IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i9p5143-d800537.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Impacts of Housing Characteristics and Built-Environment Features on Mental Health

Author

Listed:
  • Zihan Kan

    (Institute of Space and Earth Information Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, China)

  • Mei-Po Kwan

    (Institute of Space and Earth Information Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, China
    Department of Geography and Resource Management, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, China)

  • Mee Kam Ng

    (Department of Geography and Resource Management, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, China)

  • Hendrik Tieben

    (School of Architecture, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, China)

Abstract

In this study, we examined the relationships between housing characteristics, neighborhood built-environment features, and people’s mental health in Hong Kong, an Asian city well known for its high-density and high-rise housing. The potential mediating effects of people’s perceived living environment were also considered in the analysis. We collected data from 221 participants from two communities in Hong Kong, i.e., Sham Shui Po (SSP) and Tin Shui Wai (TSW), using a stratified random sampling approach. Big datasets were also used to derive relevant built-environment features at the street block level. We used structural equation modeling to explore the complex relationships among housing characteristics, built-environment features, and mental health. The results indicate that the associations between built-environment quality and people’s mental health are weak. For communities with relatively poor housing conditions (i.e., SSP in this study), the impact of housing characteristics on mental health may be more direct; for communities with relatively good housing conditions (i.e., TSW in this study), the effect of housing characteristics on mental health may be indirect. Our findings shed light on the importance of considering different contexts in developing policies related to housing and built environment and mental health.

