Factors Influencing the Design of Green Areas in Thai Private Hospitals: A Case Study of Urban Private Hospitals
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Abstract
Green areas have played a critical role in hospitals by supporting healing effects, enhancing building performance, and contributing to marketing strategies. However, in the Thai urban private hospital context, their design is also influenced by legal requirements, green building standards, investment considerations, and contextual constraints, yet these influences have not been systematically compiled and organized. This study addresses this gap by examining the concepts and factors affecting green area design through literature review, document analysis, field surveys, and semi-structured interviews with 16 stakeholders across three urban private hospital case studies.
The literature review revealed 13 primary and 43 secondary factors that influence hospital’s green area design. The thematic analysis revealed 14 additional secondary factors specific to the local context, which are notably related to risk management and user context. These factors directly affect the design attributes of green spaces, including form, location, and accessibility. The research finds that most existing green area design is determined mainly by legal requirements and leftover spaces, which are related to gaps in evaluations, local research, and investment metrics, leading to their low priority in hospital planning.
The research suggests that green area design in Thai private hospitals must integrate academic and evidence-based benefits with balanced considerations of risk management, operations, and investment. It also highlights the importance of data and evidence in enabling green areas to move beyond minimum legal requirements and residual spatial conditions toward becoming strategic design components in the future development of Thai private hospitals.
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