Scientists develop tool to measure tranquility of urban spaces
To help with urban development, scientists form the University of Bradford have developed the world’s first Tranquillity Rating Prediction Tool which measures how relaxing urban places really are.
Building upon the findings of previous studies which have pointed out that green spaces in urban environments drive down stress levels and promote well-being and even a more rapid healing, scientists form the University of Bradford set about to develop a scientific process that will allow developers and public authorities to measure just how relaxing the city spaces really are.
This is how they came up with the first ever Tranquility Rating Prediction Tool, capable of offering architects and city planners the scientific facts behind creating more relaxing urban spaces.
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“Currently, architects design urban environments to provide open spaces where people can relax. While it’s guided by certain principles, it’s not scientific. TRAPT provides a robust and tested measure of how relaxing an environment currently is, or could be once built,” explains Professor Greg Watts, lead researcher.
The TRAPT mainly focuses on three measurements that inlcud soundscape, landscape and moderating factors like trees, shrubs, flowers or water in the eye-line for example. After the landscape is analyzed, it receives a score ranging form 0 to 10.
As an example, an outstanding tranquil environment was Glen Etive in the Scottish Highlands that elicited a high average score of 9.1 though an urban park can exceed 7.
The score takes into account things like distance form the road, sound attenuating barriers, the amount of greenery, in order to give out an accurate score.
“TRAPT provides the user with a simple measure for understanding how tranquil and relaxing it can be. By varying different factors – the amount of greenery, or introducing noise attenuating barriers or quieter road surfaces for instance – planners can understand the impact of their decisions,” Professor Watts adds.
It took Watts and his team a decade to make sure that TRAPT is accurate in its measurements and experiments were conducted both in the lab and in real life setting.
“We’re confident that our testing has helped us to create a tool that provides a realistic and reliable measure of relaxation,” claims Professor Watts.
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The team hopes that the tool will be used by architects and planners alike when looking at creating new, relaxing spaces and also when redesigning old neighbourhoods. It can also be of use to environmentalists in their fight against tree removal and altering of the natural environment.
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