How Urban Design Science Can Reduce Stress: Current Understanding and Future Prospects

Abstract Urban design is the science (not art) of (re)building and (re)arranging the built environment to influence people’s behavior. It can influence stress through several physiological, psychological, and social mechanisms. This interdisciplinary article aims to offer a comprehensive framework on how urban design attributes affect stress through physiological responses. By concentrating on physiological responses, it provides a quantifiable and objective approach to exploring potential relationships between urban design and stress and associated health outcomes. This article presents a focused discussion of relevant literature that supports the development of the proposed framework. It also discusses current gaps and future directions on this topic. The proposed framework considers urban design science’s influence on stress through multiple physiological pathways such as endocrine and nervous responses. It suggests that certain urban design attributes, such as walkability and availability of green spaces, may be associated with influencing urban residents’ stress and mental health.