How does campus-scape influence university students' restorative experiences: Evidences from simultaneously collected physiological and psychological data

Abstract

"Time in nature" is widely acknowledged as beneficial for physical and psychological health. The landscape environment of campus – referred to as "campus-scape" – plays a crucial role in influencing students’ mental health. It provides outdoor spaces where university students sought for relief and recreation, yet it remains under-researched. In this study, we address a limitation in the static assessment of restorative effects of campus-scape, and extend the focus from visual to non-visual and event landscape, using simultaneously collected psychological and physiological data from an on-site walking experiment (n = 40). This study examined how different types of campus-scape affect university students' restorative experiences by analyzing stress and attention restoration using wearable sensors, alongside perceptional psychological data from questionnaires and interviews. Our results revealed significant differences in the restorative effects of various campus-scape, and the influences were further characterized by visual, non-visual, and event landscape. We have several key findings: (1) 93 % of students reported above-medium stress levels and 72 % experience attention fatigue, highlighting a strong need for restorative campus-scape; (2) Patchy green-blue landscape performs best in stress recovery, followed by linear green-blue landscape and teaching spaces, while living spaces especially the commuting paths were the least restorative, as indicated by physiological electrodermal activity (EDA) and psychological perceived restorative scale (PRS).Meanwhile, most participants experienced attention restoration post-walk across campus-scape types, interestingly subjective self-reported data (FS-14) underestimated the effects compared with objective tests (DSB and TMTB); (3) Within visual landscape, lower landscape segmentation, fewer building views, more welldesigned landscape facilities, and abundant waterbodies, green, and sky views are significantly associated with better stress recovery; (4) Non-visual landscape like thermal conditions, soundscape, and olfactory landscape, along with event landscape–occasional, staged, and routine events–also influence the restorative effects of campus-scape. The aesthetic qualities of campus-scape and capacity for recreational activities are key to students' restorative experiences. Therefore, campusscape designers should prioritize the planning of patchy green-blue spaces and consider enhancing visual, non-visual, and event landscape simultaneously in design guidelines to improve university students' mental well-being.