As we began thinking about concepts for our studio project, I asked myself “what broad strategies can be utilized to make the most significant health and well-being improvements?” I looked into employment, education, fitness, and diets. All of these factors are important to people’s health and their length of life. However, I eventually found multiple studies showing that social integration is the factor that can have the greatest effect on your length of life. I watched a 2017 TedTalk by Susan Pinker, who is a psychologist, author, and social science columnist for The Wall Street Journal. Susan introduced the term ‘Blue Zone’, which is a way of categorizing cities with people who live significantly longer and healthier lives. (https://www.ted.com/talks/susan_pinker_the_secret_to_living_longer_may_be_your_social_life)
There are currently 5 Blue Zones:
Sardina, Italy
Okinawa, Japan
Loma Linda, California
Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica
Icaria, Greece
Susan took a closer look at Sardina, Italy which has 10 times as many centenarians as the US. When she traveled there, she found that the density of the city is a defining factor. Homes are almost on top of each other, and most homes have three generations living in them. It’s almost impossible to walk down the street without being seen my the neighbors. As she met with centenarians in their homes she found that the density of the city carried over into their social lives. Every home had kitchens with extended family and friends eating and chatting during lunch. The centenarians also had their grandchildren with them on a regular basis, not only taking care of them but also engaging in conversation. So, why is this important? It is easy to say that being around friends and family is good for you, but the data speaks volumes about how significant this approach really is.
It has been found that 75% of our longevity is based on lifestyle and 25% is based on our genes. There are many factors that go into our lifestyle, but social isolation has become a population health risk. One third of people report that they have two or fewer people to lean on. Julianne Holt-Lunsted, researcher at BYU, did a study on what lifestyle factors have the greatest chance of reducing your longevity. She found her data by analyzing the lives of a group of 50-60 year old’s and waiting to see who lived the longest lives. The study showed that the top two determining factors were 1)Social Integration (interacting with people as you move through your day) and 2) Close Relationships (meaningful relationships with people you can rely on). These topped lifestyle choices like smoking, drinking alcohol, exercise, diet, and clean air. Having 3 or more stable relationships is the magic number, and maintaining communication with people throughout the day is key.
As I processes this information, I considered the moves architects could make to better facilitate this constant social interaction. There is a common dialogue in architecture and urban planning that discusses density to create more environmentally sustainable cities that allow for healthier ways of commuting like biking and walking. All this is great, but maybe in addition designers need to start thinking about density at a smaller scale to create more frequent human interaction. My initial thought is with housing. High-rise apartment buildings fit a lot of people in a small surface area, but how often do you really interact with people in other units? If communal housing became a mainstream part of the health conversation, we could change the landscape of housing design to benefit the health and well-being of tenants.
I think that the concept can take flight in other typologies as well. When looking at our studio project in Lawndale, we were asked to consider whether our program should be scattered throughout Lawndale or concentrated on one site. After learning about these ‘Blue Zones’ it appears that there are health benefits to a denser community. With Lawndale’s life expectancy well below the Chicago average, this site has the opportunity to rejuvenate the neighborhood by creating the social interactions that people need to survive.
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