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

City life offers many opportunities in terms of access to health services, the labour market or educational institutions. It also provides a wide range of leisure and recreational resources, as well as rich and diverse networks of support and friendship. However, it is also true that cities are unequal spaces with characteristics, such as less access to green spaces or safety, which can lead to mental health problems. Adolescence and youth are periods of particular importance in this respect, as these are often when the first difficulties appear that can later have a major impact on mental health throughout the rest of the life cycle. 

Under these premises, and on the basis that the opinions and specific needs of this group are rarely taken into account when defining urban and social policies, a group of researchers from different countries carried out a series of surveys of 518 people. The aim of this work was to define the characteristics of cities that are friendly to the mental health of adolescents and young people. Through a three-phase survey, participants prioritised characteristics within six areas; personal, interpersonal, community, organisational, political and environmental. Examples of these characteristics were access to safe public spaces to meet and connect with others, 24-hour mental health care services, and the inclusion of mental health in policy making. 

Despite its interest, the study presents two aspects that would need to be improved in the future in order to establish a greater consensus. Firstly, while young adults are well represented in the sample, there is a very small presence of adolescents (<1%). Secondly, we cannot know to what extent the results are globally generalisable as the vast majority of participants (63%) come from only three countries, Nepal, the United States and Kenya. There is very little representation from the other countries included. 

Despite the above, this study helps to put the spotlight on people's mental health and their agency in deciding and designing the places they want to live in.