Health and space : a quantitative and qualitative research on the design of healing space in high-density urban built environment : the case of Hong Kong and Singapore

Abstract

The high pressure of rapid urbanization and overpopulation concentration in South-east Asia has manifested in high-density compact urban forms, which raises serious concerns for human health and life satisfaction. The dilemma between urban den-sity and quality of life has motivated an exploration on a preferable built environ-ment, which acts as a balancing device between limited land resources and opti-mized liveability. The research hypothesis prospects that urban green space, if well configured, can be therapeutic and play the role of a “healing space” for the benefit of public health. In this research, the term “heal” refers to the alleviation of stress and the ability to soothe and restore one’s mental and emotional health, instead of stressing the idea of patient care. Therefore, “healing space” integrated within the built environment, has the capacity to provide distraction from negative sentiments and pressures, and foster mind restoration and emotional well-being. The research is set in the tropical and subtropical Asian context, i.e. Hong Kong and Singapore, where a large population lives and works in the Metropolis, and may be at risk of being adversely impacted by the high-density built environment and psychological pressures of daily life. The targeted typology is selected from the workplace that is occupied by users every day, i.e. office setting and campus setting. The research methodology is a mixed approach of objective environmental assess-ments and perceived health evaluations. Fourteen cases were recruited for the built environment study, and 413 eligible occupants participated in the subjective survey. The research findings investigate the consistency and divergence of healing space assessment in the tropical and subtropical high-density Asian cities. The results validate that due to the considerable influence of the climate and urbanscape, Hong Kong respondents reported a significantly discrepant evaluation of health perception in the healing space than the Singapore group. Moreover, there are notable divergences of spatial assessments between the verified variables of building characteristics. It also testifies the interrelations between the physical environmental settings and subjective human perceptions, which validate that there are significant correlations between the variables of built environment, microclimate indicators, and personal evaluations. Specifically, the selected variables from the site configuration reveal a linear association with the personal sentiment of the sample cases. In addition, the personal preference could be significantly associated with certain features of the building characteristics. The outputs of this empirical research contribute to the reinterpreting of “healing space” from the qualitative research relevant to the medical and behavioral sciences to the quantitative environmental studies and then transform into buildable design strategies and recommendations. The research proposes to promote urban liveability and human health by addressing healing factors into both indoor and outdoor built environment design.