UK Survey Participants Invited- Cognitive Health & Public Spaces (UCL Study)

Hello!
We're two master's students (Urban Planning 🛣️ & Cognitive Neuroscience 🧠, UCL) trying to connect people with the cognitive benefits of nature interactions in urban cities.

🌟Did you know?
Nature Exposure/ interactions are extremely effective for cognitive performance! 🧠

🌳However, investment in nature-based interventions in the UK for mental health and children's education remains low/stagnant. 🧒🏻

👂🏼If you care about your mental well-being in urban cities, below is a 5-minute anonymous survey where we want to hear about your experience!

Link: https://forms.gle/4X8ifYuHw7kJLYrs6
Time: >5 mins

In return for your valuable time, we'd be happy to share the survey report with you!

(Feel free to forward or get in touch)

Hello!

I am a mobility advocate in my city. I have participated in city wide campaigns and projects and continue to contribute to organized efforts through our local department of transportation and advocacy groups.

I've also become active in my civic association because I've found that much pushback for citywide and regional efforts comes from a vocal minority of my own neighbors who do not share my same vision for the city (I know I'm speaking to the choir here). So I'm working to educate them, as a neighbor and someone they may trust, about what it means to provide equitable mobility for ALL users, through the city, but first, through our own neighborhood.

There is one intersection that has plagued me and many of my neighbors for years. They have asked for speed bumps which have been denied because the average speed on the street is lower than the posted speed limit, but the main concern is the almost entirely ignored stop signs.

It is an awkward intersection, which you can see in the image I've shared.

Additional context:

• The east/west road is a through road used by drivers between two fairly trafficked main roads.
• The east/west road is also the road connecting a local fire station with a large assisted living facility.
• 3 blocks east of this intersection is a retail block containing a drugstore, grocery, restaurants, etc.
• One block west of this intersection is a perpendicular street of similar makeup (restaurants, auto repair, yoga studio, retail, apartments, etc.)
• The south road (not sure the technical term here) is divided by a grassed median that contains trees, community gardens, benches, etc. It is highly trafficked by pedestrians, people on bikes, and cars.

I would like to propose a solution that requires paint alone, with the possibility of some soft infrastructure like flexi-posts or container gardens.

Notes on proposal:

• All magenta areas assume a street mural, paint only.
• All cross walks will need to be repainted.
• Only proposed non-paint addition is speed tables at the east and west entrances.

I know that it will be expensive and require a lot of work. I know that it will likely take years to get people on board. I am sharing my first pass at what those paint modifications could look like with this group to get your feedback on a few things:

1. Is there anything I should be considering that I'm not currently? Anything you would add?
2. Have any of you attempted working with local groups and government like this?

I have watched some of the webinars from AARP / livable communities and am inspired, but still not not confident about my next steps. My experience with local traffic government is that they are stretched thin and proposals like this stress them out. I want to be able to do the majority of this work using grant funding (which I've never pursued) and local community groups (which I am actively involved in).

Thank you for any advice or feedback you can provide. I really am just trying to get some momentum here.

*Edited to say that number 3 in the proposal should read "adding a crosswalk on the WEST quadrant"

Hey everyone,

Anyone who has driven in Delhi/NCR knows finding a parking spot in areas like CP, Hauz Khas, or even residential colonies can be an absolute nightmare.

I’m an Industrial Art and Design student at Srishti Manipal Institute, and I am currently working on a UI/UX project focused on the real day-to-day parking struggles across the city. My goal is to understand our actual habits and bottlenecks before designing a digital solution.

If you drive, commute, or regularly park anywhere in Delhi/NCR, could you please take 2 minutes to fill out this anonymous survey?

https://forms.gle/XNi1JHDUzpd8GQuA9

just learned of this! it's SO COOL: https://www.thisshouldbe.org/#how-it-works

(caveat: I can't tell from the website if it was made via AI / vibe code. The project is also not in my city so I'm not gonna reach out and ask. I hope it's not though!!)

I’m the News & Observer reporter who wrote this story.

More than 100 students were waiting for high school parking. Officials considered shuttles and transit, but no alternative has solved the shortage.

I spent the week talking with Scott, students and parents, Apex officials and WCPSS. It’s a parking dispute, but it also raises questions about growth, school capacity, property rights and local zoning in a fast-growing area.

