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A. Olszewska-Guizzo
medium to improve mental health and wellbeing for city residents to create healthy
cities through mentally healthy living environments.
A growing body of evidence from observational and experimental studies shows
the associations between exposure to urban green spaces and mental health outcomes.
Many urban greening practices have been taking place around the world, but the
research shows that quantity of green is not as important for mental health delivery
as the quality of the green space. The presented line of research attempts to uncover
the specific features of green spaces that are the most beneficial for human mental
health, utilizing the objective physiological markers of mental health, such as the
assessment of brain activity.
The recent EEG experiment was conducted in three different urban spaces of the
high-density city-state of Singapore: (1) urban park, (2) neighbourhood roof garden,
and (3) busy urban area with scenes including pedestrian plaza, street and transport
hub (Fig. 1). (1) and (2) represent green spaces with different views and designs and
(3) served as the control.
1
3 Findings
The preliminary evidence has shown that the passive exposure to certain landscape
compositions (termed contemplative landscapes) triggered positive emotions and
motivation during passive exposure. This finding is supported by objective EEG
measurements on brain activity, through the exhibition of frontal alpha asymmetry
(FAA) (Fig. 2a). Even within the individual sites, there may be a heterogeneous
response to different views and some scenes may induce more or less FAA response
than others. Furthermore, there are preliminary indications that females show higher
responsiveness to change in green space quality (Fig. 2b).
The contemplative landscape features deemed the most beneficial for mental
health and wellbeing consist of aggregation of multiple aspects within a view. The
main contemplative features of these views include: far-away view, which permits
seeing the depth of the landscape; undulating landform and diversified skyline, which
brings the focus towards the sky; shaded observation points and design which permits
perception of the changes of daily and seasonal cycles; vegetation seemingly rich
in species and self-sown, with a tamed degree of wilderness; balance and harmony
in design and composition with a lack of disturbing elements, balanced scales of
physical objects and view openings; explicit presence of archetypal elements, such
as a water mirror, waterfall, boulder, clearing, single old tree, among others; lastly,
the strong character of peace and silence of the scene, with a sense of solitude and
reorientation of the urban context with the design inviting rest and relaxation.
1 Olszewska-Guizzo et al. (2020).
A. Olszewska-Guizzo
medium to improve mental health and wellbeing for city residents to create healthy
cities through mentally healthy living environments.
A growing body of evidence from observational and experimental studies shows
the associations between exposure to urban green spaces and mental health outcomes.
Many urban greening practices have been taking place around the world, but the
research shows that quantity of green is not as important for mental health delivery
as the quality of the green space. The presented line of research attempts to uncover
the specific features of green spaces that are the most beneficial for human mental
health, utilizing the objective physiological markers of mental health, such as the
assessment of brain activity.
The recent EEG experiment was conducted in three different urban spaces of the
high-density city-state of Singapore: (1) urban park, (2) neighbourhood roof garden,
and (3) busy urban area with scenes including pedestrian plaza, street and transport
hub (Fig. 1). (1) and (2) represent green spaces with different views and designs and
(3) served as the control.
1
3 Findings
The preliminary evidence has shown that the passive exposure to certain landscape
compositions (termed contemplative landscapes) triggered positive emotions and
motivation during passive exposure. This finding is supported by objective EEG
measurements on brain activity, through the exhibition of frontal alpha asymmetry
(FAA) (Fig. 2a). Even within the individual sites, there may be a heterogeneous
response to different views and some scenes may induce more or less FAA response
than others. Furthermore, there are preliminary indications that females show higher
responsiveness to change in green space quality (Fig. 2b).
The contemplative landscape features deemed the most beneficial for mental
health and wellbeing consist of aggregation of multiple aspects within a view. The
main contemplative features of these views include: far-away view, which permits
seeing the depth of the landscape; undulating landform and diversified skyline, which
brings the focus towards the sky; shaded observation points and design which permits
perception of the changes of daily and seasonal cycles; vegetation seemingly rich
in species and self-sown, with a tamed degree of wilderness; balance and harmony
in design and composition with a lack of disturbing elements, balanced scales of
physical objects and view openings; explicit presence of archetypal elements, such
as a water mirror, waterfall, boulder, clearing, single old tree, among others; lastly,
the strong character of peace and silence of the scene, with a sense of solitude and
reorientation of the urban context with the design inviting rest and relaxation.
1 Olszewska-Guizzo et al. (2020).