Today the population in cities is increasing and people are living in smaller houses without outdoors. Is this a positive or negative trend?

The population of the world is witnessing a dramatic growth. This has compelled people to reside in smaller apartments that are devoid of the outdoors, particularly in cities. In my opinion, while I admit that living in the small residential quarters offer a few benefits, however the negatives they bring are outnumbered and of a serious nature that makes it a negative trend. It is granted that there are some benefits of residing in smaller apartments without outdoors and the most obvious one is cost-effectiveness. Since the space in the cities is shrinking because of urbanization, to own an independent house at such areas is really expensive. Under these circumstances, the smaller flats without outdoors in high rising buildings provide people with an opportunity to afford a house at a lesser cost and still manage to live near the city centres and their work places. However, residing in smaller residential units without outdoors has a number of drawbacks. One of the most obvious negative is that it pushes people to have a straining relationships. People living in the smaller homes often have to share their sitting rooms, kitchens and bathrooms with other family members or paying guests that they may feel annoying in, and hence creates a negative impact on their behaviour and relationships. Moreover, a lack of outdoor spaces prevents people to vent out their negative emotions by doing exercises or gardening for that matter. It further adds fuel to the fire and results in people struggling their relationships. For instance, the divorce rate amongst couples who are living in the smaller houses or on sharing basis is as high as 30% in comparison to others, according to a recently published social survey report. Thus residing in the smaller housing units without outdoors pushes people to have failed relationships. Another important negative of such residences is their security concerns. Since many smaller flats that do not have an outdoor spaces are located in the high rising buildings, this makes the inhabitants of these houses more prone to various life threatening situations. Fire breakouts are the most notorious out of these. Usually these skyscrapers have only one or two emergency exits at the maximum, thus they pose a greater risk to the people's lives. For example, the fire break out on the fifth floor of a 25 story residential block in Karachi, Pakistan, last year claimed the lives of almost 150 people who got stuck and could find an escape. In conclusion, I believe that although smaller residential blocks without outdoors offer a few benefits in terms of the cost, the negatives such as failing relationships and safety issues that they bring are many and of a serious nature.