City living in the 21st century is stressful and offers no advantages. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?

In my opinion living in a 21st-century city presents more disadvanges than advantages, even though nowadays cities are widely thought to be the place to live.

One of the first disadvatanges I can think of is traffic. Traffic itself is a cause of stress among drivers and citizens in general. A moltitude of cars in the same place is more likely to be caught into accidents. Therefore traffic may be considered dangerous. Traffic also affects the environment, causing pollition, noise and possible consequent diseases, such as asthma. Last winter, Milan, second largest city in Italy, had to face serious problems, due to the high level of pollution and the absence of rain for several weeks.

It is almost a matter of fact that cities are over-crowded nowadays. People living in large cities may feel stressed by the general chaos, for example when using public transport. It is true that there are plenty of facilities in big cities, but it might be difficult for them to be of some benefit to all citizens. Over-crowding often affect cities by making them dirty, for instance, from my personal experience, London, Sydney and Paris. Big cities are also believed to be dangerous and more exposed to crimes than towns, but a recent study showed that Melbourne, second largest city in Australia, is the safest and most livable city in the world, and I agree with it.

Large cities may lack of affordable housing and rents might be too high for an average income. Bills, food, transport and the overall cost of living are sometimes extremely expensive. This can lead to an increasing criminality, and it might be a reason why some people prefer to live in smaller cities or towns. As stated, cities are sometimes expensive, but on the other hand they offer more job opportunities and sometimes jobs in big cities are better paid than anywhere else.

Concluding, I believe today's cities are stressful and chaotic and I agree they offer few advantages.