Track 4.3: Urban Well-being and the Cultural Fabric of Cities

The urban area of Northeast Pasco County, Florida, commonly called San Antonio Hills, or simply “The Hills”, is beloved by cyclists for its rolling, sun-soaked terrain and scenic backroads. A vibrant road-cycling culture has taken root here over time, forging connections among neighboring communities and promoting a healthy, active lifestyle. Yet despite these successes, The Hills’ cycling infrastructure has struggled to keep pace with demand. With a tight budget, the local authority is committed to nurturing cycling culture through strategic, cost-effective novel measures. As local riders embrace long-term shifts toward health and wellness, cycling at The Hills aligns perfectly with broader development goals focused on culture, identity, and inclusive urban transformation. The Hills has hosted annual events like the “Pride Ride” not only to celebrate the region’s Suncoast heritage and Florida landscapes, but also underscore the community’s commitment to inclusivity and shared identity through sport and recreation. Beyond its cultural impact, cycling tourism has become an economic catalyst for The Hills and surrounding areas. With a popular bike network spanning more than 100 square miles across three counties, the region has balanced growth by providing equitable access and connectivity between town centers, suburban neighborhoods, and open countryside. Cultivating a world-class cycling tourism culture has been formally adopted as a long-term sustainable development objective and integrated into the regional comprehensive plan. To address the unpleasant riding experience issue from the outdated infrastructure, the county engaged the project team to produce a targeted planning study prioritizing improvements under a constrained budget. The team used an approach blended quantitative analysis with deep community engagement that created a reference model for planners. The study began by interviewing over 150 local cyclists to pinpoint preferred and avoided routes, road-condition worries, and specific trouble spots. Next, the team developed a Bicycle Level of Service model integrating Roadway geometry, Posted speeds, Traffic volumes (ADT), and Pavement quality drawn from field surveys and GIS databases. Then overlaid crash data from FDOT by identifying bicycle, pedestrian, and roadway-departure incidents including crash locations and run off the road crashes. And STRAVA, a smartphone application that allows bicyclists to track their workouts via their phone’s GPS capabilities to create heatmaps to understand actual rider behavior and corridor popularity. Using GIS, the team mapped and weighted each metric under the guidance of the cyclist committee to produce a ranked list of corridors most in need of safety enhancements. The final report detailed recommended improvements, such as widened shoulders, high-visibility striping, and strategic signage, alongside cost estimates and an implementation timetable. Thanks to this data-driven, community-centered, and bottom-up study, the planning authority was able to secure funding and complete priority upgrades the following years, making The Hills safer and more inviting for all riders.

Riyadh city’s rapid urbanization, driven by Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, causes critical challenges to its urban livability. As the city expands, it faces growing car dependency that has a negative impact on human mobility and air quality. On the other hand, it is evident that Riyadh city experiences walkability deficiency and non-human-centric public spaces, which diminishes the opportunities for social interaction, recreation and better quality of life. Artificial Intelligence (AI) presents transformative opportunities to address these concerns by enabling its technologies within the urban built environment. With this motivation, this study explores the integration of AI technologies with New Urbanism Principles to propose a comprehensive urban transformation model that addresses these challenges, with focus on enhancing walkability, in Riyadh city Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The research employs a multi-stage qualitative methodology, beginning with a systematic literature review to establish the synergy between AI technologies and New Urbanism Principles, followed by a comparative analysis of the best global practices case studies that employed the AI technologies to improve human experience in the built environments. Synthesizing all the findings, the paper introduces comprehensive urban transformation model for Riyadh City to enhance walkability, and to interduce more inclusive public spaces and mixed-use developments. Furthermore, this study provides guidelines for urban planners and policy makers for integrating AI tools in urban design processes, fostering collaboration with stakeholders and promoting policies that prioritize walkability and community engagement. This integrated model offers framework for strategies aligned with Vision 2030’s Quality of Life program, to provide a pathway towards transforming Riyadh into a more sustainable, vibrant and human-centered metropolis. The proposed comprehensive urban transformation model not only aims to enhance walkability and foster inclusive urban spaces but also contributes to the broader objective of promoting resilience and quality of life in urban environments. As Riyadh prepares for its future under Vision 2030, this research serves as relevant contribution to the dialogue on sustainable urban planning, offering actionable insights that can guide policies and practices for cities facing similar challenges globally.

