As urban populations continue to grow and urban environments undergo rapid transformation,
understanding how specific environmental features affect mental well-being has become increasingly
important, yet the sensory mechanisms underlying these effects remain insufficiently understood. This
study investigates the effects of auditory and visual components of urban environments-highways and
parks—on affective and physiological responses. A pilot experiment included 23 participants. Stimuli
(audio and video recordings of road and park environments) were presented under three conditions:
"Video Only," "Audio Only," and "Audiovisual." Subjective affective responses were assessed using the
PANAS, as well as self-reported valence and arousal. Physiological measures included heart rate and
heart rate variability (RMSSD, SDNN). Comparison of subjective ratings showed that park environments
were associated with more positive valence than road environments (U = 105, p < 0.05). Parks were also
associated with higher self-reported arousal (U = 98.5, p < 0.05) and higher positive affect (U = 87.7, p <
0.05), whereas negative affect was higher for road environments (U = 112, p < 0.05). The effect of
stimulus modality differed depending on the environment. In park environments, the "Audiovisual"
condition was associated with higher positive affect compared to the "Audio Only" condition (W = 34.0,
p = 0.0139). For road environments, the most negative responses were observed in the "Audiovisual"
condition: valence was significantly lower than in the "Video Only" (W = 17.0, p = 0.0069) and "Audio
Only" (W = 16.5, p = 0.01) conditions, while negative affect was higher (W = 4.5, p = 0.0004; W = 9.5, p
= 0.0014). Positive affect in road environments was lower in the "Audio Only" condition compared to
"Video Only" (W = 33.5, p = 0.01). Analysis of physiological measures did not reveal statistically
significant differences, which is likely related to the small sample size. Thus, the results demonstrate an
asymmetric effect of sensory components on affective responses depending on the type of urban
environment. Park environments are associated with more positive emotional responses, primarily due to
visual stimuli, whereas negative affective responses to road environments appear to be driven mainly by
auditory input.