Impact of the Landscape Complexity of Campus Green Spaces on Students’ Health Using Virtual Reality Models and EEG Analysis

Campus green spaces are critical restorative areas specifically for students, who are under high levels of pressure, and a hotspot topic of increasing interest is how to create a healthy campus environment. However, the extent to which campus green elements affect students’ restorative potential needs to be studied in more depth. This study examined the effects of landscape complexity—in terms of biodiversity, population density, and landscape facility—on college students’ physical and mental health through controlled experiments by combining virtual reality technology, electroencephalography, and other physiological measurement techniques. Analyses revealed that higher biodiversity predicted lower physiological stress and enhanced positive cognitive states. Population density predominantly exhibited negative effects, elevating systolic blood pressure and cognitive stress. The impact of landscape facilities was contingent on social context, alleviating boredom in crowded settings but showing diminished benefit in low-density areas. Critically, interaction analysis identified an optimal configuration for cognitive restoration: high biodiversity, minimal population, and modest facilities. The findings challenge simplistic design heuristics, arguing instead for a synergistic approach where ecological richness forms the essential foundation, social density is carefully curated, and built amenities are strategically deployed as contextual enhancers. This refines theoretical models of restorative environments by specifying the operative mechanisms within academic settings and provides a nuanced, evidence-based blueprint for creating cognitively supportive campus ecosystems.