Q

Have you explored your local smellscape?

U.K. academic and odour advocate Victoria Henshaw -- good and bad -- in urban environments
Victoria Henshaw encourages city dwellers to get to know the myriad scents of their city. (Steve Hill)

Guest host Brent Bambury speaks with Victoria Henshaw, a U.K. author, academic and advocate for the preservation of distinct odours -- good and bad -- in urban environments.

She explains the value of a city's unique smellscapes -- the olfactory equivalent of landscapes -- why she worries that corporate aromas are overpowering local scents, and why she sees odour as an important form of cultural expression.

"Smell is really important in connecting with our environment," says Henshaw, who says our shrinking tolerance for a diversity of scents is lamentable.

"I think it's really important that we actually allow ourselves to be exposed to different types of odours so that we don't find them as shocking and as hard to cope with."

Tell us: where do you live? Are there any scents you consider unique to your hometown?