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The Urban Desirability Paradox: UK Urban-rural Differences in Well-being, Social, and Economic Satisfaction

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  • Finnemann, Adam
  • Huth, Karoline
  • van der Maas, Han
  • Borsboom, Denny
  • Epskamp, Sacha

Abstract

As the majority of the global population resides in cities, it is imperative to understand urban well-being. While cities offer concentrated social and economic opportunities, the question arises whether these benefits translate to equitable levels of satisfaction in these domains. Utilizing a novel, robust, and objective measure of urbanicity on a sample of 156k UK residents, we find that urban living is associated with lower scores across seven dimensions of well-being, social satisfaction, and economic satisfaction. Additionally, these scores exhibit greater variability within urban areas, revealing increased inequality. Lastly, we identify optimal distances in the hinterlands of cities with the highest satisfaction and least variation. Our findings raise concern for the psychological well-being of urban residents and show the importance of non-linear methods in urban research.

Suggested Citation

  • Finnemann, Adam & Huth, Karoline & van der Maas, Han & Borsboom, Denny & Epskamp, Sacha, 2023. "The Urban Desirability Paradox: UK Urban-rural Differences in Well-being, Social, and Economic Satisfaction," OSF Preprints 3g2d8, Center for Open Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:osf:osfxxx:3g2d8
    DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/3g2d8
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    4. Rodrigo Cardoso & Evert Meijers & Maarten van Ham & Martijn Burger & Duco de Vos, 2019. "Why bright city lights dazzle and illuminate: A cognitive science approach to urban promises," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 56(2), pages 452-470, February.
    5. Emily Sohn, 2022. "Tackling the mental-health crisis in young people," Nature, Nature, vol. 608(7924), pages 39-41, August.
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