trees. Residents were randomly assigned to apartments and shared
equally dismal levels of poverty, drug use, education attainment and
employment status. It was a perfect window-view laboratory.
Kuo and her colleague, William Sullivan, interviewed 145 female
residents (most of the units were occupied by single mothers) and
found that those with the asphalt views reported higher levels of
psychological aggression, mild violence and severe violence than
their tree-view counterparts. In a separate study, the asphalt viewers
also reported more procrastination behaviors and assessed their life
challenges as more severe and longer lasting. Kuo and Sullivan knew
that aggression is linked to impulsivity, so they undertook another
study of children in the Robert Taylor complex. They found that those
living with the barren views were less able to control impulsive
behavior, resist distractions and delay gratification. The results
applied to girls but not to boys, which Kuo attributed to the fact that
the girls were likely spending more time indoors where the views
mattered. Because these findings were based on questionnaires, Kuo
and Sullivan wanted a more objective measure, so next they turned to
police reports. These were tied to a different Chicago housing project,
Ida B. Wells, which was distinguished by a series of courtyards
ranging from no greenery to mixed concrete/greenery to a pretty lush
landscape with grass and trees. Analyzing 98 buildings over two
years, they found a striking correlation between the level of greenery
and the number of assaults, homicides, vehicle thefts, burglary and
arson. Compared to buildings with low amounts of vegetation, those
with medium levels experienced 42 percent fewer total crimes, and
the contrast between lowest and highest levels of vegetation was even
more pronounced. Buildings with the most green views saw 48
percent fewer property crimes and 56 percent fewer violent crimes
than buildings with the least greenery.
Kuo didn’t think it was the greenery alone that was magically
lulling people into peace and harmony; rather, in the case of Ida B.