Gustav Milne makes a simple argument via The Guardian: urbanization "is bad for us."
Gustav Milne sets the stage for tough talk in an article for The Guardian Cities:
However “civilised” we may now consider ourselves to be, biologically we are much closer to our stone age ancestors. There is a major mismatch between our modern urbanised world and our “paleolithic genome”, the genetic material encoded in our DNA, which supports an ancient hunter-gatherer lifestyle.
The central conceit of Milne's argument is that urbanization is bad for humans—as evidenced by the scourges of "scurvy, rickets, osteomalacia, Reiter’s syndrome, gout, ankylosing spondylitis, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, septic arthritis, tuberculosis, osteitis, poliomyelitis and leprosy" when the Romans introduced Britain to town life 2,000 years ago. Now it's "obesity, cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, atherosclerosis, high blood pressure and various cancers" that kill urban populations.
The remedy of the maladies of urban living, according to Milne, can be found in a return to the Paleolithic past. The article lists several categories of actions that can improve the health of urban dwellers, from matters of physiology, crime, and planning for evolution.
FULL STORY: Stone age cities: what modern urbanites could learn from paleolithic humans
Can Density Prevent Diabetes?
In Australia, a new study will determine the best ways to make high-density developments healthy places to live.
Will Urbanization Be a Global Health Boon or Hindrance?
A new report released this week seeks to address whether the "urban health advantage" can be extended to more of the world’s population as cities continue to grow in the coming decades, reports Katherine Harmon.
Urban Living Linked To Heightened Risk of Schizophrenia
For some time researchers have noticed more instances of non-affective psychosis in urban populations than in rural groups. Now the American Medical Association has found "certain elements of city living raise the risk of developing schizophrenia."
What ‘The Brutalist’ Teaches Us About Modern Cities
How architecture and urban landscapes reflect the trauma and dysfunction of the post-war experience.
‘Complete Streets’ Webpage Deleted in Federal Purge
Basic resources and information on building bike lanes and sidewalks, formerly housed on the government’s Complete Streets website, are now gone.
The VW Bus is Back — Now as an Electric Minivan
Volkswagen’s ID. Buzz reimagines its iconic Bus as a fully electric minivan, blending retro design with modern technology, a 231-mile range, and practical versatility to offer a stylish yet functional EV for the future.
U.S. Miles Driven Rose by 1 Percent in 2024
Americans drove a total of 3.279 trillion miles in 2024, but per capita VMT stayed the same.
Seattle Recorded Zero Bike Deaths in 2024, per Early Data
The city halved the number of pedestrian deaths compared to 2021.
Study: London ULEZ Rapidly Cleaning up Air Pollution
Expanding the city’s ultra low-emission zone has resulted in dramatic drops in particle emissions in inner and outer London.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research