Urbanism and happiness: A test of Wirth’s theory of urban life

• Published in: Urban studies (Edinburgh, Scotland) Scotland), 2018-02, Vol.55 (2), p.349-364
• Main Authors: Okulicz-Kozaryn, Adam, Mazelis, Joan Maya
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Blame; Cities; Crime; Density; Disease control; Happiness; Health behavior; Health services; Population density; Poverty; Prevention; Quality of life; Risk behavior; Risk factors; Risk taking; Rural urban relations; Social problems; Social scientists; Socioeconomic factors; Surveillance; Surveillance systems; Urban areas; Urban crime; Urban poverty; Urban studies; Urbanism; Well being
• ISSN: 0042-0980; 1360-063X
• DOI: 10.1177/0042098016645470

Social scientists have long studied the effects of cities on human wellbeing and happiness. This article demonstrates that people in cities are less happy, confirming a long-standing argument in the literature. But it had not yet been tested whether it is urbanism that negatively affects happiness, or if urban problems such as crime and poverty are to blame. Wirth posited that urbanism itself led to negative effects, but Fischer noted the necessity of empirical tests of Wirth’s ideas. This study uses a happiness measure to provide a new look at the old question of urban unhappiness. Using the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we aim to untangle the effects of the city itself and urban problems on happiness in the USA. We find that the core characteristics of urban life (in particular size and density) contribute to urban unhappiness, controlling for urban problems. Urban unhappiness persists regardless of urban characteristics. 社会科学研宄者一直在研宄城市对人类福祉和幸福感的影响。本文证明城市里的人们确实不那 么幸福，印证了研宄文献中长期存在的一个论点。但到底是都市生活对幸福感产生了负面影响, 还是应归咎于犯罪和贫困等贫困问题，这一点尚未得到验证。沃斯(Wirth)认为都市生活本身 导致了负面影响，但费歇尔（Fischer)指出有必要对沃斯思想进行实证检验。本研宄采用了一项 幸福度指标来重新审视都市生活之不幸感的旧问题。我们使用美国疾病控制和预防中心的行为 风险因素监测系统，旨在厘清城市本身和城市问题对美国幸福感的影响。我们发现，在假定城 市问题不产生影响的情况下，城市生活的核心特征（特别是规模和密度）促成了城市中的不幸 福感。不论城市特征如何，城市中的不幸福感都会持续下去。