Vertr.-Prof. Dr. Alfredo Vernazzani 

How do the aesthetics of urban environments affect our pursuit wellbeing? This question has received scant attention in the current literature in cognitive science and philosophy. And yet, a growing body of evidence in experimental psychology, prompted also by the constant growth of urbanization across the globe, is increasingly uncovering the effects that urban noises and sounds, smells, and sights have on the quality of our lives. In this project, I seek to advance a systematic framework for addressing questions pertaining to the impact of environments’ aesthetic properties on our wellbeing. The project integrates insights from philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience and provides a systematic basis for further theoretical and empirical research on the impact of aesthetic properties on our lives.