Slog
News & ArtsMonday, June 27, 2011
Architecture Cities Are Made for Humans
Posted by Charles Mudede on Mon, Jun 27, 2011 at 9:19 AM
A reader, Haar, requested my take on this story:
Researchers have discovered that two areas of the brain are directly affected by city living, leading to a greater risk of anxiety and mood disorders.My take? It has to be nonsense. It just can't be true. Why would living in city cause you stress? Or, at least, more stress than living in a forest with angry bears and hungry big cats? Indeed, baboons are stressed by this kind of living, living in a state of nature. The city is totally human. The steps in an apartment building are for human feet, the door knobs afford human hands, the bed is for a human back (a horse would crush a mattress, abhor a toilet bowl), the window is there for you, the streets are paved for your modes of transportation. This urban world didn't fall on you; it sprang from you. The woods are alienating. The river hates you. The water flowing from a tap in the kitchen loves you so much. The city is a humanized river. From Chengerai Hove’s novel/poem Bones: “If the city is so frightening as you say… why are so many people living there?”It was already known that city living is associated with poorer mental health - but not how or why. The new study provides some clues.
"The risk for anxiety disorders is 21 percent higher for people from the city, who also have a 39 percent increase for mood disorders," says co-author Jens Pruessner, a researcher at McGill's Douglas Mental Health University Institute in Montreal.
2
My guess: People. I think dealing with so many people is highly stressful. You have love, sex, hostility, bosses, customers, traffic, police, theft, assaults, etc., etc.
3
I like living in the city more than not, but you know what's stressful to me? Some girl got abducted, beaten and raped when she was walking 2 blocks from where I live. Sometimes humans are less than rational and that is stressful.
And you know, they have door knobs and beds in country houses.
And you know, they have door knobs and beds in country houses.
4
I'm with @2, but I think additionally it's about encountering a thousand people you don't know each day and trying to present the most acceptable public face possible to all of them.
5
I presume the researchers compared living in a city to some sort of pastoral environment - not to a "state of nature." A pastoral environment is no less designed for our comfort and excess than a city, but apparently makes one less prone to certain mental illnesses...
6
@2 @4 But some people, like me, feel much better when other people are around. We may not like every single person we run across in a city or every sight/sound/smell they produce, but having people within earshot is much better for me than not having them around. When I'm out in the country or, worse, the suburbs, with no other humans in sight, I feel scared and depressed.
7
Just because the city was built by humans, it doesn't mean that its the best environment for human well-being.
8
I found living in the city very stressful, so I can relate to this study. I simply can't deal with living surrounded by so many people.
And there's sociological evidence for how many people we can handle being around, as well:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar%27s_…
And there's sociological evidence for how many people we can handle being around, as well:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar%27s_…
9
Desk chairs were built by humans, for humans, and yet sitting all day at work does horrific damage to the human body.
Why, it's almost as if we are not benevolent gods, omnisciently making all the correct choices for our own well-being...
Why, it's almost as if we are not benevolent gods, omnisciently making all the correct choices for our own well-being...
10
Charles, I think there's some intermediate step between living in a city and living in the woods...what's it called again? Wait, I've got it...it's called a "small town"!
Pretty sure that's what the authors of the study are getting at...don't think they're advocating we go live among man-eating lions to lower our stress level.
Pretty sure that's what the authors of the study are getting at...don't think they're advocating we go live among man-eating lions to lower our stress level.
11
Perhaps people with mental health problems move to the city because there is better access to quality mental health care.
13
I don't want to live in the city - but this is where the money/food is.
City = loud, stinky, crowded, unnatural and stressy.
City = loud, stinky, crowded, unnatural and stressy.
14
I feel much safer in the city than I do in suburbia, the country, or the wild. And, safer in an apartment building than I do living in a house in the city. Part of this is probably from living in Seattle, which no one thinks of as a dangerous city. Part of it is that there are that many more people around to hear if I scream for help, and more potential witnesses if anything happens. Apparently the film industry agrees with me, since most horror films happen in a small town, suburbia, or the country.
15
Um, exact opposite for me.
I grew up in country/suburbs and hated it. With a passion.
I've tried vacationing in complete country: boring.
Cities are the story of civilization, and totally wonderful.
I grew up in country/suburbs and hated it. With a passion.
I've tried vacationing in complete country: boring.
Cities are the story of civilization, and totally wonderful.
16
My guess, coyotes.
Coyotes roam "our" cities and eat our cats and dogs.
Their death cries keep us awake at night.
Coyotes roam "our" cities and eat our cats and dogs.
Their death cries keep us awake at night.
18
Charles, I loved reading that bit of rumination and intend to read it aloud to my architecture students this very afternoon. Lovely.
Although I love regular doses of the quiet and the smell of the wilds, I also feel more secure in cities. Cities are human.
Although I love regular doses of the quiet and the smell of the wilds, I also feel more secure in cities. Cities are human.
