LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE : ENHANCING MASS WELLNESS

Cities from different parts of the world are growing and developing rapidly. Congestion, climate change, poor air quality and harsh noises are the repercussions of the continuous urbanization of human environment. It is evident that our poor design and ignorance functions as menace for environmental pollution. The activity that checks the pollution, looks after the comfort and happiness of the people and modifies the visible features of an area by involving living, natural and manmade elements is termed as landscape architecture.

There is an inbuilt relationship between nature and wellbeing. For instance people suffering from depression are often advised to step out of their home to see the world around which results in improvement in self-esteem and mood. Now if the surroundings have only the eye exhausting sights of building, parking lots and grey places without any natural elements, even those who have a sound health will suffer from breakdown in long run.

Landscape architects are working hard to bring benefits to more people by incorporating nature into urban design. With the help of landscape architecture one can define pathways, create plaza, modify microclimate, controls erosion and give a welcoming look along with aesthetic appeal to the building. It has an ability to give homelike environment even to an institutional building.

A good landscape plan can maximize opportunities for daily exercise like walking and biking in nature as it is far more pleasant than trudging on a tread mill. Walking reduces the chances of heart diseases, checks blood sugar level, shore up our bones and helps us to enjoy our life. In this way landscape architecture improves our physical health and boost our mental wellbeing. Landscape architects suggests more gathering places in their design as it aids in interaction among the people after all communication plays vital role in the mental recovery. Similarly adding water body into the landscape not only changes the climate but the mere sight or sound of water increases the blood flow from heart to the brain and induce relaxation in the human body.

The flair of landscape architects are visible all around us when we see the beauty and usefulness of or neighbourhoods and communities that are offering social, economic and environmental benefits. Therefore it proves the fact, ‘The way we groom our landscape is the way we groom ourselves as it is the condition of our spirit.’