Now, advocates and many city mayors are using this research to improve their cities and, in many cases, address long-standing issues.
“In Restorative Cities, we were trying to distill the evidence for those links through simple infographics and illustrations,” Roe said, “so anyone can quickly see how powerful the benefits are.”
Rigorously measuring the psychology of the public relies on proven and new methods of research. In one study in a low-income urban community, Roe monitored the cortisol levels of people who were not working for over three days as they moved around in their urban environment.
With high levels of green open space this "stress hormone" spikes upon waking and then declines gradually all day, a normal healthy response. But when the environment is dominated by the gray of concrete, rather than natural green, that fall-off happens much more slowly, resulting in a low, flat cortisol profile, a finding that connects with poor stress regulation and mental health issues.
After the initial monitoring, Roe needed one more piece of information: real-time data from within the participants’ brains.
Roe convinced over a hundred Scottish retirees to go about their lives while wearing headsets which measured their brainwaves.
“We found their alpha-wave activity increased when they spent time in green spaces, something that indicated greater relaxation. In a dense, noisy, urban environment, though, their higher-level beta-wave frequency kicked in, which implies those spaces demand more attention. Those environments can deplete us cognitively, leaving us fatigued and less resourceful.”
Studies of this nature are complex, and one major source of support has been UVA’s Environmental Institute. “They’ve been incredibly generous to me, funding a number of studies that I’ve run,” Roe shared.
Our built environments, Roe believes based on her research, can make us sick. But her research has fueled optimism for a future where data-driven solutions benefit human health, happiness, and well-being.