Speaker: Adrian Buttazzoni, PhD
I am a public health and planning researcher whose work centrally explores how urban environments and their component physical landscapes and social contexts impact human health and wellbeing, with a specific focus on youth populations. Using multiple methods, I examine how physical and social environments, health promotion interventions, planning and health policy, and sociocultural processes can impact health beliefs, behaviors, and risks across space and place. Previously, I graduated with an MSc in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (Health Promotion) from the University of Western Ontario and a PhD in Planning from the University of Waterloo. Currently, I am a Postdoctoral Associate at the University of Western Ontario in the Department of Geography and Environment.
Abstract
In this presentation I will discuss how I have applied an interdisciplinary approach based in urban planning, public health, and environmental psychology to explore the ways in which urban environments, their quality, and their component design features can impact the mental health of adolescent populations (~10-17 years). Drawing on multiple studies that I have been involved with in recent years, I will detail this mixed methods scholarship—go-along interviews, video-based online surveys, and ecological momentary assessments—which has explored specific relationships between urban design concepts (e.g., pedestrian quality, architectural variety) and adolescent mental health indicators (i.e., emotional responses). Additionally, I will discuss how contemporary urban planning has contributed to development of urban environments that are increasingly becoming characterized by poor health conditions and outcomes; how urban design, specifically, can affect mental health; the relevance and importance of urban design for younger populations such as adolescents; and what the implications of my findings are in light of these broader planning and public health contexts, as well as for practitioners.