Sunlight keeps our body clocks synchronized each day. The urban environment can inhibit this process. A major study published in the journal Current Biology concludes that the sun has less effect on the body clock of city dwellers than those living in the country. As a result, city-dwellers can suffer a form of chronic jet lag that may make them more vulnerable to health problems as well as being at greater risk of accidents.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/connected/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/connected/2007/01/23/njetlag23.xml
Unfortunately, modern cities are not planned for the sun; and sunlight is being designed out of buildings. The Code for Sustainable Homes makes no allowance for the favourable influence of the sun on biological rhythms, depression or immune function. This oversight was the subject of an editorial by Melanie Thompson in the January Get Sust! newsletter, in which she very kindly referred to The Light Revolution. `Anyone involved in designing the next generation of buildings should read this book'. Melanie's words, not mine.
http://www.get-sust.com/newsletters/issue25.html
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