Did you know buildings can make you feel better, well-designed environments can encourage exercise and people who are involved in decisions about their built environment have greater feelings of ownership and belonging?

This thesis has prompted the unlikely pairing of two disciplines at UCD – architecture and psychology – to carry out combined research using a questionnaire called Your Place and Mine.

Questions regarding what you like about where you live, the location of pylons and windmills and the pros and cons of living in an apartment are among those being asked in the nationwide survey in which everyone gets the chance to have their say.

“The built environment belongs to everyone and we must all have a say in its design,” says Emmett Scanlon of UCD Architecture, who is leading the project in partnership with UCD Psychology. “We need to know what citizens think about local and national issues such as housing and energy so we can make better, more informed decisions which reflect people’s everyday experiences.”

When they have collected the data they will offer it to housing, design and built-environment policy makers.

Scanlon says this will give them “a real opportunity to include the attitudes, views and opinions of the Irish public in their future work”.

The new Government policy on architecture and the built environment is due for revision next year

The survey runs until November 14th and you can participate by going to yourplaceandmine.ie.