Singapore is pioneering mental health tourism, opening 16 therapeutic gardens to soothe visitors with autism, dementia, anxiety, and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). By 2030, it plans to have 30 free gardens, designed with input from scientists to gently stimulate human senses of smell, touch, taste, hearing, and sight, says Singapore’s National Parks Board (NPB).

Unique features include ultra-violet light mazes, confidence-building lookouts, memory-triggering signage, immune-boosting horticulture zones, and wheelchair obstacle courses, the NPB states. The layouts were influenced by neuroscientists and psychologists, who studied the brain activity of 92 visitors to Singapore’s first therapeutic garden, HortPark. They found this site offered greater mental health benefits than regular gardens, helping improve mood, regulate emotions, lower stress, and reduce body inflammation. 

Therapeutic gardens are a public health measure and key to Singapore’s goal aim of becoming one of the world’s top wellness destinations. In a tourism sense, wellness often refers merely to spa treatments, Singapore’s approach is more scientific. Art therapy galleries, flotation treatment centers, curative light studios, and healing parks are among the