The relationship between the look of streets, feelings of safety, and sleep
Your neighborhood's "streetscape"—the physical environment of your street—is something you have probably never consciously thought about, despite seeing it every day. But what if the streetscape was affecting you on a subconscious level and disrupting your sleep?
A study conducted by Professor Daisuke Matsushita of Osaka Metropolitan University has revealed an unexpected link between the appearance of neighborhood streets and residents' sleep patterns. Using artificial intelligence to analyze over 200,000 Google Street View images, the researchers identified visual characteristics of neighborhoods and linked them to self-reported sleep data from 1,089 working adults living in apartment buildings in Tokyo.
The findings, published in the journal Building and Environment, suggest that neighborhoods perceived as safer and greener tend to have residents who sleep longer, while more enclosed and walkable streets are associated with reduced feelings of safety and shorter sleep duration.
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