Remarks on the Concept of a Sustainable City in Light of Konrad Lorenz’s Concept of Man

Abstract

For several decades now, intensive research has been carried out on the concept of a city that would be as environmentally friendly as possible, while simultaneously providing a high quality of life for its residents. As a result of this research, the concept of a sustainable city that addresses these challenges has been developed. The significance of this issue is evidenced by the fact that Sustainable Development Goal 11 is explicitly concerned with this topic. This paper aims to analyze the concept of a sustainable city from the perspective of the so-called ‘layered’ concept of man authored by Konrad Lorenz. It is based on the observation that the pace of biological evolution and that of the cultural evolution man undergoes differ significantly. While humans have adapted very quickly to urban living in their cultural layer, adaptation to city life in their biological layer has been very slow. The natural way of life pursued by the Homo sapiens was a hunter–gatherer lifestyle, which biological evolution had adapted the species to over hundreds of thousands of years. The changes associated with the Neolithic Revolution and the formation of the first cities took place about 11,000 years ago. Thus, not enough time has elapsed for humans to adapt biologically to their radically changed living conditions. The purpose of this paper is to look from a new perspective at the challenges faced by city dwellers, and in doing so, to identify the sources of these challenges and to arrange them in a hierarchy. An additional goal is to expand the argument for promoting certain elements of a sustainable city. Indeed, much seems to suggest that Lorenz’s concept offers a novel approach to looking at such urban issues as the challenges of overpopulation, man’s restricted access to nature, and the ever-increasing pace of life.

1. Introduction

Cities have shaped our civilization for thousands of years. In fact, there are many indications that they are an indispensable element without which the modern development of civilization would not have been possible. However, it is worth formulating questions about whether modern cities accommodate human nature and meet human needs and expectations.

Human history confirms that in the first stage of development, which lasted for hundreds of thousands of years, man led the life of a hunter and gatherer who constantly moved in search of sources of food. Recent research shows that the Homo sapiens appeared in Africa around 200,000 BC, while the Neolithic Revolution, which the first cities are associated with, did not begin until around 8000 BC in the Middle East in the Fertile Crescent area [1].

Changes triggered by the Neolithic Revolution enabled the development of the first cities and state-like structures [2,3]. Admittedly, there is still some scientific debate about whether a settled lifestyle led to the invention of agriculture, or whether the invention of agriculture enabled a settled lifestyle. However, there is no doubt that the spread of a settled lifestyle coincided with the Neolithic Revolution and its consequences in the form of an increase in the amount of food available and, consequently, the growth of the human population. All these factors, in turn, led to the formation of the first cities [4] (pp. 3–4). This is confirmed by archaeological findings which reveal a geographical and temporal coincidence between the appearance of the first cities and the beginnings of the Neolithic Revolution. Many scholars consider the oldest cities discovered so far to be Jericho, dated back to 8000 BC, and Çatalhöyük, dated back to 7000 BC [5].

As the human population continued to grow, the average population density and the percentage of the population living in cities steadily increased. Relevant historical data are often only estimates. A study on the size of the human population by Collin McEvedy and Richard Jones shows that in 10,000 B.C., the population was about 4 million, compared to 5 million in 5000 B.C. and 50 million in 1000 BC; at the dawn of the new era, the human population was 170 million; in 1000 AD—265 million; in 1600—545 million; in 1700—1 billion [6]. It is estimated that between 10,000 and 1700 BC, the global population grew at a very slow pace of approximately 0.04% per year [7] (p. 81). Since the mid-20th century, systematic demographic studies have been conducted by UN agencies. Their published data show that humanity reached a population of 1 billion in 1804. Subsequent increases by another billion each followed in 1927, 1960, 1974, 1987, 1999 and 2011, to reach 8 billion in 2022 [8].

As the human population grew, its density increased proportionally as well. It is estimated that shortly before the Neolithic Revolution, the average population density, calculated as the number of inhabitants per 1 km², was approximately 0.115 [7] (p. 81). According to data made available by Worldometers.info, in 1951 the average global population density was 17; in 1975 it was 27; in 2000, it was 41; and it reached 52 in 2020 [9].