Bhubaneshwar the capital city of Odisha in India is a historic town, with a 20th-century addition of the modern planned city portion and its expansion to meet the emerging needs of the society. The old town comprises 6th to 13th-century old living temples built in laterite and sandstones protected under the Archaeological Survey of India and State Archaeology, water tanks, ghats, a narrow street network, and residences of the Shevayat performing the rituals of the temples. Lack of maintenance of temple precincts and associated water tanks and traffic congestion are the major issues observed in this historic town. The present generation of the Shevayat community migrating to other professions which may disrupt the continuity of this temple town, is disregarded under the Smart City Mission. The paper aims to understand the local community's perception of their built and natural heritage, as well as the relationship between their cultural identity, livelihood, and well-being. The central question of the research is how the historic town and its associated communities survive in the present times and ensure the continuity of rituals and practices. The research identifies the dimensions of a sense of place and genius loci that contribute to the enhanced well-being of the local community. Hence the research investigates place identity, continuity, place attachment, and place dependence of the locals in the context of the cultural heritage. A structured perception survey questionnaire with closed-ended questions and Likert scale responses was prepared from the literature review and the survey collected 123 responses. The research integrates literature review observations, spatial mapping of the perception survey responses from locals using GIS, collected at different locations of the old town, and photographic documentation of visual observations to understand the sense of place and well-being. The evolution of Ekamra Kshetra, the historic town along with its modern expansion into the capital city of the state has had a significant impact on the sense of place and the wellbeing associated with the cultural heritage of the old town. A sense of pride and cohesion is observed in the locals because of accessibility and global outreach attracting domestic and international tourists and boosting revenue generation. The locals including Shevayats, their families, and others expressed that worshipping at temples, participating, witnessing, and celebrating the religious traditions and practices contribute to their place's attachment and dependence, retaining its identity. The GIS-based spatial analysis of hotspots and coldspots from the local's perception of a sense of place and well-being in the old town included mapping of locations that - provide employment opportunities; have accessibility issues; have religious associations; have architectural significance; need waste management, environmental upgradation; and ensure safety. The research identified that elderly residents prioritized religious aspects and sacredness of the temple precincts comprising the green spaces and waterbodies, while a certain portion of the younger generation was looking forward to economic benefits and modern urban experiences. In conclusion, the research provides a holistic understanding of the local's perception of cultural heritage and its impact on their well-being. It mapped the locations in the old town that has identity, attachment, and dependence on the locals, and the areas that need improvement to ensure their collective well-being. It emphasized the role of cultural heritage – the living temples and their associated rituals and practices to safeguard the wholeness of historic towns. It addressed the challenges faced by the locals and the town to ensure its continuity and conserve the sacred geography of the Ekamra Kshetra.

Urban greening has long been promoted as a cornerstone of climate adaptation and ecological restoration, with well-documented benefits such as mitigating urban heat islands, improving air quality, and enhancing mental well-being. However, existing research tends to emphasize these positive effects while neglecting residents’ lived experiences of health risks, including pollen-induced allergies and respiratory irritation. In China, online discourse from 2024 to 2025 has revealed a surge in public concern over such adverse effects, highlighting a growing disconnect between top-down climate objectives and local health realities. This emerging tension underscores the urgent need for more adaptive and collaborative approaches that reconcile expert-driven greening strategies with culturally responsive, health-sensitive urban planning.Themes This study directly contributes to Track 4 by investigating how residents’ health-related experiences shape their cultural attachments and sense of belonging in urban green spaces. By mapping sentimental responses across diverse greening types and pneumococcal, we reveal how plant selection and seasonal cycles become meaningful vehicles for expressing local identity. Building on these insights, our precision-greening typology proposes inclusive design suggestions that promote equitable access and participation, particularly for allergy-sensitive and other health-vulnerable populations. In doing so, this research embeds health equity into the cultural life of public green spaces, offering actionable pathways to reframe urban greening not only as an ecological solution but as a socially inclusive and culturally resonant practice that fosters vibrant and cohesive communities. In this research, BiliBili, a widely used long-video platform in China with high user engagement and broad demographic coverage, was selected as the data source. Its large user base enabled comprehensive collection and analysis of public health-related complaints linked to urban greening. Keywords were determined through literature review and validated with trending public discourse. These keywords guided retrieval and filtering of online comments, assisted by keyword-based extraction and Web ChatGPT tools, resulting in a dataset of 246,837 comments, with 114,673 valid entries for analysis. Annual increases in health-related complaints were observed. Using SnowNLP-based sentiment analysis and keyword co-occurrence modeling, we identified strong sentimental responses—including allergy-related anxiety, physical discomfort, and environmental skepticism. Drawing on six basic emotions (anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, surprise), sentiment classification found anxiety (37%) most prevalent, followed by anger (26%) and dissatisfaction (19%). Helplessness (11%) and fatigue (7%) were also present, with positive emotions in only a minority of cases. We found pollen-driven symptoms peak in spring, while dust-related allergies persist, worsening. To uncover causal relationships, we applied propensity score matching (PSM) with difference-in-differences (DID) ordinal logistic modeling. This revealed plant types and seasonal factors significantly influenced residents’ health perceptions, potentially mediated by airborne particle exposure. This study challenges optimism about health benefits of urban greening by foregrounding Chinese residents’ perspectives. It proposes a typology framework linking greening types, seasonal variations, and urban contexts to adverse health effects. By drawing on public sentiment data, we construct an emotion-based landscape of urban greening responses and highlight season-plant interactions. Ultimately, this research addresses a critical gap in understanding sentimental and health-related impacts of urban greening. It offers theoretical and practical guidance for precision greening strategies aligned with public health concerns. We advocate this framework’s adoption to proactively manage greening-induced health risks and address emerging multidimensional urban health vulnerabilities.

