Well-being in vertical cities: beyond the aesthetics of nature

There is a growing recognition of the need for daily contact with nature, to live happy, productive, meaningful lives. Biophilic Design enhances human well-being by fostering connections between people and nature in the built environment. Achieving these benefits has the potential to improve quality of life and provide direct and indirect financial benefits e.g. reduced health care costs, reduced costs of crime and violence, improve productivity and workplace performance, and consequently wellbeing and quality of life. Biophilic Design holds that good design must integrate nature and natural elements. Biophilic design therefore, is a design philosophy that encourages the use of natural systems and processes in the design of the built environment. Biophilic Design is based on Edward O. Wilson's Biophilia hypothesis, which proposes that humans have an innate connection with the natural world and that exposure to the natural world is therefore important for human wellbeing (Wilson, 1984). This paper is a review paper bringing current academic knowledge in the area of biophilia and their relationship to living and working in high-density cities.