Awarding of the Prizes from the Anniversary Fund of the City of Vienna for SAGE-Vienna

Within the framework of the “City of Vienna-BOKU Research Funding Program,” the project “SAGE-Vienna” by Dr. Denissa Purba was thereby honored.

The Project: SAGE-Vienna

The forthcoming project with the title “Spatial Aging & Green Environments for a resilient, elderly-friendly city of Vienna” dedicates itself to a central challenge of urban development: the design of an urban space that supports the cognitive and emotional well-being of an aging population.

Methodology and Objectives

In the field experiments starting shortly, innovative, mobile technologies will be deployed in order to make the interaction between human and environment measurable. By means of wearable biometric sensors – including electroencephalography (EEG), eye-tracking, and heart rate variability (HRV) – it will be investigated how seniors learn new routes and keep them in memory.

The central research goals of the undertaking are:

• Investigation of the influence of urban green on learning speed and stress reduction.
• Identification of landmarks that optimally support orientation in old age.
• Development of evidence-based recommendations for an inclusive, age-appropriate urban planning in Vienna.

Contribution to the City Strategy

SAGE-Vienna will deliver important data for the Smart Climate City Strategy of the City of Vienna and support the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs 3, 10, and 11). With the awarding of this prize, the foundation stone for an undertaking is laid that promotes the goal of “Aging in Place” through a resilient urban structure.

The Institute for Transport Studies congratulates Dr. Denissa Purba cordially on this recognition and looks forward excitedly to the forthcoming project start.

Photo: BOKU University / Peter Zeschitz