​The Covid-19 pandemic has brought public health to the forefront of many conversations about urban land use, as it becomes increasingly clear that where people live affects their health outcomes. Simultaneous to this health crisis, we are also in the midst of a mental health crisis, with many people feeling isolated, scared, and trapped at home. While urban planners have long grappled with how to allocate scarce land in urban centers, the pandemic has further highlighted the need for adequate space for things such as housing, recreation, socializing, exercise, and relaxing. As this need becomes more acute, a reexamination of how cities use their public space is warranted.
 
New York City-based non-profit Transportation Alternatives (TA) advocates to “take the city back from cars and give New York’s public space back to the people who walk and bike here” through such campaigns as adding bike lanes and redesigning streets for safety. TA recently released its nyc 25x25 report, which calls on New York City leaders to convert 25 percent of space taken up and used by cars into space for people by 2025. While this may seem an ambitious goal, TA is hardly alone in its calls for such changes. Just several months prior to the release of this report, news broke that Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo planned to make good on her campaign promise to remove around 50 percent of Paris’s car parking spaces by the time of the next election.
 
There are many mental health benefits associated with the redesign of urban space previously used for cars. This land could be used for provision of additional green space, encouraging social and physical activity. New trees and plants could boost mental health through biophilia: humanity’s love of nature has time and again been associated with positive mental health outcomes. Cities could also reclaim more space for amenities that contribute to a lively and pro-social city, such as benches, public restrooms, play spaces, and places for street vendors, which can create a sense of place and community.
 
With dedicated lanes for bus rapid transit and additional bike lanes, commute times could decrease. Longer commutes are associated with poor mental health. Peoples’ physical health could improve, which would also help reduce stress: asthma could decline due to reduced particulate matter in the air, and the heat island effect could decline. Physical safety could also be improved, as traffic calming measures could decrease injuries and deaths caused by vehicles, and allow for less stressful travel on foot and bike, particularly for populations including those with disabilities, and younger and older people. Last but not least, urbanites could look forward to better sleep from less noise pollution due to traffic.
 
As advocates continue to push for redistribution of space away from cars, it can be instructive to learn from the successes and failures of other such attempts. Following are eight lessons gathered from cities around the world.
 
Invest in a positive vision, not just a “negative" one
When people depend on cars, any change that impedes their ability to drive or park can seem like a punishment. When the city of Oslo started pedestrianizing streets in the 1970s, they also invested heavily in public transit and cycling infrastructure. Make sure that people have alternatives so that they are not dependent on the parking spaces and infrastructure being removed.
 
Intervene during natural inflection points
When a major highway in Seoul was found to be unsafe, instead of demolishing and rebuilding the road as originally planned, officials decided to turn the highway into a planted pedestrian path. As infrastructure around the world continues to age, this introduces natural points in time to consider what should come next. For example, in New York City, the proposed reconstruction of the aging Brooklyn-Queens Expressway offers an opportunity to think creatively about whether it should be replaced in-kind, or whether there are better options. Additionally, during the Covid-19 pandemic, many cities have experimented with ways to increase access to open space, such as implementing open streets programs.

Engage your stakeholders early and often
Stakeholder engagement needs to be more than just a cursory checked box. In Nairobi, as part of the redevelopment of Luthuli Avenue into a more pedestrian-friendly street, project partners met people where they were. Throughout the planning process, there were artistic projects, including a photography installation, an on-site charrette including participatory mapping and a physical model of the area, and online surveys leveraging social media. Three urban dialogue sessions were held, as was a design competition. While successful public engagement is a major undertaking, it is vital to connect with communities who will be affected by the proposals.
 
Look at data, not just perceptions
Various assumptions tend to accompany pedestrianization projects, such as business owners’ fears that reduced parking will translate into reduced sales. It’s important to understand the truth on the ground before, during, and after implementation of a new project. For example, in a study of Henry Street in Dublin, shop owners estimated that 19 percent of their customers drove, while in reality only nine percent did. The city of Auckland has taken data-gathering seriously: before implementing a new pedestrianization project, a study of Auckland’s High Street found that for every car that goes down the street, 14 pedestrians do, and by making it more pedestrian-friendly, this could encourage even more foot traffic. After another street was redesigned as a shared street, a study found a 54% increase in pedestrian volumes, and a 47% increase in consumer spending. This focus on monitoring and evaluation can help shape a project, and is vital in communicating the impacts of these projects.
 
