Section A – Graphic Representation of Argument

MAIN CLAIM: Sustainable and peaceful living can be attained

only when humans move back into their natural habitat and leave

unhealthy cities

Premise 1: A city is deemed valid to exist only when the net utility of the city's population

trumps the net ecological footprint that generates huge

costs to the city

Sub-Premise: Majority of the city's population lacks to

contribute to the betterment of the society in matters of arts,

research and Maslovian ventures

Example: Case involving a Japanese agricultural scientist

who had developed a system of “do-nothing” farming, and

provided for himself by working just once in a week.

Premise 2: Cities have a detrimental impact on human

psychology, health and behaviour

Sub-Premise: Life in cities is unsatifactory, chaotic, stressful

and has a long-term negative impact on the future

generations, as it lowers human self-development and potential.

Section B – Summary of Argument

In his article ‘The Myth of Sustainable Cities’, Brandon Peele argues that in order to make real progress as a species, sustainable and peaceful living can be attained only when humans move back into their natural habitat, and leave the chaotic shadow of unhealthy cities. According to Peele, a city is deemed valid enough to exist only when the net utility of the city’s population towards the enhancement of various resources trumps the net ecological footprint that generates huge costs to the city. Based on the writer’s assumption, majority of a city’s population lacks to contribute to the betterment of the society in matters of arts, research and Maslovian ventures. Moreover, Peele claims that cities have a detrimental impact on human psychology, health and behaviour. He argues that life in cities is unsatisfactory, chaotic and cost-intensive, and has a long-term negative impact on the future generations, as it lowers human self-development and the potential to re-connect with nature and oneself. Attempting to use inductive reasoning, Peele states an example of a successful case in which a Japanese agricultural scientist who had developed a system of “do-nothing” farming, provided for himself by working just once in a week.

Section C – Evaluating an Argument

I strongly support Peele’s view on the negative impact that cities induce on the health and behaviour of its human population.

With respect to health, four influencing factors namely the natural and built environment, social and economic environment, food security and emergency health management services impact city-dwellers. (World Health Organization, 2010) Beyond these indicators, poor health is also a consequence of the way societies marginalize and discriminate against certain groups of people on basis of their age, sex or disability. An example of this presented in the Global WHO Report after surveys showed that the prevalence of HIV among urban women is 1.5 times higher than that among urban men, and 1.8 times higher than that among rural women. (World Health Organization, 2010)

Peele also emphasizes on the unnatural growth of psychotherapy as city-dwellers lose touch with the good values in life such as self-purpose, satisfaction and happiness. This can be validated by the following study undertaken in Taichung, Taiwan involving human psychophysiological response to window views and indoor plants from their workplace which concluded that when neither window views of nature nor indoor plants were shown, participants suffered the highest degree of anxiety and tension. (Chen-Yen Chang, 2005) Moreover, there is a correlation between human behaviour and the natural environment, the study of which is defined as environmental psychology. (Young, 2013)

However, an argument can be made in the favour of healthcare provision in cities as compared to that in rural areas. For example, rural counties in the United States had higher death rates from unintentional injuries, suicide, and chronic obstructive

pulmonary disease than cities. The age-adjusted death rate for unintentional injuries amongst the rural American population was 86% higher than city-dwellers. (MS, 2001) These facts can be linked to the premise that effective healthcare facilities are lacking in rural areas, which Peele failed to acknowledge. Furthermore, less than 11 percent of physicians in the U.S. practice in rural areas, contrasted with the 20 percent of the population that comprises the rural American population. These recruitment and retention problems in rural areas are related to factors such as lower salaries, geographic isolation from educational opportunities, and lesser facilities, all of which are provided in cities. (Survey, 2002) More than 20 million rural Americans live in rural areas that have a provider-to-patient ratio of 1 to 3,500 or less and are federally deputed as health professional shortage areas (HPSAs), while the recommended provider-to-patient ratio is 1 physician for every 2,000 persons. (Program, 1997)

Peele’s first key argument claims that majority of a city’s population doesn’t actually contribute to the betterment of the society. This is backed up by reports that estimate 828 million people living as urban poor in slum conditions within cities, constituting for around one third of the world’s urban population (World Urbanization Prospects, 2010). The urban poor as well as the mundane middle class create no value to arts, research and other service reform issues, thus increasing the city’s combined ecological footprint with no benefit of reducing the costs associated with the city’s existence.

References

Chen-Yen Chang, P.-K. C. (2005). Human Response to Window Views and Indoor Plants in the Workplace. HortScience, 40(5), 1354-1359.

MS, E. (2001). Urban and Rural health Chart-book. Hyattsville: National Centre for Health Statistics.

Program, N. C. R. H. R. (1997). Facts about Rural Physicians. North Carolina.Survey, N. H. I. (2002). Rural and Urban Health. World Health Organization, U. N. H. (2010). Hidden Cities: World Health

Organization.Young, R. D. (2013). Environmental Psychology Overview Green Organizations:

Driving Change with IO Psychology. New York: Routledge.