Urban planning has long pursued the improvement of health and wellbeing through the rapidly evolving scholarship and practice of health-supportive environments, underpinned by the seminal World Health Organization’s Healthy Cities Framework. Although a much more recent development, technology has been informing urban planning, as well as advancing healthcare and personal wellbeing monitoring and assessment. Known as the Smart City movement, it has much to offer regarding life in towns and cities, as well as how they are managed, maintained, and developed. There is also a growing appreciation of the potential for smart city technology to enhance human and environmental health in the context of urban planning and public place making. This has been reinforced by the COVID-19 pandemic with its reawakening of community interest in health and wellbeing, including mental illness, a greater awareness of the importance of local environments, and an explosion of technological knowhow in the embrace of remote working, online shopping, and education. Using the example of the authors’ “Smart Social Spaces” project, this entry discusses the potential benefits of an evolving integrative concept called “Smart Healthy Social Spaces”. The aim is to support community wellbeing as part of everyday living, especially associated with social connection, in densely populated and culturally diverse urban environments, where locally situated public spaces are increasingly important for all citizens.

Behavior mapping is the systematic observation of people using their environments. The Smart Social Spaces research project, recently completed in Sydney, Australia, is used as a vehicle to illustrate the usefulness of this method for understanding the relationships between people and public spaces in cities. Behavior mapping was the central method used to establish what impact the inclusion of smart technology and street furniture had on people’s use of two public spaces. Using this method, it is possible to record real-time patterns of people’s use of public space, enabling local authorities to better support the social use of public space and the management of its infrastructure.

This article discusses the design process and pilot program of a suite of IoT-integrated street furniture aimed to improve use and amenity of municipality assets in public open spaces in Sydney, Australia. Networked sensors were embedded in the furniture and linked to a web-based dashboard application enabling a digital twin of the asset to monitor and analyze how and when the furniture was used. The prototype and modifications to existing furniture designs provided additional utility for the local community through lighting, free wi-fi access, power outlets, USB charging, water, a weather station and bench space. Outcomes of the street-furniture installation revealed innovative protocols for design-development teams and asset managers to review product performance and efficiency. This article presents a collaborative government/industry/university project that has been recognized by The World Bank for intelligent neighborhood design practices and by the Planning Institute of Australia for its novel approach to community social infrastructure.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the multi-functional use of the domestic sleep environment (bedroom) and present evidence on outcomes that can be identified. By looking at the sleep environment in a broader context and considering the use of the bedroom space besides sleeping, this research responds to an information gap in sleep studies. A survey with multiple-choice questionnaire items was conducted with 304 participants in Australia to investigate the relationship between occupants’ use of the bedroom space and their sleep habits. We found evidence that today’s bedrooms are used for more than just sleeping, reflecting the respondents’ multi-functional needs. Of the respondents, 60% agreed to have a consistent sleeping routine, while 49% answered they have/might have a sleep problem. The mean hours spent in a sleeping environment are 9.31, while the sleeping mean hours are 7.12. While 40% reported using the bedroom as their living space, 61% said they prefer to use it only for sleep. Age, occupation and the bedroom’s location affect bedroom use and preferences. This study provides an initial inquiry into developing design strategies and understanding on the intertwined relationship between sleep and its environment.

This study investigates the current use of bedrooms to fill a knowledge gap in the existing sleep studies literature by focusing on user preferences and their needs. Despite substantial research into the optimal physical conditions for sleep, there remains a gap in understanding how individuals use their bedrooms today. As an initial step to bridge this gap, we employed a mixed-method research approach, integrating quantitative and qualitative data results. A survey including multiple-choice and open-ended questionnaire items was undertaken in Australia with 304 participants. Our research findings indicate that ‘having a separate bedroom in a house’ is the most common arrangement. However, other arrangements, such as living in a bedsit or sharing a bedroom, are indicators of diverse bedroom conditions. In total, 70% of respondents stated that they would like to make changes to their bedrooms for physical, functional, comfort-based, and aesthetic reasons, with comfort ranked as the highest. The majority of respondents stating they would not make any modifications in their bedrooms were found to be owner-occupiers. Mattress quality and privacy emerged as the most significant factors impacting the respondents’ bedroom experience, and female participants were reported to place higher importance on cleanliness compared to male participants. Additionally, preferences for sleeping alone or with a partner were found to shift with age. Based on our findings, we suggest that survey-based sleep studies should evaluate the bedroom arrangements before the individual’s sleep habits. Further studies are needed to understand how privacy needs influence sleep quality. From a built environment viewpoint, this study emphasizes the need to develop bedroom design solutions tailored to optimize bedroom conditions, particularly for rental tenants who often have limited control over the physical conditions of their sleep environment.