Researchers used principles from the budding field of neurourbanism to predict and understand the influence of urban environments on behavior.
Researchers from the Michigan State University (MSU) have released a study to measure brain activity to make predictions that could inform urban planning strategies designed to improve the well-being of both residents and visitors.
Urbanization, the rapid growth of cities and towns in terms of size and population, has seen a global surge, with the percentage of people living in urban areas rising from 33% in 1960 to 57% in 2023.
The study, led by Dar Meshi, an associate professor in MSU’s Department of Advertising and Public Relations and director of the Social Media and Neuroscience Lab, was recently published in Nature Cities.
Reward system
It included collaboration with the University of Lisbon, Portugal. The team discovered that the brain’s reward system can influence human behavior in urban environments, offering new insights for designing cities that foster sustainable living.
While urban areas are often associated with improved access to education, employment, healthcare, and cultural activities, rapid urbanization can also lead to challenges like limited green spaces, traffic noise, and social inequalities. This underscores the need for sustainable urban development that prioritizes health, safety, and overall well-being.
To explore ways of shaping urban planning that enhances quality of life, Meshi and his colleagues applied principles from neurourbanism, a growing field that uses brain measurements to understand the impact of urban spaces on behavior.
What is neurourbanism?
“Neurourbanism has the potential to significantly shape cities by promoting cognitive, emotional, and physical well-being,” Meshi said. “By focusing on individual well-being, urban environments can improve the health and happiness of their inhabitants.”
The study utilized brain scanning technologies such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which measures blood oxygenation changes to identify active regions in the brain during specific tasks. Meshi and his team focused on the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), a critical part of the brain’s reward system that influences decision-making and valuation.
According to Ardaman Kaur, a postdoctoral researcher at MSU and a study co-author, previous neuroforecasting research has used vmPFC activity to predict behaviors such as food choices, purchasing habits, and even stock market movements, making it a valuable tool for urban planning.
In the study, 77 US participants who had never visited Lisbon viewed and rated photos of urban environments in the city, sourced from Flickr. These images were geotagged to measure visitation patterns in various Lisbon regions.
The results indicated that neural activity in the vmPFC could predict people’s likelihood of visiting specific areas, as certain environments activated more value-related brain activity.
Neurourbanism and urban planning
Meshi explained that people often make decisions based on perceived value, which can explain why certain urban areas attract more visitors or photo-taking than others. “Certain locations in the city generate stronger brain activity because they are perceived as more valuable, whether aesthetically or culturally,” he said.
Kaur emphasized that the research offers valuable insights into how our brains process information about urban spaces, which could help create cities that better align with human behavior and well-being. “Our study can guide the development of human-centered urban environments tailored to how we interact with and perceive our surroundings,” she said.
Meshi believes that applying neurourbanism insights to urban planning could refine city designs to enhance livability, making cities more efficient and improving residents’ daily experiences. “Incorporating these findings into urban infrastructure could create cities that are easier to navigate and more conducive to well-being,” he said.
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SOURCE: Smarter city planning: Researchers use brain activity to predict visits to urban areas. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/11/241121165359.htm
