Neurological benefits of third places for young adults in healthy urban environments

Abstract

Aspects of urban environments, especially green spaces, are known to benefit mental health and well-being. However, the healing potential of urban third places remains underexamined compared to the well-documented benefits of more "natural" environments. "Third places" refers to public spaces where people gather outside of their homes (first place) and workplaces (second place), thereby supporting well-being through fostering social interaction and community engagement. Using fNIRS, Empatica E4 wristbands, questionnaires and interviews with 40 young adults in Shanghai, China, we found that third places demonstrate healing effects comparable to natural environments neurologically, psychologically, and physiologically, although they are achieved through distinct underlying mechanisms. Third places contribute to mental wellbeing through emotional pathways, primarily by fostering "pleasure" through social engagement and environmental design, while natural spaces promote "gratitude" through biophilic connections. These results underscore the importance of third places in mental health support for young adults, highlighting the need for social infrastructure interventions. Optimizing third places could create healthier, less stressful, and more emotionally positive urban environments.

Keywords

Neurourbanism / Mental health / Urban environment / fNIRS / Third places / Healing environment

References

[1] Abbott, A. , 2012. Stress and the city: urban decay. Nature 490, 162- 164.

[2] Adli, M. , Berger, M. , Brakemeier, E.L. , Engel, L. , Fingerhut, J. , Gomez-Carrillo, A. , Hehl, R. , Heinz, A. , Mayer, J. , Mehran, N. , et al., 2017. Neurourbanism: towards a new discipline. Lancet Psychiatry 4, 183- 185.

[3] Allen, J.J. , Kline, J.P. , 2004. Frontal EEG asymmetry, emotion, and psychopathology: the first, and the next 25 years. Biol. Psychol. 67, 1- 5.

[4] Bechara, A. , 2000. Emotion, decision making and the orbitofrontal cortex. Cerebr. Cortex 10, 295- 307.

[5] Bell, S.L. , Foley, R. , Houghton, F. , Maddrell, A. , Williams, A.M. , 2018. From therapeutic landscapes to healthy spaces, places and practices: a scoping review. Soc. Sci. Med. 196, 123- 130.

[6] Bermudez, J. , Krizaj, D. , Lipschitz, D.L. , Bueler, C.E. , Rogowska, J. , Yurgelun-Todd, D. , Nakamura, Y. , 2017. Externally-induced meditative states: an exploratory fMRI study of architects' responses to contemplative architecture. Frontiers of Architectural Research 6, 123- 136.

[7] Biglin, J. , 2021. Photovoice accounts of third places: refugee and asylum seeker populations' experiences of therapeutic space. Health Place 71, 102663.

[8] Boas, D.A. , Elwell, C.E. , Ferrari, M. , Taga, G. , 2014. Twenty years of functional near-infrared spectroscopy: introduction for the special issue. Neuroimage 85, 1- 5.

[9] Bornioli, A. , Parkhurst, G. , Morgan, P.L. , 2018. The psychological wellbeing benefits of place engagement during walking in urban environments: a qualitative photo-elicitation study. Health Place 53, 228- 236.

[10] Bower, I. , Tucker, R. , Enticott, P.G. , 2019. Impact of built environment design on emotion measured via neurophysiological correlates and subjective indicators: a systematic review. J. Environ. Psychol. 66, 101344.

[11] Bright, P. , 2012. Neuroimaging. IntechOpen, Rijeka.

[12] Buttazzoni, A. , Parker, A. , Minaker, L. , 2021. Investigating the mental health implications of urban environments with neuro-scientific methods and mobile technologies: a systematic literature review. Health Place 70, 102597.

[13] Cattell, V. , Dines, N. , Gesler, W. , Curtis, S. , 2008. Mingling, observing, and lingering: everyday public spaces and their implications for well-being and social relations. Health Place 14, 544- 561.

[14] Chiang, Y.C. , Li, D. , Jane, H.A. , 2017. Wild or tended nature? The effects of landscape location and vegetation density on physiological and psychological responses. Landsc. Urban Plann. 167, 72- 83.

