Psychophysiological Responses to the Urban Environment

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Abstract
The relationship of urbanization to bodily changes and chronic disease is examined. Urban stress, as defined principally by one of its components, crowding, is examined in its role in the development of high blood pressure as well as in the modification of behavior and bodily function. Several sources of data are presented including those from animal studies, observations in man and some new data collected by the authors. The concept of information overload, the effects of noise on performance and on chronic disease, the psychophysiological effects of driving in traffic and the behavioral and bodily effects of crowding in man and animals are all presented. This paper intends to give the reader an overview of the complexity of the relationship of urban stress to behavioral changes and chronic disease. This relationship is described, and its multiple components, both in the environment and the nervous system, are enumerated.