The design and planning of the built environment have profound and lasting impacts on health. There is a new book for the ones who are interested in moving health and design agenda forward. It is called "Healthy Environments, Healing Spaces" and consists of a collection of essays. The book has a salutogenic (health-promoting) focus, and it addresses a timely and crucial question, “How can we design, plan, and sustain built environments that foster health and healing?"  

The book discusses a range of contemporary issues such as health equity, biophilic cities, healthcare facility design, environmental health, aging in place, and food systems planning. It is organized in four parts and contains twelve essays. The first part of the book includes essays around "The Design and Planning of Healthy Cities", the second part addresses "The Healing Power of Biophilic Design". The third part explores a wide range of important design strategies under the subtopic of "Art and Architecture for Health" and the fourth part addresses the challenges of "Creating a Healthy Community Food System". 

The twelve essays are written by leading scholars and practitioners, and published by University of Virginia Press. The book grew out of a conference organized by the Center for Design and Health and edited by co-directors of the Center for Design and Health, Timothy Beatley and Reuben Rainey, along with UVA School of Architecture alumna Carla Jones. In the conclusion part of the book, the editors speculate about the future directions for healthy design and planning, offer some suggestion about future models for designing healthy buildings, neighborhoods, and cities. 

Book facts:

Publication Date: May 2018, 296 pages 

$70.00 S Cloth ISBN 978-0-8139-4113-4

$35.00 S Paper ISBN 978-0-8139-4114-1

E-book available

Contributors of the book: Ellen Bassett ● Timothy Beatley ● Emily Chmielewski ● Jason Corburn ● Tanya Denckla Cobb ● Tye Farrow ● Ann Forsyth ● Howard Frumkin ● Judith H. Heerwagen ● J. David Hoglund ● Carla Jones ● Andrew Mondschein ● Christina Mullen ● Reuben Rainey ● Samina Raja ● Jennifer Whittaker

Top Image: Credit Valley Hospital near Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Image © Tom Arban Photography, cover design © Kristina Kachele Design, LLC.

> via University of Virginia Press