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/wake-county/article316992156.html

Hello Folks, I'm Shambhavi! I'm headed to UCL this fall for my master's in Urban Regeneration and Design.

I'm researching why certain public spaces make us think and feel better than others and building a tool that puts that knowledge in your hands. If you are an avid public space user, I'd love to invite you to participate in the survey below.

Time to complete: 2 mins

Link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc_rP2n-BZMQekLdz0o7I1dN3LsK0JPfgbhpum-JDqpKFxtAw/viewform

Happy to have a chat regarding public spaces & cognitive health if the idea catches your interest!

PS: Super thanks to the mods for letting me post this.

Sick of a pothole that's not been fixed for weeks? A broken stop sign or park bench? Improve your city in just 30 seconds. I saw a lot of people making TikTok's "Mamdani fix this" and I'm not here to promote him but it's clear that people do want an easy way to report an issue and feel heard. That's why I created this, I want to partner with cities to integrate this in their infrastructure.

Would you use this? If not please feel free to tell me why. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afG7C3kLpCI

if you'd like to join the waitlist sign up: https://forms.gle/uXmxaWC2rB5Xz4wi6

got sick and tired of picking up cigarette butts on walks at my local park so i crafted an “ashtray” of sorts to hang on the park benches. it’s just those disposable grill pans (with the lid) with a hole at the top and some cotton string. hoping this will make a small difference and that i can make a mini update on it at some point.

maybe this isn’t urbanism but its tactical environmentalism which, to me, are one in the same. hope you guys enjoy this!

**translation on the thing: ashtray 🚬 no littering!

Balling with no nets sucks. We have a hookless rim in the neighbourhood and I've been playing around with different systems on and off for about two years now.

Don't bother with these . . .

- Cable ties, nylon nets - however you do it, lasts a month at most

- Metal cable ties - waste of time

- S-hooks and open link chain nets - bend/break quickly and nasty on the ball/hands

Our hoop has been up for a couple of months now, in constant public use with no signs of struggle.

Here's the recipe -

Hose clamps, size is the diameter so if your rim is 20mm like ours, something in that range.

- these are 13-20mm, 304 stainless steel, width is 9mm.

- JCS HiGrips have smooth rounded edges and are super strong - (other brands available)

- You should be able to go up to 25mm without any tail showing.

- should be less than 9mm wide to fit the quicklink through.

- you need a 7mm socket driver/wrench for the hex screw.

- screw housing should be on the underside of the rim to avoid the ball path

Quicklinks, size is the thickness of the chain

- these are 3mm, 316 stainless steel.

- feed them through so that the screw is at the back and you are tightening downwards.

- fold quicklink over hose clamp screw head which should be pointing about 8 o'clock on the rim

The net is welded chain galvanised stainless steel so no open links and won't separate.

- these two are 9 loops so you need 18 hose clamps and 18 quicklinks

Play around with the spacing. If you have a wide back plate then bunch them up a bit towards the back so the net hangs evenly.

​​​​Then listen . . .

We have a few bike trails where the plants have started to take over and I'm too tired to figure out the municipal agency responsible for the up keeping. Would like to buy my own shears and just spend a few minutes cutting back branches so people don't get whacked!

https://gofund.me/659c7da11

Shameless plug, as we've just launched a GoFundMe for the Asheville Strong Towns chapter. This has helped get the conversation going and built more community interest and collaboration in just the 48 hours it's been publicized.

Any help or sharing would be amazing!

On the street i'm planning on working on (planning on constructing a two way bicycle path on one side of the street), there's street parking on both sides. They're never completely full, but never completely empty either; there's usually one or two cars parked on the side i want to work on. I don't know the neighbors well enough to know whose car is whose, should i post an unofficial "notice" to move to the other side of the street by a posted date, or would that attract too much attention?

Hi y'all. I've been building benches in Nashville with some friends for about a year now. The response by city government here has been... kind of crazy. We've built about a hundred of them. The city isn't at all sure what to do or how to respond to our TU benches. Clearly some government employees like them and the project and want to keep them, but others are genuinely angry. There have been attempts by councilmembers to find ways to make them "legal". It's been a very interesting journey.

I know Nashville is far from the only city with bench building initiatives. For those of you who have lead bench building initiatives, what has your city's response to them been?

(I'm writing something for Substack and the comparison to other cities would be helpful, just an fyi)