Imagine this: It is Tuesday morning, you are riding your bike to work on a designated lane through the fresh spring air, hearing nothing but birds chirping and glimpsing the first rays of sun forecasted for the day. Does that sound relatable? Or perhaps it reminds you of a cartoon character who got dressed by singing forest animals earlier that day? For many urban residents, commutes are far from idyllic. Instead, they involve congestion, traffic noise and limited space for biking or walking – that sounds stressful. The research project FragMent investigates exactly this – how the urban environment influences stress levels and health.

Background

Stress has emerged as a significant factor contributing to the development of chronic diseases, including hypertension, anxiety disorders, and cardiovascular conditions. Extensive research has established that stress levels – and particularly chronic stress – are directly influenced by the characteristics of the urban environment. Factors such as limited green spaces, high crowd density, noise pollution, and heavy traffic have been repeatedly linked to negative health outcomes, affecting residents’ mental and physical well-being.

In response to this growing evidence, FragMent was initiated in 2022 as a five-year research project funded by the European Commission under the HORIZON programme. Coordinated by the Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER), FragMent unites an interdisciplinary international team specialising in public health, epidemiology, geography, psychology, digital health, and virtual reality. Project partners include:

• Luxembourg Institute of Health
• University of Zurich
• Hebrew University of Jerusalem
• Wageningen University
• Pierre Louis Institute of Epidemiology and Public Health
• Utrecht University
• University of Montreal School of Public Health
• Ghent University
• Computer Lab of Paris 6 (Lip6)

Objectives

Addressing the evident connection between urban living and stress, FragMent aims to explore how specific urban environments, spatial features, and behavioural patterns shape stress and overall well-being. Through qualitative research and data-driven analysis, the project seeks to identify key stressors within urban spaces, such as noisy, crowded areas, and evaluate the beneficial impacts of restorative environments, like parks and green spaces.

Eventually, FragMent aims to provide concrete insights to facilitate less stressful, healthier urban lifestyles. Its findings are intended to inform urban planning strategies, guide effective public policy decisions for cities to enhance their citizens’ quality of life through stress-reducing urban design.

To delve deeper into the science behind urban health and stress, please listen to the SciLux podcast episode featuring Dr Camille Perchoux, principal investigator of FragMent.

Project activities

FragMent applies three complementary research methods:

1. Simulations supported by Virtual Reality (VR) allow participants to virtually walk through meticulously designed urban environments. These scenarios simulate various real-world conditions, including crowded sidewalks, busy traffic, varying levels of green surroundings, and building density. Researchers then track emotional, perceptual, and physiological reactions to identify precisely what triggers or alleviates stress.
2. Another significant method involves detailed smartphone-based surveys, where participants actively report their stress experiences via voice recordings and answer detailed questionnaires about their surroundings and daily activities. This data is complemented by passive sensor-based tracking, including GPS location and voice biomarkers, offering highly detailed, real-time insights into how various urban features influence stress.
3. The participatory and citizen-based dimension complements the methodology. Collaborative identification of stress factors and solutions is facilitated through workshops and focus groups involving residents, planners, policymakers, and scientists.

Early project activities, such as comparative studies of real and virtual walks in Luxembourg’s Belval district, have demonstrated the potential of VR for stress research, despite noted methodological challenges like cybersickness. The first insights also validate the effectiveness of combined qualitative and quantitative survey techniques in capturing comprehensive urban stress data. To read more about preliminary results, some first publications can be accessed here.

Outlook

Running until September 2027, FragMent will continue exploring urban stress through extensive surveys, advanced VR simulations, and ongoing dialogues with stakeholders. It remains interesting to see how the final outcomes will influence urban planning practice – hopefully making our daily commutes and urban interactions, much less stressful.

To follow project advances, visit the FragMent project website and the social media channels.

Contact:

FragMent: fragmentproject@liser.lu

References

The FragMent project (English, French and German): https://www.fragmentproject.eu/