Introduction
The global urban population is rapidly increasing. While urban living provides cultural and economic benefits, it is also associated with elevated stress and mental health challenges. Stress in urban settings not only affects psychological well-being but also dysregulates immune, metabolic, and cardiovascular systems. Exposure to natural elements has consistently been shown to buffer these effects and enhance emotional well-being. Nevertheless, less scientific attention is drawn to urban-nature dynamics and how related singular components may influence short-term environmental exposures and enhance well-being.
Purpose
By adopting the Experience Sampling Method (ESM), we sought to capture how everyday exposure to natural and urban features influences individuals' momentary emotions.
Method
Thirty participants provided a total of 392 reports through smartphone-based ESM over one week period. Data were collected in a metropolitan area. Participants completed multiple daily questionnaires assessing their immediate physical surroundings alongside their emotional states. Environmental variables included exposure to natural and urban components, while emotional well-being was captured through measures of positive affect, negative affect, and stress. Multi-level regression analyses were conducted to examine within- and between-person effects.
Results
Findings indicate that exposure to natural components such as vegetation and blue view was significantly associated with increased positive affect and reduced stress. In contrast, exposure to urban components such as traffic and noise predicted lower emotional well-being. These associations were consistent across participants and robust to contextual variations.
Conclusions
The study highlights the distinct contributions of natural and urban elements to the psychological impact of city living. The results support calls for urban planning that prioritizes the integration of natural elements into cityscapes to enhance mental well-being. More broadly, this work demonstrates the utility of ESM in capturing fine-grained, real-time interactions between environments and emotions.