Life Styles and City of the Future

Media and popular culture have nowadays attributed a leading position to health issues, making us aware that the individual health and wellbeing are crucial concerns of contemporary society. Environmental culture has also highlighted the need to live in healthy places and to adopt appropriate lifestyles to avoid incurring in chronic diseases. In the 19th century the main health problems were generated by lack of hygiene and comfort, today the excess of comfort is leading to dysfunctions. Health problems have changed from infectious to chronic diseases. Obesity, diabetes, allergies and asthma are new epidemics caused by inadequate environments and lifestyles. Diseases’ prevention and health care involve social and political issues, as well as affect the shape and the development of urban spaces' characteristics, the kind of habitat where the majority of the world population lives (in Europe 80% of the total).