Journal of Urban Studies on Space and Place

Abstract Mental health challenges have become increasingly prominent in contemporary urban environments, where rapid urbanization, population growth, environmental stressors, and socio-economic inequalities intensify psychological pressures. As cities continue to expand, the demand for spaces that promote psychological comfort, social interaction, and emotional well-being has grown substantially. While environmental psychology provides rich insights into how physical and social environments shape human behavior, stress, perception, and well-being, urban planning traditionally emphasizes infrastructure, spatial organization, and land use. Despite their shared concerns, these two fields have often developed independently, creating a conceptual and operational gap. Addressing this gap is essential for creating human-centered, health-supportive, and sustainable urban environments. This study responds to this need by systematically analyzing the intellectual landscape, conceptual patterns, and research gaps at the intersection of environmental psychology and urban planning over a 52-year period.
Theoretical Framework
The research is anchored in an interdisciplinary framework that conceptualizes cities as dynamic psychological environments. Environmental psychology theories—including person–environment fit, stress recovery theory, attention restoration theory, and place attachment—highlight that environmental attributes such as green spaces, architectural form, density, mobility networks, and sensory qualities influence cognition, emotional states, social behavior, and health outcomes. Urban planning theories, particularly those related to sustainable development, human-centered design, and socio-spatial justice, emphasize the need for equitable, inclusive, and resilient environments. By integrating these perspectives, the framework positions environmental psychology as a bridge that connects physical design with human needs. This integration helps explain why certain spatial configurations reduce stress, why natural elements enhance emotional well-being, how socio-economic factors shape environmental perceptions, and how built environments influence health disparities among age groups—including children, adults, and the elderly. The theoretical model underscores that psychological well-being is not merely an individual attribute but an outcome shaped by spatial, social, demographic, and environmental systems.
Methodology
The study employs a scientometric design to provide a systematic, quantitative, and visual analysis of research trends. A total of 462 English-language publications from the Scopus database (1973–2025) were retrieved based on carefully selected keywords related to environmental psychology and urban planning. Boolean combinations ensured that only publications addressing both domains were included. VOSviewer software was used to conduct:
• Co-occurrence analysis to identify conceptual linkages,
• Cluster analysis to categorize thematic domains,
• Overlay visualization to map temporal evolution of concepts,
• Density mapping to highlight areas of concentrated scholarly attention.
The time-span was categorized into four major evolutionary phases to reveal how each era contributed to the intellectual development of the field. This methodological approach allows for comprehensive identification of dominant themes, emerging research areas, and underexplored gaps.
Results and Discussion
The analyses revealed six major conceptual clusters that together form the intellectual core of the intersection between environmental psychology and urban planning:
1. Environmental Psychology and Urban Sustainability:
Emphasizing green spaces, environmental quality, restorative environments, and psychological well-being as core components of sustainable cities.
2. Demographic Psychology and Socio-economic Factors:
Highlighting how population growth, socio-economic status, gender, and social inequality affect environmental perception and behavior.
3. Psychology of Elderly Health:
Stressing the importance of supportive environments, accessibility, neighborhood characteristics, and social support for aging populations.
4. Psychology of Physical Activity and Built Environment:
Focusing on walkability, cycling infrastructure, parks, and public spaces that promote active lifestyles and mental health.
5. Psychological Stress and Environmental Risk Factors:
Addressing how noise, crowding, pollution, unsafe neighborhoods, and poor housing conditions induce stress and mental health burdens.
6. Traffic Safety Psychology and Driving Behavior:
Examining risk perception, driver behavior, pedestrian safety, and environmental features affecting traffic-related mental load.
The conceptual evolution indicates a clear progression:
• 1973–2005: Foundations of demographic and environmental behavior research.
• 2005–2010: Increased attention to social determinants of health and environmental inequalities.
• 2010–2015: Expansion toward climate change, urbanization impacts, and mobility behaviors.
• 2015–2025: Focus on mental health, sustainability, green infrastructure, COVID-19 repercussions, and AI-driven urban analytics.
