
I have only experienced devastating loss secondhand through my parents—Holocaust survivors who lost everything during World War II. The closest I came was visiting the World Trade Center site in February 2002, when firemen were still removing bodies from what otherwise looked like a construction site. I broke down in such heaving sobs that a kindly policewoman asked if I had lost someone on 9-11. For the first time in my life, I understood what my father had experienced in the war.
What I learned from my parents was that despite all, they came through it and thrived – enough to dedicate their lives to helping others. They taught me that there is light at the end of the tunnel, no matter how dim it may seem in the moment.
Essential in those first moments of loss, and in recovery from it, is community: support by the community of those who experienced loss and support from those fortunate to have avoided it. The latter is a form of love—from the Greek agape, or altruistic love.
Once the shock and grieving diminish, is it possible to rebuild resilient communities that foster agape love?
Historic examples of rebuilding abound, after wars, earthquakes, and fires. Shining towers now stand on the Twin Towers site, a testament to that city’s resilience. Sir Christopher Wren’s St. Paul’s Cathedral rose after the 1666 Great Fire of London—another beacon of hope. After the fire that destroyed Paris’ Notre Dame Cathedral, workers came together from across nations to restore that great Gothic symbol.
For whole communities devastated by loss, rather than iconic buildings, design to support individual resilience is imperative: The ability to quickly bounce back from stress or loss is one element of integrative whole-person health.
Stress-reducing elements of urban design include features that support strong intergenerational connections and social support networks, access to local healthy, fresh foods, and rigorous daily exercise. While the premise of “Blue Zones” has become controversial, these historically intact neighborhoods can inform modern designs to support and enhance community.
I visited one such place. Lentas, Crete, is a sleepy version of its ancient self, with white stucco houses climbing the hill from the sea. Its few, steep, narrow cobblestone streets offer daily rigorous exercise. Many beachside cafés serve as community gathering spaces for young and old to chat, play backgammon, sip coffee, and feast on fresh-caught fish and local vegetables.
A large urban planning literature indicates that “macro-features” of scale, walkability, connectedness to green (nature) or blue (water) spaces, narrow streets discouraging cars, and sidewalks that encourage walking all enhance social cohesion, “salutogenesis,” and healthy communities. Fewer focus on building “micro-features” that contribute to health, well-being, and social connection.
Jane Jacobs addressed the impacts of street design and building characteristics on city vitality, and recent studies support her observations. Thus, short blocks, higher density, older buildings with shops and restaurants on the ground floor and residential above—the European older city model—correlate with vitality.
Individual buildings’ “transitional spaces” promote social connectedness. These “micro-spaces” include private transitional spaces—back yards, gardens, back porches and balconies, windows—and semi-private transitional spaces like front porches and front yards where people can feel connected to neighbors without leaving their home, which is especially relevant for home-bound persons, elderly, or those with disabilities.
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of such transitional spaces for social connectedness and mental health. A study during COVID comparing community-dwelling older adults in Boston and in Chieti, Italy, showed that transitional spaces were important for social connection.
Studies of World War II veterans returning to college, and recent senior living community studies, also show that proximity of buildings to each other is important for the formation of social connections. A “proximity gradient” exists, akin to emotion contagion, in which the likelihood of connecting with one’s neighbors diminishes with distance from home.
Since loneliness, the opposite of community and social connectedness, is detrimental to health, while positive social connections support health, it is imperative to create built environments at all scales that foster social connections and minimize loneliness. Indeed, the societal need for such designs and policies is underscored by former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy’s 2023 “Framework for a National Strategy to Advance Social Connection,” which includes a pillar to “design the built environment to promote social connection.”
Proximity alone does not promote connection. Health and socioeconomic status disparities, cultural factors, crowding, quality of views, neighborhood blight, lack of safety and green spaces, and disruptive noise, may explain why some housing blocks that are close together do not support social connection. Also, too-close structure proximity can increase fire risk.
Nonetheless, these examples suggest that there are many ways to create social connectivity through design, including individual buildings’ “micro-scale” features, their uses, proximity, transitional and community spaces, and “macro-scale” density, connectors, access to nature, and walkable features.
Carlos Morena’s “15-Minute City” and expanded versions incorporate mixed-use, walkability, and connectedness within a proposed 15-to-30-minute radius. While an ideal to strive for, this is likely not feasible in the modern world, especially for less-mobile people with disabilities and those of lower socioeconomic status who may need to travel long distances to work. “Polycentricity” or multiple centers with similar importance, is another potential solution for social cohesion, sustainable design, and new models of hybrid and decentralized work.
Mini-“blue zones”, “x-minute cities,” and Jane Jacobs’ vitality center-like spaces are springing up in cities worldwide. All or some combination may be needed in different settings to enhance the resilience of cities and the people in them, and all should be considered in the mix of re-building and recovery from disaster.