Test the waters first
​​Infrastructure is meant to last for a long time, so it can be helpful to test out new ideas before implementing them. In Chennai, Sir Thyagaraya Nagar pedestrian plaza was built using additional road space to incorporate pedestrian amenities and to create a new social space for citizens. Two trial runs of this pedestrianization project were done before the project was made permanent, one in 2016, and one in 2017. In Oslo, city officials began with pilot pedestrianization projects and made change in increments. Cities can learn from pilots before rolling out larger projects, and residents can be introduced to change gradually.

T. Nagar Pedestrian Plaza

​Consider temporary changes
Many cities have experimented with shutting down roads to vehicles during certain times of the day or days of the week. While this may seem like tepid public policy, this method can help shift societal norms of what is seen as “acceptable.” For example, Bogota’s famous Ciclovia, which allows bikers, walkers, and joggers to take over certain city streets, closes those streets only during certain hours on Sundays. In Singapore, certain streets are open to cars during the day, but become pedestrianized at night, allowing people and food stalls. And in Mexico City, transit planners began blocking off streets one day a week before increasing to more time and permanency. Even temporary changes can lead the public to think critically about their long-held assumptions about public space, and who and what it is for.

Calle Francisco in Mexico City

​Remember all of the populations that you serve
Cars aren’t only single-occupancy vehicles used for commutes to the office and running errands on the weekends. Freight, deliveries, and emergency services are vital to cities. In Oslo, while many parking spaces were removed from parts of the city, some remaining spaces were converted into parking for disabled drivers. Some streets that were closed to pedestrians remained open to delivery trucks, and emergency vehicles retained access to these streets. Keep in mind the wide variety of situations that should be anticipated when redesigning public space.
 
Take concerns about gentrification and displacement seriously
While not necessarily the cause of it, certain public realm projects have been associated with rising property costs and/or gentrification. For example, a study found that the pedestrianization of the Kadikoy historic district in Istanbul preceded the replacement of many smaller businesses with larger international chains as a result of increased rents. The study report notes that awareness of the potential for rising rents should prompt planners to take preventative measures to help preserve the diversity of small businesses. Investments in infrastructure and public realm improvements should be coupled with an understanding of what protections may be needed for nearby residents and businesses, and planners should make sure that the local communities feel welcomed and served by new projects.
 
As we continue to understand the impact of urban planning and design on mental health, conversations around repurposing land will only continue to become more important. We’ve seen that bold projects can have big impacts. The lessons taken from the diverse cities above can help guide these conversations. 

Mind the GAPS means designing Green (and other natural) places, and places that facilitate physical Activity, Pro-social (postive, safe, natural) interaction between people in a community, and Safety of all types.

In this year of Covid-19, and with World Health Day 2021 shining a light on health inequities, what are some of the implications for 'minding the GAPS'?
 
Green Places: Studies have shown that access to natural settings in neighbourhoods and within people’s daily routines can help improve and maintain mental health and wellbeing. During the pandemic, many people have gravitated to gardens and parks and other green spaces. The restrictions of movement associated with the pandemic in many cities has shown that people's local access to these natural settings is not equal - and this variation can in turn exacerbate health inequalities. Taken a step further, this means asking during community engagement processes (such as meetings and surveys), who is being included/excluded in their ability to access green spaces? With significant projected growth of people and jobs filling our urban centres, are we developing metrics to measure, build and maintain green spaces for all?
 
Active Places: Inequities in access to safe, attractive places to exercise has also been highlighted by people's experiences during the pandemic, and with reduced commuting and other movements around many cities due to restrictions, embedding regular, positive activity (like walking or cycling to work) has been more constrained for some. How do we create or provide for spaces that can integrate exercise, social interactions and a sense of agency across the physical and digital realm?
 
Pro-Social Places: At UD/MH, we believe urban planning and design has the capacity to facilitate positive, safe and natural interactions to promote a sense of community, integration and belonging which are important to mental health and health as a whole. Are we doing a good enough job in creating interesting and flexible public spaces that involve the full diversity of citizens at each stage of design and development? Look to our recently published sixth edition journal, Edition 6: COVID City, for more insights.
 
