Restorative Urban Forest

Abstract

This thesis project, as part of the urban forest places graduation lab, focuses on the relationship between urban environments and the healing aspects of nature. Urban environments affect our body and state of mind, and are not always beneficial for our mental health. Landscape and urban design can do something about this. But the question is how? The city of Amsterdam is used as a location to investigate this. The city is surrounded with a diverse metropolitan landscape, which enters far into the city in the form of green wedges, also called the Scheggen. Amsterdam has a long history in investing in green spaces during urban expansions. Since the sixteenth century every period of growth has been accompanied by planned investment in green spaces. First by planting trees along the canals in the sixteenth century. Than by creating city parks in the nineteenth century. The existing green structure was planned during the General Expansion Plan in 1934, made by van Eesteren. The purpose of the General Expansion Plan was not only to expand urban development but also to create a balance between city and green space. This green structure ensures that every resident of Amsterdam can reach a green space within ten minutes, even from the heart of the city centre. Nowadays, the city of Amsterdam has to deal with the following problems. Firstly, the big pressure on the housing market, is forcing the city to densify as well as expand outside of its current urban borders, which makes the Scheggen vulnerable. Not only densification is a problem, but also the fact that more and more people suffer from mental health issues, such as stress, burn-outs, anxiety and depression. Of course we all need a little bit of stress, but if people cannot restore from too much stress for a prolonged period of time, their health will be negatively affected in many ways. Additionally, the city also has to deal with a number of other complex issues, such as climate change issues and biodiversity loss. This has led to the main research question: How can a forest park be designed in such a way that it contributes to reducing mental stress in an urban environment? The findings from the literature study provided evidence that a forest park can contribute to reduce mental stress. Visiting or viewing a forest has a positive effect on people’s mental health and recovering from stress, especially for people from urban environments. The literature study, together with a thorough site research, formed the site specific design principles for the design intervention. The result of this thesis is a design proposal for an urban forest park for Amsterdam Sloterdijk. The project shows that the design proposal for a forest park not only contributes to reduce mental stress in an urban environment, but also increases biodiversity, and acts as a climate buffer by managing rainwater and cooling the environment.