The discussion highlights Environmental Psychology as an integrative lens that explains why and how urban forms influence stress, emotional resilience, social participation, and well-being. The study underscores that cities must be understood not only as physical infrastructures but also as psychological ecosystems that shape daily experiences.
Conclusion
This research concludes that environmental psychology and urban planning form a synergistic and interdependent relationship. Integrating psychological insights into planning processes enhances the creation of environments that support mental health, strengthen social cohesion, and enhance residents' quality of life. The findings demonstrate that:
• Environmental psychology acts as a bridge connecting human needs with spatial design.
• Urban sustainability requires psychological sustainability, including emotional safety, stress reduction, and supportive social environments.
• Human-centered design principles are essential for resilient and equitable urban development.
The study recommends embedding environmental psychology into urban policy-making, planning guidelines, and crisis-responsive strategies—especially in the context of climate change, pandemics, and rapid socio-environmental transitions. Future research should include cross-cultural comparisons, longitudinal psychological assessments of urban residents, and deeper investigation of emerging global challenges. Overall, the study contributes a comprehensive scientometric synthesis that clarifies conceptual structures, identifies research gaps, and highlights critical pathways for future interdisciplinary research.

Abstract Introduction
 Humans, as social beings, cannot live independently and without the need for society. A solitary human always feels incomplete. Loneliness is a form of social separation and a discomforting feeling arising from our unmet need for perceived social connection. Thus, it can be described as a type of social pain. In other words, it is a painful feeling of being cut off and separated from others, an unpleasant experience that emerges in response to quantitative and qualitative deficiencies in social relationships. Loneliness, described as the "hidden epidemic of the 21st century," has become a fundamental challenge in urban societies. Despite its multifaceted consequences, there is a research gap in the systematic analysis of the role of urban planning in exacerbating loneliness. 
Methodology
This study, with an interdisciplinary approach, comprehensively analyzes the effective indicators in this context. The study is applied in terms of its objective and descriptive-analytical with a mixed method approach in terms of its method. The statistical population of the research consists of experts in psychology, sociology, social sciences, architecture, urban planning, and social psychology. The sample size was determined to be 100 people using the G*Power software, and the questionnaire was distributed among the experts using the snowball sampling method. The validity of the tool was confirmed by expert judgment. Data collection was carried out in the literature review, background, and research indicators sections using the library method, and in the measurement and evaluation of indicators section using the field method and questionnaire. The data were analyzed using the Friedman test, one-sample t-test, and correlation in the SPSS software.
Result and discussion 
The Friedman test results indicated that inadequate access to green spaces (rank 1), social places (rank 2), and low social participation (rank 3) were the most important factors in creating and exacerbating urban loneliness. Additionally, factors such as limited access to recreational spaces, lack of natural elements in the urban environment, and frequent changes in the urban fabric that weaken place identity were recognized as other influencing indicators in exacerbating the loneliness crisis. The one-sample t-test results showed that access to public (2.27) and social (2.11) spaces had the most significant impact on the feeling of loneliness in urban environments. This finding highlights the importance of interactive spaces in reducing the feeling of loneliness. Furthermore, low social participation (2.02) and inadequate access to recreational spaces (1.56) were identified as other influential factors. A significant relationship between environmental-natural factors and loneliness was also observed; the lack of natural sounds (1.46), absence of nature views from windows (1.15), and shortage of green spaces (1.03) were associated with increased feelings of loneliness. Cultural-identity factors, such as the loss of memory due to continuous changes in the urban environment (1.28) and socio-economic classifications (1.06), also play a role in this phenomenon. In contrast, purely physical indicators like population density (0.03), facade quality (0.08), and building height proportion (0.05) had little impact on the feeling of loneliness. The comparison of Friedman and one-sample t-test results shows significant alignment. A strong positive correlation confirms that the results of both tests are closely related, with almost 91% of changes in the ranking of indicators in one test explainable by changes in the other. This strong correlation indicates that both statistical methods provide similar results in evaluating the relative importance of indicators. The findings of this study show that the indicators influencing the creation or exacerbation of loneliness in urban planning are divided into eight main clusters. These clusters include access to and quality of public and social spaces, social participation and interactions, human-nature connection, urban culture and identity, built environment quality and visual aspects, housing physical characteristics, residential environment features, and access to daily services and amenities. Each of these clusters plays a significant role in reducing or exacerbating the feeling of loneliness in urban spaces, and emphasizing the improvement of these factors can enhance urban life quality and reduce loneliness. Comparing this research's results with other studies shows that most studies have examined loneliness from individual and emotional aspects, while a comprehensive study on the impact of urban planning indicators on loneliness does not exist. The findings on nature indicators, access to services, and social places are aligned with studies like those by Lowell Sachs et al., Moore et al., and Ji Hee Lee and Tak Hon Tan. Loneliness in contemporary cities forms from the interaction of physical, social, cultural, and environmental factors. This phenomenon is influenced by three main layers: physical-spatial (including public spaces and housing quality), socio-cultural (citizen participation and collective activities), and environmental-ecological (connection with nature and natural elements). The combination of these factors can lead to an increase or decrease in the feeling of loneliness in citizens.
