The feeling of isolation is rarely as decisive and intense when one actually finds

oneself physically alone, as when one is a stranger, without relations, among

many physically close persons, at a party, on the train, or in the traffic of a large
city (Simmel, 1950).
Hence city life poses problems for individual identity. On the one hand, one is
free to be who one wants to be, since the culture of cities tends to be more
cosmopolitan, forgiving and fluid. The impersonal nature of city life often means
there are fewer ties to the group so it is easier to break free. On the other hand,
the increase in freedom due to reduced social constraint means that one´s inner
‘mental life’ becomes even more important. With the constant ebb and flow of
city life and the rapid turnover of people, ideas and identities , individuals might
find the need to withdraw into themselves to find peace. This is what Simmel
refers to as “the separation of the subjective from the objective life”.