Urban Design Science for Health Lab

Guest Speakers: Andrew T. Kaczynski, Suzanne Mavoa, Javad Koohsari, Jenny Veitch, Alison Carver, Mohammad Mizanur Rahman, Monica Motomura, Tomoya Hanibuchi, Akitomo Yasunaga

Organiser: Urban Design Science for Health Lab

This international symposium brings together world-leading scholars to examine progress, challenges, and emerging directions in research on public open spaces and active lifestyles.

The event builds on a decade of international research and discussion, drawing insights from urban design science, public health, behavioural science, and leisure science.

Key questions to be explored include:

• How has evidence about public open spaces and active lifestyles advanced in the past decade?

• What methodological and conceptual challenges remain?

• What new issues are emerging as urban contexts change?

• How can research better inform the design and management of public open spaces that promote active lifestyles?

Guest Speaker: Yi Lu

Moderator: Javad Koohsari

Organiser: Urban Design Science for Health Lab

Over the past four decades, Chinese cities have undergone dramatic transformation, yet significant challenges persist. Among them, so-called “urban diseases” have become increasingly urgent, including environmental pollution, traffic congestion, and sedentary lifestyles characterized by insufficient physical activity. Large-scale urban developments often lead to wide arterial roads and gated communities, which not only reinforce automobile dependence but also diminish opportunities for active living, thereby contributing to obesity and chronic diseases.

This lecture examines how urban planning and design can better support outdoor physical activity, such as walking and cycling, with a particular focus on optimizing neighborhood environments to enhance public health. Drawing on research conducted in high-density cities such as Hong Kong, it explores the relationships between built environment factors—urban density, greenery, and others—and residents’ physical activity, while contrasting these findings with evidence from low-density Western cities. The discussion aims to identify planning and design strategies that foster more active lifestyles and promote healthier urban communities.

Guest Speaker: Ying Long

Moderator: Javad Koohsari

Organiser: Urban Design Science for Health Lab

Contemporary cities are undergoing the fourth industrial revolution, characterized by disruptive technologies like artificial intelligence (AI). Urban Artificial Intelligence (UrbanAI) represents the convergence of AI with urban disciplines. This presentation outlines a structured UrbanAI framework utilizing cutting-edge technologies including AIGC, LLMs, IoT, and robotics, built upon three key dimensions: analyzing urban dynamics through AI, transforming urban spaces via AI applications, and innovating urban environments with AI capabilities.

First, UrbanAI is revolutionizing urban studies through novel data collection and analysis methods. Second, it’s reshaping urban life and spatial structures, thereby updating traditional urban theories. Finally, UrbanAI serves as a new productivity tool, enhancing urban planning, management, and construction. The discussion highlights UrbanAI’s trajectories, potential, and implications for urban science and practice, while addressing both opportunities and challenges in UrbanAI development.

Guest Speaker: Nestor Asiamah

Moderator: Javad Koohsari

Organiser: Urban Design Science for Health Lab

Studies in climate psychology have quantified climate anxiety but none of them has focused on older adults. Research has explored demographic and socio-economic predictors of climate anxiety; nonetheless, no study has considered environmental or contextual factors that may explain climate anxiety in older adults. This study, therefore, quantified climate anxiety, stratified it by demographic, socio-economic, and contextual factors, and explored its predictors.

A cross-sectional design with sensitivity analyses was employed, and data were collected from a nationally representative sample of 3994 older residents of Ghana. A multi-stage sampling method was utilised to select residents from seven cities: Accra, Kumasi, Cape Coast, Tamale, Ho, Koforidua, and Wa. Climate anxiety was quantified using the Climate Anxiety Scale (CAS) and stratified using the Analysis of Variance and t-test. Multiple linear regression was utilised to assess predictors of climate anxiety.

Climate anxiety was higher than previous levels found in the general population with the CAS and differed between cities. The highest climate anxiety was in Tamale and the Savanna. Predictors of climate anxiety include climate change awareness, not having a chronic disease, older age, full-time work, living in the Savanna, and living in less dense and less urban cities. Climate anxiety differed between demographic, socio-economic, and environmental categorisations.

The association of some demographic and socio-economic factors with climate anxiety depends on climate change awareness and contextual factors. Research investigating whether climate anxiety changes with time is needed.