Introducing Healing Gardens into a Compact University Campus: Design Natural Space to Create Healthy and Sustainable Campuses

Abstract

Natural space is beneficial for human mental health, a fact confirmed by a large body of research findings. This benefit has significance for university staff and students who are at a critical stage of development of their bodies and minds. Given the fact that university study is quite stressful for most college students, the study of the healing power of natural space on campus could be of value in sustainable campus landscape design. The paper explores the application of healing gardens to a compact campus design and renovation, in order to study its potential role in realizing the objective of creating a health-supportive and sustainable campus environment. Mental health benefits and design guidelines for healing gardens are discussed, through an extensive literature review. Following this, HKU Main campus is used as a case study in which the use pattern of the green spaces in a compact built setting is examined. Based on the findings, suggestions for improvement of both the existing HKU grounds and the new centennial campus natural space are offered in an attempt to enhance health benefits and make the university a healthier environment for study and leisure.

Key Words:

• Natural spaces
• healthy benefits
• healing garden
• use pattern
• the University of Hong Kong
• design strategies

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Prof. Sai Chan, MD of Environ-Care and former Professor from the Medical School of Oregon University for his introduction to the healing garden concept and instruction on paper writing, and to Mr Yoichi Shimatsu for his assistance in proofreading and editing. Mr Baharuddin assisted in the literature search.

Thanks are due to the University of Hong Kong Estate Office and Wong and Ouyang Architects Limited for their kind permission to use the drawings and photographs from the HKU Centennial Campus Master Plan Final Report, March 2007.

The authors would like to duly acknowledge the support of the HKU-UGC Project No.20200428 Matching Grant for a research on climatic and environmental factors for tall buildings in ultra-dense cities of China, as well as the RGC research project 10205708.