Loneliness is a Real Problem, but Researchers and Urban Planners Have Found Ways to Help

It’s time we rethink urban planning and start designing our communities to encourage a sense of community to combat loneliness

Marina Gardens Drive, Supertree Grove, Singapore — Photo by Dhoomil Sheta on Unsplash

We’re facing many crises right now, everything from climate change to loneliness. To make it through, we’ll need to tap into one of our most extraordinary human talents: ingenuity through creativity. We also need solutions that address multiple issues, rather than individual solutions for each problem. Thankfully, ideas are already flowing, and many are taking action.

I’ve already written several articles about how urban planners are finding creative ways to design communities that work with, rather than against, nature — and hopefully help us adapt to climate change. Now, experts have identified another research-backed way changing our urban layouts can aid another crisis we’re facing — loneliness.

Rise in Loneliness

Experts have sounded the alarm over a rise in loneliness over the past few years, with some surveys finding that one in five Americans report feeling lonely every day. Many experts now consider loneliness to be a public health epidemic, with the former U.S. Surgeon General warning in…