The rapid urbanization has heightened psychological pressure on pedestrians, leading to a rise in mental health disorders. Given the significance of street spaces as crucial public domains in daily life, they offer a potential strategy for reducing stress and promoting general health and wellness. This study aimed to investigate effects of street width-to-height ratio (W/H) on stress recovery, using virtual reality technology to create five street scenes with distinct W/H ratios: 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and 4.0. The investigation encompassed psychological and physiological indicators of 48 participants. The findings demonstrated that streets with W/H ratios ranging from 1.0 to 2.0 were perceived as more conducive to stress recovery. Subjectively, such streets received elevated Restorative Components Scale scores, ranging from 0.89 to 1.03. Moreover, physiological indicators revealed a significant reduction in pulse pressure (0.07–0.86 mm Hg). The lower LF/HF (0.75–1.0) indicates a dominance of the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS). This is further supported by a higher pNN50 (16.72–16.97%) associated with PNS activation and a longer RR (the time between two consecutive R-peaks, 768.60–773.10 ms), reflecting a significant reduction in physiological stress. Extreme function fitting analysis demonstrated that W/H = 1.25 exhibited the most substantial stress recovery effect amongst the various street configurations tested.
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