Healthy urban living in the context of changing environmental conditions aims to provide knowledge and understanding of how urban design can support physical activity, recreation and restoration as well as social activities for psychological well-being in times of climate change and biodiversity decline. The course addresses the human health and psychological well-being from the perspective of the individual with focus on the individual’s and different user groups, relation to their neighbourhood environment, including the buildings, streetscapes, green and blue spaces.

Our teaching approach is adopted from interdisciplinary teaching in sustainability science. Our objective is to facilitate students’ capacity to analyse their local environment using knowledge derived from public health, physical health, environmental psychology, architecture/landscape architecture and ecology. We strive to promote reflective thinking and facilitate effective communication with society. 

The course is structured as four integrated modules. Each module is structured as

• online lectures and associated readings and quizzes available online to introduce theories and concepts


• seminars-journal club to stimulate reflection and critical thinking


• a place-based assignment aiming to contextualised learning and considerations of broader impacts.

Module 1: An interdisciplinary approach to healthy urban living

Module 1 serves as the bridge and runs over the entire course period. The module involves collaboration across disciplines, as well as between academia and practice, provides interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary perspectives. The module introduces and defines public urban space to discuss the value of the local to tackle global issues.

Module 2: Health benefits of urban environments designed for physical activity and health.

This module focuses on physical activity in the neighbourhood as a way of preventing and treating noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and in preventing hypertension, overweight, and obesity, while enhancing overall well-being.  

Module 3: Experience of urban spaces and psychological well-being.

The focus is upon people’s experiences of the built environment, how experience and emotions can be theoretically described and empirically assessed to develop heath promoting neighbourhood environments.  

Module 4: Biodiversity and urban ecosystems in a changing world.

This module focuses on biodiversity and its connections to human health via ecosystem functions and services, and how urban biodiversity conservation and climate adaptation can contribute to healthy living conditions for urban populations.

Read the course syllabus here

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