Health and wellbeing: when the place where you live matters too

“Promoting physical activity goes beyond promoting individual lifestyle choices; it requires creating environments that make it easier and safer for all of us to be active.”

Dr Fiona Bull, head of the Physical Activity Unit at the World Health Organization (WHO)

Dr Fiona Bull's words point to something we often forget when we talk about health: not everything depends on what we do, but also on the place where we do it.

Choosing to walk instead of taking the car, going for a run, spending a few minutes under the trees or simply switching off outdoors may look like a personal decision. But making those activities part of our routine is far easier when our surroundings make room for them. And here an important distinction appears. Health and wellbeing are not exactly the same thing. Health has to do with how our body and mind function. Wellbeing also has to do with how we live our days: our level of satisfaction, the chance to rest, to move, to spend time with others, to enjoy our surroundings and feel comfortable in them.

The two are connected.

The WHO recognises that urban green spaces can encourage physical activity, relaxation, social interaction and recreation, as well as helping to reduce environmental effects such as noise and urban heat. Talking about wellbeing, then, is not only about gyms, food or medical appointments. It also means asking ourselves: what is the place we come back to every day like?

Nature can be part of the routine

A study published in Scientific Reports, with 19,806 participants in England, found that people who spent at least 120 minutes a week in contact with nature were more likely to report good health and high levels of wellbeing than those who had no contact with natural spaces that week. The time could be spread across several visits.

This does not mean that 120 minutes are a universal formula for being healthy. In fact, the researchers point out that this is an association and that more research is still needed to establish causal relationships. But the finding does point to something interesting: when nature is part of our life, it can also become part of our chances to feel better.

The WHO itself highlights that green and blue spaces can contribute to physical and mental wellbeing, make physical activity easier and create places to relax, socialise and enjoy.

So perhaps real luxury is not only having a beautiful space. Perhaps it is having surroundings that invite us to use it. A city that invites you to leave the house. That is where urban design takes on another dimension. A trail is not only a trail. It can be where someone goes walking after work. A green area is not only landscaping. It can become a place to sit, talk or switch off. A seafront promenade is not only a view. It can become part of a routine.

At Larimar City & Resort, nature is part of that urban vision. Phase I includes more than 50,000 m² of leisure areas, jogging trails and native tropical landscaping. The project also features sports facilities, a wellness district, family areas and a panoramic promenade of more than three kilometres along the Farallón cliff in Punta Cana.

The idea, then, is not only to build places to live in, but to create more opportunities to walk, move, rest and enjoy the surroundings.

And that takes us from health to wellbeing. Being healthy can mean that our body works well. But feeling well can also mean having the time, the space and the surroundings to enjoy it. And yes, pets belong here too. Because a life designed around wellbeing would not be complete without those who, for many of us, are part of the family. Dogs, for example, can turn an everyday activity into a reason to go out: a walk, a stroll at sunset or simply a few minutes in the open air.

Research has found that dog owners tend to walk and exercise more than people without a dog, although this does not mean that having a pet is in itself a guarantee of better health. There is a social dimension too. Some studies have found associations between having pets and feeling less socially isolated, although the results on loneliness are less consistent.

That is why a pet friendly city should not stop at allowing pets. It should also offer surroundings where they can walk, explore, play and keep us company in everyday life. And do not worry, cat lovers will also have reasons to let their cats explore and enjoy where they live. Because wellbeing does not belong to a single species. And for those who love birds, imagine adding to that an open space above the Farallón, surrounded by tropical vegetation, with the Caribbean breeze and a sense of openness that is hard to find in a conventional city.

It is not only about living close to nature. It is about living within it.

When the surroundings are part of the experience too

The Golf Villas at Larimar City & Resort, for example, sit on plots of between 800 and 1,500 m², with gardens of native tropical landscaping, around an 18-hole golf course. Elsewhere in the project, bringing together green areas, recreation, sport and services aims to let different forms of wellbeing coexist within the same urban experience.

It is a different way of understanding quality of life. Not as a list of things we have to do in order to feel good, but as surroundings that can make some of them happen more naturally:

• walking because the landscape invites you to
• going out because there is space
• moving because it is easy
• resting because there is somewhere to do it
• sharing because there are places for it

Wellbeing is designed too

The conversation about urban health is evolving. The WHO argues that city planning should take health, wellbeing and equity into account, and that green and blue spaces can bring physical, mental, social and environmental benefits.

Choosing where to live, then, can also be a decision about how we want to live. With more nature. With more open space. With more chances to move. With places to switch off. With our family. With our pets.

And with that small everyday luxury of stepping out of the house and feeling that your surroundings are on your side too. Because at Larimar, your health and your wellbeing are within reach.

And at Larimar City & Resort, both ideas start in the same place: the surroundings we choose to live in.