Urbanization: A Concept, Nature and Explanation
- 2. – The process of transforming rural into urban areas. Urbanization
- 3. – An increasing concentration of the population in cities and a transformation of land use and society to a metropolitan pattern of organization.
- 4. – This process has a profound effect on the economic composition of the population i.e. the farm population decreases; the urban populations increases (Bergel, 1955).
- 5. – As such, it is appropriate to talk about urbanization of labor as well as of different forms of capital – economic, social, cultural, or symbolic (Harvey, 1985).
- 6. – Regarded as “a way of life” manifested in § Heterogeneity of the city. § High degree of dependence of urbanites upon others. § Segmental character of urban- social relations. § Dense, and sizable settlements – emerge as concentrated control and command centers. § Sophistication and rationality of city dwellers (Louis Wirth, 1938). Urbanism
- 7. – Gemeinschaft (“community”) refers to a type of social organization in which people are closely related tied by kinship and tradition (Tonnies, 1887). Gemeinschaft and Gesselschaft Ferdinand Tonnies
- 8. – Gesselschaft (“association”) refers to a type of social organization in which people come together only on the basis of individual interest.
- 9. – 1. Individuals are motivated by their own needs rather than by desire to help improve the well-being of everyone. 2. City dwellers have little sense of community or common identity and look to others mainly when they need something. 3. In urbanization there is weakening of close, lost- lasting social relations in favor of the brief and impersonal ties or secondary relationships typical of business. Characteristics of Gesselschaft
- 10. – § Mechanical solidarity in rural, traditional life is characterized by social bonds based on common sentiments and shared moral values. § Urbanization erodes mechanical solidarity based on likeness. Mechanical and Organic Solidarity Emile Durkheim
- 11. – § Organic solidarity refers to social bonds based on specialization and interdependence. § In cities, solidarity is based on difference.
- 12. – § Individuals perceive the city as a crush of people, objects and events (Simmel, ______). § To prevent being overwhelmed by all this stimulation, urbanites develop a blasé attitude, turning out much of what goes around them. § Detachment does not mean lack of compassion for others; they simply keep their distance as a survival strategy so that they can focus their time and energy on the people and things that really matter to them. The Blasé Urbanite Georg Simmel
- 13. – § City is an organized mosaic of distinctive ethnic communities, commercial centers, and industrial districts (Park, 1950). § These “natural areas” develop and change in relation to one another; it is a living organism-a human kaleidoscope. Chicago School of Urban Sociology Robert Park and Louis Wirth
- 14. – § Wirth (1938) blended the ideas of Tonnies, Durkheim, Simmel and Park into a comprehensive theory of urban life. § City is large, dense, and socially diverse population. § These traits result in an impersonal, superficial, and transitory way of life.
- 15. – § City people notice others not based on who they are but rather on what they do. § Self-interest rather than friendship is usually the main reason behind the interaction. § The impersonal nature of urban relationships, together with great social diversity make dwellers more tolerant than rural villagers. § Heterogenous population rarely shares any code of moral conduct (Wilson, 1985).
- 16. – § Urban ecology refers to the study of the link between the physical and social dimensions of cities. § The first cities emerged in fertile regions where the ecology favored raising crops. § Preindustrial people were concerned about defense, so they built their cities on mountains (i.e. Athens perched on rocks, Paris and Mexico surrounded by water). § Industrial Revolution gave importance on economy that explains why all major cities were situated near rivers or natural harbors that facilitated trade. Urban Ecology
- 17. – Business districts bordered by a ring of factories, followed by residential rings with housing that becomes more expensive that farther it is from the noise and pollution of the city’s center (Burgess, Ernest and Park, Robert). Concentric Zones
- 18. – § Homer Hoyt (1939 refined Burgess’s observation noting that distinctive districts sometimes form wedge-shaped sectors. § One fashionable area may develop next to another, or an industrial district may extend outward from a city’s center along a train or trolley line. Wedge-shaped Sectors
- 19. – § Chauncy Harris and Edward Ullman (1945) asserts that as cities decentralize, they lose their single-center form. § As cities grow, residential areas, industrial parks, and shopping districts typically push away from one another. § Few people wish to live close to industrial areas, so the city becomes a mosaic of distinct districts. Multi-centered Model
- 20. – § Investigates what people in a particular neighborhoods have in common. § Uses family patterns, social class, and race and ethnicity as factors that explain variation. Social Area Analysis
- 21. – § Families with children look for areas with single- family homes or large apartments and good schools. § The rich seek high-prestige neighborhoods, often in the central city near cultural attractions. § People with common race or ethnic heritage tend to cluster in distinctive communities.
- 22. – § The urban political economy model applies Marx’s analysis of conflict in the workplace to conflict in the city. § Political economists reject the ecological approach’s view of the city as a natural organism with particular districts and neighborhoods developing according to an internal logic. § City life is defined by larger institutional structures, especially the economy. Urban Political Economy
- 23. – § Capitalism, which transforms the city into real estate traded for profit and concentrates wealth and power in the hands of the few, is the key to understanding city life. § The decline in industrial Snowbelt cities after 1950 was a result of deliberate decisions by the corporate elite to move their production facilities to the Sunbelt (where labor is cheaper and less likely to be unionized) or to move them out of the country entirely to low-income nations (Molotch, 1976; Castells, 1977; Lefebvre, 1991; Jones and Wilson, 1999).
- 24. – § The first urban revolution began in 8000 B.C.E. with the first urban settlements. § About 1750, the 2nd urban revolution took off that lasted for 2 centuries as the Industrial Revolution spurred rapid growth of cities in Europe and North America. § 3rd urban revolution is now under way. Today 75% of people in industrial societies are already city dwellers. Urbanization in Poor Nations
- 25. – § In 1950, about 25% of the people in poor communities lived in cities. § In 2008, the world became mostly urban with more than half of humanity living in cities. § In 1950, only 7 cities in the world had population over 5 million and only 2 of these were in low- income countries. § By 2008, 49 cities have passed this mark, and 32 of them were in less developed nations (Brokerhoff, 2000; UN 2008)
- 26. – § The 3rd urban revolution is taking place because many poor nations have entered the high-growth Stage 2 of the demographic transition. § Falling death rates have fueled population in Latin America, Asia, and Africa. § Increase in urban areas is twice because in addition to natural increase, millions of people leave the countryside each year in search for jobs, health care, education, and convenience such as running water and electricity.
- 27. – § Cities do offer more opportunities than rural areas, but the provide no quick fix for the massive problems of escalating population and grinding poverty. § Many cities in less economically developed nations - including Mexico City, Egypt’s Cairo, India’s Kolkata, and Manila in the Philippines - are simply unable to meet the basic needs of much of their populations. § All these cities are surrounded by wretched shantytowns - settlements of makeshift homes built from discarded materials.
- 28. – Rural area An area where most residents depend on agriculture or other ways of harvesting natural resources for their livelihood. Urban area An area where the majority of the people are not directly dependent on natural resource-based occupations. Urban vis-à-vis Rural
- 29. – § Occupation § Environment § Size of community § Density of population § Heterogeneity or homogeneity of the population Urban and Rural Differences
- 30. – § Social differentiation or stratification § Mobility § System of interaction (Sorokin and Zimmerman in Bergel, 1955)
- 31. – . . .In an urban society the city dominates the scene. § Center of political organization. § A market toward which both rural and urban economic activities are oriented. § It is where cultural activities are concentrated.