Ana Karinna Hidalgo | University of Saskatchewan (original) (raw)
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Papers by Ana Karinna Hidalgo
The International Journal of Architectonic, Spatial, and Environmental Design, 2024
Streets constitute the main public space in towns and cities. Although a common element in every ... more Streets constitute the main public space in towns and cities. Although a common element in every settlement, the street definition varies depending on its context. Place, time, and season define the functions and limitations of streets. This study collects streets’ main definitions, perspectives, and concepts and analyzes them through the lenses of health and function. A healthy street conceptual framework is proposed to address the gaps in current street definitions concerning social and health aspects. This framework considers multiple roles of streets year-round, including people’s opportunity to move, stay, socialize and restore. This multifunction framework considers that a street can also address social interactions, aesthetics, design characteristics, and people’s well-being by incorporating channel, social, container, and health-artifact concepts in street design. Healthy streets that promote their benefits year-round should cover all street hierarchies, from sidewalks and paths to highways and corridors in all seasons. Native vegetation, different modes of transportation, accessibility and innovative and green technologies for energy, water, snow, food generation, and storage should be contained on every street.
Streets can be designed as places that improve people's well-being on a daily basis and year ... more Streets can be designed as places that improve people's well-being on a daily basis and year round. The interrelation among urban design, environmental psychology and public health, as well as a coherent and systematic framework that focuses on restorative public spaces supports this research. Studies on winter landscapes, when the psychological response to the environment may increase mental health issues due to weather and reduction of sunlight, are needed. This research is aimed at establishing the causal effect of winter streets on people's psychological health by answering two questions: How can streets become public restorative environments that reduce people's daily stress and mental fatigue? What are the principles to design such restorative streets during the winter season? To answer these questions the following objectives are reached: 1) Gain an understanding of the functions of streets towards a comprehensive street categorization. 2) Determine which multidis...
Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 2021
Abstract This study establishes the causal effect of winter streets’ design on people’s psycholog... more Abstract This study establishes the causal effect of winter streets’ design on people’s psychological health, specifically, restoration from stress and mental fatigue. A lab experiment was conducted to identify the effect of vegetation and brightness in winter scenarios on people’s mental restoration. Sixty-three participants were randomly assigned to three different treatments (vegetation, brightness, and control). Participants in the vegetation treatment recovered from mental fatigue quicker than those in the brightness and control groups. The findings resulting from this lab experiment inform planning principles and policies for restorative urban design by providing evidence showing how urban streets can improve people’s mental health in winter cities.
Well-being in cities can be addressed from the perspective of multiple disciplines. Urban design ... more Well-being in cities can be addressed from the perspective of multiple disciplines. Urban design can contribute to creating built environments within nature with tangible elements to provide psychological restoration that releases stress and mental fatigue. To do so, many de- sign approaches, such as biophilic design, biomimicry, and eco-cities can make a contribution to this topic. This paper is focused on biophilic design as an urban design approach aimed at understanding connections between natural and built environments in relation to psychological restoration. Important inputs from environmental psychology and public health are also considered to understand people's responses to different natural and built environments. This paper consists of an extensive literature review of these disciplines and approaches in order to provide designers with elements to be considered for the design of restorative environments. These elements may include natural water features, natural ligh...
Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 2021
This study establishes the causal effect of winter streets’ design on people’s psychological heal... more This study establishes the causal effect of winter streets’ design on people’s psychological health, specifically, restoration from stress and mental fatigue. A lab experiment was conducted to identify the effect of vegetation and brightness in winter scenarios on people’s mental restoration. Sixty-three participants were randomly assigned to three different treatments (vegetation, brightness, and control). Participants in the vegetation treatment recovered from mental fatigue quicker than those in the brightness and control groups. The findings resulting from this lab experiment inform planning principles and policies for restorative urban design by providing evidence showing how urban streets can improve people’s mental health in winter cities.
Proceedings of the Environmental Design Research Association 50th Conference, 2019
This paper is aimed at answering the following research questions: What are the most common resea... more This paper is aimed at answering the following research questions: What are the most common research methods used in environmental design studies and practice? Are those methods aimed at providing evidence? What is it missing? Why is this important for environmental design?
In order to find out the methods used in environmental design and whether or not they provide evidence, an extensive literature review is being conducted. This study is divided into three phases of research: 1. A review of methods; quantitative vs. qualitative, 2. Analysis of research studies and outcomes, and 3. Experimental design.
This paper is focused on the analysis of this first phase that includes the review of research methods of the top seminal authors in urban planning, environmental design and the specific topic on mental health in the built environment. A comprehensive review of methods used in the research studies published in the EDRA conference proceedings from 1969 (EDRA 01) to 2018 (EDRA 49) has been conducted.
