15 - The future of urban environments

Summary

Editors' introduction

In the final chapter, possible new ways for the study of urban human biology are discussed. Although various approaches might be possible, two approaches, one of them epidemiological, the other one, anthropological, are considered most pertinent. The use of epidemiological techniques with clearly defined urban variables within an adaptability framework has much mileage, as has the use of ethnography, modernisation studies and studies of urban pathways, for the identification of new, urban characteristics that impact on human biology. Vital to the future of urban human biology is the reformulation of human ecology within an adaptability framework, in which social and organisational constructs are regarded as components of the stress environment.

The human biology of the future must acknowledge the urban existence of human populations, the ways in which they shape their urban environments, and the ways in which their urban environments impact on their health and well-being. Human response to changing environments is a key issue in human adaptability research, and the colonisation of the urban environment is a major adaptive challenge (Boyden 1987; Huss-Ashmore and Thomas, 1997; Schell 1988, 1984), and can be studied at the population and individual levels. Human ecology has contributed significantly to the study of urbanism.