Speakers
Description
Amid rapid mobility and increasing vulnerabilities, urban health is a crucial topic that requires further discussion, especially through the lens of inclusivity. Despite comprehensive literature and efforts toward health-promoting frameworks, initiatives and benchmarking, the intersection between urban health and urban design remains understudied, particularly regarding how to design built environments that promote users’ health and wellbeing, enabling communities to become more sustainable and resilient to future challenges.
University campuses offer a unique opportunity to model inclusive and sustainable urban design strategies that can be scaled to the city level. Their complex and dynamic nature allows them to function as micro-cities, providing platforms for investigating, testing, and implementing innovative design solutions. Campus populations encompass a diverse range of users, including vulnerable groups such as students with disabilities, international students, age-diverse students, students with mental health conditions, migrant students, and others. Recognizing this diversity, this study explores the potential of co-production in designing healthy campuses that address socio-spatial needs and enhance wellbeing for all students.
This study aims to identify healthy and inclusive design strategies, advocating the use of universities as urban experimental settings to promote healthier communities. Adopting a co-production approach, it employs a qualitative methodology to collectively analyze the campus-environment, identify design aspects that influence students’ health and wellbeing, and suggest design interventions to address users’ needs.
This is achieved through student workshops conducted at TU Dresden (TUD), Germany, and Cairo University (CU), Egypt. At TUD, 102 second-year architecture students mapped and analyzed 14 plots (representing around 75% of the main campus-environment) in June 2024. At CU, 86 students participated in the workshop in October 2024, analyzing a total of 15 plots (representing nearly the entire main campus-environment). Among them, 50 students were in their second-year architecture studies, and 36 were in their fourth year. Both campuses were divided into smaller plots for students to observe, map, and analyze; identifying design elements affecting their health and wellbeing (positively and negatively), and discussing potential improvements. Both workshops included campus-mapping, photo-documentation, photo analysis, and a survey to capture students' perceptions and experiences on campus. These methods provided a comprehensive understanding of the campus-environment and informed student-driven design interventions.
This study also identified key spatial elements that significantly influence students' health and wellbeing, as perceived from their own perspectives. These include green features, ramps, handrails, seating areas, restorative features, and critical design dimensions such as accessibility, walkability, and sociability.
The findings of this study provide insights into the diverse spatial needs of students on campus. For example, 25% of students at TUD indicated a need for more secluded spaces, compared to 40% at CU. Similarly, 22% of students at TUD expressed the need for shaded spaces/elements, while this percentage was significantly higher at CU (48%), reflecting the climatic differences between both campuses. 22% of students mentioned gathering spaces at TUD in contrast to only 8% at CU. Other key needs, including barrier-free spaces and outdoor-study areas, were also identified and compiled into a “needs matrix”, which categorizes student-reported spatial requirements, serving as a tool to identify priorities, compare campuses’ needs, and guide design strategies that enhance accessibility, wellbeing, and inclusivity. Mirroring the workshop in such contrasting contexts informs design strategies to cater diverse needs (e.g., active vs. passive spaces, social vs. secluded, etc.), highlighting both context-specific and universal design needs.
This methodology positions students as active agents in analysis and design processes, ensuring their perspectives and needs remain central to the design outcomes. This research used campus-settings to identify healthy and inclusive design attributes. It is worth-exploring next how campuses can act as urban laboratories to inform city-scale interventions, extending beyond campus borders.
| Keywords | Inclusive Design; University Campus; Health; Wellbeing; Co-production; Urban Design |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | Yes |
