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Accumulated evidence claims that urban green spaces (UGS) have a positive impact on the physical and mental health of humans. However, little information is available to clearly reveal what the most important driving factors are for human psychophysiological restoration. In order to unveil this uncertainty, this study employed virtual reality (VR) technology to investigate the physiological (electroencephalogram, EEG), and psychological (attention, positive mood, negative mood) responses and individual preferences for different urban environments. Participants (120) were recruited and randomly assigned to experience six different types of environments varying in land use and vegetation structures, which were: Grey space, blue space, open green space, partly open green space, partly closed green space, and closed green space. The results showed that the experience of the six environmental types through VR devices had positive restorative effects on the individuals’ attentional fatigue and negative mood; however, all the participants obtained the highest levels of physiological stress restoration when asked to close their eyes for relaxation. The physiological measurements of the EEG showed no significant differences among the selected types of environments. Meanwhile, the results of the psychological measures suggested that only negative mood showed significant differences of change among the six types of environments, and while the partly open green space had the most positive effect on negative mood, the closed green space had the worst. The blue space and partly closed green space received higher recreational preference ratings than the other four environments, while the closed green space received the lowest recreational preference rating. Moreover, the findings showed that there was a strong positive correlation between people’s preferences and the improvement of their positive mood. This indicated that as the popularity of a natural environment increased, so did the benefits of human health and well-being. In addition, this study shows that VR technology may be utilized as a possible surrogate measure to real scenes in evaluating human physiological and psychological restoration in the future. The present findings can provide the theoretical basis and practical guidance for future optimal planning of urban restorative environments.

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The number of research involving human subjects on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is surging, bringing challenges to the ethical review committee (ERC) in terms of reviewing speed and special ethical considerations under the pandemic. However, the existing ethical review system and regulations have their limitations to meet the demand for a prompt and efficient epidemic control. Since the research under the public health emergency is different from that carried out in familiar situations to design and implementation, the strategy for a satisfactory ERC response should balance the duty of protecting individual participants as well as the special public needs derived from the disease control. It is suggested that the ethical review-related regulations need to be updated, and a unified supervision system to the overall ERC is required.ERC collaboration, capacity-improving and efficiency-improving measures need to be taken.With respect to the reviewing guidelines, it is suggested that the international norms should be explained with more consideration of the local condition and the exceptional circumstances in this public health emergency. A joint effort needs to be taken for better research conduction.

Several studies have revealed the positive effects of green space and certain activities on counteracting the physical and mental pressure felt by human beings. However, how self-reported stressed people perceive restorative green spaces, their preferences for specific characteristics and activities, and what characteristics of urban green space can induce various types of activities for stress recovery has not been fully examined in the high-density cities of China. Using an on-site questionnaire survey conducted in the People’s Park (PP) in Baoji, China, this study is the first to consider the relationship among eight sensory dimensions, activity types and stress recovery in Chinese green space. Results showed that the highest-stressed respondents were more likely to spend their time in multi-layered woodlands adjacent to water, with more experiences of serene but less about prospect. They preferred serene dimension more, while the culture and social dimensions were least preferred. Sports and leisure activities and quiet activities were the most popular among highest-stressed respondents, which were positively related to the serene and nature dimensions, respectively. Results suggested that the most restorative environment for stress recovery can be regarded as multi-layered woodlands adjacent to water with more serene and nature, less prospect and few or no culture and social dimensions.

Although the soundscape in cities is receiving increased attention in urban planning, there is still a lack of knowledge of how personal factors influence the perception of and preference for soundscapes. Most present studies are linked to one or a few specific soundscapes and do not have a holistic approach exploring the pros and cons of all soundscapes in a place. This study surveyed individuals to assess how soundscape perceptions and preferences may differ among various attendees of typical urban forest recreational parks in Xi’an, China, using an on-site questionnaire. The respondents (N = 2034) revealed that rare natural sounds were perceived more positively than the dominating artificial sounds. Five main dimensions of social, demographic, and behavioral attributes were found to be linked to the soundscape perceptions and preferences: (1) familiarity of the park and attendees’ age made people more tolerant towards sounds that others find annoying; (2) higher education and higher socio-economic status showed lower tolerance towards sounds; (3) having companions and specific types of recreational use increased the frequent perception of artificial sounds; (4) females generally showed higher sensitivity and lower tolerance than males towards several sounds; and (5) the longer attendees remained in the park, the more positive the overall soundscape preference was. The results indicate that numerous sounds are affecting people’s overall experience in the parks. These findings could help decision-makers and urban forest recreational park designers to formulate relevant strategies for park design that are in tune with varying public needs and expectations towards soundscape. The implementation of human-oriented soundscape design can therefore enhance people’s well-being.

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