Continuing population growth leads to a steady increase in the number of people living in cities. This involves a significant change in the structure of population, as the process of urbanization is progressing systematically, meaning that the percentage of the human population that lives in cities is growing. In 1800, this percentage was less than 10%; by 2007, the percentage had already risen to 50% [10], while projections show that by 2050, as much as 68% of mankind will live in cities. It should be noted that the degree of urbanization varies significantly from continent to continent. In 2018, it was 82% for North America, 81% for Latin America and the Caribbean, 74% for Europe, 68% for Oceania, 50% for Asia, and 43% for Africa. It is worth noting that almost 50% of all urban residents now live in cities of up to 500,000 inhabitants, while about 13% live in so-called megacities, i.e., agglomerations with more than 10 million inhabitants. The number of megacities is steadily increasing. In 1970, there were only 3, compared to 10 in 1990, and 33 in 2018; according to forecasts, there will be as many as 43 megacities in the world by 2030 [11,12].

The above data clearly show that urban living applies to an ever-increasing proportion of the human population. Hence, questions arise regarding how much the growing urban agglomerations are human-friendly environments. Researchers have been studying this topic for decades now. As a result, concepts have been developed for a city that would, on the one hand, provide people with the expected quality of life, and on the other hand, reduce, or even completely eliminate, the city’s negative impact on the environment. Among the most popular concepts aiming to achieve these goals are the sustainable city, the eco-town, and the green city concepts [13,14].

The concept of a sustainable city appeared in public scientific discourse with the publication of the so-called Brundtland Report by the United Nations, which defined the concept of sustainable development [15]. According to this concept, cities should function so that while accommodating the needs of their present residents, they do not compromise those of future city dwellers. This approach to urban issues should, in accordance with the principle of sustainable development, take into account the social, economic, and environmental dimensions [16,17].

For nearly four decades now, researchers have been looking into the implementation of recommendations made in the Brundtland Report as regards urban issues. A number of detailed concepts have been developed, contributing to significant improvements in the quality of life in urban areas around the world. However, sustainable city concepts also reveal the numerous difficulties and challenges faced by many cities. Attempts at implementing the concept of a sustainable city have helped identify the challenges plaguing cities and their residents today. Among the most important of these are:

• societal challenges in terms of more equal housing opportunities [18,19];
• urban challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic [20,21];
• trends of urban development [22,23];
• city gentrification associated with improving certain urban environments [24,25];
• paradoxes and prospects of the urban age [26,27];
• introduction of innovative concepts such as the circular city [28,29];
• conflicts between the search for profit-generating spaces vs. common urban areas [30].

In its programs, the UN suggests that a sustainable city should promote economic growth and satisfy the basic needs of its residents, while creating sustainable living conditions for all [31]. The goal is to lay the groundwork for a sustainable lifestyle on four levels: ecology, economics, politics, and culture. Due to the significant impact of cities on the environment, Sustainable Development Goals place great importance on developing an appropriate urban model. After all, cities, occupying just 3% of land, consume as much as 60–80% of the energy produced and are responsible for 75% of CO₂ emissions. This is why cities have their own Sustainable Development Goal 11: “Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”. The achievement of this goal is aimed at ensuring successful urban development and job creation without excessive exploitation of the environment on the one hand, and overcoming the challenges of overpopulation, lack of funds for basic services, lack of adequate housing, and deteriorating infrastructure on the other [32,33,34].

In undertaking a humanistic reflection on contemporary concepts of the city, I propose to use Konrad Lorenz’s ‘layered’ concept of man. This concept, referring to man’s natural needs and capabilities, offers an innovative way of looking at some of the challenges involved in modern urban planning. Lorenz shows that mankind has shifted to an urban lifestyle relatively recently, and biological evolution has not yet had time to adapt the human organism to urban life. Consequently, living in a city represents a considerable challenge for man. By taking this perspective into account, researchers studying urban challenges will be able to see them in a new light and respond to them more effectively.

