The rapid growth of cities comes with many challenges. How can we build green? So what can we do to improve the health and well-being of city dwellers?
This seems to involve a trade-off. Many studies show that smaller communities are better for the world, but they come with higher risks of depression.
It may not seem surprising that depression is less common in rural areas. Stress, noise, air pollution, loneliness, and lack of sunlight in the basement of high-rise buildings are just a few examples of the problems that urban dwellers face.
This may be responsible for the 39 percent increased risk of depression in urban areas in Western Europe and the US.
But it is clear that some urban areas are better than others. My colleagues and I have done a new study, published in Advances in Sciencewhich shows that people in rural areas are more depressed than those in cities.
Important things
We wanted to find out what factors were most important in mental health in order to make cities more sustainable and supportive of mental health.
A hectare can have the same number of people with very low or very high mountains. High-rises can be located in districts full of businesses or in small cities with high-rise apartments facing large green areas.
Towns, however, have a relatively low density of low-rise buildings. Which way should we follow?
Our team, including researchers from Yale University in the US, Stockholm and Gävle Universities in Sweden, and Aarhus University and the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, looked at many of the findings in our study.
Using machine learning tools, we analyzed satellite images of all buildings in Denmark over a 30-year period (1987-2017). We then divided them into different categories based on length and density.
We combined this map with residential addresses, as well as health and financial records in Denmark. This allowed us to account for factors known to increase the risk of depression, such as socioeconomic status or parents diagnosed with mental illness.
The results show that there is no clear connection between inner city areas and stress levels. This may be because living in crowded cities can provide more opportunities for socializing and socializing – which can benefit mental health.
Also, rural areas do not seem to increase the risk of mental illness. In fact, after accounting for social and economic factors, the highest risk was found in low-income and single-family communities.
Finally, high-rise buildings in central or suburban areas with access to open spaces – such as green parks or beaches – showed surprisingly low risks.
This means that an area with a high risk of mental health problems often has low density and low density areas such as single-family rural areas.
The effects of production
We hypothesize that the higher rates of depression found in remote, low-elevation areas may be due to long car rides, less crowded areas, and insufficient population density to accommodate large commercial areas where people can congregate, such as. shops, cafes, and restaurants.
But of course, there could be many other reasons, too.
This is not to say that there are no benefits to living in villages. Some people like to be alone, quiet, and have their own garden.
We hope that this study can be used as a basis for urban planning. The study does not provide further support for the expansion of car-dependent, single-family urban housing if planners want to reduce mental health issues and climate change.
A better option would be to invest in high-rise buildings where life does not depend on car ownership, combined with well-thought-out locations to increase access to beaches, canals, lakes, or city parks.
We can also improve access to urban areas and public open spaces, and ensure that areas with traffic have more places to walk.
This research shows how people live. A certain density is necessary to create recreational communities that can support shops, businesses, and public transportation and allow for redevelopment and opportunities for open space.
In Copenhagen, people drink beer or cakes and chat with friends by the canals. These areas are on the edge of shops and nature – making the area a pleasant one. Urban areas are also less vulnerable to climate change than sprawl, which is centered around traffic.
Although the study controls for income and unemployment, it is important to note that housing choices are influenced by socioeconomic factors. Waterfront or green spaces in rural areas are more expensive than outdoor homes.
Therefore, taking action to eliminate the inequality that can cause it, such as the creation of projects of various types, is necessary to ensure that the attempt to use urban planning to improve the welfare of people includes and does not contribute to gentrification or displacement of people with low income.
We recognize that the findings of this study in Denmark may not be applicable to other countries. Social and environmental aspects of mental health are culturally and geographically dependent. However, the framework developed in this study provides the basis for further research in different countries around the world.
Karen Chen, Donnelley Postdoctoral Associate in Geography, Yale University and Stephan Barthel, Principal Researcher of Urban Sustainability, Stockholm University
This article is reprinted from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the first article.