Suggested Citation

  • Zihan Kan & Mei-Po Kwan & Mee Kam Ng & Hendrik Tieben, 2022. "The Impacts of Housing Characteristics and Built-Environment Features on Mental Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-19, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:9:p:5143-:d:800537
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/9/5143/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/9/5143/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kirsten M. M. Beyer & Andrea Kaltenbach & Aniko Szabo & Sandra Bogar & F. Javier Nieto & Kristen M. Malecki, 2014. "Exposure to Neighborhood Green Space and Mental Health: Evidence from the Survey of the Health of Wisconsin," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-20, March.
    2. Ade Kearns & Elise Whitley & Phil Mason & Lyndal Bond, 2012. "‘Living the High Life’? Residential, Social and Psychosocial Outcomes for High-Rise Occupants in a Deprived Context," Housing Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(1), pages 97-126.
    3. Chongxian Chen & Weijing Luo & Haiwei Li & Danting Zhang & Ning Kang & Xiaohao Yang & Yu Xia, 2020. "Impact of Perception of Green Space for Health Promotion on Willingness to Use Parks and Actual Use among Young Urban Residents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-21, August.
    4. Zhonghua Gou & Xiaohuan Xie & Yi Lu & Maryam Khoshbakht, 2018. "Quality of Life (QoL) Survey in Hong Kong: Understanding the Importance of Housing Environment and Needs of Residents from Different Housing Sectors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-16, January.
    5. Rebecca J. Bentley & David Pevalin & Emma Baker & Kate Mason & Aaron Reeves & Andrew Beer, 2016. "Housing affordability, tenure and mental health in Australia and the United Kingdom: a comparative panel analysis," Housing Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(2), pages 208-222, March.
    6. Rodney Green & Marie Kouassi & Padma Venkatachalam & Johnnie Daniel, 2013. "The Impact of Housing Stressors on the Mental Health of a Low-Income African-American Population," The Review of Black Political Economy, Springer;National Economic Association, vol. 40(1), pages 53-100, March.
    7. Liqin Zhang & Lin Wu, 2021. "Effects of Environmental Quality Perception on Depression: Subjective Social Class as a Mediator," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-14, June.
    8. Jing Ma & Chunjiang Li & Mei-Po Kwan & Yanwei Chai, 2018. "A Multilevel Analysis of Perceived Noise Pollution, Geographic Contexts and Mental Health in Beijing," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-18, July.
    9. Giulia Melis & Elena Gelormino & Giulia Marra & Elisa Ferracin & Giuseppe Costa, 2015. "The Effects of the Urban Built Environment on Mental Health: A Cohort Study in a Large Northern Italian City," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-18, November.
    10. Wilma L Zijlema & Bart Klijs & Ronald P Stolk & Judith G M Rosmalen, 2015. "(Un)Healthy in the City: Respiratory, Cardiometabolic and Mental Health Associated with Urbanity," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(12), pages 1-11, December.
    11. Saleh Kalantari & Mardelle Shepley, 2021. "Psychological and social impacts of high-rise buildings: a review of the post-occupancy evaluation literature," Housing Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(8), pages 1147-1176, October.
    12. Bao-Linh Tran & Ching-Cheng Chang & Chia-Sheng Hsu & Chi-Chung Chen & Wei-Chun Tseng & Shih-Hsun Hsu, 2019. "Threshold Effects of PM 2.5 Exposure on Particle-Related Mortality in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(19), pages 1-18, September.
    13. Ruoyu Wang & Desheng Xue & Ye Liu & Penghua Liu & Hongsheng Chen, 2018. "The Relationship between Air Pollution and Depression in China: Is Neighbourhood Social Capital Protective?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-13, June.
    14. Gyula Kothencz & Ronald Kolcsár & Pablo Cabrera-Barona & Péter Szilassi, 2017. "Urban Green Space Perception and Its Contribution to Well-Being," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-14, July.
    15. Yang Xiao & Siyu Miao & Chinmoy Sarkar & Huizhi Geng & Yi Lu, 2018. "Exploring the Impacts of Housing Condition on Migrants’ Mental Health in Nanxiang, Shanghai: A Structural Equation Modelling Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-14, January.
    16. Fabrice Kämpfen & Iliana V Kohler & Alberto Ciancio & Wändi Bruine de Bruin & Jürgen Maurer & Hans-Peter Kohler, 2020. "Predictors of mental health during the Covid-19 pandemic in the US: Role of economic concerns, health worries and social distancing," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(11), pages 1-13, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yang Liu & Mei-Po Kwan & Zihan Kan, 2023. "Inconsistent Association between Perceived Air Quality and Self-Reported Respiratory Symptoms: A Pilot Study and Implications for Environmental Health Studies," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-17, January.
    2. Riko Kawashita & Haruka Kato, 2024. "Mental Health and Parent–Child Residential Distance for Older People: Cross-Sectional Study Using a Comprehensive Survey of Living Conditions in Japan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-12, February.
    3. Jianwei Huang & Mei-Po Kwan & Lap Ah Tse & Sylvia Y. He, 2023. "How People’s COVID-19 Induced-Worries and Multiple Environmental Exposures Are Associated with Their Depression, Anxiety, and Stress during the Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(16), pages 1-19, August.
