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 11(5), 5445–5461. Hartig, T., van den Berg, A. E., Hagerhall, C. M., Tomalak, M., Bauer, N., Hansmann, R., Ojala, A., Syngollitou, E., Carrus, G., Van Herzele, A., & Bell, S. (2011). Health benefits of nature experience: Psychological, social and cultural processes. Forests, Trees and Human Health, 127–168. Helliwell, D. R. (1985). Planning for nature conservation. Packard Publishing Limited.

6

Reclaiming Healthy Cities Through Nature-Based Planning Solutions

139

Hickel, J. (2019). The contradiction of the sustainable development goals: Growth versus ecology on a finite planet. Sustainable Development, 1, 1–12. Huang, L., Shao, Q., & Liu, J. (2012). Forest restoration to achieve both ecological and economic progress, Poyang Lake basin, China. Ecological Engineering, 44, 53–60. https://doi.org/10. 1016/j.ecoleng.2012.03.007 IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group (2019). Cornufer vitiensis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T58484A83672189. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-2.RLTS. T58484A83672189.en Jiao, J., Zhang, Z., Bai, W., Jia, Y., & Wang, N. (2012). Assessing the ecological success of restoration by afforestation on the Chinese Loess Plateau. Restoration Ecology, 20, 240–249. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1526-100X.2010.00756.x Kamel Boulos, M. N., & Al-Shorbaji, N. M. (2014). On the internet of things, smart cities and the WHO healthy cities. International Journal of Health Geographics, 13(1), 1–6. Kazmierczak, A. E., & James, P. (2008). The role of urban green spaces in improving social inclusion. University of Salford, School of Environment and Life Sciences. Kickbusch, I., & Buckett, K. (2010). Implementing health in all policies: Adelaide 2010. Department of Health, Government of South Australia. Klimont, Z., Smith, S. J., & Cofala, J. (2013). The last decade of global anthropogenic sulfur dioxide: 2000–2011 emissions. Environmental Research Letters, 8(1), 014003. Kumar, P., Druckman, A., Gallagher, J., Gatersleben, B., Allison, S., Eisenman, T. S., Hoang, U., Hama, S., Tiwari, A., Sharma, A., & Abhijith, K. V. (2019). The nexus between air pollution, green infrastructure and human health. Environment International, 133, 105181. Kuo, F. E. (2003). The role of arboriculture in a healthy social ecology. Journal of Arboriculture, 29(3), 148–155. Lunga, W., & Musarurwa, C. (2016). Exploiting indigenous knowledge commonwealth to mitigate disasters: From the archives of vulnerable communities in Zimbabwe. Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge, 15, 22–29. MacKinnon, K., Sobrevila, C., & Hickey, V. (2008). Biodiversity, climate change, and adaptation: Nature-based solutions from the World Bank portfolio (Vol. No. 46726, pp. 1–112). The World Bank. Matulis, B. S. (2014). The economic valuation of nature: A question of justice? Ecological Economics, 104, 155–157. McPherson, E. G., Maco, S. E., Simpson, J. R., Peper, P. J., Xiao, Q., Van Der Zanden, A. M., & Bell, N. (2002). Western Washington and Oregon community tree guide: Benefits, costs, and strategic planning. International Society of Arboriculture. Munang, R., Andrews, J., Alverson, K., & Mebratu, D. (2014). Harnessing ecosystem-based adaptation to address the social dimensions of climate change. Environment Science and Policy for Sustainable Development, 56, 18–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/00139157.2014.861676 Naveh, Z. (1997). The value of open landscapes as life supporting systems. Israel Environment Bulletin, 20(4), 21–24. Ndaguba, E., Cilliers, J., Mbanga, S., Brown, K., & Ghosh, S. (2022). Re-imaging the future in urban studies and built environment discourse: A Neurourbanism perspective. Buildings, 12(12), 2056. Nesshöver, C., Assmuth, T., Irvine, K. N., Rusch, G. M., Waylen, K. A., Delbaere, B., Haase, D., Jones-Walters, L., Keune, H., Kovacs, E., & Krauze, K. (2017). The science, policy and practice of nature-based solutions: An interdisciplinary perspective. Science of the Total Environment, 579, 1215–1227. OECD. (2014). How was life? Global well-being since 1820. http://www.oecd.org/statistics/howwas-life-9789264214262-en.htm Oliveira, V. (2016). Urban morphology: An introduction to the study of the physical form of cities. Springer. Ramirez-Rubio, O., Daher, C., Fanjul, G., Gascon, M., Mueller, N., Pajín, L., Plasencia, A., RojasRueda, D., Thondoo, M., & Nieuwenhuijsen, M. J. (2019). Urban health: An example of a “health in all policies” approach in the context of SDGs implementation. Globalization and Health, 15, 1–21.

