Home Boundary: A New concept in healthy and resilient housing

This paper defines a new concept, home boundary (HB), to provide an integrated framework for understanding the effects of architectural features that influence residents’ connections to nature, social life, and the outside world. The concept emerged from a narrative literature review of publications identified through a bibliographic search on Scopus, consolidating fragmented concerns and knowledge into identification of the primary research areas and relevant gaps and pointing to future research directions. In contrast to the current perspective, a comprehensive approach to the HB; treating it as a system for the facilitation of effective indoor-outdoor connectivity and considering all cultural and contextual factors, would mitigate residents’ isolation at home and its adverse effects on their health and well-being, particularly in forms of housing where residents are largely disconnected from nature, social life, and the outside world. Interdisciplinary collaborations are essential to understand all these aspects and to identify strategies for addressing them. A communication network between researchers, designers, planners, and policymakers is required to translate research findings into innovative practical applications which are tailored to specific physical and cultural contexts. This approach can lead to meaningful changes in conventional housing practices and the development of planning guidance and regulations that will support health and well-being in both future and existing housing. • The impact of home on residents’ health and well-being extends beyond its indoor spaces, encompassing the quality of indoor-outdoor connectivity. • This paper defines the home boundary (HB) concept to consolidate fragmented studies in this area, directing them toward more purposeful and practical paths to achieving healthy and resilient housing. • The HB should be viewed through a comprehensive lens and treated as a system, considering all cultural and contextual factors to identify and leverage opportunities for maximum benefits. • The HB is a less-explored niche in environment-behavior research, providing a context for a wide range of interdisciplinary studies. • This concept may lead to meaningful changes in conventional housing practices and the development of planning guidance and regulations for both future and existing housing.