Healthy Built Environments Supporting Everyday Occupations: Current Thinking in Urban Planning

Abstract

Occupation is intrinsic to human health and occupations emerge from environmental opportunities. They are shaped by features of the context in which they happen. Yet the places where many people live out their everyday lives are not supportive of health. Car-dominated transport systems, reduced opportunities to be physically active, limited opportunities to access healthy food, and fewer places for people to connect with each other to build safe and happy communities, are all implicated. These are part of the built environment which plays a critical role in supporting human health and well-being. This article draws on interdisciplinary research evidence to show how the built environment can sustain the everyday and ordinary occupations of living, keeping people physically and mentally healthy.

Keywords:

• Health and well-being
• Everyday occupations
• Supportive environments
• Urban planning