[15] Collins, P.Y. , Sinha, M. , Concepcion, T. , Patton, G. , Way, T. , McCay, L. , Mensa-Kwao, A. , Herrman, H. , de Leeuw, E. , Anand, N. , Atwoli, L. , Bardikoff, N. , Booysen, C. , Bustamante, I. , Chen, Y. , Davis, K. , Dua, T. , Foote, N. , Hughsam, M. , Juma, D. , Khanal, S. , Kumar, M. , Lefkowitz, B. , McDermott, P. , Moitra, M. , Ochieng, Y. , Omigbodun, O. , Queen, E. , Unützer, J. , Uribe-Restrepo, J.M. , Wolpert, M. , Zeitz, L. , 2024. Making cities mental health friendly for adolescents and young adults. Nature 627, 137- 148.

[16] Craig, A. , 2004. Human feelings: why are some more aware than others? Trends Cognit. Sci. 8, 239- 241.

[17] Crum, J. , Ronca, F. , Herbert, G. , Funk, S. , Carmona, E. , Hakim, U. , Jones, I. , Hamer, M. , Hirsch, J. , Hamilton, A. , Tachtsidis, I. , Burgess, P.W. , 2022. Decreased exercise-induced changes in prefrontal cortex hemodynamics are associated with depressive symptoms. Frontiers in Neuroergonomics 3, 806485.

[18] Dehghani, A. , Soltanian-Zadeh, H. , Hossein-Zadeh, G.A. , 2023. Neural modulation enhancement using connectivity-based EEG neurofeedback with simultaneous fMRI for emotion regulation. Neuroimage 279, 120320.

[19] Dixon, M.L. , Thiruchselvam, R. , Todd, R. , Christoff, K. , 2017. Emotion and the prefrontal cortex: an integrative review. Psychol. Bull. 143, 1033- 1081.

[20] Duff, C. , 2011. Networks, resources and agencies: on the character and production of enabling places. Health Place 17, 149- 156.

[21] Fekri Azgomi, H.,F. , Branco, L.R. , Amin, M.R. , Khazaei, S. , Faghih, R.T. , 2023. Regulation of brain cognitive states through auditory, gustatory, and olfactory stimulation with wearable monitoring. Sci. Rep. 13, 12399.

[22] Finlay, J. , Esposito, M. , Kim, M.H. , Gomez-Lopez, I. , Clarke, P. , 2019. Closure of 'third places'? Exploring potential consequences for collective health and wellbeing. Health Place 60, 102225.

[23] Gervain, J. , Mehler, J. , Werker, J.F. , Nelson, C.A. , Csibra, G. , Lloyd-Fox, S. , Shukla, M. , Aslin, R.N. , 2011. Near-infrared spectroscopy: a report from the McDonnell infant methodology consortium. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience 1, 22- 46.

[24] Gesler, W.M. , 1992. Therapeutic landscapes: medical issues in light of the new cultural geography. Soc. Sci. Med. 34, 735- 746.

[25] Giannakakis, G. , Grigoriadis, D. , Giannakaki, K. , Simantiraki, O. , Roniotis, A. , Tsiknakis, M. , 2022. Review on psychological stress detection using biosignals. IEEE Transactions on Affective Computing 13, 440- 460.

[26] Giles-Corti, B. , Foster, S. , Lynch, B. , Lowe, M. , 2023. What are the lessons from COVID-19 for creating healthy, sustainable, resilient future cities? npj Urban Sustainability 3, 1- 6.

[27] Glover, T.D. , Parry, D.C. , 2009. A third place in the everyday lives of people living with cancer: functions of Gilda's Club of Greater Toronto. Health Place 15, 97- 106.

[28] Goodman, R.N. , Rietschel, J.C. , Lo, L.C. , Costanzo, M.E. , Hatfield, B.D. , 2013. Stress, emotion regulation and cognitive performance: the predictive contributions of trait and state relative frontal EEG alpha asymmetry. Int. J. Psychophysiol. 87, 115- 123.

