City Life and Evil

There is an abundance of sociological literature on the challenges and detriments of city life: the migration from primary to secondary relationship groups, from gemeinschaft to gesellschaft, from a mindset of mutual kinship to the expedient rat-race of "every man for himself" (essentially). Notably in the writings of Georg Simmel, Ferdinand Tonnies, and Louis Wirth among others (though I've read none of their works directly myself, only through my sociology textbooks).

A small excerpt of Wikipedia on Wirth which I think expresses it well:

Wirth writes that urbanism is a form of social organisation that is harmful to culture, Wirth details the city as a “Substitution of secondary for primary contacts, the weakening of bonds of kinship, the declining social significance of the family, the disappearance of neighbourhood and the undermining of traditional basis of social solidarity”.^[1]   Wirth was concerned with the effects of the city upon family unity, and he believed urbanization leads to a ‘low and declining urban reproduction rates … families are smaller and more frequently without children than in the country’. Wirth continues, marriage tends to be postponed, and the proportion of single people is growing leading to isolation and less interaction.

What I'd like to point out is that the hebrew word for 'city' עיר touches on both the positive and negative aspects of urbanization.

Similar to the Gemara's (Sotah 17a) comparing of איש and אש
איש ואשה, זכו, שכינה ביניהם, לא זכו, אש אוכלתן
so too I'd suggest where you have a "זכו" you have an עיר, where you have a "לא זכו" you have a ער/רע.

(note the Zohar teaches the letter 'yud' being representative of brit, committed relationship)