Wednesday, 22nd June 2022 at 12:29pmColourful cities with green spaces boost our moods and inspire serenity

Colourful cities with green spaces make people happier, a University of Lille, France, experiment recently found. 

In the study, thirty-six volunteers moved through a virtual reality (VR) city of concrete, metal and glass, wearing VR headsets rigged with eye tracking mechanisms.

By recording their blink rates, the Lille researchers were able to discern the participant’s reactions as they introduced or removed vegetation and colour.

They discovered that people slowed when happening upon green spaces. Their heart rates increased. Not just that, but they straightened, levelling their gazes, looking around.

If they turned down their eyes at any point, and the researchers coloured the ground with vivid pinks and yellows, the participants’ curiosity and alertness grew. 

But would the study’s findings hold true to a real environment?

Yvonne Delevoye-Turrell, professor of cognitive psychology at the University of Lille, believes so.

“We think that the variations in human behaviour obtained in virtual reality can predict the changes that would be obtained in the natural settings,” she said. 

Anyone who has ever felt the calming effect of a nature walk – even just a quick stroll through the local park – would be hard-pressed to disagree.

Even if it’s an unconscious soothing that we feel at the appearance of greenery, a connectedness to our ancient pastoral past, there’s something about the experience that’s beneficial to us all.

So go out and find some green, some bright colours. It might be just what you need to boost your mood.