Can Historical Environments Rival Natural Environments? An Empirical Study on the Impact of Campus Environment Types on College Students’ Mental Health
Abstract
1. Introduction
- For urban campuses with limited natural spaces, can built environments provide sufficient psychological restoration? What environmental characteristics drive these effects?
- Can historically rich campuses serve as viable alternatives to natural landscapes? How do their restorative mechanisms differ?
- Does explicit communication of cultural information in historical environments yield restoration comparable to natural settings?
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Research Subject
- (1)
- Ordinary built environment lacking natural and historical elements (standard chain coffee shop in conventional building, P1);
- (2)
- Natural landscape environment without historical features (campus wetland park with rich ecosystem, P2);
- (3)
- Historically built environment with intentional historical narratives (independent coffee shop in century-old heritage building, P3);
- (4)
- Historically built environment with unintentional historical narratives (campus cultural gift shop in 50-year-old historical building, P4).
2.2. Participant
2.3. Experimental Procedure
2.3.1. Group Assignment and Counterbalancing
2.3.2. Pre-Experiment Protocol
2.3.3. HRV Measurement Protocol
2.3.4. Environmental Exposure Procedure
2.3.5. Post-Exposure Measurements and Questionnaires
2.3.6. Behavioral Control
2.4. Measurement
2.4.1. Measurement of Heart Rate Variability (HRV)
2.4.2. Psychological Measurement
3. Results
3.1. Heart Rate Variability
3.1.1. Comparison of Ordinary Built Environment and Historical Built Environment with Intentional Historical Information
3.1.2. Comparison of Historical Environment with Intentional Historical Narratives and Natural Landscape Environment
3.1.3. Comparison of Historical Built Environment Without Intentional Historical Information and Other Environments
3.2. Overview of Emotional State
3.3. Perceptual Recovery Scale
4. Discussion
4.1. Physiological Findings and Implications
4.2. Psychological Restoration: Mood and Attention Dynamics
4.3. Integrated Effects of Physiological and Psychological Restoration
4.4. Limitations
- Increase sample size and conduct parallel studies across different universities to incorporate diverse campus cultures.
- Implement repeated measurements across the four seasons—spring, summer, autumn, and winter—to assess seasonal fluctuations.
- Perform stratified analyses by academic year, major, and geographic background to explore dynamic differences and interaction effects of environmental influences.
- Conduct cross-cultural field investigation or cross-border cooperative research to examine how variations in the interpretation of heritage symbols among different cultural groups affect the mechanisms and outcomes of restoration.
- Incorporate objective psychophysiological measures. Employ eye-tracking and neuroimaging techniques (e.g., EEG, fMRI) to objectively assess attentional restoration and underlying neural correlates elicited by natural versus historical environments.
- Adopt factorial experimental designs that systematically vary vegetation density and heritage-building features independently to disentangle the unique and interactive contributions of vegetation versus built heritage to restorative outcomes.
4.5. Practical Implications for Urban Planning and Research
- (1)
- In old urban areas with insufficient green spaces, priority should be given to “cultural-ecological composite restoration” (e.g., converting historical building courtyards into gardens or relic sites into parks) to compensate for natural space shortages [58];
- (2)
- Establishing “cultural restorative service zones” for historic districts, analogous to the “service radius” standards for natural environments, to ensure residents’ convenient access to culturally therapeutic scenes [59].
- (1)
- Introduce psychosocial benefit indicators (e.g., place attachment intensity, visitor mood enhancement) into heritage evaluation systems, shifting the focus from “preservation” to “active utilization”;
- (2)
- Incorporate historical environment restoration into Social Prescribing (SP) frameworks, collaborating with healthcare institutions to develop “cultural therapeutic pathways,” such as designing historic district walking therapies for anxiety patients.
- (1)
- Enhance “narrative-driven design” in historical building retrofits (e.g., using AR to reconstruct artisan construction processes), leveraging cultural resonance to amplify users’ sense of belonging and relaxation [61];
- (2)
- Integrate “biophilic design principles” (e.g., fractal patterns, organic geometries) with historic contexts by fusing traditional motifs with plant-inspired forms, achieving synergistic cultural-natural restoration [62].
5. Conclusions
- Historical built environments exhibit greater psychological restorative potential than ordinary built campus environments, as indicated by significantly higher HRV and PRS scores (p < 0.01). This finding suggests that environments containing historical information can contribute to attention restoration and psychological stress relief, to a certain extent.
