sick suburbs

A recent article in The Age (Sick Suburbs) questions whether our suburbs are making us fat.  The article explores the ‘poor’ urban planning of the ever sprawling Melbourne and questions if our suburbs are creating ‘obesogenic’ environments that promote weight gain.

Well, an article such as this doesn’t come as a surprise. I can imagine living out in the suburbs of Melbourne, somewhere like Point Cook, is completely isolating. If you don’t have a car, you’re not going anywhere. However I don’t think it’s just our suburbs that are making us fat or sick. I think it’s an individual choice how to exercise and eat well. I live in the inner city and I don’t own a car. Yes I do walk a lot, to public transport, to the shops etc. But I also have to exercised in order to keep my body healthy, I think there is the opportunity in the suburbs to keep yourself fit and healthy regardless of if you have a car or not. That said, i am all for the improvement of urban planning practices to promote healthy living and lifestyle changes… but don’t think urban planning can be blamed solely for peoples health.

Now to the real issue… yes that of urban sprawl. It’s evident that the ever expanding urban growth boundary is not sustainable and building upwards not out is the right choice.  However I do feel that there are social issues driving this growth boundary expansion and the demand for continuous growth in these areas.  It all goes back to the great Australian Dream. Families don’t want to raise children in an apartment or live in areas that have constant traffic congestion problems.  Australians want their own house + land and many are simply buying into these dreams. They are however then left with the consequence of having no real local services and having no choice but to contribute to the traffic and environmental problems associated with private car ownership by living a great distance from work and facilities.

I don’t know the answer to this one, I do know that I don’t want to live in the suburbs of a sprawling city. It’s a case of dreams vs reality and a case of things being not quite what they use to be….