The purpose of this paper is to look from a new perspective at the challenges faced by city dwellers, and in doing so, to identify the sources of these challenges and to arrange them in a hierarchy. An additional goal is to expand the argument for promoting certain elements of a sustainable city. This is because the ‘layered’ concept of man proposed by Lorenz apparently reveals elements that, though to some extent taken into account in the sustainable city concept, are not recognized in their sources or their significance for man’s life. It offers a novel approach to looking at such urban issues as the challenges of overpopulation, man’s restricted access to nature, and the ever-increasing pace of life. Postulates will also be made that should be taken into account in order for the city to be a living environment that promotes human development and protects man’s humanity. After all, only a reliable diagnosis of human needs and capabilities offers a chance to create a city model that takes into account man’s natural conditioning while respecting the capabilities of the environment. To illustrate certain phenomena, I will use examples from large urban areas in Poland. Although the examples provided here come from a specific cultural context, they refer to man’s needs arising from human nature, which is universal. Thus, the issues discussed here may be illustrated in a number of different ways, depending on the nature of the community. When implementing the findings of this study to particular cities, it would, therefore, be necessary to consider their local cultural conditioning.

2. Konrad Lorenz’s ‘Layered’ Concept of Man

An original concept of man has been presented by Konrad Z. Lorenz, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology [35,36]. Inspired by Nicolai Hartmann’s ‘layered’ concept of the world, Lorenz developed his own concept of reality. Referring to the concept of fulguration, he distinguished between the biological and cultural layers in human beings. This distinction is based on the so-called humanizing fulguration through which the human mind emerged, which, according to Lorenz, was the beginning of a new kind of life—the life of the human mind [37,38].

Lorenz believed that man consisted of three layers (elements): (1) body, (2) soul, and (3) mind (spirit). The first two layers (body and soul) are his biological depository, and their development follows the principles and pace of biological evolution. In this view, the soul is the element that is responsible for emotional life and that man shares with many representatives of the animal kingdom. The mind (spirit), on the other hand, is a specifically human disposition that manifests itself in various cultural expressions; therefore, it develops according to the rules of cultural evolution. The mind (spirit) is that ‘layer’ through which man is capable of conceptual thinking and verbal speech. These capabilities, in turn, enable man to create and participate in the world of culture [38] (pp. 55–57).

Konrad Lorenz further points out that while, physiologically, the human body and soul have hardly changed for dozens of thousands of years, the human mind (spirit) has changed remarkably over this time. This situation, according to Lorenz, is a consequence of the difference in the pace of biological and cultural evolution. Indeed, he notes that while biological evolution proceeds extremely slowly, cultural evolution has steadily been accelerating, reaching a dizzying pace in modern times [37] (p. 181). Consequently, man’s biological layer cannot keep up with his cultural layer. This leads to a kind of ‘stratification’ in man which results in the destruction of humanity (waning of humaneness) [38] (p. 55). (Table 1).

Table 1. ‘Layered’ concept of man according to Konrad Lorenz (own compilation).

‘Layer’	The Pace of Evolution	Type of Component
mind (spirit)	develops at an extremely rapid pace in accordance with the laws governing cultural evolution data	cultural component
soul	develops at an extremely slow pace in accordance with the laws governing biological evolution	biological component
body	develops at an extremely slow pace in accordance with the laws governing biological evolution	biological component

Thus, civilized man is experiencing entirely new, unprecedented challenges. They threaten humanity not only at the level of the biological survival of an individual or a local community but lead to the regression of specifically human capabilities. Thus, they pose a threat to the very humaneness of man [39] (p. 12).

Lorenz calls these threats the deadly sins of civilized humanity. Many of the sins he identified are, to a greater or lesser extent, linked to the process of urbanization. The following threats should be mentioned in this context [39] (p. IX):

• overpopulation;
• devastation of the natural environment;
• man’s race against himself.

Much indicates that the city concepts developed so far do not fully take into account the dangers identified by Konrad Lorenz, thus hindering man’s development and concern for the human condition, i.e., the protection of man’s humaneness. It seems that the fundamental source of man’s problems related to living in cities is that the history of Homo sapiens, lasting hundreds of thousands of years, prepared the human body at the biological level for a hunter–gatherer life, while the last 10,000 years have been too short a period for the biological component in man to adapt to urban life. Thus, while in the cultural layer (mind/spirit) man has managed to adapt to urban life over the past few thousand years, he faces numerous challenges in his biological layer (body and soul) to which he has not been able to adapt. Moreover, this phenomenon should be taken into account when developing new city concepts.

