Neuroaesthetics and Cities
Notes from The Classical Planning Institute
Friends,
This week I’ve been thinking about beauty, and how our experience of beauty shapes our relationship with a city, neighborhood or street.
I want to only walk down streets that make me feel like this picture does:
But in reality, I end up walking past of bunch of streets like this too:
My first exploration into the science of city beauty felt like a guilty pleasure. I’m much more accustomed to thinking about sanitation in slums or slowing the spread of infectious disease. But I’ve learned beauty is much more than a guilty pleasure to turn to once the “real problems” have been fixed.
Beauty plays an important role in the foundation of vital neighborhoods. A deficit of beauty signals that the neighborhood is facing deeper challenges.
This week I’m curating the ideas of architect and planner Dr. Nir Buras, founder of The Classical Planning Institute and pioneer in the field of neuroaesthetics for buildings and cities. Neuroaesthetics, a relatively new field itself, examines how our brains experience art. We often find “good” art beautiful, although when contemplating works like Picasso’s Guernica, I’ve felt a sense of terror, or shock. The broader field of neuroaesthetics is exploring this fascination with art beyond purely beauty and pleasure. It is combining our experience of art with science - what is happening in the brain when we spend time with art?
Neuroaesthetics has given rise to experiments like the Tate Sensorium in London and some creepy advertising recommendations targeting the decision making parts of our brains with images. And, research supported by the Dr. Buras on what happens in our brains as we walk down the street. Here are my top three takeaways from this month’s intro course.
#1 Environments can Agitate or Delight
The sight of nature has been long-proven to reduce stress. There is evidence that apartments with windows that overlook some greenery have fewer domestic violence incidents than those that don’t have windows or views, all else equal. Even the sight of a printed and framed landscape hanging on a hospital room wall can reduce anxiety in patients.
Beyond the obvious tools to bring natural landscapes into cities (e.g. parks, living walls), buildings can produce a similar response. Fractals, common in nature, delight and relax us. Cityscapes that incorporate fractal patterns captivate us, while putting us at ease.
Conversely, dilapidated, dull and dirty environments get under our skin. Design that incorporates neuroaesthetics can reduce stress by up to 60% for residents. Beauty might be in the eye of the beholder, but as The School of Life warns, we shouldn’t be “dangerously relativistic,” ignoring what the majority of people want when they vote with their feet by planning vacations. A pleasing and calming aesthetic is on my list of what makes a vital neighborhood.
#2 Beautiful Places Move Us
When our environments are pleasing and intuitive, we wander around them more. A pretty “long way home” makes it easier to get those steps in. Tobin and I enjoy a drink much more if we take the 25 minute walk through Wandsworth Park to Northcote Road rather than spending that same amount of time on a train.
Great for our health, and also great for social connection. As we meander down sidewalks, pause at shopfronts and sit in parks, we run into each other. And that synergy and spontaneity is part of what makes cities so fun to live in.
The benefits of moving and lingering are greater than just physical health and social connection. Communities are safer when people spend more time outside. You get more of Jane Jacobs’ famous “eyes on the streets,” watching out for each other, when people want to spend time on the streets. Dr. Eugenia South has shown that when low-income neighborhoods are greened, people spend more time out of the house, and crime rates go down.
#3 Beauty is an Equalizer
People have an intuitive sense of beauty that, as Dr. Buras says, helps them to “read the built world intuitively.”
Where Dr. Buras gets me really excited is when thinking about a more engaged and sustainable model of neighborhood development and maintenance. Using local materials and styles to build authentically, we can build great looking places that are cheaper and easier to maintain.
A beautiful city of makers can help increase not just our own wellbeing, but that of our neighbors and our planet.
I would encourage you to notice your mood as you navigate streets this week. The exhale the mind makes when looking at stunning architecture, or walking through a park after a long day of work. Those small moments of pleasure are great for your health, and that of your neighbors too. Isn’t it fun when the science backs up something that feels so intuitive!
That’s all for this week! Thanks for being here.
Melissa
Links for Further Exploration
Attend an event with the Classical Planning Institute for free.
I've written before about the relationship between beauty, cities and health in the Vital Neighborhood.
What Makes an Attractive City? From the School of Life.
Beauty is such an underrated aspect of a city.