Samenleven onder druk. Openbaar gedrag in Hong Kong

Samenvatting

A literature review shows that it is widely accepted that intense population pressures are conducive to severe behavioral disturbances. Experiments with rats & other animals have shown that a type of behavioral sink occurs when the population density keeps increasing, even when the amount of available food is increased. Aggression increases, reproduction stops, homosexuality becomes more common, & newborns are killed. Many theorists have tried to explain the upsurge of crime in big cities in the 1960s & 1970s on population pressures & the resultant lack of privacy. However, in Hong Kong, one of the most densely populated cities in the world, a fairly safe atmosphere is maintained, with low levels of street crime & violence. This may be due to cultural & other features of Chinese culture, eg, a surprising tolerance regarding all types of noise, lack of privacy, & crowded spaces, as well as to an organizational pattern favoring multifunctionality. The result is a remarkable order underlying the seeming chaos on a superficial level. 35 References. Adapted from the source document.