The findings from this first phase show that the field of environmental design has developed theories based on essays, grounded theory and professional practice, that later became seminal works. Environmental design borrows methods and theories form other disciplines, particularly from social sciences that have enriched our interdisciplinary field. The most common research methods used are of a qualitative approach. Quantitative methods, particularly experimental methods, are scant in the field as reduced is the number of empirical based research (Brown, 2018; Cuthbert, 2011; Marshall, 2012).
https://cuny.manifoldapp.org/read/environmental-design-research-methods/section/0f2dfd74-7735-42c0-9407-6e95d4d61339
How can streets reduce people’s daily stress and mental fatigue by becoming public spaces surroun... more How can streets reduce people’s daily stress and mental fatigue by becoming public spaces surrounded by natural, green, bright, and restorative environments? What are the principles for
designing such restorative streets?
Streets are a predominant element in cities. Defined as paths, conduits, structural lines, and even a place with its own rights, the design of streets is still an important issue to be understood and resolved in order to improve the residents’ quality of life. Stress is a public health concern that affects residents and is constantly originated by multiple circumstances.
This problem not only affects mental health but also overall well-being by reducing the capacity of people to restore themselves on a daily basis.
Environmental psychologists show that people can release stress and mental fatigue by providing cities with a restorative environment. Urban environments provided with natural light, vegetation, water and a certain amount of wilderness, increase the psychological restoration of people. Biophilic design, aimed at maintaining, enhancing, and restoring the beneficial experience of nature in the built environment, allows people to be part of the larger whole.
Streets can be designed as places that improve people’s well-being on a daily basis. The connection between environmental psychology (what works for well-being and why), and urban design (how to design urban spaces) is missing. This research is intended to fill this gap. Theoretical relationships among urban design theory on streets, environmental psychology and the restoration theory, and biophilic design will be presented. These interrelations become inputs to define guidelines for the future design of restorative streets.
Well-being in cities can be addressed from the perspective of multiple disciplines. Urban design ... more Well-being in cities can be addressed from the perspective of multiple disciplines. Urban design can contribute to creating built environments within nature with tangible elements to
provide psychological restoration that releases stress and mental fatigue. To do so, many design approaches, such as biophilic design, biomimicry, and eco-cities can make a contribution to this topic. This paper is focused on biophilic design as an urban design approach aimed at understanding connections between natural and built environments in relation to psychological restoration. Important inputs from environmental psychology and public health are also
considered to understand people’s responses to different natural and built environments. This paper consists of an extensive literature review of these disciplines and approaches in order to provide designers with elements to be considered for the design of restorative environments. These elements may include natural water features, natural light and colors, vegetation, and well-designed buildings to improve people’s well-being.
The International Journal of Architectonic, Spatial, and Environmental Design, 2024
Streets constitute the main public space in towns and cities. Although a common element in every ... more Streets constitute the main public space in towns and cities. Although a common element in every settlement, the street definition varies depending on its context. Place, time, and season define the functions and limitations of streets. This study collects streets’ main definitions, perspectives, and concepts and analyzes them through the lenses of health and function. A healthy street conceptual framework is proposed to address the gaps in current street definitions concerning social and health aspects. This framework considers multiple roles of streets year-round, including people’s opportunity to move, stay, socialize and restore. This multifunction framework considers that a street can also address social interactions, aesthetics, design characteristics, and people’s well-being by incorporating channel, social, container, and health-artifact concepts in street design. Healthy streets that promote their benefits year-round should cover all street hierarchies, from sidewalks and paths to highways and corridors in all seasons. Native vegetation, different modes of transportation, accessibility and innovative and green technologies for energy, water, snow, food generation, and storage should be contained on every street.
Streets can be designed as places that improve people's well-being on a daily basis and year ... more Streets can be designed as places that improve people's well-being on a daily basis and year round. The interrelation among urban design, environmental psychology and public health, as well as a coherent and systematic framework that focuses on restorative public spaces supports this research. Studies on winter landscapes, when the psychological response to the environment may increase mental health issues due to weather and reduction of sunlight, are needed. This research is aimed at establishing the causal effect of winter streets on people's psychological health by answering two questions: How can streets become public restorative environments that reduce people's daily stress and mental fatigue? What are the principles to design such restorative streets during the winter season? To answer these questions the following objectives are reached: 1) Gain an understanding of the functions of streets towards a comprehensive street categorization. 2) Determine which multidis...
Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 2021
Abstract This study establishes the causal effect of winter streets’ design on people’s psycholog... more Abstract This study establishes the causal effect of winter streets’ design on people’s psychological health, specifically, restoration from stress and mental fatigue. A lab experiment was conducted to identify the effect of vegetation and brightness in winter scenarios on people’s mental restoration. Sixty-three participants were randomly assigned to three different treatments (vegetation, brightness, and control). Participants in the vegetation treatment recovered from mental fatigue quicker than those in the brightness and control groups. The findings resulting from this lab experiment inform planning principles and policies for restorative urban design by providing evidence showing how urban streets can improve people’s mental health in winter cities.