140

E. J. Cilliers et al.

Roger, S. U. (2003). Health benefits of gardens in hospitals: Plants for people. Centre for health systems and design. Saaroni, H., Ben-Dor, E., Bitan, A., & Potchter, O. (2000). Spatial distribution and microscale characteristics of the urban heat island in Tel-Aviv, Israel. Landscape and Urban Planning, 48(1/2), 1–18. Stevenson, M., Thompson, J., de Sá, T. H., Ewing, R., Mohan, D., McClure, R., Roberts, I., Tiwari, G., Giles-Corti, B., Sun, X., & Wallace, M. (2016). Land use, transport, and population health: Estimating the health benefits of compact cities. The Lancet, 388(10062), 2925–2935. Torralba, M., Fagerholm, N., Burgess, P. J., Moreno, G., & Plieninger, T. (2016). Do European agroforestry systems enhance biodiversity and ecosystem services? A meta-analysis. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 230, 150–161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2016.06.002 Travers, K. D. (1997). Reducing inequities through participatory research and community empowerment. Health Education and Behavior, 24, 344–356. Tscharntke, T., Clough, Y., Bhagwat, S. A., Buchori, D., Faust, H., Hertel, D., & Scherber, C. (2011). Multifunctional shade-tree management in tropical agroforestry landscapes—a review. Journal of Applied Ecology, 48, 619–629. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2664.2010. 01939.x UN Habitat III. United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) in Quito, Ecuador, on 20 October 2016. https://habitat3.org/the-new-urban-agenda/ United Nations Environment Programme. (2020). The economics of nature-based solutions: Current status and future priorities. United Nations Environment Programme Nairobi. Van den Bosch, M., & Sang, Å. O. (2017). Urban natural environments as nature-based solutions for improved public health–a systematic review of reviews. Environmental Research, 158, 373–384. Vatn, A., & Bromley, D. W. (1995). Choices without prices without apologies. In D. W. Bromley (Ed.), Handbook of environmental economics (pp. 3–25). Blackwell. Vladimirova, K., & Le Blanc, D. (2015). How well are the links between education and other sustainable development goals covered in UN flagship reports? A contribution to the study of the science–policy interface on education in the UN system (DESA Working Paper No. 146). UN Department of Economic & Social Affairs. Wairore, J. N., Mureithi, S. M., Wasonga, O. V., & Nyberg, G. (2016). Benefits derived from rehabilitating a degraded semi-arid rangeland in private enclosures in West Pokot County, Kenya. Land Degradation & Development, 27, 532–541. https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.2420 Ward Thompson, C. (2002). Urban open space in the 21st century. Landscape and Urban Planning, 60(2), 59–72. Ward-Thompson, C. W. (2011). Linking landscape and health: The recurring theme. Landscape and Urban Planning, 99(3–4), 187–195. Weitz, N., Nilsson, M., & Davis, M. (2014). A nexus approach to the post-2015 agenda: Formulating integrated water, energy, and food SDGs. SAIS Review of International Affairs, 34(2), 37–50. WHO European Healthy Cities Network. (2022). What is a healthy city? World Health Organisation. Retrieved October 23, 2022, from https://www.who.int/europe/groups/who-europeanhealthy-cities-network/what-is-a-health-city Wolf, K. L. (2004). Public value of nature: Economics of urban trees, parks and open space. In D. Miller & J. A. Wise (Eds.), Design with Spirit: Proceedings of the 35th annual conference of the environmental design research association, Albuquerque, New Mexico, June 2–6, 2004 (pp. 88–92). Environmental Design Research Association, Washington. World Health Organization. (2009). WHO vaccine-preventable diseases: Monitoring system: 2009 global summary (No. WHO/IVB/2009). World Health Organization.

