Researchers Map Tranquillity

Tranquillity is one of the most sought-after, hard-to-pin-down qualities of life, and many places which provide it are endangered.

To make their pioneering maps, the research team from Newcastle and Northumbria Universities first consulted hundreds of countryside users on their perceptions of tranquillity.

Then, using their responses, the team employed computer-based techniques to show how every location within two large study areas compared in providing the qualities which help people feel tranquil.

The maps are launched today (Wednesday 23 March), when thousands of people across the country plan to get outdoors and find some tranquillity during the Easter holidays.

The research was commissioned by a group of organisations in North East England with the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) and the Countryside Agency. It makes significant advances on earlier maps of tranquil areas.

The new maps:

- take the views and feelings of countryside users and visitors – as opposed to professionals and experts – fully into account;

- are based on a wide range of factors influencing people’s feelings of tranquillity, both positive and negative;

- display subtle graduations in tranquillity rather than labelling each place as being either tranquil or non-tranquil; and

- are highly detailed, revealing small, local pockets of tranquillity which might otherwise be overlooked.

The project mapped Northumberland National Park and the West Durham Coalfield, two contrasting areas covering hundreds of square miles.

The maps reveal that the National Park offers a vast potential to experience tranquillity. The West Durham Coalfield is far less remote and much more densely populated, but the mapping clearly shows it contains significant, valuable areas where people can enjoy tranquillity.

The project partners hope the new technique will become an important tool in planning and conservation. It could lead to tranquillity maps covering all England.

Project leader, Dr Robert MacFarlane, of Northumbria University said: ‘Many official reports and statements talk about how important tranquillity is. What we’ve lacked until now is a robust, reliable way of showing where people can find it. Our new maps do just that.’

Dr Claire Haggett, one of the research team members, from Newcastle University's School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, said:

"We found that tranquillity is really important to people and that it is a huge asset."

She added that although West Durham was less tranquil than the national park, there were still important green areas to which people could escape.