At last! Someone has re-created the seminal 1969 Appleyard and Lintell San Fransisco study in the UK. The original study found, as The Guardian reported, that 'the weight of traffic in urban areas largely determined people's quality of life and also identified a major erosion of community on busy streets'.
The findings of this study have always inspired and fascinated Cadence and prompt the question: How much of a contributory factor is the car to David Cameron's broken society?
The research found, amongst other things, that:
- People who live with high levels of motor traffic are far more likely to be socially disconnected, and even ill, than people who live in quiet, clean streets.
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On average, residents on Heavy [traffic flow] Street had about one-fifth the number of local friends and only half the number of acquaintances compared with the people living in Light Street.
The report said of Heavy Street:
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People there admitted to knowing very few others in the road, had very few friends on the other side of the street and seldom crossed over.
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Residents largely lived in the back rooms of their houses and many chose dark or black curtains to conceal the soot build-up from vehicles.
- Residents kept their front windows closed, did not allow children to play in the street and usually accompanied them to school.
The report said of Light Street:
- Very few people felt the need to build a fence or a wall in the front garden, and most people had their windows open.
- Residents there reported almost three times the number of gathering spots compared with Heavy Street.
- More than half the people interviewed said they felt "at home" in other people's houses.
The 1969 study was famous for its diagrams showing houses linked by lines indicating who knew whom, along and across Light Street.
The researcher, Joshua Hart, said: 'It seems that community and quality of life have been neglected whilst planning and transport policies have led to a massive growth in motor vehicles in the UK.'
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