Strangers in the City

In a finding that seems counter-intuitive, a recent urban study has found that people interact less when they live in more densely populated areas. Huh?

This may seem to go against common sense, yet most of us see it in action every day. There is very little interaction in a crowd. In fact, the very magnitude of human beings around us teaches us to keep to ourselves and not interact, for our own emotional protection as well as physical protection.

I love the buzz of the city, but I think that cities create impersonal environments, and all us city-dwellers have to work harder at finding community than do those who live in suburban settings.

The paper’s maintained hypothesis, that social interaction is stronger in denser areas, arose from the conjecture that high densities facilitate interaction by putting people in close proximity. The results, however, show the opposite effect, and a key question is why.