Conclusion 
Urban planning requires an integrated and multi-level approach that simultaneously considers physical, social, and environmental dimensions and is based on nature-oriented and human-oriented principles. This approach should include strategies such as creating an integrated network of public spaces, strengthening social infrastructure, integrating natural elements into urban design, and preserving cultural heritage.

Abstract The use of fossil fuels as the main source of energy and the resulting environmental concerns are the most challenging issues of the 21st century. In the meantime, buildings consume about 40% of the total energy produced worldwide. In most cities of Iran, especially in desert areas with rich architecture, such as Qaenat city, unstable forms of newly built structures have caused serious damage to the stable appearance of these cities. In this research, the role of the factors affecting urban planning based on sustainable buildings in the Qaenat city has been investigated using the dynamic system method in order to identify the factors affecting sustainable urban development and the type of their impact on each of them. In this regard, after studying the background of the research and extracting some components of the model, from interviews with 17 active members of architecture companies and university professors in the fields of architecture and renewable energy production, to investigate the role of factors affecting urban planning. Then these identified factors were analyzed using a quantitative method and using a dynamic system. The modeling method used in this research includes four stages, which are: qualitative modeling, quantitative modeling, model testing, and testing. In this research, Vensim PLE 7.3.5 software is used to simulate the dynamic model. The findings indicate that urban planning factors in the city are divided into five categories, including transportation, social, cultural, economic and energy sustainability and urban environment. The results have shown that sustainable buildings have direct effects on the components of a sustainable city. These buildings are very effective in reducing pollution, producing clean energy and improving the urban landscape.

Abstract Citizen participation, a process of public decision that affects individual and collective interests, is a part of democracy within the relationship between empowering citizens and the government, and nowadays, the capability of retaliating in urban planning has been considered in developed societies. Realizing this process, which forms in the context of communication, depends on the empowerment communities process, in which people and communities can affect their environment, leading to decentralization in power. Therefore, this article aims to study and analyze how to promote citizen participation in urban planning through the empowerment of local cohesive communities in the communication platform of virtual space.Therefore by considering three concepts of communication, community empowerment, and citizen participation via three below ways, we tried to find the participation of the three above concepts over time 1- content analyses, 2- historical research, 3-comparative research. The analysis results in this paper express the gradual improvement of citizen participation in urban designing over time and to make more democratized communication; in addition, the possibility of relationship development and network communication in virtual communities and increasing the empowerment of communities are very useful in this process.

