ELEVATE explores how urban environments shape physical activity in daily life. It combines smartphone sensing, GPS tracking, and artificial intelligence to capture how people interact with streetscapes across the city. By analyzing large-scale street-view imagery alongside GPS-based movement data, ELEVATE identifies which environmental features encourage or hinder active lifestyles. The project emphasizes co-creation, working closely with citizens, planners, and other stakeholders to ensure inclusive, practical solutions. ELEVATE will also deliver an AI-powered tool that provides evidence-based recommendations for designing healthier, more active urban environments. By linking cutting-edge science with real-world application, the project aims to reduce health inequalities and support more liveable cities.

• dr. Bas Spierings
• dr. H. (Hanneke) Posthumus
• prof. dr. ir. Dick Ettema
• dr. Marco Helbich

• Isabel Liedtke (Studio Bereikbaar)
• Danielle Sent (TU/e; JADS)
• Ronald Crombag (De Boom en het Meer)
• Saskia van der Zee (GGD Amsterdam)
• Mart Reiling (Track Landscapes)
• Susan Ruinaard (Studio Bereikbaar)
• Anneke van Mispelaar (Bureau Buiten)
• Aarnout Brombacher (TU/e)
• Jeroen Hoyng (Kenniscentrum Sport en Bewegen)
• Wieger Savenije (Studio Bereikbaar)

UPSCALE investigates the needs of various health and welfare technology users, such as older adults, their interaction with the health and care service structure, and how health and welfare technology -related services could be developed or built on the user-centred understanding. A central aim is knowledge building and cocreation in transitions – information and knowledge building and sharing within, between and beyond HWT users. UPSCALE pays special attention to users’ diversity.

• prof. dr. Ajay Bailey
• prof. Niki Frantzeskaki

Under the rising pressure of planetary crises, including climate change, urban youth are facing increasing mental health problems. Mental health problems are amplified among urban youth through a detachment from natural environments (e.g., green spaces), especially in cities where opportunities for nature interaction are limited. The literature suggests that nature exposure may stimulate pro-environmental behaviours (PEB) and improve mental health. However, previous studies are limited in scope, focusing on (i) adults and (ii) the global north while (iii) assessing nature exposure solely at home cross-sectionally. No study has investigated whether youths’ causal beliefs (i.e., mental models) about nature connectedness affect the impact of nature exposure on mental health and PEB longitudinally.

This project will be the first to integrate high-resolution, longitudinal data on nature exposure with cognitive and behavioural models in daily life. We will investigate urban youths’ PEB and mental health in relation to nature contact in varying urban settings. We will test if causal pathways between nature exposure, mental health, and PEB are moderated/mediated by individuals’ mental models about nature exposure and nature connectedness.

• Martina Bubalo
• dr. Karlijn van den Broek

Multiple sustainable development goals (SDGs) identified by the United Nations relate directly to healthy and safe urban environments. To realize the designed targets, the appearance of streetscapes plays a vital role. Urban environments perceived as safe, pleasant, and walkable stimulate sustainable and healthy human behavior in terms of mobility, outdoor activities, access to environmental resources etc. Data on people’s environmental perception are, however, difficult to collect typically relying on a few in-situ neighborhood audits which are impossible to scale-up while being time-consuming, costly, and labor-intensive. A solution to this challenge may arise through urban big data analytics based on artificial intelligence (AI).

We propose an innovative AI-based approach to map human perceptions of streetscapes (e.g., safety, pleasantness, walkability) through a state-of-the-art deep learning computer vision-based model trained using crowdsourced stated preferences of street view data. Based on a coordinated effort exploiting synergies between three disciplines within the Faculty of Geosciences, the project will deliver robust evidence on the perceived qualities of streetscapes putting the FAIR principles into practice. We envision these data will be helpful in formulating actionable progress by making suggestions for expanding and refining SDG indicators on sustainable communities.

• drs. Maarten Zeylmans Van Emmichoven
• dr. Britta Ricker
• dr. Marco Helbich