The Suburbs are Ruining Your Mental and Physical Health

Suburbs socially isolate people and discourage active transportation, leading to poor mental and physical health. Walking, cycling, and public transit are better for your mood and stress, and make you more naturally active. Driving on the other hand is stressful and leads to a higher risk of depression. Bland car-centric cities full of corporations and chains are ugly and boring, which makes us less happy compared to lively neighbourhoods with smaller local mom-and-pop shops.

➜ References/further reading:
The Happy City Experiment
   • The happy city experiment | Charles M...  

The general theory of walkability
   • The general theory of walkability | J...  

The Gym of Life
   • The Gym of Life  

Large-scale physical activity data
https://cs.stanford.edu/people/jure/p...

COVID-19 Commuting Survey
https://urbanstudies.uva.nl/content/b...

Cycling and walking to work lowers risk of cancer, heart disease and death
https://theconversation.com/cycling-a...

Longer commute times increases risk of depression
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science...

What if we can design transit to improve our health?
https://www.wsp.com/en-ca/insights/ca...

Are cars the new tobacco?
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21610...

The Dutch are the most physically active nation
https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/dutch-are...

The hidden ways that architecture affects how you feel
https://uwaterloo.ca/psychology/news/...

Facts + Statistics: Aggressive driving
https://www.iii.org/fact-statistic/fa...

Cycling, car, or public transit: a study of stress and mood upon arrival at work
https://www.emerald.com/insight/conte...

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➜ Timestamps:
0:00 Social connections are important
1:00 Why suburbia exists
1:26 Suburbs are isolating
3:23 "The happy city" experiment
4:31 Bland spaces suck
5:15 Americans are fat and lazy
6:36 Mall walkers
7:03 Driving is depressing
7:51 Road rage
8:57 We can do better

-flurf
#urbanplanning #urbandesign #urbanism