Using Colors on Urban Streets to Boost Mental Health
New Research published by Lanqing Gu (Urban Design and Planning)
11.10.2024
How can we improve dull, gray urban streets to better support mental well-being? A recent study led by UDP researcher Lanqing Gu explores how design interventions—like colorful murals on sidewalks—can enhance people's mood and help them recover from stress and mental fatigue.
The study used 2D images to test how different mural designs, focusing on color (warm, cool, or achromatic) and patterns (straight or curvy), affect how people feel and how restorative they find the environment. Participants (n = 112) were divided into groups and asked to rate their mood (pleasure, arousal, and relaxation) and perceived restorativeness they felt after viewing each design.
The results were promising. The murals significantly improved pleasure and arousal, as well as the feeling of being restored in the gray street setting. Some design features worked better than others. Cool colors had the most positive impact, especially for people already feeling stressed, while warm colors surprisingly reduced feelings of relaxation. As for patterns, although they didn’t directly enhance mood, people found curvy designs more restorative than straight ones.
This research offers valuable insights for city planners and designers looking to make urban spaces more supportive of mental health through the careful use of color and patterns. The full article has been published in Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science.