Something to help with your understanding of the answer and the question itself:
http://hiaconnect.edu.au/old/files/Built_Environment_&_Wellbeing.pdf
The built environment provides the setting and backdrop by which we live our lives, and
impacts on our senses, our emotions, participation in physical activity and community life,
our sense of community, and general wellbeing. Meanings are generated by buildings and
spaces, which we 'read' as we pass through them. Places are created and shaped by those in
control of resources and with certain interests, which affects our degree of access to, and the
way we use, those spaces.
People living in particular localities may be prone to particular diseases if the aetiology of
that disease is located in the environments in which they live. Although disease and illness
may be caused by a virus or toxic substance, it may be social institutions and practices which
actually create the circumstances in which people come into contact with these disease-
inducing agents. Places have certain environmental characteristics, such as the availability of
healthy foods, health-affirming services, community norms and so on, which influence health
behaviour. Health disadvantage is exacerbated in socially and economically disadvantaged
settings. Health promotion strategies need to take into consideration the impact of social
structure, place and time on people's health-related knowledge, attitudes and behaviours.
People with disabilities are not only marginalised by social and political structures, but these
same structures are reflected in the built environment. These built forms serve to reinforce
the physical and psychosocial isolation associated with their disability.
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