Dr. Joachim Langhein

Tradisjonell arkitektur og byplanlegging fremmer mental helse
Nedenfor oppsummerer Dr. Joachim Langhein forskning fra Mannheim, Tyskland om hyppighet av psykiske helseproblemer sammenlignet med de enkelte bydelenes arkitektur og byform. Etterkrigsbydeler med modernistisk byplan og arkitektur som beskrives som heslig har vesentlig høyere sykelighet enn eldre, tradisjonelle  bydeler. Tilslutt gjengis en omfattende litteraturliste på området.
Dette er hentet fra epost debattforumet Trad-Arch. Redigert av Byens Fornyelse.

En rekke forskningsrapporter med lignende konklusjoner er referert i boken "Aesthetics, Well-being and Health"; utgitt av Norsk Form i 1998. Her gis det omfattende dokumentasjon på at de fleste mennesker opplever tradisjonell arkitektur og tradisjonelle byggematerialer som helsefremmende. Dette bekreftes av forskning.

En av bokens redaktører har i god Norsk Form-ånd behov for å understreke at man IKKE skal trekke den konklusjon at tradisjonell byggeskikk er å foretrekke. I stedet skal resultatene inspirere modernister til å designe "tidsmessige" bygningsmiljøer som kan fange opp noen av de menneskevennlige kvalitetene i den tradisjonelle bebyggelsen.

"Aesthetics, Well-being and Health - abstracts on theoretical and empirical research within environmental aesthetics (1998) Redaktører: Birgit Cold, Arnulf Kolstad, Stig Larssæther, NTNU Hva vet vi om samspillet mellom omgivelsenes estetikk, vårt velbefinnende og helse? Hvordan oppfatter vi omgivelsenes visuelle kvalitet, og hvilken betydning har den for vår adferd og holdninger? I denne boka har en gruppe forskere ved NTNU i Trondheim samlet, referert og introdusert mer enn 70 sentrale artikler og bøker innenfor arkitektur-psykologien. Boka er skrevet på engelsk. Kr. 150,- + ekspedisjonsbegyr" Bestille 

Audun Engh

KONKLUSJONER FRA DEN TYSKE FORSKNINGEN:
"A major focus of this study was the spatial distribution of all psychiatric disorders. In the 20 urban areas the annual incidence varied between 5.82 and 17.86 per thousand. It was significantly higher in the socially disorganized areas, located mainly in the center of the city. The lowest rates were found on the outskirts, particularly in the village areas with strong community activities. The difference were much too large to be accounted for by random fluctuation" (HÄFNER 1989)."

"One of the general results of these research series is that each quarter has its own "predominance pattern" of disorder incidences, and that the few quarters being still somehow villages with a lively community life and beauty of traditional architecture, as Mannheim-Feudenheim and Mannheim-Ilvesheim, still have by far the lowest incidence rates of this city."

Prof. Dr.Dr. Heinz HÄFNER (1927-) is one of the most prolific German researchers on social psychiatry in Germany (at the Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim). He has worked since 1965 on an important study on the epidemiology of mental illness in the medium-sized German city of MANNHEIM.

HÄFNER's reseach approach was based on the study of PARK & BURGESS (1925), who analyzed the geographic distribution or incendence or epidemiology of psychopathologic diseases in Chicago during the 20s. He started with his team in 1965 to study the socialpsychiatric epidemiology of Mannheim, a city of 300,000 inh. some 60 miles south of Franfurt (Main). Mannheim is the neighbor town of Heidelberg (15 min train distance every quarter of an hour), but both cities are absolutely different in all respects: Heidelberg lies still in a very harmonious, mediterranean landscape and a townscape mostly uuntouched during 20c; GOETHE was intrigued by its beauty and called it the northernmost town of Italy. Its famous castle and old town between the mountains and the river Neckar is visited by often more than 7,000 tourists every day. The city was during WW2 destined to become site of the US headquarter and remained untouched by any bombing.

In contrast, Mannheim lies in the plain near the junction of the two large rivers Rhine & Neckar. Since 18c, Mannheim became a center of industry, commerce and transport. It was a Baroque city until WW2; Mannheim was attacked more than 150 times in WW2 which pulverized its traditional beauty - admired already so much by GOETHE -, including the large castle (rebuilt) and the Baroque Christ Church (now rebuilt) very near the strategic railway and street Rhine bridges, [that were absolutely essential for the Nazi terror apparatus in France; like the second strategic Rhine railway bridge of Germany in Cologne these bridge were never touched by a single bomb, although any bomb could have prevented the terrible US & UK D-Day losses by a large extent; similarly, no other strategic river bridge anywhere in WW2 Germany were destroyed, while nearby the unique beauty of historical city cores were bombed to rubbles].

