Recently, many cities have been struggling with overpopulation causing hardship in housing their habitants. This issue can be tackled in a variety of ways including either creating taller buildings or using up a wider area of land to build more houses.
Building Multi-storey apartment complexes may seem like a good solution to the housing crisis, as they provide people with cheap accomodation and the chance to live in urban communities, however they may prove to be a flawed solution. Complexes forces families to live in cramped spaces as flats are usually small, this may cause tension and strain familial relationships. Additionaly, they also pose a huge safety hazards in the case of fires and natural distasters, for instance the 2017 Genfell tower fires in London that seized the lives of many in a matter of minutes.
On the other hand, building suburban homes over a spaced out area might be more expensive, but has deemed to be the overall better option. It provides people with privacy, and larger spaces as well as access to the outdoors since most of the homes feature a yard or garden space, hence improving families’ standard of living. One-storey housing is also significantly safer than apartment buildings as a 2009 study has shown that mortality rate due to suicide and freak accidents are higher in residents of large apartment complexes as opposed to their suburban home counterparts.
In conclusion, while citizens may prefer to live in modern complexes as a result of them being cheaper and have easier access to public transport, building suburban homes on wider areas of land is significantly better for the quality of life and well-being of people.