Introduction
How can urban life impact youth mental health and adolescents’ future adult trajectories, or is it possible to create a mental health-friendly city for this group? This question is answered by adolescent neurourbanism – a multidisciplinary study of urbanization’s effects on brain activity, particularly mental health. The importance of addressing neurourbanism dates back to the United Nations’ New Urban Agenda of 2016, which promotes “just, safe, healthy, accessible, affordable, resilient and sustainable cities” (Murphy et al., 2020).
The focus on younger individuals’ mental health appears as depression and anxiety are among the ten leading causes of disability for 1.2 billion adolescents, accounting for 16% of the world’s population (Murphy et al., 2020). Hence, global shifts in education, employment, technology, and social connection establish toxic exposures for the vulnerable younger people whose urban living is not uniform.
Sociological Theory: Structural Functionalism
Structural-functional theory is a sociological paradigm that positions society as a complex system, which is necessary for evaluating the selected issue. According to Conerly et al. (2021), the analysis examines how interconnected parts function together to maintain social order and stability. The application of this framework to neurourbanism generates questions about how urban city settings and determinants, mainly family, education, and healthcare, work to benefit or hinder adolescent mental health.
Buttazzoni et al. (2022) predict that “by 2050 cities will be home to 70% of the world’s children” (p. 138). Therefore, racial oppression, inadequate infrastructure, lack of green space or secure housing, and environmental toxins negatively impact the mental health of younger people (Collins et al., 2024). Thus, this paradigm examines the influence of urban society’s institutions on the youth’s mental health.
Analysis: Applying the Sociological Paradigm
The urban environment focuses on educational and employment opportunities that constitute social institutions, framing dynamics in terms of structural-functionalism. According to this framework, sociologists should look beyond individuals and analyze the social institutions that govern their lives (Conerly et al., 2021). For example, 13%–15% of adolescents from low- and middle-income countries have mental health disorders (Murphy et al., 2020).
In contrast, individuals from affluent backgrounds receive more urban advantages, such as extensive health and economic development, social freedom, education, and entertainment (Collins et al., 2024). However, the issue at stake is that even prosperous urban settings deal with rapid urbanization, which instantly creates or deepens disparities and places a greater mental health burden on younger groups. Social disorganization linked to urbanization is more stressful for individuals in the early stages of identity discovery.
The dynamics of urbanized cities hinder youth mental well-being, suggesting that some social institutions operate inappropriately. Since in structural functionalism every recurrent activity constitutes a part of society, experts should view the norms of social institutions as a framework for evaluating adolescents’ mental stability (Conerly et al., 2021). If schools demonstrate discriminatory policies, the whole educational institution is flawed. For example, female adolescents face gender discrimination at schools, especially in cities, further perpetuating inequality and leading to their voluntary social exclusion (Collins et al., 2021).
Beyond schools, the frequency of harassment in urbanized environments is higher for girls (Murphy et al., 2020). As a result, these groups, who face verbal and non-verbal abuse, deal with psychosis, anxiety disorders, and social isolation. Adolescents exhibit heightened sensitivity to social evaluation, so receiving a negative response generates emotional exhaustion, powerlessness, and depression. Therefore, planning cities’ education should prioritize youth sensitivity, so that oppressed students receive nurturing support through social cohesion.
Urbanization harms youth mental health through social inequality and gentrification. This term refers to displacing lower-class communities to make way for wealthier newcomers, but it undermines the principles of neurourbanism (Buttazzoni et al., 2022). The reason is that the family is valued in structural functionalism, and if it faces social disintegration, as in gentrification, all its members suffer.
For example, this displaced family has no financial resources, so it has limited access to healthcare opportunities, including mental health assistance. Economic hardship harms children and leads to anxiety that cannot be treated without professional help. Hence, this issue underscores the dysfunction of healthcare and the economy, underscoring the need for proper city planning and strong community bonds.
Another suggestion is to facilitate youth-friendly city development by increasing the availability of green and blue spaces. As populations increase and cities grow, green spaces shrink. The problem is that vegetation and biodiversity in cities are negatively correlated with depressive symptoms among adolescents, meaning that the more plants, the fewer individuals experience stress and aggression (Mueller & Flouri, 2023). Its reasons relate to structural functionalism, in which the environment extends into social determinants such as community resources and neighborhood cohesion.
For instance, access to safe and green spaces fosters physical activity and interaction among social agents, positively affecting their psychological well-being (Buttazzoni et al., 2022). That is why it is recommended to introduce youth-friendly public parks and resting areas where adolescents can limit their exposure to population density, traffic noise, poor air quality, and urban sprawl (Pykett et al., 2023). The finding is that younger generations need a shared, open space with vegetation to rest from urban noise and make meaningful connections.
Conclusion
Adolescents dealing with rapid urbanization frequently develop mental health issues, justifying the need for neurourbanism in city planning. The problem highlights several systemic issues, including discrimination in social institutions and a lack of green spaces in cities. On this occasion, structural functionalism focuses on the cohesive work of distinct institutions.
This paradigm justifies that social parts fail to provide adequate functioning and adolescent support systems since institutions facilitated by urbanization deepen the marginalization of communities, which creates more stress triggers for younger people. That is why public spheres should drive adolescents closer and reduce status, race, or gender distance safely. Thus, cities should build resourceful environments, supportive educational and healthcare systems, and social protection for younger generations.
References
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Conerly, T. R., Holmes, K., & Tamang, A. L. (2021). Introduction to sociology 3e. OpenStax.
Mueller, A. E., & Flouri, E. (2023). Urban biodiversity and adolescent mental health and well-being. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 92(1), 1-9.
Murphy, L., Jack, H. E., Concepcion, T. L., & Collins, P. Y. (2020). Integrating urban adolescent mental health into urban sustainability collective action: An application of Shiffman & Smith’s framework for global health prioritization. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 11(44), 1-9.
Pykett, J., Campbell, N., Fenton, S., Gaden, E., Lavis, A., Newbigging, K., Parkin, V., Williams, J., & Members of the Institute for Mental Health Youth Advisory Group. (2023). Urban precarity and youth mental health: An interpretive scoping review of emerging approaches. Social Science & Medicine, 320(1), 1-15.