Master planned communities and the re-formation of cities for health and wellbeing

Master planned estates are a common feature of modern cities. This paper explores residents’ social practices to reveal connections between spatial and social features, daily routines and health and wellbeing. AbstractMaster planned communities (MPCs) are designed to give residents a ‘complete living experience’ including access to educational facilities, shopping centres and parks. Although MPCs aspire to be suburban utopias much research focuses on identifying negative outcomes to reinforce notions that dreams of utopian futures are rarely realised. However, as a dynamic form of city re-formation, MPCs create an opportunity to ‘get it right’ by putting into practice lessons learnt from the past and principles of best practice planning. Selandra Rise is an MPC in Melbourne, Australia that has been designed to maximise the health and wellbeing of residents. Key elements incorporate access to nature, open space for physical activity, diverse housing, access to education, public transport, a local town centre and a focus on generating employment. This paper presents the details of a study designed to measure the role of built, natural, social and economic environments in the health and wellbeing of residents, taking account of the key design features listed. Using a social practice approach rather than taking an individual behavioural stance, the research focuses on households as a unit of study to reveal the connection between spatial and social features, daily routines and health and wellbeing. The paper presents the methods, outlines findings to date, and reflects on potential policy implications for creating neighbourhoods and cities to improve social and physical health. Presented at the International Making Cities Livable Conference –20-24 May, 2012, Portland, Oregon US

Children\u27s mental health and wellbeing and hands-on contact with nature

Research on the health and wellbeing benefits of contact with animals and plants indicates the natural environment may have significant positive psychological and physiological effects on human health and wellbeing. In terms of children, studies have demonstrated that children function better cognitively and emotionally in \u27green\u27 environments and have more creative play. In Australia as well as internationally, many schools appear to be incorporating nature-based activities into their curricula, mostly via sustainability education. Although these programs appear to be successful, few have been evaluated, particularly in terms of the potential benefits to health and wellbeing. This paper reports on a pilot survey investigating the mental health benefits of contact with nature for primary school children in Melbourne, Australia. A survey of principals and teachers was conducted in urban primary schools within a 20km radius of Melbourne. As well as gathering data on the types and extent of environmental and other nature-based activities in the sample schools, items addressing the perceptions of principals and teachers of the potential effects of these activities on children\u27s mental health and wellbeing were also included. Despite a lower than expected response rate, some interesting findings emerged. Although preliminary, results indicate that participants\u27 perceptions of the benefits to mental health and wellbeing from participation in hands-on nature based activities at their school are positive and encompass many aspects of mental health.<br /

Smartphone interactions and nature benefits: How predominant approaches picture social life and ways of advancing this work

Whether new technologies will have a positive impact on how societies experience nature depends on how particular devices and populations come to interact. This paper reviews two bodies of work that have sought to understand and influence these interactions with reference to the smartphone. The first is associated with a group of researchers interested in how smartphone apps might help people to engage with their surroundings in beneficial ways. The second comes from a set of scholars hoping to learn from the analysis of the social media datasets associated with smartphone interactions outdoors. After comparing these how these two bodies commonly see the social world, the paper considers how other approaches might augment these endeavours. We argue for more studies that explore what different social groups have to say about life with the smartphone and how norms of technology use emerge. We also suggest that this area of research might engage more fully with wider academic work on how smartphones are reshaping our societies. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article

Embracing the chaos: by transcending disciplinary boundaries researchers can reconceptualise human-nature relations

Issues of the scale of mass species extinctions or climate change are never going to be solved by a single discipline acting alone. Cecily Maller argues that what is needed is greater dialogue, conversation, and collaboration across the social and natural sciences, as they currently exist in their traditional, divided modes. In order to shift the binary, at times reductionist categories that characterise western thinking, research, and policymaking, existing disciplinary boundaries must be challenged and reworked. This may occasionally get a little messy. But we shouldn’t be afraid of a little chaos

Assessing And Strengthening Community Capacity Building In Urban Biodiversity Conservation Programs

