Why spaces created for highly sensitive and neurodiverse people would be better for all

During my time at the Urban Future Global Conference 2024 (UF24) I formed the hypothesis that if we created more spaces e.g. at events and in cities that are comfortable for highly sensitive and neurodiverse people it would be beneficial to everyone. Let me explain what I mean by this, how I came to the thought and how it could be taken up by decision-makers like employers, event organizers and city shapers.

The relationship between neurodiversity and high sensitivity

Firstly, I want to clarify why I ‘grouped’ these groups of people in my thinking. So, let’s start with some definitions.

“The word neurodiversity refers to the diversity of all people, but it is often used in the context of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), as well as other neurological or developmental conditions such as ADHD or learning disabilities. The neurodiversity movement emerged during the 1990s, aiming to increase acceptance and inclusion of all people while embracing neurological differences.“ (Baumer & Frueh, Nov 23, 2021)

The authors of the article further proceed by giving some advice on how employers can make workspaces more inclusive and agreeable to accommodate their needs, which e.g. can be offering quiet (break) spaces to help people with higher sound sensitivity to decompress.

Higher sound sensitivity is also usually experienced by highly sensitive people (HSP) who are often considered to be on the neurodiverse spectrum as well, albeit in a different way than people on the autistic spectrum. According to Elaine Aron who is probably the most known researcher on this topic and HSP herself, HSP are more easily overstimulated than a neurotypical person would be. About 20 to 25 percent of the global population are HSP, so it is not even a small minority.

While neurodiversity as defined by Baumer & Frueh and high sensitivity are not the same, they share communalities and I find that both their needs are not properly addressed in our (western) world and culture.

When attending UF24 in Rotterdam I was very inspired by a panellist and entrepreneur who stated in the beginning that she recently discovered her neurodivergence in her perimenopause and that this felt like being handed a manual to her brain and an explanation to many of her prior decisions. She has done amazing work in her life so far, and I could write a whole article about her but will keep it anonymous here as I don’t know if she would like everyone to know about it.

Struggling to decompress during a conference in a bustling city

Anyways, this was the first time when I realized that her statement with ‘a manual to her brain’ could be used by me to describe how I felt when I realized that I was highly sensitive and that it was in fact an innate temperament. Suddenly, I did not feel that strange or wrong in many aspects anymore because I knew that other people with a comparable neurodiversity experienced similar things.

In another session on the next day of the conference I saw the same panellist again speaking about a different topic. The session was about realizing your own vision and how to care for yourself as a change maker to keep up your spirits and energy. Then she shared that she had cut the dinner event the prior evening because she needed time for herself. She also had spent the lunch break in the park to breath the smell of trees and calm her nervous system. I really felt her then. I went to bespoke dinner which was taking place at a food hall which was very noisy and crowded and I only ‘survived’ taking a table next to the door which was the quietest place to be found. Still, I was extremely exhausted on my way back due to all the input during the day but also from the – in my opinion – insane noise in the hall.

So, I was a bit jealous of her choice and I spent the next lunch break in the park as well. There, I tried to calm down my nervous system down during lunch but didn’t succeed because of noisy streets around the park and already high arousal levels before. In the park, I reflected on the communalities which I had observed between her needs and mine. Our needs were similar, but she was better or more consequent at taking care of herself to keep up her energy than I was this time.

It is also more stressful for most neurodiverse people to travel to new places, to navigate in a new city, find the appropriate public transport connection and the like than for neurotypical people. I am very much used to traveling all over the world and so I know how it works generally but it is still a huge drag and exhausts me quickly especially when things don’t go as intended. And my costume-made earplugs are my best friends on the way.

Lack of inclusivity in the ways we design our spaces

In books by Elaine and other highly sensitive authors, they provide tips on how we can create the room we need to not feel overwhelmed and overly aroused. For example, they suggest to rather seek deep talks with individual people in a quiet corner or outside at a party/even/congress etc. because this is (usually) more agreeable to (many of) us. It is obvious that we all have to learn to take care of ourselves and our needs. But I also started thinking on why it seems to be difficult for HSP and neurodiverse people to calm our systems down and actually enjoy our time.

