Your Emotional City

By the year 2050, more than two-thirds of the world’s population will be living in cities. These urban melting pots of human coexistence embody both light and shadow. Cities shape our emotions—for better or for worse. They offer space for individual growth and are hubs of culture, science, and economic progress. But they also confront us with major challenges: anonymity, pollution, social inequality, crime, and violence are part of everyday life in many places. Cities can inspire us—but they can also overwhelm us. They generate stress and can, at times, negatively affect our health.

Studies have shown that people living in cities have twice the risk of developing schizophrenia compared to those in rural areas (Vassos et al., 2012; Colodro-Conde et al., 2018; Krabbendam & van Os, 2005). And yet, cities continue to fascinate. Urban environments profoundly influence our psyche and well-being. Our research aims to get to the bottom of this phenomenon—and for that, we need many city dwellers like you to participate as citizen scientists.

We warmly invite you to actively take part in our citizen science research project "Your Emotional City" and gain valuable insights into stress research by sharing your emotional experiences in everyday Berlin life over the course of one week. We apply the method of Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA), in which you are prompted three times a day via our app Urban Mind to provide information about your emotional state, as well as several environmental factors and your social context.

By using GPS technology and geolocation, we will then develop an emotion and stress map of Berlin—one that not only reflects your individual experiences but also serves as a foundation for targeted measures in policy and urban planning that promote public health.

So far, we have conducted more than 30 successful events, lectures, and workshops, reaching over 2,000 active participants. In cooperation with Futurium: House of Futures in Berlin, we also regularly organize engaging events and discussions about our project, which you are very welcome to attend.

Here’s how you can support the project:

1. Participate yourself and download our research app Urban Mind (available in the App Store and on Google Play). Each response only takes two to three minutes, and the app is available in German, English, Arabic, Turkish, and Russian.

2. Connect with us on LinkedIn to stay informed about the latest developments and upcoming events. We’re also happy to share your projects and events.

3. Follow and share on Instagram: Follow our project on Instagram and share our account in your story. This helps us reach a wider community and draw more interested citizens to the project.

4. Visit our website – you’ll find all the latest information on our work, as well as upcoming and past events.

All important links to our project can be found bundled here.

If you’d like to learn more about how cities influence the mind, we recommend reading the interviews (in german) with Prof. Dr. Mazda Adli and Dr. Shadi Bagherzadeh Azbari.

If you have ideas, suggestions, or questions, don’t hesitate to call us [+49 (0)30 2093-89759] or send us an email at neurourbanistik(at)charite.de.

References:

• Colodro-Conde L, Couvy-Duchesne B, Whitfield JB, et al. Association Between Population Density and Genetic Risk for Schizophrenia. JAMA Psychiatry. 2018;75(9):901–910. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2018.1581
• Evangelos Vassos, Carsten B Pedersen, Robin M Murray, David A Collier, Cathryn M Lewis, Meta-Analysis of the Association of Urbanicity With Schizophrenia, Schizophrenia Bulletin, Volume 38, Issue 6, November 2012, Pages 1118–1123, https://doi.org/10.1093/schbul/sbs096
• Lydia Krabbendam, Jim van Os, Schizophrenia and Urbanicity: A Major Environmental Influence—Conditional on Genetic Risk, Schizophrenia Bulletin, Volume 31, Issue 4, October 2005, Pages 795–799, https://doi.org/10.1093/schbul/sbi060