WW 12: A new season

What's next for Wellwatching

To my Wellwatching readers,

Hello. It’s been a while. I hope you find yourself well - whatever that means to you - in spite of the unrelenting madness of the world we currently find ourselves in. 

I’ve been quiet on here as I think about my evolving curiosities and personal/professional direction, and what they mean for Wellwatching. As we shake off the cold and darkness, I’m finally ready to update you.

In October of last year, I kicked off the ‘Places and Spaces’ mini-series within this newsletter, dedicated to what I’ve come to define as the places and spaces, both physical and digital, that help us feel well. It felt like the topic warranted more than a single conversation, given how vast and interconnected it is.

The inspiration for this formed part of my wellbeing journey from the start. Before I had language for what I now understand as the built environment, urban design, placemaking and related fields, this space had captured my interest. As I mentioned in my first Places and Spaces interview,

In my journey exploring the wellness industry and how we seek to achieve wellbeing over the past few months - both within and beyond this newsletter - I keep returning to the places and spaces that act as the containers for our experience of ‘being well.’ They bring multiple aspects of wellbeing together - physical, emotional, mental; public and private; individual and communal - where the sum ultimately becomes greater than its parts. I’m fascinated by how places and spaces, both physical and digital, continue to evolve to help us feel well.

With the concurrent thrusts of rising urbanisation, growth of single living, the mental health crisis and our dissociation from the natural world, ensuring that spaces support physical, mental, cultural and communal wellbeing could not be more important - or exciting. 

From now on, this will be the sole focus of Wellwatching (as well as my professional work and future studies - more on that later). I hope you’ll stick along for the ride.

As ever, if you know anyone working at the intersection of wellbeing x placemaking, the built environment and/or urban planning who I should speak to, I’d love an introduction.

I can’t wait to share this new season of Wellwatching with you - stay tuned.

Alex