Future urban design strategies for health and wellbeing

Abstract

Purpose– Contemporary urban design has tried to account for the satisfaction of the human experience and climate change which might encompass several disciplines. However, from a methodological perspective, a systematic research approach is still lacking. Therefore, this paper aims to propose a universal research method embedded into early urban design phase with an example.Design/methodology/approach– A case study was used under the concept of DIDID Action Plan, which was proposed to integrate systematic research into urban design projects in the early phase with a focus on health and well-being. Moreover, design mapping skills tackling health risks at the population level were discussed.Findings– This proposal of DIDID Action Plan has provided inclusive steps for future urban design projects with a systematic approach, in particular for health and well-being aspect. DIDID denotes five planning stages, namely, dream, initiation, design, implementation and delivering. With the advancement of urbanisation and technology, more emphasis would be placed on health and well-being to delay chronic diseases by targeting risk contributors and to increase citizens’ quality of life and human life experience, although stopping the breakout of unexpected communicable diseases and disasters would also need to be considered from time to time as well.Practical implications– Systematic research to be integrated into early urban design phase could potentially avoid issues such as re-design and save manpower time and costs.Originality/value– This proposal is the first to provide a universal research method for early urban design phase with a focus on health and well-being.