Well-Designed Cities Make New Year's Resolutions Easy
Often times, we only need "discipline" because we've put unnecessary obstacles in our way.
It’s that time of year. The gym is packed, everyone’s out getting their early-morning runs in, and at least for now, you’re possibly being more diet- or budget-conscious.
That is, if you’re not one of the ~25% of people who quit their New Year’s resolutions within the first week.
On the surface, the biggest hurdle in sticking with resolutions is discipline: being consistent with exercise, taking time to prepare healthier meals, and being mindful and intentional with every dollar.
And that’s part of it.
But when it comes to many of the most common New Year’s resolutions, the built environment is also a major obstacle to success. Just take a look at the results from a recent Statista survey and see if you can identify how the way we build might affect some of people’s most frequently-set goals:
More exercise. Weight loss. Social connection. More affordable cost of living.
How we design our cities deeply impacts every one of these goals. In fact, poor design is often what creates a need for discipline in the first place.
As a remote-working suburban resident with poor workout discipline, I average anywhere from 5000-6000 steps a day. Right within the range of the average American. This is because unless I’m walking to the Dollar General at the outskirts of my subdivision, I have to get in the car to go just about anywhere.
Even when I’m on the move, I’m sedentary.
Physical activity has to be an appointment on the calendar, or it doesn’t happen. And often it means going for a run on streets without sidewalks, riding a bike on the shoulder of a high-speed road, or otherwise taking on safety risks just to have a mildly active lifestyle.
But in places designed around people rather than cars, wellness not only happens safely, but also organically.
You can naturally “get your steps in” walking to get the evening’s groceries.
Car maintenance, daily parking fees, and weekly or bi-weekly gas expenses aren’t suffocating line items in your monthly budget.
Your social serendipity engine is infinitely higher than when you’re separated from the next person by a quarter acre.
Access to farmers markets and walking-distance groceries makes eating healthier a much easier proposition.
While urban dwellers may not be universally fit, healthy, wealthy social butterflies, well-designed places naturally make thriving in each of these ways far more accessible.
What if this time next year, we didn’t have to stress things like fitness and social connectivity? It may not happen that quickly, but we can build a world where “New Year’s Resolutions” are “Year-round Natural Occurrences.”
Perhaps we’ll need a snazzier name for it. But we’ll cross that bridge when we build it.