Resumen de Mind and urban landscape
The built environment influences people’s mental health (Evans, G., W., 2003).Actually, living in cities activates a dual process, since also our mental stateimpacts on the health of the cities. Therefore, a designer of public space hasthe responsibility to think of spaces not only in aesthetic terms, but also tomake them capable of responding to the psycho-physical needs of the peoplewho will dwell them. In order to do this, it is necessary to make use of theknowledge of other fields, in particular that of the psychology sphere. Althoughthe number of studies on how much the built environment impacts on people’smental health has increased in recent years, there still seems to be a gapwith design practices aimed to achieve a qualitative level for the city spaces.Perhaps this is also due to the lack of a set of guidelines for designers who canguide the design choices and of real indicators that allow, for instance, to verifythe impact of these choices. In this regard, urban psychology can offer a newreading key through the combination of the knowledge of some branches ofpsychology with the typical ways of designing spaces, with particular attentionto those of the city. Through a review of the state of the art, the paper tries todefine how urban design can improve people’s mental health in urban spaces,analyzing some characteristics that contribute to recognize an urban space asa place. Methods of study and work are suggested, trying to prefigure futuredevelopments so that the figure of the designer of public spaces becomesaware of his role and can impose himself as a pivotal figure in the developmentof the cities of the future.
