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Addressing Mental Well Being as Sustainability in Indian Cities:-
 What is MENTAL WELL BEING?
It can refer to people’s ‘sense of wellness’ and ‘happiness’ in a city.It’s not that easy to measure it because it can not be a static concept.Different people have different
perspective of experiencing well being in several ways. As it is a vast topic of discussion, that focuses on range of issues like-including safety,health and environmental factors.
 INTRODUCTION:
As we all know cities are one of the living entities and
need to be compassionate and should have caring spaces.
On March 20,International Happiness day is celebrated
all around the world.So,according to survey India is
ranked 133 out of 156 on the World Happiness Index. As
usual Mental Well Being went unnoticed in India.
Basically we define Smart Cities as a cities equipped with 
basic infrastructure to give a decent quality of life ,a clean
and sustainable environment through application of
smart solutions.
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See while defining Smart Cities we never talk about
Mental Well Being,which has become a major
concern,especially Post Pandemic. So,I took this topic
because it identifies a major urban issue in a all sectors.
The common conditions prevailing in the urban areas
related to well being are, depression, high suicide rates,
anxiety across age group, etc. and the enclosed air-
conditioned spaces are no longer efficient in preventing
these problems. The traditional Indian architecture, and
 Our regional development plans are reflecting these
open market design, are more preferred due to open
ventilation system, which is the foremost requirement of
Post COVID-19 Pandemic.
But in today’s Indian Cities Design, the designers, and
planners, are only talking, about, the mental health of
the people, but its projections in plans, design and
management is still very far from reality.
Presented By:-Pragati Singhal
The green spaces have lost their relationship with the
neighbourhood, the active spaces of the cities, are just
blank and idol places, with empty gym equipment’s,
social spaces have never reached a level which achieve
sense of community, and the secured spaces are just
lost in the darkness, traffic and environment pollutants.
Few techniques at urban planning and designing
levels which can improve the well being of the
people of the city are:
Green Spaces, as the name reflects, are the vegetated
land or water, like parks, gardens, etc., but we cannot
restrict its definition to this much only. These are the
breathing and the healing spaces of the human
beings, where we the humans, cherish our life, reduce
our stress, and join the hands with the nature. These
spaces help in promoting the physical activity of the
user’s and promotes substantial benefits on the
mental health of the individual.
spaces but their maintenance and poor built quality,
fails to achieve the target for which they are being
designed for, and on the other hands if not safe, can
have negative effects on the human health. The
features required for achieving the mental well being
through these spaces, still lack to be implemented as
no proper policies and framework provided.
B.Arch
2. The urban streetscape is also one of the factor,
which plays a vital role in enhancing the mental
well-being to the people of the city by diverting
their mind to more enriched environment and
giving them a break from their mental stress.
Boring uniform streetscapes, reduces the people
interest in the outdoor environment, and again
thinking back of their individual problems.
 The building bye-laws of the cities should
address this issue of the streetscape in a fashion
that after few meters of façade a change in style
of the built environment can help in maintaining
the interest of the viewer in the built envelop
and not lose their interest.
3. In similar manner the effective transportation
system also plays an important role, in
maintaining the well being of the people of the
city. Living near public transit is positively
associated with good well being and mental
health and ease of commuting is achieved.
 These are the few examples of changes that can
be adopted on the policies and planning level of
the government, where better policies for
implementation of the design is required,
enabling planners to focus on the mental
disorders of the people along the physical
disorders.
Amity University,Rajasthan

Addressing Mental Well Being as Sustainability in Indian Cities:-
 Various Urban Strategies that can be involved
in City Design and Planning are:
1. Enhancement of Built and Open Space inter-
relationship to promote physical activity in the
built environment.
2. 25-50 sq. mtrs. of open space required for every
individual household.
3. Provision of indoor and outdoor area for sports,
games, and leisure activities in offices and
educational institutions are required.
4. Local Market should be provided in the radius of
500m to promote the walking.
5. Comfortable streetscape, with shaded trees along
internal movement network in the
neighbourhood.
6. Social integration of neighbourhood by group
housing units with no segregation of religion,
caste, and income.
 The multiple problems that are developed due
to such problems are:
1. Absence of open space and physically inactive
morphology leads to non-communicable diseases.
2. Vulnerable movement network will lead to
accidents and injuries.
3. Mental Disorders can be developed due to absence
of activity and social coherence.
Presented By:-Pragati Singhal
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 CONLUSION:
Due to COVID-19, people have started living in the
indoor environments, and are loosing touch with
such spaces, thus it has become an important role of
the state governments,the Architects , the Town
Planners and the Urban Designers to resolve the
problems caused on the mental health of the
individual, through proper utilization of these
spaces, which are left neglected .
in the due course of time.
Millions of people live in the Indian cities, who feels
socially isolated, which can be resolved through Urban
Design and Urban Planning. The design of the
neighbourhood and houses should be done in a
manner that it emphasizes the utilization of local
amenities, such as parks with the walking distance etc.
The other method could be integrating the physical
amenities in the daily routine of the people such as
safe walkways, good public transit system etc.
 Thus, the development in urban planning and urban
design strategies in Indian cities can enhance the
mental well being of the individuals, as it may help in
solving multiple problems together. It will impact the
physical urban environment, and the design
processes can directly impact the physical and mental
health and social well being and reduce the health
inequities in various ways.
B.Arch Amity University,Rajasthan