The Anatomy Of Health-Supportive Urban Design

It is predicted that by 2050,two-thirds of the world’s population will live in cities.In the face of increasingly emerging and complex public health problems,a healthsupportive urban design becomes a chance.However,under the trend of irreversible urbanization,especially the high density of cities,how the urban built environment affects health should be paid attention.Based on the background,this thesis analyzes the connotation of a healthy city and constructs the theoretical framework of the impact of the urban built environment on residents’ health,analyzes the characteristics and shortcomings of the urban built environment in Tunisia,and proposes urban design strategies from urban form,land function,neighborhood design,traffic network,community environment and natural environment.This will provide a theoretical basis for the healthy urban development of Tunisia in the future.Firstly,this thesis uses the quantitative and qualitative method to study the concepts of urban design and health then it defines the development towards a healthy urban design through the impact of the built environment on health via natural settings and social cohesion.Then to comprehend the implementation of these concepts in real life,we reviewed two case studies relevant to Tunis.Afterword’s,we used a rich and varied database to study the city of Tunis and then through data analysis we made a multilevel analysis of the built environment of Tunis and its impact on natural settings and social cohesion,to conclude with the main anomalies that the city suffers from and that will impact health directly or indirectly.Finally,through the previous conclusions,we identified the appropriate strategies focusing on the components of the built environment.The strategies are composed of urban morphology,urban function,neighborhood design,transport networks,and natural settings which present a remedy for the previously mentioned natural settings and social cohesion anomalies.Finally,we chose the lac3 area of Tunis to present preliminary design suggestion following the proposed strategies.This thesis gets the following research results: first,the urban built environment mainly affects the health of urban residents through two ways: urban natural environment and social cohesion.Second,as the economic,political and cultural center,Tunis still has the phenomenon of mismatch between urban planning and road use demand,loose urban structure and unfair urban land use function,which are all affects the life health and quality of urban residents.Last,this thesis puts forward the urban design strategy of health support from five aspects: urban form,land use,urban traffic,community environment and urban natural environment.