Joyful buildings make people happier. So let's create them
3 min read
In our research, less than five per cent of people described their local buildings as "nice", and there is growing evidence that monotonous architecture damages wellbeing. As the government builds new towns, emotion must be central to their design.
Two weeks ago, Sir Michael Lyons, chair of the government’s New Towns Taskforce, addressed an audience of property and development professionals at UKREiiF in Leeds. Short of revealing the list of new towns the taskforce will recommend this summer, it was reassuring to hear Sir Michael speak of the return of ambitious design plans for our towns.
He underlined the importance of high-quality master planning that can create sustainable communities where families can thrive, and feel a sense of identity, pride and connection. He rejected the idea that new towns should be characterless ‘dormitory’ towns. The measure of success, he argued, would be asking a 15-year-old from a future new town whether they felt proud of where they live.
The Humanise campaign, which advocates for more joyful and human buildings, recently took the opportunity to ask current new town residents about their feelings towards where they live. Working with Thinks Insight & Strategy, we conducted a survey of 1,000 people living in England’s post-war new towns, asking about their priorities for their area, what they think about the buildings where they live, and what they would like to see in future new towns. (With coverage of 20 new towns, we ensured representation across gender, age and socio-economic groups to provide robust numbers for sub-group analysis.)
The clear finding was the aspiration gap which exists between the way current new towns make residents feel, and what their hopes are for the future. Fewer than half, 46 per cent, agree that the buildings where they live make them proud to live there, but almost all, 87 per cent, agree that future new towns need to deliver on this. We found a similar disparity with 41 per cent agreeing that the buildings in their area make them feel cared for, while 81 per cent agree this should be the case in the future.
When asked about their area, only four per cent of residents describe the buildings where they live as “nice”. Instead, “boring,” “ugly,” and “run-down” dominate the views of participants, and there is a clear appetite for change, with nine in 10 residents stating that it’s important to regenerate run-down areas to create a joyful and interesting place to live.
Beyond this one piece of research, there’s a growing body of evidence in the field of neuroscience that shows that monotonous, visually impoverished environments increase stress and negatively impact people’s wellbeing. In short, boring buildings are bad for our brains.
When it comes to the environment, the average commercial building in the UK has a lifespan of 35-40 years. With the construction industry emitting five times the amount of carbon emissions through demolition and rebuilding, we should feel the responsibility to design and build places that future generations love to live in and care for. As well as the negative health and environmental impacts, sterile surroundings are a drag on the economy: who wants to hang out in or take care of lifeless streets?
If the ambition is to make future 15-year-olds proud of their new towns, the government must embed the idea of emotion as a function of design and build for joy. People deserve better buildings. New towns should be full of interesting, varied and characterful buildings that lift people up, not drag them down.
(List of 20 New Towns surveyed: Aycliffe, Peterborough, Basildon, Peterlee, Bracknell, Redditch, Corby, Runcorn, Crawley, Skelmersdale, Harlow, Stevenage, Hatfield, Telford, Hemel Hempstead, Warrington, Milton Keynes, Washington, Northampton, Welwyn Garden City.)
Abigail Scott Paul is Global Head of the Humanise Campaign and Jon Edwards is Director of Thinks Insight & Strategy.
