How India can Support Teenage Girls’ Mental Wellbeing via Inclusion of Park Planning through Digital Engagement

This paper examines how teenage girls’ use of digital governance in planning parks can support mental well-being in India by drawing on existing sources and lessons learned from Scotland’s approach. United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 11.7 calls for inclusive public spaces worldwide. However, both Scotland and India provide opportunities for mediocre engagement of teenage girls, allowing a lack of inclusivity in parks, fostering smartphone dependence, social isolation, and the downfall of mental well-being (Hindustan Times, 2016; Make Space for Girls, 2023a). Park professionals within the United Kingdom appear oblivious to this issue: 89% believe parks cater to everyone, but only 22% of teenage girls agree (Baker et al., 2022). Meanwhile, Indian parks seem predominantly male-centric. Boys in India use parks to age ~20, but girls stop using them at ~12 (Hindustan Times, 2016).Previous digital engagements by Scotland and the United Nations, such as Minecraft, feel male-oriented. Instead, India can empower girls’ digital skills using other governance engagements like social media and games. This paper aims to deepen the understanding of how inadequate park provisions have contributed to well-being issues among teenage girls in Scotland and how India could address similar challenges through a proposed digital strategy. The paper will first explore barriers to sufficient park planning within Scotland and India and how these barriers impact the mental well-being and future outcomes of teenage girls. A proposed digital strategy for India will be presented, which aims to implement more parks suitable for teenage girls through digital governance and engagement, drawing on lessons from Scotland’s experiences.