Building healthier cities in Saudi Arabia through greener urban futures

June 8, 2026

This research extends existing scholarship by contextualizing Healthy City principles within Saudi Arabia’s specific climatic conditions, demographic transitions, and centralized governance structures. Rather than advocating direct replication of international models, the study emphasizes learning from international experiences to inform context-specific strategies aligned with Vision 2030 and national sustainability priorities. By interpreting international experiences within Saudi urban realities, this work provides a geographically specialized and policy-relevant contribution to the discourse on sustainable and healthy urban development.

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How Verhalenhuis Belvédère keeps Katendrecht connected: Participation, recognition, solidarity

May 31, 2026

Verhalenhuis Belvédère demonstrates how community-led, culturally rooted public spaces bolster neighbourhood resilience during urban renewal by combining participatory co-creation, flexible programming, recognition, and memory work. More broadly, examples like this show how a socio-spatial triad—spatial agency, networked solidarity, and identity grounding—can help protect neighbourhood identity and strengthen lasting social infrastructure in diverse communities.

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How does the built environment and traffic impact air pollution, and what does this mean for public health? 

April 23, 2026

Air pollution threatens public health globally. Our exposure to air pollution is influenced by transport. Transport is both a prominent source of air pollution and an important determinant in our exposure to it. The built and natural environment also dictate how, when and where we travel, and what we are exposed to. We provide a comprehensive review of these relationships and their interactions.

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Want diversity? Collaborate and plan with members from equity-deserving groups 

April 12, 2026

People from equity-deserving groups have unique needs, barriers, and priorities that need to be addressed in order to create inclusive and accessible active transportation. This paper highlights some of the complexities of planning for different cultures, languages, ages, and abilities. Recommendations are made to support municipalities with creating better active transportation infrastructure and policies.

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Bio-reconciliation: Dialectics for healthier, equitable urban futures – Biophilia and Biophobia

April 9, 2026

I diagnose urbanization’s toll: 60% of city dwellers face stress-related morbidity, which biophilic design aims to curb; yet my 100-study review reveals biophobia’s backlash, like glare spiking cortisol 10%. This dialectic, rooted in evolutionary and urban disconnect, exacerbates health inequities e.g., 30% higher stress in underserved areas —demanding my evidence-based, Hegelian synthesis to recalibrate architecture for resilience.

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Jakarta’s position in global health and sustainable city progress

March 15, 2026

This pioneering study on healthy and sustainable indicators for Jakarta is the first in Indonesia to use the Global Healthy and Sustainable City Indicators framework. As the most populous city in Indonesia and Southeast Asia, Jakarta’s inclusion provides valuable insights into its status compared to 25 international cities. We offer a critical perspective on existing spatial indicators, highlighting the need for precise definitions and careful interpretation within the city’s local context. Additionally, we propose new indicators to help policymakers and public health officials develop more adaptable measures for urban health and sustainability.

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How can third places within walking distances support people’s happiness?

March 13, 2026

This study aimed to delve into the significance of neighborhood walkability and the accessibility of third places in bolstering community well-being. It scrutinized the influence of walkable designs and convenient access to third places on the emotional well-being of community members. Moreover, the research utilized tweets to gauge the frequency of positive sentiments as a proxy for measuring happiness levels within the community.

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