Foellmer, Julia; (2025) Crossmodal interactions in urban streetscapes – Effects of natural sounds and scents on physiology and perception. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

Text PhD_Foellmer_2025.pdf - Submitted Version Access restricted to UCL open access staff until 1 July 2026. Download (73MB)

Abstract

The health and well-being benefits of natural over urban settings are well established. Growing evidence also suggests that traffic sounds may impede restoration in greenspaces. Yet, little is known about whether natural stimuli can enhance physiological restoration and influence preferences in streetscapes, with most of the evidence focusing on the effect of birdsong or visible greenery on responses to traffic sounds. This study explores the effects of natural stimuli on physiology and perception in urban streetscapes with traffic sounds and scents, focusing on crossmodal interactions involving the less-explored senses of audition and olfaction. In a series of laboratory experiments, traffic sounds were found to be the primary driver of physiology and perception in streetscapes. Traffic sounds not only made urban scents more unpleasant. Urban sounds and scents also reduced preferences for a natural sound or scent. Nevertheless, additional natural stimuli helped alleviate this effect. Bird sounds, alone or combined with plant scents, enhanced perceived streetscape quality. However, the less favourable the traffic environment, the less likely natural stimuli were to improve streetscape preferences. When both sound and smell environments are unpleasant, improving the sound environment may lead to greater preferences. Moreover, as traffic qualities worsened, the quality — not just the presence — of natural stimuli became more crucial for enhancing streetscape perception. These findings highlight that sensory aspects should be more consistently integrated into urban design, with any efforts to improve sound and smell environments requiring careful contextual consideration. Importantly, making creative use of how senses interact provides more design opportunities than focusing on each sense in isolation. This calls for research that moves beyond reductionist, single-sense approaches to include a wider range of sensory inputs. Ultimately, this will encourage a re-evaluation of liveable streetscapes by emphasising (multi)sensory and experiential qualities alongside traditional engineering metrics related to functionality and safety.

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