Conserving native biodiversity in cities involves addressing social and ecological factors that contribute to the persistence of species. Multiple activities and programs are needed, with the participation of land managers across private and public realms; from householders to state and local governments. There are few planning and assessment tools that assist practitioners, at the scale of local governments and in the context of urban ecosystems, to consider and address inter-related human and ecological issues. We present a systems-based framework, drawn from diverse literature, for assessing conservation programs (before, during, or after implementation) on the basis of having social and ecological features that strengthen a community’s capacity to achieve conservation and human wellbeing outcomes. The framework can assist consideration of a program’s impact on the community’s social and ecological resources, the linkages between them, and how these might be strengthened to better achieve desired social and ecological goals. To illustrate its use we apply the framework to data from an urban wildlife gardening program in Melbourne, Australia. Using the framework highlights where the program strengthened the community’s social and ecological resources for undertaking conservation, and their deployment in conservation activities. It also helps to identify potential future actions, in this case fostering community-local government program codesign, setting ecological targets for coordinated private and public land management, and dovetailing with the municipality’s community strengthening programs. Community capacity building frameworks can highlight aspects of urban conservation programs that are currently underappreciated, including modes of community involvement, and their social as well as ecological benefits

International Making Cities Livable Paper -20-24 May, 2012, Portland, Oregon USA Master Planned Communities and the Re-formation of Cities for Health and Wellbeing: The Case of Selandra Rise

3 Summary Master planned estates are a common feature of modern cities. This paper explores residents&apos; social practices to reveal connections between spatial and social features, daily routines and health and wellbeing. Abstract Master planned communities (MPCs) are designed to give residents a &apos;complete living experience&apos; including access to educational facilities, shopping centres and parks. Although MPCs aspire to be suburban utopias much research focuses on identifying negative outcomes to reinforce notions that dreams of utopian futures are rarely realised. However, as a dynamic form of city re-formation, MPCs create an opportunity to &apos;get it right&apos; by putting into practice lessons learnt from the past and principles of best practice planning. Selandra Rise is an MPC in Melbourne, Australia that has been designed to maximise the health and wellbeing of residents. Key elements incorporate access to nature, open space for physical activity, diverse housing, access to education, public transport, a local town centre and a focus on generating employment. This paper presents the details of a study designed to measure the role of built, natural, social and economic environments in the health and wellbeing of residents, taking account of the key design features listed. Using a social practice approach rather than taking an individual behavioural stance, the research focuses on households as a unit of study to reveal the connection between spatial and social features, daily routines and health and wellbeing. The paper presents the methods, outlines findings to date, and reflects on potential policy implications for creating neighbourhoods and cities to improve social and physical health. Introduction Master-planned housing estates (MPEs), or master-planned communities (MPCs) are an increasingly common feature of residential landscapes around the world, and for many countries like Australia, are the newest form of suburb creatio

Using environmental interventions to create sustainable solutions to problems to health and wellbeing

Recent research by Deakin University, in collaboration with Parks Victoria and its Strategic Partners, indicates that contact with nature may promote human health and wellbeing. International research indicates that simply viewing a natural scene or watching wildlife reduces stress and tension, improves concentration, remedies mental fatigue, boosts immunity, and enhances psychological health. This is aside from any physical health benefits flowing from reduced stress, increased exercise and improved air quality when contact with nature involves activities in natural environments. The literature suggests that interacting with nature through gardening or having a companion animal is also beneficial for health, and where these activities involve contact with other humans, might extend benefits beyond the individual to the community, through enhanced social capital. This paper sets out the potential scope of work flowing from the initial research, in terms of target groups, research foci, intervention strategies, and likely benefits, and reports on progress in establishing a program of Australian,based empirical research. It proposes the establishment of alliances between researchers and practitioners in a range of disciplines (including environmental health) to ensure that the links between contact with nature and human health and wellbeing are explored and expressed in ways that are both beneficial and sustainable.<br /