Disability Futures

The Tokyo-based psychiatrist Layla McCay founded the Center for Urban Design and Mental Health over a year ago, and it’s grown at a more rapid pace than she expected. “Be careful of finding an unmet need,” she jokes, noting that much of her time is now spent running the center. The organization aims to harness knowledge about urban design and mental health that is already out there, but isn’t being shared as much as it could, particularly with policymakers who can implement it.

What can urban planners do to promote mental health?

We highlight four main themes that should be incorporated into urban design to support mental health. These areas have the most research behind them.

• Green spaces. We know there’s a compelling relationship between green space and mental well-being, with fairly persuasive research showing how, for example, access to green space reduces anxiety or improves ADHD in children. This means space that you don’t have to make a special trip to, but space that you encounter in daily life—even green space that you see from your window.
• Active spaces. When people are designing for health, this is the focus. It’s a big opportunity for physical health, but there’s also a strong mental health correlation. For mild to moderate depression, regular exercise can act in the same way that antidepressants do. Examples of such design are walkable spaces or spaces that encourage exercise on a daily commute.
• Social spaces. These are spaces that promote natural interactions among people. Research shows that people who live in neighborhoods with this kind of space have lower mental distress. It’s a question of making public places more social, by, say, putting in more benches or setting up chessboards in a park or square.
• Safe spaces. This is crucial, whether it means security in terms of crime, traffic, or, for people with dementia, safety from getting lost. But you don’t want to design a safe space so that it feels suffocating or sterile. For example, people should have choices about which route to take rather than being constrained into one specific “safe” route.