As cities become denser how do urban homes provide access to the outdoors?
Research suggest that having access to the outdoors has an immediate effect on your quality of life, including your physical and mental well-being.
…a disconnection from nature has very real consequences for our mental, physical, and spiritual health. Separated from nature, we are more stressed, heal more slowly, and we feel much more emotionally imbalanced. [9]
In an effort to understand how people value this aspect of urban living, we asked the VDTA offices to identify 3 of the most important features to them in their current home and what they aspire to have in the future. 48% stated that having a connection to the outdoors was currently important and 35% aspired to have it.
Current
Aspire to Have
Similarly, 13% of the VDTA respondents stated that they spent the most time in outdoor spaces including parks, backyards, gardens, and terraces. 26% stated that they felt the most at home in those spaces.
Spend Most Time Vs. Feel Most at Home
On our site tours many of the leasing agents emphasized spaces that had a connection to the outdoors: large open windows with views, roof decks, garden spaces, outdoor kitchen, terraces, and pools to name a few.
There are steps cities can take to introduce nature into the urban core, including requiring buildings to have windows that open to allow in fresh air and natural light; incorporating more rooftop gardens and urban agriculture; and creating spaces within and around buildings to touch, see and smell native plants. [10]
