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Introduction
Many people live in metropolitan urban areas and large cities, while others prefer more remote suburban locations. As defined by the US Census Bureau, an urban area is a densely populated territory that usually includes commercial and residential places (Oliveira et al 854). In turn, suburban areas can exist as separate residential communities or parts of cities. Depending on the place of residence, there are differences in lifestyles, social and racial issues, and health care access opportunities. To better understand the needs and current trends of the mentioned living areas, it is essential to research their benefits and drawbacks.
Benefits and Drawbacks of Urban and Suburban Areas
In the 20th century, the rapid development of technology led to great levels of urbanization, when plenty of rural and suburban populations decided to move to the cities to have a higher quality of life. While only 10% lived in cities in the last century, about 55% inhabit these areas, and this number is expected to achieve 68% by 2050 (Oliveira 852). It impacted the urban environment by promoting the growth of infrastructures and residential buildings. Modern rates of consumption in cities significantly impact its ecological, economic, and social environment, which includes traffic, climate change, a reduction in biodiversity, and so on. Today, scholars observe a trend that is contrary to the urbanization movements as many people prefer smaller municipalities to live in. Namely, the study by Jansen shows that 36% prefer smaller municipalities, 32% would choose the city edges, 13% are likely to move to rural areas, and only 11% select city centers (231). The main benefits that are mentioned by the participants of this study are ease to access to dwellings and peace.
Affordability is one of the main advantages of suburban areas in comparison to metropolitan places. Compared to buying a house or apartment in cities, urban residential places are priced much more reasonably. For the same amount of money, it is possible to have a larger and more comfortable apartment that also often includes utilities, backyards, and parking zones (Oliveira 855). In addition to the cost of living, other expenses, such as food, clothing, and other necessities, are cheaper. Nevertheless, urban areas provide an opportunity to buy more fashion and luxury products, which can be limited in suburban communities. The densely populated settlements offer less space for a higher amount of money, and it is complicated by costs for parking, services, and entertainment.
Social contacts and relationships compose one more topic that sets certain differences between urban zones and suburbs. According to the data from the Pew Research Center, in cities, people communicate little outside of their work, and they rarely go to visit each other (Parker et al.). Help and useless conversations are considered a waste of precious time. In suburbs, on the contrary, people are more likely to kindly lend a helping hand and take time. They can do something for free, telling a person how to act best and counting on friendly relations and a response. In addition, urban residents tend to have more optimistic views about political and economic issues. For example, 32% of the study participants noted their warmer views of Donald Trump, while this indicator is only 19% among urban Americans (Parker et al.). In many cases, this can be explained by the suburbs having a higher concentration of people who identify themselves as Republicans.
In cities, the characteristic feature is a high population density, where the place is limited, and the number of people is larger than in suburban areas. There is a great level of diversity among populations, including labor and non-production spheres, which is expressed in varying professional, political, social, and ethnic structures of the population. The cities have a number of factors that promote the creation of special circumstances for the communication of their residents, especially the older and younger generations. A metropolitan space is also determined by an established urban lifestyle that refers to a special approach to communication. The interactions of citizens imply the prevalence of anonymous, business-related, short-term, and artificial characteristics of interpersonal communication (Khayat et al. 4796). It should also be pointed out that they show a higher extent of sensitivity when it comes to emotional attachments.
On a broader scale, today’s suburbs preserve a lot of beliefs and cultural traditions of the rural life way, the rhythm of which is unhurried and retains the components of responsiveness. Time is not usually considered by a suburban resident as a social value or something that passes rapidly. The suburbs are distinguished by open communication with not only neighbors but also strangers. Since both cultural and social differences in the populations and the number of and possible contacts are minimal, it makes communication quite intimate and involves various issues (Jansen 230). Therefore, it is one of the advantages that suburban residents have better relationships, having intensive communication and emotional depth.
Speaking of lifestyles, one should state that suburban neighborhoods are more likely to motivate people to engage in sports and physical activity in general. Even though many neighborhoods in urban areas also have sports facilities, gyms, and special lines for bicycles, the overall rate of physically-active citizens remains low (Khayat et al. 4795). Peace and quiet are probably the key issues that are noticed by people who came from urban to suburban areas, which is often used to escape from big-city stress. In turn, the residents of cities suffer from noise, insomnia, depression, and other psychologic conditions because of the inability to relax. In addition, crimes rates proved to be lower in suburbs compared to cities, where crimes are committed more frequently, which are caused by poverty, aggression, homelessness, poor relationships, and so on (Parker et al.). In general, higher levels of stress force people to use alcohol, drugs, and food as the easiest ways to relax, which impacts their health.
Access to healthcare services is another important issue to discuss as it differs for those who live in urban and suburban regions. Namely, the study by Caldwell et al. found that ethnic and racial disparities can impact the extent to which residents receive the necessary care (1463). For example, African-Americans in suburbs have lower screening for cervical system and cholesterol, which prevents them from early diagnosis and treatment (Caldwell et al 1466). Accordingly, without proper prevention initiatives, further treatment becomes more expensive. The White population living in urban places has better access to dental health and various screening options. Other studies indicate that regardless of race and ethnicity, people in urban areas have more opportunities to have timely screening and relevant treatment (Caldwell et al 1467). The control of social and economic characteristics is identified as the necessary intervention to improve the current situation with accessing health care services.
Despite their differences, urban and suburban areas impact each other and are also interdependent in many aspects, such as the provision of goods and food, transportation, and other resources. Urban and suburban areas organize complex synergies that are beneficial for both of them (Parker et al.). For example, cities receive the necessary resource and produce goods that are distributed across the regions, while suburban residents can have a job in cities to provide for their families. This interconnectedness is also expressed in the flow of people, who move from area to area to find a better place, financial flows (investments and remittances), and information and knowledge interchange between cities and suburbs. Therefore, it is not correct to state that urban areas are better than suburbs or vice versa as both of them are important in terms of economic and social flows, acting as the integral parts of a single mechanism.
Conclusion
To conclude, there are significant differences between urban and suburban areas in terms of social structure, healthcare access, communication, lifestyles, and affordability. While urban areas have more opportunities to buy goods, receive proper services, entertain, and work, their drawbacks are noise, high-stress levels, a lack of nature, and limited connections. In turn, even though suburbs have more space, better interaction opportunities, openness, and lower dwelling costs, they have improper access to healthcare services, have to work in cities, and often suffer from a lack of developed infrastructure. The subject of urban versus suburban locations is complicated, and it depends on many factors which of them a certain person, organization, or family would choose.
References
Caldwell, Julia T., et al. “Intersection of Living in a Rural Versus Urban Area and Race/Ethnicity in Explaining Access to Health Care in the United States.” American Journal of Public Health, vol. 106, no. 8, 2016, pp. 1463-1469.
Jansen, Sylvia J. T. “Urban, Suburban or Rural? Understanding Preferences for the Residential Environment.” Journal of Urbanism: International Research on Placemaking and Urban Sustainability, vol. 13, no. 2, 2020, pp. 213-235.
Khayat, Samira, et al. “Lifestyles in Suburban Populations: A Systematic Review.” Electronic Physician, vol. 9, no. 7, 2017, 4791- 4800.
Oliveira, Gisela Marta, et al. “Urban Lifestyles and Consumption Patterns.” Sustainable Cities and Communities, 2020, pp. 851-860.
Parker, Kim, et al. “What Unites And Divides Urban, Suburban and Rural Communities.”Pew Research Center, 2018. Web.
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