Today kicks off the American Planning Association’s 2021 National Planning Conference!
I am thrilled to be co-presenting at this year’s conference with Tufts University professor and co-author of Cognitive Architecture, Dr. Justin Hollander. Here, you can find information and additional resources related to our session, Using Mental Health Considerations for Designing Places.
Session Details:
The threat to mental health is an underlying crisis in the wake of COVID-19. Planners are tasked with protecting public interest and must adapt planning and policies to better address mental health and its relationship to place-making.
The World Health Organization recognizes mental illness as a leading cause of death and disability. This session will emphasize the need for bringing mental health into planning conversations and equip attendees with tools and resources to better understand how environments—through design, programming, and social factors—have both psychological and physiological impacts on individuals.
Presentation of planning principles, design interventions, and social/ community strategies will be shared.
With the right tools, we can design spaces with well-being at the forefront to create places that are receptive and responsive to the needs of inhabitants.
Learning Outcomes:
- Recognize the urgency of action due to the current state of the mental health crisis.
- Explore the intersection of planning/design and neuroscience.
- Implement evidence-based planning, design, and decision-making strategies.