Window View and the Brain: Effects of Floor Level and Green Cover on the Alpha and Beta Rhythms in a Passive Exposure EEG Experiment.

Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo,Nicolas Escoffier,Jane Chan,Tan Puay Yok

doi:10.3390/ijerph15112358

Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo, Nicolas Escoffier + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15112358

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Abstract

With the growing interest among researchers, practitioners, and urban decision makers in the influence of the built environment on peoples’ health, there is increasing emphasis on using scientific knowledge to inform urban design, including methods of neuroscience. As window views are the most immediate medium of visual connection with one’s neighbourhood, we surmised that the quality of this view would have an impact on the mental health and well-being of urban dwellers. Accordingly, we investigated how window views taken from different floors of a high-rise block with varying extents of green cover affected 29 healthy residents in an exploratory electroencephalography (EEG) experiment. The results showed that the amount of green cover within the view captured at different floor levels can cause an important interaction effect on the frontal alpha and temporal beta brain oscillations while participants view photographs. These results suggest that the brainwave patterns commonly associated with positive emotional states, motivation, and visual attention mechanisms may be increased by the extent of green cover within the view. This phenomenon seems more pronounced on the higher than lower floors. The observed findings at this stage cannot confirm major effects between floor level, green cover, and brainwaves, however, they emphasize the importance of considering the quality of window views in the planning and design of urban high-rise neighbourhoods. Having a green window view can potentially contribute to the mental health and well-being of urban dwellers.

Highlights

More than half the world’s population lives in cities [1]
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first experimental study to assess the effects of the combination of floor level and green cover within a window view on the brainwave oscillations of healthy individuals living in high-rise estates
The experiment emphasizes the importance of the quality of window views as the most immediate contact with the outdoors for urban dwellers and validates their potential interaction with well-being

Summary

Introduction

More than half the world’s population lives in cities [1]. High population density often requires residential housing to go up, with increasing numbers of floors. Going high-rise is a modern-day phenomenon, seen as a solution to the double conundrum of land scarcity and increasing numbers of urban dwellers, especially in populous Asian cities such as Singapore, Hong Kong, and Tokyo. Singapore is one of the most densely populated countries in the world, with over 7000 people per square km [2]. High-rise residential apartments, commonly called the Housing & Development. Board (HDB) blocks, are ubiquitous, even iconic, in the Singapore landscape and are home to more than 80% of the population [2]. The newest HDB blocks stretch 50 floors and consist of 200 housing units on average. As living space rises further from the ground, direct physical contact with nature

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