Green Health: Examining the role of green space characteristics and their proximity in green space health pathways

This doctoral thesis critically examines green space characteristics and their proximity to residents in their ability to help reduce the global disease burden of non-communicable diseases. By dissecting three pivotal pathways of theorized green space health effects through increased physical activity, increased social cohesion, and reduced air...

Beyond the coffee corner: Workplace design and social well-being

Positive social interactions and feeling connected with people around us are fundamental human needs and crucial to our well-being. This dissertation explores how interior office design could foster workers’ social well-being. The research indicates that to enhance social interactions and a sense of belonging, factors like atmosphere, diversity,...

Housing Justice as Expansion of People's Capabilities for Housing: Proposal for Principles of Housing Policy and Evaluation of Housing Inequality

Housing inequality is a growing concern in our society. In recent decades, this inequality has been exacerbated by the phenomenon of housing being financialized and commodified as a means for wealth accumulation. Management of financial institutions and housing markets has become the centre of attention in policy discussion. The questions of how...

Design for Well-Being: An Approach for Understanding Users' Lives in Design for Development

Many of the Design for Development outcomes which are unsuited to the users and their environment are based on poorly defined needs and preferences. Product designers are trained to take the user perspective into account, but they are not specifically trained to conduct ethnographic research. Thereby, they have limited time and resources to...

Polycentricity, Performance and Planning: Concepts, Evidence and Policy in Barcelona, Catalonia

Despite strong efforts made by scholars to study the polycentric spatial organization of agglomeration in metropolitan areas, there is still no consensus about the conceptualization (i.e., identification and measurement) of polycentricity and its economic, social, and environmental (dis)advantages. Additionally, little is known in the policy...

Human well-being values of environmental flows enhancing social equity in integrated water resources management

This dissertation discusses how the importance of river flow-sustained ecosystems for local communities can be quantified for the purpose of balancing water supply and demand in Integrated Water Resources Management. Due to the development of water resources, for example through the construction of reservoirs, the natural flow regime is altered...