Introduction
Exposure to stress and its resulting harm is the most important factor in the increase in mental disorders (Streit et al., 2014: 352). Exposure to greater stress can be a factor or the main background for the spread of stress-related mental illnesses in cities (Adli et al., 2016: 72), (Kennedy & Adolphs, 2011: 452), (Wandersman & Nation, 1998: 651). Stress is one of the most pervasive aspects of modern life that has many consequences, including physical and mental harm, social harm, and aggressive reactions, etc. (Kermi et al., 2008: 92). In fact, stress can increase the risk of burnout, emotional exhaustion, cardiovascular diseases, digestive disorders, blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, and dementia (Schaupp et al., 2024: 2). For this reason, the current century has been called the century of communication management, stress, anxiety, and neurocognitive disorders (Zarei and Naghizadeh, 2013: 1). Stress is a psychological issue that has attracted the attention of scientists from various fields, including doctors, psychologists, physiologists, biologists, and sociologists (Khodayarifard and Parand, 2007: 90). Urban planning, as a field that is related to all areas related to humans and their environment, must definitely consider the area of human health, especially mental health and stress (Ghaffarian Shoa'i, 2014: 4). However, not enough research has been conducted in this field so far. Of course, a number of domestic studies in the interdisciplinary fields of architecture, sociology, urban planning, psychology, etc. have examined this issue and its very related peripheral issues with different approaches. However, there is no study that answers the question "How have domestic studies studied the link between stress and the city?"
The prerequisite for starting any research work is to review previous studies to identify study gaps and strengths and weaknesses in that field. For this purpose, this research attempts to review domestic studies in the field of urban stress with an interdisciplinary approach and take a step towards advancing knowledge in this research field.
Methodology
The research method in this study is a review, and previous studies were identified and screened in several stages using the narrative review method, then these studies were reviewed and study gaps were identified using content analysis.
Results and discussion
The findings of this study show that domestic researchers consider urban stress to be mostly caused by social, physical, environmental, use and activity indicators, transportation, individual characteristics, housing, cultural-political, and economic. Also, the indicators of noise pollution, balance in population density (crowdedness-seclusion), security, landscape pollution (visual), amount of green space, appropriate light contrast during the day and night, air pollution, temperature and thermal comfort, environmental control and prediction, sensory overload (intensity of nervous stimulation and stimuli), contact with nature, traffic, quality of walking facilities, safety, social support, sense of belonging, mix of uses, access to spaces that enhance physical activity, number of floors and high-rise buildings, condition of furniture and urban facilities in streets and open spaces, condition of public transportation, light pollution, social interactions, access to resources and services, building density, degree of wear and tear of the fabric and resistance and life of buildings, physical and visual permeability of the fabric, quality of passages, ease of urban mobility, privacy and personal territory for individuals, violence and anger, crime and misdeeds, identity and rent, land and housing prices, respectively, are the most frequently mentioned indicators in previous studies.
Conclusion
As a result, no domestic research has been conducted in the field of urban planning to examine urban stress by combining planning and design approaches and to provide a comprehensive perspective on the field of stress-therapeutic urban planning. In fact, the studies conducted have often either examined stress-therapeutic urban planning or redesigned part of the environment based on reducing people's perceived stress. The methods of collecting information in these studies are also often questionnaires and field studies. Of course, because people are often not honest about stress and psychological issues in entering information into questionnaires, it seems that the application of other modern methods in this field can be very effective. Also, examining this issue in different study samples such as urban streets, neighborhoods, cities, urban squares, urban areas, urban parks and green spaces, urban areas, urban textures, etc. can identify the hidden aspects of this issue.
Funding
There is no funding support.
Authors’ Contribution
Authors contributed equally to the conceptualization and writing of the article.
Conflict of Interest
Authors declared no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper.