A New Form of Biophilic Design for Human-nature Interactions in High-density, High-rise Contexts

Abstract Urban dwellers are characterised by a more affluent living style, resulting in patterns of routine that reduce opportunities for unplanned chances of human-nature interactions and increasingly foster a sense of detachment from the natural world. This study aims to explore nature-centric architectural design and investigate a new form of biophilia in high-density urban contexts. The hypothesis is that human-nature interactions are significant in urban living, and communal green spaces facilitate these interactions. The research findings affirm the significance of human-nature interactions in urban living, reveal urban dwellers’ multi-faceted interpretation of nature, and identify key substances for interactions with nature, extending the biophilic design theories to the high-density high-rise contexts. A hypothetical “SOA” model composed of space, object and activity is proposed to interpret direct and indirect human-nature interactions and establish a framework of biophilic design for multi-level communal green spaces in urban contexts.