Biophilic design for cities with Dr Jana Soderlund

Welcome to episode 52 of the Green & Healthy Places podcast in which we discuss the themes of wellbeing and sustainability in real estate and hospitality today.

I’m your host, Matt Morley, founder of Biofilico healthy buildings and this time around I’m in Perth, Western Australia talking biophilic urbanism and biophilic cities with Dr. Jana Söderlund.

Jana did her PhD on biophilic design as an emergent social movement. She has an honours degree in environmental science and has spent her career as a sustainability consultant, environmental educator, tutor, lecturer, and presenter. 

She is a member of the global Biophilic Cities steering committee, Chair of Biophilic Cities Australia, Director of Biophilic Solutions and a Curtin University associate. Currently, she is a tutor for Oxford University in partnership with Pearson.

We discuss the history and origins of the biophilic design concept. the biophilia hypothesis, applying biophilia at an architectural and even urban planning scale; how biophilic design incorporates benefits for people and planet, wellbeing and sustainability; the benefits of biophilic design in schools and prisons, as well as the importance of beauty in biophilic design.

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Matt Morley

Welcome to the Green & Healthy Places podcast. Thanks for joining us today.

Dr. Jana Soderlund

Yeah, thank you, Matt, thanks for the opportunity to join you in this conversation.

Matt Morley

I’d like to understand how your concept of biophilic design has evolved over the years and how you currently define it. There are various models out there from multiple theorists who have attempted to pin it down and put it into 14 categories or what have you. What’s your take on it?

Dr. Jana Soderlund

OK best if I start from how it emerged, a little bit of the history of biophilic design, because that really frames how I view it now.

So it started with Erich Fromm, a psychoanalyst in the 60s, who wrote a book called ‘The Heart of Man’, he posited that as humans, we suffer an anxiety about a separation from nature. And in seeking to overcome this anxiety, we go down two pathways - we have a choice regressive or progressive response.

The regressive is where there's necrophilia, and you controlled by religion and rules, you suppress that anxiety while the progress path is what he calls the Buddha path about altruism and overcoming this anxiety, and connecting with nature. And that's where Biophilia sits as a love of life.

Then E.O. Wilson went in, and he spent a period, immersed deeply in nature then wrote a book called Biophilia talking about that connection he felt with nature.

Then he and Stephen Kellert got together and came up with the ‘Biophilia hypothesis’ that as human beings, we are innately connected to nature, it's evolutionary, we respond to nature and all the patterns, forms, shapes, materials, smells, sights, sounds of nature.

Kellert gather a diverse group of academics , to discuss how can we bring biophilia into our cities and biophilic design emerged from that!

Those ‘14 patterns of biophilic design’ by Bill Browning at Terrapinn live in three categories but it’s not just greenery, but you know, the materials and the shapes and the forms and, and the patterns. all count too, even birdsong, places offering prospect and refuge.

So biophilic design to me is about integration and connection, you know, so integrating all of this aspects of nature as much as we can to create a connection with the place we inhabit.

You know, it's like in zoos where we used to keep animals in concrete cages with bars - they didn't do well there. So zoos now go to great lengths to recreate a more natural habitat, and animals do far better! If you you extend that thinking for us as humans living in cities.. well, it would be nice to live in something a bit more natural.

Matt Morley

So you've introduced that idea of the Biophilia hypothesis, and specifically biophilic design being applied at scale, at an urban planning level - yet I think it often gets picked up in the media as photos of lots of plants in someone's house, and you call that biophilic design, or, frankly, the same in an office building.

What's fascinating about your work is how you're applying it. Not just architectural, but almost city planning or urbanism level. So talk to us about how biophilic design can translate to not just buildings, but neighbourhoods or cities.

Dr. Jana Soderlund

Ah, look, there's some great examples of this globally too. One thing I like is the use of colonnades, there's a hotel in Singapore, the Pickering Park Royal Hotel, and that has this beautiful space in the CBD, beautiful streetscape of colonnades going down that evokes walking through a forest, it's a real biophilic experience, it's got strip layered wood and different greenery.

