Urban Design, Mental Health, and Maternal Wellbeing

Research project description

A PhD position is available at the Geography department from the Universitat Autònoma Barcelona in collaboration with the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology under the supervision of Oriol Marquet and Ioar Rivas. We are looking for a highly motivated candidate that will investigate how the built environment and urban design influence the mental health and wellbeing of pregnant women and the impact on birth outcomes, aligning with the broader strategic research line on mental health determinants.

Integrating data from the 1080 participants in the Barcelona Life Study Cohort (BISC)—including mental health and stress measures (through validated tests – SCL-90R, PSS-10 – and biological markers – hair cortisol), sleep assessments (through validated tests – PSQI – and objective measures with an accelerometer), and mobility patterns (GPS traces)—with high-resolution urban analytics (walkability, cyclability, green spaces, vitality, and 15-Minute City Index), the study will uncover how daily environments affect maternal mental health, maternal stress, sleep quality, and, ultimately, birth outcomes.

By merging epidemiological, psychological, and spatial methods, the project will assess how living in neighbourhoods with varying levels of green spaces, active transport infrastructure, and social vitality impacts mental health during pregnancy. A particular focus will be on identifying the pathways through which built environment factors interact with personal and socio-demographic variables to shape mental health, stress, and sleep patterns. This approach will provide insights into potential inequities in urban design and their impact on maternal wellbeing.

Findings will offer policymakers, urban planners, and public health professionals evidence-based recommendations for creating healthier, more inclusive neighbourhoods. The doctoral candidate will gain comprehensive skills in data analysis, urban planning, epidemiology, and mental health research, fostering expertise in designing cross-sector strategies to promote resilience among pregnant women and their families. The successful candidate will be enrolled in the PhD Geography doctoral program or Environmental Science and Technology doctoral program at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) in the framework of the TOUCH project. TOUCH (“Towards the next generatiOn of excellent yoUng doctoral researchers on mental health by developing an intersectoral & transdisciplinary approaCH”) is a new excellent doctoral programme co-funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie (MSCA) Actions of the European Commission and led by the UAB for the recruitment and training of 24 doctoral candidates in the field of mental health and wellbeing

Academic background / Skills

The candidates must fulfil the following eligibility criteria from the EC: Mobility rule: candidates must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Spain for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately preceding the deadline for the programme call. Experience rule: researchers must be doctoral candidates at the date of recruitment, i.e. not already in possession of a doctoral degree at the deadline of the open calls. Researchers who have successfully defended their doctoral thesis but have not yet formally awarded the doctoral degree will not be considered eligible. Candidates must hold a degree that allows admission to the official Geography doctoral programme or admission to the Environmental Science and Technology doctoral program at UAB.

Additional requirements for a stronger application are:

• Academic Background: A master’s degree in a relevant field such as urban planning, public health, psychology, epidemiology, geography, or a related discipline.
• Technical Skills: Experience in statistical analysis software (e.g., R, Python, SPSS), familiarity with GIS tools, and experience with handling large, interdisciplinary datasets.
• Interdisciplinary Understanding: Interest in integrating insights from urban studies, mental health, and environmental psychology.
• Soft Skills: Strong communication and teamwork skills to engage with researchers across fields and effectively disseminate findings.

Interested applicants are encouraged to contact the investigators for further information oriol.marquet@uab.cat

Research group/s description

The Urban Mobility research group at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona combines expertise in social sciences, urban studies, and innovative methodologies to address contemporary mobility challenges. The group explores diverse themes, including active travel, urban form, gender and mobility, and public policy evaluation, employing cutting-edge tools like GPS tracking, citizen science, and augmented reality. A growing focus of the group is on the well-being and mental health impacts of active mobility, examining how increased physical activity and improved urban environments can contribute to overall quality of life. Composed of a multidisciplinary team of senior researchers, postdocs and doctoral candidates, the group emphasizes transdisciplinary approaches, international collaboration, and policy-relevant research. Their goal is to generate globally impactful knowledge, train future mobility and urban planning experts, and foster connections across academia, public policy, and private sectors.

The Environment and Health over the lifecourse group at the Institut de Salut Global de Barcelona (ISGlobal) has a strong expertise on epidemiological studies focused on brain and cognitive neurodevelopment, particularly on children, as well as in mental health. The group leads and coordinate the Barcelona Life Study Cohort (BiSC) cohort, which is focused on assessing how environmental stressors (air pollution, greenness, noise) and lifestyle (physical activity, diet) can affect the neurodevelopment of children as well as the maternal mental health and family well-being. The EGAR group at IDAEA-CSIC shows a long track on ambient air quality monitoring, with a growing interest on personal exposure assessment for epidemiological analysis