Urban Interventions to Mitigate the Adverse Effects of Occupational Stress in Office Buildings

To mitigate occupational stress, there are three areas in which intervention through the built environment can be affected: architecture, the urban landscape (conjoined space), and urban planning. Of these three, the present paper focuses on urban planning factors, which can impact considerably the two other areas. This article discusses the significance of the problem on both the individual and organizational levels and then explores the relationship between urban planning—and, specifically, the components of office placement and programming—and occupational stress. A set of strategies for mitigating stress are offered that can be instituted during the early stages of the planning process.