Evolutionary Psychology/Neuroscience & Good Feelings

I love learning about how things came to be, and how things work. Recently I've been enthralled by the human brain -- how it came to be in its current evolutionary form, how it works, along with everything new we're learning about the brain with the help of technology. One might wonder what this has to do with "urban planning/design"... I believe it has a lot to do with it. Simply put, it's possible to create and design places that appeal to us and the human condition, that can grant us health and make us feel calm, safe, and happy. This theme is nothing new to my blog, but I suppose I'm coming at it from a different angle this time by looking at the brain. 

My aunt gifted me an amazing book last year for my birthday, which is essentially what sparked my interest in connections between psychology and urban planning. Written by German neurobiologist Gerald Hüther, The Compassionate Brain: How Empathy Creates Intelligence speaks on the newest science of the human brain, written like a user's-manual. We now have a better understanding of how the brain works than ever before, and the fact that the majority of us do not use this knowledge to our advantage daily is nonsense!

While the book itself is unrelated to urban planning, it gives insight to the idea that there are certain elements in our lives, from behavior to environments, that are proven to cooperate with our brain chemistry and be beneficial to our well-being.

This post is meant to introduce these ideas and open up the conversation. And more from science, environment, health -- a Washington Post article from 2007: If It Feels Good to Be Good, It Might Only Be Natural, speaking on neuroscientific discoveries about morality having biological roots. "The more researchers learn, the more it appears that the foundation of morality is empathy." Hüther argues that compassion takes empathy one step further, as the next step in the brain's evolutionary process; compassion is a current peak in intelligence. 

These two pieces of scientific literature back me up: what is or feels "right" and "wrong" is not "'handed down' by philosophers and clergy, but 'handed up,' an outgrowth of the brain's basic propensities." Whether we know it or not, and as we struggle to determine exactly what triggers those good feelings, pleasure triggers are inherent within our brains, and we're now discovering how to get there. I would like to be part of what gets us closer to some of these answers, specifically pertaining to human connections with outside city environments!  

UPDATE!

Another blurb found on another blog:

"There might be a very good reason why it's been so damn hard to make things work the 'traditional' way. What's traditional in your culture might clash very strongly with your biological and emotional makeup."

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Sources:
The Washington Post
The Compassionate Brain, Gerald Hüther
Raptitude Blog

Healthly and Equitable Density

A recent post on CEOs for Cities from Stantec senior principle David Dixon entitled "To Make Your Community Healthier, Make It Denser" contains a number of meaty statistics about the connections between health, cars, equality, and cities... fueling the reality that density saves lives:

•  1999: The Centers for Disease Control reported that inactivity and poor diet caused 300,000 deaths in the United States, second only to tobacco (CDC)
•  2008: University of Utah researchers found that men who lived in walkable neighborhoods weighed 10 pounds less than men in low-density neighborhoods (NRDC)
•  2014: Cities with more compact street networks have lower levels of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease (Journal of Transport & Health)
• Per-capita auto fatalities rise roughly 400 percent along a continuum of density from typical urban to typical suburban (Accident Analysis & Prevention)
• The United States has three to five times the amount of traffic fatalities relative to other developed countries; auto fatalities represent the #1 cause of accidental deaths in the U.S. (Source)
•  Ten percent of U.S. households control 75 percent of all U.S. wealth - the wealthy are consuming the walkable neighborhoods at a voracious rate. 
• For the first time in this country's history, more poor people live in suburbs than in cities (Source) 

"The payback from density extends beyond physical health. Walkable neighborhoods promote economic health by attracting knowledge workers and investment and promote environmental health by creating an inviting alternative to sprawl... [Yet] as we employ density to create healthy neighborhoods, we also need to employ it to create equity."

 

The Pursuit of Happiness

In an attempt to find a topic of conversation for today from the long list of websites I've bookmarked, a series of events lead me to an unusual article that is personally intriguing, but even more so, exceptionally relevant for this blog. 

An article from Boundless (an award-winning ministry of Focus on the Family) entitled "The Happiness Trap" focuses on the relationship between parenting and happiness, but I think the whole article gets at something broader and quite possibly more important when it comes to happiness. The article is by itself interesting, but I will dissect it below according to how it fits in with this blog as well as my interests.

What does the word "happiness" mean? How do we describe it? Is it an accurate word to use to describe the emotional state of an individuals' emotional state or life, or even a country or society's state of being? This is what I'm getting at: everyone is "happy" sometimes, and "sad" sometimes. So in the grand scheme of things, happiness and the state of being happy doesn't really say anything about how someone is living; furthermore, the virtue and good fortune in our lives.

