Author: Erin Sharp-Newton, M. Arch

At the Centre for Urban Design and Mental Health, I’m proud to highlight the work of my colleague and Centre Fellow Dr. Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo, President of NeuroLandscape. In partnership with the EU-funded GreenInCities project and aligned with the New European Bauhaus, she and her team are applying cutting-edge research in real time, on city streets, with the goal of understanding how cities affect our brains and experience.
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This innovative work brings neuroscience to life outside controlled environments, using wearable technology to explore how our surroundings shape brain activity, stress levels, and emotional responses. We move from theoretical speculation to data-driven insight into how our environments help or harm our mental health.

What is Neurourbanism?

​Neurourbanism is a rapidly evolving interdisciplinary field that examines the relationship between the built environment and the brain’s function. It synthesizes neuroscience, urban design, environmental psychology, public health, and technology to better understand how urban settings influence mental well-being. As I see it, neurourbanism offers a vital lens for designing cities that nurture mental health, moving beyond functionality toward spaces that actively support our cognitive and emotional needs.

Dr. Olszewska-Guizzo captures this well:

“We have been building cities without truly understanding their impact on us… Neurourbanism is unlocking this mystery. It is the key to designing cities that don’t just function, but feel - cities that nurture mental health, encourage creativity, and foster human connection.”  You can read her full article here.

Tools Bringing Neuroscience to Urban Design 

​Within the GreenInCities consortium, the NeuroLandscape team has been developing two innovative tools aimed at advancing urban design through neuroscientific data:

1. The Neurourbanism Assessment (NUA):
A neighborhood-scale mental health evaluation tool that integrates portable brain imaging (using EEG) with real-time environmental measurements such as air quality, noise levels, and landscape aesthetics. The NUA captures immediate brain responses to urban stimuli, providing objective data about how specific urban environments affect well-being in a simple form – a single numeric value, called NUA index. This tool supports the New European Bauhaus (NEB) mission to enhance urban spaces aesthetically and functionally, while aligning with broader Urban Regeneration (UR) goals by pinpointing areas that could better promote public mental health.
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2. The Mental Health Digital Twin (MHDT):
A sophisticated simulation platform that merges neuroimaging data with psychological and environmental metrics to model brain activity under varying urban conditions. The MHDT allows planners and designers to virtually test proposed interventions, predicting their potential mental health impacts before implementation. This tool embodies the integration of neuroscience with AI and urban data analytics, guiding evidence-based decisions for healthier cities.
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Together, these tools provide a robust framework that bridges neuroscience, mental health, planning, design, and policy, advancing the future of urban development and interventions, grounded in human-centered science.  

​Beyond Interdisciplinary: A Transdisciplinary Movement  

While many describe Neurourbanism as interdisciplinary, perhaps we should consider it the term transdisciplinary as well. Neurourbanism integrates a vast spectrum of disciplines: neuroscience, architecture, environmental psychology, landscape design, psychiatry, epidemiology, computer science, AI, sociology, and public policy. But it also has the power to transcend academia by involving municipalities, urban planners, designers, and the public in testing and applying this science in real-world, accessible contexts.

This breadth and collaboration are both challenging and essential. At the Centre for Urban Design and Mental Health, we witness firsthand how integrating diverse expertise and perspectives generates deeper understanding and more innovative solutions. It is definitely not always the easier path, as there is an inherent complexity in bridging the gap between urban design and mental health, as well as the disconnect often found between academia and practice.  This is exactly the point, and thus our approach - to address the gaps, disconnects, and diverse ways of addressing mental health, which is ultimately a common issue to all.  Neurourbanism exemplifies this approach by not only generating knowledge but actively transforming how we think about and build our cities.

​Capturing the Brain in Context: Methods and Data  

What distinguishes Neurourbanism from traditional urban health studies is its direct measurement of brain responses in situ. Rather than relying solely on self-report surveys or laboratory experiments, researchers use portable neuroimaging tools, such as wearable EEG, alongside spatial sensors and environmental data collection methods.

Collecting this neurophysiological data in real urban settings allows for novel insight into how specific environments modulate stress, attention, and mood. Combined with geospatial analysis, computer vision, and AI algorithms, this multidisciplinary approach can capture the nuanced relationship between the brain and the city.
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Despite early skepticism from some neuroscientists who favored controlled lab studies, advances in wearable technology and data analytics are rapidly shifting the field and providing data, feedback and insight not achievable equally in labs. In labs there are missing elements, and in surveys there are subjective aspects that affect outcomes.  While this space is in some ways new territory, and not without error or shortcomings, the progress still promises critical new intel for designing interventions that are grounded in physiological experience and measurable validity.

