Purpose of review Amidst rapid global urbanization, understanding the association between urban planning and mental health is crucial. This review synthesizes fragmented evidence on six core elements – walkability, green spaces, blue spaces, population density, public transport accessibility, and road design-to address gaps in causality and equity, providing timely insights for creating psychologically supportive urban environments. Recent findings Evidence consistently indicates a moderate protective association between urban green space and mental health. Findings for walkability and population density are highly heterogeneous, often moderated by socioeconomic factors and air pollution. Research on blue spaces and road design remains limited, highlighting significant variability and context-dependence across planning elements. Summary Methodological challenges, such as establishing causality, simplistic exposure metrics, and inadequate consideration of equity-constrain current evidence. Future research should prioritize longitudinal and natural experiment designs, dynamic multiexposure assessments, and explicit equity integration to generate actionable guidance for urban planning that supports mental well being equitably.
Song et al. (Tue,) studied this question.