Abstract Marginalization is a consequence of the rapid growth of urbanization in modern society and a big problem that metropolises face, especially in developing countries. Where the current government policy to eradicate marginalization is contrary to one of the basic human rights of immigrants, the gradual integration of such areas in cities is the most humane and realistic way to improve the living space of these areas. This type of settlement is growing rapidly in the city of Isfahan. Amir Arab district is an informal and marginal settlement of Isfahan city. This study deals with physical, economic, social, demographic, environmental, and urban infrastructure indicators as key criteria for analyzing and evaluating informal settlements in the Amir Arab region. The main goal of this research is to plan marginal and informal settlements for the Amir Arab district, which will be prepared and compiled based on the approach of urban development strategy (CDS). This study used the descriptive-analytical analysis method, and the required data was obtained from library sources and a field survey. The random sampling method has been used to identify the strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the SWOT method and finally it has led to providing suitable strategies for planning this type of settlement. To confirm the hypotheses and their validity, the chi-square test was used.

Abstract Abstract
Disability as a biological and social phenomenon is a reality that all countries face. Meeting the access needs of people with disabilities requires the use of special measures because providing equal access and opportunities for members of society is one of the pillars of citizenship rights.The purpose of this article is to redefine the content of the urban planning system based on a critical analysis of Isfahan urban space from the perspective of the disabled and to provide practical recommendations for improving the social, spatial and physical conditions of cities in favor of physically disabled people. Thus, the researcher in the present study seeks to answer the question that what is the model of the components of the criticized urban space of Isfahan from the perspective of the disabled and how valid is this model? The type of research in this research is descriptive-analytical. Urban spaces are part of the open and public spaces of cities, which are a kind of crystallization of the nature of collective life. Urban spaces are a scene in which the story of collective life unfolds. They are spaces that allow people to access and work in it. While discussing social justice, Hahn sees access to places and spaces as broadly underpinning the efforts of people with disabilities to achieve equal opportunity. In every city, the necessary facilities for welfare and development must be provided for all sections of society. Many people with disabilities, especially the physically disabled, live in this world. On the other hand, cities are built for people who have a strong and healthy body. However, all citizens in cities, including the disabled, have the right to enjoy living and working opportunities in cities. The importance of citizenship equality is that people with disabilities, like other people in society, enjoy the facilities available in urban public spaces. People with physical disabilities are usually unable to move around cities due to physical barriers, unfair land use policies, substandard buildings, and insufficient public spaces available. Some developed countries of the world have paid attention to the needs of the disabled who have returned from the war since the eighties. As the social dimension of the issue expanded, it became even more important. These countries implemented programs that ensured the movement of the physically disabled in cities without any problems. In the present study, the type of study in terms of purpose is applied-developmental and the research method is analytical-descriptive in nature. The required information has been collected from documentary method and field or survey method. In the documentary method to review the theoretical foundations of research and statistics and information required, the most important research related to the subject, in the form of scientific articles in valid journals and statistical offices, municipalities, etc. have been used. The statistical population of the study will consist of two groups: 1- Managers and specialists in urban space affairs and affairs of the disabled; 2- All citizens with disabilities, veterans and mobility disabilities over 6 years old who are divided into five groups according to the types of disabilities (mobility and deaf - physically disabled, blind, visually impaired; spinal cord injuries). Descriptive statistics will be used to analyze the data obtained from the researcher-made questionnaire and the findings will be presented in the form of graphic representation and numerical indicators of the central tendency. Graphs are used to display graphically. Among the central tendency indices, the facade, which is the most appropriate type of central tendency index for reporting quantitative research, is used. Regression analysis is also used in SPSS20 software to check the validity of the model. Finally, the results of both stages are interpreted.
According to the studies and researches, it is concluded that the main problems of the disabled person in Isfahan are related to the network of roads and urban furniture. Adapting the passages for all citizens, especially the sensory-motor disabilities, is a must for you. Problems and obstacles in the urban pedestrian access network and the lack of comfortable movement on the sidewalks, create problems for different people. In the urban environment, people with disabilities, as an important group, should be considered in all urban designs. The blind in the city of Isfahan suffer from the lack of connection between the blind conductor routes and the disabled have problems with not considering their needs in the urban space. Therefore, measures must be taken to increase the participation and presence of this city. In the following, suggestions are provided to improve the situation of this city of Isfahan for the movement of the disabled and the mentally handicapped