24-24 – Neurorehabilitative urban planning: a literature review of interaction of place design and brain structure

Neuroscience teeters at the edge of some fascinating geographical investigations. In previous work, we made the link between urban resilience research and the increasingly recognised field of neuroplasticity. This resulted in a fruitful critique of both fields and recommendations for urban planning that strive to increase people-people and people-place connections in the city to enhance resilience. We found a plethora of studies that, when drawn together, elucidated the role of environment in brain structure.

Taking this investigation one step further, we now ask: how can the city be therapeutic for the most common neurodegenerative disorders? Here, we reviewed recent studies linking city design, cognitive function and brain structure. To move toward a new research agenda – and wrestle with the compounded realities of both the disadvantages of the urban environment for elements of human health as well as the inevitable increase of urbanisation worldwide – we place recent neuroscience investigations in the context of philosopher Michel de Certeau’s tactic-versus-strategy dichotomy. de Certeau’s framework offers a way to critique neurological rehabilitation approaches relating to Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases in relation to place, while engagement with neuroscience literature also stretches the philosophical framework to better handle the complexity of people and place interactions. Highlighting the role of place design in neurological recovery, I will show that changes in the design of the city have the potential to prompt positive adaptations in the brain through changes in our everyday practice.