This document introduces the Neurourbanism Assessment (NUA), a comprehensive methodology designed for the in-situ evaluation of urban interventions’ impacts on mental health at the neighbourhood scale. Shifting the focus from diagnosing individuals to the “diagnosis of the space,” NUA integrates insights from neuroscience, urban planning, and environmental psychology. By leveraging portable neuroscience technologies and citizen science methods, this methodology helps us understand how the human brain responds to its surroundings, allowing cities to optimise urban spaces for mental health promotion.

This methodology is designed with broad global applicability for stakeholders committed to fostering greener and healthier urban neighbourhoods.

Primary Audience:

• Institutions at European, national, regional and local levels (e.g. municipalities, schools, regional planning departments)

• Specialised urban planning agencies

• Research institutes and think tanks

• International and intergovernmental organisations

Secondary Audience:

• Design professionals (architects, landscape architects, and urban planners)

• Multidisciplinary researchers and academics globally

• Citizens and society at large

NUA methodology combines human-centric data with the environmental quality measurements.

To ensure ecological validity, the NUA methodology collects multi-modal data directly in real-world urban environments rather than in a laboratory.

The assessment relies on three main building blocks: ݀

• Objective neuro-physiological measures: Capturing brain activity (EEG) and Heart Rate (HR) for brain-heart coherence measurement, using portable, non-invasive mobile headbands as participants move through urban spaces.

• Subjective, self-reported measures: Evaluating momentary mood, stress, anxiety, life satisfaction, and community bonding through standardised daily questionnaires and mental mapping exercises.

• Spatial and environmental measures: Assessing the physical attributes of the space, including acoustic/thermal comfort, landscape visual quality (Contemplative Landscape Model-CLM), and the presence of Nature-based Solutions (NbS).

To ensure inclusion, the deliverable provides guidelines and practical recommendations for all phases of the project:

• Co-Analysis phase: it offers strategies for inclusive stakeholder mapping, outreach, and overcoming potential mistrust or disinterest.

• Co-Design and Implementation phase: guidelines focus on organising inclusive participatory activities and co-prioritising actions to ensure the integration of all participants’ needs and perspectives.

• Co-Monitoring phase: it provides indicative co-evaluation indicators to ensure the inclusion of the more vulnerable social groups and the integration of a gender perspective during all phases of the project.

Finally, the Annex at the end includes indicative forms (Participant List, Participant Preference Form, and Participant Evaluation Form) provided as additional support for the cities conducting their participatory activities.

The primary output of this methodology is the NUA-Index, an easy-to-understand numeric score expressed as a percentage and visualised through a traffic-light system. This index provides an aggregated measure of a neighbourhood’s wellbeing in place status, integrating data from neurophysiology, self-reports and environmental sensors.

By providing evidence-based, actionable metrics, NUA empowers decision-makers to identify areas in need of intervention, justify investments in Nature-based Solutions (NbS), and integrate mental health directly into urban development agendas. Furthermore, its participatory citizen science approach empowers residents to understand their environment’s impact and actively advocate for changes.

• Flowcharts illustrating the general inputs, outputs, and the step-by-step NUA data collection protocol ݀

• Infographics showing examples of the NUA-Index mock-ups and its traffic-light system

• Decision Trees & Matrices for site eligibility criteria and ethical/safety standards

• Extensive Annexes containing ready-to-use self-reported questionnaires, participant instruction manuals, and hardware/software selection criteria