So I think that's the thing with biophilic design is that, there does tend to be this tendency to just think it's greenery, but it's just so much more, you can create a really biophilic place without any nature, you know, green nature, you know, plants and so forth in there.

As far as taking it beyond the building to scale. I really like the example of Malmo in Sweden that have created rain gardens. So all trapped stormwater is funnelled into canals, people can walk by for a real connection to nature, and enhanced biodiversity.

Kampung Admiralty in Singapore is a mixed use facility. So it's got transit right there. You can walk in and it's right from the start. It's got rain gardens and greenery and filtration ponds. it's all one big open air meeting place. They've got a pharmacy and supermarkets and medical centre and a big hawkers market with food stalls. And it's about eight storeys and on each floor, they've put in rain gardens and filtration ponds to manage the water.

Then there's sort of connecting walkways there to go over to aged care units.So when you go across into these aged care units, and look back at this eight story mixed use development, you just see a wall of green, it's just growing!

There's greater community engagement, and, you know, increased wellbeing and mental health and so forth, where, you know, you get that whole neighbourhood is more livable. it helps stormwater management and reduces urban heat and increases biodiversity, you know, so you get these multiple benefits that flow from creating a whole neighbourhood, precinct or city..

Matt Morley

I think what you're doing there is, is showing how biophilic design is something I've always felt that it somehow bridges the worlds of sustainability, and wellbeing. So planet, people - bringing benefits to both and you've switched from talking about the human aspects of the wellbeing, and then at the same time we're doing this in terms of reducing the environmental impact in terms of reducing the urban heat island.

So do you see, in a sense, almost added benefits of working at scale beyond typically with both Biophilia or an interior project, it tends to be more about the human aspect, we can reduce the sustainable or that the environmental impact in terms of the materials and what have you, but it's always limited, right? Because there's only so much we can do. But you're suddenly able it seems to talk on a much wider scale, and to be able to talk about perhaps a city wide approach to reduce environmental impact and increase sustainability, right, that sort of opens up a whole other discussion.

Dr. Jana Soderlund

You were I think it's a really important part. And this is something when I present or meet with people I really try and push home is the multiple benefits. Because often, there will be, you know, something implemented like a green roof, right. And the initial driver will be stormwater management. And once it like an you're just download this has happened in Washington, and a lot of North America use green roofs to reduce their stormwater. So and once the green roof is in place, then all the other benefits are suddenly discovered, you know, of like the Chicago City Hall, the iconic green roof that was put in the mayor may, you know, built that had it installed because of excessive heatwave in Chicago, a lot of people died, so he wanted to call the city. So he built that. On the City Hall, it was next to the country Hall, like they share the same roof top Chicago County. And so they were able to study the benefits as far as you know, the cooling and reducing energy consumption, but by doing that, they also discovered what it meant for them to have access to this roof. And when I saw it, it looked it was like a sort of patch of dry weeds, you know, because it was heading into winter. But it was beautiful because you know, I think we can also see the seasons and that's really important.

As people discover these multiple benefits, but that's the really important thing for people to understand that by installing or utilising biophilic design, you're addressing a lot of social benefits, you know, you really help with mental health and wellbeing and that's a big thing at the moment, like, I know, in COVID, so many people found the place they they went to, they sought out green places, you know, because reduce stress, but also maybe help them feel a bit connected in a time of isolation.

So we have all the human aspects, increased community engagement, and walkability and, you know, you can do density better, like, by doing it well, and clever utilising biophilic, design like, like milma. So, you know, you have these multiple social, and then you have the multiple environmental benefits, like stormwater management and increase of biodiversity, and reducing urban heat, and, you know, helping with carbon reduction. And, you know, or all these other food security is also a big, big one, because we're able to grow food on green roofs or around.

So, you know, there's Yeah, I think it's really important to look at the multiple benefits, because in the business case gets made, you know, really strong, because that's a lot of the pushback, oh, it's going to cost more to do things, this is often with, you know, green roofs, and so forth, it's going to cost more and the maintenance burden, once the multiple benefits are understood, you know, then it does make a stronger business case, and, and it helps, you know, with general health, so reducing urban heat, so you get less people hospitalised with heat, stress and so forth, and it reduces crime. They've done studies to show that when, you know, there's nature or biophilic designed place, crime goes down, people feel more altruistic as well. You know, it's it's, yeah.

