What are residents’ lived experiences of higher density living and impacts on health and wellbeing?

November 13, 2025

We conducted a citizen science project to engage with current residents in higher density residences in Northern Sydney to explore the positive and negative aspects of their lived experiences on their health and wellbeing. Together, we identified the elements that residents of these communities value as well as those with potential negative impacts that could be mitigated through good planning and design.

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Understanding the influence of local politicians on healthy local planning policy

November 7, 2025

Understanding of the influence of local political actors helps to highlight where their influence is limited, particularly by national-level housing policy, which in the UK is focused on housing numbers, rather than quality of new homes, as well as financial viability and public opinion. Understanding this can help to build trust in the political processes of decision-making and inform interventions for healthier place-making.

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Policy challenges and best practice to designing-in play in cities, a study from the UK

November 7, 2025

This study contributes to the broader discourse on urban design for children, offering insights into how cities can create more inclusive, engaging, and health-promoting environments. It supports and adds to existing literature, finding that the alignment of play initiatives with public health goals, and strong collaboration between local government departments are effective in supporting children’s play on the strategic level. It identifies barriers to play in policy, namely budget constraints and deprioritisation of play.

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Place-based well-being: The impact of neighbourhood aesthetics on physical activity, stress levels, and obesity in school children

November 7, 2025

Urban environments in many cities, both those found in Mexico and many other countries, can be called obesogenic – they are prone to promote obesity. Relevant factors are that they foster sedentary behaviour, poor dietary choices, and elevated stress levels; thus contributing to higher obesity rates. Urban planning, design, and practices offer opportunities for upstream public health interventions to mitigate these negative health impacts. These findings are especially relevant given the role of neighbourhood environments in encouraging children’s physical activity and reducing obesity.

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A holistic perspective in health-supportive design of future homes as informal offices

November 6, 2025

The expected rise of working from home after the COVID-19 pandemic necessitates a deeper understanding of the cause and effect of home environment on physical, mental, and social health. Existing research primarily focuses on physical and psychological health, with less attention given to social health. Incorporating social health is emphasized by various researchers during the pandemic. Moreover, the interconnected nature of health components suggests the possibility of mediation, requiring a model selection to represent the working from home situation.

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