SINGAPORE: Pedestrian-friendly streets, accessible green spaces, calmer soundscapes and predictable urban layouts can reduce the stress of city life for everyone, according to new research from UNSW Sydney.
The study, led by Dr Fatemeh Aminpour from UNSW’s City Futures Centre, examines how neurodivergent people experience public urban environments, and how designing cities with their needs in mind can improve accessibility for all residents.
“Despite strong international and national commitments to disability inclusion, everyday public spaces often remain difficult to use for neurodivergent people,” says Dr Aminpour.
“Access is still too often framed around physical disability, rather than the sensory, cognitive and social demands that shape how people navigate the city.”
The report, Towards Neuroinclusive Public Open Spaces, funded by a City of Sydney Innovations and Ideas Grant, highlights how existing planning guidelines could be strengthened by incorporating insights from neurodivergent communities.
Over the past decade, several towns around the world have been recognised as “autism-friendly.” While these initiatives are important, they often focus on indoor or controlled environments—such as shopping centres, transport hubs, museums, cinemas and libraries—and tend to occur in lower-density settings.
“Dense inner-city environments, where crowding, noise, competing uses and constant change are part of daily life, remain under-examined,” says Dr Aminpour.
“Yet these are precisely the places where barriers accumulate most intensely for neurodivergent people.”
The study therefore focused on public open spaces, streets, footpaths, parks, plazas and civic squares, which form the backbone of daily mobility, social participation and wellbeing.
“When these environments are overwhelming or unpredictable, the burden of access shifts onto individuals, shaping where people go, how long they stay, and whether they participate at all,” says Dr Aminpour.
The research was conducted in two stages. In the first phase, researchers carried out walking interviews with 15 neurodivergent adults, who guided them through public spaces they regularly use.
Participants described in real time which elements felt supportive and which created stress, explaining how their surroundings affected their comfort, energy and decision-making.
All interviews took place within the City of Sydney local government area, Australia’s most densely populated LGA, known for its diverse and complex public spaces.
The second phase involved an online questionnaire completed by both neurodivergent and neurotypical respondents, allowing researchers to test whether the environmental qualities identified during interviews resonated more broadly.
One of the study’s key findings was that footpaths are often among the most challenging environments in everyday city life.
In busy or tourist-heavy areas, participants described pedestrian movement as unpredictable. Sudden changes in direction, unclear informal rules and crowded conditions made it difficult to anticipate others’ movements.
This frequently led to near-collisions, constant course adjustments and heightened vigilance, turning even short walks into mentally exhausting or overstimulating experiences.
“Footpaths were also described as contested spaces. Café seating, queues, bus and light-rail crowds, bike parking and poorly placed infrastructure frequently reduced clear walking space,” says Dr Aminpour.
“Shared zones posed similar challenges with unclear rules about how to navigate them with mixed speeds and fast-moving micromobility along with sudden bells increasing anxiety. These spaces only worked when pedestrian priority was clear, and speeds were compatible.”
Noise and crowd density also emerged as major barriers. Participants reported that sharp, high-pitched and unpredictable sounds, such as sirens, alarms, tram bells and construction noise, could quickly trigger sensory overload.
“The issue was not volume alone but predictability,” explains Dr Aminpour. “Rhythmic, visible or time-limited sounds were often manageable, while chaotic, overlapping or sudden noises were not. And crowding amplified these effects, increasing cognitive load and reducing the ability to plan or adjust routes.”
Together, these environmental factors strongly influenced whether walking through the city felt manageable or overwhelming.
Participants consistently preferred pedestrianised streets and plazas, including Pitt Street Mall, Darling Square and parts of Chinatown.
Without cars, these spaces reduced noise, visual distractions and perceived danger, allowing people to move more comfortably and feel more at ease.
“Many participants also adapted their routes, often choosing quieter backstreets over main roads, even when this meant walking further,” says Dr Aminpour.
Backstreets with greenery, visual interest and places to pause made daily travel more manageable and provided opportunities to recover from sensory overload.
“This highlights the importance of making alternative paths legible, safe and well-maintained,” says Dr Aminpour.
Access to nature also played an important role in helping neurodivergent people navigate urban environments.
“Larger or more enclosed parks, such as Hyde Park and the Royal Botanic Gardens, reduced exposure to traffic noise and constant pedestrian flow, supporting calm and recovery,” says Dr Aminpour.
“Natural sounds, greenery and water offered sensory relief and visual restoration, helping people feel momentarily “away” from the demands of the city without leaving it.”
Participants also valued public spaces that allowed low-pressure social belonging. Being around other people without the expectation to interact was important, particularly when seating and layout offered both visibility and a sense of refuge.
Free and informal public spaces were especially valuable, allowing people to participate in city life without financial barriers.
The research suggests that many existing urban design policies already support more inclusive environments, but that they could be applied more consistently and with greater attention to sensory and cognitive accessibility.
“Many of the City of Sydney’s current policies already align with what participants valued; the opportunity now lies in applying them more consistently and with greater attention to sensory, cognitive and social dimensions of access,” says Dr Aminpour
“Importantly, the implications extend beyond neurodivergent communities. Our survey findings suggest that many of the environmental qualities valued by neurodivergent participants, predictability, greenery, quieter routes, clear pedestrian priority, were also appreciated by neurotypical respondents.
“Designing for neurodiversity strengthens comfort, legibility and usability for everyone.”