written by Jon Sheaff
Are people spending less time in public space? A recent study from MIT used AI to assess the use of four public spaces (in New York, Boston and Philadelphia), drawing on data assembled in 1980 by the urbanist William Whyte. The study concluded that between 1980 and 2010, the number of people spending time in these spaces decreased by 14% while walking speeds through them increased by 15%, suggesting that urban places are being used less to spend time in and more as thoroughfares. Casual social interactions in these spaces were also falling.
Whyte observed ‘it is difficult to design a space that will not attract people. What is remarkable is how often this has been achieved.’ Whyte’s observation was that people would be drawn to places with shade, water and a variety of social and designed offers. Covid demonstrated that people will flock to greenspaces, and especially those that provide a deeper level of access to nature.
But after the pandemic splurge, even here, the numbers are declining. In 2022, the ONS reported that despite forest bathing, green social prescribing and a plethora of park runs, 1.1 million fewer people were gaining health benefits from spending time in nature when compared with 2020. This reflects findings in a new study in the journal Ambio suggesting that Britain ranks bottom of a league table of 14 European countries in terms of connectedness to nature and wellbeing benefits derived from access to nature.
Why do we seem to be turning our backs? Are we perhaps increasingly dependent on a vicarious experience of nature delivered into the palm of our hand? The Ambio paper suggested that countries with high levels of smartphone ownership exhibit higher levels of detachment from nature while another study from Nottingham Trent University has established correlations between smartphone use, nature connectedness and anxiety.
There are of course other factors at play – older people tend to have a stronger relationship with nature because, in our nature-depleted land, there was more of it around when they were young and they had more freedom to immerse themselves. But that’s another story.
The evidence is mounting for smartphone dependence and a host of associated issues including sleeplessness, relationship problems, mood modification and (yes) anxiety. A recent King’s College study found that 39% of students were suffering from symptoms of phone addiction and its associated consequences. AI has the potential to help us to become even more detached more from real, visceral things.
So I suggest that we need to switch off and turn on because nature has a little more to offer than 65mm x 145mm.