Matt Morley

And the successes that you're seeing around the world, have they typically led by private businesses? Or is it more of a top down approach where city planning needs to be engaged as well? Is it a combination of the two?

Dr. Jana Soderlund

It is a combination of the two, like, there's been by both both happen sometimes, I've seen that community driven, and but this is where they need to work with government, I guess, to have enabling policies, like, I know, places where community gardens have been started by people, you know, and, or they've wanted to, you know, design a house with a green roof or have it a bit more biophilic, or whatever, and they can be, you know, bureaucracy and, and supporting policies that that bump up against, it can be hard work.

So the idea is where government can help community by having enabling policies for them. You know, it's, it's also like, in some places like Chicago, to do the green roofs, they did theirs to show that it could be done for developers. And then they put it into policy. And developers,And sometimes he said that was spitting mad, but now they don't have to regulate it.

Now, everyone expects their green roof, and they've realised the multiple benefits that have come to them as developers. So there are places where yes, you do need that strong leader, you know, the local champion to go this is what we have to do, and now suffered the pushback.

But in other places, it's community wanting to do something different or have a better neighbourhood or you know, be able to create something where they can connect and community are great at self organising places and you know, we've got To give credence to the wisdom of the masses, you know, so yeah, that I think it you know, it varies from place to place, really, you know, and so But ideally, it's all working when you get it coming together, you've got great synergies

Matt Morley

and looking at where it's been applied the different sectors in which you can see the most benefits. We there are some great examples of hospitals around the world and particularly interested in elderly care homes, for example, and how they can integrate Biophilia for people with dementia or heavy there's there's some really interesting work around that.

But what about at the other end of the age spectrum around schools? It's perhaps not so common, but I do see some examples. Occasionally, they pop up on my radar of schools trying to do things in a more biophilic or sustainable ways. How do you see that particular sector? Has it got big opportunity there? Is there much more work to do? Or what could the challenges be of taking that into the world of education?

Dr. Jana Soderlund

Yes, I think there are challenges. And I think there's great opportunities, and I think it's a really vital area to be implementing biophilic design and because, you know, I see and hear a lot of stories with our young people in schools and the mental health challenges, you know, the and mental health is decreasing in schools. And, you know, to help like, to go have a place, which is not stressful, it's the other thing that they've done studies about you to understand this is sort of a little bit where the prison work i I've done comes from is that hard age architecture stresses us, you know, where, where it's, it's just very industrial, you know, actually stresses us as people.

So you wanting these children to often go into classrooms like this, some classrooms in the world that don't even have windows they can see out of, and I know a lot of the American ones are like that. So you can imagine the stress, especially if they have a school shooter, you know, they they're hearing noise that can't see it's Yeah. It can be pretty hard. But what they've found is even having a few potted plants, increases learning rate rates, you know, because it helps improve cognitive processing.

So, and I think when when you've got something, you know, again, triggering that sense of connection and well being, when students can walk into a classroom, and feel that they do they learn better, they're less stressed, because even it's an innate sort of stress that can happen. And also, I've been working with school groups, and there's one that a new school built in my city. And it was just very industrial, minimal, sort of but touted as the great new school, and an extension is being done. A

nd the kids there want to have a lot of greenery, they want to incorporate more patents, be able to better windows and and just softly you talk to them all about biophilic design. And that's what they're wanting. And they've actually got funding this group. It's called Millennium kids. And they're working on incorporating biophilic design for schools. And I'm also sort of a friend or colleague, is he's interested in getting biophilic soundscapes into schools. And so globally there there has been a lot done you know, in getting some of this happening in schools with great results, like they're just finding learning rates to improve that behaviour improves like they're less disruptive and happier to come to school. I don't know if you remember Sandy Hook it was side of the mass shooting in 2012.

