1

“A
Psychological Cage:
Urban Gorge’s impact on mental health”
By
Nomaan Khan
M.Arch Urban Regeneration, Sem I
ar.nomaanimrankhan@gmail.com

Keywords: Urban Gorges, Streetscape, Urban Regeneration, built environment, Urban Environment, mental health

Introduction

ippocrates, In 400 B.C, noticed the relation of Airs, Waters and

H Places on health, he was like a magician with medicine in his time.

He describes swamps and marshy places as unhealthy and sunny
breezy hill sides as healthy places.1
Thus the concept of influence of place on health cannot be said to be new. And
this concept is very much relevant in today’s urban context where Hippocrate’s
‘place’ can be the ‘built environment’ enveloping an urban individual with its
presence and sprawl everywhere, on land or in sky. These built forms are
actually the elements which form the cities today and they are the
indispensable part of one’s surrounding environment or ‘sense of place’. And
due to the untamed growth in urban areas there are some portions of this huge
mass which is very compact in design. Areas which are not planned by the
governing authorities2 and still exist in form of unauthorised or squatter
settlements and here comes the occurrence of ‘Urban Gorges’ or may be just
very compact and dull looking spaces within the living city which can be a
visual cousins to the ‘Canyons’ which are created by the rivers cutting the soft

1
Hippocrates (original text written 400 B.C.E).
On Airs, Waters, and Places. In:
http://classics.mit.edu/Hippocrates/airwatpl.1.1.html
2
Housing Supply System in Unauthorized Settlements in Delhi:
Process and Outcomes
Sohail Ahmad, United Nations University - Institute of Advanced Studies, Japan

Article presented to Ar. Adarsha kapoor

For: PARAMETERS: Planning- Processes and Principles; submitted by: Nomaan Khan M.Arch(U.R) Sem I
Faculty Of Architecture and Ekistics, Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi, India. Session: 2013-14
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crust of Earth. And these conditioned built forms are said to affect the
individual’s health and is believed to be linked with poor mental health. 3

Impact of Urban Gorge on mental health

“We shape our buildings and thereafter they shape us”4

Studies suggests that an average individual living in a developed world spends

up to 85% of their life inside an artificially built environment inclusive of
buildings, streets, compact housing, transportation or travelling from one built
environment to another.5
Gorge like structures within build environment of city and they impact the
mind set of individuals.6 The comfort level of these narrower streets (urban
gorges) have been studied in questionnaire surveys When asked to rank the
degree of mental discomfort from 1 to 5, The data shows 40% perceived the
street as having no claustrophobic feeling, 44% suggested a low claustrophobic
feeling, and the remaining 12% agreeing the street was moderately
claustrophobic. Hence it can be concluded that there is a direct effect of these
narrow built forms on human mind. Studies have highlighted how such these
enclosed structures can impact on both mental and physical health through
reduction in visual attractiveness, increased anxiety among residents and
increased social disorder. Further, contemporary theory suggests that streets
with ratios narrower than 1:1 tend to have a negative claustrophobic feeling.7
These included landscaping, planting trees, better waste management and

3
The impact of the physical and urban environment
on mental well-being H.F. Guitea, C.Clarkb, G.Ackrillc.
4
Churchill W. Winston Churchill quote. In: www.winstonchurchill.org
5
Samet JM, Spengler JD. Indoor Environment and Health: Moving Into the 21st Century. Am J of
Public Health 2003
6
Dalgard O, Tambs K. Urban environment and mental health. A longitudinal study. Br J Psychiatry
1997;
7
Alexander, C. (1977). A Pattern Language

Article presented to Ar. Adarsha kapoor

For: PARAMETERS: Planning- Processes and Principles; submitted by: Nomaan Khan M.Arch(U.R) Sem I
Faculty Of Architecture and Ekistics, Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi, India. Session: 2013-14
 3

greater street lighting. Participant observation and data gathered from

interviews suggest that these measures impacted most positively on people
with mental illness when they addressed issues.8

Conclusion

From above study there is a clear outcome that urban gorges have a negative
impact on an individual’s mind and behaves like an enclosed psychological
cage for the people. The urban regeneration programme was not designed to
be a mental health population intervention but still, there is a large literature
on the effect of place per se on health, attention has been paid to whether
aspects of urban regeneration programmes can influence public health,
particularly mental health.9 An urban regeneration programme in an English
town may have contributed to a decrease in rates of anxiety and depression.
Urban regeneration being a method to rebuild, revive already built up places
by physical intervention. And this physical intervention can help to create new
areas and treat these urban gorges and reduce their claustrophobic effects on
individuals and make the urban settlements a comfortable place for the
human mind.

8
Jackson RJ, Kochtitzky C. Creating a Healthy Environment: The Impact of the Built Environment on
Public Health. Washington DC; 2001.
9
Can urban regeneration programmes assist coping
and recovery for people with mental illness?
Suggestions from a qualitative case study
ROB WHITLEY and MARTIN PRINCE

Article presented to Ar. Adarsha kapoor

For: PARAMETERS: Planning- Processes and Principles; submitted by: Nomaan Khan M.Arch(U.R) Sem I
Faculty Of Architecture and Ekistics, Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi, India. Session: 2013-14