Innovative Approaches to Researching Landscape and Health

Catharine Ward Thompson is Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Edinburgh. She is Director of OPENspace research centre, based at Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt Universities, and directs the Landscape Architecture PhD programme at Edinburgh. Peter Aspinall is Associate Director of OPENspace Research Centre and is an environmental psychologist. He is currently an Honorary Fellow of the University of Edinburgh and Emeritus Professor of Vision and Environment at Heriot-Watt University. Simon Bell is Associate Director of OPENspace Research Centre, University of Edinburgh and a forester and landscape architect. He is also Professor of Landscape Architecture at the Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu, Estonia.

Introduction Part 1: Affordances in the Landscape: A Theoretical Approach 1. Affordances and the Perception of Landscape: An Inquiry into Environmental Perception and Aesthetics 2. Using Behaviour Mapping to Investigate Healthy Outdoor Environments for Children and Families: Conceptual Framework, Procedures, and Applications Part 2: Evidence on the Relationship between Landscape and Health 3. Nearby Nature and Human Health: Looking at Mechanisms and their Implications 4. Active Landscapes: The Methodological Challenges in Developing the Evidence on Urban Environments and Physical Activity 5. Using Affordances as a Health-Promoting Tool in a Therapeutic Garden Part 3: Different Perspectives on Methodology 6. Opening Space for Project Pursuit: Affordance, Restoration and Chills 7. On Environmental Preference: Applying Conjoint Analysis to Visiting Parks and Buying Houses Part 4: Applications in Practice: Spatial Structure, Landscape Design and Landscape Use 8. Feeling Good and Feeling Safe in the Landscape: A ‘Syntactic’ Approach 9. Landscape Quality and Quality of Life Part 5: Conclusions 10. Challenges for Research in Landscape and Heath