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SOCIOLOGYRichard T. Schaefer

Communities and Urbanization

20

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20. Communities and Urbanization

• How Did Communities Originate? • Urbanization• Types of Communities • Social Policy and Communities

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How Did Communities Originate?

• Early Communities– Dependent on the physical

environment for food supply– Horticultural societies led to dramatic

changes in human social organization• No longer necessary to move in search of

food• Stable communities helped establish food

surpluses

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How Did Communities Originate?

Table 20-1. Comparing Types of Cities

Sources: Based on E. Philips 1996:132—135; Sjoberg 1960:323—328

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Urbanization• Preindustrial Cities

– Had only a few thousand people living within their borders

– Characterized by relatively closed class systems and limited social mobility

Status usually based on ascribed characteristics, and education was limited to elite

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Urbanization• Preindustrial Cities

– Remained small due to:• Reliance on animal power• Modest levels of surplus• Problems in transportation

and storage of food• Hardships of migration to

the city• Dangers of city life

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Urbanization• Industrial and Postindustrial Cities

– Industrial City: More populous and complex than predecessors

– Postindustrial City: Global finance and electronic flow of information dominate the economy

– Urbanism: relatively large and permanent settlement leads to distinctive patterns of behavior

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Urbanization• Urbanization has become central

aspect of life in the U.S.– During 19th and early 20th centuries,

rapid urbanization occurred in European and North American cities

– Since WW II, urban “explosion” hit world’s developing countries

Megalopolis: metropolitan areas that spread so far that they connect with other urban centers

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Urbanization• Functionalist View: Urban Ecology

– Human Ecology: interrelationships between people and their spatial settings and physical environments

– Urban Ecology: focuses on relationships as they emerge in urban areas

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Urbanization

– Multiple-nuclei theory: all urban growth does not radiate out from a central district

• Functionalist View: Urban Ecology– Concentric-zone Theory: center, or

nucleus, of a city is the most highly valued land and each succeeding zone surrounding the center contains other types of land which are valued differently

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Urbanization• Conflict View: New Urban Sociology

– New urban sociology: considers interplay of local, national, and worldwide forces and their effects on local space

– World Systems Analysis: certain industrialized nations hold dominant position at core of global economic system

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UrbanizationFigure 20-1. Global Urbanization 3025 (projected)

Sources: National Geographic Atlas of the World, 8th ed. (Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society) 2005 pp. 104-105

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UrbanizationFigure 20-2. Comparison of Ecological Theories of Urban Growth

Source: Harris and Ulmann 1945:13

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Need to add people who live in naturally occurring retirement communities

– Urban Dwellers• Gans distinguishes 5 types found in

cities:– cosmopolites– unmarried and

childless people– ethnic villagers– the deprived– the trapped

Types of Communities• Central Cities

Defended neighborhood: people’s definitions of their community boundaries

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Types of Communities• Central Cities

– Issues Facing Cities• Crime• Pollution• Schools• Inadequate transportation

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Types of Communities• Asset-Based Community

Development (ABCD)

Helps communities recognize human resources they might overlook

– Leaders, policymakers, and advocates identify a community’s strengths and then seek to mobilize those assets

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Types of Communities• Suburbs

– Any community near a large city– Three social factors differentiate

suburbs from cities• Less dense than cities• Private space• More exacting building codes

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Types of Communities• Suburbs

– Suburban Expansion• Suburbanization most dramatic

population trend in U.S. during 20th century

– Diversity in the suburbs• The suburbs contain a significant number

of low-income people from all backgrounds

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Types of Communities• Rural Communities

– One-fourth of the population lives in towns of 2,500 people or less that are not adjacent to a city

– Agriculture only accounts for 9% of employment in non-urban counties

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Social Policy and Communities

• Seeking Shelter Worldwide– The Issue

• For many people worldwide, housing problem consists of merely finding shelter they can afford

• What can be done to ensure adequate housing for those who can’t afford it?

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Social Policy and Communities

• Seeking Shelter Worldwide– The Setting

• Homelessness evident in industrialized and developing countries

• By 1998, in urban areas alone, 600 million people around the world were either homeless or inadequately housed

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Social Policy and Communities

• Seeking Shelter Worldwide– Sociological Insights

• Homelessness functions as a master status

– Homeless are outside of society• Homeless women often have additional

problems that distinguish them from homeless men

• Sociologists attribute homelessness in developing nations to income inequality and population growth

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Social Policy and Communities

• Seeking Shelter Worldwide– Policy Initiatives

• Policymakers mostly content to direct homeless to large, overcrowded, unhealthy shelters

• Homeless people are not getting the shelter they need

• Lack the political clout to get the attention of policymakers