6

Reclaiming Healthy Cities Through Nature-Based Planning Solutions

141

World Health Organisation. (2022). Healthy cities. Retrieved from World Health Organisation. https://www.who.int/teams/health-promotion/enhanced-wellbeing/ninth-global-conference/ healthy-cities @5/12/2022. Yunus, H. S. (2000). Struktur Tata Ruang Kota. Penerbit Pustaka Pelajar. Zheng, X., Wang, R., Hoekstra, A. Y., Krol, M. S., Zhang, Y., Guo, K., Sanwal, M., Sun, Z., Zhu, J., Zhang, J., & Lounsbury, A. (2021). Consideration of culture is vital if we are to achieve the sustainable development goals. One Earth, 4(2), 307–319. Ziter, C., Pederson, E. J., Kucharik, C. J., & Turner, M. G. (2019). Scale-dependent interactions between tree canopy cover and impervious surfaces reduce daytime urban heat during summer. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 116, 7575–7580. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1817561116

Chapter 7

Spatiotemporal Variability of Urban Greenspace and Surface Temperature in Dhaka City: A Public Health Aspect Khadiza Tul Kobra Nahin, Hasna Hena Sara, Krishna Rani Barai, Zahidul Quayyum, and Jill Baumgartner

Abstract Urban greenspaces can affect the physical and mental health of city residents and they can also contribute to improving urban environmental quality in ways that can benefit human health. Dhaka, a megacity with over 22.4 million residents, has progressively lost its greenspace over the past decade as the city has grown and urbanised. This study evaluates the availability and accessibility of greenspace considering its population and residential areas, as well as assessing the changes to greenspace in the last 30 years throughout the city. We utilized secondary data from the 2011 Census and areal imagery to perform the analysis for city wards, the smallest administrative unit, using ArcGIS software. We generated geospatial maps of greenspace distribution and accessibility as well as vegetation, land surface temperature and humidity in different years. Accessibility to greenspace was measured with 100-meter and 300-meter buffer zones, and a total of 56.5 square kilometers area of 77.47 square kilometers of residential area fell under these territories. Changes in vegetation were obtained using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) for the years 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020, and a high level of loss in vegetation was observed. Land Surface Temperature (LST) and Normalized Difference Moisture Index (NDMI) were used to assess the temperature and humidity for the same years. We measured that Dhaka has 2.24% greenspace coverage and only 2 wards out of 110 have greater than 20% greenspace coverage. A highest estimate of 0.003207 square meter per capita greenspace was found at ward-46, which does not even meet the minimum health standard. Increased temperature and decreased humidity were observed in Dhaka city from 1990 to

This work is supported by Drexel University. K. T. K. Nahin (✉) · H. H. Sara · K. R. Barai · Z. Quayyum BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh e-mail: [email protected] J. Baumgartner Institute for Health and Social Policy and Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada © The Author(s) 2023 N. Biloria et al. (eds.), The Empathic City, S.M.A.R.T. Environments, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-32840-4_7

143

144

K. T. K. Nahin et al.

2020, in a level that may adversely impact on the city population’s public health. We found a high correlation between NDVI with LST and NDMI. In 49% of wards, vegetation and humidity decreased, whereas temperature increased. This study provides noteworthy information on the lack of greenspace throughout Dhaka city. The spatial distribution of greenspace provided in the study has the potential to be useful in taking measures for improving sustainable greenery management in the city area and the health of Dhaka’s growing population. Keywords Greenspace change · Urban public health · Spatial analysis · Availability · Dhaka city

