How can we build on the ‘Letters to the City’ approach to reimagine student commuting as a restorative and youth-centered spatial practice?
This paper examines the commuting experiences of high school students (aged 12–18) in Cyprus and proposes a framework for rethinking everyday mobility through architectural and urban design strategies that support youth well-being, spatial justice, and civic participation. In a car-dominated context where over 90% of trips are by private vehicle school commuting is shaped by infrastructural fragmentation, parental control, and limited access to active or independent travel options. Drawing on the theory of affordances (Gibson, 1979) and restorative urbanism (Roe & Aspinall, 2011), the paper argues that mobility environments should be designed not as neutral infrastructures but as lived, affective spaces with architectural qualities that can either support or inhibit restorative experiences for young people. It explores how the spatial form, materiality, and connectivity of routes such as shaded paths, transitions, thresholds, and rest zones can promote comfort, agency, and reflection. The paper also engages with selected principles from Aalborg Kommune’s Mobilitet 2040, focusing on intra-neighborhood connectivity, inclusive design processes, and modal shift ambitions. Finally, it presents Letters to the City, an interactive installation curated by the author with the NGO Urban Gorillas as a model for architectural engagement with youth. Designed for the 2022 Urban Awareness Exhibition, the installation offered youth and citizens a participatory space to share spatial experiences and reimagine their everyday city. These narratives inform concrete, youth-led proposals such as shaded walkways, rest nodes, and green corridors architectural micro-interventions with restorative intent. The paper contributes to mobility justice by positioning architecture as a civic tool for inclusive urban transitions.
Bibliography
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- Rietveld, E., & Kiverstein, J. (2014). A Rich Landscape of Affordances. Ecological Psychology, 26(4), 325-352.
- Roe, J., & Aspinall, P. (2011). The Restorative Benefits of Walking in Urban and Rural Settings. Health & Place, 17(1), 103-113.