​Neurourbanism Now  

​Urbanization continues to accelerate worldwide, and with it, mental health challenges such as stress, anxiety, social isolation, and cognitive overload become more prevalent. These issues are shaped by the physical and social fabric of our cities.  Neurourbanism offers a scientific pathway to diagnose these urban mental health challenges and respond effectively. By linking neuroscience with design and policy, it provides planners, architects, and decision-makers a clearer picture of how environments affect psychological well-being, and provides tools to create spaces that actively support mental health.

​Current Research  

In Nova Gorica, Slovenia, the NeuroLandscape team is piloting their Neurourbanism tools and methods. Their fieldwork is part of a larger effort to assess and transform urban environments based on how they influence mental health at the neurobiological level. Using mobile mobile EEG headsets, they are collecting real-time brain activity data as participants walk through selected urban routes. Additionally, environmental measurements (air quality, sound levels, temperature, humidity, and the visual quality of landscape) is also assessed.

The research is designed to compare different urban neighbourhoods and typologies (such as dense commercial zones, quiet residential areas, and green parks) to evaluate how various stimuli affect emotional states, stress regulation, and cognitive load. Participants' subjective perceptions are also gathered through questionnaires and interviews, allowing researchers to correlate physiological responses with personal experience and spatial context.

This approach provides a holistic view of how specific spatial characteristics such as visual openness, natural elements, and noise exposure, etc. can elevate or alleviate stress. The data collected is then processed using AI algorithms and spatial mapping tools, feeding into the development of the Mental Health Digital Twin (MHDT) and Neurourbanism Assessment (NUA) to inform practical, evidence-based urban planning recommendations in more places around the world.
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The next phases of this study will take place in Helsinki, Finland, and Athens, Greece (key sites in the GreenInCities project)  where the team will continue to apply and refine these tools.  Their hope is to work closely with city planners to guide sustainable urban transformation efforts that prioritize mental health.
(You can follow the team’s step-by-step experimental procedures and access a comprehensive FAQ here.)

Stay Tuned 
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If you are interested in how neuroscience, data, and urban design can converge to create healthier, more liveable cities, I encourage you to follow this evolving field closely, through the work of people such as Dr. Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo, her team, and our other UDMH fellows.
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We will continue to share more on how the integration of brain science into urbanism has the potential to revolutionize how we conceive and shape our lived environments.

Additional  Reading &  References:

Adli, M., et al. (2017). Neurourbanism: towards a new discipline. The Lancet Psychiatry, 4(3), 183-185.
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Vigliocco, G., et al. (2024). Ecological brain: reframing the study of human behaviour and cognition. Royal Society Open Science, 11(11), 240762.

Tewari, K., Tewari, M., & Niyogi, D. (2023). Need for considering urban climate change factors on stroke, neurodegenerative diseases, and mood disorders studies. Computational Urban Science, 3(1), 4.
Andreucci, M.B., Russo, A., & Olszewska-Guizzo, A. (2019). Designing Urban Green Blue Infrastructure for Mental Health and Elderly Wellbeing. Sustainability, 11(22), 6425.

Beute, F., et al. (2020). Types and characteristics of urban and periurban green spaces having an impact on human mental health and wellbeing: a systematic review. EKLIPSE Expert Working Group.
Norwood, M.F., et al. (2019). Brain activity, underlying mood and the environment: A systematic review. Journal of Environmental Psychology.

Moore, T.H.M., et al. (2018). The effects of changes to the built environment on the mental health and well-being of adults: Systematic review. Health & Place, 53, 237-257.

Gascon, M., et al. (2017). Outdoor blue spaces, human health and well-being: A systematic review of quantitative studies. International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health, 220(8), 1207-1221.

Van den Berg, M., et al. (2015). Health benefits of green spaces in the living environment: A systematic review of epidemiological studies. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 14(4), 806-816.
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Olszewska-Guizzo, A., Sia, A., Fogel, A., & Ho, R. (2022). Features of urban green spaces associated with positive emotions, mindfulness and relaxation. Scientific Reports, 12(1), 20695.

Cherry blossom season is upon us in Japan. The national news is filled with cherry blossom reports: it feels like everybody is invested in the specific day that the flowers will bloom in their town. There is good reason for this interest, and not just the national appreciation of beauty, flowers and the ephemeral nature of life. Cherry blossom behavior is part of Japan’s national psyche. In a unique moment of nationwide celebration, the country’s usual work-focused culture presses pause, and a different priority is embraced: cherry blossoms viewing, known as hanami. People walk amongst cherry blossoms, admire them, photograph them… Admiring cherry blossoms is part of the pulse of Japan.
 
As the flowers fleetingly blossom, so too does another fleeting pleasure: leisurely outdoor social interaction. Everyone dashes to their nearest cherry blossom location to enjoy raucous, convivial, drunken hanami parties, crowded on blue tarpaulin sheets spread under the trees. Offices, universities, friends, and just about anyone else organises hanami parties, characterised by picnicking (with copious alcohol usually involved). Office workers are even sent to the park early in the morning to secure a good spot.

