Rates of adolescent mental ill-health have risen sharply in recent decades. Urban parks are valuable mental health resources, yet the mental wellbeing needs of adolescents are often overlooked. I show that by examining planners’ perspectives on why this gap exists helps to illuminate concrete actions and strategies to ensure parks can be healthier and more accessible for all.

Public parks shape how people meet, stay, and interact. This study shows how specific physical features of an urban park influence everyday social life, offering practical lessons for designing public spaces that support social interaction, wellbeing, and inclusive urban vitality. We combined on-site observation of people’s behaviour with surveys of park users and spatial analysis. We did this to move beyond abstract design principles and provide evidence-based insights into how seating, pathways, land use, inclusiveness, and safety shape everyday social interactions in public spaces.