THE REASONS WHY PEOPLE LIVING IN BIG CITIES ARE MORE AGGRESSIVE

Under normal circumstances, people co-exist peacefully in large communities. They cooperate, support each other, collaborate on various projects and relax together. However, a general negative mood is becoming more prevalent in cities where people live at close quarters and rub shoulders frequently. This bad feeling, or aggression, poisons day to day living and needs to be well understood in order to be tackled. There are two general categories of reasons for the rising aggression in big cities: overpopulation and lack of interaction.

The soaring population in big megacities means that over 10 million people live crowded together in an ever shrinking geographical space. In nature, most complex mammals require large habitats to survive. Humans, the most complex mammals, are bundled together in tiny habitats – flats- in modern cities, and this naturally causes stress and irritation, which in turn can turn to aggression. For instance, a simple oversight can explode into a confrontation where people come to blows. Not having the time and the space to relax, spend time alone and retreat into one’s self results in frayed nerves. Thus, people are always living on the edge, ready to explode any moment.

One would think that with people living so close together, interaction would not be a problem but it is leading to more or increased aggression. Living on top of each other in daily life means that people shun each other and retreat in to their own little worlds. They prefer to listen to music; surf the web or check out their social networking accounts rather than talk trying to fulfill the need to have some private time. Technology has also changed the quality of interaction making it more indirect and addictive. This means lack of interaction even in the same home. A recent New Yorker cartoon shows a man emailing his wife who is in the kitchen to ask if dinner is ready. This is the life that modern man leads and it is so unnatural that it causes aggression.

In conclusion, increasing aggression in modern cities is a growing problem which needs to be well understood and dealt with. One possible solution is large parks in cities for people to stroll in so that they can have private time. Another solution is to organize community projects to bring people together. One last solution is counseling sessions for people with serious issues with aggression.