RECOMMENDED READING

Restorative Cities: Urban Design for Mental Health and Wellbeing by Jenny Roe and Layla McCay

Ever since the Centre for Urban Design and Mental Health was launched, architects, planners, public and mental health practitioners, urban specialists, and academics of many varieties, all over the world, have asked us the same question: what book can I read to understand how to design and plan cities for mental health and wellbeing? 

After spending the past five years speaking to experts, reading (and publishing) the research in this emerging field, and listening to the needs, experiences, views, challenges, achievements and insights from our diverse globally-distributed colleagues and contacts, we are delighted to be bringing you the book to fill the gap and meet this need: Restorative Cities: Urban Design for Mental Health and Wellbeing. 

This book is authored by Jenny Roe, a UD/MH Fellow who is a professor of design and health, an environmental psychologist and former head of landscape architecture for an international architectural practice; and Layla McCay, the Director of The Centre for Urban Design and Mental Health, public health specialist and former psychiatrist. It contains a wealth of expertise, from the authors, from the science, and from the wide community of people working at the nexus of urban design for mental health. 

The book brings together the latest evidence and the practice for the first time, to provide:
  • A robust scientific basis for this growing multidisciplinary field
  • An exciting new Restorative Cities framework that defines and integrates seven pillars of a restorative city.
  • Clear but flexible guidelines at neighbourhood and city level
  • Beautiful illustrations by designer Spring Braccia-Beck along with colour photographs for examples of good practice

This is a suitable book for anyone interested in urban design and planning for mental health and wellbeing including students, academics, policymakers and anyone involved in planning and designing cities.

Buy the book

Order from your favourite online or physical bookshop, or get a 35% discount when ordering directly from Bloomsbury with these codes: UK and rest of world: RESCITIES35 | US RESCITIES35US | Canada RESCITIES35CA | Australia RESCITIES35AU

Endorsements

"Offers deep health expertise translated into the practical strategies that respond to today's demand for cities that prioritise their residents' health"
​- Joanna Frank, President and CEO, Center for Active Design
"Post-Covid-19, cities must be equitable and sustainable, and people should live more healthily and happily. Restorative Cities shows how we can do this, by focusing urbanism on mental health and wellbeing"
​- Gil Penalosa, Founder and Chair of 8 80 Cities, Ambassador for World Urban Parks

Reviews

Journal of Urban Design and Mental Health

"Restorative Cities is a welcome, timely and important addition to the existing healthy urban planning literature. The main contribution of this book is its comprehensive and clear framework to guide practitioners, researchers and citizens to think through the mental health impacts of the built environment, as well as offering practical solutions and ideas to design more restorative and resilient cities for all." - Hannah Grove

Read the review
If you would like to publish a review 
Please contact academicreviews@bloomsbury.com to see if you are eligible to receive a review copy of the book and once it's published, email layla@urbandesignmentalhealth.com and we'll share it here.

Op-eds and interviews associated with the book 

An anxious age demands more 'restorative cities'

Mimi Kirk, including interview with Layla McCay

Book Launch: Layla McCay

Interview with Layla McCay

Book launch event

Restorative Cities: Urban Design for Mental Health and Wellbeing by Jenny Roe and Layla McCay was launched on 12th August 2021 at noon at an online live event hosted by the Urban Design Group with the Centre for Urban Design and Mental Health. It featured a presentation by the authors, followed by discussion with Rhiannon Corcoran, Graham Marshall and Rachel Toms. 225 people from 26 countries attended. The event can be watched here.

Book Tour

Healthy City Design International conference (Layla and Jenny)
London/International
11th October at 11:45am London Time
Online conference. Details and registration.

Centre for the New Urbanism Author's Forum (Layla and Jenny)
Washington DC/International
12th October at 12 noon Washington DC time
Online event. Details to follow. 

Festival of the Future City (Layla)
​Bristol
20-21st October, time TBC
In-person event. Details to follow.

Van Alen Institute (Jenny)
New York City
4th November at 6:30pm NYC time
In-person event. Details to follow.

Past Events

AJ100 Architects Journal Festival
UK/International
22nd September at 
​Online event. Details and tickets here. 

Malaysia Institute of Planners (Layla)
Malaysia/International
14th August at 3pm Malaysia Time
Online event. Details to follow. ​

​Book launch (Layla and Jenny)
London/International
12th August at 12 noon UK time
Online event. Details and tickets here.

Queens University Belfast (Layla)
Belfast/International
17th June at 5pm Belfast time

Chicago Loop Alliance (Jenny)
Chicago/International
10th June at 9:30am Chicago time

Georgetown University (Layla)
Washington DC/International
4th March at 3pm Washington DC time

If you would like one or both of the authors to participate in an event, please email layla@urbandesignmentalhealth.com 

Press Release

restorative_cities_press_release.docx
File Size: 144 kb
File Type: docx
Download File
If you would like further information, or to interview the authors, please email  layla@urbandesignmentalhealth.com ​