Hashemi and colleagues probed how design can influence urbanites’ quality-of-life. They report that to complete their “study [they] selected two different urban blocks in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania–with high and low social vulnerability indices (SVI)–to compare their microclimate conditions in association with urban morphological characteristics such as green coverage area, sky view factor (SVF), albedo, and street height to width (H/W) ratio. . . .
The Irish Times reports on a study presented at the European Congress on Obesity by Brouwer and van Rossum. The researchers found that “living in a safer neighborhood can have a greater impact on weight loss than how close your home is to a gym of grocery store. Factors such as inadequate street lighting, groups of loitering children, and heavy traffic all have an association with difficulties losing weight. . . .
Research by van Oordt, Ouwehand, and Paas confirms that design, particularly when it supports viewing nature, can promote mental refreshment. The investigators report that “According to attention restoration theory observing nature has restorative effects on cognitive components, such as working memory, after a cognitive depleting task. Additionally, urban environments are thought to have no effect or even a negative effect on cognitive restoration.
Ayalon evaluated the criteria humans use to judge neighborhoods. Research conducted indicated “the importance of subjective mediators, rather than objective ones in explaining the association between perceived neighborhood characteristics and wellbeing.” Wellbeing was higher when perceived neighborhood disorder was lower and neighborhood cohesion was perceived to be higher, for example.
A literature review completed by Nigg, Petersen, and MacIntyre’s confirms the positive effects of exposure to nature during the pandemic and argues for the future support of nature spaces. The investigators found that “Overall, the findings indicate that nature may mitigate [lessen] the impact of COVID-19 on psychological health and physical activity. . . . Overall, natural environments demonstrate considerable potential in buffering the impact of stressful events on a population level on mental health.”
Gaertner and colleagues study how relaxing it is to be in various virtual reality spaces. They report that their “systematic review investigates first, whether virtual interventions can successfully induce changes in the autonomic nervous system associated with relaxation as measured by heart rate variability (HRV), and second, aims to determine whether specific intervention components exist which are necessary for their success. . . . [studies evaluated] found a significant physiological effect of a virtual relaxation intervention on HRV.
Nori and colleagues probed how design can promote effective wayfinding via a virtual reality-based project. They report that their “results suggest that navigation could be facilitated by reducing anxiety and the spatial complexity of the environment. . . . Spatial anxiety is particularly important for navigation and reflects feelings of apprehension and fear regarding navigating an environment, orienting oneself, and performing spatial tasks.” Centrally located you-are-here maps, for example, might reduce spatial anxiety.
A study of termite mound “architecture” indicates how building design can promote air movement within a structure and increase user comfort. Researchers learned by studying the homes of termites in Namibia “that the layout of [a] lattice-like network of tunnels can intercept wind around the termite mound to create turbulence inside, which can power ventilation and control the interior climate. These properties can be copied to create a comfortable climate in human buildings with little energy. . . . The researchers focused on . . .
Hodges, Estes, and Warren probed the implications of the words used in slogans and it’s likely that their findings are more broadly useful to designers. The team reports that via “a large correlational study with over 800 brand slogans, laboratory experiments, a biometric eye tracking experiment, and a field study, we unearth the word properties that make slogans effective. . . .
Geiger and colleagues investigated the health of people living near the ocean. They report that they analyzed “data from the Seas, Oceans, and Public Health In Europe (SOPHIE) and Australia (SOPHIA) surveys to. . . . find broad cross-country generalizability that living nearer to the coast and visiting it more often are associated with better self-reported general health. These results suggest that coastal access may be a viable and generalized route to promote public health across Europe and Australia.