Safe Places: Pre-Covid, when we spoke about safety, we focused on a range of urban dangers like crime, traffic, air pollution, and wayfinding (so that people with dementia could navigate their cities without becoming disorientated). This includes building more people-centric design, especially for vulnerable groups, appropriate street lighting, critically looking at the regulatory and zoning tools in place that produce disproportionate impacts of environmental pollutants, age-friendly tactical urbanism and more. A sense of safety and security has, however, been more pronounced this past year. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought focus to an additional urban safety risk: transmission of infection. Previous urban infrastructure that incorporated crowding and may have had limited ventilation has become problematic. The time for resting on the sidelines is over, and a safe environment is the responsibility of all citymakers. 
 
For World Health Day, UD/MH is calling for people involved in city planning and design to help create equitable health outcomes for all through minding the GAPS. 
 
#mindthegaps #udmh #worldhealthday 

This year for International Women’s Day 2021 UD/MH Fellow Erin Sharp-Newton, M. Arch, NK Architects, has shared with us a list of women in urban design and mental health impacting the built environment.  This list is the result of a challenge to find examples of women shaping the built environment in countries including those that, to date, have been underrepresented in the field of urban design, mental health, public health and the built environment.  We continue to mind the GAPS.  See also our previous International Women’s Day toolbox:  A To-do List to help plan and design cities that empower women. 

Let's travel a world of women affecting positive change, making impact on the built environment, advocating mental health, filling gaps, defying limits, empowering others. We would love to hear which women in the built environment inspire you too - let us know in the comments.

Afghanistan  Safia Ahmed-jan Head of Women’s Affairs Ministry in Kandar, an Afghan women's rights advocate and an who secretly taught women & young girls and ran successful trade schools. In Kandahar alone she opened six schools. 

Algeria  Samia Henni PhD was born in Algiers, Algeria. She is an architect, an architectural historian, theorist, lecturer, and teacher at Princeton University working at the intersection of architecture, planning, colonial practices, and military operations from the early 19th century to the present.

Angola Paula Nascimento is an Angolan architect, curator and designer of the Luanda Encyclopedic City. She along with Stefano Pansera designed the Angolan pavilion at the 55th International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia which won the Golden Lion for "best national participation".

Antigua and Barbuda  Georgiana Ellen Robinson was an Education Advocate, an Antiguan teacher who pioneered change in access to education, breaking down race and class barriers with the belief that all children should have access to learning. She served on the Water Preservation Committee, expanding access to clean water in the country. She was the only woman to have received the Order of the National Hero from the government of Antigua and Barbuda (as of 2017).

Argentina  Ana María Falú is an Argentine architect and social activist for human and women's rights. Former Regional Director of the UN Development Fund for Women (Andean Region, Brazil and the Southern Cone Countries), Director of the Housing and Habitat Research Institute (INVIHAB), Co-founder of the Women and Habitat Network of Latin America, the Centro de Intercambio y Servicios para el Cono Sur Argentina (CISCSA), UNC's Interdisciplinary Program of Women's and Gender Studies (PIEMG), and of Articulación Feminista Marcosur, in favor of women's rights.

Armenia  Anna Ter-Avetikian came from a family of architects and city developers who were noted for creating such works as the first drinking water system of Yerevan, the first hospital of the city, as well as other landmarks. She was the first Armenian woman to become an architect.

Australia   Margaret Fellman was the first female cadet for the public works department of Western Australia. She was the first-ever female town planner of Perth. She planned Kwinana, New town for the industry workers, was a public speaker and advocated better planning. As a founding member of the Western Australian Town Planning Institute, she played a vital role in bringing urban conservation to Australia by bringing it to universities and setting up the heritage conservation registry. 

Austria   Eva Kail is one of the world’s pre-eminent experts in gender mainstreaming and was the first head of the Women’s office in the municipality of Vienna. The project: City with a Female Face “deliberately planned with a brand identity, one that might elsewhere be considered political: all the streets and public spaces are named for women.” This city has historically been committed to “Gender mainstreaming” (the practice of ensuring women and men are accounted for equally.)

Azerbaijan   Gulnara Mehmandarova is an architect, researcher, historian of architecture and art. She has a PhD in theory and history of architecture and restoration of architectural monuments and has published more than 70 scientific publications. She serves on the editorial board of URBANIZM an International Scientific Journal on Urban Planning and Sustainable Development.

Bahrain  Ghada Jamsheer In 2006, Time Magazine identified Jamshir as one of four heroes of freedom in the Arab world, and Forbes magazine selected her as one of the ten most powerful and effective women in the Arab world.