7.1

Introduction

Urbanization is a highly dynamic process, while greenspace is a key to maintaining urban sustainability. Green or open space(s) generally can be defined as forests, gardens, parks, or grasslands (Zhang et al., 2017), which are either public or private. Open spaces covered with greenery or croplands used for agriculture can also be considered as greenspace within the urban territory (Helbich, 2019). Generally, urban nature exists in the form of public parks, reserved forests, playgrounds, or other open spaces that offer various services and activities for people living nearby. The accessibility to these green and open spaces offers city dwellers an opportunity to get in touch with nature which ultimately may assist them to maintain and improve their physical and mental health (Huang et al., 2017; Shoari et al., 2020). Greenspaces have therefore been, considered by many researchers as beneficial to the city’s public health and for wider benefits (Liu et al., 2021). There are diverse health benefits derived from greenspace usage by people of and at different ages. These are the sources of mental satisfaction for the people living in residential areas (Tsai et al., 2018), engaging in workplace, or studying in educational institutions. The opportunity to spend time and play in the open space and greenery helps to strengthen the physical development and cognitive growth of the children (McCormick, 2017; Vanaken & Danckaerts, 2018). Additionally, it brings tangible benefits inpreventing diseases and conditions like obesity (Huang et al., 2017), depression (Helbich et al., 2018a, b), adverse birth outcomes (Ebisu et al., 2016), diabetes, suicidal tendencies (Helbich et al., 2018a, b), mortality (Mitchell & Popham, 2008), respiratory diseases, etc. Numerous contributions of open space have been identified as beneficial for elderly people to help maintain emotional wellness as well as a wellbalanced physical health despite of their age (Kardan et al., 2015; Gong et al., 2016). Major importance has been given to the contributions of greenspace in controlling heat and the humidity balance of the air that are linked with transporting harmful microorganisms playing an important role in disease emergence, dissemnination and, also, creating a pandemic like the present time. Furthermore, greenspace or open areas provide a wide door to the sense of freedom and recreation in stressful urban environments (Zhang et al., 2017; Walawalkar, 2020). It supports different

7

Spatiotemporal Variability of Urban Greenspace and Surface Temperature. . .

145

social gatherings and activities, festivity celebrations, holiday amusements, and recreation for all classes of people. As a result, it becomes a key mean of socialization (De Vries et al., 2013; Rahman & Zhang, 2018), broadens people’s social networks, and strengthens unity within the community (Chiesura, 2004). Open spaces also support the practice of sports, cultural activities, hobbies, and creative learning that help in the skills development of people engaged in different professions. This is why it is very necessary to maintain a specific and quantifiable proportion of greenspace for all the residents of the city that is within reach. Greenspaces have various roles in securing a healthy environment for the city too. They can make a contribution in improving soil quality and reducing soil erosion (Meo et al., 2021). Green vegetation helps maintain the surface temperature(s) by controlling the heating of the atmosphere (Marković et al., 2021); thus, fighting against climate change, and slowing or stopping cities from turning into urban heat islands (Wan et al., 2004; Liu et al., 2021). In addition, it refines the air quality, helping to protect the urban region and its population from exposure to air pollution (Yang et al., 2015; Kothencz et al., 2017; Gill et al., 2007; Bowler et al., 2010). It contributes to reducing noise pollution from the nearby areas (Cohen & Sherman, 2014) and associates with humidification, asepsis, which is beneficiary for human, animal, and plant health. Additionally, there is a huge contribution of greenspace towards biodiversity (Schuch et al., 2017) that works as the domicile for the living beings and supports the food chain as well as the ecosystem which is very necessary for the sustainable future of the city landscape. For such contributions, promoting greenspace in urban areas has become a concern globally. In fact, United Nations extended its agenda for urban areas to ensure a sustainable environment for their human settlements as a part of the sustainable development goals (SDG 11) (Rahman & Zhang, 2018). It shows the necessity of preserving green nature in the developing world for the wellbeing of the urban people. Overall, greenspaces in the urban area contribute to creating a healthy biological community and to improving the prosperity of the city’s people (Landers & Nahlik, 2013). The proper and appropriate distribution of greenspace is thus not only an example of urban area management, but also a need and right for all the people of the city. In city areas, greenspace offers multiple benefits where the most significant contribution is in offering a sustainable urban health environment to its dwellers. Yet, there has been a failure in Dhaka city to provide access to green areas at different residential locations. This city is the home of many millions of people, alongside whom continuous urban development activities are carried out throughout the city many of which are polluting the environment and hampering the ecology and ecosystem. In such a situation, it is crucial to provide enough greenspace for the people of the city to help them practice healthy activities that enhance their physical and mental wellbeing (Shoari et al., 2020). This is especially so in the scenario of the recent pandemic and outbreak of airborne diseases, where it is important to look at the current status of the city and undertake adequate actions for the betterment if and as needed. To address the existing situation, this study was carried out to assess the availability of greenspace in Dhaka city in respect to its geographic size and population, as well as accessibility from residential areas, and discussed the outcomes while keeping public health aspects in mind. This study also analyzed the

