In recent times, the city has increasingly become perceived as a collection of complete strangers : people who frequent the same places, the same spaces, without even looking at each other. The dilemma arises from a simple question: if so many people are so close together, why do they maintain such a large distance, making more complex relationships unlikely? In what follows, we will conduct a sociological analysis to understand some of the causes.

Aspects of the contemporary city

The current form of the city is quite complex, marked by increasing urbanization processes and an ever-increasing pace of life, where ambiguous aspects of sociality emerge, considering how close and connected everyone is to the metropolis. If we were to return to Augé's thought about non-places —spaces of modernity devoid of identity, memory, and relationships, intended for fluidity rather than social experience—the city conveys a strong sense of anonymity . People often share the same spaces, but each is locked in their own metropolitan individuality , thinking about university exams, work, various errands to run, or simply themselves.

This is why the progressive functionalization of urban spaces, geared toward mobility, consumption, and productivity rather than spontaneous social encounters, is also a factor. Just think of bars, clubs, and discos, places designed for socializing, but where it's difficult to truly connect with strangers. These places, while connoting physical proximity, simultaneously lack the possibility of social interaction, producing forms of anonymous co-presence in which individuals, despite sharing the same spaces, remain distant.

How individuals behave in cities

Within the metropolitan context, the frenetic activity of their lives lived here, but also the overabundance of stimuli, cause individuals to adopt behavioral attitudes that are in a certain way functional to this social environment. One of the main ones may be the tendency towards relational detachment , which manifests itself through more sudden, fluid, and emotionally low-intensity interactions. Furthermore, especially in such contexts, where everyone is focused on their own life and how to live it, it causes individuals to tend to more rigorously select their social relationships, in light of a greater self-reflection, on who they are, on what differentiates them from others , selecting those who are more similar to themselves rather than the other way around.

The antithesis of a community, therefore, where relationships are more "mechanical" and less thoughtful, as Tönnies would say. Indeed, in the community, relationships are more shaped by custom and proximity, unlike in the city, where they are more reflexive and selective.

Metropolitan relations

The city, while offering numerous opportunities for encounters, does not guarantee the quality and depth of connections. Broad but generally weak social networks can develop, where relationships are often tied exclusively to specific places like school, university, or the workplace. These bonds are therefore very limited and easily replaced if one no longer frequents that space.

Furthermore, there is increasingly less time for social interaction, echoing Rosa's thought, in light of the rapid social acceleration experienced in these contexts, where the time spent being productive outstrips that spent being social. The contemporary city, as mentioned, certainly offers many possibilities, connoting particular forms of social interaction, sometimes more dynamic but less stable.

Nicholas Marzocchella

References

• Augé, M. (2008). Nonplaces: An Introduction to an Anthropology of SupermodernityMilan: Elèuthera.
• Giddens, A. (2001). Identity and modern societySanta Maria Capua Vetere: Hypermedium Books.
• Granovetter, M. (1973). The strength of weak ties. American Journal of Sociology, 78(6), pp.1360–1380.
• Rosa, H. (2015). Acceleration and Alienation: Toward a Critical Theory in Late Modernity. Turin: Einaudi.
• Simmel, G. (2013). The metropolis and the life of the spirit (P. Jedlowski, Ed.) Rome: Armando Editore.
• Tönnies, F. (2011). Community and society (M. Ricciardi, Ed.). Rome-Bari: Laterza.