Eudaimonia is the Greek word that is sometimes translated into the English word "happiness," but there is more to this word. The Greek word refers to an objective state of being: "a combination of living well (virtue) and doing well (good fortune)." The English word "happy", is very much subjective and short-term feeling, precisely what makes it challenging to define, but also nearly impossible to be able to describe an individual's life or an entire society as this. If you could chose, what would you want for society; a short term emotion of joy or long-term virtue, good fortune, and quality living.

I believe that quality living (meaning virtue, as well as good fortune) directly impacts and leads to the maximum amount of what we know as "happiness"; maximum amounts of feelings of "joy." This can ultimately enable us to be generally happy people, allowing us to spread this feeling to others and have positive interactions and effects on people. But it starts with a life of quality.

On a different but related note, one of the most backwards notions of the American culture and society is the recurring theme that money and abundance creates happiness. People can acknowledge that this is myth, yet the culture we live in unfortunately makes the pursuit of wealth and abundance on the individual scale sometimes hard to escape. The infamous words from the U.S. Declaration of Independence "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" have truly lost their meaning, or through the years have been misconstrued to the average American. Do we really have the maximum "freedom" to "pursue" a "happy" state of mind?

Happiness is not something that can be pursued. Living well and doing well is. We must help create a society that promotes the state of living virtuous and well in order to create actions of doing well in commitment to a collective betterment of all people. Then, and only then will we have a society that we can call "happy."

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"What's true of the western tradition is also true of the eastern tradition: In the Bhagavad-Gita, Lord Krishna tells the warrior Arjuna that happiness lies not in some subjective state, much less seeking after our own satisfaction, but rather from a whole-hearted pursuit of goodness and harmony (sattva) and practice of spiritual disciplines (yoga)."

Eudaimonia defined by Google: (also known as Eudaemonism) a Greek word, which refers to a state of having a good indwelling spirit or being in a contented state of being healthy, happy and prosperous. In moral philosophy, eudaimonia is used to refer to the right actions as those that result in the well-being of an individual.

Check out this Opinion Article from the New York Times about "Loving People, Not Pleasure" and the association between money and happiness.

Early Observations of San Francisco

It's hard to believe I visited San Francisco this past January 2015 before taking the real plunge in moving to the city the following month. I had been here once before in September 2011 for a tournament with my college soccer team (doesn't count, right?). Little did I know I would be back to stay, and so quick to fall in love with this place for so many reasons. The above picture was taken in January because I was so exited to finally be here and to start making observations on the minute details of the city that I have such an eye for. Unfortunately, I haven't had many pictures to follow this (hence my falling behind on intended posts). And there was also the whole "finding a place to live in the most expensive and housing-competitive city in the country" that was a distracting priority. It's almost as if I've stopped noticing many of the details that make this city amazing, and maybe that was okay too, because that's exactly what makes life in here that great. Natives or people who are accustomed to this lifestyle may not understand what makes this place tick. People who just experience living here shorter term question why they would ever leave and ask what was so wrong (different) about back home.
On a different note, that may be the best part: the chance to be and become a part of the routine, because I notice these things. I won't ever fail to recognize that I am living in what is quite possibly the closest to my dream world, every single day. These realizations have created the opportunity for me to be more conscious and mindful of what I do and see on a daily basis, with the goal of sharing my experiences here on this blog.

Some of my first observations of this city:

• The "Green Wave" that has traffic signals set for 13 mph - the average speed of a bike. Convenience for bikes is favored over cars.  
• The density. San Francisco is 7 miles by 7 miles. It's a growing city. Everything must be built close, in between, or on top of something else.
• That makes it really easy to walk, bike, transit, etc. places (the most you would ever need to travel to get from one end of the city to the other is... 7 miles!)
• Suburban sprawl doesn't and physically cannot exist. Therefore big box stores and parking lots do not exist (my biggest eyesores!)
• Public transportation is almost too easy. So much variety! The electric buses are cool and it shows that the city cares about air pollution.
• It's annoying and expensive to own a car here. Parking? Traffic? No thanks. 
• Then again people love their benz and beamers...money. But there are also many homeless people - the whole range is present.
• I expected more bicyclists. In my opinion, not enough people bike and/or the city could be doing more for bike commuters. Catering for hobby cyclists and tourists?
• The neighborhoods (!!) filled with contrasting vibes and people that allow the blending of diverse communities together.
• Oh yeah, and the weather is phenomenal.

For those of you who still check back and follow, thanks for sticking with me! Much much more to come,

Kristin

A Bicycle Culture: The Facts

1. The bicycle is the most efficient mode of transportation

Not only is a bicycle the most efficient mode of transportation, but biking can also be the most convenient and safest ways to a destination. This is very dependent on the local biking infrastructure and policies (to be continued...).