Well-being in cities can be addressed from the perspective of multiple disciplines. Urban design ... more Well-being in cities can be addressed from the perspective of multiple disciplines. Urban design can contribute to creating built environments within nature with tangible elements to provide psychological restoration that releases stress and mental fatigue. To do so, many de- sign approaches, such as biophilic design, biomimicry, and eco-cities can make a contribution to this topic. This paper is focused on biophilic design as an urban design approach aimed at understanding connections between natural and built environments in relation to psychological restoration. Important inputs from environmental psychology and public health are also considered to understand people's responses to different natural and built environments. This paper consists of an extensive literature review of these disciplines and approaches in order to provide designers with elements to be considered for the design of restorative environments. These elements may include natural water features, natural ligh...
Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 2021
This study establishes the causal effect of winter streets’ design on people’s psychological heal... more This study establishes the causal effect of winter streets’ design on people’s psychological health, specifically, restoration from stress and mental fatigue. A lab experiment was conducted to identify the effect of vegetation and brightness in winter scenarios on people’s mental restoration. Sixty-three participants were randomly assigned to three different treatments (vegetation, brightness, and control). Participants in the vegetation treatment recovered from mental fatigue quicker than those in the brightness and control groups. The findings resulting from this lab experiment inform planning principles and policies for restorative urban design by providing evidence showing how urban streets can improve people’s mental health in winter cities.
Proceedings of the Environmental Design Research Association 50th Conference, 2019
This paper is aimed at answering the following research questions: What are the most common resea... more This paper is aimed at answering the following research questions: What are the most common research methods used in environmental design studies and practice? Are those methods aimed at providing evidence? What is it missing? Why is this important for environmental design?
In order to find out the methods used in environmental design and whether or not they provide evidence, an extensive literature review is being conducted. This study is divided into three phases of research: 1. A review of methods; quantitative vs. qualitative, 2. Analysis of research studies and outcomes, and 3. Experimental design.
This paper is focused on the analysis of this first phase that includes the review of research methods of the top seminal authors in urban planning, environmental design and the specific topic on mental health in the built environment. A comprehensive review of methods used in the research studies published in the EDRA conference proceedings from 1969 (EDRA 01) to 2018 (EDRA 49) has been conducted.
The findings from this first phase show that the field of environmental design has developed theories based on essays, grounded theory and professional practice, that later became seminal works. Environmental design borrows methods and theories form other disciplines, particularly from social sciences that have enriched our interdisciplinary field. The most common research methods used are of a qualitative approach. Quantitative methods, particularly experimental methods, are scant in the field as reduced is the number of empirical based research (Brown, 2018; Cuthbert, 2011; Marshall, 2012).
https://cuny.manifoldapp.org/read/environmental-design-research-methods/section/0f2dfd74-7735-42c0-9407-6e95d4d61339
How can streets reduce people’s daily stress and mental fatigue by becoming public spaces surroun... more How can streets reduce people’s daily stress and mental fatigue by becoming public spaces surrounded by natural, green, bright, and restorative environments? What are the principles for
designing such restorative streets?
Streets are a predominant element in cities. Defined as paths, conduits, structural lines, and even a place with its own rights, the design of streets is still an important issue to be understood and resolved in order to improve the residents’ quality of life. Stress is a public health concern that affects residents and is constantly originated by multiple circumstances.
This problem not only affects mental health but also overall well-being by reducing the capacity of people to restore themselves on a daily basis.
Environmental psychologists show that people can release stress and mental fatigue by providing cities with a restorative environment. Urban environments provided with natural light, vegetation, water and a certain amount of wilderness, increase the psychological restoration of people. Biophilic design, aimed at maintaining, enhancing, and restoring the beneficial experience of nature in the built environment, allows people to be part of the larger whole.
Streets can be designed as places that improve people’s well-being on a daily basis. The connection between environmental psychology (what works for well-being and why), and urban design (how to design urban spaces) is missing. This research is intended to fill this gap. Theoretical relationships among urban design theory on streets, environmental psychology and the restoration theory, and biophilic design will be presented. These interrelations become inputs to define guidelines for the future design of restorative streets.
Well-being in cities can be addressed from the perspective of multiple disciplines. Urban design ... more Well-being in cities can be addressed from the perspective of multiple disciplines. Urban design can contribute to creating built environments within nature with tangible elements to
provide psychological restoration that releases stress and mental fatigue. To do so, many design approaches, such as biophilic design, biomimicry, and eco-cities can make a contribution to this topic. This paper is focused on biophilic design as an urban design approach aimed at understanding connections between natural and built environments in relation to psychological restoration. Important inputs from environmental psychology and public health are also
considered to understand people’s responses to different natural and built environments. This paper consists of an extensive literature review of these disciplines and approaches in order to provide designers with elements to be considered for the design of restorative environments. These elements may include natural water features, natural light and colors, vegetation, and well-designed buildings to improve people’s well-being.