[29] Grove, J.R. , Prapavessis, H. , 1992. Preliminary evidence for the reliability and validity of an abbreviated profile of mood states. Int. J. Sport Psychol. 93- 109.

[30] Huawei Industrial , 2022. Huawei Investment & Holding Co. Ltd. 2022 Annual Report. Shenzhen, p. 60.

[31] Joung, D. , Kim, G. , Choi, Y. , Lim, H. , Park, S. , Woo, J.M. , Park, B.J. , 2015. The prefrontal cortex activity and psychological effects of viewing forest landscapes in autumn season. Int. J. Environ. Res. Publ. Health 12, 7235- 7243.

[32] Kaplan, R. , Kaplan, S. , 1989. The Experience of Nature: A Psychological Perspective. Cambridge University Press.

[33] Kaplan, S. , Peterson, C. , 1993. Health and environment: a psychological analysis. Landsc. Urban Plann. 26, 17- 23.

[34] Kim, G.W. , Jeong, G.W. , Kim, T.H. , Baek, H.S. , Oh, S.K. , Kang, H.K. , Lee, S.G. , Kim, Y.S. , Song, J.K. , 2010. Functional neuroanatomy associated with natural and urban scenic views in the human brain: 3.0T functional MR imaging. Korean J. Radiol. 11, 507.

[35] Kim, M. , Cheon, S. , Kang, Y. , 2019. Use of electroencephalography(EEG) for the analysis of emotional perception and fear to nightscapes. Sustainability 11, 233.

[36] Kühn, S. , Gallinat, J. , 2023. Environmental neuroscience unravels the pathway from the physical environment to mental health. Nature Mental Health 2, 263- 269.

[37] Lane, R.D. , Chua, P.M.L. , Dolan, R.J. , 1999. Common effects of emotional valence, arousal and attention on neural activation during visual processing of pictures. Neuropsychologia 37, 989- 997.

[38] Lang, P.J. , Bradley, M.M. , Fitzsimmons, J.R. , Cuthbert, B.N. , Scott, J.D. , Moulder, B. , Nangia, V. , 1998. Emotional arousal and activation of the visual cortex: an fMRI analysis. Psychophysiology 35, 199- 210.

[39] Laumann, K. , Gärling, T. , Stormark, K.M. , 2003. Selective attention and heart rate responses to natural and urban environments. J. Environ. Psychol. 23, 125- 134.

[40] Lee, M. , Kim, S. , Ha, M. , 2019. Community greenness and neurobehavioral health in children and adolescents. Sci. Total Environ. 672, 381- 388.

[41] Lee, N. , 2022. Third place and psychological well-being: the psychological benefits of eating and drinking places for university students in Southern California, USA. Cities 104049.

[42] Lengen, C. , Kistemann, T. , 2012. Sense of place and place identity: review of neuroscientific evidence. Health Place 18, 1162- 1171.

[43] Lin, Q. , Xue, Z. , Yanfei, W. , 2008. Revision of the positive affect and negative affect scale. Chinese Journal of Applied Psychology 14, 249- 254+268.

[44] Lin, W. , Zeng, C. , Bao, Z. , Jin, H. , 2023. The therapeutic look up: stress reduction and attention restoration vary according to the sky-leaf-trunk (slt) ratio in canopy landscapes. Landsc. Urban Plann. 234, 104730.

[45] Liu, Q. , Wu, Y. , Xiao, Y. , Fu, W. , Zhuo, Z. , van den Bosch, C.C.K. , Huang, Q. , Lan, S. , 2020. More meaningful, more restorative? Linking local landscape characteristics and place attachment to restorative perceptions of urban park visitors. Landsc. Urban Plann. 197, 103763.

[46] Luo, L. , Yu, P. , Jiang, B. , 2023. Differentiating mental health promotion effects of various bluespaces: an electroencephalography study. J. Environ. Psychol. 88, 102010.

