Dense UK Cities

People who [blank] in dense urban areas, particularly those with closely packed apartments, are more likely to experience loneliness and isolation, a large-scale study of UK cities has found. Chris Webster at the University of Hong Kong and his colleagues analyzed health data from nearly 406,000 people in 22 UK cities held by the UK Biobank and compared it with detailed data of [blank] environment, such as their proximity to busy roads and green spaces. The team found that people's self-reported loneliness increased by 2.8 per cent for every additional 1000 housing units within 1 kilometre of their home, while their self-reported social isolation increased by 11.4 per cent. The researchers [blank] for factors including age, health and socioeconomic status, finding that the effects were more pronounced in men and retirees. Compared with their counterparts living in the lowest residential densities, men with the highest densities [blank] 23.5 per cent more likely to report loneliness, while retirees in areas with the densest housing were 17.4 per cent more likely to do so.