DivAirCity Social Health Survey (DivAirCitySH)

Anonymous Survey Among Local Residents on the Impact of the Planned Measures in the Five Partner Cities of the DivAirCity Project on Their Social Life, Health and Well-being

To reduce stress among urban residents, the consortium members of the European Council Horizon 2020 research program DivAirCity install different stress reducing, noise reducing and air quality improving means in the five cities of the consortium. This study measures physiological and psychological stress and health factors before and after the implementation of the project (at intervention sites) and compares the change (improvement) to the change in comparable places where no means were installed (control site).

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Pollution; Exposure; Psychological Stress; Psychological Well-Being
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Air pollution and noise reducing installations

Detailed Description

Scientific studies show that increased stress can favor the development of e.g. high blood pressure, heart disease, mental illness, infectious diseases, headaches and sleep disorders. This means that stress causes considerable costs for western healthcare systems, including in our city and this neighbourhood. In large cities, where there are often hardly any natural green and forest areas left, depression and anxiety syndromes, for example, are more common than among the rural population.

For example, in Germany, more than three quarters of the population live in densely or moderately populated areas, while the global average is more than 50 per cent. Due to increasing urbanisation, people living in cities will be heavily dependent on urban nature, which can be a relevant health-promoting factor. Several studies have shown that natural spaces such as city parks, parks and even greenery on streets have a positive impact on the health of residents, both individually and collectively.

The European Council Horizon 2020 project DivAirCity (acronym explanation in the text below) is about making formerly busy public spaces in European cities more attractive again for residents and citizens. The aim is to redesign the spaces in such a way that people of different age groups, social classes and identities ("Div") can (once again) come together and meet in these places on a daily basis. To this end, these places are to be changed through various installations (planting trees, redesigning parks, shading, watering in summer) in such a way that the local air quality ("Air") in the cities ("City") improves significantly. This is realized on the one hand by installing air quality measuring equipment and by recording the number of people and the time they spend in these places (objective measurements).

In addition to these objective measurements, this study records the impact on psychological and physiological health that the installations (intervention) has on the residents. To this end, it will be measured how residents feel in terms of quality of life, current stress, general health, and whether they feel safe and secure in the specific place (comfort, safety and security) and whether they enjoy going there and staying there,. These measurements will take place both before (day -60 to day -30) and after (day +30 and day +60) the installment of the intervention.

Finally, we would like to know your age group, your gender and how close you live to the location of the conversion/installation. We would like to invite you to take part in this survey again after the remodelling project.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Estimated): 1000

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Farid I Kandil, PhD; Phone Number: 770 +493080505; Email: farid-ihab.kandil@charite.de
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Etienne Hanslian, MD; Phone Number: 770 +493080505; Email: etienne.hanslian@charite.de

Study Locations

• Germany
  • Berlin, Germany, 14109
    • Recruiting
    • Charité -- Universitaetsmedizin Berlin
    • Contact: Farid I Kandil, PhD; Phone Number: +491605631744; Email: farid-ihab.kandil@charite.de

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Residents of the five cities (18+ years of age)

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Participants must live or work at or near the installation (intervention group) or control site (control group)

Exclusion Criteria:

• none

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

10

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
Aarhus, installation site; Residents of Aarhus (DK), living at or nearby the site of the installed Intervention	Other: Air pollution and noise reducing installations; A number of means to reduce traffic noise and traffic exhausts and improve air quality will be implemented at designated urban spaces (intervention sites), while other places with comparable amount of traffic and no such changes will serve as control sites.
Aarhus, control site; Residents of Aarhus (DK), living at or nearby the control site
Bucharest, intervention site; Residents of Bucharest (RO), living at or nearby the site of the installed Intervention	Other: Air pollution and noise reducing installations; A number of means to reduce traffic noise and traffic exhausts and improve air quality will be implemented at designated urban spaces (intervention sites), while other places with comparable amount of traffic and no such changes will serve as control sites.
Bucharest, control site; Residents of Bucharest (RO), living at or nearby the control site
Castelló, intervention site; Residents of Castelló (ES), living at or nearby the site of the installed Intervention	Other: Air pollution and noise reducing installations; A number of means to reduce traffic noise and traffic exhausts and improve air quality will be implemented at designated urban spaces (intervention sites), while other places with comparable amount of traffic and no such changes will serve as control sites.
Castelló, control site; Residents of Castelló (ES), living at or nearby the control site
Orvieto, intervention site; Residents of Orvieto (IT), living at or nearby the site of the installed Intervention	Other: Air pollution and noise reducing installations; A number of means to reduce traffic noise and traffic exhausts and improve air quality will be implemented at designated urban spaces (intervention sites), while other places with comparable amount of traffic and no such changes will serve as control sites.
Orvieto, control site; Residents of Orvieto (IT), living at or nearby the control site
Potsdam, intervention site; Residents of Potsdam (DE), living at or nearby the site of the installed Intervention	Other: Air pollution and noise reducing installations; A number of means to reduce traffic noise and traffic exhausts and improve air quality will be implemented at designated urban spaces (intervention sites), while other places with comparable amount of traffic and no such changes will serve as control sites.
Potsdam, control site; Residents of Potsdam (DE), living at or nearby the control site

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
WHO-5 Well-being Scale	Validated Questionnaire	Baseline: 60 to 30 days before the installation implementation vs Posttest: 30 to 60 days after the installation has been implemented

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Kessler K6 psychological distress	Validated Questionnaire	Baseline: 60 to 30 days before the installation implementation vs Posttest: 30 to 60 days after the installation has been implemented
ASKU questionnaire	Validates Questionnaire for self-efficacy	Baseline: 60 to 30 days before the installation implementation vs Posttest: 30 to 60 days after the installation has been implemented

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Questionnaire for General Physiological Health	Custom-made Questionnaire	Baseline: 60 to 30 days before the installation implementation vs Posttest: 30 to 60 days after the installation has been implemented
Questionnaire about feelings of safety and security at the site	Custom-made Questionnaire	Baseline: 60 to 30 days before the installation implementation vs Posttest: 30 to 60 days after the installation has been implemented

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Charite University, Berlin, Germany
• Collaborators: University of Aarhus; European Commission; Fondazione C.N.R./Regione Toscana "G. Monasterio", Pisa, Italy; Universitat Politècnica de València; Universitatea din Bucuresti
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Andreas Michalsen, Prof MD, Charite Universitaetsmedizin Berlin

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): February 20, 2024
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2024
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 2, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 15, 2024
• First Posted (Estimated): February 23, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): February 23, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 15, 2024
• Last Verified: February 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Air pollution; Traffic noise; General Health condition
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Behavioral Symptoms; Stress, Psychological
• Other Study ID Numbers: EA4/252/23

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No