Bangladesh Khaleda Ekram was a Bangladeshi architect, planner, professor, researcher, and academic. After completing her education in Urban and Regional Planning, she worked as assistant architect planner, and contributed to community service projects in Honolulu. She was the former dean of the faculty of architecture and planning, head of the department of architecture as well as the first woman to be appointed as the Vice-chancellor of BUET.

Barbados Mia Mottley was the first female Prime Minister and pioneer for the New Barbados Planning Act. When elected one of her first actions was to start a program of radical planning reform to address the country’s economic problems and remove barriers to progress.  

Belarus Lyubow Usava was a state architect who helped restore Minsk after WWII. She participated in the creation of Victory Park at the National Opera and Ballet of Belarus and she designed the reconstruction of Maksim Gorky Central Children's Park.

Belgium Sofie De Caigny Director, Flanders Architecture Institute, The Flanders Architecture Institute has been working to bring “women who have left their mark on Belgium's design heritage out of the shadows” Invisibility is a sign that there is still much more work to do.

Belize Esther Ayuso born 1958, was the first female architect of Belize, born in Venezuela; specializes in hospital design. She served as a Senator and as the Chair of the National Women's Commission, as well as the Belizean delegate to the Inter-American Commission of Women. In 2015 she was awarded the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for contributions to the community.

Bhutan Dorji Yangki is one of the first female architects from Bhutan. Responsible for helping the Ministry of Works and Human Settlements of Bhutan to establish the first Guidelines for the introduction of Green Buildings in Bhutan. As a native from Bhutan, a country that follows the principle of ‘GNH’ or Gross National Happiness, Dorji advocates for sustainable Biophilic design and planning that has a sense of place, connects people to nature and helps to initiate happiness among people.

Bolivia  Patricia Urquieta says “Planning that is inclusive of women is important,” She is part of the Development Sciences program at the Greater University of San Andrés (CIDES-UMSA) and lead researcher of the El Alto scoping study.

Bosnia and Herzegovina Vesna Bugarski was born in Sarajevo. In Belgrade she was the only woman to study architecture in 1964. Bugarski graduated in Sarajevo after an architecture department had opened there. Her first employment was with Prosperitet, a planning and design firm in Sarajevo.  In August 1992 during the Bosnian War, while walking home from the market in Sarajevo, she was killed by a grenade fired from the hills. Most of her work in Sarajevo was destroyed during the war.

Botswana Charity Kiki Kennedy is founding Chairperson, Botswana Network for Mental Health. She is a Civil Leader through the Young African Leadership Initiative – Regional Leadership Center Southern Africa and a Mental Health advocate both at National and Regional level. She is a survivor of major depression which through her survivor story got inspired to take mental health advocacy to a different level to impact lives , seen in the formation of Botswana Network for Mental Health and The African Umbrella for Mental health.

Brazil Maria Firmina dos Reis - decades before slavery was banned in 1888, the Afro-Brazilian author wrote the first abolitionist novel, Ursula. A clear-eyed depiction of life under slavery, the novel is written from the perspective of a young African girl who is kidnapped from her hometown and subjected to a lifetime of cruelty. Ursula is also considered the first novel written by a Brazilian woman. She published critical essays, poems, short stories and abolitionist songs. She also founded the first free and racially mixed school in Brazil before the abolition of slavery.

Brunei Dr Noor Affizan is Deputy Medical Superintendent, In 2020, Noor was selected to join the Equity Initiative. The initiative forms part of the global Atlantic Fellows, empowering emerging leaders to advance fairer, healthier and more inclusive societies. Noor has been involved in the promotion of Brunei’s youth and national development. This includes the Chevening Youth Forum and the National Youth Congress. Noor founded You Can Lead BN in 2019.

Canada Jennifer Keesmaat is the Canadian urban planner who served as the city chief planner of Toronto and also established the Keesmaat group that works with advances in urban planning and city-building that provides consultation to cities internationally. She is a professor at the University of Toronto and CEO of a nonprofit group – Creative housing society. She has worked majorly on many housing projects throughout her career as well as during her tenure as the chief planner. Her round table discussions about her plans were broadcasted with live twitter engagement which was her way of community engagement for planning and strategizing. Her other focus of work was transit and road safety for which she launched and led multiple projects some of which turned out to be very successful models to be adopted internationally. Her advocacy for public safety remains at the core of most of her endeavors. 