[47] Makowski, D. , Pham, T. , Lau, Z.J. , Brammer, J.C. , Lespinasse, F. , Pham, H. , Schölzel, C. , Chen, S.H.A. , 2021. NeuroKit2: a Python toolbox for neurophysiological signal processing. Behav. Res. Methods 53, 1689- 1696.

[48] Martin, D. , Roe, J. , 2022. Enabling care: Maggie's centres and the affordance of hope. Health Place 78, 102758.

[49] Menatti, L. , Subiza-Pérez, M. , Villalpando-Flores, A. , Vozmediano, L. , San Juan, C. , 2019. Place attachment and identification as predictors of expected landscape restorativeness. J. Environ. Psychol. 63, 36- 43.

[50] Meng, D. , Xu, L. , 2023. Place attachment and healing environment: a study on the relationship between positive emotions and spatial types during campus closure. Landscape Architecture Frontiers 11, 10.

[51] Mizokami, Y. , Terao, T. , Hatano, K. , Hoaki, N. , Kohno, K. , Araki, Y. , Kodama, K. , Makino, M. , Izumi, T. , Shimomura, T. , Fujiki, M. , Kochiyama, T. , 2014. Difference in brain activations during appreciating paintings and photographic analogs. Front. Hum. Neurosci. 8.

[52] Mouratidis, K. , 2018. Built environment and social well-being: how does urban form affect social life and personal relationships? Cities 74, 7-20.

[53] Mouratidis, K. , 2019. Compact city, urban sprawl, and subjective well-being. Cities 92, 261- 272.

[54] Mouratidis, K. , 2021. Urban planning and quality of life: a review of pathways linking the built environment to subjective wellbeing. Cities 115, 103229.

[55] Núñez-González, S. , Delgado-Ron, J.A. , Gault, C. , LaraVinueza, A. , Calle-Celi, D. , Porreca, R. , Simancas-Racines, D. , 2020. Overview of "systematic reviews" of the built environment's effects on mental health. Journal of Environmental and Public Health 2020, 1- 10.

[56] Oldenburg, R. , 1989. The Great Good Place. Marlowe & Company, New York: Berkeley, Calif.

[57] Oldenburg, R. , Brissett, D. , 1982. The third place. Qual. Sociol. 5, 265- 284.

[58] Olszewska-Guizzo, A. , Fogel, A. , Escoffier, N. , Sia, A. , Nakazawa, K. , Kumagai, A. , Dan, I. , Ho, R. , 2022a. Therapeutic garden with contemplative features induces desirable changes in mood and brain activity in depressed adults. Front. Psychiatr. 13, 757056.

[59] Olszewska-Guizzo, A. , Mukoyama, A. , Naganawa, S. , Dan, I. , Husain, S.F. , Ho, C.S. , Ho, R. , 2021. Hemodynamic response to three types of urban spaces before and after lockdown during the covid-19 pandemic. Int. J. Environ. Res. Publ. Health 18, 6118.

[60] Olszewska-Guizzo, A. , Sia, A. , Fogel, A. , Ho, R. , 2022b. Features of urban green spaces associated with positive emotions, mindfulness and relaxation. Sci. Rep. 12, 20695.

[61] Park, S.B. , Kim, J. , Lee, Y.K. , Ok, C.M. , 2020. Visualizing theme park visitors' emotions using social media analytics and geospatial analytics. Tour. Manag. 80, 104127.

[62] Pérez, E. , Braën, C. , Boyer, G. , Mercille, G. , Rehany, É. , Deslauriers, V. , Bilodeau, A. , Potvin, L. , 2020. Neighbourhood community life and health: a systematic review of reviews. Health Place 61, 102238.

[63] Pettersen, G.R. , Nordbø, E.C. , Ese, J. , Ihlebæk, C. , 2023. Can shopping centres foster wellbeing? A scoping review of motivations and positive experiences associated with non-shopping visits. Wellbeing. Space and Society 4, 100133.

[64] Phan, K. , Wager, T. , Taylor, S.F. , Liberzon, I. , 2002. Functional neuroanatomy of emotion: a meta-analysis of emotion activation studies in pet and fMRI. Neuroimage 16, 331- 348.