20
@10 I can't imagine ever feeling less stressed in a small town than I do in a city. Aside from all the other benefits of cities, small towns, like where I grew up, are full of obnoxious, nosey, judgemental assholes. Cities, like Montreal (where I live now and where this study was done), are beautiful and anonymous. Despite the stereotypes, I find strangers to be infinitely friendlier in big cities than they are in small towns, and they're much less stressful to deal with.
I've always been confused by this weird pastoral longing that some people seem to have. I would miss civilization way too much.
I've always been confused by this weird pastoral longing that some people seem to have. I would miss civilization way too much.
21
Of course city living is more stressful - spend enough time in the country and you end up content to sit around doing nothing but scratching your nuts all day.
22
@15, 20: We're happy for you that you prefer cities. But nobody is staying cities suck and small towns are better. Just that cities can cause more stress and anxiety. Seems reasonable, when you place hundreds of thousands of people living in close quarters. Of course, you (and obviously many of us) balance that against the many benefits of living in a city.
23
so it's either living in the city in an apartment or living in the forest amongst the animals? god charles, you are a supreme idiot. i will tell you this...i work in this filthy city, and i wouldn't live here if you paid me. i have a 2200 square foot home on 2 acres of lovely land with a beautiful creek running through it. it goes a long way to countering the stress that the city provides me every day.
24
Charles, you live in beautiful Seattle. Seattle is an outlier when it comes to cities. I really enjoy your writing.
25
People who can't deal with people move to the country or the suburbs. People who can deal with people and thrive on a little stress do well in the city.
The suburbs are actually becoming more stressful than the city from my own experience. The driving commute in traffic, the driving to the store, the lack of walkable neighborhoods, the lack of genuine interaction with other people all make the suburbs the worst of both experiences. But, you do have a lawn. That needs mowing.
The suburbs are actually becoming more stressful than the city from my own experience. The driving commute in traffic, the driving to the store, the lack of walkable neighborhoods, the lack of genuine interaction with other people all make the suburbs the worst of both experiences. But, you do have a lawn. That needs mowing.
26
It was only a few years ago that the majority of the world's population became urban rather than rural. It's also only been a few hundred years since there were any cities with populations of a million or more. How long have homo sapiens been around again?
If we have an urban future, there's going to be some adjustments to make.
If we have an urban future, there's going to be some adjustments to make.
27
25, maybe it's more like people who don't want to deal with people live in rural settings. i would fall under that categorization. i went to college, got a good job, and i make decent money. i could live in the city if i chose to, but i'm not a huge fan of noise, pollution, crime, density, filth, etc. sure, i put up with all those on a daily basis at my job in the city, and on any occasion when i wish to experience all the culture that the city has to offer. but for my own sanity i choose to live somewhere more peaceful. for me it's worth the drive. to reiterate, i can deal with people just fine, thank you. i just choose not to...
oh, and i like to mow my lawn. it's good exercise. but i much prefer maintaining the trails in my forest with my machete.
oh, and i like to mow my lawn. it's good exercise. but i much prefer maintaining the trails in my forest with my machete.
28
"This urban world didn't fall on you; it sprang from you." I love this. Yes. This is what people miss when they complain that cities are bad for us or somehow make us less human. The city is us. They are what they are because we are what we are.
29
@27 said: "i can deal with people just fine, thank you. i just choose not to..."
@27 meant to say: "i can deal with (black) people just fine, thank you. i just choose not to..."
ha! Just kidding! But I do want to point out that by choosing to avoid people (of any color, though you did point to "crime" as a reason) what you're actually admitting to is that you can't deal with people and so seek a refuge from them. Exactly my point about people, like you, who can't deal with people choosing to move away from the city.
@27 meant to say: "i can deal with (black) people just fine, thank you. i just choose not to..."
ha! Just kidding! But I do want to point out that by choosing to avoid people (of any color, though you did point to "crime" as a reason) what you're actually admitting to is that you can't deal with people and so seek a refuge from them. Exactly my point about people, like you, who can't deal with people choosing to move away from the city.
Advertisement
Most Commented on Slog
-
Hating People Doesn't Make Them Thinner by Jen Graves
-
Los Angeles Gay Bar Bans Bachelorette Parties Until Marriage Equality Is Attained by David Schmader
-
Fill in the Blank by Grant Brissey
-
This Reminds Me of the Great Calculator Scare of the Late '70s/Early '80s by David Schmader
-
The Sunday Morning News by Unpaid Intern
-
Idiot Tries to Defend Bigoted Anti-Gay-Marriage Preacher on Anderson Cooper by Paul Constant
-
Six Moms with Too Much Time on Their Hands and a Shitty Website Decide to Fight Gay Superheroes by Paul Constant
-
Former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-WY) Says Members of His Party Have Rocks for Brains by Charles Mudede
-
The Saturday Morning News by Unpaid Intern
-
What the Hell Is Wrong With Seattle's Pride Parade? by Dominic Holden
RSS
Facebook
Twitter
Comments (29) RSS