Cities of neurodiversity: New directions for an urban geography of neurodiversity

Abstract

This paper calls for a research agenda that attends to neurodiversity in the city. I argue for the need to better understand the variety of lived urban experiences of those who identify as neurodiverse and for these voices to be integrated into urban planning and policy. This argument is made in response to the limited research within geography and urban studies on neurodiversity. This paper will consider the significance of recognising and researching the multiplicity of neurodiversity in the city, especially as there are emerging initiatives for autism-friendly cities, which require research attention and critique. This paper illustrates how appreciating the significance of neurologically diverse encounters, practices, and behaviours in cities is essential for including and accommodating neurodiversity in the city. Using theoretical framings of feminist geography, I argue for the use of intersectionality as an analytical tool to progress this research agenda, together with the use of embodied, experiential, and even multi-sensory research methods, allowing carefully considered contributions to urban planning and policy, as well as discourse on caring and restorative cities.