Emotion in Motion: A Methodology for investigating Emotional Response to the Streets and Urban Spaces in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent

In recent years, architects, urban designers and planners have been criticised for pursuing an ocular-centric approach prioritising the look or style of a street, building or site above other sensory components including the sound, smell and overall ‘feel’ or emotional response it provokes. Emotional theorists frequently consider a positive-negative valence when attempting to unpack people’s emotional response to ‘objects’ including people, situations and the world around them and similarly, many sensory modes have been considered as contributing only negative aspects to urban life e.g. unwanted noise or odour. The investigation and measurement of emotional response to the built environment and its sensory components, and specifically with respect to incorporation into design practice, remains limited. This case study outlines a recent project undertaken in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent by fifth and sixth year students at the Manchester School of Architecture. The project sought to devise and test a methodology for investigating emotional response to the built environment, through the measurement of heart rate, sight, sound and light level, and developed an installation to represent the study findings. In doing so, the project identified different profiles of emotional and sensory stimulation according to urban typology and relationships between varying sensory stimulation and emotional response.