In the twenty-first century, sprawling cities grow in tandem with the world population. Along with favourable opportunities, this tendency exerts an adverse influence on young people. Unfortunately, the rampant and uncontrolled growth of urban areas has negative repercussions on the mental and physical condition of young individuals. Both sides of this problem and possible solutions will be thoroughly scrutinised before giving a balanced conclusion.
As a starting point, it’s worth considering the mental health of youngsters chasing success in major cities and entering the rat race. For example, the overwhelming majority of young people experience a great peer pressure and stress from fierce competition. Thanks to social media and comparing themselves to others, people are forced to own more and more unnecessary and useless gadgets and luxuries in order to achieve more than the next person. Therefore, the young generation is focused on tangible benefits rather than on mental values and realising their genuine potential.
Another strong problem among young people is the problem of physical health, which is a consequence of globalisation and hectic pace of life in metropolises. Additionally, to the aforementioned issue, problems with health come from constant living under stress, eating unhealthy fast food and working or studying countless hours per day, combined with the overall pollution in the big cities. Consequently, it causes tremendous stress on the physical condition of youngsters.
However, there is still something we can do to ease the constant stress of the competitive and adverse environment in the cities. The first possible solution stems from a cultivating a meaningful approach based on truth values of self-fulfilment and realising your potential instead of perpetuating inequality. Not only does it have to be promoted by parents, but educational institutions and the government should be involved too. Secondly, the issues of regulation healthy lifestyle of young citizens as well as ecological sustainability must be permanently on the government agenda
In sum, urbanisation will inevitably continue in the face of increasing population growth. Evidently, all the benefits of this advancement should be accompanied by measures taken to protect the mental and physical health of young people. From my personal perspective, I believe that regulators and people in charge should search for concrete long-term solutions for these issues, in order to achieve a more harmonious and prosperous society.