By Aline Bouwman, Marketing & Communications

Vancouver is often pegged as a lonely or emotionally cold city, despite its vibrant urban culture. While Vancity is known for its politeness and diversity, many residents say they feel socially isolated. But is it just a Vancouver problem? Are there things we can do to make city life feel less lonely?  

Dr. Joey Moore is a Sociology instructor at Douglas College who researches urban environments and the experience of belonging, community and place in the Canadian context. We sat down with Dr. Moore to chat about loneliness in the city and learn what we can do to feel more connected to our neighbours.  

Q: Is Vancouver a lonely city? 

Dr. Moore: It definitely can feel that way. But it’s not just a Vancouver problem. Loneliness is common in many big cities around the world. 

Over a hundred years ago, German sociologist Georg Simmel observed that city life tends to make people emotionally detached. With so much going on around us, we tune things out just to cope. That helps us get through the day, but it also means we often ignore the people around us. 

There’s a positive side to that detachment, too: it can reduce prejudice and help us feel more comfortable with diversity. But it also makes it harder to truly connect with others. Add in long work hours, high housing costs, time spent in cars, and social media pulling us inward, and it’s easy to see why people can feel alone, even in a crowd. 

Q: How can we make cities feel more connected? 

Dr. Moore: It starts with how we build them. Research shows that when we design neighbourhoods for walking and cycling – when people actually move through shared spaces – there are more chances to interact.  
 
Vibrant public spaces that don’t cost money to access also help. Parks, community centres and libraries are “third spaces” where people from all walks of life can meet, casually and naturally. 
Vancouver does have some areas like that, but if we want to shake the city’s reputation for loneliness, we need more of them. Building connected cities means designing for human connection, not just efficiency or aesthetics.