- Environments with intentionally and explicitly conveyed historical information demonstrated stronger restorative effects than general historical environments, although the difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.17). This result implies that information transmission should align with participants’ cultural cognition. This study indicates that when historical environments contain intentionally articulated historical information, they facilitate cognitive engagement and immersive experiences with historical narratives, thereby enhancing psychological stress alleviation and attention restoration.
- Natural landscape environments exhibit the strongest psychological restorative effects; however, environments that explicitly convey historical information can partially replicate these effects. Consequently, such environments can promote attention restoration and psychological stress relief to a comparable extent, supporting the “culture-nature” synergistic design concept.
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Appendix A
P1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Figure Index | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | R10 | T1 | T2 | T3 | T4 | T5 | T6 | T7 | T8 | T9 | T10 |
GVI | 0% | 11.11% | 44.44% | 11.11% | 0% | 11.11% | 11.11% | 0% | 0% | 22.22% | 22.22% | 22.22% | 11.11% | 0% | 33.33% | 0% | 0% | 44.44% | 0% | 0% |
P2 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Figure Index | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | R10 | T1 | T2 | T3 | T4 | T5 | T6 | T7 | T8 | T9 | T10 |
GVI | 66.67% | 88.89% | 75% | 100% | 66.67% | 77.78% | 83.33% | 88.89% | 75% | 100% | 66.67% | 94.44% | 100% | 97.13% | 77.78% | 88.89% | 66.67% | 100% | 66.67% | 100% |
P3 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Figure Index | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | R10 | T1 | T2 | T3 | T4 | T5 | T6 | T7 | T8 | T9 | T10 |
GVI | 0% | 0% | 7.40% | 11.11% | 55.56% | 0% | 11.11% | 0% | 8.33% | 19.44% | 50% | 47.22% | 72.22% | 66.67% | 33.33% | 33.33% | 0% | 33.33% | 66.67% | 22.22% |
P4 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Figure Index | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | R10 | T1 | T2 | T3 | T4 | T5 | T6 | T7 | T8 | T9 | T10 |
GVI | 33.33% | 5.56% | 22.22% | 16.67% | 33.33% | 0% | 11.11% | 0% | 44.44% | 33.33% | 0% | 22.22% | 33.33% | 11.11% | 0% | 66.67% | 44.44% | 33.33% | 0% | 0% |
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Metric | P1 | P2 | P3 | P4 |
---|---|---|---|---|
GVI (%) | 12.1 ± 3.28 a | 84.1 ± 2.95 b | 26.8 ± 5.65 a | 20.45 ± 4.29 a |
Condition | Mean (ms) | SD (ms) |
---|---|---|
Office | 55 | 23 |
Pre-walk (Standard Chain Coffee Shop) | 52 | 32 |
Post-walk (Standard Chain Coffee Shop) | 54 | 25 |
Pre-walk (Independent Coffee Shop) | 58 | 30 |
Post-walk (Independent Coffee Shop) | 64 | 28 |
Condition | Mean (ms) | SD (ms) |
---|---|---|
Pre-walk (Independent Coffee Shop) | 58 | 39 |
Post-walk (Independent Coffee Shop) | 64 | 28 |
Pre-walk (Wetland Park) | 56 | 27 |
Post-walk (Wetland Park) | 64 | 24 |
Condition | Mean (ms) | SD (ms) |
---|---|---|
Post-walk (Campus Cultural Gift Shop) | 64 | 28 |
Pre-walk (Standard Chain Coffee Shop) | 52 | 32 |
Post-walk (Standard Chain Coffee Shop) | 54 | 25 |
Pre-walk (Wetland Park) | 56 | 27 |
Post-walk (Wetland Park) | 64 | 24 |
Pre-walk (Independent Coffee Shop) | 58 | 39 |
Post-walk (Independent Coffee Shop) | 64 | 28 |
Variable POMS | Variable Environment | Mean | CL Low 95% | CL High 95% | Standard Deviation | P (t-Test Dependent Samples) | ES (Hg) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tension-Anxiety | P1 | 7.97 | 7.14 | 8.80 | 2.35 | ||
