Housing, street and health: a new systemic research framework

TY - JOUR

T1 - Housing, street and health

T2 - a new systemic research framework

AU - Pagani, Anna

AU - Christie, Derek

AU - Bourdon, Valentin

AU - Wall Gago, Catarina

AU - Joost, Stéphane

AU - Licina, Dusan

AU - Lerch, Mathias

AU - Rozenblat, Céline

AU - Guessous, Idris

AU - Viganò, Paola

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Author(s).

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - As the world’s population grows in cities, urban dwellers spend a large amount of time inside their home, making housing health ever more important. Critical for residents’ health, the interactions between indoor residential environments and outdoor environmental conditions (e.g. air pollution, noise, heat) are mediated by the controversial and evolving relationship between housing and the street. Currently, there is a lack of ways to integrate and explore synergies among the plurality of perspectives that have addressed the interactions between housing, street and health (HSH). This paper proposes a systemic research framework to address conceptually, spatially and temporally HSH interactions. With a focus on European cities, determinants of housing health are identified through six perspectives, comprising environmental health, domestic architecture, building technologies, socio-economic inequalities, housing prices and urban planning. Their interrelationships are organised in a causal loop diagram, which can be used to highlight gaps in research and data. Subsequently, the paper explores the research and practical applications of the resulting systemic understanding, taking the context of Geneva, Switzerland, as an example. In sum, this study illustrates ways to integrate systemic, transdisciplinary and spatiotemporal approaches essential to holistically address the complexity of HSH relationships. PRACTICE RELEVANCE The interactions between housing, street and health (HSH) have been approached from different and often siloed perspectives, addressing issues ranging from diseases to architectural design and history, building technologies, socio-economic inequalities, housing prices and urban planning. This fragmentation hinders the coordination of interventions aimed at improving the health of residential environments, limiting the identification of synergies and trade-offs. This paper proposes a research framework enabling the integration of knowledge on the HSH interactions. The resulting holistic and systemic understanding is instrumental in fostering collaborations across disciplinary fields and among a variety of stakeholders, in raising awareness of the risks and opportunities associated with HSH interactions, and in supporting the design and implementation of health and wellbeing agendas at the building, neighbourhood or city level.

AB - As the world’s population grows in cities, urban dwellers spend a large amount of time inside their home, making housing health ever more important. Critical for residents’ health, the interactions between indoor residential environments and outdoor environmental conditions (e.g. air pollution, noise, heat) are mediated by the controversial and evolving relationship between housing and the street. Currently, there is a lack of ways to integrate and explore synergies among the plurality of perspectives that have addressed the interactions between housing, street and health (HSH). This paper proposes a systemic research framework to address conceptually, spatially and temporally HSH interactions. With a focus on European cities, determinants of housing health are identified through six perspectives, comprising environmental health, domestic architecture, building technologies, socio-economic inequalities, housing prices and urban planning. Their interrelationships are organised in a causal loop diagram, which can be used to highlight gaps in research and data. Subsequently, the paper explores the research and practical applications of the resulting systemic understanding, taking the context of Geneva, Switzerland, as an example. In sum, this study illustrates ways to integrate systemic, transdisciplinary and spatiotemporal approaches essential to holistically address the complexity of HSH relationships. PRACTICE RELEVANCE The interactions between housing, street and health (HSH) have been approached from different and often siloed perspectives, addressing issues ranging from diseases to architectural design and history, building technologies, socio-economic inequalities, housing prices and urban planning. This fragmentation hinders the coordination of interventions aimed at improving the health of residential environments, limiting the identification of synergies and trade-offs. This paper proposes a research framework enabling the integration of knowledge on the HSH interactions. The resulting holistic and systemic understanding is instrumental in fostering collaborations across disciplinary fields and among a variety of stakeholders, in raising awareness of the risks and opportunities associated with HSH interactions, and in supporting the design and implementation of health and wellbeing agendas at the building, neighbourhood or city level.

KW - causal loop diagram

KW - environmental health

KW - exposome

KW - housing

KW - spatiotemporal analyses

KW - Switzerland

KW - transdisciplinary research

KW - urban planning

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85175699917&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.5334/bc.298

DO - 10.5334/bc.298

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85175699917

SN - 2632-6655

VL - 4

SP - 629

EP - 649

JO - Buildings and Cities

JF - Buildings and Cities

IS - 1

ER -