Well Being and Longevity Comparison Among the Citizens of Urban and Rural Areas

Everyone wants to live a long and healthy life. Longevity can only be achieved by staying physically and mentally fit. In today's world, people are moving away from nature to the cities. An urban environment provides a lot of job opportunities but huge amount of stress too. Life is hectic and stressful. On the other hand, in rural areas, life is relaxed paced and less stressful. The environment in rural areas is green and social.

Physical and mental health of people living in rural areas is better than those in urban areas. This is due to the presence of green space and social environment in rural areas. I agree with the writer that social life, clean air, plant-based diet and good sleep contribute toward the longevity of Ikarian people(Buettner, 8). This essay will explain the physical and mental benefits of living in rural areas over urban areas.

Kaplan says that city life requires a lot of “directed attention”, which causes mental fatigue (169). She says that nature provides “restorative benefits” to our brain to recover from mental fatigue (180). Jobs in cities usually requires good amount of speed and attention. At the end of the day, after work, people generally feel tired and exhausted. Also, people living in cities have to do a lot of decision making. Decisions about work, finance, family and children, et cetera. City life consumes greater amount of mental energy than rural life. Therefore, mental fatigue is common in people living in cities. Verhiej says that “evolutionary processes have caused us to feel happier in a savanna-like landscape than in an inner-city neighbourhood” (313). This means that we automatically start to feel happy in a green environment.

Furthermore, air pollution in cities affects our physical health. Air pollution caused by the traffic in the cities can give rise to new diseases like asthma. Noise pollution in cities is another reason, which increases stress. Noise produced by the traffic, construction and loud sirens of emergency vehicles. A cardiologist, Munzel says that even small amount of noise triggers stress(fight or flight) response. People are not actually aware of these minute stressors. Noises like “always-on TV, the beeping of hospital equipment, the honking of cars, or the window-rattling noise of airplanes overhead” (Munzel).

I agree with the writer that life is more social in non-urbanized environments. Social support differences in rural and urban areas do exist. Angel Chen says that 'face to face social support is more available in rural areas because in the urban areas, people are overloaded with stimulation, so they tend to tune in toward themselves.' People are easy to reach in rural areas. Their lifestyle is not as busy as city people. They have plenty of time to make good social interactions. This social ease is difficult to achieve in cities. People in cities hardly manage to find time to take care of themselves. They are most of the time busy taking care of their work, family and personal chores. So, in cities social support is not easily available. Moreover, I agree that cities provide jobs to the people. I insist that at the same time that city life costs a lot of money.

People work hard to earn money. They are so busy working that they hardly manage to find some spare time, so they can enjoy with family members or friends. For example, in some families one person from a day job gets home and another person leaves for night job. They do not even get time to talk to each other face-to-face 4 to 5 days in a row. Hectic life in cities forces people to spend less time with their families and friends. People in the rural areas spend good time with their family and friends. They see/meet their friends almost every day. This is not possible in cities because of the lack of free time.

Life in urban areas is technology-based. Smartphones are usually used to communicate by people in the cities. Due to busy lifestyle, even close friends see each other after a long time. On the other side, face to face communication is more prevalent in rural areas. People in rural areas see each other frequently and spend a significant amount of time with each other. Relationship bonds between people are stronger in rural areas than urban areas. Hence, people are emotionally close to each other. Also, it is easy to make friends in rural areas than cities. This is because people in rural areas have time to listen to the other person. They are not in any kind of rush. Amato says that “levels of helping between friends and family, as well as between strangers, are lower in large cities than in small towns” (250).

Some people might say that urban areas provide good healthcare to the people than the rural areas. I still sustain that one does not need any medication, if there are no diseases or illnesses. Daily life in cities is so stressful, so they obviously need good health care. Daily stress also affects our sleep. Long-term sleep deprivation can increase the chances of getting obesity and heart diseases. Daily stress releases cortisol in our body.

This hormone if gets higher than required, interferes with normal body functioning, so our body is more prone to new diseases. Chronic stress can also cause life-threatening diseases like cancer. So good healthcare is a must in cities especially when we talk about mental health. Psychologist Rottenberg says that “people in higher-income countries... were more than 1/3 more likely to report a lifetime episode of depression than people in lower- and middle-income countries...“.

People live a long life in urban cities too. But, they have to put much more effort to achieve this longevity. They have to exercise regularly and pay special attention to what they are eating. people in rural areas get enough physical exercise by working outside in farms, and they do more walking than Urban people. They have simple repetitive diet, which helps them to stay healthy. they eat homegrown, fresh vegetables and fruits. People living in cities have to pay special attention to their lifestyle, so they can combat stress.

They have to exercise regularly and think about what to eat. Rural area people achieve longevity by living a simple and smooth- paced life. They do not have to worry about exercise and diet. People in rural areas cook food at home and follow simple diet. On the other hand, cities are concentrated with fast food vending machines and shops. People find easy to buy food than cooking at home, because it saves them time. Therefore, chances of getting diseases related to heart and obesity are high in cities.

Cities can expand their green environment. This seems difficult because migration of people from rural areas to cities is increasing every year. According to the UN United Nations, 'Today, 55% of the world’s population lives in urban areas, a proportion that is expected to increase to 68% by 2050.' This means that the rural population will decrease so much in the next couple of centuries. If more people are coming to the cities, so more housing is required. Cities will have to replace the open or green areas with the new homes.

People are choosing city life over rural life. Rural life has many psychological benefits because of the rich natural environment. A Lot of people are not aware of how the environment affects their physical and mental health. Moreover, as more and more people are moving to cities. In the past few years, urbanization globally has been increased very much. People are adopting city culture and forgetting their own cultural and religious values. Some cultures will become extinct if this keeps happening. There will be companies growing crops, fruits and vegetables, not the farmers. As urbanization is growing, this world is becoming more and more materialistic.

Due to competition and inflation, people have to move to the cities or money. They moved to the cities for the survival of the family. Another thing is that cities promote luxurious and rich life. In pursuit of this luxury, many people ruin their health. People think that they get better facilities and life quality in cities than in rural areas. They do not see that this quality life and facilities comes at a price. Not only personal problems in cities cause stress but the environment too. People are choosing complex and stressful life over simple and stress-free life.

In conclusion, Urban environment fails to provide physical and mental health benefits as by rural environments. Life of people in rural areas is less stressful than city people. In my opinion, stress is inversely proportional to the longevity. This means that more person is gripped by stress, more are the chances he/she will die prematurely. People living in non-urbanized environments are generally non-materialistic and social. Hence, they spend their lives by living happily and in a healthy way.