Towards a neurodiverse planning theory and practice

Since the emergence of the neurodiversity movement a few decades ago and its emphasis on neurocognitive differences rather than ‘deficits’, the impact of the living environment on the everyday lives of neurodivergent individuals has been central to the community’s pursuit of inclusion and participation. The built environment, as the physical setting in which these experiences unfold, is therefore of particular relevance to these pursuits. As such, urban planning, alongside related disciplines concerned with the material and spatial organisation of the built environment, has an important role to play in advancing this agenda. Despite this, urban planning theory and practice have largely failed to engage with neurodiversity and its call for the recognition of difference within shared urban environments. Drawing on scholarship on the urban politics of difference, this commentary calls for the integration of neurodiversity into urban planning theory and practice, initiating a debate for a neurodiverse planning theory and practice with the aim of informing future theoretical development and empirical research.