As urbanization accelerates globally, particularly in rapidly developing countries like China, urban renewal initiatives have become increasingly prevalent. These initiatives aim to revitalize aging infrastructure and improve living conditions in densely urban areas. Community public facilities, integral to urban renewal projects, serve not only as infrastructural enhancements in this process but also as catalysts for social interaction and overall well-being. While existing research has extensively examined the direct physical impacts of these facilities on health, there remains a significant gap in understanding the mediating role of neighborhood cohesion and the dynamic mechanisms at play over time. This study aims to bridge this gap by exploring the long-term health effects of community public facilities with a focus on the intermediary role of neighborhood cohesion. Utilizing data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) spanning from 2010 to 2018, we constructed a dynamic analytical framework for unravelling the interactions between public facilities, neighborhood relationships, and subjective wellbeing. Employing Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) and Cross-Lagged Panel Mediation Models (CLPM), we investigated the enduring impact of five categories of typical community public facilities, including shops, elderly activity centers, parks, playground, and fitness facilities, on residents’ subjective wellbeing. Neighborhood cohesion was measured by social cohesion questionnaires, and subjective wellbeing was measured by self-rated health and life satisfaction. Additionally, we analyzed the heterogeneous effects across various social groups, differentiated by gender, age, and income. Our findings revealed that the health effects of community public facilities exhibit significant spatiotemporal dynamics and group disparities. First, the social inclusiveness of facility functions determines the direction of general health effects: children’s playgrounds promote neighborhood relationships through intergenerational interactions, significantly enhancing, especially older residents’ subjective health, with effects that strengthen over time. In contrast, elderly activity centers, due to spatial exclusivity, lead to group isolation, markedly suppressing health of those being excluded in the short term. Second, the design and usage patterns of facilities influence the social cohesion. For example, sports facilities, with their competition-oriented components, might cause undesirable feelings even anxiety among residents, which directly harm subjective health. Third, there are significant group differences in health effects. Female group gained immediate health benefits through childcare social networks at children’s playgrounds; the middle-aged and young groups are more sensitive to the negative effects of sports facilities, whereas the older generation is less affected due to infrequent use of these spaces; low-income groups are more significantly impacted by the negative effects of public facilities, highlighting structural inequalities in the distribution of health resources. To enhance community well-being through urban renewal, it is essential to design public facilities that promote social inclusivity and intergenerational interaction. For instance, incorporating multi-use spaces that cater to diverse age groups can strengthen neighborhood ties and improve subjective health outcomes. Additionally, thoughtful design of sports facilities to encourage casual participation can reduce anxiety and foster positive social interactions. Addressing the unique needs of various demographic groups, such as providing accessible and affordable amenities for low-income residents, is crucial to mitigate health disparities and promote equity.

Marginalized women living in Delhi’s slums face significant challenges in their daily commute to work due to unsafe and exclusionary urban infrastructure. This paper examines the walkability issues these women encounter, focusing on poorly lit streets, secluded pathways—even if they serve as convenient shortcuts—and the absence of gender-sensitive urban planning. Such negative spaces heighten risks of harassment and violence, deterring mobility and economic participation. Conversely, the presence of CCTV surveillance, accessible public buildings, and proximity to wellconnected transportation systems emerge as critical factors that enhance perceived safety and accessibility. By analyzing women's preferences and lived experiences, this study advocates for inclusive urban design that prioritizes safety, equity, and dignity. The findings underscore the urgent need for policy interventions to transform hostile pathways into secure, empowering routes, ensuring marginalized women can navigate the city without fear.

Green open spaces are essential for the urban environment, providing ecological, social, and psychological benefits that increase urban vibrancy and stability. Dammam metropolitan region experiences rapid urban changes, and it is essential to understand the residents' perceptions of the green areas. This study suggests how social and economic factors affect the public approach towards parks and green places, including functionality, aspiration, and ecological value assumptions. Drawing data from online questionnaires distributed in various districts in Greater Dammam identifies the patterns in perceptions and expectations for the residents' preferences, satisfaction levels, and improvement. Results suggest that while green places widely recognize environmental and recreational value, there are notable inequalities in access and awareness. In conclusion, Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 highlights the importance of integrating inhabitants in green space plans, fostering community engagement, and aligning with long-term stability goals. This research contributes to permanent urban development by highlighting the role of community perceptions in shaping effective green space strategies. It advocates a participatory approach to urban planning that considers social and economic factors, leading to an inclusive and flexible urban environment.