P2 | 7.00 | 6.40 | 7.59 | 1.70 | 0.0452 | 0.15 | |
P3 | 6.81 | 6.26 | 7.33 | 1.63 | 0.0078 | 0.18 | |
P4 | 6.84 | 6.33 | 7.35 | 1.55 | 0.0198 | 0.18 | |
Depression-Dejection | P1 | 14.22 | 12.82 | 15.62 | 4.09 | ||
P2 | 12.44 | 11.64 | 13.23 | 2.28 | 0.0351 | 0.24 | |
P3 | 12.37 | 11.58 | 13.17 | 2.44 | 0.0134 | 0.25 | |
P4 | 12.31 | 11.67 | 12.95 | 1.94 | 0.0135 | 0.26 | |
Anger-Hostility | P1 | 20.77 | 19.03 | 22.5 | 4.99 | ||
P2 | 18.73 | 17.77 | 19.69 | 2.75 | 0.0417 | 0.25 | |
P3 | 18.78 | 17.51 | 20.04 | 3.90 | 0.0387 | 0.23 | |
P4 | 18.42 | 17.73 | 19.10 | 2.08 | 0.0121 | 0.30 | |
Fatigue-Inertia | P1 | 26.6 | 24.26 | 28.93 | 6.80 | ||
P2 | 23.73 | 22.45 | 25.01 | 3.67 | 0.0437 | 0.30 | |
P3 | 23.83 | 22.23 | 25.43 | 4.94 | 0.0347 | 0.27 | |
P4 | 23.52 | 22.31 | 24.74 | 3.69 | 0.0225 | 0.32 | |
Confusion-Bewilderment | P1 | 7.62 | 6.80 | 8.44 | 2.34 | ||
P2 | 6.17 | 5.58 | 6.77 | 1.71 | 0.0068 | 0.23 | |
P3 | 6.45 | 5.84 | 7.07 | 1.9 | 0.0277 | 0.18 | |
P4 | 6.68 | 6.11 | 7.25 | 1.72 | 0.0335 | 0.15 | |
Vigor-Activity | P1 | 16.34 | 14.58 | 18.10 | 5.01 | ||
P2 | 19.67 | 17.75 | 21.6 | 5.53 | 0.0187 | 0.36 | |
P3 | 19.00 | 16.16 | 19.99 | 5.91 | 0.2532 | 0.18 | |
P4 | 18.08 | 17.18 | 20.81 | 5.53 | 0.1450 | 0.19 | |
Total POMS | P1 | 60.84 | 53.25 | 68.45 | 21.94 | ||
P2 | 48.41 | 43.27 | 53.54 | 14.76 | 0.0413 | 0.47 | |
P3 | 50.08 | 44.58 | 55.59 | 13.36 | 0.1376 | 0.41 | |
P4 | 49.55 | 44.91 | 54.2 | 15.84 | 0.1809 | 0.41 |
POMS | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
PRS | Tension | Depression | Anger | Fatigue | Confusion | Vigor | POMS | |
Fascination | Difference | −0.290 | −0.366 | −0.367 | −0.453 | −0.427 | 0.477 | −0.555 |
p-value | 0.140 | 0.072 | 0.072 | 0.033 | 0.042 | 0.000 | 0.012 | |
Being away | Difference | −0.062 | −0.232 | −0.236 | −0.284 | −0.371 | 0.426 | −0.437 |
p-value | 0.724 | 0.225 | 0.218 | 0.147 | 0.069 | 0.002 | 0.038 | |
Compatibility | Difference | −0.220 | −0.258 | −0.271 | −0.408 | −0.479 | 0.602 | −0.567 |
p-value | 0.246 | 0.182 | 0.164 | 0.049 | 0.026 | 0.000 | 0.011 | |
Extent | Difference | −0.240 | −0.307 | −0.320 | −0.316 | −0.417 | 0.606 | −0.555 |
p-value | 0.211 | 0.121 | 0.108 | 0.113 | 0.046 | 0.000 | 0.013 |
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Zhong, C.; Zhang, R.; Lu, S.; Zeng, H.; Gao, W. Can Historical Environments Rival Natural Environments? An Empirical Study on the Impact of Campus Environment Types on College Students’ Mental Health. Buildings 2025, 15, 2163. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15132163
Zhong C, Zhang R, Lu S, Zeng H, Gao W. Can Historical Environments Rival Natural Environments? An Empirical Study on the Impact of Campus Environment Types on College Students’ Mental Health. Buildings. 2025; 15(13):2163. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15132163
Chicago/Turabian StyleZhong, Chuqi, Ruiqi Zhang, Shaoying Lu, Hao Zeng, and Wei Gao. 2025. "Can Historical Environments Rival Natural Environments? An Empirical Study on the Impact of Campus Environment Types on College Students’ Mental Health" Buildings 15, no. 13: 2163. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15132163
APA StyleZhong, C., Zhang, R., Lu, S., Zeng, H., & Gao, W. (2025). Can Historical Environments Rival Natural Environments? An Empirical Study on the Impact of Campus Environment Types on College Students’ Mental Health. Buildings, 15(13), 2163. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15132163