Health benefits of evidence-based biophilic-designed environments: A review

Abstract

Background and objective: People-nature experiences, which suggest that humans seek connections between nature and other forms of life, were presented by biologist E. O. Wilson in 1984. Biophilic design attributes support environments that can improve human connections to nature. A significant amount of literature on environmental psychology provides empirical evidence that nature benefits humans, and that practical landscape and built environments can be designed to link humans and nature (e.g., the 14 biophilic design patterns). To date, however, there has been no well-done research on reviewing the health benefits of biophilic design. Methods: The paper provides a narrative review on biophilic design and human health. The scope of this article is limited to biophilic-design books and peer-review articles related to "biophilic design," "evidence-based," "benefits," "health," rather than an attempt to identify universal issues with biophilia hypothesis. Results: A total of 45 papers were included in our review, which was related to the top five biophilic design patterns and design: the presence of natural images, the presence of plants, visual and non-visual connections to nature, and material connection with nature. These studies were related to physiology and psychology through direct or indirect connections with nature and experiences in space and place. Conclusion: This study presents two important comparisons of the empirical research on biophilic design and human health that can explain the relationship of people-nature experiences to biophilic design and human health and provides insights into related researches and recommendations for future application of our findings.

Healthy Dwelling: Design of Biophilic Interior Environments Fostering Self-Care Practices for People Living with Migraines, Chronic Pain, and Depression

“…As described in the Introduction, research shows that biophilic design can yield positive effects on health and well-being [ 12 , 13 , 17 ]. Biophilic interventions have been shown to improve relaxation, reduce stress and depressive symptoms, and provide pain relief [ 43 , 44 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 ].…”

“…We acknowledge the limitations of this viewpoint article, which include diverse levels of evidence to support therapeutic interior design, thus being prone to publication bias. Recent review articles on biophilic design point out research gaps on the relationships between biophilic attributes and health-related outcomes [ 9 , 13 , 16 , 17 , 24 , 160 ]. To the best of our knowledge, there are only a few reports on combining biophilic interventions with pharmacotherapies [ 43 , 61 ].…”

“…Residential environments are often overlooked as a complementary means to improve therapeutic outcomes [ 9 ]. The emerging field of biophilic design has been focusing on therapeutic indoor environments for decades [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ]. The biophilic design philosophy is derived from an inherent need for humans to connect with nature in order to stay in physical and mental balance [ 12 , 18 ].…”

Psychological and Physiological Responses to Different Views through a Window in Apartment Complexes

“…This result implies that apartment landscape may constantly affect the psychological state of residents, and it partially supports the fact that children living on middle floors exposed to this closed and stuffy landscape are showing a relatively high disease incidence (Choi and Kang, 2001). Indoor green space in apartments reduces spatial closedness felt by residents and has a positive effect on changes in their emotions and mood states (Hung and Chang, 2021), and thus it can be used as a means to solve health problems caused by the environment.…”

Therapeutic Garden With Contemplative Features Induces Desirable Changes in Mood and Brain Activity in Depressed Adults

“…There is a growing body of evidence supporting the broad spectrum of mental health benefits associated with exposure to specific natural environments ( 1 , 2 ). In environmental psychology and landscape architecture research, these environments have been called salutogenic ( 3 ), contemplative ( 4 ), tranquil ( 5 ), restorative ( 6 ), sensory ( 7 ), and therapeutic ( 8 ), among other names.…”