Surroundings affect rhythm of an individual’s walk, according to new study

Press release issued: 7 September 2021

Stepping patterns become slower and more variable if a person is uncomfortable with their surroundings, researchers have found.

Scientists at the University of Bristol have discovered that people who felt more at ease in urban environments had as regular stepping patterns as folk who felt relaxed walking in nature.

The findings, published in PLoS One, show that rather than being a quality exclusive to natural environments, the key factor of an environment is how comfortable people feel in it and that defines how beneficial it is for wellbeing. This means that a well-designed urban environment can be similarly beneficial for concentration and attention as natural surroundings.

Read the full University of Bristol press release.

Further information

Paper: ‘Nature benefits revisited: differences in gait kinematics between nature and urban images disappear when image types are controlled for likeability’ in PLoS by Daria Burtan, Dr J.F. Burn and Professor Ute Leonards.