I’ve said it before and I’m sure I’ll say it again: our built environment is contributing to a mental health crisis.
The built environment as we know it – buildings and the spaces between them – causes direct damage to our minds. Communities developed slowly for thousands of years, but in 20th century America, the end of World War II sparked a population and building boom.
Land use planning has had devastating consequences for Americans – economically, socially and culturally. But I’m not a doomer and I know these things can be solved. Not reversible overnight, but certainly repairable.
Spread us out
Typical land use regulations are written, updated and enforced at the local government level. Agencies have copied each other over the years, because why wouldn’t they? Much of what I learned as an adult (podcasting, publishing, propaganda, etc.) was learned by generous people who had learned tips and tricks themselves. So government agencies have obviously copied each other. “Hey, that worked for a similar river town. Let’s try it here.”
Planning departments at the city and county levels had no intention of directing development in a way that would purposefully harm us. On the contrary. If a new Sears distribution center were to come to town, they would want to map out a plan to accommodate all the new employees and subsequent traffic. In the mid-20th century, planners were still very concerned about separating dirty and/or hazardous land uses from residential areas.
The result was that local development rules across the country required or encouraged development patterns that spread everyone and everything across the landscape: work zone, school zone, shopping zone, entertainment zone, and sleep zone. And then each main category started to have more prescriptive subcategories. “Residential” changed to single-family homes, multi-family homes (apartments), and apartments. But wait, there’s more!
Residential land use was regulated by local governments based on plot size: garden apartments, planned unit developments and subdivisions were all regulated. Residential use was also regulated by the types of people living in a place: public housing, group homes, age-restricted housing, tenants, and owners.
Promoting sprawl
Local regulations caused (and continue to cause) sprawl in cities and suburbs. Land use planning requires traffic engineering analysis, a process that prioritizes vehicle movements above all else. Wider roads and intersections are not only suggested but necessary, for the express purpose of allowing vehicular traffic to flow from zone to zone as quickly as possible. When in doubt, they add more highways. This has been happening for almost 100 years – without taking a foot off the brake.
Cars and loneliness
The obvious result of modern land use planning is that Americans drive everywhere all the time. Not just commuting, but all errands before, during and after work. Half of our car journeys are less than a few kilometers long. A quarter is less than a mile. Less than a mile yourself in a car.
Driving is forced on Americans as the only reasonable way to get around. For most, it’s terrifying or deadly to walk or bike, even to errands less than a mile away. We are in a car-first environment because of the organized zones developed by planners and approved by local leaders. Living in a single-occupancy car has its perks, like singing along to music or listening to podcasts uninterrupted. It also has its pains, such as separation from other people and mental decline.
Loneliness is an important variable that influences depression. It is a predisposing factor. Cigna performed a study of 20,000 Americans and reported a stunning finding: Nearly half of adults feel alone sometimes or always. More than 40% say their relationships are not meaningful and they feel isolated. Actual and perceived social isolation are linked to premature death. Your mind tells your body that it’s just not worth living.
Julianne Holt-Lunstad is a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Brigham Young University. She says the health risks resulting from missing social connection are like smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Even worse, there is one causal relationship between social isolation and suicide. Conversely, having a crew (“social support” in doctor’s jargon) has a protective effect against suicide. For every suicide attempt, another twenty people attempted suicide.
What to do
So what do you do with all this heavy information?
First of all, remember that the built environment is deliberately designed to allow us to drive from zone to zone with cars. Planners are not trying to destroy our minds, but the built environment increases anxiety, depression, isolation, loneliness and suicide. People are not meant to be alone all the time. Even if you’re transporting kids from school to soccer, to the tutor, to dinner, or whatever, you’re isolated from social interactions. The kids watch videos or scroll through their phones.
Second, understand that land use catastrophes are reversible. Compact development won’t be legalized overnight, but reforms can happen as quickly as local leaders want. You don’t have to wait for a national referendum or for the president to represent your favorite team. Walkable, bike-friendly and public transport-friendly places are good medicine, and are made possible at the local level.
Third, share your car life stories with me. I’m making a documentary about unhealthy infrastructure. In particular, I focus on the ways in which our minds and bodies break down because of the way places and spaces are planned and constructed. If you want to share what it’s like to be dependent on a car, or what it’s like to wait 45 minutes for a bus, I’m all ears.
Finally, know that things will get better eventually. The mental health crisis is tragic, but we can turn it around with something as boring as land use planning reform.
#built #environment #exacerbating #loneliness #crisis