3. Urban Challenges Related to the Threat of Overpopulation

Konrad Lorenz, pointing out the dangers of overpopulation, leaves the natural and economic consequences of the ever-growing human population aside; he believes them to be rather self-evident. Far more dangerous to humans are the emotional consequences of overpopulation. Lorenz notes that the ever-increasing population density does not result in the establishment of deep and mature human relationships but rather the opposite. On the one hand, it leads to an increase in aggression, and, on the other, to indifference to the fate of people living in close proximity. This is because humans are phylogenetically adapted to living in small groups, where close relationships develop naturally. When living in a crowd, however, man must curb his desire for close ties which he is unable to establish with the great numbers of people around him. Hence, this mentality is manifested by distancing oneself from others and in the lack of emotional involvement common among the residents of large cities. Consequently, we are witnessing robberies, assaults, and rapes carried out in broad daylight in front of people who often do not even react to such incidents [39] (p. 13). Indeed, the inability to establish meaningful relationships leads to various forms of selfishness and hostility to others, which are expressions of the loneliness and apathy of a man lost in a faceless crowd [39] (p. 22).

Konrad Lorenz also draws attention to the phenomenon of “neophilia”, observed among residents of large cities. It involves the need for more and more new experiences, but is not limited to the compulsive acquisition of ever-new, non-essential goods. This phenomenon is increasingly extending to persons as well. Relationships with people are seen as temporary, as they are easily replaced. Hence, for example, the widespread attitude of indifference to neighbors and reluctance to invest time in making contact with them for we never know how long they will actually continue to be our neighbors [39] (pp. 40–41). This challenge is intensifying with the increasing numbers of city dwellers and the constant crowding they experience. This phenomenon is also addressed by the so-called ecological encyclical, which describes the modern human lifestyle as a “cult of superficiality”, seeing its sources in spiritual poverty on the one hand, and the unreflective pursuit of material goods on the other [40] (no. 225, 204).

According to data, as of 5 August 2022, 11 cities in the world had a population density of more than 25 thousand people/km². The highest population density has been recorded in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, where it is almost 30.1; the second most densely populated city is Tanta in Egypt (27.8); and the third is Macau in China (27.7). It is worth noting that among the world’s 15 densest agglomerations, as many as 7 cities are located in India, 3 in China, 2 in Congo, 2 in Egypt, and 1 in Bangladesh [41]. In comparison, the population density in Warsaw in 2019 was approximately 3.5 [42].

Therefore, it is necessary to think about solutions that take into account man’s biological conditioning and his capacity to establish meaningful relationships with only a limited number of people. Opportunities should be created for people living in an anonymous crowd to facilitate the establishment of friendly and neighborly relationships, thus meeting man’s emotional needs (the soul layer). In this context, all community-building initiatives that help overcome the sense of anonymity are of key significance. It seems extremely important in this regard to create public spaces that, on the one hand, satisfy man’s need to be alone and, on the other hand, where people can be with family, friends and acquaintances; to create urban spaces that can be easily accessed by anyone, but which, once occupied by a particular group, turn into a “private” space.

The challenge of overpopulation is also being addressed in integral ecology. According to this concept, quality of life is affected not only by the external environment, but also by the atmosphere of the local community and man’s inner attitude. Indeed, deficiencies resulting from environmental degradation can be compensated for by developing close and warm interpersonal relationships. This enables one to lead a dignified life even in most adverse circumstances [40] (no. 148).

Moreover, integral ecology points out the problems of people living in large urban areas and draws attention to the need to design such areas so that they develop in their inhabitants a sense of belonging and rootedness. Symbolism, so-called urban focal points and space available to all residents play an important role in this process. The inclusion of these elements fosters the integration of the local community, enhances a sense of belonging and helps create an authentic community [40] (no. 150–151).

It seems that the initiatives that already exist to address the emotional challenges identified by Lorenz are, on the one hand, spaces where a person exposed to constant crowds can spend time alone, and on the other hand, spaces where one can meet a limited number of people with whom they can establish personal relationships. The first type of space may include urban areas where a person can walk or play sports alone, such as parks, cemeteries, urban forests and various types of recreational areas suitable for individual activities.