[65] Phillips, C. , Straughan, E. , Atchison, J. , 2024. Gratitude for and to nature: insights from emails to urban trees. Soc. Cult. Geogr. 25, 363- 384.

[66] Pykett, J. , Osborne, T. , Resch, B. , 2020. From urban stress to neurourbanism: how should we research city well-being? Ann. Assoc. Am. Geogr. 110, 1936- 1951.

[67] Rhubart, D. , Sun, Y. , Pendergrast, C. , Monnat, S. , 2022. Sociospatial disparities in "third place" availability in the United States. Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World 8, 237802312210903.

[68] Rive, M.M. , van Rooijen, G. , Veltman, D.J. , Phillips, M.L. , Schene, A.H. , Ruhé, H.G. , 2013. Neural correlates of dysfunctional emotion regulation in major depressive disorder. A systematic review of neuroimaging studies. Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev. 37, 2529- 2553.

[69] Roberts, A.C. , Christopoulos, G.I. , 2018. Comment on "Using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to analyze brain region activity when viewing landscapes". Landsc. Urban Plann. 172, 25- 28.

[70] Roe, J. , McCay, L. , 2021. Restorative Cities: Urban Design for Mental Health and Wellbeing. Bloomsbury Publishing, London.

[71] Rosenbaum, M.S. , 2009. Restorative servicescapes: restoring directed attention in third places. J. Serv. Manag. 20, 173- 191.

[72] Scannell, L. , Gifford, R. , 2017. Place attachment enhances psychological need satisfaction. Environ. Behav. 49, 359- 389.

[73] Scholkmann, F. , Kleiser, S. , Metz, A.J. , Zimmermann, R. , Mata Pavia, J. , Wolf, U. , Wolf, M. , 2014. A review on continuous wave functional near-infrared spectroscopy and imaging instrumentation and methodology. Neuroimage 85, 6- 27.

[74] Schutte, A.R. , Torquati, J.C. , Stevens, J.R. (Eds.), 2021. Nature and Psychology: Biological, Cognitive, Developmental, and Social Pathways to Well-Being. Volume 67 of Nebraska Symposium On Motivation. Springer International Publishing, Cham.

[75] Shadgan, B. , Molavi, B. , Reid, W.D. , Dumont, G. , Macnab, A.J. , 2010. Do radio frequencies of medical instruments common in the operating room interfere with near-infrared spectroscopy signals?. In: SPIE Proceedings, SPIE, 755512.

[76] Simonsen, T. , Sturge, J. , Duff, C. , 2022. Healing architecture in healthcare: a scoping review. HERD: Health Environments Research & Design Journal 15, 315- 328.

[77] Simonsen, T.P.H. , Brown, S.D. , Reavey, P. , 2024. Vitality and nature in psychiatric spaces: challenges and prospects for 'healing architecture' in the design of inpatient mental health environments. Health Place 85, 103169.

[78] Staats, H. , Hartig, T. , 2004. Alone or with a friend: a social context for psychological restoration and environmental preferences. J. Environ. Psychol. 24, 199- 211.

[79] Stigsdotter, U.K. , Corazon, S.S. , Sidenius, U. , Kristiansen, J. , Grahn, P. , 2017. It is not all bad for the grey city — a crossover study on physiological and psychological restoration in a forest and an urban environment. Health Place 46, 145- 154.

[80] Stobbe, E. , Forlim, C.G. , Kühn, S. , 2024. Impact of exposure to natural versus urban soundscapes on brain functional connectivity, BOLD entropy and behavior. Environ. Res. 244, 117788.

[81] Subiza-Pérez, M. , Korpela, K. , Pasanen, T. , 2021. Still not that bad for the grey city: a field study on the restorative effects of built open urban places. Cities 111, 103081.

[82] Subiza-Pérez, M. , Vozmediano, L. , San Juan, C. , 2020. Welcome to your plaza: assessing the restorative potential of urban squares through survey and objective evaluation methods. Cities 100, 102461.

