The role of university campus landscape characteristics in students’ mental health

University students frequently suffer from mental health challenges such as stress, depression, and anxiety during their studies. It is therefore crucial to offer spaces and landscapes on the university campus that offer mental restoration and promote well-being, given the substantial time spent there. Prior research has explored the impact of exposure to campus landscape on students' mental health and the types of spaces that could support activities with potential health benefits. However, further investigation is needed into the specific landscape characteristics that encourage space use and support students’ mental well-being. To address this knowledge gap, we explored how the characteristics of campus outdoor spaces affect students’ preferences concerning spaces they like and dislike to visit, and the subsequent effects on their mental health. We employed a Public Participatory Geographic Information System (PPGIS) approach, focusing on Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh campus in Scotland. Our findings indicate that students exhibit consistent preferences for areas on campus with a high level of greenery, diverse trees and flowers, views of blue spaces, peacefulness, quietness, pleasant smells, and sounds, as well as the presence of benches and tables. These characteristics were also found to facilitate restorative experiences. Conversely, the absence of these elements serves as barriers to students visiting outdoor spaces on campus. The results also revealed that students typically visit their preferred blue/green campus landscapes twice a week for 10–30-minutes on average, which was sufficient to experience the reported mental health benefits as measured through self-reported restorative outcomes. These insights offer valuable implications for the design and development of restorative university campuses.