The second type of space may include, for example, parks, recreational areas, squares or other public spaces where various activities of specific groups of people can be organized. A good example are areas designated by the city for bonfire recreation. Indeed, the preparation of such accessible and safe places, complete with a stock of wood, provides an opportunity for local communities to integrate and for people to establish interpersonal relationships. Another example of urban spaces that address the need to relate with others are designated public places where amateurs of various board games, chess tournaments, local flea markets or dance parties may meet regularly. Yet another example of this type of activity are the so-called street parties practiced in some cities. These are usually neighborhood gatherings held in a public space, temporarily closed for ordinary use, to allow the local community to integrate by celebrating important anniversaries, accomplishments, festivals, or holidays [43,44,45].

According to Lorenz, such activities help remove anonymity and emotional isolation, which contributes to satisfying the need for deeper interpersonal relationships. This, in turn, reduces violence and enhances safety. When planning urban space, it is necessary to take these needs of city dwellers into account and develop infrastructure to address the challenge of overpopulation pointed out by Lorenz.

4. Urban Challenges Related to the Threat of Environmental Devastation

Konrad Lorenz points to those consequences of environmental devastation that are not present in general social consciousness. This is because people rarely realize that the destruction of nature contributes directly to the destruction of their humanity. Lorenz describes it as follows: “the general, fast-spreading alienation from nature can largely be blamed on the increasing aesthetic and ethical vulgarity that characterizes civilized mankind. How can one expect a sense of reverential awe for anything in the young when all they see around them is man-made and the cheapest and ugliest of its kind. For the city dweller, even the view of the sky is obscured by skyscrapers and chemical clouding of the atmosphere. No wonder the progress of civilization goes hand in hand with the deplorable disfigurement of town and country” [39] (p. 20).

An important condition for the harmonious development of humanity is direct contact with nature and the experience of its unique beauty. This is especially important at the earliest stages of a person’s life, as it is during that period that foundations of aesthetic sensitivity are laid by experiencing the beauty, mystery, and harmony of nature. Lorenz believes that there is a link between aesthetic sensitivity and ethical sensitivity. The inability to experience the natural beauty of the environment results in the disappearance of aesthetic sensitivity, which, in turn, leads to the erosion of ethical sensitivity with the consequence that people adopt purely utilitarian attitudes and focus only on the economic calculus [46] (p. 80).

Addressing man’s natural need for direct contact with nature, in addition to health reasons, one should also take the considerations pointed out by Lorenz into account. Thus, it is necessary to provide city dwellers with easy access to natural areas where they can experience direct contact with nature. This is especially important for young children. Cities should create opportunities for children to experience such contact during their daily walks with parents. Frolicking through a meadow, smelling flowers in bloom, observing ants, chasing a grasshopper, or admiring a beautiful butterfly shape a child’s imagination, develop his or her sense of aesthetics, consequently building a foundation of his or her ethical beliefs [47,48,49].

So-called green urbanism [50], which promotes all kinds of urban activities committed to caring for nature in the city, seems to fit in well here [51]. The concept of urban agriculture, with urban gardens and farms that residents can engage in cultivating, also fits into this approach [52]. This provides an opportunity for parents and their young children to have direct contact with nature. By observing the natural processes of nature, children can experience its beauty and mystery, which stimulates their imagination and aesthetic sensitivity, and, consequently, their ethical sensitivity. In addition, involvement in urban agriculture is an opportunity for social integration and interpersonal relationships through the social networking of those involved in caring for urban gardens. One initiative that directly addresses these challenges are the neighborhood gardens in the Praga Północ district of Warsaw. In these types of gardens, local communities, through gardening together, have the opportunity to meet, establish interpersonal relationships and spend their leisure time in creative ways. A special feature of these gardens is their openness, as they are accessible to the general public, so that anyone interested, who meets a few basic conditions, can join a gardening group [53].

5. Urban Challenges Related to the Danger of Man’s Race against Himself

According to Lorenz, man’s race against himself is dangerous to his humanity primarily because of his neurotic pursuit of success, which, even when achieved, never fully satisfies him, and forces him to set more and more new goals. This contributes to the abandonment of reflection on the meaning of human activity. Thus, man deprives himself of one of his most peculiar abilities—deliberation, self-reflection [39] (p. 26).

