نوع مقاله : مقاله پژوهشی

نویسندگان

• رؤیا حاتمی ورزنه ¹
• محمود شکوهی دولت آبادی ²
• فاطمه بهرامی گهروئی ¹

¹ دانشجوی کارشناسی ارشد، گروه شهرسازی، دانشکده معماری و شهرسازی، دانشگاه هنر اصفهان، اصفهان، ایران.

² استادیار، گروه شهرسازی، دانشکده معماری و شهرسازی، دانشگاه هنر اصفهان، اصفهان، ایران.

چکیده

استرس شهری به‌عنوان یکی از شایع‌ترین اختلالات مرتبط با سلامت روان، بازتابی از ارتباط میان بستر شهری و تأثیر آن بر وضعیت روانی انسان است. در این راستا، ارتقای کیفیت فضاهای شهری با تأکید بر طراحی شهری درمانگر منجر به ارتقای سلامت روانی شهروندان می‌شود. ارزیابی میزان استرس ادراک‌شده در فضاهای شهری متأثر از محیط‌های صوتی و بصری و عوامل استرس‌زای شهری از جمله ویژگی‌های طبیعت، ترافیک، محصوریت، ازدحام و صداهای طبیعی یا انسان‌ساخت است. اگرچه تأثیر محیط‌های صوتی و بصری بر بسیاری از جنبه‌های سلامت روان شناخته شده و در پژوهش‌های پیشین مورد تأکید قرار گرفته، اما تأثیرات مستقل و تعاملی آن‌ها بر استرس شهروندان ناشناخته و نیازمند مطالعه است. از این رو، انجام مطالعاتی مطابق با شرایط شهر اصفهان و به‌منظور گسترش دانش روان‌شناسی شهری ضرورت دارد. پرسش اصلی پژوهش به این شرح است: تأثیر محیط‌های صوتی و بصری بر میزان استرس ادراک‌شده شهروندان در فضاهای شهری اصفهان چگونه است؟ مطالعه حاضر در قالب پژوهش آزمایشگاهی و با هدف ارزیابی تأثیرات درمانگر محیط‌های صوتی و بصری بر استرس شهروندان در فضاهای شهری اصفهان طراحی شده است. این پژوهش از طریق طراحی فاکتوریال دوطرفه (چهار محیط صوتی × پنج محیط بصری) انجام شده و شرکت‌کنندگان به‌طور تصادفی به یکی از ۲۰ محیط درمانی در یک آزمایشگاه واقعیت مجازی اختصاص داده شده‌اند. مجموعاً 100 نفر از دانشجویان دانشگاه هنر اصفهان پیش از قرار گرفتن در شرایط درمانی، آزمون استرس اجتماعی تریر را برای القای سطح متوسطی از استرس انجام داده‌اند. سپس سطح استرس خود را پیش و پس از مواجهه با یک درمان محیطی تصادفی، از طریق پرسشنامه استرس حالت_صفت اسپیلبرگر گزارش داده‌اند. نتایج نشان می‌دهد تأثیر محیط‌های صوتی بر کاهش استرس شهری 1.4 برابر بیشتر از تأثیر محیط‌های بصری است. همچنین محیط‌هایی با ویژگی‌های طبیعی، صرف‌نظر از این که صوتی با بصری باشند، نسبت به محیط‌هایی با ویژگی‌های مصنوعی، تأثیر بیشتری بر کاهش استرس‌ دارند. ترکیب صحنه‌ها و صداهای طبیعت نسبت به سایر محیط‌ها بیشترین تأثیر را بر استرس ادارک‌شده در فضای شهری می‌گذارند.

کلیدواژه‌ها

• سلامت روانی
• استرس شهری
• محیط‌ صوتی
• محیط بصری

موضوعات

• روان شناسی محیطی

عنوان مقاله [English]

Assessment of the Impact of acoustic and visual Environments on the Stress Levels of Urban Residents (Case Study: Isfahan, Iran)

نویسندگان [English]

• Roya Hatami varzaneh ¹
• Mahmoud Shokuhi Dolatabadi ²
• Fatemeh Bahrami Gahruei ¹

¹ Department of Urban Planning, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Art University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran.

² Department of Urban Planning, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Art University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran.

چکیده [English]

Highlights

The psychological quality of urban spaces and the mental health of urban residents are influenced by urban design grounded in multisensory perception.
Stress reduction and psychological restoration in urban environments result from the interaction and synergy of acoustic and visual stimuli.
The effect of acoustic environments on reducing urban stress is 1.4 times greater than that of visual environments.
Urban environments combining natural landscapes with nature sounds provide the highest restorative potential.