    4. Eman Leung & Albert Lee & Yilin Liu & Chi-Tim Hung & Ning Fan & Sam C. C. Ching & Hilary Yee & Yinan He & Richard Xu & Hector Wing Hong Tsang & Jingjing Guan, 2024. "Impact of Environment on Pain among the Working Poor: Making Use of Random Forest-Based Stratification Tool to Study the Socioecology of Pain Interference," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(2), pages 1-21, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ignacio Miralles & Carlos Granell, 2019. "Considerations for Designing Context-Aware Mobile Apps for Mental Health Interventions," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-21, April.
    2. Abu Yousuf Md Abdullah & Jane Law & Zahid A. Butt & Christopher M. Perlman, 2021. "Understanding the Differential Impact of Vegetation Measures on Modeling the Association between Vegetation and Psychotic and Non-Psychotic Disorders in Toronto, Canada," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-25, April.
    3. Argyro Anna Kanelli & Maria Lydia Vardaka & Chrisovaladis Malesios & Zainab Jamidu Katima & Olga-Ioanna Kalantzi, 2024. "Can Campus Green Spaces Be Restorative? A Case Study from Tanzania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-21, January.
    4. Charlotte Wendelboe-Nelson & Sarah Kelly & Marion Kennedy & John W. Cherrie, 2019. "A Scoping Review Mapping Research on Green Space and Associated Mental Health Benefits," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-49, June.
    5. Motoc, Irina & Hoogendijk, Emiel O. & Timmermans, Erik J. & Deeg, Dorly & Penninx, Brenda W.J.H. & Huisman, Martijn, 2023. "Social and physical neighbourhood characteristics and 10-year incidence of depression and anxiety in older adults: Results from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 327(C).
    6. Jing Ma & Chunjiang Li & Mei-Po Kwan & Yanwei Chai, 2018. "A Multilevel Analysis of Perceived Noise Pollution, Geographic Contexts and Mental Health in Beijing," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-18, July.
    7. Marco Helbich, 2018. "Mental Health and Environmental Exposures: An Editorial," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-4, October.
    8. Yinhua Tao & Jie Yang & Yanwei Chai, 2019. "The Anatomy of Health-Supportive Neighborhoods: A Multilevel Analysis of Built Environment, Perceived Disorder, Social Interaction and Mental Health in Beijing," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-19, December.
    9. Yingzhi Qiu & Yuqi Liu & Yi Liu & Zhigang Li, 2019. "Exploring the Linkage between the Neighborhood Environment and Mental Health in Guangzhou, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-15, September.
    10. Qiang Wen & Haiqiang Liu & Jinyuan Chen & Huiyao Ye & Zeyu Pan, 2023. "Evaluation of Satisfaction with the Built Environment of University Buildings under the Epidemic and Its Impact on Student Anxiety," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-23, February.
    11. Hyun Jin Lee & Dong Kun Lee, 2019. "Do Sociodemographic Factors and Urban Green Space Affect Mental Health Outcomes Among the Urban Elderly Population?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-13, March.
    12. Yu Cao & Cong Xu & Syahrul Nizam Kamaruzzaman & Nur Mardhiyah Aziz, 2022. "A Systematic Review of Green Building Development in China: Advantages, Challenges and Future Directions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-29, September.
    13. Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo & Nicolas Escoffier & Jane Chan & Tan Puay Yok, 2018. "Window View and the Brain: Effects of Floor Level and Green Cover on the Alpha and Beta Rhythms in a Passive Exposure EEG Experiment," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-14, October.
    14. Yi Yang & Jie Li & Guobin Zhu & Qiangqiang Yuan, 2019. "Spatio–Temporal Relationship and Evolvement of Socioeconomic Factors and PM 2.5 in China During 1998–2016," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-24, March.
    15. Mohamed Fomba & Zinash Delebo Osunde & Souleymane Sidi Traoré & Appollonia Okhimamhe & Janina Kleemann & Christine Fürst, 2024. "Urban Green Spaces in Bamako and Sikasso, Mali: Land Use Changes and Perceptions," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-20, January.
    16. Malik, Khyati & Kim, Sowon & Cultice, Brian J., 2023. "The impact of remote work on green space values in regional housing markets," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    17. Xiaojia Liu & Xi Chen & Yan Huang & Weihong Wang & Mingkan Zhang & Yang Jin, 2023. "Landscape Aesthetic Value of Waterfront Green Space Based on Space–Psychology–Behavior Dimension: A Case Study along Qiantang River (Hangzhou Section)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-22, February.
    18. Lijian Xie & Suhong Zhou & Lin Zhang, 2021. "Associations between Objective and Subjective Housing Status with Individual Mental Health in Guangzhou, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-14, January.
    19. Chia-Tsung Yeh & Ya-Yun Cheng & Tsai-Yun Liu, 2020. "Spatial Characteristics of Urban Green Spaces and Human Health: An Exploratory Analysis of Canonical Correlation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(9), pages 1-14, May.
    20. Linh Nguyen & Pauline van den Berg & Astrid Kemperman & Masi Mohammadi, 2020. "Where do People Interact in High-Rise Apartment Buildings? Exploring the Influence of Personal and Neighborhood Characteristics," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-23, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:9:p:5143-:d:800537. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.