Wellbeing: A Complete Reference Guide, Volume II, Wellbeing and the Environment

4

Density and Mental Wellbeing

Christopher T. Boyko and Rachel Cooper

Lancaster University, U.K.

Introduction

In late winter, one of the authors was walking down a prominent street in Manchester city center. It was around 5:30 p.m., just about the time that offices were closing for the day and people were heading out for other destinations, like home. According to the U.K. Office for National Statistics, Manchester, England, is a dense city, with almost 34 persons per hectare (the average population density in England is 3.77 persons per hectare; Office for National Statistics, 2004). However, on that late winter day in the afternoon, the prominent street was dead. There were five other people walking in front of the author and no one else behind. The street was pedestrianized, which accounted for the reason why no vehicles joined the pedestrians, but a cross street allowed vehicles. This, too, was dead. A few cars drove past, but the overall feeling was of eerie quiet. How could this be a dense city?

About 3 weeks later, the same author was walking down another prominent street in Manchester city center, this time coming from the main train station. It was around 6:30, and, like before, offices were closing for the day and people were heading home and to other places. Rather than it being dead, the street was teeming with people going to and from the train station as well as up and down various side streets. Private vehicles, taxis, and buses were gridlocked in traffic. Exhaust ...