City as a Potential Source of Stress

This article will present an analysis of a psychological reaction which may occur in people living in big cities, the so-called urban stress. The paper will concentrate mainly on describing the influence of strong sensory input (e.g. noise and pollution), which is characteristic of a big city, as well as so-cial issues on the cognitive, emotional and behavioural functioning of individuals. What is more, various consequences of the emergence of stress will be discussed. The summary of the article in-cludes conclusions drawn from a review of research and theories.