ABSTRACT

Well-being is now firmly established as an overarching theme of key concern to all professionals that work, manage or design the environment. However, well-being is a complex multi-dimensional issue rooted in the ways that we encounter, perceive and interpret the environment. No single discipline can claim to have sufficient knowledge to fully explain the types of interactions that occur, therefore there is a need to draw together a wide range of professions who are exploring the consequences of their actions upon the well-being of individuals and communities.

This edited work addresses the above, consisting of a collection of studies which embrace different aspects of environment, landscape and well-being to consider current approaches to well-being research and practice that fall outside the traditional concepts of well-being as part of medical research, making links with architecture, landscape design, environmental perception, social interaction and environmental sustainability.

The contributors originally presented at the international conference, ‘Well-Being 2011’ jointly hosted by Birmingham City University and the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA); the chapters have been developed to present a coherent series of themes reviewing a wide range of literature, presenting case studies appropriate to diverse audiences.

 

chapter |6 pages

Introduction

chapter 1|13 pages

Exploring the Potential for a ‘Double Dividend'

Living well and living greener

chapter 3|15 pages

Synchronising Self and City

An everyday aesthetic for walking

chapter 4|19 pages

Towards a Landscape of Well-Being

The role of landscape and perceptions of place in human well-being

chapter 7|20 pages

Third Places for the Third Age

The contribution of playable space to the well-being of older people

chapter 8|18 pages

Kids in the City

Differing perceptions of one neighbourhood in Aotearoa/New Zealand

chapter 9|20 pages

Culture's Place in Well-Being

Measuring museum well-being interventions

chapter 11|16 pages

Children as Explorers

Revealing children's views on well-being in intensifying urban environments