146

K. T. K. Nahin et al.

changes in vegetation and eco-environmental components namely, temperature and humidity from 1990 to 2020 that have significant impacts on the sustainable health outcomes of the city dwellers. This kind of analysis is about creating relationships between vegetation and temperature and represents a new concept for Dhaka city. Previous studies conducted in this area only focused on the portion of greenspace available or changes in vegetation. However, the availability of greenspaces based on population density in the small administrative area and proximity according to health standards are missing from the existing studies. Moreover, the impact of vegetation changes on the eco-environment has been overlooked until now. Therefore, this study will be valuable for the policy makers and urban planners to take location- specific initiatives for the betterment of the current situation within the city. It will also be useful to identify important existing gaps in the urban greenspace management of Dhaka city.

7.2

Study Area

Dhaka is the capital city of Bangladesh and is characterized by a dense population, many high-rise buildings, and a pattern of continuous urban development activities. It lies in the central part of the country between 23° 42′ N to 23° 54′ N latitude and 90° 20′ E to 90° 28′ E longitude (Byomkesh et al., 2012). The city corporation is divided into Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC), and governs 110 wards as the city’s smallest administrative units (BBS, 2011) (Fig. 7.1). There are approximately 22.4 million people in an area of 306.4 square kilometers (https://worldpopulationreview.com/world-cities/dhakapopulation). The city is situated on the eastern bank of the Buriganga river and is surrounded by Buriganga, Turag, Tongi, and Balu rivers (Byomkesh et al., 2012). The drainage network of the city was outstanding long ago. In the last few decades, drainage area and open space have been lost enormously due to rapid development activities. The economy of the city is based on industry and a large service sector which attracts rural migrants into the city for their livelihoods. The population increased rapidly with a growth rate of 3.39% in 2022 (United Nations – World Population Prospects, https://population.un.org/wpp/). Such a scenario provokes activities to accommodate all these people within the city’s boundary which in their turn are influencing temperature increases (Ahmed et al., 2013). Some of the notable parks and greenspaces in Dhaka are Ramna Park, Suhrawardy Udyan, Chandrima Udyan, Gulshan Park, the national Botanical Garden, and Shishu Park (Rahman & Zhang, 2018), but many other green areas are getting occupied every year, posing a major threat to the sustainable environment of the city.

7

Spatiotemporal Variability of Urban Greenspace and Surface Temperature. . .