But as the blossoms start to fade, so too does this particular form of social interaction. At the end of cherry blossom season, Japanese people pack up their picnic blankets and store them til next spring. This seems a missed opportunity: many people live in very small homes, particularly those in large cities like Tokyo, which inhibits their inviting others to their homes for socialising. Picnics should be an ideal solution. And yet they are not. Part of the reason may be lack of venue. Tokyo has only 5.4 m2 of green space per person; this compares to 11.8m2 in Paris, 26.9m2 in London and 29.1 m2 in New York. While picnicking takes over many public spaces during hanami season, for the rest of the time this is not appropriate, and many parks are designed to be admired, not as appropriate social dining spots for adults. But finding the right venue is not the only hurdle. Picnics do not tend to be part of Japanese culture. According to many Japanese people, picnicking outside at any non-hanami time of the year is generally considered 'bizarre', 'childish', and even 'suspicious'.
 
Hiroshi Ota, an architect, and Kaori Ito, an urban designer, helped establish the Tokyo Picnic Club in 2002. Its mission: to tempt Tokyoites to picnic outside of hanami season, socialising in natural settings year-round. They claim: ‘to picnic is the urban culture to utilize the public spaces, to make up for the deficiencies of our city life.’ The appreciation of parks is a cultural norm, but the idea of picnics is unusual. Yet they offer many benefits, not least the opportunity to promote good mental health in the city. Picnicking offers exposure to natural green spaces, encourages physical activity (at least walking to the picnic spot), and facilitates pro-social interaction, which are all urban factors associated with good mental health.

The connections between picnics in the park and good mental health tends to be underappreciated. “Japanese people don’t feel the direct connection between spending time in nature and health,” Ota explains. “However, if parks are used for community activities, that can lead to improved mental health.”

The Tokyo Picnic Club helps people make that all-important but unappreciated connection between urban design and mental health by linking picnics to more commonly accepted health promotion ideas. “In Japan, people tend to think about food when it comes to health. Since the idea of the picnic is based on food, this helps with the idea that going to the park for a picnic can help enhance health.” Ito adds that in Japan, expressing creativity is another important facet of mental health, and this can be achieved by preparing elaborate picnics. “When Japanese people enjoy creativity, they tend to feel happy. Therefore, we believe that writing a poem, making food, and wearing creative costumes during the picnic may also make people feel happy.”
 
There are further benefits to socialising in the park, Ito proposes: “If you go to a shopping centre, you will notice the lack of diversity. However, parks are open for anyone. You can see all the generations, including rich, poor, elderly and young people.”

But their enthusiasm for picnics is not shared by everyone. The Tokyo Picnic Club described setting up picnics in various patches of green space around Tokyo – and measuring how long it took before their party caught the attention of the police and were reprimanded for their subversive attitude to picnicking outside the social boundaries of hanami season. It rarely takes long before they are questioned - and often asked to move on.
 
“We just want the places to have our picnic. We need neither benches nor waterworks. We simply want a spacious lawn. If Green Fields such as beautiful parks are open to us, the picnic becomes the art of encounter in our urban lifestyles. If Brown Fields such as ex-industrial sites or abandoned harbors are open to our picnic, we can develop meals, tools, manners and conversations to fit in the new atmosphere of the modern cityscape.”
 
The Tokyo Picnic Club hopes that by raising awareness, the value of year-round picnicking will be better understood and appreciated in Japan. Their efforts have included portable lawns, and Grass on Vacation, an art show where they remove aeroplane-shaped pieces of turf from locations where people do not sit on the grass, and take them on ‘vacation’ to other locations where the grass can 'enjoy' its intended use: people are encouraged to sit, lie, socialise, eat and generally enjoy the experience of nature in the city.

The Tokyo Picnic Club smilingly insist that the "Right to Picnic" should be a basic human right for urban dwellers. Given the normality of picnicking in other cities all over the world, in Tokyo, this is a surprisingly subversive demand.

In time, the Picnic Club hope for proper observation of one of the 15 rules of Tokyo Picnic Club: every day is a picnic day. By encouraging people’s access to green space and positive, natural social interaction, this is also an apt mantra for mental health promotion in the city.

It is always inspiring to walk along New York City's High Line Park. Once disused, elevated rail tracks have been transformed into an overground walkway filled with greenery, places to sit, ice cream to eat, and views to enjoy. 

The first time I visited the park, several years ago, it was calming and relaxing and contemplative - now the huge influx of visitors has made it very much less so, but still the access to close encounters with trees and shrubs, along with the art and views both of the city and out to the water, and the opportunities for private moments even amongst the crowds are some of the things that draw people there.