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(en) With regards to climate change and public health, the 21st century has seen an unprecedented focus on sustainable urban mobility. The Brussel Capital Region (BCR) serves as a focal point for investigating sustainable urban mobility, especially cycling as a mode of transportation, and how well-being can be facilitated by urban design. As part of this ongoing research, an experimental campaign will be conducted spanning the fields of psychological sciences and environmental sciences, including architecture and urban planning. The data collected from this experiment will be instrumental in formulating a transdisciplinary framework aimed at dissecting the intricate relationship between meteorological factors, urban design, and psychological well-being. Urban heat stress, an increasingly recognized yet under-addressed public health concern, calls for immediate and targeted interventions from urban stakeholders. While the positive effects of natural environments on well-being are welldocumented, the nuanced role of urban design and in particular the proximity to green infrastructure for mitigating physiological and psychological stressors remains underexplored. This study aims to address this gap, offering a nuanced examination of how specific design elements in urban green spaces contribute to heat stress alleviation and provokes behaviors to maintain psychological well-being. Data spanning from 2019 to 2022 has been sourced from multiple channels, including Brussel Mobility, Google Street View with semantic image classification, Local Climate Zone (LCZ) maps, and meteorological stations. This dataset is further augmented by satellite thermal data from Landsat and MODIS, aiming to encapsulate the seasonality and annual patterns that may influence use of cycling routes. Policy initiatives implemented in BCR such as 'Good Move' and 'Ville 30' have acted as catalysts, prompting a paradigm shift towards specialized cycling lanes and facilities, thereby enhancing the safety and convenience of cycling as a viable transportation alternative. This study will provide detailed insights into the ways that weather influences cyclist behavior, for example by cyclists avoiding urban heat islands and seeking urban green routes in hot relative to cold weather conditions. This research further aims to contribute to the global movement on sustainable urban planning, making cities greener and bicycle friendly by providing actionable, evidence-based policy recommendations tailored for Brussels. By offering a holistic, interdisciplinary perspective, the work aspires to advance the state of the art in sustainable urban planning, psychological sciences, and meteorological medicine.
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Pandya, P., Llaguno, M., Edwards, M., Manoli, G., & Lacroix, E. (2023). Cycling Towards Sustainable Urban Mobility: Thermal Comfort and Well-being in Diverse Neighborhoods of Brussels. Circle U, UCLouvain. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/215658