Fig. 7.1 Map of Dhaka City. (Data Source: Survey of Bangladesh)

147

148

7.3 7.3.1

K. T. K. Nahin et al.

Methodology Data Sources

Geospatial data provided by the World Bank (2018) were used to acquire land use shapefiles for greenspace and residential areas in Dhaka city (https://databank. worldbank.org/). Shapefiles of greenspace was extracted from the land use map and analyzed to calculate ward-wise availability and proximity. Per capita availability of greenspace was calculated using available population data of Dhaka city for the year 2014 (https://databank.worldbank.org/). To detect differences in vegetation, surface temperature, and humidity from 1990 to 2020, open-source remote sensing images were downloaded from United States Geological Survey (USGS) earth explorer (https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/). Landsat images for Dhaka city are available at a 30 meter resolution from worldwide reference system (WRS) 137 path and 44 row (Nawar et al., 2022), and these images are usable due to their continuous monitoring records for many years (Liu et al., 2021). During winter, these images provide good visualization and least cloud cover, and are useful for analysis after minor image corrections. To detect the changes over 30 years, images were collected for four years at 10 years interval. Based on availability, Landsat-5 images for the year of 1990, 2000, and 2010, and Landsat-8 images for 2020 were collected. Information on these images is given in Table 7.1. For image correction, Top of Atmosphere (TOA) reflectance was applied (Nawar et al., 2022) for further analysis. All the images were projected into Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) zone 46 north along with the datum of World Geodetic System (WGS) 1984. Landsat 4–5 Thematic Mapper (TM) images contain 7 bands, and Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) images contain 11 bands. From these images; red, infrared, and thermal bands were used to calculate normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), normalized difference moisture index (NDMI), and land surface temperature (LST). In several steps of the analysis, different values for the maps were obtained from the zonal statistics and attribute tables of the maps after exporting them into excel outputs in the GIS environment. Table 7.1 Description of the Landsat images used for NDVI, LST and NDMI analysis Satellite Landsat 4–5 TM

Landsat 8 OLI_TIRS

Date of image 07-01-1990 19-01-2000 30-11-2010 20-11-2020

Bands used for NDVI, LST, and NDMI Band-3 Band-4 Band-5 Band-6 Band-4 Band-5 Band-6 Band-10 Band-11

Wavelength (μm) 0.63–0.69 0.76–0.90 1.55–1.75 10.40–12.50 0.64–0.67 0.85–0.88 1.57–1.65 10.60–11.19 11.50–12.51

Spatial Resolution (m) 30 30 30 120 30 30 30 100 100

7

Spatiotemporal Variability of Urban Greenspace and Surface Temperature. . .

7.3.2

Methods

7.3.2.1

Availability and Accessibility of Greenspace

149

Greenspace availability was calculated at the ward level for Dhaka city. Firstly, greenspace shapefile was extracted from World Bank’s land use map of 2018 for the ward boundaries of the city. Formerly, the available greenspace at each ward was divided by the total area at each ward to calculate the percentage of available greenspace for the small administrative boundary unit (Eq. 7.1) (WHO, 2016). Subsequently, per capita availability was calculated at the ward level where the area of greenspace in square meters in every ward was divided by the total population in that ward in 2014 (Eq. 7.2). All these calculations were done in MS Excel 2019 using the following equations: Percentage of Available Greenspace =

Total area of greenspace in Ward
100 Total area of the Ward

ð7:1Þ

Per capita availability of Greenspace =

Total area of greenspace in Ward Total no:of population in that Ward

ð7:2Þ

Accessibility to greenspace was represented in respect to the main residential areas of the city. Residential areas are usually those portions of the city where houses are dominant. Shapefiles for the residential area was extracted from World Bank’s land use map for the year 2018. The buffer tool from the Geoprocessing toolbox was used to create 100 meter and 300 meter buffer zones around greenspaces in ArcGIS, as previously identified to visualise the availability of green area within this distance for the wellbeing of people (Barbosa et al., 2007; Houlden et al., 2019; Fuertes et al., 2020). After that, the intersect tool was used to identify the greenspace 300 meters buffer zones that fall within the residential areas. Finally, the total residential area of the city and the total residential area falling within 300 meters greenspace buffer zone were measured to detect what percentage of the residential units have access to green spaces.

