This graduation addresses the need to improve living conditions in informal settlements, while also preserving the cultural and social identity of the communities living there. The question of how to improve the living conditions in these settlements while also respecting the cultural and social identity of the residents is a complex one. It requires a holistic approach that takes into account not only physical infrastructure and services, but also the social, economic, and cultural context of the community.
Addressing this research question could have a significant impact on the lives of people living in informal settlements, by improving their living conditions and promoting sustainable development. It could also serve as a model for addressing similar challenges in other cities and countries. Furthermore, it also requires a delicate balance between the preservation of cultural heritage and the need for modernization and improvement of living conditions.

In this day and age, a large amount of time is spent indoors, with some estimations as high as 90% (CIB Task Group 42, 2004). Seeing as these estimations are dating from before the COVID-19 pandemic, the time currently spent indoors will probably turn out to be even higher. Spending this much time indoors has such a large potential for impact on health, both mental and physical, even though research on this topic has almost exclusively been done on the direct physical effects of spaces. Direct physical effects on spaces might include, but are not limited to: temperature, acoustics, air quality, and lighting.
Seeing as these physical attributes in a building have an effect on physical health, would it then not also make sense for them to have an effect on mental health? Acoustics, for example, can lead to headaches, which is an obvious physical issue that - in this case - comes from prolonged exposure to bad acoustics within the building. Research done by Seddigh, Berntson, Jönsson, Danielson, and Westerlund (2015, p. 37) even shows that an improvement in acoustics was always met with ‘lower perceived disturbances and cognitive stress’. This thesis aims to provide insight into the effects physical attributes in the built environment have on the five senses, and - per extension - physical and mental health. Since health is an especially important factor to take into account within health care facilities, this thesis will reflect upon the design choices made within recently built health care facilities. Only recently built health care facilities were chosen for this seeing as both psychology and architecture are ever-evolving, and these facilites will hopefully provide more insight into the current state of affairs within both of these fields of study. The research question that will be used to gain insight into these effect is: How do the design choices in recently built care facilities affect the healing processes of their patients?