Place and space

Example projects

Liveable environments

The places in which we live can contain many factors that negatively impact wellbeing, such as noise, crowding and pollution. But the design and management of such environments can also benefit people. Moreover, the way people interact with their environment (for instance through the travel modes they use) can affect both themselves and the environment. 

• Inclusive Mobility Interventions for Young Adolescents and Livable Urban Spaces. This project, funded by UKRI and Horizon Europe via the Driving Urban Transitions Partnership, aims to empower young adolescents to engage in active and multimodal travel. This is a European consortium project led by Eindhoven University of Technology, in which University of Surrey leads the Evaluation Work Package. All outputs are co-developed with young adolescents of diverse backgrounds in Switzerland, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, France, and Austria.
• Measuring the Tranquil City. Funded via a British Academy Innovation Fellowship, Ellie Ratcliffe worked with environmental research and innovation company Tranquil City Ltd. to develop approaches for evidencing the benefits of urban greening interventions. This was achieved through co-design of a toolkit with stakeholders; testing and validating the toolkit in local communities; and integration of the toolkit into Tranquil City’s Make My City Thrive service.
• Considering how inclusive our environments are and could be, such as understanding the lived experiences of autistic people in acoustic environments (Rosas-Perez et al., 2025).
• Encouraging active and sustainable modes of transport. These studies demonstrate, for instance, that active travel doesn’t just benefit the environment and physical health but also mental wellbeing (Gatersleben & Uzzell, 2007).
• Hoody, goody or buddy. A project, funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, that demonstrates how the use of different travel modes in residential areas affects people’s social perceptions of the people in those neighbourhoods and their feelings of safety (Gatersleben et al., 2013).

Personally meaningful places

The meanings people attach to places is strongly linked to how they feel and act in those places. Our research examines people-place connections through concepts such as place attachment and place identity and memory.

• Why are places to special? A neuroscientific study demonstrating that viewing images of (self-selected) personally meaningful places evokes different responses in the brain compared to watching other images including those of objects (personally meaningful or not) and beautiful (but not personally meaningful) places (Gatersleben et al., 2020).
• Memories and place. Research on the role of place memories in explaining the wellbeing benefits of exposure to and engagement with such places  (Ratcliffe & Korpela, 2018, 2016)
• Social impacts of a new transport links. This longitudinal project (1999-2001) that examined perceptions of the opening of a new underground line in London (the Jubilee Line extension) was affected by and affected perceptions of transport opportunities and social ties within and outside communities (Gatersleben et al., 2007). 

Home and residential environments

Design and technology impacts how homes and workplaces are built. Understanding how people engage with design and technology in such settings and how this impacts their experiences is central to our work. 

• The MyGlobalHome Pilot Demonstrator. This interdisciplinary project, funded by Innovate UK, examined how people engage with smart home technology and modular design systems. Issues of trust and security associated with smart technologies were explored as well as people’s wellbeing and sense of home (Seymour et al. 2025).
• Flexible home design. A PhD project that demonstrates how flexible and adaptable design of the home can support human psychological need satisfaction and resident wellbeing (Jagannath et al., 2024).