This study presents an in-depth examination of Quanzhou's pujing (铺境) system as a remarkable example of organic urban place-making that has sustained cultural continuity through centuries of social and spatial transformation. Through meticulous architectural ethnography and research-by-drawing conducted over an eight-year period (2015-2023), we investigate how this unique socio-spatial structure - combining formal administrative wards (pu) with informal ceremonial boundaries (jing) - continues to animate the city's historic neighborhoods while adapting to contemporary urban pressures. The pujing system reveals itself as a complex urban palimpsest where multiple temporalities coexist. At its core are neighborhood temples that function as both spiritual anchors and social condensers, their spatial configurations embodying centuries of layered adaptation. These are not frozen relics of the past, but vibrant community institutions where daily life unfolds in rhythmic patterns. Our documentation captures how these spaces transform throughout the day - from morning gatherings of elderly residents exchanging news over tea, to children's impromptu playgrounds in the afternoons, to evening prayer sessions where candle smoke mingles with the aromas of home cooking. Seasonal festivals periodically reconfigure these everyday patterns, as alleyways become processional routes and temple courtyards transform into bustling marketplaces during events like the annual Pudu Salvation rituals. What makes the pujing system particularly instructive for contemporary urbanism is its dynamic equilibrium between preservation and adaptation. Three key mechanisms emerge from our study. First is the system's remarkable absorptive capacity, demonstrated by how 20th century administrative reforms were incorporated into existing ceremonial networks without erasing their cultural logic. Second is its distributed maintenance system, where responsibility for temple upkeep and ritual organization is shared among neighborhood families through informal but robust social contracts. Third is its graduated boundary system that creates zones of varying permeability - from the intimate space of household shrines to semi-public temple courtyards to the fully public festival streets - allowing for both cultural preservation and controlled interaction with broader urban forces. The lunar seventh month's Pudu Salvation ceremonies offer perhaps the most vivid illustration of the pujing system's spatial intelligence. During this period, the entire city becomes a temporal map as different neighborhoods take turns hosting elaborate rituals. Our research documents how this rotational system not only maintains equitable distribution of economic benefits from festival tourism, but also reinforces inter-neighborhood connections through carefully choreographed visitation circuits. The procession localities themselves serve as mobile Chautauquas, with elders explaining historical references to younger participants as they move between significant sites. These findings challenge conventional approaches to urban conservation in several important ways. The pujing system demonstrates that cultural continuity depends less on freezing physical forms than on maintaining performative traditions that actively reinterpret space. It shows how informal social networks can outperform formal institutions in sustaining urban heritage. Most significantly, it suggests that the most resilient urban systems may be those that build in cyclical opportunities for renewal through ritual practice rather than relying on static preservation. For contemporary cities grappling with similar tensions between development and cultural sustainability, the pujing case offers several transferable insights. Its graduated boundary system suggests models for managing tourism pressures without displacement. Its distributed maintenance approach points to alternative models of heritage stewardship. Most fundamentally, it demonstrates how urban spaces can maintain deep cultural specificity while remaining dynamically engaged with contemporary life - not through top-down design, but through the careful cultivation of participatory spatial traditions.

Venice, a city of fragile beauty and intricate urban systems, faces increasing disruption from high-profile events that transform its public spaces into privatised stages for transient elites. These events — involving full takeovers of hotels, transport systems, and public infrastructure — restrict citizens’ mobility, access, and well-being. Drawing on recent and historical examples, this case study examines how such spectacles exacerbate Venice’s over-tourism crisis, “freezing” daily life for workers, students, and residents, while privileging economic gain over social equity. The paper contributes to the ISOCARP 2025 Track on Culture, Identity, and Inclusive Urban Transformation, by critically exploring the impacts of event-driven commodification of historic urban spaces. It argues that the increasing reliance on digital logistics and “smart” governance systems facilitates these exclusive urban takeovers, raising ethical questions about inclusivity, resilience, and the right to the city. Integrating insights from residents’ advocacy groups and urban resilience theory, the study proposes adaptive planning strategies to safeguard cultural identity, protect residents' access to public space, and promote equitable governance of event hosting in heritage-rich urban environments. It calls for an international dialogue on balancing global attractiveness with local well-being — an urgent planning challenge for cities navigating tourism, culture, and identity under mounting digital and economic pressures.