As a contributor to Expert Working Group Biodiversity & Health of the 3rd French Plan on Health and Environment (PNSE3) – Ministry in charge of the Environment (MTES) France, since 2017 we have been working to answer the following question: Which types and components of urban and peri-urban blue/green spaces have a significant impact on human mental Read More
Date& Time: 5.11.2019, 9am Location: School of Architecture and Civil Engineering (SACE 5), Xiamen University, #182 Da Xue Road, Xiamen, China With the growing interest among researchers, practitioners, and urban decision makers in the influence of the quality of the built environment on peoples’ health, there is increasing emphasis on using scientific knowledge to inform urban design, Read More
I have recently found a great piece of literature about designing urban gardens for well-being. “Restorative commons: Creating health and well-being through urban landscapes” by Campbell, Lindsay; Wiesen, Anne published in 2009 under USDA – Forest Service. Here is the link to the online resource – available free pdf version! What specifically caught my attention there Read More
Singapore is one of the most prominent examples of Urban Sustainability through new technologies, research and development. It is also one of the few countries where the government is actively supporting science and innovation in order to inform the practice of urban design and solve urban living issues. The Urban Sustainability R&D Congress is organized Read More
Different initiatives undertaken by the urban authorities can contribute to the improvement of urban dweller’s contact with nature and the nature exposure These include: Leaving unmowed areas in the urban green spaces, for developing a small ecosystems for flora & fauna, (urban meadows) Promoting the spontaneous habitat creation Leaving the fallen leaves on the ground Read More
When I went to my first scientific conference, as a PhD candidate, I was surprised that the main topic of the post-conference discussion was about “what is the landscape architecture?”. For more than 1 hour landscape architects (teachers, academics, and proffessionals) were discussing vividly about what it is that what they do. I found it Read More
In our ongoing collaboration with the EKLIPSE mechanism, together with Expert Working Group from different European countries and representing various disciplines, we are trying to answer the question: Which types and components of urban and peri-urban blue / green spaces have a significant impact on human mental health and mental well-being? EKLIPSE is project funded Read More
Our newest publication XSection Journal features the process of evolution in perception of urban green spaces in terms of the health benefits they can deliver, through a popular “expanding brain meme. Check out this short article and how to interpret the image here: https://www.xsectionjournal.com/edition-8/2018/11/22/generations-of-urban-green-for-health-dr-agnieszka-olszewska-guizzo
The more we know about the interactions between the landscape and human nervous system the better we can plan and design our living environments to serve our health. With water being the essential component of any form of life, it is not surprising that it also influence our psychophysiological response, even if we are just Read More
A lot of studies have been performed comparing the reaction to urban vs scenic, or natural landscapes in the lab. This is one of them and we decided to feature it because it is performed with the most advanced method of brain scanning that we know thus far , fMRI. From the figure we can Read More