Post-WW2 reconstruction of Mannheim created a masterwork of extreme ugliness, e.g. very different as the Bavarians with their destroyed cities. As a resident of Heidelberg I am convinced when strawling through the different quarters of Mannheim that is not possibe to supass the hideousness of Mannheim anywhere in the world. Postwar reconstruction resulted here in perfection of disharmony and ugliness, totally different from the result of reconstructed Munich. I know all European countries, Japan, Turkey, Egypt, several US states lie CA, FL etc, and most countries of East & South Asia; assessing these impression, I still would state that Mannheim reconstruction reached the "crown". But there are still some sites in Mannheim where a few Baroque and 19c buildings survived, and and the visitor can get a glimpse of impression of the old Baroque and 19c beauty of this city that was planned rationally in early 18c. Prof. HÄFNER analyzed the epidemiology of mental illness and status of mental health in the 20 administrative quarters of Mannheim: This study mentions the aesthetic qualities of the quarters only superficially, but as a resident of a neighbour city I can give some complementary information.

Those quarters which were in 1965 (and somehow still today) to be still intact and harmonious villages, had by far the lowest incidence rates of mental disorders at that time within the borders of Mannheim; in other words, psychiatrists had very low market chances in Mannheim-Feudenheim and Mannheim-Ilvesheim. The center of Mannheim has some mass-residence areas had/has high incidences of psychiatric disorders - contineously between 1965 & 2004 -; at the same time, this quarter stongly lacks - besides a few islands of old harmonious architecture -, of built beauty that could by friendly to man's soul and emotions, stimilate perception and diversidied thought, the health of mind, and feelings of identity. Additionally, a few new-built mass residential areas are also areas of increased incidences of mental disorders, neglect and seediness, and violence. I remember of the 1969 paper read 33 years ago (which is not available to at this moment) that the eastern part of central Mannheim (with a high-income population), Mannheim-Oststadt, had a very high incidence of cyclothymia (mania-depression) thus differeing totally from the incidence patterns of Mannheim. Quotes: "Despite the long research tradition in psychiatric ecology (DURKHEIM 1987, Faris & DUNHAM 1939), the first large-scale study in Germany in this field was conducted relatively late. In 1965, HÄFNER & REIMANN (1970) determined the incidence of treated mental disorders in ... Mannheim. A major focus of this study was the spatial distribution of all psychiatric disorders. In the 20 urban areas the annual incidence varied between 5.82 and 17.86 per thousand. It was significantly higher in the socially disorganized areas, located mainly in the center of the city. The lowest rates were found on the outskirts, particularly in the village areas with strong community activities. The difference were much too large to be accounted for by random fluctuation" (HÄFNER 1989). There is ... a significant difference in the quality of living between the inner zone [of Mannheim] and the ... other zones." (HÄFNER 1992).

In general, the incidence rates remained in general steady and similar between the period 1965 and 1980. One of the general results of these research series is that each quarter has its  own "predominance pattern" of disorder incidences, and that the few quarters being still somehow villages with a lively community life and beauty of traditional architecture, as Mannheim-Feudenheim and Mannheim-Ilvesheim, still have by far the lowest incidence rates of this city.

"When the spatial concentration of treated mental disorders is determined for the structural zones ..., there is a marked increase over 1965 in the concentration index in the inner zone between 1974-1980 for schizophrenia, as well as for neuroses and personality disorders (Fig. 3). The diagnoses alcoholism and other addictions were strongly concentrated in the inner zones during both periods of study. ... Although in 1965 there was a visible concentration of affective psychoses in the inner zone, it had almost vanished between 1974-1980." (HÄFNER 1989).

