A critical review on the impact of built environment on users' measured brain activity

Due to the ever-increasing demand for urbanized life and fast-constructed built environments, the urban quality of life and psychological well-being of the inhabitants is often neglected. This has led to the current built environment that we spend most of our lives in, without adequate investigation into how it impacts the human mental health and wellbeing. This paper aims to review and analyse the research efforts that investigate the impact of the built environment on the user's state of mind, with a focus on the measured brain activities to indicate the momentary state of mind. The reviewed literature establishes that while in a natural environment the brain activities are more disentangled and meditative. Whilst in a built environment, the human brain has shown higher levels of stress. However, the mechanism in which the built environment impacts the brain is not yet thoroughly investigated. In this paper we have identified the current gaps to help shape the future towards a restorative built environment with knowledge about the human mind to maximize user benefits and well-being. In conclusion, there was only one design element, using curvatures in interior design, that was identified as more encouraging for higher engaging brain activity that reflect the attraction of brain to the surroundings. However, in the current neuro-architecture related research, there are still various areas, highlighted in this paper, that require further intensive research into different scales; interior, building and, urban design, in order to guide future regulations towards healthier built environment.