Public housing environment and depression: case study Bandar Baru Sentul / Nur Masyitah Ghazali ... (et al.)

Depression is one of the common mental health problems worldwide, and in Malaysia, it is mostly from low-income groups. Due to this factor, most low-income groups in urban areas will reside in public housing due to high living costs. This study aims to understand the public housing environment's effect on mental health. The objectives are to study and analyses states of depression in public housing and its relationship with the surrounding built environment. This study was conducted at the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The questionnaire is an adaptation of Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS-21). The sampling technique using homogenous sampling in the selected case study area. The selected area is based on several characteristics, which are housing typologies, green areas, and density. The collected data were analysed using correlation analysis and compared with the theoretical framework to study the relationship between the surrounding environment and depression. The results have shown that public housing's surrounding built environment is associated with depressive symptoms and mental health wellbeing. The findings also show that the surrounding built environment may contribute to mental health wellbeing and worsen existing sufferers' condition.