And they demolish the school and rebuilt and the school that they built was all based on biophilic design and it's just it's stunning because and they did it because they wanted a sense of safety and security but connection and beauty in there and it's even like on the on the walls the you know the fabric they've created sort of trees patterns and like a leaf pattern on the floor and they have little Treehouse, breakout rooms, sort of knocks and lighting and you know, it's all and rain gardens out the front like it's quite a stunning school, that their happiest way

Matt Morley

you start to see how biophilic design really sits within perhaps a slightly wider concept around wellbeing, designing and creating spaces for physical and mental well being, you mentioned, prisons, well being designed biophilic design and prisons may not necessarily be two things we'd associate together, but that's why I wanted to ask you about it. So tell us, how does that work?

Dr. Jana Soderlund

Yeah, well, typically prisons, you know, the, and this is the pushback you get from prison people is that they're in there to be punished, right. So they go in, and their cells, you know, and prisons, they're pretty harsh places, and just all you know, brick and concrete and hardage. So there's some great work done by a woman, she started to work with gardens, but then she ended up doing some research. And it's called the Blue Room. And it works with supermax prisoners in prison in, in Oregon, and they just showed videos of nature.

So when a prisoner is getting agitated, or they have to transfer or something, they'll go and they'll watch videos, and they have the ones they prefer the prisoners have and they become more compliant stress rates go before also the guards, this the staff, their stress rates reduce, and all of that, and they've found it's just been quite amazing the difference in behaviour.

Now Scandinavia, they have learned to do prisons, they have a lot of biophilic design within their prisons, and make sure there's lighting and, and use colour, and the shapes and forms and you know, curved areas and artwork and all of that, and they have low recidivism rates, you know, less reoffending people and because what, ultimately, if you wanting to rehabilitate, and help someone, then don't put them in a stressful, you know, Cade box if you know, concrete and break, which is I've talked to prisoners, and they they're very stressed when they can't get a view or anything. So they're trying to, you know, to change teach new behaviours, or help with learning in while they're stressed. Same with schools, you know, you need to feel relaxed. And once you've stress read reduces your cognitive functioning improves.

Matt Morley

As I understand it, the issue around staff workers in prisons is it's really urgent in the US at the moment. And the idea that creating a space not just for the, for the prisoners, but for those employed within the prisons that is slightly more amenable to long shifts, stressful city incredibly stressful situations.

So it's there's there's almost the two sides to the argument, right? But also thinking about the staff who have to spend their days and they're dealing with what can only be a difficult, yeah, social context. So I think it's clear, there are many ways we can we can think about biophilic design within the context of a city. I just wanted to close with one question about your book, I downloaded the the teaser the other day. So read the first book. Tell us a little bit about that, and how you how you came to it. And it's obviously out there in the world. How's that been going with the book? Are you working on anything new in terms of publications,

Dr. Jana Soderlund

I have a few papers published and ones just about to be published more about the how to implement biophilic design based on my research. So the book came about, through my research for my PhD, and I looked into their history, that's where I looked into the history of biophilic design. But to do this, I went I travelled north America, and I interviewed a lot of the leaders in the field like Stephen Keller, and where biophilic design had been implemented to find out why, you know, what, what, what was the driver, the initial driver for us, and that that was really interesting, you know, talking to people I think I did 30 Odd interviews, but they're, they're written up as sort of stories, conversational stories, and I learned a lot and had some fabulous conversations.

But you know, out of that, you could see the see the evolution of it and how, you know, I got those initial drivers of whether it was stormwater management or urban heat, but the ripple effect And, and then discovering the multiple benefits and the from that I made a framework to how to mainstream it. So, you know, that's it's all in the book, but I've written it as a you know, so you learn a lot about biophilic design, but also as an easy read, you know, to hear the stories and their discussions and people's ideas about, you know, a bit about aesthetics, because I guess that's one of the big things about biophilic design, too, that I haven't mentioned is the beauty. That's very important to us. And we respond to beauty, you know, and aesthetic.

So I've seen lots of high rated LEED buildings or six star here, you know, energy efficient, but they leave out the biophilic design, they leave out that human connection, and they're not really sustainable because people don't, you know, defined. They might meet all their energy targets, but they don't meet the human targets and when people in a beautiful place or connecting to a building, then they're less likely to want to go to work.

Matt Morley

So that's an important point to close on. I think let's draw a line under it. Thank you so much for your time.