A Systematic Review on implications of Biophilic Design as a salutogenic approach to Wellness Tourism

Abstract

Abstract

In today's technology-driven lifestyle, health and well-being have a multi-faceted impact on human lives and have gradually influenced tourism trends. The prevalence of the COVID-19 pandemic has affected both physical and mental well-being. (Fiorillo & Frangou, 2020) In this context, health has emerged as a significant element of tourism. Existing literature divides health tourism into two distinct types, namely, medical and wellness tourism. Medical tourism emphasizes the pathogenic treatment of diseases, whereas wellness tourism directs an alternative approach, focusing on a holistic promotion of various dimensions of health and well-being. (Voigt & Pforr, 2013) The presence of direct and indirect strategies linking individuals to the natural environment are known to impart restorative benefits and significantly contribute to human well-being. (Qiu et al., 2021) However, understanding potential correlations between tourist rehabilitation and biophilic design as a salutogenic model is limited in the context of wellness tourism, resulting in a lack of orientation for architects and designers.

The paper aims to summarize the existing literature on the health benefits of biophilic principles through a systematic literature review, followed by compilation of a comprehensive conceptual framework. Firstly, the systematic literature review is conducted by PRISMA model (Moher et al., 2015) as it synthesizes the findings from recent literature reducing the effect of the reviewers’ own biases, thus identifying research gaps, and providing suggestions and directions for further research. A protocol of an SLR details the study inclusion criteria, establishes a series of review questions, identifies relevant studies, appraises their quality, and summarizes the evidence to provide an overall understanding of the research on a certain topic. Secondly, the outcome from the existing literature reveals a lack of distinct focus on salutogenic or biophilic approaches and fails to evaluate the extent of utilization of biophilic strategies in wellness projects. Finally, the outcome of the paper is to develop the conceptual framework to establish a relationship between health and well-being benefits of a salutogenic design model in the wellness tourism industry with respect to the Indian context.

The research shall aid as a reference for future researchers, architects, and designers in utilizing restorative implications of the human-nature relationship in designing and planning wellness tourism projects as a healing environment in the Indian context.