What are the results of an overcrowded population?

I suppose increased competition for jobs, higher cost of living conditions, and larger areas becoming less sanitary more quickly are the first things that come to mind for me.

disorders go around quicker. and there is a crush inside of my morning train :)

More demand on the resources in that area (such as the school system, legal system, police, fire fighters, and hospitals). Not to mention the possibility of more pollution due to more people and more vehicles on the road and the air quality could diminish as trees are cut down to make room for the expanding population (for houses and other buildings)

Check out Malthusian catastrophe, if they don’t solve the problems.

Mental illness, aggressive behavior born of competition, increase in crime and self centeredness to the 10th power.

There is more mental illness and crime in over crowded areas / large cities.

So far we havn’t resorted to canabalism like rats, but, one never knows. lol

This is why I have chosen a rural lifestyle for the past 19 years.

Everyone in my community is mellow, we operate on ‘river time’, and people wave to each other, smile, and are much more of their ‘brothers keeper’ in these here parts.

I do work in the city from time to time, and it makes the coming home so much more precious. haha

I disagree slightly with @Coloma, the culture in which the overcrowding takes place and the way of life lived make an enormous difference. The huge, massively cramped and crowded slums of Mumbai and other major 3rd world cities show this. When a population is crowded into familial groups, but cooperative in the strategies relating to living there, mental illness and to some extent physical ills are less apparent.

There is a lot to be learned from these places. Western ideals have come along with an aspirational desire for ‘personal space’ which is actually completely at odds with our evolution, or real necessity. If population worldwide continues to expand, we (those with choice at least) are going to have to alter behaviour and possibly learn different ways to actually live together. For survival’s sake.

though personally, I like the idea of ‘river time’ lots!

@auntydeb

True. Many divergent factors based on the cultures in question.
I was speaking of what I see in the american culture.

When I go down into what I call ” the belly of the monster’ I see impatience, lack of friendliness, a sort of ‘hum’ of anxiety, people oblivious to one another for the most part, cut throat driving behaviors, in general, a frantic energy.

Yes, ‘river time’ is the best, next to Corona time on the river. haha

Look around. ;-)

overcrowded population(in a country/state/city) can be a nice thing too if things can be organized, maintained correctly and the needs are fulfilled adequately.. which is impossible!
so the effects are possibly job crisis(irony is the more populated it is, the need is higher so are the numbers of the product companies), more traffic and transportation problems, higher chance of pollution and increase of violence thus more political mayhem(for some places at least!)

well i should have written ‘more political mayhem and thus increase of violence’.. sounds better this way :D:p

Growth of an underclass which cannot or will not work and must be supported by government at all levels. Higher crime rates. Loss of community. Loss of civility and manners. Increase in rioting and civil disorder. Higher levels of corruption and malfesance in office. Loss of educated workers to suburban areas and outlying towns. Loss of jobs due to relocation of companies to less congested areas. Significant increase in governmental outlays for social services. Deficit financing.

( This case is obviously overstated, but can still be realistic at times. Look at Chicago’s current situation. )

All these responses are addressing only humans; were you interested in other organisms as well?

If so, some results are increased pressure on food sources resulting in their decrease or disappearance (and, sometimes, corresponding environmental damage that can be very long-lasting), easier spread of disease and parasites, poor condition resulting in greater losses to disease, weather, etc., greater rates of failure to conceive and miscarriage, greater loss of young, more migration into areas new to the species,

In addition, if there are any natural predators of that species, they will multiply and do well.

@crisw

I would have thought that would go pretty much without saying.

@crisw

True, But some species actually thrive, like pigeons, falcons, house sparrows, rats, cockroaches.
Adapt or die. lol

@Coloma yeah, i gotta say, i’m living in a overcrowded city myself and i don’t see pigeons or sparrows too much these days… telephone towers and air pollution may be

During the Industrial Revolution when people flocked to cities the expected life span plummeted drastically and disease became much, much more common. They also got shorter.

In the vein of @crisw , if too many rats are sharing a space, they pretty much go batshit crazy and become much more violent towards each other.

@tragiclikebowie I absolutely love the phrase ‘batshit crazy.

@auntydeb

LOL, me too!

@crisw – if you’re reaching past Homo sapiens for this, an overpopulation of yeast makes for some excellent drink. On the other hand, that means they all died off in their own filth.

@ Aesthetic_Mess take a look at Shanghai, China; Mumbai, Maharashtra; Karachi, Sindh in Pakistan or Delhi, Delhi in India. There are many other examples of highly or over populated areas.

@tragiclikebowie during the Industrial Revolution, the life expectency of children increased dramatically. The population growth exploded from the prior century and the living standards of masses of people improved.

Competition for resources, including food, shelter, and jobs. If the overcrowding is extreme, the competition can lead to killing. Murder rates tend to be higher in cities with high populations and limited resources.

I know the benefits of living on a mountain alone in the middle of nowhere.
Naked hot tubbing in the middle of the day.

Definetly a life extension. lol

@bkcunningham has followed my line of thought. These are modern city-based slums with certain infrastructures that work. If you don’t mind the stink…