Having water in cities and towns, in new build developments, schools, colleges, and healthcare facilities, brings amazing benefits: from wellbeing to providing somewhere cooler to sit in the freak heatwaves that will increasingly hit us. There is a thing that we have spoken about before in the Journal called ‘Attention Restoration Theory ‘, how having something else to focus our attention on for a short period gives us a mental boost, and so being beside, viewing or imagining water helps us access this benefit. It helps take us away from the usual and gives us respite. In this issue, we delve into the science behind why “Blue” views are good for us from a neuroscience perspective and there are some beautiful design examples which use the “Blue Mind” principles from having views of water to how and where to use water soundscapes.
“Humans are approximately 60% water; The brain, 73% water. So, it may come as no surprise that proximity to water sources, such as oceans has almost universal appeal
