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A recent study overseen by School of Planning’s Dr. Leia Minaker finds that even a few minutes spent surrounded by nature can boost the mental well-being of children living in cities. Dr. Minaker and her research team recently took 70 children aged 9 to 17 to a variety of stops across Kitchener, both urban and natural, to poll how each location made them feel.����

After given time to take in their surroundings, a pattern emerged in the participants’ responses – anxiety levels consistently dropped in natural areas, up to 9% on the anxiousness scale, while anxiety levels rose by 13% when in a busy downtown area. “For the first time, this study actually quantifies the amount of anxiousness or calmness or mental demand that kids can experience based on how you design the urban planning,” states Dr. Minaker.������

According to Dr. Minaker, the key reason this research was pursued was that the experiences of children are often ignored in any kind of planning or city building decision that will affect them. Dr. Minaker states, “we really wanted to look at how children and adolescents are experiencing these different places because all of the decisions that adults are making are affecting them and they don’t usually get a say.”��

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