Abstract

Interpreting healing environments as contributing to maintenance of good health, biologically, mentally, spiritually and socially, this research-based paper focuses on stress relieving in in-between-cities (IBCs). It describes existing phenomena termed ‘narrability’, defined as an inter-subjective life-world, enhanced and experienced through mobility. It is a distinct experience of a real place, through actual movement on foot, bicycle, motorcycle, car, etc., interwoven with images, memories and narratives of a group or a social network from other spaces and time-periods, not necessarily contiguous with present space and time. The research describes how ‘narrability’ actually uses various strategies to cope with stress. It concludes with a proposal to employ ‘narrability’ as a strategy for physical and interdisciplinary planning intervention.