Mental Well-being Urban Characteristics as a Guide to Sustaining Distinct Valued Urban Areas Case Study: Zamalek Island, Cairo, Egypt

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Urban Design Department, Faculty of Urban and Regional Planning, Cairo University

Abstract

Mental well-being is an essential need that affects every aspect of life, positively or negatively, and is affected by the surrounding environment. People are exposed to environmental stressors that could potentially contribute to increased stress and impair mental health, so urban communities can be designed to set people up for mental well-being or mental disorders. This research aims to identify the “Mental Well-Being Urban Characteristics MWUC” as a guide to help urban designers, architects, and decision-makers evaluate and sustain healthy urban communities that reduce stress and improve feelings of life satisfaction, and comfort. Based on a profound theoretical analysis, the research provides the MWUC, scientifically based on a comparative analysis conducted between previous studies concerned with healthy urban areas. Furthermore, to investigate and prove the efficiency and applicability of the MWUC for the Egyptian distinct valued urban areas, an urban analysis has been conducted on Zamalek Island by applying the MWUC, and a questionnaire was designed and implemented with Zamalek’s’ users. The results identify that the results of the questionnaire and the urban analytical study of MWUC on Zamalek Island were compatible except for the distribution of green urban spaces and street lighting during the day. The findings revealed that users’ participation should be integrated with the MWUC in the monitoring process. Hence, the MWUC is a guide that is expected to have the ability to evaluate and monitor the effect of Egyptian distinct valued urban areas on mental well-being.

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MSA Engineering Journal
Volume 3, Issue 2
December 2024
Pages 1-24

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