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In previous chapters, I have set out some of the broader socio-political and economic dynamics and processes that shape the construction of the built environment. In this chapter, I explore the substance of how building and construction can affect people’s quality of habitation and everyday lives, and how what we build is significant in shaping human welfare and physical and mental well-being. It is a truism to say that the primary objective of a building is, or ought to be, the facilitation and support of people’s functioning and activities. These activities are many and varied, and constantly evolving and changing; yet, buildings and spaces are often constructed in ways that render them static, or impervious to the ways in which people seek to interact with (in) them. From major road systems that do not permit ease of pedestrian access from one part of a city to another, to the construction of buildings with poor acoustics …