Man’s entanglement in unreflective activity and competition “can then take effect and result in the means soaring aloft to become the end in itself. When this happens, all of the humans involved become slaves to the apparatus of production” [38] (p. 185). This entanglement leads to man’s blindness to greed and exhaustion caused by constant competition. Both are accompanied by a deep fear of poverty and failure in competition. The fear experienced by a significant portion of the population of modern metropolises underlies many health problems, and hinders or even prevents the exercise of one of the most basic human abilities—reflection. To quell this fear, man drowns it out with noise.

According to Lorenz, ubiquitous music, as well as radio and television sets that are constantly on, are meant to keep people from reflecting. This is because man is afraid to see the consequences of the rush and competition he is acquainted with from an early age. Those who fail to keep pace with others would have to admit the panic that has been gripping them, while those who set the pace in competition would see how many of their predecessors had prematurely ended their lives due to heart attacks [39] (pp. 28–29). Man’s failure to reflect on the race against himself leads to his “dissection”. For man is inspired to participate in this race by the mind (spirit), which is developing at the dizzying pace of cultural evolution. On the other hand, the body and soul, subjected to the slow process of biological evolution, are unable to keep up with this pace, and this, in turn, leads to increasing medical problems at the somatic and psychological levels. Pope Francis also notes this phenomenon, pointing out the need to eliminate the incessant rush and excessive activism, and to promote silence and reflection rooted in a deep spiritual life [40] (no. 225).

It seems that the city concept has little impact on the pace of human life and the rush to achieve illusory success, as they are a consequence of modern culture. However, the city can contribute to the creation of spaces for silence, reflection, and meditation, which provide an antidote to the whirlwind of activity that captivates modern people. A way out of this type of challenge would be to create quiet zones which contribute to self-reflection. An important element that promotes tranquility and meditation are undoubtedly places of prayer, where people seek answers to the most fundamental questions about their existence. The need for such spaces is confirmed by grassroot initiatives taken by the residents of various cities, calling mostly for the creation of places of prayer which should be included in city plans. This involves planning space for the construction of Christian churches, synagogues, mosques, Buddhist or Hindu temples, etc. In Poland, this applies mainly to churches. Another type of such structures in Polish cities are wayside crosses and city shrines, which are significant places in the urban landscape [54].

The need for such spaces is confirmed by numerous initiatives taken by residents of many Polish cities. These initiatives are aimed, on the one hand, at the renovation of historic buildings, and on the other hand, at the erection of shrines and wayside crosses in newly built neighborhoods of large cities. A good example of commitment to historic shrines is an initiative taken by the residents of Kielce and Poznan [55,56]. Another example, involving the erection of a new structure, is a shrine built in Warsaw’s Ursynów district at 52 Belgradzka Street [57]. Such sites are spaces for spontaneous worship by local residents. This phenomenon is well-illustrated by May services at the cross in Górczewska Street in Warsaw [58]. All of this undoubtedly promotes both the residents’ spiritual development and their integration.

6. Conclusions

We are witnessing a systematic process of urbanization today. This phenomenon applies to a majority of the human population, and the percentage is growing rapidly. The process of urbanization is associated with the widespread belief that the quality of life in the city is higher than in the countryside, which results in continuing migration to urban areas. Unfortunately, cities are rarely prepared for this, resulting in the creation of large neighborhoods of poverty where living conditions may be described as disastrous [59].

However, questions arise as to how well adapted today’s big cities are to the lives of ordinary residents, those who do not live in slum neighborhoods. To what extent do city concepts developed today accommodate human nature, satisfying often unconscious human needs and respecting man’s limitations?

Studies into urban issues have been carried out for several decades now with the aim of developing solutions for optimum city planning. This requires extensive and interdisciplinary research, however. Some authors have long called for such research, pointing out the numerous aspects that should be taken into account. Only the adoption of a broad perspective in approaching urban issues may make modern cities convenient places for the ever-increasing population while being friendly to the environment [60].

