Do cities make us rude?
They might, according to social scientists interviewed by BBC podcast the Why Factor, but that isn’t necessarily city dwellers’ fault. In fact, the design of streets and neighborhoods plays a big role in how people behave.
Marten Sims, an urban design specialist at Happy City Lab, says his research has shown that urban residents are much more likely to help a lost tourist, if the street they’re on feels safe and welcoming. The presence of stores, places to sit, interesting things to look at all bring out pleasant behavior. An “inactive edge,” or streetscapes with big glass or brick walls, scarce doorways or boarded-up windows bring out our inner grouch.
The design of neighborhoods is something we focus on a lot at Regional Plan Association.
We’ve spent a lot of time exploring how urban form influences individuals’ health, and plan to make a series of recommendations in our forthcoming regional plan, A Region Transformed, on how communities can deploy designs, from safely walkable streets to attractive staircases to well-maintained open spaces, that can have improve health outcomes.
“We know now that the places where we live, work and play have a profound impact on our overall health and well-being, as well as on the ability to make healthy lifestyle decisions,” says Mandu Sen, who is formulating RPA’s recommendations for healthy and successful communities along with our colleagues.
Nice streetscapes and buildings can’t improve behavior, health and happiness on their own, of course. As the Why Factor points out, urban residents can be standoffish because they have to hustle to keep up, both literally and figuratively, in hyper-competitive environments. And cities get a bad rap for on-the-ground rudeness, social psychologist Elle Boag tells the podcast. After all, urban areas tend to be very welcoming to newcomers – as long as they aren’t blocking your path on the sidewalk.
Photo: Adrian Cabrero