This research encompasses an exploration on spaces for mental health and wellbeing for newcomers in the Netherlands with a migration background caused by forced dislocation. This group of new Dutch citizens have a higher prevalence for mental disorders such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and related symptoms of a decreased mental health. The role of architectural spaces and architectonic elements is analyzed and studied through a thorough literature research, supported by case studies to relate to practical executions of the findings. The architectural spaces are defined by necessary activities in preventing and treating mental disorders, creating spaces that support participation, feeling of control, social relations, restoring identity etc. in relation to the integration process on a neighborhood-level. The architectonic elements describe the design considerations for these spaces concerning natural daylight, clear wayfinding, safety through a stable environment, materials for comfortable spaces and atmosphere created through aesthetics that create a home-like and familiar environment for support.

The attempts made in history to design livable sustainable neighborhoods, have created dependency instead on motorized transportation and have increased the pressure of the city, leading to unsustainable environments and causing global climate change. To accomplish sustainability we introduce a new vision to explain what sustainability means in the built environment and how we can identify ourselves more with the term sustainability. In this thesis we explore therefore policies and strategies where the urban environment and public health meet each other. We believe that by increasing public health, a sustainable environment will be the result. To translate this into urban design, we suggest to design from the neighborhood, the building block of the city. By transforming neighborhoods into a network of healthy places we research how we can increase the quality (livability) of neighborhoods to increase public health, wellbeing and sustainability in the built environment.

Vulnerable people with a psychiatric disorder are no longer staying in institutions outside of society, from now on the will live in the neighbourhood, in the so called ‘inclusive society’. In reality, some challenges need to be overcome such as loneliness and social isolation while living independent, negative stereotyping and stigmatization of people with psychiatric disorders, absence of the necessary safety nets of outpatient care, a lack of suitable low-cost rental housing and a society that is not entirely inclusive. This is to be seen as ‘the illusion
of inclusion’. In my research I aimed to develop architectural principles to enable psychiatric patients to live independently within the neighbourhood. These architectural principles were developed by means of a literature review, best practices and interviews. The architectural principles serve as a method of testing the design. Even though the design itself is positioned on a specific location, these principles are a general guideline for designing for independent living with a psychiatric illness.