Cities can, however, be scary places – especially if you're not used to them and this can make us reluctant to start a conversation. We might be hyper-vigilant thinking that the person next to us is going to kill us or worse still, get into conversation with us! Dr Elle Boag, a social psychologist at Birmingham City University, agrees that people can view cities as threatening places. She says "we’re persistently looking for potential threats around us, and this then makes us not give eye contact, this will reduce the likelihood that anybody will say hello." She calls this our 'protective mechanism' which is another way that makes us appear antisocial.

Perhaps if we did start talking more to each other we may realise that our fellow train or bus passenger is actually quite normal with the same concerns and that if you have to grin and bear the pressures of city life, at least you can do it together. In London, a group called 'Talk to me London' is trying to encourage just that. They have created 'tubechat' badges which you can wear to show you're happy to talk to a stranger.

But of course, you may choose to live in the city in order to be anonymous – to blend in with the crowd – and not have to talk to people! Maybe that's the benefit of living in the city: you can be who you like – and as rude as you like. Do you think people in your city seem to be rude?

词汇表 claustrophobia 幽闭恐惧症

urban jungle “城市丛林”，都市生活中令人感到不快的部分

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