Mapping the urban environment using real-time physiological monitoring

Purpose - This paper presents a critical review of studies which map the urban environment using continuous physiological data collection. A conceptual model is consequently presented for mitigating urban stress at the city and the user level. Design/methodology/approach - The study reviews relevant publications, examining the tools used for data collection and the methods used for data analysis and data fusion. The relationship between urban features and physiological responses is also examined. Findings - The review showed that the continuous monitoring of physiological data in the urban environment can be used for location-aware stress detection and urban emotion mapping. The combination of physiological and contextual data helps researchers understand how the urban environment affects the human body. The review indicated a relationship between some urban features (green, land use, traffic, isovist parameters) and physiological responses, though more research is needed to solidify the existence of the identified links. The review also identified many theoretical, methodological and practical issues which hinder further research in this area. Originality/value - While there is large potential in this field, there has been no review of studies which map continuously physiological data in the urban environment. This study covers this gap and introduces a novel conceptual model for mitigating urban stress.