Megan Oliver on How to Plan for Happiness in Cities

Planners can design places for many purposes: to promote
commerce, to protect us from natural disasters, to uplift
historical significance. As mental health and social
relationships become increasingly significant, new questions rise
to the top: What about planning for the way people feel? How can
planners better understand how environments impact well-being and
then learn to shape more joyful, healing spaces?


In this episode of People Behind the Plans, Megan Oliver,
AICP, WELL AP, founder of Hello Happy Design, discusses how the
intersection of neuroscience and planning — called neurourbanism
— can provide planners with the necessary tools to design places
for social and emotional health. Oliver also speaks to the rising
awareness of neurodiversity and how we can change our assumptions
about how community members engage with the people and places
around them.


This episode was sponsored by Nexus at University of Michigan


Episode URL:
https://planning.org/podcast/megan-oliver-on-how-to-plan-for-happiness-in-cities/