Scientific Quarterly Journal

Developing a Model for Reading Biophilic Urban Landscapes Based on Their Impact on Citizens’ Mental Health in Mehrshahr, Karaj (Case Study: The Area Between Eram Boulevard and the Municipality)


Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 18 July 2026

Document Type : Original Research Article

Authors

1 PhD Researcher, Department of Architecture, No.C, Islamic Azad University, Noor, Iran.

2 Department of Architecture, Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin, Iran

3 Department of Architecture, No.C, Islamic Azad University, Noor, Iran.

Abstract
Today, the lack of attention to the biophilic urban landscape and its impact on the mental health of citizens, due to the uncontrolled growth of the urban body, has severed the inherent connection of citizens with nature and marginalized the biophilic landscape in order to induce positive effects on the mental health of citizens. The purpose of the research is to read the biophilic urban landscape based on the impact on the mental health of citizens in Mehrshahr, Karaj, and the question is how to explain a model of reading the biophilic urban landscape based on the impact on the mental health of citizens in Mehrshahr, Karaj, between the Boulevard Arms and the Municipality? The qualitative-quantitative research method and the method of collecting information are library and field studies using questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The statistical population of the study consisted of 357 people passing through the two-axis intersection of Eram Boulevard and the Municipality and 50 experts in the field of biophilic urban landscape, both of whom were selected through purposive sampling. The questionnaires were analyzed using regression, T-test, and one-way variance tests, and semi-structured interviews with open, axial, and selective coding. The results showed that the biophilic urban landscape in Mehrshahr, Karaj, focusing on key components (nature in space, natural analogs in artificial places, people's relationship with nature, social factors, nature-oriented activities, and urban landscape), with mutual influence on each other, not only improves environmental quality, but also guides the mental health of citizens towards sustainability. Also, since the biophilic urban landscape is related to the components of citizens' mental health; Therefore, for the biophilic urban landscape to have an impact on the mental health of the citizens of Mehrshahr Karaj, it is essential that nature and natural resources, and the things that lead to the interaction and connection of citizens with nature, such as the components of the urban landscape and activity, be transferred from the margins of urban life to its context.

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