 
Introduction
Urban stress, one of the most prevalent mental health-related conditions, reflects the relationship between the urban environment and human psychological well-being. In this context, improving the quality of urban spaces through therapeutic urban design contributes to enhancing residents’ mental health. Perceived stress in urban environments is influenced by both acoustic and visual settings, as well as by environmental stressors such as natural features, traffic, enclosure, crowding, and natural or human-made sounds.
Although previous studies have highlighted the importance of acoustic and visual environments in promoting mental health, their independent and interactive effects on perceived urban stress remain insufficiently understood. Consequently, research tailored to the specific environmental and cultural context of Isfahan is necessary to advance knowledge in urban psychology. Accordingly, this study addresses the following research question:
How do acoustic and visual environments affect residents’ perceived stress levels in the urban spaces of Isfahan?
Theoretical Framework
According to Environmental Stress Theory, psychological stress results from the dynamic interaction between individuals and their surrounding urban environment. Through cognitive appraisal, individuals interpret environmental conditions as pleasant or unpleasant, compatible or incompatible with their preferences, needs, and coping abilities (Vaessen et al., 2016). Consequently, environmental perception and stress experience are shaped by both exposure to environmental stimuli and the psychological responses that follow such exposure (Crosswell & Lockwood, 2020).
Based on the physiological functions of human senses, approximately 80% of environmental information is perceived through vision, reflecting the dominance of spatial perception, while the remaining 20% is received through hearing, emphasizing temporal perception. Therefore, stress experienced in urban environments is influenced by the interaction between acoustic and visual stimuli.
Furthermore, citizens’ perceptions of stress and their responses to acoustic and visual environments may vary according to their lived experiences, lifestyles, and social, economic, environmental, and ecological contexts. Finally, perceived psychological stress can be assessed either through individuals’ subjective evaluations of negative emotions—such as pressure, fear, or discomfort—or through the physiological and psychological symptoms reported following exposure to stressors (Tryon et al., 2015).
Methodology
This study employed a laboratory-based experimental design to evaluate the therapeutic effects of acoustic and visual environments on residents’ perceived stress in urban spaces in Isfahan. A two-way factorial design (four acoustic environments × five visual environments) was adopted, with participants randomly assigned to one of 20 virtual reality environments.
Twenty videos were developed to simulate realistic urban experiences by combining images of selected urban locations in Isfahan—including Shahid Rajaei Park, Sepah Street, Imam Ali Underpass, and Shahid Keshvari Neighborhood—with three categories of sounds: nature sounds, crowd murmurs, and traffic noise. Nature sounds represented restorative experiences in green spaces, crowd sounds reflected everyday human activity, and traffic noise represented common urban stressors.
A total of 100 students from the Art University of Isfahan completed the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) to induce a moderate level of stress before exposure to the experimental environments. Participants reported their perceived stress levels before and after exposure using the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI).
The independent effects of acoustic and visual environments, together with their interaction effects, were examined. In addition, the mean stress reduction associated with each of the 20 acoustic–visual combinations was calculated to rank the environments from the most to the least restorative, thereby identifying desirable and undesirable combinations for restorative urban design.
Results and Discussion
The findings reveal several major patterns regarding the effects of acoustic and visual environments on perceived urban stress in Isfahan.

The combination of natural landscapes and nature sounds, such as Shahid Rajaei Park accompanied by birdsong and flowing water, produced the greatest restorative effect.
Urban environments characterized by built landscapes, such as Sepah Street, the Imam Ali Underpass, and the Keshvari Neighborhood, and by artificial sounds, including traffic noise and crowd murmurs, demonstrated considerably lower restorative potential and, in some cases, increased perceived stress.
The adverse effects of traffic noise were not fully mitigated by the presence of natural visual environments.
The synergy between natural auditory and visual stimuli enhanced parasympathetic nervous system activity and reduced both physiological and psychological stress responses.
Urban spaces characterized by heavy traffic and crowd density generated the highest levels of perceived stress because they reduced the sense of control, disrupted environmental processing, and increased sympathetic nervous system activation.
Although enclosure had a smaller influence on stress than traffic and crowding, it increased psychological pressure in critical situations by restricting visual openness and creating a sense of confinement.

Conclusion
The findings indicate that the effect of acoustic environments on reducing urban stress is 1.4 times greater than that of visual environments. Moreover, environments with natural characteristics, whether auditory or visual, provide greater restorative benefits than environments dominated by artificial features. Among all environmental combinations, natural landscapes accompanied by nature sounds produced the greatest reduction in perceived stress.
These findings demonstrate that acoustic and visual environments influence perceived stress both independently and interactively. Their interaction plays a critical role in improving the psychological quality of urban spaces and shaping users’ restorative experiences. Consequently, paying attention to multisensory harmony in urban design can contribute significantly to promoting mental health and creating healthier, more restorative urban environments.

کلیدواژه‌ها [English]

• Mental Health
• Urban Stress
• Acoustic Environment
• Visual Environment