Restorative Streets for Healthy Cities: A Critical Review Dissenting the Conventional Narrative of Restorative Environments

Cities are becoming the primary ecosystem for humankind’s life. At the same time, the contemporary urban lifestyle can undermine individuals’ mental health and psychological well-being. Consequently, establishing a healthy urban environment promoting restorative experiences is increasingly appreciated in urbanized cities. However, research on restorative environments has mainly focused on natural environments, which are now severely challenged by urban developments associated with the forces of urbanization trends. A limited and biased body of scholarly research has specifically considered alternative urban options that can promote restorative processes in everyday urban life. Unfortunately, the public health measures related to the Covid-19 pandemic have also challenged and restricted access to these restorative opportunities. This critical review explores the need to apply the concept of restorative urbanism to the utmost utilized urban spaces, the streets, particularly in future public health crises. A key finding and recommendation from this research are acknowledging street restorativeness as an environmental quality that must be fulfilled to achieve sustainable urban and health developments.