2. For mental health, biking or walking to work is psychologically better for you

According to a study by a group of health economists in the UK, active commuting (biking and/or walking) contributes to improved well being, better concentration at work, and less stress.

Psychological health: for the purposes of this study, the research team looked at aspects including feelings of worthlessness, unhappiness, sleepless nights, and being unable to face problems. Factors such as income, children, moving house or job, and relationship changes were also factors. 

Commute time is also important: "our study shows that the longer people spend commuting in cars, the worse their psychological well being. And correspondingly, people feel better when they have a longer walk to work." 

This information has recently been covered by BBC. 

 3. Biking is great for your body and health

Okay, this one is obvious, but "being and staying healthy" and "public health" are hot topics these days! How can we improve our physical health (along with mental health)? Simple: hop on a bike

What so many people don't realize is that, say you live relatively close to work and you commute to work by bike a few times a week. Forget going to the gym or feeling the need to work out -- you've got your daily or weekly exercise out of the way, without making it an extra chore. Seamlessly improving personal health.

In fact, Women's Health states that "half of American workers live within five miles of their workplace, according to the most recent National Household Transportation Survey. That's a totally doable 20-minute ride each way. If you live close to your office, you can pedal to work twice a week and burn up to 3,000 extra calories—close to one pound of fat—each month."

If you live close to work and are able to, try out the bike commute and see how you like it. You're going to have to get to work one way or another, you might as well burn calories while you do it! 

4. Commuting by bike is great for your wallet

Forbes notes that in the U.S. bicyclists can save "at least $4.6 billion a year by riding instead of driving."

A car comes with expenses like gas, maintenance, oil, and insurance. Not to mention that it's not an investment in the slightest: the value of a vehicle drops significantly the second you drive it off the lot. A bike has the initial cost of a couple hundred dollars, but after that, the maintenance and equipment costs are so minimal compared to that of a car. Plus you can usually always get front row parking with a bike.

5. Biking reduces traffic congestion and air pollution in cities 

Who doesn't want to breathe cleaner and healthier air, and reduce travel time in cars? Enough said. 

6. The Dutch lead the way for biking and walking, followed by Denmark and Germany - the U.S. has work to do

Copenhagen winter, image via Copenhagenize

And it's not like these 3 top countries have extraordinarily great weather year-round, either...

I am lucky to have lived (and be a current resident) in 2 of the 3 top countries for biking! I love to bike and walk, so it works out great for me.

Sources and more:
Reasons to Ride 
Exploratorium 
Rutgers.edu 
Rudi.net 
Copenhagenize 
Women's Health 
Science Daily 
Share the Road 
Mint.com 
Forbes 
Psych Central 
Science Daily 
Biking: A proven stress reliever
Forbes - The Costs and Savings of Bicycle Commuting 
How Much Money Can I Save Biking to Work?

"Cities of the Future should be Designed with Well Being in Mind"

An article from December 2012 in the Guardian states "perhaps the key challenge of the 21st century is to improve our well being - to ensure we are happy as well as healthy. After all, what is the point of living a long life if we do not enjoy it?" I believe she is right.

Currently, a majority of the world's population lives in urban areas. This percentage is expected to grow, as economic incentives pull people into urban areas. Cities must figure out how to accommodate a growing population without sacrificing fundamentals to a healthy and happy life. I also want to argue that one of the most important factors in growing urban areas is being able to maintain a place's unique sense of identity, allowing the creation or build-upon a community feel.

New models for the future are starting to develop. Well-designed urban villages, homes, and spaces that create and help build a sense of community incorporate some of the following features:

• pedestrian-oriented
• "high quality environments" - inclusion of shops, restaurants and other local facilities
• homes with space for family members to eat and relax together
• natural light
• green views
• "right" proximity to neighbors
• safe streets
• neighborhoods with destinations
• unique places with their own identities

We should focus on making better use of our existing spaces. We do not need to take advantage of the fact that space is not a limiting factor in the United States. The issue seems to be with the quality and character of the space, not the amount. 

"Imagine a world where homes, streets and neighbourhoods make you feel good about yourself, help you reach your potential, keep you healthy and safe, and support you in making good relationships. This is my vision for the housing of the future - the pursuit of well being and creation of spaces that help us to flourish." This quote from the author of the Guardian article, Elizabeth Burton, who is a professor of sustainable building design and well being at the University of Warwick, captures it all.

I like to imagine places that simply make you feel good. My intention with this blog is to explore what some of those contributing factors might be.

Source:
The Guardian

Check out the 2014 United Nations World Urbanization Prospects:
http://esa.un.org/unpd/wup/Highlights/WUP2014-Highlights.pdf