Egypt Hatshepsut, pharaoh of Egypt. When her husband died, she took on regent duties at first. But eventually, she took an unprecedented step and assumed the full powers of pharaoh by co-ruling with her young stepson. As a ruler, she oversaw large-scale building projects such as the famed temple of Deir el-Bahri in western Thebes, where she was later buried. She also commissioned trade expeditions that brought back such treasures as gold, incense, ivory, and ebony. To portray herself as a strong ruler, Hatshepsut often ordered that statues and paintings should depict her as male, with a muscular frame and a beard. But despite her vast accomplishments, her successor King Thutmose III ordered almost all evidence of her leadership to be destroyed—potentially to hide any examples of a powerful El Salvador.

France Charlotte Perriand "The extension of the art of dwelling is the art of living—living in harmony with man's deepest drives and with his adopted or fabricated environment."—Charlotte Perriand (curiously referencing man’s drives and his environment)

India Brinda Somaya one of the celebrated Indian architects for her approach to vernacular architecture and inspiration as an urban conservationist. Somaya is the founding trustee of the HECAR Foundation that stands for Heritage, Education, Conservation, Architecture & Restoration. Her work as an urbanist extended to the conversation, research, women in architecture, architectural restoration, and many more overlaps of related fields. Her architectural practice won many prizes in design and restoration. Her work reflected her inspiration from the elongated travels to rural India. She is known for representing Indian ethos in her design expression. 

Iraq Zaha Hadid one of the most famous urban designers of our time. Her firm has completed over 900 projects in 55 countries around the world before her death. She was the first woman (and the first Muslim) to be awarded the prestigious Pritzker Prize.  Her signature aesthetic has changed the future of  city horizons forever.

Ireland Eileen Gray In some circles, Irish-born Eileen Gray is the figurative "poster-child" for the 20th century woman whose work is dismissed by a male-dominated culture. These days, her pioneering designs are revered. The New York Times claims that "Gray is now regarded as one of the most influential architects of the last century."

Israel Neri Oxman was an Israeli-born visionary who invented the term "material ecology" to describe building with biological forms. She incorporates biological components as part of the construction for truly “alive” results.  She is a professor at MIT.

Italy Lina Bo Bardi was a prolific architect, designer, and thinker. Her contributions to her adopted homeland, Brazil, spans across architecture, furniture, stage and costume design, urban planning, curatorial work, teaching, and writing. ‘Linear time is a Western invention, time is not linear, it is a marvelous tangle, where, at any moment, points can be selected and solutions invented, without beginning or end’.

Jamaica Jasneth Mullings  is an epidemiologist at The University of the West Indies at Mona. A researcher, she is author of Urban Renewal and Sustainable Development in Jamaica: Progress, Challenges and New Directions;  addressing the need for “active participation of the average resident in the decision making process for land use management and other aspects of urban renewal to meet the goals of the New Urban Agenda and to realize Vision 2030 Jamaica”

Japan Sejima is a Japanese architect at SANAA, renowned for works characterized by a minimalist aesthetic and structural delicacy. In 2010, Sejima was appointed curator of the Venice Architecture Biennale, the first woman ever to be offered the appointment. In the same year, she was awarded the Pritzker Prize – becoming the second female recipient, after Zaha Hadid, in the award’s forty-year history.

Jordan Meisa Batayneh Founder and principal architect at Maisam architects & engineers, she has led projects in architecture, planning, urban design and place branding. She was named Architect of the Year at the Jordan Business Award.

Kenya Eugenie Dorothy Hughes, MBE, FRIBA was a Kenyan architect, politician, social reformer, and disability activist. She founded the Kenyan Council of Social Services and served as the head of the Sports Association for the Disabled. As the first East African female architect, she owned her own firm and is best known for her design of the Cathedral of the Holy Family in Nairobi.

Mexico Miriam Gonzalez started contributing data to the world's biggest crowdsourced map from her Mexico City home five years ago, she found herself part of a rare and odd group of volunteers. She is also a Co-Founder of the GeoChicas, a group of women who do mapping in OpenStreetMap and work to close the gender gap in the OpenStreetMap community.

Namibia Fatima Müller‐Friedman trained and worked as an architect in Germany, Namibia and the USA before beginning her research on post-apartheid urban spaces.  She is the Author of “Toward a (post)apartheid architecture? A view from Namibia.”

