Does the city make us ill? The effect of urban stress on emotions, behavior, and mental health

Abstract

Urban life correlates with a higher risk for several mental diseases. A stress-dependent pathomechanism is considered to play a crucial role. Likewise, current data indicate a higher responsivity of the brain to social stress in urban residents. At the same time, city dwellers live under more advantageous conditions, encountering better access to education, personal evolvement, healthcare, and cultural diversity. It can be assumed that a higher exposition to chronic social stress in urban areas – in combination with other risk factors (social, psychological, or genetic) – can turn into a pathogenic factor, particularly in the case of impeded access to resilience-promoting resources of the city. It urgently remains to be explained which social groups are at increased risk and which urban planning and political measures to counteract social stress prove to be health protective. Therefore, we call for an interdisciplinary research approach, which incorporates urban research, medicine, and neuroscience and encourages a transdisciplinary knowledge exchange with politics, civil society, and citizens. With regard to the rapid pace of urbanization worldwide, further research and action is urgently required.