City Loneliness
A healing practice in Amsterdam
Y. Huang (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
R Cavallo – Mentor (TU Delft - Theory, Territories & Transitions)
P. Medici – Mentor
MGAD Harteveld – Mentor (TU Delft - Urban Design)
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Abstract
As cities densify around the world, the quality of city spaces increasingly shows its importance, influencing citizens’ mental health. Loneliness has become a normal phenomenon in the city along with its development and can affect every person for different reasons and cause serious problems. This research targets Amsterdam and argues why a well-being city such as Amsterdam also suffers from loneliness, aiming to explore the relationship between loneliness and architecture and find architectural solutions to reduce loneliness in Amsterdam. The existing research has shown that belongingness can act as a way to reduce loneliness. Thus, the main research question is:
How can architecture create a belongingness environment to alleviate and heal the feeling of loneliness in Amsterdam?
This research focuses on the theory of human relationship belonging, the place belonging, and the construction of belonging, searching for architectural strategies that can alleviate loneliness. Further analysis of Amsterdam and Amsterdam southeast’s city space answers the question and raises the opportunities to improve and solve the problems. Creating a belongingness environment with architectural strategies, based on the research, in city public venues provides a way to heal this unpleasant loneliness in Amsterdam and leads to a better well- being future.