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Developing healthy cities with urban facility management

Jeannette E. Nijkamp (Research Group Facility Management, Research Centre for Built Environment NoorderRuimte, Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Groningen, The Netherlands and Research Centre Innovations in Care, Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, Rotterdam, The Netherlands)
Mark P. Mobach (Research Group Facility Management, Research Centre for Built Environment NoorderRuimte, Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Groningen, The Netherlands and Research Group Spatial Environment and the User, The Hague University of Applied Sciences, The Hague, The Netherlands)

Facilities

ISSN: 0263-2772

Article publication date: 29 May 2020

Issue publication date: 10 September 2020

784

Abstract

Purpose

Most people live in cities and work in offices, two contexts offering many lifestyle-related and environmental health risks. To advance their health, this paper aims to introduce an analogy between urban design and facility design to explore whether health-directed design interventions in cities and facilities are related and to look for applicable cross-overs and opportunities to develop the facility management (FM) profession on the urban level.

Design/methodology/approach

The principles of abductive reasoning as a first phase of scientific investigation were followed, by introducing a new idea and attentively observing phenomena in the communities of FM and urban design. The method was desk research, in the context of discovery.

Findings

Many possible cross-overs exist which offer opportunities for urban planners and facility managers to reinforce each other and interesting market opportunities for the further development of urban FM. However, more systematic research is needed on efficacious and effective interventions. Furthermore, experiences and capacities of the FM sector should be unlocked and applied within a city context, as the knowledge and experiences of facility managers and urban planners can create synergy.

Practical implications

The findings are directly applicable to facility and urban design practices and to FM education by involving students in city design practices.

Originality/value

Cross-overs between facilities and cities are new and can inspire both facility managers and urban planners to work together more closely for the benefit of citizens and employees.

Keywords

Citation

Nijkamp, J.E. and Mobach, M.P. (2020), "Developing healthy cities with urban facility management", Facilities, Vol. 38 No. 11/12, pp. 819-833. https://doi.org/10.1108/F-11-2019-0128

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

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