VIRTUAL Manchester Livable Cities

Abstract

Emotional responses to urban spaces are increasingly recognized as vital indicators of human well-being and urban environmental quality. Emotion-based geospatial mapping—aggregating individual emotional reactions within geographic contexts—offers valuable insights into how people experience and evaluate their surroundings. However, research in this area remains fragmented, with varied measurement approaches and limited methodological consistency. This paper presents a systematic review of studies published since 2000 that examine emotion-based geospatial mapping in high-density, complex urban environments at the meso-scale. The review compares research designs, data collection tools, spatial and temporal scales, analytical techniques, and key findings, identifying both progress and ongoing challenges in the field. Based on these findings, the paper proposes a three-phase framework: (1) comparative assessment of existing methods and outcomes; (2) diagnostic evaluation of implementation challenges, including data quality, ethics, and transferability; and (3) development of an integrated methodology linking emotional responses with urban spatial indicators. This framework is intended to support future empirical research and inform strategies for enhancing urban livability.