Reacción a "Reactions: how to make cities that care for young people's mental health"

The study is based on the estimate that by 2050, 70% of young people will be living in cities, and on clear evidence of the worsening mental health associated with urban living. The research is based on a series of sequential surveys to identify and prioritise the characteristics of a city that contribute to young people's mental health, administered to 518 people in 53 countries. 

As the start of the study coincided with the early months of covid-19 and the associated lock-in, the results capture the experiences of vulnerability and insecurity associated with the pandemic to some extent. The study highlights the importance of life skills development and personal development and emotional maturity for the mental health of young people (aged 18-35).  

Another finding, in the domain of interpersonal relationships, is the importance of acceptance and respect for others, as well as access to safe meeting spaces. For example, people with good social networks, jobs and interpersonal relationships experienced the pandemic [in a] much milder way than others. One sees how the social isolation associated with the covid era clearly contributed to poor mental health. In this relationship, public policies that reduce bullying, harassment, abuse, censorship, exposure to violence and a wide range of threats are critical to mental health. In general, equity and discrimination on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation and neurodiversity are closely linked to mental health. For example, a city free of discrimination and racism has been at the top of the list of policy proposals for a city that cares for mental health in interviews. 

Access to employment, education and public health also emerge as key aspects of young people's mental health. Job loss is listed as one of the key factors that have a negative influence on mental health, a fact that is well established in the literature. 

One of the recommendations, which also tends to emerge from other studies of this type, is that a city that respects mental health has low levels of discrimination and is committed to equity. The importance of green spaces, in particular, is highlighted as providing solace to young people, a finding shared by many other studies. Green spaces provide not only healthier living, but also opportunities for healthier socialisation. 

However, well-intentioned policies (e.g. green spaces) might have negative effects on the mental health of young people, as long as they are designed under the influence of the market and increase environmental privilege and (green) gentrification. This result confirms series of other studies on the relationship between public health and gentrification, such as Anguelovski et al. 2021.