Jieling Xiao is an Associate Professor in Architecture and Sensory Environments at Birmingham City University. Trained as an architect and urban designer, Jieling believes that designers need to consider more than just how the materials of architecture function for users and look to human senses for inspiration.
Interested in creative spatial practice related to sensory experiences, she has developed her research and research-led teaching on smellscapes and soundscapes, looking at theories and design frameworks that take an appreciative approach to sounds and smells in the built environment.
Jieling is interested in people’s every day sensory experiences in cities across different cultures, and how planners and urban designers can learn from this. In particular, she is interested in how sounds and smells are perceived and considered in the design process.
She explains:
“Over 56% of the world’s population live in cities. In the UK, 75% of the adult population experience stress in their life. In more than 1 in 10 neighbourhoods in England, 90% of the population have no access to nature within 15 minutes’ walk. Access to nature is vital to human wellbeing.
Looking at the matter from a sensory perspective brings new insights into the planning and design of parks and green spaces from both human and non-human perspectives.”
Nature and Wellbeing – The Olafactory Pathway is an article Jieling Xiao has co-authored with University of Washington, alongside fellow established scholars in the field.
“The world is undergoing massive atmospheric and ecological change, driving unprecedented challenges to human well-being.
The sense of smell influences quality of and satisfaction with life, emotion, emotion regulation, cognitive function, social interactions, dietary choices, stress, and depressive symptoms. Exposures via the olfactory pathway can also lead to (anti-)
inflammatory outcomes. Increased understanding is needed regarding the ways in which odorants generated by nature affect human well-being.
It is a privilege to work with many well-known scholars in the field to provide a holistic and cross-disciplinary review on how nature impact human wellbeing through olfaction. The sense of smell linked to the limbic system influences strongly on our emotions, memories, and experience of places which is undervalued particularly in western cultures.
There are many ways olfaction impacts on our health and wellbeing – one is through interactions with nature. In fact, the human relationships with nature were built on the sense of smell before industrial revolutions – seeking for food, alerting for danger, marking territories, and making social interactions. This connection through olfaction is lost in the way we make modern cities and modern lifestyles. Scents of nature is also important for non-humans in the eco-system.
Looking at the sciences behind olfaction, the air and the built environment really highlights the importance of olfaction in making the human-nature connection, but also requires future interdisciplinary research to bridge the gaps in knowledge and practice.”
Jieling is one of the Art and Design Research Degree Coordinators at BCU, contributing to the doctoral education and the research environment in the faculty. She is a core member of Centre for Chinese Visual Art (CCVA) and co-leader of the Urban Cultures Research Cluster.