Spaces for Healing
Barrett participated in Urban Design Forum’s Healthy Spaces working group roundtable where they shared recommendations to design public spaces guided by the trauma informed design principles of Safety, Choice, and Community.
BACKGROUND The pandemic has left a lasting imprint on all New Yorkers, with loss and disconnection deeply ingrained in the city’s collective memory. Traumatic events like these – both collective and individual – can have long-term impacts on a person’s physical and mental health. For instance, people who experience childhood trauma are more likely to experience loneliness in adulthood. In turn, social disconnection increases risks of hypertension, depression and anxiety, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.17 For veterans, asylum seekers, survivors of gun violence, and other New Yorkers that have experienced trauma, environments can often be triggering or re-traumatizing. Harsh lighting, loud noises, or the condition and quality of public spaces have major implications on New Yorkers’ perceptions of safety and stress levels.
VISION New York City must prioritize healing and belonging by implementing a comprehensive transformation of the public realm design process. Drawing inspiration from American psychiatrist Judith Herman’s influential work Trauma and Recovery, a new design framework could prioritize principles of trauma-informed care: safety, choice, and community. To ensure mental health is at the forefront of every planning process, the City should appoint a dedicated advocate for New Yorkers with diverse mental health needs. Equitable allocation of resources in programming and community public space stewardship can play a crucial role in reshaping existing civic spaces to foster social cohesion and unlock the broader health benefits that accompany it.