An Appraisal of Infection Control in the Built Environment: The Architect's Perspective

Abstract

The physical living and work spaces (open spaces, healthcare facilities, schools, residential buildings, streets, and road networks) constitute the built environment. Epidemiologically, the built environment connotes the extrinsic factors that affect the agent and the opportunity for exposure. Though the relationship between the built environment and infectious disease prevention and control is gaining recognition, evolving the knowledge of efficiently adopting design strategies for infectious disease control remains a huge task in developing countries. Thus, the paper aims to appraise the nexus between infection transmission, control, and the built environment from the architect's perspective, with the view of identifying the architect's role in a pandemic. The objectives are, to identify the effects of the built environment on infection control from the historic perspective, built environment metrics associated with disease transmission, the mode of disease transmission in the built environment, and the duty of urban planners/architects in infection mitigation within the built environment. The paper relied on the existing literature, interviews, and interactions with public health officers. Five key built environment metrics that are critical for infection control were identified and the case for adopting the concepts of architectural and urban designs in infection prevention and control was established.