Neuroarchitecture Approach to Female Perception of Safety in Public Space

Aiad, Nesreen and Al-Hagla, Khaled and Abdel-Salam, Hassan (2023) Neuroarchitecture Approach to Female Perception of Safety in Public Space. LET IT GROW, LET US PLAN, LET IT GROW. Nature-based Solutions for Sustainable Resilient Smart Green and Blue Cities. Proceedings of REAL CORP 2023, 28th International Conference on Urban Development, Regional Planning and Information Society. pp. 555-566. ISSN 2521-3938

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Abstract

In the creation of public spaces, there is a lack of articulation of specific desired emotion to be elicited or avoided, over and beyond just utilitarian functions. Moreover, there is a lack of metrics to measure such emotions stimulated by certain design features. The neuro-architecture approach - defined as the measure of potential feelings triggered by a designed environment in an organism tested by brain response - was adopted in this study. The feeling of safety is listed as a key element of the design of public space. Women have different experiences when it comes to public space, including their perceptions of safety. Perceptions of a lack of safety in public spaces can make women less likely to occupy these spaces and miss out on the positive effects of public space on their health and wellbeing. This paper aims to identify the design indicators that address issues of women's fears when walking on foot. In order to validate such indicators, a mixed method approach was used; including mobile electroencephalography (EEG) to understand the impact of street design on women’s brain activity, interviews and a questionnaire survey, to provide context for the neuroimaging data. Syria street - an urban mixed-use street - in the city of Alexandria in Egypt was chosen for the study, where a group of women users walk along and rate indicators of safety on a Likert scale. The questionnaire included 7 indicators of safety emergent from the literature: active frontages, lighting, visibility, perimeter protection, informal control, mix of people, locomotive pathways. Results yielded significant correlations between each of the indicators investigated and perceived safety. Moreover, it established the ability of neuroarchitecture, as a tool, to develop designs that elicit specific desired emotion in users of public space.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	EEG, Perception, Feminist, Neuroarchitecture, safety
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HM Sociology H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC0321 Neuroscience. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry
Depositing User:	REAL CORP Administrator
Date Deposited:	02 Oct 2023 14:49
Last Modified:	04 Oct 2023 17:48
URI:	http://repository.corp.at/id/eprint/970

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