NSF Org:	BCS Division Of Behavioral and Cognitive Sci
Recipient:	DEPAUL UNIVERSITY
Initial Amendment Date:	August 14, 2023
Latest Amendment Date:	August 14, 2023
Award Number:	2324642
Award Instrument:	Standard Grant
Program Manager:	Steven Breckler sbreckle@nsf.gov  (703)292-7369 BCS  Division Of Behavioral and Cognitive Sci SBE  Direct For Social, Behav & Economic Scie
Start Date:	September 15, 2023
End Date:	August 31, 2026 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount:	$750,000.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date:	$750,000.00
Funds Obligated to Date:	FY 2023 = $750,000.00
History of Investigator:	Kimberly Quinn (Principal Investigator) KQUINN17@depaul.edu Michelle Stuhlmacher (Co-Principal Investigator) Sophie Trawalter (Co-Principal Investigator) Leidy Klotz (Co-Principal Investigator) Kimberly Meidenbauer (Co-Principal Investigator)
Recipient Sponsored Research Office:	DePaul University 1 E JACKSON BLVD CHICAGO IL  US  60604-2287 (312)362-7388
Sponsor Congressional District:	07
Primary Place of Performance:	DePaul University 2219 N Kenmore Ave CHICAGO IL  US  60614-3504
Primary Place of Performance Congressional District:	05
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI):	MNZ8KMRWTDB6
Parent UEI:
NSF Program(s):	Strengthening American Infras.
Primary Program Source:	01002324DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s):
Program Element Code(s):	145Y00
Award Agency Code:	4900
Fund Agency Code:	4900
Assistance Listing Number(s):	47.041, 47.075

ABSTRACT

Strengthening American Infrastructure (SAI) is an NSF Program seeking to stimulate human-centered fundamental and potentially transformative research that strengthens America?s infrastructure. Effective infrastructure provides a strong foundation for socioeconomic vitality and broad quality of life improvement. Strong, reliable, and effective infrastructure spurs private-sector innovation, grows the economy, creates jobs, makes public-sector service provision more efficient, strengthens communities, promotes equal opportunity, protects the natural environment, enhances national security, and fuels American leadership. To achieve these goals requires expertise from across the science and engineering disciplines. SAI focuses on how knowledge of human reasoning and decision-making, governance, and social and cultural processes enables the building and maintenance of effective infrastructure that improves lives and society and builds on advances in technology and engineering.

More than half of the human population is concentrated in urban areas. This worldwide shift from rural to urban living is likely to continue. Although urbanization creates opportunities to support human health and well-being, it also introduces serious threats. Compared to suburban and rural environments, urban living provides easier access to social infrastructure ? the public spaces where people interact socially and engage with the community. Yet, exposure to urban versus natural environments is associated with poorer physical and psychological well-being. One key to understanding these differences is to recognize that not all urban public spaces are created the same. Stark differences exist within cities in the qualities of urban and natural public spaces, and the different opportunities that these public spaces provide. With the input of community partners, this multidisciplinary project uses online, laboratory, and community-based data collection to understand the impact of public spaces on cognition, emotion, and well-being, and to document the lived experiences of marginalized and non-marginalized community members. This SAI research project strengthens America?s social infrastructure by identifying features of public spaces that promote restoration and well-being, and by providing evidence-based design standards for healthy and equitable public spaces.

This project explores responses to public spaces among diverse residents in three U.S. cities. The project leverages a mixed-methods approach, using qualitative indicators and quantitative data from surveys and experiments. The quantitative assessments include physiological reactivity data, behavioral eye tracking and motion tracking data, self-report data, and archival neighborhood-level data. These methods are used to identify features of public spaces that are associated with psychological restoration and well-being, and to document similarities and differences in the experiences of marginalized and non-marginalized individuals. Findings are regularly shared with an advisory board with representation from a variety of organizations that promote public spaces, including cultural institutions, policy groups, educational initiatives and community groups. The data and the expertise of advisors are incorporated into the development of a social impact protocol for assessing and designing healthier and more equitable public spaces.

This award is supported by the Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic (SBE) Sciences and the Directorate for Engineering.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

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