Samenvatting

Since the Industrial Revolution cities have acted as magnets for people seeking higher incomes and a better future. From the 1950s, Europe’s older, compact, horizontally developed cities rapidly expanded as a result of urban sprawl. At the beginning of the 21st century European cities shifted from dedensification to densification to accommodate their growing populations and to curb the amount of land taken for residential use (Cortinovis et al., 2022). The densification process limits open urban spaces and the provision of green that people need to cope with complex urban situations. As the 2008 global financial crisis has faded, the introduction of vertically developed residential areas has increased visual complexity at eye-level further. If the design fails to create coherence in spatial arrangements, it becomes difficult for the senses to take up the situation and cognitively process information. The densification process with high-rise developments continues unabated while the possible consequences for users’ eye-level experiences need to be urgently addressed. Emerging technologies and methods from the field of neuroarchitecture help to identify and monitor the impact of applied design principles on human well-being. In the Building for Well-being research project this is tested using biometric technologies such as (mobile) eye-tracking technology in realworld, laboratory, and virtual settings (VR) in triangulation with the traditional methods of user surveys and expert panels. The project aims to unearth situational evidence of the relationship between designed and perceived spaces by investigating the visual properties and experience of high-density environments in the Netherlands. The study focuses on the development of a Dynamic User’s Experience Assessment to enable urban design professionals to analyse the architectural attributes that (subliminally) affect users’ experiences, influencing their behaviour and perception of place. The tool opens new opportunities for researchers and practitioners to deconstruct the successes of existing high-density developments and apply the lessons learned for the proven promotion of human health and well-being.