There's data showing that in the USA, the happiness gradient increases as people live further out - in the rural areas (Okulicz-Kozaryn & Berry, 2011). Having said this, the happiness of Americans is also known to plateau at a certain wealth level, and it seems that there's some sort of correlation between urban wealth and happiness - to a point, which then reverses, seeing people off into the periphery again (Montgomery 2013). This may explain why the US situation is contradicted in much of Europe and Asia. But what drives this? Is there a way we can locate this magical threshold? And what does it have to do with the city, with suburbia and rural and remote areas? Is it the quality of the environments and what they offer inhabitants?
It's also interesting that the charter of New Urbanism appears to tackle this issue by making cities better for inhabitants. Does this raise the threshold? (CNU., 2001)
There are also neural correlates that are being discovered that fascinate me - especially in Europe, where this phenomena is being taken seriously. Really interesting correlates, that have implications for mental health (Pedersen, Mortensen & Preben, 2001;Haddad, Schafer, et al., 2014). Oft times this data is only taken from an isolated city or rural area, and therefore may be tainted by uncontrolled variables, like the quality of social housing or by the dominance of a single industry.
MIKKO WECKROTH ([email protected]) has studied the problem: SUBJECTIVE WELLBEING AND HAPPINESS INSIDE A CITY REGION – URBAN VILLAGES AND GATED COMMUNITIES. I quote:
"Aim of the study was to acquire knowledge about personal values and preconditions happiness is based on. Furthermore, moving into certain community and the desired characteristics of a neighbourhood contributing happiness, were defined to represent these values as well Instrumentalization of the concepts “happiness” and “subjective wellbeing” was constructed as a synthesis composing from Erik Allardts "loving", "having" and "being", Ed Dieners subjective wellbeing SWB and Aristotelian virtue of ethics. These components were transformed into an internet based questionnaire which was delivered to the residents of the neighbourhoods to be studied. As a research framework for comparative case study, juxtapositioning was constructed between a secluded post-suburban “gated community” located among the orbital roads of the metropolitan area, and more heterogeneous “urban village” better attached to existing urban structure. Results indicate that there can be found some differences concerning both self-reported levels and perceived preconditions for happiness effecting in neighborhoods studied. All of this variance cannot be explained through socioeconomical variables. Results thereby suggest that cultural orientation can be seen as determinant for evaluating the components of happiness as well as locating choices."
This is done in Finland.
I would say it depends on the place and society. In some places, happiness can be more accessible to those who live in larger cities. Elsewhere, may be more accessible for those living in mid-sized cities. And I would say there are places where it would be in the countryside.
That seems evident - but what are the most significant factors? Dr Ewalds-Kvist found a study showing that personal values are significant - but I see something larger emerging here: some people find greater happiness in more diverse and higher density areas. These people seem to find happiness from exogenous stimulation, whereas others find greater happiness in the peace and quiet they find in relative isolation. On a personal level, I find the former easy to understand, but the latter raises really interesting questions: what is it about the suburban block that makes the endogenous peace more important than exogenous stimulation? For (Morganroth, 2003) it was the constant noise and pollution of construction associated with gentrification that was the driver.
Morganroth, Linda. (2003). Divorcing the CIty. In E. Buchwald (Ed.), Toward the Livable City. Minneapolis: Milkweed Editions.
Some papers from the perspective of Regional Studies
EASTERLIN R. A., ANGELESCU L. and ZWEIG J. S. (2011) The Impact of Modern Economic Growth on Urban–Rural Differences in Subjective Well-Being, World Development 39, 2187-98.
MORRISON P. S. (2011) Local Expressions of Subjective Well-being: The New Zealand Experience, Regional Studies 45, 1039.
KNIGHT J. and GUNATILAKA R. (2010) Great Expectations? The Subjective Well-being of Rural–Urban Migrants in China, World Development 38, 113-24.
SORENSEN, JENS (2014) Rural–Urban Differences in Life Satisfaction:
Evidence from the European Union, Regional Studies, 48:9
Thanks for your answers, Deepak, Cecillia and Mikko,
For some reason this is the first notification I've received that you guys responded to my question.
Deepak, there's an odd thing that happens in India - you may say the the rural idyl's the life there, but India is the only known place in the world where the incidence of psychosis is lower in the surrounding country than the city - the city is Chandigarh, so it is an outlier in many ways... curious.
Cecillia - they're is a feature of historic districts that make them good urban places. THey were all designed at a time when people had to walk, because there were no cars, and horses were time consuming to saddle up and expensive to keep. They were thus designed for pedestrians. Furthermore, all the historic cities built in parts of the world with a strong European influence, and until Modernism, that meant humanistic. Even the enlightenment was humanist relative to what's happened since the turn of the C20...
Mikko - I'll look up those references, if I can find them and thanks so much for that.
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