[83] Tam, K.P. , 2022. Gratitude to nature: presenting a theory of its conceptualization, measurement, and effects on proenvironmental behavior. J. Environ. Psychol. 79, 101754.

[84] Tang, I.C. , Tsai, Y.P. , Lin, Y.J. , Chen, J.H. , Hsieh, C.H. , Hung, S.H. , Sullivan, W.C. , Tang, H.F. , Chang, C.Y. , 2017. Using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to analyze brain region activity when viewing landscapes. Landsc. Urban Plann. 162, 137- 144.

[85] Ulrich, R.S. , Simons, R.F. , Losito, B.D. , Fiorito, E. , Miles, M.A. , Zelson, M. , 1991. Stress recovery during exposure to natural and urban environments. J. Environ. Psychol. 11, 201- 230.

[86] UNICEF , 2017. Innovation for Children in an Urbanizing World: A Use-Case Handbook. UNICEF.

[87] Wandell, B.A. , Dumoulin, S.O. , Brewer, A.A. , 2007. Visual field maps in human cortex. Neuron 56, 366- 383.

[88] Watson, D. , Clark, L.A. , Tellegen, A. , 1988. Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: the PANAS scales. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 54, 1063- 1070.

[89] Weber, A.M. , Trojan, J. , 2018. The restorative value of the urban environment: a systematic review of the existing literature. Environ. Health Insights 12, 117863021881280.

[90] Wolch, J.R. , Byrne, J. , Newell, J.P. , 2014. Urban green space, public health, and environmental justice: the challenge of making cities 'just green enough'. Landsc. Urban Plann. 125, 234- 244.

[91] Xiao, X. , Li, X. , Zhou, X. , Kang, J. , Luo, J. , Yin, L. , 2024. Modulatory effects of the landscape sequences on pedestrians emotional states using EEG. Frontiers of Architectural Research 13, 1327- 1341.

[92] Yamashita, R. , Chen, C. , Matsubara, T. , Hagiwara, K. , Inamura, M. , Aga, K. , Hirotsu, M. , Seki, T. , Takao, A. , Nakagawa, E. , Kobayashi, A. , Fujii, Y. , Hirata, K. , Ikei, H. , Miyazaki, Y. , Nakagawa, S. , 2021. The mood-improving effect of viewing images of nature and its neural substrate. Int. J. Environ. Res. Publ. Health 18, 5500.

[93] Yao, L. , Zhou, L. , Qian, Z. , Zhu, Q. , Liu, Y. , Zhang, Y. , Li, W. , Xing, L. , 2022. Exploring the impact of 3d movie watching on the brain source activities and energy consumption by esi and fnirs. Biomed. Signal Process Control 71, 103194.

[94] Yuan, Y. , Wang, L. , Wu, W. , Zhong, S. , Wang, M. , 2023. Locally contextualized psycho-physiological wellbeing effects of environmental exposures: an experimental-based evidence. Urban For. Urban Green. 88, 128070.

[95] Zhang, W. , He, X. , Liu, S. , Li, T. , Li, J. , Tang, X. , Lai, S. , 2019. Neural correlates of appreciating natural landscape and landscape garden: evidence from an fMRI study. Brain and Behavior 9, e01335.

[96] Zhou, P. , 2021. Affordable and enjoyable health shopping: commodified therapeutic landscapes for older people in China's urban open spaces. Health Place 70, 102621.

[97] Zilverstand, A. , Parvaz, M.A. , Goldstein, R.Z. , 2017. Neuroimaging cognitive reappraisal in clinical populations to define neural targets for enhancing emotion regulation. A systematic review. Neuroimage 151, 105- 116.

[98] Zuidhof, N. , Ben Allouch, S. , Peters, O. , Verbeek, P.P. , 2021. Defining smart glasses: a rapid review of state-of-the-art perspectives and future challenges from a social sciences' perspective. Augmented Human Research 6, 15.

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

The Author(s). Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Higher Education Press and KeAi.