Victoria Henshaw presented on the topic of "Fragrant Cities: Bridging the gap between Environmental odour practices and more positive roles for smell in city life". The presentation discussed examples of spatial smell design in architecture, characteristics of smell including favorite and least favorite smells, the role of smell in cities throughout history, and policies related to managing urban smellscapes. Henshaw advocated for a more positive role for smell in cities rather than just removing unpleasant odors. She discussed smellwalks she leads and Japan's recognition of culturally significant smells through their "100 sites of Good Fragrance" program.

1. Victoria Henshaw, University of Sheffield
Fragrant Cities: Bridging the gap between
Environmental odour practices and more positive roles
for smell in city life

2. • Spatial smell design:
examples
• Characteristics of smell
• Smell and the city
• To finish: in Policy?
• Questions/Discussion
Session Structure

3. Spatial smell design:
examples….

5. “Instead of displaying drawings,
models and photographs to illustrate
an architect’s work and ideas,
‘Sensing Spaces’ offers visitors the
opportunity to engage with
architecture directly and to
experience it through their bodies
and senses”
Christopher Le Brun, President, Royal Academy of Arts

10. “The experience will start from
normal light levels and move towards
something darker as the smell
deepens, so the lighting conditions
and the intensity of the smell change
simultaneously”
Kengo Kuma, Architect

20. Characteristics of Smell

21. • Smell and taste closely linked
• Role of the Trigeminal nerve
• Little evidence on pheromones
• Habituation/adaptation
• Smell sample
• There are few, if any universally
liked or disliked smells
Characteristics of smell

22. 41%
34% 34%
27%
25% 24%
20% 19%
13% 13%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
Favourite Smells
Survey of 100 people asked to outline their top 5 most favourite smells
Percentageofrespondents
Smells

23. 55%
34%
27% 25%
18% 16% 15% 14% 13% 11% 11% 11%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Least Favourite Smells
Survey of 100 people asked to outline their top 5 least favourite smells
Smells
Percentageofrespondents

24. 34%
27% 25% 24% 22% 20%
13% 13%
9%
1%
5% 3%
8%
4% 2% 1% 1%
55%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Most favourite odours Leastfavourite odours
Most/Least Favourite Smells
Survey of 100 people asked to outline their top 5 most and least favourite smells
Percentageofrespondents

25. • up to £155,250 for total loss of sight
• £52,950 to £63,625 for total loss of hearing
• £14,500 to £19,100 for total loss of smell
• £11,200 to £14,500 for total loss of the sense of
taste
Note: Touch is a more complex process in valuation terms
(http://www.foxclaims.co.uk/Claims.htm)
Insurance claims advice (UK)

26. In a survey of its 485 members,
the charity Fifth Sense UK found:
• 56 per cent felt alone and isolated as a result
of their condition
• 85 per cent were afraid of being exposed to
dangers such as gas or spoiled food
• 42 per cent suffered from depression
http://www.fifthsense.org.uk/
(results updated April 2014, unpublished)

27. Retention interval for pictures and
odours (Engen, 1977)
50
55
60
65
70
75
80
85
90
95
100
Retention Interval over 12 months
%CorrectRecognitions
Pictures
Odours
2wks
2wks
3mths
4mths
12mths

28. Smell and the City
http://smellandthecity.wordpress.com/

29. Sennett (1994) describes the
"…sensory deprivation which seems to
curse most modern buildings; the
dullness, the monotony, and the tactile
sterility which afflicts the urban
environment".

30. Increasingly the whole world has
come to smell alike: gasoline,
detergents, plumbing, and junk foods
coalesce into the catholic smog of our
age.”
Ivan Illich, 1985

31. Tourism Smellscapes
Dann and Jacobson (2003)
• investigation of prevailing smell perceptions in accounts of
towns and cities as tourist destinations
• a literature review of 100+ classical and contemporary texts
including writings of independent travel journalists
Findings
• urban smellscapes portrayed far more negatively in these texts
than rural smellscapes: 56% of all urban accounts negative, 25%
of all rural accounts
• urban accounts varied according to the period in which they
were written, being most negative during the modern period
• They conclude: towns and cities should retain, or recreate as
‘authentically’ as possible, their historical physical infrastructure
whilst attempting to remove all negatively perceived odours,
introducing new more pleasant varieties (ibid: 19-20).

34. I take people on smellwalks

38. 3.25
2
2.25
2.75
4
3.75
3.25
2.5 2.5
3
3.75
3.25
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
Priory Walk Collonades Silver StreetCopley Road Markets Frenchgate
place
smellscape
Place and Smell Liking Ratings
A statistically significant relationship was identified between these two factors.
(Based upon analysis of responses from all 52 participants)
AverageRating(1-5)
Area

39. Urban smellscape management & control processes
(Henshaw 2014)

40. Separation

41. Separation

42. Separation

43. Deodorisation
Materials

44. Deodorisation

45. Masking

46. Masking

47. Masking

48. Scenting

49. Scenting

50. Yanagida et al. (2002-2006) http://vrlab.meijo-u.ac.jp/~yanagida/scent/index.html
Scenting

51. “I think the more we de-sanitise our lives, smell is
part of that de-sanitary thing, it’s to the detriment
really to the quality of our experience of cities and
places”
(Urban designer and food specialist)

52. “…you go to London and you’ve got the bustle which
is visual, spatial… then you’ve got the smell of the
people with the food … the noise and there’s the
music blurting out… and the traffic as well… the smell
is part of that buzz, that activity, without smell it’s
not quite as strong. It’s a bit like my sense of smell, I
still have a life and I still enjoy my life but it would be
a little bit better with the smell… if you go to Covent
Gardens… and if you take the food smells out it’s kind
of 5 or 10 per cent of the big thing”
(Chair of the local Civic Trust)

53. To finish: in policy?
The UK’s Urban Design Compendium (2000) on designing
high quality urban realm. The Compendium asked ‘What
scents can be added?’ explaining:
‘The experience of a place can be heightened by its
aromas - whether the scent of flowers, coffee or fresh
bread. Even if unpleasant to some, others may consider
certain smells to provide the essence of a place - such as
the smell of yeast reflecting the presence of a brewery.
Birmingham's Brindley Place, for instance, combines the
sound of water from fountains and an aromatic coffee
shop, which draws people into its centre and creates a
lively source of activity’.

54. To finish: in policy?
English Heritage (2010) Guidance on undertaking historic
area assessments,
‘static visual attributes are supplemented or modified by a
range of other factors derived largely from movement,
sounds and smells, including such things as… perfumes
arising from gardens and the smell of certain industrial
processes or effluents’.
UK online planning guidance – design section (March 2014):
‘The way a place looks, sounds, feels and smells affect its
attractiveness and long term success’

55. Japan’s 100 sites of Good Fragrance

56. Japan’s 100 sites of Good Fragrance
The early morning market and traditional cityscape of Hida
Takayama

57. Japan’s 100 sites of Good Fragrance
‘the scents of liquor and soy sauce from Kurayoshi white-
mud wall storehouses’

58. Japan’s 100 sites of Good Fragrance
‘Kanda’s streets of used bookstores’ in Tokyo

59. Questions
v.henshaw@sheffield.ac.uk
http://smellandthecity.wordpress.com/
@VictoriaHenshaw