Is happiness a home in the suburbs?: The influence of urban versus suburban neighborhoods on psychological health

Abstract

Classic urban theory suggests that living in highly urbanized areas of the city results in social isolation, social disorganization, and psychological problems. Living in the suburbs, however, is thought to be much more conducive to happiness, because suburban areas have a lower population density, lower crime, and a more stable population when compared to urban areas. Using data collected in 1974 from the Detroit Metropolitan Area, this study evaluates this “happy suburbanite” hypothesis. Results show that people living in the suburbs are no more likely to express greater satisfaction with their neighborhood, greater satisfaction with the quality of their lives, or stronger feelings of self‐efficacy than people living in the city. The analyses reveal that social integration and perceptions of the neighborhood are associated with neighborhood satisfaction, whereas employment status, age, housing satisfaction, and neighborhood satisfaction are associated with good psychological health. The results also show that length of residence has the strongest effect on neighborhood social ties and participation in local activities. The implication of these findings for a social psychological theory of community life is discussed.

Life Satisfaction of Downtown High-Rise vs. Suburban Low-Rise Living: A Chicago Case Study

“…From the perspective of energy use and carbon emissions, there is generally support for higher density urban living [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. At the same time, from a social perspective, there has been a long-standing argument that people living in dense urban cities may have a lower quality of life (QoL) and are less happy or less satisfied with their lives than those living in the suburbs, based on city and regional data sets [11][12][13][14][15][16][17]. QoL has been widely considered to be an important indicator for social sustainability [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26], and is a multidimensional concept that has been assessed and quantified using a number of objective and subjective indicators across various research communities.…”

Urban Quality of Life – a Case Study: the City of Rijeka

“…Some studies have shown that longer residence means greater neighbourhood satisfaction (Adams, 1992;Marans and Rodgers, 1975), while in others the length of residence has been associated with a lower level of neighbourhood satisfaction (Lu, 1999;Dekker et al, 2007;Parkes et al, 2002).…”

“…In addition, the urban quality of life is recognized as a relevant component of an individual's general quality of life. Many studies have found that satisfaction with urban living environments contributes significantly to overall life satisfaction (Sirgy and Cornwell, 2001;McCrea et al, 2005;Horelli, 2006;Power et al, 1999;Adams, 1992). This paper analyses the quality of life in chosen neighbourhoods in the city of Rijeka.…”

La satisfacción de residentes con su colonia y el programa gubernamental Tu Casa en el estado de Zacatecas

“…En tal sentido, se ha analizado la forma en que las condiciones físicas, sociales y económicas de la colonia influyen en la satisfacción con ésta, lo que a su vez determina el nivel de satisfacción con la vida (Salleh y Badarulzaman, 2012;Miller et al, 1980); también ha sido importante determinar cómo el grado de satisfacción es un factor que influye en las decisiones de mudarse de los residentes (Clark et al, 2006;Brower, 2003;Droettboom et al, 1971;Kasl y Harburg, 1972;Lee et al, 1994;Nathanson et al, 1976;Newman y Duncan, 1979;Quigley y Weinberg, 1977); en el nivel o calidad de vida (Campbell et al, 1976;Sirgy et al, 2000;McCrea et al, 2005;Sirgy y Cornwell, 2002;Parkes et al, 2002), así como en la educación que reciben los hijos en el hogar (Martinez et al, 2002). Se ha reconocido que los residentes que experimentan mayor satisfacción con su colonia reportan mejor salud mental, perciben menos inseguridad y muestran una menor probabilidad de mudarse (Baba y Austin, 1989;Adams, 1992;Bolan, 1997;Sirgy y Cornwell, 2002;Austin et al, 2002;Oh, 2003).…”