"Despite these marked changes, the distribution pattern of 1965, which corresponded to the zone model, still prevailed. Although in the interim wide-rangig urban renewal programs were carried out in the inner city to imporove the standard of living, rates in this area continued to be high in the seventies. This result agrees with that of GIGGS (1983) for the city of Nottingham, where the rates of schizophrenia over a period of twenty years were above average in the inner cit, despite intensive urban renewal measures. ... These results corroborate HAWLEY's (1967) finding, according to which the spatial distribution of the elements of the city demonstrates a remarkable resistance to change, ... - The spatial concentration of the illness groups schizophrenia, neuroses and personality disorders in the inner zone increased markedly compared to 1965" (ibid., 1989). These papers (including his more recent papers in German) state that the results of the two 1969 papers of Prof. HÄFNER et al. are still valid. Although I read these papers so long ago, they strongly influenced my independent research strategies during the following decades until today (while I am now retired), including my ecological doctoral thesis at Natural Sc. Dept. of Heidelberg University on the theory and application of an geographical-ecological dynamic stability of the geosphere (earth) and global civilization (which required 15 years until promotion in 1986); I fulfilled all research work always besides my normal profession as economist and development adviser. Since 1980, I started study work to lay foundations for objective research and assessment of architectural and urban aesthetics.

In the mean-time, I invested since that time some 50,000 workings hours in this research work. See progress report on my bibliographic "Database on Architecture & Proportion" on my website

http://www.proportions.de/

http://www.proportions.de/moreengl.htm

I just finished a new research paper for the proceeding volume "Ordo et Mensura VIII" (to appear in 2004, ed. by Florian HUBER & Rolf C.A. ROTTLÄNDER, in St. Katharinen (Scripta Mercaturae), with a selection of 86 proportion analyzations. Now, an English essay will be completed, soon, but containing a much smaller selection of my some 1,000 proportion analyzations of European, Asian, and New England traditional architecture produced until now (this collection increases every day by 3 to 6 analyzations). This give a clear impression that harmony and beauty in traditional architecture is primarily based on objective facts definable by geometry and other visual math argumentations.

Those interested to receive the German paper and/or the 8 plates with the proportion analyzations on "Traditional Architecture & General Proportion Theory" will get this stuff as email attachments on request. Please find a list of sociopsychiatric research work of the last decades below. Of course, this list is not complete. This bibliography shows that similar epidemiological studies were carried out in Baltimore, Bristol, Dublin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg London suburbs, Monroe County, New York, Nottingham, Strasbourg, and other sites.  
Dr. Joachim Langhein

LITERATURE ON SOCIO-PSYCHIATRIC RESEARCH WORK
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BUCHENKREMER, G. (1995) & H. BÖSER, Der Einfluß sozialer Faktoren auf den Krankheitsverlauf und Möglichkeiten therapeutischer Intervention, in: H.
HÄFNER, Was ist Schizophrenie? Stuttgart (Fischer), 213-228
BEAGLEY, C. (1973), S. JACOBSEN, C. PALMER, Social structure and the ecological distribution of mental illness, suicide and delinquency, in: Psychol. Med. 3, 177-187
BURGHES, E.W. ed. (1926), The urban community, Chicago (Chicago University Press)
COOPER, B. (1977), D. GATH, Psychiatric illness, maladjustment and juvenile deliquency: an ecological study in a London borough, in: Psychol. Med. 7, 465-474
DUNHAM, H.W. (1947), Current status of ecological research in mental disorder, in:Social Forces 25, 321-326
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(1965), Community and schizophrenia. An epidemiological analysis, Detroit (Wayne State University Press)
(1966), Epidemiology of psychiatric disorders as a contribution to medical ecology, in: Arch. Gen. Psychiatry 14, 1-19
(1969), City core and suburban fringe: changing distirbution patterns, in: S.C. PLOG & R.B. EDGERTON eds., Changing perspectives in mental illness. New York (Holt, Rinehart & Winston), 337-363
DURKHEIM, E. (1960), Le suicide, first published in 1897, Paris (Presses universitaires)
FARIS, R.E.L. (1939) & H.W. DUNHAM, Mental disorders in urban areas. An ecological study of schizophrenia and other psychoses (New York (Hafner) [A classical study]
GARDNER, E.A. (1966) & H.M. BABIGIAN, A longitudional comparison of psychiatric service. To selected socioeconomic areas of Monroe County, New York, in: Am. J. Orthopsychiatry 36, 828-828
GIGGS, J.A. (1983), Schizophrenia and ecological structure in Nottingham, in: N.D. McGLASHAN & J.R. BLUNDEN eds., Geographical aspects of health, London (Academic Press), 197-222
(1987), Ecological structure and the distribution of schizophrenia and affective osychoses in Nottingham, in: Brit. J. Psychiatry 151, 627-633
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HÄFNER [HAEFNER], Heinz (1969a, H. REIMANN, H. IMMICH & H. MARTINI, Inzidenz seelischer Erkrankungen in Mannheim (Vorläufige Mitteilung der bisher angefallenen Ergebnisse), in: Social Psychiatry 4, 126-135
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