Palestine Suad Amiry A prominent architect, award-winning author and community leader, founder of Riwaq, vice president of Birzeit University’s Board of Trustees and a board member for the Palestine Housing Council, as well as a jury member for The Palestine Award for Culture. Her most notable work is Riwaq’s 50 Villages project and cultural heritage initiative with the primary aim to rehabilitate and revitalise Palestine.

Romania Erica Mann  (1917 - 2007) was an architect and town planner and later in her life an NGO head who lived and worked in Kenya for almost all her adult life after fleeing her home in Romania during the Second World War. She made a significant contribution to the 1948 master plan for Nairobi and took a leading role in planning Mombasa and other parts of Kenya. She became interested in development projects seeking to improve living standards and was director of the Women in Kibwezi project, which was recognized at the United Nations Habitat II conference in 1996.

Rwanda Rather than an individual, we are showcasing the initiative Women for Women: Architecture helps give 300 Rwandan women and survivors of war a chance to rebuild their lives.  

South Africa Katherine Maree Otten, usually known as Kate Otten, was born in 1964, in Durban and is a South African architect, who has won numerous awards for her South African traditional work.

Taiwan Wang Chiu-hwa is an architect wgi has distinguished herself by embracing a down-to-earth philosophy of functional design and understated aesthetics, winning the 2019 National Award for Arts at the age of 94 and becoming the first woman to receive the prestigious honor for artistic achievement in architecture.

Uganda Assumpta Nnaggenda-Musana is an architect, urban planner, academic and an advisor to the National Planning Authority and has been involved in the National Development Plan. An advocate for affordable housing she urged the Ugandan government and Kampala City Council to do better in order to avoid sprawling slums.

Zimbabwe Irene Masiyanise There are only 10 female registered architects in Zimbabwe. The first female architect only registered with the 87-year- old Institute of Architects of Zimbabwe in the late 1980s. In 2012, Ms Masiyanise became the first female president for the Institute of Architects of Zimbabwe since its formation in 1929. The glass ceiling had been shattered there.

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Of course there are so many architects, planners, urban designers and other women who are a key part of creating the built environments in which we live. In the comments section, perhaps you could share some of those who inspire you most. 

The moment we have all been waiting for is coming closer. We now have confirmation that our book is being published by Bloomsbury on 12th August 2021. This book, written by UD/MH Director Layla McCay and UD/MH Fellow Jenny Roe sets out a brand new framework for designing mental health into cities. It has summaries of the latest research. It has original pictures plus photos. It has case studies. It has design guidelines. It brings together all the science with the practice to create a really exciting read, suitable for designers, planners, city officials, public health and mental health practitioners, students and academics alike. Which makes it a must-read. You can pre-order now from Bloomsbury, Amazon, or any lovely independent bookshop of your choosing. 

Healthy City Design 2020 is taking place 30th November - 3 December.

Usually this takes place in London, but thanks to COVID-19, this year it is virtual so you can attend from anywhere in the world. UD/MH is pleased to be a supporting partner for this incredibly relevant event. Here's our highlights from the event programme; timings are in UK timezone:

30th Nov

• 12:15 - Session 7 - Urban communities: integrating work, home and health
• 1:30 - Session 3 - International city responses to COVID-19 
• 3pm - Session 8 - As part of Session 8, UD/MH Fellows Colin Ellard and Robin Mazumder talk about the psychological and physiological effects of distance from and repeated exposure to high-rise buildings - implications for stress restoration.

1st Dec

• 10:30 - Session 17 on Co-designing integrated and resilient communities includes a presentation titled 'Suburban + Urban – will COVID-19 force us to choose between physical health and mental health? Resiliency in urban forms'
• 5:15pm - Session 16 is Cities with nature: improving human & planetary health

2nd Dec

• 8am - Session 28 starts at 8am but the presentation that sounds particularly interesting is at 8:30, on the therapeutic city. 

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Registration details

The latest edition of the Journal of Urban Design and Mental Health was published in October 2020, and the theme was COVID City. Don't miss the fascinating pieces exploring the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on urban planning and design around the world - and how this in turn has affected people's mental health.

This Edition also includes seven new case studies from Adelaide (Australia), Ankara (Turkey), Delhi (India), George Town (Malaysia), Montreal and Toronto (Canada), and Washington, DC (USA). We continue to seek insights from all cities, and from South America and Africa in particular, so if you're interested, please get in touch.