A new study has linked the architecture and beauty of a city to the health of its inhabitants. According to a discipline called “neuroarchitecture”, the aesthetics of your municipality have an impact on your health and could lead to illnesses such as depression. The study was published in the American journal Wired.
According to the scientists behind this research, the design of many urban centers has not been designed to promote human well-being.
Living in certain cities could mean a worrying rise in illnesses such as depression, cancer and diabetes
More and more of you are favoring urban areas when you settle down. It may be for professional reasons, or simply to have more schools and shops nearby the day you decide to start a family, or when you get older. However, living in certain cities could lead to a worrying increase in illnesses such as depression, cancer and diabetes, according to a study. Do cities make people sick? This is the hypothesis put forward by two thinkers, the American writer and activist Jane Jacobs and the Danish architect Jan Gehl.
It turns out that in the second half of the 20th century, it was already highlighted that the inhumane way in which our cities were structured could have a bad influence on health.
Although little listened to at the time due to the absence of concrete proof, these theses find meaning today: we speak of “neuroarchitecture”. Thanks to innovative techniques that combine behavioral studies and brain mapping, this discipline makes it possible to measure our brain’s response to urban planning.
Colin Ellard, who directs the Urban Realities Laboratory at the University of Waterloo in Canada, is a pioneer in this field. In 2024, he collaborated with the Humanize campaign to carry out a global study on how people react psychologically to different building facades. Another notable initiative is the European Union-funded eMOTIONAL Cities project, which creates sensory maps of cities like Lisbon in Portugal, London in the United Kingdom, Copenhagen in Denmark, as well as several cities in Michigan in the United States.
Certain building facades can lead to neuroinflammation
It turns out that oppressive and unstimulating urban architecture is not just a question of aesthetics. There is evidence that it can cause real harm to its inhabitants. The study showed that certain building facades can lead to neuroinflammation, establishing a direct link between the appearance of a building and a testable health outcome.
“To fix this problem in 2025, we need to start building for fun.”scientists estimate.
Source: www.topsante.com
