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Van Alen Report 20: Healthy Brains, Healthy Cities

This work is part of Van Alen Report, an umbrella initiative; learn more about it here.

With VAR 20, we explore the often hidden connection between mental health and urban environments.

Intro

Cognitive and behavioral science research is revealing more and more about how cities impact people physically, emotionally, and neurologically. With more people expected to live in cities than ever before, this growing body of knowledge is most welcome. However, knowledge alone is not enough to produce better, healthier cities. Just as new technologies and scientific approaches have provided fresh insight into how cities impact the mind and body, it will take new thinking among city-makers to harness that information and re-imagine the role that design can play in promoting mental health and well-being.

—Andrew Brown, Director of Programs

Articles

Parks, Cities, and Mental Health

Layla McCay, Director of the Centre for Urban Design and Mental Health, on how parks and nature influence mental health in cities.

Learning in Urban Environments

Building opportunities for learning and creativity on every sidewalk, bus stop, and corner. By Itai Palti

Building for the Most Vulnerable

How designers can make themselves better advocates for the cognitively-impaired. By Stuart Shell

Healthy Brains, Healthy Cities

Four leading researchers share insights on the intersection of science, the brain, and the built environment.

Profiles

For Van Alen Report 20, we invited designers from around the world to share projects at the vanguard of using science-informed practices to design healthier cities. For each featured project, we asked the designers to identify the health impacts intended, and discuss how insights from neuroscience or psychology influenced the project’s design. We also consider how each project might advance both the conversation about evidence-based design, and the greater pursuit of designing healthier cities for all. These profiles have been adapted from the designers’ responses.

Via Verde: The Green Way

A holistic approach to mental well-being in affordable housing.

Living Bridges

A proposal to transform a viaduct from a single-purpose conduit for cars to a multi-use structure.

Happier by Design

How can we recreate an urban core so its design is intelligent, flexible, and responsive to the needs of residents and visitors?

Crown Sky Garden

This regenerative project integrates healing gardens as part of the healthcare regiment.

Special Thanks

Sandra Chapman
Founder + Chief Director, Center for Brain Health at UT-Dallas

Fred Marks
President-Elect, Academy of Neuroscience For Architecture (ANFA)

Susan Magsamen
Executive Director, International Arts and Mind Lab at the Brain Science Institute, Johns Hopkins University

Sarah Williams Goldhagen
Architecture Critic, Author of Welcome to Your World

Hana Kassem
Principal, KPF

Contributors

Featured Perspectives

Dr. Michael Arbib
Professor of Biological Sciences, Biomedical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Neuroscience and Psychology at USC

Dr. David Cantor, Director
Centre for Investigative Psychology at the University of Liverpool

Dr. Richard Davidson, Founder and Director
Center for Healthy Minds at University of Wisconsin-Madison

Alexi Marmot, Director
Bartlett Global Centre for Learning Environments, UCL Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment

Dr. John Medina, Founding Director
Talaris Research Institute

Richard Wener, Director
Sustainable Urban Environments, Department of Technology, Culture & Society, Tandon School of Engineering of New York University

Additional Contributors

Hansel Bauman, Gallaudet University
Dattner ArchitectsTye Farrow, Farrow Partners
HLM Arkitektur
Itai Palti, Hume
KPF
Dak Kopec, University of Nevada Las Vegas School of Architecture
Man Made Music
Mikyoung Kim Design
Multimer
Perkins+Will Human Experience Lab
Skidmore, Ownings & Merril (SOM)
WOHA

Van Alen Report 20 Staff

David van der Leer
Andrew Brown
Amelia Taylor-Hochberg
Andy Sherman
Jessica Wachtler

Van Alen ReportArchive Van Alen Report 20: Healthy Brains, Healthy Cities

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