7.3.2.2

NDVI, LST and NDMI Calculation

NDVI maps for vegetation, LST maps for surface temperature and NDMI maps for surface wetness were prepared in ArcGIS with the Landsat images for all the considered years (see above) as a part of the change detection process. To detect healthy vegetation through remote sensing, NDVI is one of the most useful methods (Helbich, 2019; Marković et al., 2021; Nawar et al., 2022). In this process, vegetation was identified by the reflectance from the visible red (wavelength 0.6 μm) and

150

K. T. K. Nahin et al.

near-infrared (NIR) (wavelength 0.9 μm) bands. The difference between the two reflectance was divided by their total reflectance to calculate NDVI as the following equationNDVI =

NIR - RED NIR þ RED

In Landsat-5, band 3 represents red and band 4 represents near-infrared. For Landsat8, band 4 and band 5 represents red and NIR, respectively. The range of NDVI lies between -1 to +1. The more the value is close to +1 the greater number of healthy vegetation it indicates. The negative values close to -1 generally symbolizes presence of waterbody in the region (Marković et al., 2021). For the LST calculation different techniques have been adopted by the researchers. Hence, the Landsat images contain the detailed information of the reflectance of the bands; it is easy to obtain LST by doing some step-by-step calculations in ArcGIS. In this study, the mono-window technique to calculate LST from Landsat-5 and split-window technique to calculate LST from Landsat8 was adopted (Chowdhury & Islam, 2021). The digital numbers (DNs) of the thermal band (band 6 for Landsat-5, and band 10 and 11 for Landsat-8) were utilized to calculate LST with Eqs. 7.3, 7.4 and 7.5. At first, the DNs were converted into radiance, and then into brightness temperature (TB) in Kelvin. Finally, the temperature value was converted into degree Celsius for this study. For Landsat-5, Eq. 7.3 was followed to get the radianceLλ =

LMAXλ - LMINλ Qcalmax - Qcalmin

ðQcal- Qcalmin Þ þ LMINλ

ð7:3Þ

Here; Lλ is the spectral radiance; LMAXλ is the spectral at sensor radiance which is scaled a Qcalmax; LMINλ is the spectral at sensor radiance which is scaled a Qcalmin; Qcal is the quantized calibrated pixel value in DNs; Qcalmax is the maximum quantized calibrated pixel value (corresponding to LMAXλ) in DNs; Qcalmin is the minimum quantized calibrated pixel value (corresponding to LMINλ) in DNs (Chowdhury & Islam, 2021). Lλ is obtained in W/m2 sr μm unit. For both thermal bands of Landsat-8, the following equation was used to calculate the radiance-. Lλ = M L Qcal þ AL

ð7:4Þ

Here; Lλ is the spectral radiance for the sensor’s aperture in W/m2 sr μm unit; ML and AL are the band specific multiplicative rescaling factor and band specific additive rescaling factor respectively from the metadata; Qcal is the quantized and calibrated standard product pixel values in DNs. The obtained radiances from both Landsat images were converted into brightness temperature (TB) with Eq. 7.5-

7

Spatiotemporal Variability of Urban Greenspace and Surface Temperature. . .

TB =

K2 ln

K1 Lλ

151

ð7:5Þ

þ1

Here; K1 is the thermal conversion constant in W/m2 sr μm unit; K2 is the thermal conversion constant in Kelvin unit (K) (Chowdhury & Islam, 2021). After that, land surface emissivity (LSE) and proportion of vegetation (Pv) were calculated with Eqs. 7.6 and 7.7 for calculating LST from Landsat-5LSE ðεÞ = 0:004
Pv þ 0:986 Pv =

NDVI - NDVI min NDVI max - NDVI min

ð7:6Þ

2

ð7:7Þ

Using the LSE value, temperature was finally estimated in Kelvin for Landsat-5 with the following equationLST =