At events, there could be at least a silent room for naps, meditation or whatsoever for resting. The volume of the loudspeakers and microphones could be adapted to an agreeable level. There could be more breaks for integration time. In cities, we should have several quiet spots to be able to calm down – and ideally connect to nature. Since I arrived in Rotterdam, I haven’t found a single spot where it is not noisy because there is so much traffic everywhere that it is audible inside the buildings and in all of the green park areas I found. So, there has been no possibility to properly decompress except for while sleeping at night when the sound level was okay. I am not saying there are no quiet spots at all in the city, just that I did not find any. I could only sleep after taking the ticking clock of the wall and out of the room, by the way. Such background noises which can also stem from air-conditioning as well, for example, which neurotypical people often don’t even notice can extremely stress neurodiverse people.

Neurotypical people might not realize the constant buzz and noise that intensively but many people I talked to on the second they of the event where up to their mental capacity limits due to all the input, hubbub and lack of breaks.

Creating spaces for the needs of people with neurodiversity with them

So, if we managed to create spaces which are comfortable for more sensitive people it would benefit everyone in my opinion. We would have much greener cities. It would be much quieter and more peaceful. There would be less traffic and noisy machines. It would smell well. There would be more agreeable interactions with other people. Neurotypical people would also benefit thus from more beautiful, more relaxing, healthier, safer and flourishing cities. This does not mean that there cannot be party and hubbub in certain areas and times but not everywhere all the time as it is often the normality. And I am sure that the nap and meditation room would not only be used by sensitive people either! I was told that there are nap rooms in London which you can book for a 20-minute nap during the day. I know that there are meditation and quiet corners in some alternative office and co-working spaces in Berlin. This could be taken up in other places and contexts as well.

I am not saying the HS and neurodiverse persons are ‘better’ in any way. I just say that creating spaces that cater to our needs and our senses which are more reactive to input and filter it differently would also make life more agreeable for less sensitive people and help us all to flourish.

Next time when you plan a project in a city, an event or something which you want to be agreeable for all people, make sure to have neurodiverse and highly sensitive people on board. They will bring very helpful insights to the table. And by the way, this also goes for all other groups which are usually underrepresented in at least urban planning and architecture and most other decision-making entities in our society. There is a book called Inclusify by Stefanie K. Johson which speaks of the advantages of having a diverse workforce in case you still need further arguments on the topic.

Some hints for employers and other decision-makers

For neurodiverse people, it is very important how work conditions are set up because they are more easily aroused and depending on the type of neurodiversity also more easily triggered by apparently ‘small’ inconveniences. Criticism is often taken more to heart, so it is central to phrase it in an empathetic and positive way. Instead of saying that the work was done badly and should be improved, you could ask if the person considered XYZ approach and might want to try it next time after valuing the effort they put in the task. It’s not about handling a neurodiverse person or anyone else with kid gloves but about the way we treat others in general and cater to specific neurodiverse needs. An orientation towards mistakes and failure is less helpful than a strength-based approach, for example.

It might be easier for HSP or other people on the neurodiverse spectrum to provide a comfort zone for other neurodiverse people to voice their needs in a work or other environment. Especially for neurotypical employers who might not personally understand the needs of neurodiverse people, it is important to work on creating such comfort zones. And again, providing quiet and natural areas, using biophilic design, giving enough time for breaks, communicating empathetically, etc. will benefit the neurotypical workforce as well. Generally, it’s best to ask the person concerned what would help them to feel comfortable and don’t just assume anything. There are similarities between people, but everyone is still an individual.

I would be happy to hear about your ideas, thoughts and experiences about the topic! ?

PS: For a popular culture reference, I thought about “The Rosie Project” or to be more precise the third novel in the series “The Rosie Result” by Australian novelist Graeme Simsion when writing this article. His novels have been received largely well by the autism community as the stories would depict the struggles they face properly overall. In the third novel, the main character who is neurodiverse aims to open up his own bar – one which would be agreeable for him. His plans might seem ‘strange’ for usual people going to a bar, but I could see why his set up was liked by neurodiverse people in the book – and why I found the description rather attractive myself. Highly sensitive people could have been good customers for him as well (especially for the non-alcoholic section as many of us don’t drink [much]).

PS2: This is explicitly no criticism concerning only or especially the mentioned event and city, but rather a general observation based on multiple experiences. It just got clearer these days so that I could formulate it concretely.