I believe that an important addition to the debate on the city concept is provided by eco-philosophical and anthropological reflection, as it provides a new approach to looking at urban issues and offers inspiration for researchers who study cities from the perspective of technical and social sciences [61]. This study is such an attempt to expand the discussion on cities by including a philosophical perspective. While studies of this kind rarely provide detailed recommendations or solutions, their strength lies in the dialectical nature of the humanities. The proposed new take on urban issues has the potential to inspire researchers representing other sciences to take on new fields of study. In my opinion, Lorenz’s ‘layered’ concept of man applied to urban themes has this very potential.

When analyzing the threats facing humanity today, Konrad Lorenz described them as the ‘deadly sins’ of civilized mankind. He believed them to be so dangerous that they could lead to man’s annihilation. Lorenz pointed to eight such threats: (1) overpopulation; (2) devastation of our natural environment; (3) man’s race against himself; (4) wanning of all strong feelings and emotions; (5) genetic decay; (6) break in tradition; (7) increased indoctrinability of mankind; and (8) nuclear weapons [39]. In this study, I have referred to only three issues identified by Lorenz: overpopulation, devastation of natural environment, and man’s race against himself.

In my opinion, these issues relate directly to the challenges faced by the modern resident of large urban areas. It may be worthwhile to further analyze all of the deadly sins of civilized mankind identified by Lorenz in the urban context. As far as I am aware, Lorenz’s concept has never been applied to the urban context. It is my considered view that this concept has great potential for taking on a new research perspective that will look into the difficulties of adapting to urban life in view of the limitations of human nature.

The issue of urban overpopulation discussed here is well-known and studied by urban planning experts. The way Lorenz frames the issue, however, is original enough to open up a new perspective, as it points to the ambivalent nature of human relationships. On the one hand, man needs intimacy, space, and time spent on his own. On the other hand, close interpersonal relationships are important for man’s proper functioning and mental health. Living in the crowd of overpopulated cities does not satisfy these needs. Thus, solutions are needed to help urban residents accommodate them.

The issue of access to nature addressed in this study is self-evident as well. However, demonstrating the importance of contact with nature, especially during childhood, for the proper development of a person’s imagination, aesthetic and ethical sensitivity provides new motivations and justifications for efforts made at enabling daily contact with nature for residents of large cities.

The problem of the pace of life and the onslaught of various stimuli mentioned in this study has been signaled by psychologists for years. Lorenz, pointing this out, is not original. What is novel in his approach to this issue, however, is that he shows that man’s biological layer is not prepared for the intense and prolonged stress that urban residents are exposed to. Thus, it broadens and strengthens the argument in favor of creating urban spaces that help residents of crowded cities to regain inner peace, distance themselves from the challenges of everyday life, and find deep motivations for what they do.

In pointing out these challenges, I do not provide ready-made answers or specific solutions, but only identify them and show their relevance. In my opinion, it is up to experts on urban issues to suggest recommendations on how to meet man’s needs and incorporate them into the design of urban spaces.

This paper aimed both at showing the challenges faced by modern residents of large agglomerations and at identifying the sources of certain human needs and their determinants. All this reflection was based on the concept of man developed by Konrad Z. Lorenz. The postulates presented in this paper are meant only as an illustration and do not pretend to be complete. The main point is to make scholars who study issues related to human life in the city aware of the most basic sources of human needs and limitations. On the one hand, this will help strengthen the argument in favor of a certain shape of the modern city, and on the other, allow us to see the real hierarchy of the needs of people living in large agglomerations. This is because the foundation of living a good life in the city is the creation of a living space for people to protect their humanity, integrally addressing their needs at the biological (body and soul) and cultural (mind/spirit) levels.

We are witnessing many interesting and positive trends in contemporary urban planning. The concepts of sustainable city, green city, garden city and many similar ones address a number of human needs. It should be remembered, however, that a city made to man’s measure cannot be built with the latest achievements of technical sciences alone. For success to be achieved in this regard, one must take the humanities, social sciences and biological sciences into account as well, so that, each from their unique perspective, these can point out the challenges faced by the residents of large cities today [62]. Only open cooperation between representatives of all fields of knowledge may properly identify and adequately assess the challenges facing modern city dwellers and offer effective solutions.

Authentic development of our civilization, including cities and their inhabitants, should strike a balance between the development of technology and the development of morals and ethics. After all, only an integral view of human needs and limitations can contribute to an urban environment that provides effective protection for man’s humanity.