TB 1þ

λTB ρ

lnLSE

ð7:8Þ

Here; wavelength of emitted radiance (λ) = 1.5μm and ρ = h*c/σ where c is the velocity of light; h and σ are constants with known values (Roy et al., 2015). Subtracting 273.15 from the gained LST, temperature was converted into degree Celsius in the maps. For Landsat-8 LST was calculated with the following formula from the split window algorithm-. Ts = T10 þ C1 ðT10 –T11 Þ þ C2 ðT10 –T11 Þ2 þ Co þ ðC3 þ C4 wÞ ð1 - εÞ þ ðC5 þ C6 wÞ Δε

ð7:9Þ

Here; T10 and T11 are at-sensor brightness temperatures of band 10 and band 11, respectively (obtained from Eq. 7.5); C0-C6 are coefficients; ε is the mean surface emissivity and Δε is the emissivity difference; and w is the atmospheric water vapor content (Chowdhury & Islam, 2021). From this equation temperature was found in Kelvin which was converted into degree Celsius following the same procedure for Landsat-5. For retrieving surface wetness, there are several equations such as Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI), Normalized Difference Moisture Index (NDMI), Modified Normalized Difference Water Index (MNDWI) etc. Among these NDMI has been proved to have strong association with humidity (Liu et al., 2021) and hence; it was used as an indicator of humidity in this study. NDMI uses near-infrared band (ρNIR) and middle infrared band (ρMIR) for humidity estimation.

152

K. T. K. Nahin et al.

NDMI =

ρNIR - ρMIR ρNIR þ ρMIR

Band-4,5 for Landsat-5, and band-5,6 for Landsat-8 were used to calculate humidity with this equation.

7.3.2.3

Cross-Section and Correlation Graphs

For the comparison of changes in NDVI, LST, and NDMI in different years, three polylines (AB, CD and EF) were drawn arbitrarily (Fig. 7.2) on the map of Dhaka city in ArcGIS. The values of NDVI, LST and NDMI for these polylines were then exported into excel files and plotted in graphs to provide a comparative analysis among the chosen years. Correlation graphs were prepared by extracting multi values to point through the creation of fishnet in ArcGIS. The values of NDVI, LST, and NDMI for all the years were extracted from these points and exported into excel files. Then, scatter plots were generated in MS Excel 2019 where the correlation between NDVI-LST and NDVI-NDMI for each year was shown. Fig. 7.2 Polylines for cross-section graphs

7

Spatiotemporal Variability of Urban Greenspace and Surface Temperature. . .

7.4 7.4.1

153

Results and Discussion Availability of Greenspace

Dhaka city had only 2.24% greenery within its area in 2018. Greenspace in 2018 was distributed at the ward boundary to estimate the percentage of greenspace according to the total area. The outcomes showed a nonuniform distribution of green areas throughout the city. Only two wards had greenspace of more than 20%; ward-32 in DSCC, including Arambagh, Fakirapool, etc. areas, had the highest coverage (23.84%) (Fig. 7.3) and ward-40 covering Bhatara in DNCC had 22% of greenspace (Fig. 7.3). Only two other wards had green features more than 10% (W-47 from DNCC, and W-61 from DSCC with 17.4% and 19.51% coverage, respectively). Whereas the rest from 110 wards did not have any mentionable green and open space. Perhaps surprisingly, 26 wards had no coverage of greenspace at all, among which 22 wards were from DSCC (Fig. 7.3). Nonetheless, the total coverage of greenspace is less in DNCC compared to DSCC. Therefore, the availability of greenspace considering the total population of each ward has been calculated based on the data of 2014. This per capita availability estimation showed a very concerning situation condition throughout the whole city. Ward-46 in DNCC, covering Baburpara, Munda, Barbagh, Rajabari, etc. areas, had the highest per capita greenspace (0.003207 m2) availability (Fig. 7.4). Ward-61 and Ward-31, covering parts of Puran Dhaka, Gopibag, Kamlapur, Motijheel, etc. had the second (0.002093 m2) and third (0.001581 m2) highest per capita green area, respectively. Another 17 words fell within the range of 0.000289296–0.000804998 m2 per capita greenspace availability, while the rest of the wards had less than that (Fig. 7.4).

7.4.2

Accessibility of Greenspace

From the analysis it was observed that