23/02/2018
'Five Escapees'. Rural to urban migration was largely voluntary, precipitated by the Industrial Revolution. City living is unnatural. 40,000 die prematurely from air pollution which exceeds WHO limits.
Noise pollution is the second threat, leading directly to cognitive impairment, anxiety & physiologically damaging stress. Ethologist with his mouse utopia experiments found that excessive crowding led to a 'behavioural sink' in which sociological behaviour becomes pathologically destructive. Violent crime is significantly higher in urban areas; London recently passed New York for rapes, robbery & home invasion. Terror attacks, while rare, are more likely in London & other large cities.
City water supplies are also hazardous. We are mostly water so the purity of what we drink matters. Filters aren't entirely efficient so recycled water becomes progressively more polluted. With nearly half of the UK on prescription drugs, this impacts the water citizens drink. The widespread use of the Pill leads to levels of oestrogen that could contribute to the proven decline in male fertility.
Due to population growth, financial speculation, irresponsible mortgage lending, foreign investment and short-termist government policy, housing in cities has rapidly become unaffordable for the majority. 80% of new homes are affordable to less than 20% of Londoners, 1/3rd of privately owned homes are let & the total 'value' of London property is now said to exceed £1.5 trillion. UK house prices have increased >1000% since 1980, highest of all OECD countries except NZ. Total mortgages increased by ~24,000% in the same timeframe. Usury is to blame.
Cities necessarily run on just-in-time logistics & policing has been cut even below the previous low levels that allowed rioters to romp unimpeded for days a few years ago. An interruption in food, water or transport would likely trigger breakdown among an unprepared population if not swiftly addressed.
The point of this rather depressing but realistic look at city life is this; only 1% of England is used for housing. Only 10% is developed. Why aren't we teleworking from small village ecosystems spread across the country?
