Editor’s choice
‘Neurourbanism’ is a relatively new discipline that looks to understand the relationship between urban environments and mental well-being. In this study, it is used to assess the effect of different urban environments on older people.
This study builds on previous research using mobile electroencephalography (EEG) to understand the impact of three different urban environments (busy, quiet and green urban spaces) on brain activity. Ninety-five participants aged over 65 years took part. Each one undertook one of six walks in an urban neighbourhood, transitioning between two distinct environmental settings.
The authors explore changes in alpha (associated with relaxation) and beta (associated with attention) brain activity recorded during walking in differing urban environments.
Neural activity significantly varies as participants walk between urban busy and green settings, with reduced levels of low beta activity in the green setting, suggesting attention changes consistent with Attention Restoration Theory. Levels of alpha activity significantly varied between the urban busy and the urban quiet settings, with increases in the urban busy setting. There were no significant differences in EEG activity between the urban green and urban quiet settings. This suggests that the degree of environmental contrast between the urban busy context and the quiet and green urban settings is an important factor in understanding the effects of these spaces on brain activity.
Initiative / This initiative investigates how rapidly growing cities affect residents' wellbeing and how this interacts with the overall health of city systems.
Project / Novel methods to map the social and cultural value of trees to inform policy decisions regarding urban treescapes.
Journal article / This article introduces the first issue of <i>Cities & Health</i> volume 4. It covers topics such as urban density, active travel and climate change adaptation.
Journal article / This exploratory study applies a standardized analysis framework to health and wellbeing metrics of cities in the UK, Sweden, Estonia, Kenya and Thailand.
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